Chapter 10: Demon Kings

Melissa stood at the entrance to the academy, looking for Van amongst the wave of trainees leaving. They had been dismissed for a while already, so the longer she waited, the more anxious she became.

She bit her nails as she began to fear the worst, until she finally spotted him.

"Van! What took you so long!" She made her way to him before stopping. "What happened to you?!"

Van was badly beaten, bruises were all over his face and arms, more hidden under his shirt, which was now bloodier than it was when he entered. He had a black eye, a bloody nose, and a gash near his other eye.

"What do you care." Van spat out some blood onto the ground, and walked past Melissa, who rushed after him.

Melissa continued to call after him, but he ignored her, walking in a random direction, going deeper into the city. Van was mad. He was angry at his bullies, but also angry at himself. Even with his confidence, nothing changed. He was still at the mercy of people like Travis, like Grant, like Ian. All because he was weak.

Not anymore. Back on Earth, he couldn't have done anything, but here? In Pibar? He had a chance to grow strong. He just had to find out how.

"VAN!" Melissa called after him, her tone more urgent. "Van, stop! You're entering the Village of Demon Kings!"

Hearing what she said, Van stopped and looked around him. In his anger, he had failed to notice that he was no longer in the bustling roads near the academy, but had now entered an avenue lined with luxurious mansions on either side. The area was peaceful, and the people Van saw walking around had on more formal attire, an air of arrogance around them.

Melissa, thinking that Van had calmed down and was now ready to return, was relieved. Unfortunately, she was sorely mistaken.

"Van, I don't know what happened, but let's go back and you can tell me about it-" 

"Are the Demon Kings here similar to those in fictional stories back on Earth?" Van cut her off with a question.

"Huh? A little bit, but now is not the time-" 

"Good enough." Van strode towards one of the gates to his left as soon as he got his answer, leaving behind an exasperated Melissa.

The gate Van had chosen was tall, red, and had spikes on top. He looked through the gaps and saw a massive, imposing mansion with ornate carvings all over the doors and windows.

Van had a plan that depended on his knowledge of demons through stories back on Earth. Van remembered a popular trope of demons tempting humans with offers of power in exchange for something else from them.

He knocked on the gate, only for it to slowly swing open. Van, not minding the strangeness, walked up to the mansion, stopping right before the porch. There, he began to yell at the house. 

"HEY! There's a Demon King here, right? I want power!"

Seeing him, Melisa bolted towards him, full of worry. 

"Van! What you're doing is very dangerous, we need to go, NOW!" 

She pulled at Van's arm, but to no avail. He continued to yell, cupping his free hand on his mouth. 

"I'll sell my soul to you! You guys are into that kinda stuff, right? Come on!" 

Van didn't plan on stopping until he got an answer, while Melissa was worried that he would get an answer. 

Van kept yelling, and Melissa was considering knocking him out, until something happened. A voice boomed out, a massive gust of wind emerging from the house and hitting them. 

"No." 

Before he could realize it, Van and Melissa were sent flying away from the mansion and out the gate by the harsh wind, before it turned into a soft breeze that gently set them down on the sidewalk. The gate shut itself before the sound of it being bolted shut could be heard.

Melissa was relieved. Other Demon Kings wouldn't have responded so kindly to being disturbed. They were a prideful, but powerful sort. She reprimanded Van as she patted herself down.

"You got your answer. Others will say the same if they don't erase you first, so don't bother going to other houses. Now, let's get you back to your apartment."

She approached Van who just stood there, frozen. He was looking down at his feet, and she noticed his fists were trembling slightly. She was about to tap him on the shoulder when he suddenly raised his head to the sky and shouted. 

"FUCK!"

Melissa flinched at the sudden outburst. Van ran to the gate before he began to kick it repeatedly, cursing the whole time. 

Van didn't know why he was so emotional. It made perfect sense that he would be rejected, after all he trespassed and started harassing a stranger, but he was still so mad. He thought he could at least get something from the Demon King, to get stronger with, but he didn't.

Right now, Van wasn't in his right mind. After cutting his parents out of his life, to being beaten up again by a bully he would never see again, to being tossed away by a Demon King, Van was pretty stressed.

He was tired of getting pushed around, of nothing ever going well for him. He vented out all of his feelings on the gate in front of him. 

Melissa, who saw what Van was doing, immediately went into a panic. The commotion had drawn the attention of all the passerby, and she was worried that Van would incur the wrath of the owner of the mansion.

Melissa dashed towards Van, intending to take him away by force, but she was too slow. As he was about to kick the gate again, Van felt something hit his stomach, and once again he was sent flying, much harder than the wind was, across the road and crashed into a fruit stand. 

Melissa, who just arrived at Van's original position, looked in horror to where he crashed, waiting for the dust to clear so she could see the condition he was in.