Ch 1: Demon Lord, You Lost

On the pitch-black throne sat a tall Demon Race member, the heavy armor, its dull and lusterless color, all underscored the identity of the Lord on the throne—the Demon King.

Below the throne, a tall black-haired man pointed his sword at the Demon King. His expression was grave, his fangs subtly revealed, as if he were the one who should be sitting on the throne.

“Demon King, your subordinates have all been defeated by me. Next is you. Are you ready!”

The man stepped forward, the tip of the longsword in his hand never pointed elsewhere.

“Hmph, a mere Human Hero. This King has never feared, and will never regret. Since you have come before me, I presume you are prepared to die.”

The armor on the throne slowly rose, drawing a spear from the void. In a voice filled with magic and might, it issued a threat to the Hero below.

“Enough talk. Let’s fight, you heinous Demon King.”

“Heinous? A joke! We of the Demon Race have always merely wished to live in peace and stability. Is that wrong?!”

The Hero, after hearing the Demon King’s sophistry, sheathed his sword and charged towards the Demon King with incredible speed, swinging his sword at the Demon King.

“But you invaded our human world, slaughtering countless humans! Is that the peace and stability you speak of?!”

The Demon King used the spear to block the Hero’s lightning-fast strike. Though he didn’t retreat, he was also frozen in place. After a moment, the Demon King silently activated his magic, countless black orbs erupting from behind his armor and flying towards the Hero.

“Countless people are displaced and exiled because of you! Some even starve to death on the streets! Is this the stability you desire?! Sanctuary!”

The Hero leaped back, activating his defensive magic. A pure white barrier enveloped the man clad in silver armor.

“You…is it all true?”

The Demon King stood in place, spear in hand, the red light emanating from his helmet dimming.

“Why would I lie to you? You know what you’ve done.”

The Hero attacked the Demon King again, but the magic swirling around the Demon King prevented him from getting close. The two locked in a standoff, engaging in a magical competition.

“Impressive magic, but it’s no match for mine. This little scuffle should end. I’ll defeat you, then reconsider my national policy.”

With that, purple light flashed in the Demon King’s Palace. To annihilate the Hero, the Demon King unleashed the Great Magic [Extinction], simultaneously lunging at the Hero with his spear at incredible speed.

“You say I slaughtered humans. What about you? Didn’t you humans also kill members of our Demon Race? Last year, a kind Cat Demon mother transformed into human form to go to a human City to buy food and toys for her child. But when you humans discovered she was a member of the Demon Race, you imprisoned and brutally tortured her. You executed her in front of everyone while she was barely alive! Is that your idea of not abusing the populace? Do you exterminate us simply because we are different races?”

The Demon King denounced the cruelty of humanity while attacking the Hero. The Hero’s armor sustained considerable damage, and a wound was inflicted on his face.

Thus, both sides continued to accuse each other of cruelty, while simultaneously countering each other’s attacks. The battle between the man and the demon lasted three hours.

“It’s over, Hero. [Extinction] is fully charged. I will put an end to our mutual acts of aggression. Extinction, activate!”

In an instant, the entire Demon King’s Palace was filled with intense purple light. The light engulfed both of them, and then the entire place where the Demon King’s Palace stood became a bottomless pit.

“It’s not over yet, Demon King.”

A bloody smile played on the Hero’s lips. Both lay impaled by each other’s weapons not far from the pit, in the forest.

The Hero pulled the spear from his body, yet no blood flowed.

“Whew, close call. I almost died. Good thing I have one last use of my Transcendent Power. Alright, Demon King, stop playing dead. Get up.”

After saying this, the Hero pulled his longsword from his armor.

“Or I’ll smash this armor to pieces.”

“…”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One…”

Seeing that the armor showed no signs of moving, the Hero felt a little uneasy. Although he had exterminated countless Demon Race members, he had never killed any of them. He only executed those who posed a real threat to humanity. During the previous battle, he sensed that the Demon King didn’t seem to intend to harm humanity, so at the moment the Great Magic was activated, he escaped the magic’s range with the Demon King.

The Hero sat beside the armor. He was certain he hadn’t struck the Demon Race member inside the armor, because he hadn’t felt the sensation of piercing flesh. This piqued his curiosity; what kind of Demon Race member was inside this armor? After waiting for five minutes, he began dismantling the pitch-black Demon King Armor himself.

“This…this is…”

Inside the armor wasn’t a muscular man, nor a ferocious-looking Demon Race member, but a Cat Demon Tribe girl. She appeared to be about sixteen human years old, with beautiful features and a little baby fat that added to her childish charm. Silver hair fell around her, and the cat ears on her head made the Hero want to pet them. However, the girl’s clothing inside the armor was very thin, and her 36D chest made the Hero unsure where to look. He sighed softly and covered her with his cloak.

One hour later.

“An unfamiliar ceiling.”

The girl opened her eyes and murmured as she gazed at the trees above.

“Is this heaven?”

“No, this is the forest 300 meters from your home. Want some water?”

“Ah, thank you… pfft!”

The girl took the water bottle the Hero offered, took a sip, then noticed something was wrong. Upon seeing the black-haired man beside her, she sprayed the water out.

“How are you here?! Why am I here? Wait, where’s my armor? I remember activating Extinction. Why am I still alive?!”

“Calm down. Simply put, Demon King, you lost. I took you out of the magic’s range when you activated Extinction. Your armor is probably scrap metal now.”

The Hero looked at the girl Demon King in front of him and pointed to the armor he had dismantled into scrap metal.

“But this is the first time I’ve learned that a Demon King is a beautiful Cat Demon Tribe girl. By the way, my name is Bal Kress. What’s yours? I can’t keep calling you Demon King.”

“I… I’m Phia… um… what will you do with me?”

Phia looked at Bal, her heart pounding anxiously. Her cat ears drooped. Suddenly, a large hand stroked her head. Instinctively, she rubbed against it. This was an interaction she and her father often shared during her childhood.

After two rubs, Phia’s head froze. She remembered she was in the hands of her enemy, and the Great Magic had just drained much of her magic. She stiffly turned her head towards Bal, as if she could hear the sound of unslubricated metal grinding against metal.