Demon King

It took longer than we thought for rumors to spread among the humans. Since all means of communication, including the internet and telephones, had long since stopped working, the only way to communicate was through magic. It still only took three hours, however.

“Don’t believe that. There’ll be enemies there.”

“But who are our enemies? Is it Korea?”

“No, it’s Japan.”

“You idiots, it’s China!”

The condition of Earth was serious. Some obstacles laid in the path of the thinking skills of those in charge. Almost all of them were unaware of what waited for them as they accepted everything going on and waiting to sink with the world. There must be a clear reason, but they didn’t have one. They didn’t know who they were fighting for, so they resigned themselves as it couldn’t be avoided.

Even those who stood on the frontlines were the same. Pseudo-religious groups were popping up everywhere, and bombings were becoming more frequent. If there were an end to the century, it would look like this. Did Lucifer create this scene alone? I didn’t think so. He wasn’t powerful enough to manipulate billions of humans. If so, was it because of me? That wasn’t the entire reason, either.

The outbreak of dungeons, the lack of a leading group, the pressure of Elakatra, and the Chaos Souls movement. There was also my influence. But even more than that was the passivity and resignation of humans.

Nothing changes, even if I’m active.

Let’s live the best we can.

Let’s give up.

No matter how hard you work, you can’t avoid death.

I gave up, so I hope others will too.

It’s unfair that only I will die, so I want to kill others.

You can’t avoid war.

Even if I know that things are wrong, I’d be foolish to speak up.

I’ll die first.

So.

If so…

So they do nothing but continue to die and kill. Therefore, this war was a catastrophe that had been steadily repeating throughout mankind’s history. However, the power of the demon legion was overturning that history. A, G, O, R, and Batsago had taken their corps onto the other continents on Earth at the same time I was moving. In just seven hours, Eastern Europe had been cleared up. In another two, the battles in Asia subsided. Thanks to the power of the legion, we were capable of mass movements and tremendous strikes.

We conquered the Earth at a speed that couldn’t be beaten. When L was tired, Rain would take over. They would switch back and forth like this, and I would move when I needed to dominant the land.

“This is the Demon King!”

“They are…?”

“He’ll take everything. The history of mankind will end here!” Humans wandered about, creeping into the pit of destruction with their own two feet as they called me a disaster. I looked at them and said nothing. I was too tired to try and refute them.

“Fate, I’ll take care of it.”

“There probably won’t be a big battle in this country.”

“Not after everything has already gone into Lucifer’s stomach.” I had no time to wait for these humans to figure it out independently, which is why I was left with this method.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“My head hurts…!”

“I can’t resist…” There was no way to make sure everyone was happy; that there were no tears. The hero struggled to make everyone laugh, but I couldn’t be that hero. I didn’t want to be such an arbitrary hero. Even if you knew your actions threw someone in despair, you had to self-proclaim goodness and justice. So I had to choose a scapegoat to protect us all. I made sacrifices of humans and the fallen angels.

“You will stop here and obey me.” Once you’ve chosen a method, you couldn’t stop. The three of us expanded our territory at a rate overwhelmingly faster than the other corps. Maybe it was because I was the ruler that it was easier to place the humans under my control. I had received a report from the others as I reached the end of the current continent.

“I will kill all of you!”

“This child. The world and society are collapsed. Do you still have laws to keep?” The battlefields were full of anger and resentment, but the battles here were filled with so much hatred it was visible. Not that it mattered much to me. L, who had witnessed it all with me, raised a calming arm to me.

“There’s not much left to do.”

“I’ll take care of this one.”

“No, I’ll take care of it.”

“But L, you…”

“I’ll do it. Fate is resting.” They treated me like a child, so I tried to do everything on my own, taking care to show no exertion. It wasn’t very pleasant, but I didn’t understand what they were thinking. In particular, looking at L’s desperate expression, if I tried to go against her, she might cry. I decided to use Predation’s power to absorb the energy as I was deprived of things to do, but G contacted me.

[Fate, Western Europe seems to be organized. What now?]

“Make sure they know my name. I want no humans to be outside of my chain of Domination.”

[And?]

“Take care of the dungeons left in your area.”

[Alright.]

The dungeons’ restoration was gradually progressing thanks to Rebellion and the heavenly warriors, and now the added help of the demon corps. Batsago said we have three weeks, but at this rate, it would take less than one before everything would be ready. Of course, it was still unclear whether I would be strong enough to crush everything that awaited me.

“Kuhh, you…you are…!” I turned my head. There was only one man left, standing under the power of L. She shrugged at me. I could take him down in seconds.

“Who are you…?” His words were so cliched I wanted to laugh. Instead, out of honor of his strong will, I decided to answer sincerely.

“I am the king of demons.”

“Will the age of humans really end like this?”

“There’s no more time for you humans to kill each other. But yes. Take heart in that I have no intention of killing you, or making you kill each other.” I was surprised at myself from the lack of emotions in my words. I smiled bitterly at him, but he seemed to take my words differently.

“Well then, those traitors…with my own hands…!” At his limit, the man kneeled beside his weapon and said nothing more. He lost all of his energy and fainted under the power of L.

Only

‘Traitor…?’ I looked around at those who had fallen before him, a thought coming to mind. The same pattern on his armor was stamped on theirs as well. These people were fighting so desperately, even though they belonged to the same group. It was pathetic, but I wasn’t any different from them.

“Fate?”

“… It’s nothing.” I remembered the relationship between Lucifer and myself, just for a moment. His appearance, his true intentions. Indeed we were…

[Captain, I found the Black Palace.]

The report from Cain arrived, dispersing the thoughts in my head.

“I’ll be back in a bit. Rain, please.”

“Alright.” There were only two remaining Black Palaces. The time when the pocket watch would reveal itself was approaching.

I opened the gate, unsure if it would lead me forward or backward as it flashed black before me.