There was a time I believed my Master was immortal.

He had very literally achieved godhood—a one-of-a-kind being. No one would have thought he could do it. But when it happened, instead of congratulating him, they tried to put him down. He, the one who single-handedly raised humanity into one of the powerhouses of the continent, was fooled. He was demonized by the humans, and loathed by their enemies. Once labeled a tyrant, then a horror, and eventually, forgotten completely. History was the only thing that could defeat him.

That was humanity.

And even after all that, he rose up from the grave, all to start over again. Had I been aware, I would have rushed to support him… What Master lacked most was faith. He believed in himself, but no one believed in him. Why did I doubt his immortality? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I failed as a disciple. I should have had faith.

All gods had their own followers. But he had none except for—I didn’t qualify. I was stupid.

It may have been too late then, but I’ll do what he couldn’t do with my life. This will be my punishment.

‘I will create a religion.’

—300 years later—

“Demon King, you will die today!”

‘Die.’

“Keek… what?”

And his vital organs imploded just like that. Granted, it still could not compare to Master, but it was glorious nevertheless. To think this sorry excuse could be considered a Hero… What a disgrace. He didn’t even amount to a tenth of the first Hero’s strength.

—50 years later—

“You will perish today!”

“Dieeeee!”

‘Weak.’

“Ahhhhh~”

They all perished just like that. This third generation of heroes was horrible, maybe even worse than the second-generation one. Was it because the last one came alone?

‘Pathetic.’

To think a party of four would work against me? They needed four of the Greatest in the world to even enter Master’s domain and challenge him! Did they really think the same tactic would work again?

“Master, shall I dispose of the bodies?” asked my disciple.

Come to think of it, she should be strong enough to take my place now. I’ve gotten pretty bored managing this empire’s politics.

“Yes, oh! And spread the rumors.”

“Now?”

I nodded, “You’ve become strong Felia. Be proud.”

While she kept the stoic face, I could tell she hid a smile underneath as she dragged the four bodies away. She reminded me of my naive self back in those days… Needless to say, that smile wouldn’t last.

—50 years later—

Seriously?

“You will die today Demon King!”

“Forbidden Spell: Divine Seal—Take this!”

“Omae wa mou—”

How intimidating, shouting out the names of spells like little children. The first thing Master ever taught me was to never declare anything in battle. Only flashy fools did that and they were the ones who died first.

While my disciple was not as strong as me, she should be able to handle those weaklings fine. The fact that they couldn’t even detect my presence only made known their flaws. Was every passing generation going to be like this? At least it’s good that none of them were as strong as the first generation, else they’d be true monsters that even I would have a hard time facing one-on-one. To think Master was able to handle all four of them was amazing. I still had a lot to learn.

“Arrrgh!”

“Impossible!”

As expected, my disciple handled them easily.

“Master, shall I dispose of them?”

“You know what to do,” I responded with a grin.

It looks like I could leave the management of the empire to her. I could now focus completely on that…

—200 years later—

‘If I am to bring him back, I’ll need a physical catalyst for his soul to inhabit…’

“Master!”

To my surprise, Felia had come to visit me. As someone who used to manage the empire, I knew full well of the tedious paperwork she had to complete every day.

“Oh, Felia! What brings you here?”

She had already gained my approval and left my wing 300 years ago. No bird could learn to fly if they didn’t leave the nest, after all.

Compared to the few times I have seen her this past century, she looked rejuvenated without the dark patches around her eyes.

“Master, do you remember my disciple?”

‘Disciple? Was it that timid boy?’

“Ah yes, Alcib, what about him?”

“I’ve decided that he is strong enough to take the throne.”

‘So she got fed with the paperwork, huh?’

“What will you be doing now?”

She seemed to be pleased that I wasn’t angry. I didn’t see why I would since I had a similar experience. It was only natural to raise an heir to pass the throne. Only an insane person could stay king for longer than a millennium. Rather than angry I was thinking the opposite. She no longer consulted me for every major decision which proved her maturation. What more could a master be happy about?

“I wish to help Master to resurrect God-Father.” She kneeled with her head bowed down.

“You want to what?”

“I want to help Master.”

“...” This kid… I couldn’t help but be glad I had raised such a wonderful disciple.

“Why didn’t you say so? Of course!”

—20 years later—

It was an interesting hypothesis at first, but the more I thought about it, the greater the epiphany.

If heroes had so much faith in humanity and their damned god, then if it were possible to convert a hero to our side, wouldn’t I essentially create an unstoppable mascot? That would mean we would have more believers which meant more faithful devotees.

That said, it was about time for another hero to show up. The heroic cycle usually came twenty years after the previous heroes’ deaths so there should be a Hero out there right now. And even better, he should be a little kid, which would make it much easier to brainwash. It was a flawless plan as Master would say.

All I had to do was survey every inch of the human kingdoms—that wasn’t too hard with my Eyes of Void.

—1 year later—

A rotten tree… That’s strange. I was sure I saw a whiff of a golden aura somewhere around this area.

‘Wooden swords?’

I tossed the small swords back into the tree hole and decided to camp it out. If there was this much golden aura around here, then there must be some being that held a semblance of divinity, which in short meant the hero was—

“Who’s there?”

‘Strange.’

That voice was masculine and childish, but it did not give off the same charm as a Hero’s. It sounded a lot more calculating and I couldn’t help but understand the essence behind that voice to the max. It didn’t make sense that I could read this deep into someone’s character just from voice alone. Unless I spent centuries with a person, I shouldn’t be able to read them so easily.

‘Null.’

I turned myself invisible and floated myself in the air. It was something Master always stressed when I went invisible: to never interact with any physical object or it would make you visible. And it made complete sense too. If I walked casually on the grass, it would look like an invisible force was squashing the grass.

‘What?’

As I made my way around the tree, I was astonished by the bright light. Most people couldn’t see it, but I had cultivated my eyes for centuries just to be able to detect the distinct aura of each soul.

I had seen many heroes and particularly, all of the “Heroes.” The light in that person’s soul was on par with the first generation’s Hero—there was no mistaking it.

I tuned my Eyes of Void down by lowering the amount of mana I used, and it was then that the truth revealed itself.

“A girl?”

In all of history, the one and only Hero had always been male, with the exception of the other heroes who were tag-alongs, such as the wizard or the martial artist of the group.

‘Was this a new era or something?’

While I was contemplating what to do, my eyes subconsciously fell onto the boy who was crouching behind the girl. He did not have fear in his eyes, yet his actions spoke paragraphs. He was a coward… No? It was hard to say for sure.

But when I focused on his appearance, I gave up that notion of cowardice completely. That word paired along with that face was definitely not synonymous with each other. It was blasphemous. I couldn't imagine it.

“He does look a bit…” I couldn’t help but reminisce.

‘He’s younger than I remembered.’

I flew closer to analyze him with my eyes. But for some reason, I could not detect his soul...

‘Remember your goal.’

I snapped myself out of the trance and flew back to the tree.

“What’s your name, hero.”

‘He’s just a look-alike.’

But even when I knew that, I could still hear my heart thumping.

'It’s not him.' I had to keep reminding myself.

“Can’t you speak, girl?”

She seemed to be in shock that I knew her identity as the Hero.

“H-how did you know?”

‘My eyes, duh.’

“I can smell it.”

“Smell?”

‘Don’t question it girl. You’re making me look stupid.’

“So?”

“Why should I tell you?”

‘How impudent.'

“Why? I’ll make you the strongest.”

“Why would I want that?”

For a hero, she didn't sound too mind-oriented. The humans would corrupt and defile her if she continued on the path she was treading now. That’s the reason why all of the heroes of the previous generations were so weak.

“Don’t you know?”

I blurted, “How about you, what’s your name?”

The boy had given me a disgusted look before looking away. It was as if he thought I couldn’t see.

He didn’t shiver. And his eyes were still, staring straight into mine. It was weird. Did he get dropped as a child or something? He was much too stoic for his age; and his mannerisms… Fingers rolled up, but not clenched. Legs out shoulder-width apart, standing on the balls of his feet. It was the same thing Master did when he was on alert. The boy was a thinker.

“Don’t be scared, what’s your name?”

He looked at the Hero for a moment, before muttering, “Daniel.”

The way he said it made it timid and almost superficial. Either way, he looked good enough with the exception of the hair. If he grew it out to his waist, he would practically look identical to Master. While I came for the hero, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to use him as the catalyst. I’ll have to groom both of them well.

“So what’s your name, girl.” I returned back to the girl, with my eyes lingering.

I could sense her aura changing when the boy said his name. While I had yet to know why, I knew her attitude had changed. The golden aura that surrounded her had wavered, yet at the same time, fastened into her body. And it said a lot, as the soul was a clear indicator of an individual’s emotions which could not be masked.

“So?”

I didn’t know why, but it felt necessary to poke fun at her. There was something about that equally stoic expression—both of them actually. One masked their thoughts, while the other raged inside.

“My name is Daniel,” she said.

The way she glared was almost condescending, in fact, a hint of arrogance too. I’d need to crack her a new shell if I ever wanted to make her a half-decent mortal devoted to Master.

“Is that a joke?” I wondered if she still had the confidence to say it again.

“No, I said my name is Daniel,” she said back as she snuck a peek at the boy. She saw herself as a role model, huh? She wanted to show the boy how to declare his name properly, huh? How cocky.

‘She’s asking to be put in her place.’

“Is that so?” I set the trap.

By now, I was expecting another snarky remark. That would be the perfect trigger to set the stage, wouldn’t it?

“Ye—” I sprinted forward immediately and grasped for her neck.

‘This was Master’s golden rule.’

‘To assert dominance.’

At this point, it had become a compulsory tradition for me to assert my dominance any time I accepted a disciple. And Master was right. By establishing dominance, it demanded respect from the student. And this particular student here needed discipline.

In the crucial moment where I was about to strangle her, I was stopped by a twig-like arm. It stopped me from gripping tightly, and while I could easily power through, I found my hand stopping in place, begging me not to sin.

The boy’s arm had wrapped around the girl’s neck protectively.

Cute.

‘That wouldn’t have stopped me if I was serious…’

With his hair in front of my face like a free buffet, I couldn’t help but fondle the soft masterpiece.

Master never let me braid his hair since he always kept it in a ponytail “for convenience.” But I could say without a doubt that it was just as silky and smooth as his. I knew now. For certain, it was Master’s will that guided me on this path to meet this boy.

For this boy…

‘He’s the perfect tribute.’