SHADOW INSANITY

[A/N: This is a story of the birth of a Demon Lord after thousands of years.]

The messengers of the Great Gods had finally arrived. 

After the greatest ancient war that has lasted for more than ten centuries and taken countless of innocent lives, the light side had finally entered the realm of the Great Demon Lord. 

Holy angels with white wings and dresses have surrounded the Demon Lord Castle. Mythril and Adamantite adventurers in blandishing shiny armors with different jobs were entering the giant raven doors, slaying the monsters that had come to stand against their advance to end chaos. 

Meanwhile, in the center of a huge dreary throne room, the Great Demon Lord was sitting in his throne with an obsidian gleam, as he opened his eyes burning with reddish-black flames. 

"Great Demon Lord, the attackers have entered our home, and is proceeding here quick, what are your orders?" 

A pretty woman's voice said. 

She was the gorgeous leader of his trusted aids, which were all bowing in one knee behind her. She has pretty black eyes, smooth-looking skin, lustrous black-hair that reached her back like a waterfall, a very seductive flawless figure, and lastly, a goddess smile that seemed like a mask to hide something else. 

The Great Demon Lord sighed at her question and cracked a smile. Orders? He does not care about that. Attack? Just let them all in. He couldn't help but inwardly laugh. 

However, when he saw his aids, seemingly real pissed at this. He should work, right? How could he not? 

"Even if I don't like it, I am the Demon Lord, after all."

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The enchanted dark village was as dark as always. The black structures glowed like labyrinths. The pathways were gleaming with an ethereal glow that guided the lurkers of the place. 

The Shadow Clan territory was not your ordinary village. It was located on the ridges of the earth, and was deep in the ground. No ordinary man could even fathom or imagine that people would live here. If one should go by the norms of the world, this place was what people would say "unexplored" or "undiscovered". 

The architecture of this place was also not just beautiful and magnificent; it was also quite the strange design because the structures were not all on the flat ground. Most of the structures were located level above level. They were built on the horizontal walls and were connected through bridges that made the entire place look like an enchanted glowing cobweb. 

Despite not a place where snow or rain could actually fall, the zephyr that caressed through the ridges of the earth travelling constantly made the place extremely cold. 

But it was fine. The non-human inhabitants of this village had a high resistance to the cold. If lava slug monsters cannot die in lava, the shadows were creatures that thrived in this kind of environment. 

Not only that, shadows were also above the "above average" men in physical attributes. If ogres boasted great strength, and were wolves has superior agility, shadows were gifted both. But if the world was to describe them more accurately, "natural born monster assassins" fits them perfectly. 

Shiii.

The faint sound of the wind whistled in the air passing through the "glowing creatures" floating in the "skies" of this village. These glowing creatures were a species of mage lights. 

For these creatures in the shadow clan, they appear to be neon blue jellyfishes. This village had no other source of light except these creatures. And though the light they emit was only faint, they had already served their purpose. 

The shadows have different eyes anyways. No matter how dark it was, they could still navigate and see things just enough. The neon blue jellyfishes hovered slowly, emitting its faint light, and then it went in front of a young man who was sitting on one of the dangerous tips of a bridge, his legs hung in the air, while gazing at the enchanted village.

The neon light of the creature reflected on the boy's crimson eyes which seemed lost and bored. 

This boy's name was Kara, and was seventeen years of age. He had raven hair, a pale handsome face that exuded sereneness, and wearing a black coat that emitted a thin layer of shadowy aura. 

"Did it ever cross to anyone's mind why this world is so boring? Well, I cannot speak to everyone else, but to me, this world is so boring. If I could only make it more interesting..." he sighed. 

As anticipated, this boy was by no means a normal young man. He should talk to some friends at this point in his life, or should be out there having conversations with other people, but he'd lived in a completely different world all this time.

He lived in this village which were like a ghost city in some unexplored dungeons floor: inside these strange black buildings, surrounded with people he no longer wanted to see. 

His gaze relaxingly stared down the bridge below and found himself staring at the people walking wearing the same flashy dark attire as him. He looked at their faces and sighed. The faces told the cold soulless personality of the people in this village. 

The raven-haired boy brushed his hair upwards and blinked his beautiful crimson eyes. His gaze was like a silent intelligent beast resting passively inside a dark prison. 

After thinking for a moment, he slightly moved his body and let his body fall down the bridge. If this was on Earth, everyone would have thought he was a depressed kid who decided to commit suicide because he failed in his final exams or something. 

The falling motion was fast and sudden. But Kara's face remained calm. 

Not long after, he landed at the ground with a "thud!" He must have jumped from 15 feet! But the boy landed fine. If you live here, this was something everyone will do pretty much every day, unless you want to take your time or was just scared. 

At this moment, Kara had reached the lowest floor of the village. It was the ground itself. As expected, this place was almost empty. 

He then started to walk, and ignored the structures around the place. After a few moments, he arrived at a big cave that was located in a big hole. Not a source of light was here so it was completely dark. 

Suddenly, red glowing eyes appeared in the dark--ten meters away from Kara's position. The creature was big and violent as it emanated a heavy killing intent. 

"Kwhauuu!"

Standing six feet tall, he wore a calm expression. His eyes were upturned, his eyebrows and eyelashes abundant. He let out a grunt and mumbled gratingly. 

"It's time to slay you." 

The security in this village was not ordinary. If someone wanted to get out, they need to go one of the caves here (the lowest level) and enter through a tunnel and climb up. But before all that, they had to slay the dog that guards the exit. 

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Check out my entry for WSA 2023: "A Genius Cultivator's Slice of Life ."