3 A complicated past. [II]
I was a demon lord and my goal was to make a stable country that could survive without me… and then "die". I already did the former so... technically-
"I AM THE WINNER HERE!" A roar escaped my mouth as the Hero's sword delved deeper into my heart. My taunts worked! What a simpleton!
"HAHAHAHA! You pitiful woman!" I took the golden opportunity of our entanglement and drove my hand right through her sternum. "There's no way you would survive this! But I- the great demon lord prepared a resurrection spell right for this very moment! GWAK!" I threw up a little blood as she rotated her sword around.
She was almost unphased by my attack. Either that or she lacked the ability to feel like I did. But I highly doubted that. She probably just wanted to save face.
'Tch. This woman was not only pitiful but also needlessly prideful. A little groan or two would just alleviate her pain.' I wasn't worried it was just that her pain was a burden to me.
Just because I didn't say it out loud, it didn't mean that I was not in pain... I was! It hurt like a bitch! The only difference was that what hurt wasn't the pain inflicted on me physically.
The female warrior went silent for a second.
"What a coincidence." She suddenly said, smugly. I couldn't see her face but I bet there was a grin right across it. "I prepared one of those too."
"Eh?" It took me a little time to process her words because there should have only been one functioning resurrection spell. But they still didn't make any sense!
"EH?!" I reiterated trying to figure out what had happened.
'Did the church make one too? Nah, there's no way! Resurrection is a dark art you need a good relationship with the God of Death to make. So how?! Was she just bluffing? No w-'
"Oh, come on… why are you so surprised? Coming into enemy territory to fight the strongest being in existence was a suicide mission. Of course, I had back up.~" It was her turn to taunt. And vexing as it was- everything she said made complete sense, yet made no sense at all. For one reason-
"Where did you even get a spell like that from?! Resurrection is a dark art, you know?" One that I made and perfected. She shouldn't have had any access to it. Yet her confidence said otherwise.
"Why should I tell you?"
"Oh, come on. This is the last time we'll see each other. There's no harm in it. Rather, you'd benefit from getting the consultancy of a dark arts master like myself. If your product happens to be faulty, it'd be in your best interest to save the healer girl after killing me and then saving yourself." I baited her while drawing in her mana to activate the resurrection spell. I only needed a little. Her attribute was time manipulation after all.
I just hoped she fell for it. I had no plans of surviving this in the first place... she did.
"Hmph..." A sigh mixed with resignation. "I got mine at the Black market a couple of months ago. Surprisingly there was only one spell left in this era. It was really costly too." Uh-oh.
"Do you perhaps know the name of the previous owner?"
"Uhh... lemme th- ah! KingPin!"
Shidamnit.
The colour left my helmet covered face.
Black market? Black market?? How twisted could this mess be? What are the chances?
The only other resurrection spell I ever made and sold to the black market to pay off the debt I incurred from splurging. That market was the most hidden underground place to ever exist too. It was even more secretive than the entire nations hidden corps. Yet it somehow ended up in her hands.
You had to be kidding me!
DAMMIT! Why did it have to be her? It would've been much better if it was some random greedy old merchant. He would've died as soon as he used it. Just like I planned originally. But the Hero? She had time manipulation. This reincarnation spell was practically designed for her!
'Urghh! The grief, the twisted cogs of fate!'
Eek... I'm talking like my old self again.
Well, actually I was making this a much bigger deal than it had to be. Even if we reincarnated, it would probably be at different times anyways. Yeah, her reincarnation didn't matter. Yeah.
My brain took some time to calm down as we patiently stood in the hall piercing each other.
"That aside! How could you just casually stand there doing this to me?"
"Then what else am I supposed to do? Let you go?!" She loosened her grip and then shoved the sword in a little more.
"Gugg... Yeah, let me go already! We'll both die eventually anyway!" I pulled my hand a little back so the girthy part took up more space. She should be writhing in as much pain as me.
"Euuk…I'm not taking any chances here." She twisted her sword and let her mana attach itself to my innards for a better grip.
"Oh, how patriotic… miss I'm-a-hero-so-I'll-make-a-rational-decision!"
"This is just self-preservation." She replied haughtily.
"Oh! Now you think about self-preservation! What happened to self-preservation when you charged into the battle with those two dumbasses? Even dogs fight with more consideration than those two do!"
"Cut them some slack, they only had experience with monsters. Speaking of which, how could you bad mouth my companions when you didn't even bother calling your subordinates in today?" Well, that was because they would get in the way of my reincarnation by killing her. But she didn't need to know that.
"Ah, I couldn't. It was a national holiday. Comes with their workplace benefits."
"I don't know if I should laugh at your bad luck or just accept our victory…"
"It is slightly sad, huh?"
.
.
.
We reached the limits of our bodies after a bit. If you were to ask me, I didn't have any qualms with her personally. It was just that we ended up on different sides coincidentally. We were just fulfilling our roles.
"Khhwuuk!" I hurled out more blood from the holes in my helmet. "This is it then, I guess?"
"Yeah, I'm getting close to my limit too."
"Hey… can I ask something of you?"
"W-what now?" She stammered because she was holding in her pain. Such a hard-ass. I looked at her sincerely. Although I doubt she could see it.
"Take your helmet off." I said.
"Huh?"
"Take your helmet off."
"Why would I do that? Did you fall in love just by our little chat?" It was pretty sad that she thought that that interaction counted as a chat but I let it pass nonetheless. "What's wrong with yo-"
"Quiet, hero wench! I just want to know what my murderer looks like." I'd known that she was on my tail for five whole years. Yet she never showed her face even once. Ever since she became a hero her visage became a mystery to everyone who knew of her existence.
'I will be the first being to ever know what the hero looks like!'
"Nuh-uh… I won't show you my face even if you beg me."
"Is it ugly? Is that why you never showed your face to people? I promise I won't judge your appearance. The curiosity is killing me." Hehe… what a professional liar. Even she would've fallen for that charming speech. In reality, if she didn't look like how I pictured her, I'll laugh right on her face.
"S-shut up! There's no way I'd show my face to a fiend like you!" That stammer was due to her fluster. Definitely.
"Tsk. Guess I don't have a choice then." I gathered up the last bit of my mana and flicked her helmet off myself. I wasn't the good guy after all…
Tied up light pink hair resembling the dusk sky and diamond-like iridescent eyes. Her nose, much like her face, was pretty small. She couldn't have been that old. I was mesmerized. Demons were flamboyantly coloured. It was their way of showing dominance.
And the Hero looked like she could top that race anytime.
I was mesmerized until W pulled the sword to her side making both of us lose focus and fall onto the ground.
"Demon lord! You really are the worst!"
"Oh come on, I was just curious. It's not like that killed you."
"ARGHHH!"
I pulled my hand back out of her cardiac cavity. She pulled her sword out too. Both of us rolled over to face the broken roof of my castle. White light trickled down that muddy chamber. The clouds had parted and the midnight moon was in sight.
"Hufff." She sighed. "Your perverse action aside, I'm a bit scared. What if the magic doesn't work? It would mean the end for me, right? I already spent my entire life fighting and I met my grave doing that too. That's way too tragic."
"Don't say that… I'm sure it'll work." Of course, it would, I made it.
"What's even sadder is that the last person I'm talking with is the one who killed me."
"Oi… you killed me first!"
"Don't sweat the small stuff. Huff… I just hope that I don't reincarnate the same time you do. You'd be a pain to deal with."
"I couldn't agree more. Ugh." I placed my hand on my chest.
"Demon bitch?" The trashy woman lying next to me called out.
"I guess it's time, huh?"
"Demon bitch?" An arm pushed me to check if I was alive. But I barely had the energy back to reply. "Demon- oh whatever… he's probably dead." She scoffed.
UUUUU! That heartless woman ground my gears without any lube!
My eyes slowly shut under their own weight as I fell into my slumber. A slumber that would last an eternity and would result in me getting birthed as a human would.
###
And now here I was, post flashback.
Lying in a cradle, facing a woman holding a daughter. A daughter who bore an uncanny resemblance to the woman who killed me. Not her hair, not her eyes. Just her being as an entirety. Her soul was definitely the one from back then.
'This really is a farce. Does she recognize me? Did she retain her memories?'
All these questions yet not a single answer- or so I thought. Upon gazing at my infant self, the girls face twists in disgust.
Her lips curl up as if she was about to say something, but-
"PTOO!" A blob of spit landed on my face.
.
.
.
'THIS IRREDEEMABLE LITTLE PIECE OF -! URGH!! I CAN'T EVEN -! URGH!'
'Just get this wench out of here! I don't want to deal with this right after this long a slumber!'
"UWEIN!" I cried to draw my parents' attention and slapped my hand on the bed.
"WEEH!" She wailed to draw hers'. What a melodramatic gremlin!
'This really is a farce!'
"UWEIN!!!"
"WEEEEHH!!"
I can't believe that this was my new life. That this was the actual beginning of the story about a demon king who reincarnated in the modern world!!!*
*the abominable hero wench included inside.
