3 02: The Demon King

Riding on the horses, they were ready to be on their way to the demon's territory where the demon king resided in.

Neale rode his horse closer to the hero, wanting to say something.

"Hero… Is it really alright?"

The hero didn't turn his head to look at him and replied, "Hm, what is?"

"I know that defeating the demon king will end our sufferings, however… even if we know where the demon king is, we don't know if we will be able to defeat him. The demon king is insanely strong, we humans never managed to defeat him for so many years. To suddenly..."

Hearing this, the holy saintess who rode with the great mage quickly looked at the holy knight with an annoyed face.

"What are you trying to say, Neale? Huh, what's up with your wimpy self? Of course, we will defeat him! We got Hero with us!"

Neale looked at her with surprise. "Saintess…" Then he laughed, "Yes, you're right. We got Hero with us indeed. Maybe this time it will be different."

The holy saintess crossed her arms and nodded confidently. "Yes! Hero is super strong! Definitely has to be stronger than that demon king!"

"Don't move too much or I'll throw you off the horse," the great mage spoke up as she lightly hit the holy saintess' head.

"Ouch! Hero, Shelara is bullying me!"

"Hey, hey… Calm down, you guys." Kasper shook his head looking at the lively scene.

The hero didn't pay attention, his eyes were on the road and his mind somewhere else. He wondered what the demon king looked like. It was probably like any other demon kings in typical fantasy novels or games. Big pair of horns, cloak, black wings, handsome and muscular. Powerful, evil, merciless, and cold. A smile crept across the hero's face. The demon king sounded as cliché as any part of this magical world. Everything he saw and heard so far was all predictable and cliché, so much that he found it ridiculous. The only interesting parts were the magic and the demons as they were both unscientific and imagination back in his own world.

When his mind drifted to the fact that he had to defeat the demon king he frowned. Could he truly take down the demon king? The king had sent so many heroes and fighters to defeat the demon king before him, but no one was able to succeed it. So what made him any different? That was right; he was from another world destined to defeat the demon king. At least that was what the little figure said, that it was impossible for him to not succeed.

The hero sighed.

"What are you thinking about, Hero?" Kasper asked curiously.

Looking sideways, the hero responded, "Ah, it's nothing. I'm just wondering how long we have left to get to our destination."

Kasper raised an eyebrow. "Well, it should take us three days I've heard. Not quite sure to be honest. Never gone too close to the demon's territory. That would be suicidal, I'll have to admit, with all the demons wandering around."

The closer they got to the demon's territory, the more demons they would see. Since it was where the demons come from the place would no doubt be swarmed with only demons, so their only choice was to march in and attack all the demons standing in their way. That wouldn't be a huge problem as Shelara could make use of her magic array and set a protection shield to ward off any attacks from outside, with the assistance of the holy saintess and the paladin. And that was exactly what they did.

However, the magic of the great mage wasn't limitless, neither was the power of holy saintess and the paladin. It was only a matter of time until it ran low. The number of demons was countless and at one point, the protection shield shattered as the hero and his comrades tried to get to the demon king's castle as quickly as possible.

"Oh no! There are too many of them!" Shelara shouted as she burned a demon with a fire spell. She felt that at this rate, with her current magic capacity, she wouldn't be able to make it.

Kasper gritted his teeth. The demon king's castle was within their sight but they were still yet close. Did they still have a chance against the demon king?

"When will this end?!" The holy saintess was annoyed to the point she felt like tearing up, but she refused to give up in front of the hero. No matter what happened, she absolutely wouldn't desist.

While the others were busy defending and attacking the demons, the hero was simply still. He didn't make a single move against the demons to assist his comrades. Instead, he looked around, confused. He had instantly noticed that the demons weren't interested in attacking him. No, that wasn't it. It wasn't like they weren't interested, but more like as if they were given an order not to make a move on him. But this left him kind of lost. For what reason? A thought arose in his mind and he immediately glanced at the castle surrounded by darkness.

As if his little action was a wake-up call, the ground trembled and the demons ceased their attacks. The hero's comrades who were in the middle of fighting were confused over what was happening.

Dark mist appeared in the sky and slowly dissipated, revealing a tall figure with a pair of huge wings. When the hero saw this, he knew who it was. Who else could it be but the demon king himself? Black hair, wings, cloak, and purple eyes.

The hero quickly put on his heroic act and directed his sword at the figure. "Are you the demon king? We are here to defeat the darkness once and for all!"

The man with wings calmly laid his eyes on the blonde-haired young man who should be the rumoured hero. "I see. So this is the legendary hero that I keep hearing about. Interesting."

The hero narrowed his eyes. With a serious face, he said, "Today shall be your death. You have caused the deaths of too many innocent people. Your sins are grave so today, I shall defeat you!"