Chapter 21: Returning

Jerry woke up to an unfamiliar scenery as he sat up. It was a dark throne room with a dark silhouette sitting on the throne. It looked very similar to the one Jerry was recently in but was stripped of all decorations leaving nothing other than the dark material that made the room.

“So, you’re the new guy?” The man said.

Jerry stayed silent, getting into a ready stance and placed his hands at where his pistol would be to find it not there.

“Good try but there’s no weapons here”

‘Shit’ Jerry thought.

“Anyway, you must be curious on why you’re here. In a nutshell, you have been given my powers. At least, a part of it” The man said before he stood up, rising from his throne

“I really don’t care about what you do with it, as long as it entertains me and doesn’t bore me. Like how the previous Demon Lord had a harem and tried to take over the world. That was interesting while it lasted before you came. So, without further ado, let’s get you something”

Quickly, Jerry’s scenery changed to a large room with towering statues that were giants. At the feet of each statue laid a pillar with an orb floating on it, all of various colors. In front of each pillar had a stone pedestal with engravings on each one.

“Here we are, the power room. Choose one and I’ll tell you what it does.” The man said.

Jerry walked down the hall, examining each color and statue carefully.

He eventually found an purple orb with a shadowy like look in it as the mist inside moved around slowly, covering each other with every passing second. The statue showed a man with a mask obscuring the face while a cape covered most of his body.

“The Orb of Shadows. Used to evade detection with a blink spell. With this power, you get a Demon Lord Tier Blink spell, Silent Step, Eagle Eye, and increased agility. Your presence can only be detected if you wish it to be or someone with better detection skill is near. You also get the basic kit that every orb has. Basic Detection, Stamina, and all those base stats.” The man said as he looked into the orb.

Jerry continued to walk down the hall, examining each orb and having the man tell him of each of the powers the orbs contained. When he was done examining the orbs, he was able to narrow it down to three orbs.

It would be the Orb of Shadows, Orb of Explosive Touch, or the Orb of Blitz.

The Orb of Explosive Touch would allow Jerry to explode anything he’s touched within the last 30 seconds while the Orb of Blitz allowed Jerry to be faster in general while also allowing him to comprehend everything around him as it happened.

“What do you think I should get?” Jerry asked.

“I would recommend something that would be useful in the long term” The man said.

Jerry decided to eliminate the Orb of Blitz since he would not need to be moving fast soon thus narrowing it down to the Orb of Shadows or Explosive Touch.

“Hey, choose a number, one or two” Jerry asked the man.

“Two” The man quickly replied.

“Alright, Orb of Shadows it is”

“Okay” The man said before he snapped his fingers.

Soon, Jerry was soon hit with a feeling that he felt throughout his body. It felt as if it was pressing on his body and it was even worse on his head as it felt like it could burst with any time. At the same time, a dark smoke covered Jerry as it slowly rose and covered Jerry.

The feeling continued for a while before it quickly fade and Jerry was able to catch a breath.

“Congrats, you have the Orb of Shadows. Try it out” The man said.

The scenery soon changed to a stone corridor that resembled a stone medieval tower with a wooden support beam that ran down the hall. Jerry found himself dressed in leather armor with a knife on his chest piece in it’s holster. He could hear the clanking of metal and a light coming down the hall.

Jerry knew he had to do something and started thinking. There was a feeling in Jerry’s head and decided to act on it by focusing on the roof of the hall and found himself dangling from the wooden support beam.

The source of the light and metal clanking could be seen walking down the hall. It was a guard in metal armor patrolling the halls with a torch. As it passed, Jerry let go of the beam, making no noise as his feet hit the ground. Jerry ran down the hall with incredible speed that wasn’t possible before silently due to the new skills he had obtained.

As he traversed the halls, more guards were coming and Jerry responded in kind by dangling off the wooden support beam. Soon, the scenery changed to find himself back in the black throne room and the dark silhouette was back on the throne.

“Feel good?” The man asked.

“Yes I do” Jerry responded.

“Great, now fuck off and wake up” The man said before Jerry awoke to Alice shaking Jerry.

“Hey, you okay?” Alice asked.

“Huh? Yea, I’m fine” Jerry said as he rolled over.

He found himself tucking his hands under his pillow only to realize something was wrong.

“Alice, what happened last night?” Jerry asked.

“You refused to sleep on the floor and I eventually relented and let you sleep on the bed with a border” Alice said as she got off the bed.

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing else. What? You wanted something to happen?” Alice asked as she stretched her arms.

“No. Anyway, we’re going to the Empire. Get ready.”

“Huh? Why the Empire?”

“I gotta do some things. Besides, your sister is there as well”

Jerry soon got up with his dark clothing and went to the door.

“I’ll come back soon. Just get ready before I get back” Jerry said as he left.

He walked down the hall, to the laundry room to find his clothing and equipment on the clothes line. He quickly got changed, swapping out the comfortable dark clothing for his combat fatigues before putting his vest on before sliding his helmet on. Jerry walked to the throne room to re-obtained his backpack and offer a prayer to the fallen but first dropped by Falk’s room.

Jerry opened the room to find Falk still sleeping in his bed.

“Hey, Falk! We’re moving. Get dressed man”

Falk slowly woke up before responding to Jerry.

“I’m a girl, Jerry” Falk said.

“With what chest?” Jerry responded.

“I have concealment magic!”

“Bet, show me”

Falk whispered something and Falk was covered in light before revealing a feminine form with long hair. Most of Falk’s body was covered by the blanket thus concealing Falk’s body.

“Fuck. Just get ready to go” Jerry said before closing the door and proceeding down to the throne room. As he arrived, the 10 Commanders appeared behind Jerry.

“Good Morning, My Lord” They said as they bowed.

Jerry looked at the 10 Demon Commanders and found that most of them either had wings, horns, or animal ears that sticked out.

“Good Morning. We’re gonna go to the Empire to report this so, don’t look like Demons.” Jerry said.

“But what about breakfast?” Juliet said.

“Uhh, pack food for the way. I’m also bringing a servant from the castle. Prepare them food as well. We’ll wait at the front gate.”

“As you wish” They all said before quickly disappearing from Jerry’s sight.

Jerry put his backpack on before giving the soldiers in the throne room a quick prayer. He then quickly went back down to Falk’s room to find her waiting outside the door in her male form.

“Come, let’s go pick another one up” Jerry said as he passed Falk.

As they walked down the hall, Jerry felt awkward.

“So, you’re originally a male or female?” Jerry asked.

“I was originally a female, Sir” Falk responded before reverting back to the female form.

She had long black hair, with a body that fit her age being 18. Not too tall, but not too short as well.

“Ah” Jerry said.

They eventually arrived at Alice’s room where Jerry gave a knock on the door.

“You done?” Jerry asked.

“Yea, hold on” Alice replied.

They both waited outside with Jerry’s back on the wall with one of his foot propped on the wall.

Jerry took out a cigarette and lighted it up, calming Jerry down from all the stress he had been through lately. Soon, Alice exited the door and looked at Jerry.

She wore a black frilly dress and it seemed to fit her well.

“What’s that?” Alice asked.

“Cigarette. Lead us to the front gate, Alice!” Jerry said with a sarcastic tone.

“Yea yea, follow me” She said before Alice took the lead.

As they walked down the hall and eventually arriving at the front gate, they found the 10 Demon Commanders in their human forms, concealing their horns and obvious features that screamed Demon. The Commanders held leather bags presumably filled with food for the travel. There were 12 black horses waiting for them by the front gate. Each horse had a saddle that had small pouches on the side of them. The Demon Commanders petted what was assumed their horses as each commander called the horses by name.

“So, which one is mine?” Jerry asked.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?” One of the commanders said.

Jerry looked at where the voice came from to find a white haired female with a solemn face wearing a light white dress. She seemed fairly petite and skinny with the dress on her.

“No”

The female sighed before walking to Jerry and placing her hand on Jerry’s face.

Her hand felt soft, but ice cold and at the same time felt soothing.

“There, now you do” She said before she returned back to her horse.

“Thanks uh”

“Halen. My name is Halen”

“Thanks, Halen”

Juliet then came with two horses with leashes on each hand.

“My Lord” Juliet said before handing Jerry the leash.

Juliet then went to Falk and handed her a leash as well.

“Where am I sitting?” Alice asked.

Jerry looked around as he placed his backpack on the back of his horse. The 10 Commanders looked away or started talking amongst themselves and Falk was mounting her horse.

“You can sit with me” Jerry said.

At that moment, the 10 Demon Commanders looked at Jerry and started volunteering to have Alice mount their horses.

“Please, mount my horse, Alice” Kasune said with a nervous look on her face.

“No, Alice, mount mine” Juliet said with a dignified voice.

“If you’d like, you can mount my horse” Harlen said stoically.

The rest of the commanders offered Alice multiple times, causing them all to turn into a loud mess where no body could be heard.

“Enough, she’s mounting my horse since you all seem to be unable to reach an agreement. Is that clear?” Jerry said having enough.

“Yes, My Lord” The commanders said sadly.

“Alright, everyone ready?” Jerry asked.

“We’re ready, My Lord” The Demon Commanders said with a bow.

“Yep” Falk said.

“When you’re ready” Alice said.

“Right, let’s a go” Jerry said, imitating Mario.

All 13 of them set out of the Demon Lord’s castle, towards the Empire now with Jerry’s intent of reporting what had happened.

‘Shit, I should’ve taken a way of identification’

‘I’ve brought the Demon Lord’s helmet’ Kasune said through Jerry’s mind.

‘Thanks. Keep it on you for now’ Jerry said.

‘As you wish, Jerry’ Kasune replied

Jerry could then feel the gaze of the commander’s gaze on his back, but continued to ignore it for fear of doing something that would get him killed.

It felt like time flied as Jerry rode his horse, staring off into the distance. Night soon came and the party decided to take a break in a clearing in the forest that surrounded the road to the Empire. Jerry set his equipment down as the party started to set up for the night. Roles were quickly decided as they were assigned according to skill.

Jerry and Alice went into the woods to help gather firewood for the party while the Commanders went to hunt and Falk set the camp up.

“Are you okay with me calling you just Jerry?” Alice asked out of the blue.

“What do you mean?” Jerry asked.

“Like, the rest of the commanders call you ‘My Lord’ while I just call you Jerry. Is that fine?”

“I honestly don’t care and it’d be a bit weird if you started calling me ‘My Lord’ now”

“Oh, I see”

“Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate it when you call me Jerry. It’s just that I don’t mind if you call me either”

“Then, can I call you Jerry?”

“You can call me a faggot for all I care”

Alice giggled a little bit as she collected firewood.

“Okay then, Jerry. Riddle me this. How did you get the commanders to accept you so easily? I was here before the Demon Lord came. When he came to power and took the commanders in, they were very resistant to him” Alice asked.

“Well Alice, riddle me this. How old are you and why do you know the commanders first and the Demon Lord second?” Jerry replied.

“I was taken when I was 8 years old by the commanders. I got lost in a forest when they came to save me. After that, I just stuck with them”

“I see”

“Now answer my question, you cheat”

“Hey, that’s not nice!” Jerry said sarcastically before giving a small laugh.

“You said I could call you anything, My Lord”

“Hiss, stop that!”

Alice laughed a little before silence broke in.

“Well, how did you?” Alice asked.

“Well, the previous Demon Lord was a creep. And I’m not a creep. So, yea” Jerry said.

“But they usually serve those that are better?”

“Makes sense. I shot them”

“What?”

“I beat them quickly”

“Yea right”

“Up to you to believe me. Anyway, I think this is enough firewood”

“I guess you’re right. Let’s head back now”

They both soon headed back to the campsite talking about things and telling jokes, all around having a good time.

When they arrived, they found the gazes of Falk and the commander’s resting on them.

“Welcome back, My Lord” Kasune said as she set down a deer corpse.

Alice quickly fell silent and started to work on the fire.

“Hey there, Kasune. Anything happening?” Jerry said.

“Nothing much, My Lord. Someone told me that you let Alice call you whatever?”

“Um, Yea, who told you that?”

“Don’t worry about it, My Lord” Kasune said before resuming her work.

“Why don’t I just eat the rations that we packed?”

“That’s for when we’re going. We’re taking a rest now, so we should hunt since the rations won’t spoil for a while” Alice said.

“Precisely” Juliet said.

“Since you two didn’t help, you can eat the rations we give you” Harlen said with a stoic voice.

“R-Right”

Soon, dinner was prepared and the food was handed out. Jerry was handed a ration by Kasune who insisted that she made more than she wanted. Falk received a ration from Juliet who made enough for two. Alice however, received no rations from anyone.

Jerry, feeling a bit guilty decided to split his ration to Alice. To do so, Jerry would hide his bowl with some soup left and wake Alice during the night.

Jerry ate very little that night, saving a good portion for Alice. He said that he was finished his food and went to dump it and as he left, hid it behind a tree. As the tents were settled, there was only 12 tents in total.

‘Who’s taking Jerry?’ Could be heard in his head.

‘I’m sorry?’

‘N-Nothing, My Lord’ Kasune said in his head.

‘Right’

Jerry went towards Alice to tell her about the plan.

“Share a tent with me?” Jerry whispered into Alice’s ear.

“W-What?” She said with a surprised tone.

“Shh. Keep it down. Do you want to share a tent with me”

“I-If you want to”

“Great. Come”

Jerry went into a tent before being followed by Alice. It was fairly tight, causing Jerry’s face to be very close to Alice’s. With a closer look with Alice, Jerry noticed that she had clear skin and had purple eyes. Jerry could feel Alice’s chest press up against his, causing him to be a bit embarrassed.

“Hey! What are you two doing?” Falk said.

“Sleeping. Now go away, Falk” Jerry said as he turned away.

Falk could be heard groaning along with the other commanders as they went away to their tents.

Alice could then be heard turning around, thus having their backs touch each other.

Jerry couldn’t sleep and could hear Alice’s heartbeat fairly loudly. It wasn’t easy for Jerry neither as his heart also beated hard and he couldn’t sleep.

Hours seemed to pass as Jerry waited there, feeling Alice’s heavy heartbeat.

“You awake?” Jerry asked.

“How could I sleep? Your heartbeat is keeping me awake!” Alice said.

“Your heart is beating hard as well!”

“T-That’s not important. What do you want?”

“Follow me” Jerry said as he exited the tent.

Alice soon exited the tent and stood up.

Jerry did a small stretch before heading towards the tree where he left the stew. They soon arrived and Jerry picked up the bowl and handed it to Alice.

“I had some, but there’s still a good bit left you can have” Jerry said.

“But didn’t you also take a si-” Alice got cut off.

“Take it or leave it”

Alice looked at the bowl before taking it from Jerry.

“Thank you” Alice could be heard saying under her breath.

“I’m gonna sleep outside. You can have the tent by yourself” Jerry said.

“W-What?”

Ignoring Alice, Jerry blinked away using his new powers on top of a tree where he kicked his leg up and slept the night away, feeling better now that he was away from Alice. Jerry looked into the sky to find that the sky was a lot more… clearer. It was clear before, but now, it seemed more calming. More blue, more light, more stars. Jerry stared off into the sky before he closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep.