chapter 24: An Idea

When Alex woke up he was all alone in his room no sign of the beautiful Lysander he had just had a really hard fuck with.

"I see, so she's the shy type but wasn't shy to hold my cock! Ladies!" Alex thought to himself. Just then, a system screen appeared in front of him with text that stated.

[I have an idea, a suggestion that might help us both]

"And what could that be?" Alex asked curiously

[ I know you wanna get out of the rat hole of a place just as much as I do, why don't you start making allies]

"Allies? How so?"

[I mean every king be he good or evil always has those who are against him and not with him. And from where am standing the demon king is one hell of an evil man, so the enemy of your enemy is your friend, let's make some bad friends Alex,]..

"Wow! You always seem to have a solution to all my problems, I think I would try that."

[ You think? It's not like you have much of a choice here Alex]

"Ok sorry I will do it!" Alex responded with a smile..

Days had gone by, and Alex knew all too well that he was not going to manage much alone. The battles against the demon king's beasts had become a tad more gruesome.

And with the suspicion of his newfound abilities, all Alex had was his clone and the system for survival. He needed allies.

But in a place like the demon king's palace, trust was a pretty rare thing. For one reason or another, all seemed to look out for themselves, trying to curry favor with the king or merely trying to make it to see another day. Still, Alex had a plan.

Over the last several weeks, he noticed one thing-there were those who were discontented, those who had been forced to the fringes of the demon king's clique of trusted people. It was these people he could reach; these people who might dare take a risk.

He had begun with small talk, nothing that would raise suspicion. Walking down the halls of the palace or at the training grounds, he listened to the way others talked, the bitterness in their voices, frustration in their eyes. And when the time felt right, he planted a seed.

It was on one of those days, while he was training with his clone in the courtyard of the palace, that Alex would catch a glimpse of Duranan-once-favored soldier by the demon king-far across the way-watching him.

He had been cast aside after he had failed a mission some months ago, and since then was barely scraping by, trying to prove himself again.

"Hey, Duran," Alex said offhandedly, wiping sweat from his brow. "You've got a good stance. I've seen you in the training grounds before. You want to spar?"

Duran hesitated, clearly caught off guard by the offer, but he nodded. "Sure, why not."

They squared off, exchanging blows, but Alex wasn't interested in winning. He was watching, listening, feeling out the tension in Duran's movements. There was frustration there-frustration he could use.

You ever get that feeling, no matter what you do, it's never enough?" Alex asked between strikes, his tone light and casual, like it was no big thing.

Duran grunted as he blocked a hit. "More than you know."

".ie, I've been there," Alex replied; he dodged the swing. "But sometimes you just gotta make your own way. Do things your own way.

Duran straightened for a moment, narrowing his eyes on Alex. "What are you getting at?"

Alex shrugged again and stepped back, giving them some space to breathe. "Look, we both know how things are around here. The king of demons doesn't give a flying care about any of us. You and I? We are merely tools to him. But what if we weren't?"

Duran's eyes narrowed further. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying. there are others like us. People who are tired of being used. Tired of fighting battles that aren't ours. I'm just wondering. what if we worked together? Helped each other, instead of waiting for the demon king to throw us a bone."

Duran was quiet for a minute, wiping the sweat from his brow. "That's dangerous talk, Alex."

"Yeah, well," Alex replied with a slight smile, "so is living under the thumb of the demon king."

They resumed sparring, but when the session finally ended, he knew that he had struck a chord in Duran. He didn't say anything further.

Over the next days, Alex continued to make his acquaintances: Mira was a healer who grew disillusioned when she saw how the demon king would discard his soldiers once they became useless. Once a loyal servant, she lost all faith in the king when her brother was sent on a suicidal mission.

Alex sought her out in the infirmary where she was caring for the wounded. He volunteered to help with lighter tasks like bandaging cuts or fetching supplies and in that manner, they spoke.