The birth of the New Demon Lord

In the final days of the world, with the fate of all living kinds on their hands, The Valiant Knights have forced their way into the Demon Lord's Domain. Led by Sir Malcolm the Valiant, the Demon Lord greets them with a smile. Seemingly looking down on them, the Valiant, who was pissed at the smirk on the Demon Lord's face, yelled at him.

"Enough with your games, Demon Lord Arslan! We have surrounded your castle and slaughtered your people. You are all left alone by yourself!" Malcolm the Valiant threatens the Demon Lord as he points his sword at him.

"Sword of the Beginnings, huh? Ha, you think that little stick can do damage to me, Faker?" the Demon King provokes his enemy.

Upon hearing the provocation of the Demon Lord, Malcolm the Valiant clenched his fist, tightening his grip on the sword.

"Should we finish him off now, Sir Malcolm?" asked Dame Meryl, la Douce.

"You'll never get away with your insults, you deofol!" Sir Axis the Great yelled and charged towards the Demon Lord.

"Stop, Axi-" Malcolm tried to stop him from charging against the Demon Lord, but he was too late.

"Shut your mouth, mongrel!" the Demon Lord lift his finger and from it, a ray of dark magic shot through Sir Axis's head, popping it off and leaving only his body on the ground as it falls.

Blood, the room was dyed crimson red as the Demon Lord killed one of the knights about to face him. Everyone was shocked by what they had just witnessed as one of their friends was killed in seconds. Sweats as massive as a bullet start forming on their forehead as their knees begin to lose strength.

"Can we fight this Demon Lord, Sir Malcolm?" asked Sir Jenkin the Brute.

"We can. As long as I'm on your side, we can finish this devil and achieve the peace we've been dreaming of." Sir Malcolm assured his comrade of their impending victory.

"You're right, Sir Malcolm! We will follow you till the ends of the world." Dame Elois the Shield expressed her trust towards Sir Malcolm.

*

"And that's how the story goes." a young woman explains to a lad.

Confused, the lad asks the young woman who's tucking him in on his bed.

"So, what happened to the knights as they faced off against the demon lord? Who won and lived through the battle?" asks the young lad.

"Hmm, it depends on who you are asking. For the humans and other races, the Knights won with only Sir Malcolm being the only survivor of the fight." the young woman explains.

"Then, how about in our history? What does our history tell us about what happened?" curious about the information, the young lad asks even further for more elaborate detail.

"For us demons, the archive of real history was burned down by humans as they pillaged the territory our Demon Lord built for us." the young woman answers.

Unable to satiate the curiosity of the young lad, he asked again.

"Then, what about your personal beliefs about it, mom?" the young lad asks the young woman who is his mom.

"Hmm, for me, I would like to believe that the Demon Lord won the fight, only to give the desire of the people in hopes of each race to be able to live in harmony," she answers his question.

The young lad yawned, unable to maintain his eyes open any longer. As soon as his mom saw him yawning, she kissed him on his forehead and turned off the light in his room.

"Good night, Arslan."

*

"Who are you?" the young lad asks the shadow figure in front of him.

"Did you forget? We're one and the same person, right, Arslan?" hidden in the shadow, the figure showed itself to him.

A man in a suit appeared in front of him in his dream. Albeit not looking the same, they felt a connection with each other. Curious about everything he just witnessed, the young Arslan attempts to start a conversation with the person claiming to be him.

"So, what is your name? Was it Arslan as well?" he asked him.

"Haha, I hope my name sounds cool like that. My name is Taro Yamada, and I am 37 years old. I am - I was a salaryman." the figure answered as he scratched his head from embarrassment.

"Salaryman? What is that, a job?" asked Arslan.

"Well, it is a job. Just not the same as the ones you have in your world," explained Taro. "Regardless, I have a stipulation for you that you will like. You want to help your dear mother, right?" asked Taro.

Arslan nodded in response.

"Then, why don't you make a contract with me? I'll help you in any way I can in exchange for my freedom to take over your body whenever necessary." Taro gave his stipulation for the contract.

Arslan was hesitant with the stipulation Taro just gave him. The thought of someone taking over his body worries him greatly, not only with the contract itself. Disregarding his initial worry, Taro promises that he will only take over his body whenever necessary and only at those times.

"Then, how do we form this contract?" asks Arslan.

Taro smiled at him and summons a piece of paper and a pen.

"Sign this contract, and I'll burn the paper so it will count as a formal contract. If I break this rule, I'll be severely punished, so rest assured." Taro assured Arslan.

"Sign? How do I do that?" confused with the terminology, Arslan asked Taro.

"For real? You don't know what is a signature?" Taro was shocked to find out about it. "Well then, I guess a blood pact will be sufficient," Taro added.

He then summoned a small knife similar to a paring knife. He then gave it to Arslan, cutting a small cut on his thumb finger.

"You do that, then just stamp your blood on the paper itself." He gave instructions to the young Arslan.

As Taro explains, Arslan stamped his bloody thumb on the paper Taro gave him. Taro immediately grabs and burns the form to fulfil the contract signing. With his sleight, he revealed to Arslan that the contract he thought he had signed was just a fraud.

Pissed by what transpired, Arslan attempts to rush towards Taro as his body starts to disappear like a burning piece of paper turning ash.

"Goodbye, Arslan. It was fun deceiving you, though you're nothing but an elementary for me." Taro waved goodbye to Arslan.

"Well then, now that the stage has been set and the old Demon Lord never successfully resurrected, I guess it is time for me to do some chaos, huh?" he snapped his finger and woke up from sleep.