My name is Cyrus

Once every hundred years, when the moon glows red, the Demon Lord will awaken from his slumber and wreak havoc across the land.

People both awaited and feared this dreadful day. A hero would arise from among the masses, adventurers would travel forth in search of fame, and many would perish from the demon's wrath.

Like times before, the moon glowed red, and the Demon Lord did awaken, but nothing came after. Did a hundred years not pass? Is the Demon Lord biding his time? Only one person knew.

The fifteen-year-old boy who arrived in town, not long after the red moon, sporting short white hair and eyes yellow like the sun. His skin was pale like the white moon, and a small horn came out from the left side of his head.

"A demon-kin after a red moon? Are you sure you want to be here, boy?" The guild master asked.

"I could go anywhere and receive that same warning," The boy replied, looking up to the guild master.

The guild master had a thick black beard and looked as strong as a bear. His hair was balding, but his eyes had seen their fair share of adventures years ago.

"Ha, that's true, boy, well if anyone gives you trouble, come find me, I'll straighten things out for ya. Now sign your name, and I'll get ya started," The guild master offered as he sported a huge grin.

"Thank you." Leaning in, the boy wrote the name Cyrus down upon the paper.

"Here you are, Cyrus," The guild master handed Cyrus a wooden tag.

"The beginning rank is wooden?" Cyrus questioned, as the ranks he was aware of were all named after metals.

"We get so many people that end up dead on their first encounter that it became pointless to give them anything of value. Oh, it's not just the wooden tag as there's a stone tag that's the same rank, but wood is more common around here than stone," The guild master explained.

"I understand, so what would you recommend as a good quest for me?" Cyrus asked.

"We don't have quests for beginners, but we offer coin on the types of monsters you slay. Just bring back something like an ear or an eye," The guild master stated.

"Then I better head out, thank you for your help," Cyrus waved goodbye and headed outside.

Barely a few steps outside, and three other men step out of the guild behind him, "hey demi!" a young man yells out.

Cyrus would turn to face the man and his two companions. One had a sword strapped to his side while the other two had a quiver of arrows. He assumed the three of them were brothers as they all had a similar face, the one with a sword had long blonde hair with a ponytail, and the other two had shorter hair. Beyond that, Cyrus was at a loss but figured other humans could tell them apart.

"Demi's like you don't belong here, especially since a red moon was out, with your half-demon blood, you'll turn against the town," the swordsman scowled.

Cyrus couldn't help but chuckle. Being the Demon Lord, he was a full demon. He had used powerful transformation to look like a demon-kin he'd met centuries ago.

"You find something funny, demi?" The swordsman continued to insult Cyrus, using the derogatory word for demon-kin. "See this, it's a stone tag, much stronger than your wooden one, so that makes me a higher rank. If you take a wrong step, I'll kill you like the demon you are."

"A stone tag, so you signed up in another town. Many adventures lose their life on the first mission, so we should all be careful," Cyrus warned.

"Are you threatening us?" The three brothers started glaring at Cyrus, who only smiled back.

"Oh no, it's just a warning the guild master gave me. I wish us all to be safe," Cyrus responded sarcastically. "I had better get going while there's still light out. Good luck to us all."

Cyrus would leave through the wooden gate leading to a thick forest. Everything in this forest and beyond was familiar to Cyrus, as it was his territory. Even where the town is and beyond once belonged to him.

Cyrus would feel the three adventurers from earlier following him as he headed into the forest, where the trees were so close together that barely any light showed through. The weaker creatures knew not to approach as their instincts warned them of the danger. Cyrus wanted a monster that lost its senses and became ravenous or was dumb enough to attack.

He noticed a cave and decided to get closer, standing right near it as he waited for the adventures to come out, but they did not. They were planning to ambush him when he was fighting something else.

"I'm not moving another step until you three come out!" Cyrus shouted, getting bored of them.

The three adventurers slowly walked out, "when did you know we were following you?" the swordsman asked.

"Since we entered the forest, I had a detect spell on the entire time," Cyrus answered, but in truth, he didn't even need it.

"Heh, you are a monster, and we should get rid of you immediately," The swordsman stated as he drew his weapon.

"I was thinking the same thing, but if I killed you, people might get suspicious. So I decided to get something else to kill you for me," Cyrus then smiled as a broken tree trunk came crashing down onto one of the brothers.

The trunk would lift from the ground as a creature, twice the size of a human, picked it up using it as a club. It was an ogre, a peach-looking monstrosity that enjoyed the meat of anything, man or beast. It picked up the smushed person and dropped them into its mouth, clothes and all.

"How dare you!" The swordsman yelled as the two brothers charged at the ogre.

"I'd be careful we're at an ogre's den," Cyrus smirked.

Upon those words, another ogre's hand would reach out from the trees and grab the other brother, crushing him in its hand before dropping him into its mouth.

"M-My brothers, they're gone. You'll pay for this, mark my words!" The last brother threatened.

One of the ogres would reach towards the swordsman, but his body glowed red, using a skill called Surge, as it allowed him to be lighter and stronger, for a brief time, at the cost of exhaustion later. The swordsman then slashed at the hand, cleaving it in half.

The ogre let out a cry and started to swing the tree like a child having a tantrum. With the skill Surge still activated, the swordsman could still dodge for a short time, but when the ogre quit attacking, the swordsman's skill wore off. Without that skill, he couldn't avoid the ogre behind him, as it grabbed his leg and lifted him in the air. The ogre who had the tree grabbed the swordsman's arm and pulled, wanting the human for himself.

Cyrus would watch the ogres play tug of war with the adventurer, eventually tearing him in half as they each ate a piece. They turned towards Cyrus wanting to eat him as well. The demon laughed, wondering how he would slay them and somehow keep the bodies intact.

What Cyrus didn't know is he wasn't the only one here, as other ogres were fighting another adventurer, a person who would have a profound effect on the demon's future.