32 – Demon General
Pop! A light crackling sound echoed through the throne room.
One of the mirrors that was suspended in the air had shattered, its fragments fell and chimed like a bell.
“Witness this sight.”
Beyond the mirror that the Demon King pointed to, a man was desperately gripping his spear. He trembled with terror and tears streamed down his face as he tried to drive his weapon through a monster.
‘Stay back! Don’t come any… Ahhh!’
In that instant, a beast lunged from his side and sank its fangs into his neck.
Crack. The mirror shattered, and the image faded.
“They struggle and resist. But in the end, they perish.”
The unfolding scene in the mirrors was racing towards its inevitable conclusion.
A horde of monsters swept through the battlefield, their merciless fangs laying waste to the humans.
‘H-hold them back! Freezing Moon—ahhh!’
‘Hurry! Cast! Please…magic…work…! Ahhh!’
They waved the useless wands with desperation, but to no avail.
‘Captain! Captain! Answer me! The monsters… Ahhh!’
‘Where should we run!? Tell us!!’
The humans shouted into their tags as they were cut down.
‘Noo! I do not want to die! I don’t want…!’
‘God! Sir Hero! Please! Return to us…!’
Even as they called to their god and Hero, they continued to die.
And one by one, the mirrors shattered.
Their final moments, faces frozen in terror and despair, vanished as corpses piled ever higher.
“There they are, beneath our feet. Consumed by grief, shouting in despair, and sinking into the mire of death…”
The Demon King’s heart swelled with quiet, profound delight.
“If Heroes exist to punish evil and give hope to the people, then Demon Kings exist to crush goodness and bring despair upon the world. That is my true calling. And this is the beautiful state the world is meant to be in.”
Beyond the dwindling number of mirrors, the dominion of death spread relentlessly. Blood, flesh, and entrails stained and defiled the earth.
“And yet…”
As though separated by a thin wall, there remained one place beyond the Demon King’s influence.
There stood the Demon General, his towering frame imposing, his massive double-headed axe held at the ready.
And then there was the kobold, wielding the power of a divine vessel and standing with courage far greater than his diminutive body should have possessed.
It was as if the ground itself had been consecrated. The patch of earth where the two stood remained in its original form, untouched by the devastation surrounding them.
“Even amid such a vast sea of corruption, there are those who remain untainted. That is also beauty of the purest kind.”
With a sweep of his hand, the Demon King scattered the countless lesser mirrors. And in their place, a single enormous mirror filled with the image of Sheto and Berganda.
“Let us see if you can entertain me.”
As the Demon King looked on, the two figures kicked off the ground at the same instant, closing the distance between them in a heartbeat.
“Show me my beloved monsters. Dance and cross your blades.”
Their weapons clashed. And at that instant when steel met steel, a burst of light flared within the world of darkness.
The battle had begun, quite literally, with sparks flying.