Has it been already one year since I stayed at this place? Time truly passed so fast.

While it was not a very eventful year, I have made considerable progress in term of my power level. Even though it was just training, I was on able to hold on my own against Mephisto and Naberius. Well I did hold back by not using all of my unique abilities from the old demon lords but we did not fight with our life on the line so it was difficult to tell.

Now my lesson with Naberius consisted only of spars since he ran out of things to teach me. The same could be said with Amelia but she refused to fight with me.

I have also mastered many more tricks from the Abyss. Not only did I find new Legacies, I have modified and improved those I already had. I discovered this by pure luck while spending time studying those abilities. However I was still not able to unlock Xenes' power because there was no dragon in this continent and I did not think I was ready to face one yet.

As for Alice, she shocked me when Naberius took her as his apprentice. Apparently she had incredible strength and speed, even able to handle Naberius' axe with ease. I did not object her to train with him however. I was worried about her but I believed that she could take care of herself and she might need those skills one day. If I ever intended to be the demon lord, people would target me and those close to me. I could not afford to lose anyone again.

"Hey Alastor, what are you thinking about?"

I was currently in the Abyss. There were a dozen of shadows surrounding me, or rather they used to be shadow. Once I made a pact, or received the Legacy, from a shadow, they took on their original colorful form instead of just being a creepy black mist. And of course these shadows were those I made a pact with, except for Xenes who did not like hanging out with the others.

The guy who was just speaking to me was Lucifer. Once a celestial, he became the demon lord after refusing to obey the order of those above him. Quite ironic for a guy who used to kill demon to become the king of demons himself. But this guy was very short-tempered and just wanted to kill everything so even I had trouble to control myself when I used his Legacy.

"Nothing. Just reminiscing what happened for the last year. That's all." I said to him.

"Boring. You are just going to rust here. Just go out there and kill those damn Primes!" Lucifer said with an irritated voice.

"Perhaps you are right. My teachers don't have anything to teach my anymore. Staying here any longer won't get me stronger. But I worry about Alice. I don't want to endanger her by bringing her with me." I contemplated.

"Then just leave her here. She is just going to be a burden for us..." Lucifer grunted.

"Say that one more time Lucifer!" I raised my voice.

"I am only saying the fact." As he said, he vanished into thin air.

"Forget what he said Alastor!" It was Asmodeus. A few of the new powers I got was thanks to her negotiation skills.

"Hehehe! Things might quite different from what you said Lucifer. Never judge a book by its cover!" another shadow joined the conversation.

It was Nyx. He was an elderly human mage who was fascinated with demons and ended up being one. The guy seemed a bit crazy, always talking in a cryptic way or babbling about something no one understood.

I started to get tired of these conversations. But what Lucifer said about leaving here did cross my head several times in these recents days. I should discuss to Mephisto about leaving this place. But what of Alice? needed to check with Alice first.

....

....

....

"Alice I was thinking...." I tried to find the right words to speak.

"What is this brother? I am listening. You can talk to me." Alice smiled at me.

"I am thinking about leaving this place and I want to talk about it with you."

"I will stay here" Alice swiftly answered.

"But...." I spoke but she continued.

"I will just be a burden with the way I am right now. But don't worry about me. I will join you once I am more capable. I want to protect you too little brother, not the other way around. I am the older one after all." She softly explained to me.

KNOCK KNOCK. Someone knocked on the door outside.

"If you don't mind me joining the chat." the door opened with Mephisto entering the room. "I could not help but hearing your conversation from the dialogue. But this is perfect, Alastor. I also agree that you should leave this place, go on your own adventure."

"I have learnt all I could here. If I want to get stronger, I need to go on a journey. To see the world with my own eyes. Only then can I decide to accept being the demon king or not." I said to Mephisto.

"And that's perfectly reasonable. Please don't worry about Alice. We will take care of her until you return." Mephisto divulged.

With that, we decided that I would depart the next morning with Stella. While I still had some doubts about Alice, she reassured me that she would be fine by herself and I should think more about me instead.

And so my adventure finally began.

* * *

"What is this about leaving the demon realm? I can't believe he decided just like that without consulting us." Asmodeus was not happy. She thought it was too early for a boy like Alastor to go on an adventure, even with someone else like Stella. "It's all because of you, Lucifer. Putting that idea into his head"

"Oh please! He already thought of it before I even mentioned it. That boy thinks just like me. It would be great if he turns out to be as outstanding as I am." Lucifer mused.

"Oh great! Becoming a psycho going around killing everyone he meet is just the thing he needs. I knew I could not trust you when you voluntarily made a pact with him." Belz joined the fray.

"The problem is that if he is found out as the demon lord, the whole world will be looking for him to kill him." Asmodeus added.

"Perfect! Then he can get even more training that way. What better to improve yourself than killing those powerful?" Lucifer jested.

"What if they send the hero ? He is certainly not ready to go against the hero by himself." Asmodeus asserted.

"That won't happen" A loud grave voice came from above. A giant dark sphere with a shining crimson dot like an eye descended.

Asmodeus and the others did not understand what Magnus was talking about. Ever since the beginning of time, whenever the Demon Lord appeared, the Hero would also follow. The Gods made sure of that.

"What do you mean it won't happen?" Asmodeus asked Magnus. But the answer she got only made her more anxious. Magnus looked above with his red eye as if he was talking to someone else and not her.

"Can you feel it Eden? How we shake the entire Heavens. Your Hero won't come and your minions are surrounded by darkness. And when you decide to come out of your throne, we will be there for you. Ha ha ha! HA HA HA HA HA!"

* * *

Looking out the window, Mephisto watched as Alastor and Stella leaving the castle. Noroeth and Amelia were also there with him. The news of Alastor leaving shocked everyone, except for Mephisto.

"I still cannot agree with this. He is just a boy. Why did you let him go like that?", an angry Noroeth expressed his view.

"We have nothing more to teach him. If we want what's best for him, for him to grow, then this is the best course of action. It's not like I don't understand your concerns but remember that he is the one who wants this. I ask that you respect his decision." Mephisto answered firmly.

Noroeth cluched his staff. He wanted to say something but held back. In his heart he knew he would have to let the boy go find his own path one day. He just did not expect it so soon.

"Anyway we still have a lot of things to do. If things go according to plan, Alastor will come back in two years. Until then we need to prepare our force. Amelia, how are things down at Tartarus?" Mephisto changed the subject.

"Ten thousands undeads ready. Take a bit more time because we don't have any corpse so I need to create undead by myself. From Naberius, about five hundreds Storm Wolves, six hundreds Hell Hounds and one thousand beastmen. As for Azurus, it's a bit unclear but at least one hundred basilisks and ten hydras."

"Azurus, despite his personality, always surprises me with his findings. Where does he even find those monsters? But never mind. As for the undead, it's a bit less than my calculations. I will try to ask the supplier for more." Mephisto commented on Amelia's report.

"Funny how it was from those human merchants we get the corpses. Even though they knew we are demons." Amelia chuckled.

"If there is one thing I know about human, it's they care only about themselves, more than anything. They might speak some brave words but in the end it's to each his own. Wars keep those merchants profits. And that's exactly what we are giving them. Trust me! I know how despicable human can get." Mephisto clenched his heart as he spoke those words. "Anyway if there is nothing else, you may go!"

Amelia excused herself and leaved the room. Noroeth was on his way to the door before he heard from Mephisto again.

"Noroeth, to properly answer your question earlier, Alastor is no longer a boy. He might look like one but he is a capable man. Something his father did not have." Mephisto spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"King Asgore was a brave and strong man. I will not deny it. But there is something he lacked. Something all rulers must have: cruelty. He chose not to kill those who invaded our lands, even those who tried to kill him. I understand his reasons though. He thought peace could be reached if he refused to fight.

But this world does not work like that. No matter how much you wish for peace, it won't come. Not without a price. And in many case, that price is your own conscience. Cruelty is not about enjoying the suffering of your enemy. Cruelty is about being prepared to make the difficult decision, whether you like it or not. When you decide to sacrifice one hundred to save a thousand. That's cruelty. When you kill a child to save a country, that's cruelty.

As for Alastor, it's too soon to say if he is capable of that kind of cruelty but at least I know this: he is not of afraid of killing.

Which raises the question: when the day comes, when Alastor ask you to lead his army, will you be able to kill your own countrymen?

Please think about it the next time you refer to him as a boy."

Noroeth was left speechless. Mephisto took off from the room. As he walked through the hall, memories of his past, when he was still human, came back to him. The people he betrayed. The sins he committed. The children.

"This child will be my final sin. I do not expect nor do I deserve forgiveness. Please just wait a little bit more everyone! Your teacher will come home soon!"

* * *

"Stella where should we go first?" I asked Stella.

I decided to leave Alice at castle to continue her training while Stella would be coming with me. But I thought even if I did not want to, she would still follow me anyway. Still having a companion helped ease the boredom of adventure and the person I trusted most was Stella.

She had assisted me with many tasks during my stay at the demon castle: training, studying. I could not think of a moment without her around me. Even when I slept, she just sat next to me, watching me I guessed. It was a bit unsettling at first, knowing someone was staring at you the whole night when you slept but I fathomed you could get use to anything with time.

She said she had no need for sleeping as she was a doll. I assumed that every construct needed to recharge its power, or mana supply every there and then but Stella was special since she was the last creation of the Artificier so she did not need any power source.

"I will follow everywhere you go." she answered me.

Guess I should decide then. I wanted to go to the Mara continent but it meant that we needed to travel by sea and that meant a port. There was also a hidden way not many knew of.

Actually the continent of Mara and Ragna was linked by a series of underground tunnels, passing even under the sea. It was because Ragna used to be linked to Mara until an earthquake sunk a portion of the land, separating Ragna and Mara. But now that land was still under the sea and linked the two continents.

I decided to choose the sea road as I have never seen the sea before. And so we headed towards the coast to the south, hoping to find a town and harbor.

The castle was located in the southern part of Ragna so it would take a few days by foot to reach the coasts. Although this was the demon territory, occasionally group of humans could be spotted wandering around. Some were adventurers hoping to find something of value. Others were bandits and slavers who took refuge around the coast.

If there was one thing I hated, it was slavery. Taking away someone else's freedom for your own gain, making them despicable things I would rather not name.

I have heard that these slavers not only captured people of their own race to sell back at Mara, but also demons. In truth, demons were well known for being slaves, especially humanoid ones.

And the fate of the demon slaves was sealed the moment they got caught. They would be branded so people could recognize them. To make matter worst, they were considered as mere entertainment tools and even if they managed to escape, it would be only a matter of time before someone else killed them as people of Mara did not take kindly of wandering demons.

After two days of unexciting, saved for a few monsters encounter during the way, we finally arrived at a small town. This would be the first town I visited ever since I left Caine.

And it was disappointing. By that I meant all the drunkards lying on the streets, the ground covered in dirty mud. By the look of it, it seemed they were slavers, with the slaves locked in those cages.

As I passed through, the slaves were inside cages so small like dog cages that they had to bend themselves to fit in. There were all kind: human, elf, beastman and demons. The reason I recognized they were demon because they were marked with a brand on their arm or leg. How sickening!

If I did not want to reveal myself I would have burn this place to ashes. Lucky for them we needed a boat and a crew to traverse the sea. But I would not be pushed around. If it came to it, I might just let go my rage.

It seemed our presence did not go unnoticed. Thanks to her gloves hiding her wooden hands, Stella could be passed by as a normal human girl, an alluring one. Crossing the town, I could sense the stares from those tipsy shitheads looking at Stella. How they drooled at her.

And now I was surrounded by a bunch of guys in grimy clothes. Look like bandits, trashes. One of they went up to me.

"What's up little boy? Got lost from your mama? Hahaha" a muddy bandit said.

"I would appreciate if you stick your stinking mouth away from me. Me and my sister here would like to cross the sea." I said to him.

"Gutsy! I like it brat. So you want to cross the sea. But it's not cheap you know." the jerk continued.

"I have the money. Question is do you have a boat?" I asserted.

"You hear that boys? He got the money. Well I do have a boat. But I may need something else, aside from the money you know." the guy babbled. He started to irritate me. "If your sister is ok to spend a night with me, I will think about it."

"And ask your mother too. Hehehe. I will take care of her for you." another voice came from the crowd.

"...."

"Stella if you please...." I said to Stella.

"That's what I am talking about, boy. You sure know how to negotiate."

"....go ahead and burn this town. Spare the slaves if you can!" I finished.

In an instant Stella made a crystal cutter and stuck it into the bandit. Blood gushed out his neck and he fell down, dead.

"She killed him. That bit..." another bandit yelled. It was the bastard who talk about my mother earlier. But I used a wind spell to cut his legs off before he could even finish.

I was not supposed to be able elemental magic since I got no elemental affinities. But I found a way to fix this problem. The reason I could not use them was because I need an element inside my body to convert the pure mana into elemental mana, necessary to cast spell of that element. But thanks to Nyx's special ability, , I could summon elemental orbs, which would serve as catalyst to cast the spell for me. All I needed to do was pour in the pure mana into these floating orbs around me and it would do the rest.

As the guy screamed in pain, I grabbed his head and whispered into his ears.

"You may insult me. You may try to kill me. I get it. But if you talk bad or try to hurt my family, I will find you. I will break your limbs! I will gut your heart and shove it down your throat! And finally I will shatter your soul so no one would known you even existed.

Rejoice since I am in a good mood today so I only take your legs. Next time, it would something more .... interesting"

Upon seeing two of their people got cut down like nothing, the bandits started screaming and ran away. 'This will be fun!' I thought.

"Stella I will take care of this part of town. Can you check the other part?" I said.

"Of course Alastor!" and there she went.

"Now how should we do this?" I asked myself. "How about this?"

I cast a fireball, and another and another. Just because you lived by the sea didn't mean you were safe from fire.

A few bandits gathered and started sprinting toward me with their axes and sword. There were even some archers behind.

Finally some resistance. But it would not change much. Look how they burned. Like moth to flame they ran toward the fire. Until only ashes remained.

It seemed I kinda lost myself a bit there. The smell of burning flesh was filling the air. Except for the slaves inside the cage who I intentionally avoided, everything else in the area has already turned to dust, houses or men alike.

Time to free those slaves. As I went near the cages, the slaves held inside trembled in fear. It was a natural reaction I guessed. A kid just killed a few dozens people in front of them after all.

Perhaps I should show my good wills. I made a finger snap and the cages cracked open.

"Stay away demon!" as soon the door was gone, the slaves ran and fled into the woods. So this was what I got for helping people.

But there was a few still staying where they were. As I thought they were demons. But not all of them. A young human boy around my age I guessed was covering his ears and shutting his eyes, while shivering in fear.

"Hey are you ok ?" I tried to touch him but a female elf jumped to his side and bowed her head.

"Please don't hurt the young master! I beg of you!!! He is just a boy."

Brown hair with dark eyes in a half torn rag. And she had the brand on her left arm. So she was a demon. But why did she protect him? I thought someone like her would jumped at the chance to kill her master.