Marka - Seventeen years agoWhat the ?Why did the game... count down in the negatives ?

  "HE HAS AWAKENED ! BOW DOWN ! ALL OF YOU !"

  Where am... I ? What the fuck ?

  The dark formless figure got up from the stone structure it was ying on at stared incredulously at the dark sky, the bck clouds and the menacing lightning strikes in the distance.

  'HUZZA HUZZA HUZZA-!'

  "W- what the heavens... ?"

  Below the stone structure, were hordes of monstrous creatures. Slimy, gooey, tentacles, horns, wings, disfigured entities with uneven number of limbs. Creatures straight out of-

  "Hell."

  "Yes ! Your Terror ! Hell ! On Marka ! I know you must be confused about your predicament but please, your majesty. Let me expin everything to you." a gooey deep blue mass approached the confused newcomer.

  "Mar...ka ? What do you mean ?"

  "My king. You are the Demon King of this era. The eightieth leader of the Demons ! You are the symbol of our race ! The eternal rival of mankind's Hero !" the slimy being roared in excitation, and the hordes behind him erupted once again.

  "I am... The Demon King ? Of... Marka ?"

  "Yes ! The amalgam of every Demon's mana ! The one who represents us all !"

  "I... I see."

  -

  "-and what are the differences between Demons and humans ? What separates us from them ?"

  "That is an interesting question, my liege. Allow me to fetch a tome, right... here." the sage slime known as archdemon Ka'h answered. He took out a thick tome of the shelves of the castle's library and searched around in the pages.

  "Not here, not here, not here... Ah ! There ! Take a look, my king. These are ancient scriptures that define our existence."

  "Let's see..."

  ...

  "Well that's interesting. At least the differentiation is a clear one. It also expins many things I have been asking myself." the formless king nodded to himself.

  "What have you concluded ?"

  "That the way we were created influences many things I thought strange about us. From what I've seen, us Demons store mana in our bodies, instead of letting it flow. We don't have the proper mana pathways to do that... And that makes our mana recovery speed very slow. Right ?"

  The archdemon acquiesced as he carefully pce the heavy tome back in the dusty library."Yes. That is what defines us demon."

  "And... this difference in recovery speed is why we rarely use magic and prefer physical attacks. We store mana in our muscles and horns... or whatever appendages we have. And we keep it until a new csh with humans is near. That's... strangely coherent. But something still bothers me. There's a part where it is said that a Demon's mana is much stronger than a human's one. Why is that ?" the young ruler of demon mused.

  "Ah! Another interesting question ! The answer is rather simple. It is a side-effect of us stocking mana up. Just like wine, our mana... ferments over time. It develops strong quirks in us. These quirks depend mostly on our living conditions and habitat. All of that creates very condensed mana that results in a much more potent magic. Moreover, this also comes with side-effects on our bodies. As you surely noticed by now, very few of our kin retain the shape the god of our world has given us. As we live longer, the mana inside of us starts converging in body parts important to us. That leads to transfiguration of our flesh.

  "I have still much to learn. Many tomes I will have to read to understand this world better."

  -

  This whole setting is extremely profitable. I can live without worrying about people suspecting me for my ignorance. The Demon King is an existence born with tremendous power, but it still is a newborn, who has no knowledge and control over their powers.That fits me. I knew the game but I don't know everything...

  CLANG-"Stay focused my king ! En garde !"

  "Huff- ! Right. I'm focused now."

  "Hmm... I know this strike wasn't enough to hurt you, but please, pay attention to your surroundings, even in spars."

  "I was wondering Ka'h... why are you the only high-ranking Demon in the whole realm ? Not in term of power, but... influence. Everyone I've encountered so far seems to hold you in high regards. Even my most... unruly followers."

  The slime wobbled around amused by his ruler's confusion. the st four Kings he had seen never bothered to ask this question. This one used his mind. Maybe there was hope this time."That is another noteworthy question, my king. The reason why other of our kind respect me is that... I am ancient. I've personally known four other Demon Kings, and lived though the reign of eight in total. I have accumuted amounts of knowledge that would put to shame a lot of our schors."

  "So you're about... four hundred years old... That's impressive." the otherworldly demon let out in surprise.

  "Yes." the archdemon chuckled. "I could even reach the age of a wyvern at this rate. A... wyvern."

  "Wyverns. You've told me that we couldn't expand in the south because of them. The Wild Pteaux are poputed by beastmen, they shouldn't be a problem by themselves. Are these creatures that strong ?"

  "They are. The previous wars have decreased their numbers but many among us, me included, are still scared of their power. We've tried to rally them to our cause, or promise them benefits for letting us through their former territories, but they are loyal to Wrath, and only Wrath..."

  That's right. The st boss. Raya. One more person I need to avoid at all costs. If she's in the same timeline as me..."So I assume that the Wild Pteaux act as a buffer zone. We could theoratically expand from this region but the wyverns prevent us from coming. Plus, our kin wouldn't be happy to learn that we pn on facing them."

  "Absolutely. And the Frosty Death encloses us from the North... We have little room for expansion and skirmishes with beast-people are often pointless, with almost no territorial gains."

  "It's been two years since I've risen at the top of the Demons. I still wish to stop the Hero of this era from growing. But we would have to send scouts, and powerful demons to avoid being discovered... That's a risky move..."

  "Not so much. Humanity won't act as long as their Hero isn't ready. And I can confidently say that your growth far exceeds the one of the previous kings. If we are the one to act first... but the problem would be to find a way..."

  "..."

  -

  Three years ter.The scout of His majesty the Demon King advanced confidently in the pace of obsidian bck stone. He waited as the gates of the throne room opened and advanced a few meters to finally kneel before the imposing figure sitting on its throne.

  The nameless minion couldn't help but notice the king's physical changes. The formless mist had become a giant figure in armor, with spikes and horns all over the skeletal-looking head and armor-ptes. The pitch bck eyes were half hidden by a visor that floated around for some reason and the shoulder armor had an ashen grey cloak with red accents attached to it.It would seem that His Majesty has found a form that suited him. He is... magnificent.

  "My king ! Shadow scout reporting after three years of operation !"

  "Then speak up." the grave tone reverberated through the hall.

  "Of course ! I am bearer of excellent new ! The red wyverns we have feared for so long are almost extinct ! Their territory is nothing like the one our archives and tales talk about ! According to many sources I have encountered in my voyage, there are less than three hundred of them ! Their territory has been greatly shrunk down ! Many nations have profited from their decreasing numbers !"

  Shocked murmurs broke among the powerful Demons in the throne room. Even the wise Ka'h wobbled in astonishment and the Demon King widened his eyes.

  "What about the Sins ? Specifically the Wrath."

  "Sealed. All of them. By powers I have yet to understand. I was not able to gather much information regarding this." the red-skinned Demon responded in an apologetic tone.

  "Sealed, uh... And what about the Hero ? What about the Academy I ordered to investigate ?"

  "Apologies. There was no such Academy. I only managed to pick up rumors of its foundation, somewhere I wasn't able to determine. However, I managed to gather information about the Hero seed named Ramiel. The Holy Sword has manifested in his hands already, and he currently is five years old."

  Ramiel. So that's the exact timeline asthe game depicted. But if he's five, that means I arrived before the plot commences. And that means Raya will arrive sometime in these remaining.... twelve years. Let's... see. I could handle the Hero but the remaining problem is the final boss. Maybe the worst of my worries.

  "However, I must warn you. The Empire that archdemon Ka'h has warned us about... is now a problem we cannot ignore. Not only it managed to take some of the red yverns' territory, but it seemingly has also been stealing the power of the Sin of Pride-"

  "Is that why they hold such overwhelming presence in the human race... Most troubling..." the elder slime muttered, exchanging gnces with some of the other dis-formed figures.

  The Demons watched closely as their liege furrowed his ck of eyebrows while grumbling. The Wise Demon, as most called him, and for a reason.

  This new Demon King had brought changes in leadership when he appeared five years ago. Those changes were unexpected but not unwelcome. This leader was proactive. He pnned and used his mind. He hadn't blindly rushed in like the past four ones. He cared about the demonic race, and didn't always kill his kin to absorb their powers.

  He finally breathed-in."Scout. I congratute you for your fwless handling of that mission. Now, rest until you deem yourself ready, to depart for another long-term mission. Your next task will be to observe more of the human world. Explore the world for five more years to gather as many secrets as you can hear and find. Pnt informant minions everywhere. Then come back. And of course... Stay unnoticed. I will give you all the tools you deem necessary when you come back to us after your rest."

  The grotesque form knelt again and vanished in the shadows of the castle, content to get some well-deserved rest. That Demon was honored and eager to be sent, but he still desired to see comrades and learn about what had happened in his three years of absence.

  -

  Years ter."How are our spies doing, ? I rushed in as soon as I heard the news."

  "O Wise King, our spies brought in more information reted to the wyverns we've feared for so long. And the more I hear, the more I feel like like our ancestors worried over nothing. Not only the red wyverns were few, but the rest of them have fled our front long ago. They seem to detest each other to the point all communication has stopped for hundreds of years... But that's not all."

  "Oh ?"

  "The red wyverns are dead. They have been killed in a surprise attack. Their bones, cleaned from tendons, flesh and scales. They have been massacred by a young kingdom. Astria."

  This kingdom, haven't heard of it in the game. Weird.But that expins why we could find very little equipment from fire wyverns in the game... they were already dead before its story started. ... And what if... If we can finally start crossing the continent ? Nothing stops us anymore... "And what about the Hateful Fire ? Any news ?"

  "Yes." the slime replied. "I was about to talk about this part of the message. The kingdom that killed the wyverns has sadly also stolen the relic holding Wrath, they pn on doing something with a surviving wyver but that's about it. The scouts you've sent were not able to dig deeper for now.

  "... Our informant should be coming back soon. We'll send another temporary batch for two years, and decide what we'll do in the meantime. I'm still uneasy with this business of human nations stealing a Sin..."

  -

  Stallion, the academy of Sins of Marka was finally ready, which meant the plot would come fast and war preparations were being made.

  The Wise King of this era had done something none of the previous Demon Kings tried. He had organized the hordes. He had given proper roles to the different Demons with different characteristics. Sure, changing tactics from basically going forward and smashing the enemy wasn't difficult, but that was such a nice change.

  The few siege machines stolen from humans during wartime had been replicated and improved with what the Demon King called 'steam engines'. Moreover, to make up for the inability to use magic, mana crystals that formed naturally near the Frosty Death had started being exploited.

  The Demon King himself was preparing something with his council. He had recently discovered several spells in forgotten archives. One that could prevent cold from killing you, and the other who could teleport beings and objects. Not the normal kind of teleportation humans used, or Demons in case of emergency. One that required tremendous amounts of mana, to teleport anything you wanted on a retively rge distance.

  All was well. The Demons were now waiting their scouts' return.

  ...

  ?The optimistic frenzy that swept through the Demon Realm was nowhere to be found.

  The bright fme of ambition has been snuffed out, by the awakening of another fme. And this one wasn't wishing for Demonic domination. This one thirsted for the death of this realm by ash and cinder.

  The report was foolproof. While the Hero had been located at Stallion, in southern Marka, the Hell made flesh was also in the same country. Which left no room for the Demons to charge by The Pteaux. The bigger the buffer zone, the better it was.

  The otherworldy Demon king remembered the audience with his most trusted informant.

  "My King. I have seen the Hero. He is inexperienced. No match for you. This one is but a child with a weapon he can't even control properly."

  "... What about The Wrath ? Where is it ?"

  "... Apologies. I was not able to come close to the Sin. Its fme, your majesty, disrupted my control over my mana when I tried to sense it. However, I can tell that it is in the holy nation, where the Stallion Academy is. I-... This fire seems to suck part of my reserves to sustain itself, and without my magic... I will be of no use soon."

  "... Try to find a way to cross the continent by the North. Nobody will expect an attack from here. Even the Wyvern."

  "Understood my liege."

  "... I am sorry. Even I cannot stop this fire. BUT ! You have served me well ! You and your family will live comfortably as long as I am around. I guarantee it !"

  ...

  The nameless ruler of the Demons knew now. Everything was starting. The plot had started advancing.But unlike the Demon King of the videogame, I'm ready. Stronger. If we destroy humanity... Sins won't have any reasons to exist anymore. We only need to address the issue of which front we will face first. I don't want to use my mana before facing the Hero... but... If that's what it takes...

  "My court. You have felt it too, right ? The Divine's power has dimmed ! It is time for us to march ! Archdemon Ka'h ! When can we expect to cross the Frosty Death ? When will we reach Elfort ?"

  "If we keep up the pace and rest well... Three month at most. In the other case... if we want top speed, we might cross the nd in only two."

  "But ?"

  "But we might part of our forces, which would be a shame... truly."

  -

  The Demons had began their march in the white snow of the Frosty Death. Protected by anti-cold incantations, the armies were advancing with retive ease. Mana crystals were being consume to sustain the spells instead of letting Demons use their reserves. Adding to that, the weird self-propelled siege machines were unexpectedly helpful. They were so heavy that they could break through dense patches of ice and ftten the terrain to ease the advance of the Demons following them.

  "My King ?" a nameless minotaur asked timidely. "We have a problem."

  The king and his advisors turned around, suddenly alert. Nobody needed or even wanted problems to arise in this environment.

  "Speak."

  "I... Come on behalf on the Demons tasked to handle food supplies. A csh broke out with a monster on a frozen ke... it destroyed the frozen surface and-"

  "Let me guess. The carts where our food was sunk at the bottom of the ke. How much then ?"

  "A-About one month worth of food. Logistics are worried that our initial three months of travel might be impossible now, unless we sacrifice a part of our forces, for eventual consumption." the Demon expined, fidgeting on his hooves.

  We really needed that to happen.The teleportation spell... will have to be used after all. He predicted that... fifteen percent of my mana would be gone. I wanted to keep it... Against the Hero... But looks like I'm not lucky.

  -

  The spell was ready. The hordes of Demons were all feeling their King's overwhelming aura in the air. Bck mana was shing out wildly in the air, then it engulfed the demonic forces. And then... poof.

  The sea of Demons had disappeared.

  ...

  "O great King. We are halfway through in the Frosty Death. We would need about a month of fast-walking to reach the territory of the elves. The sacrifice of part of your mana allowed us to greatly shorten the length of our journey. This teleportation spell you came up with was impressive, for it to allow all of our forces to be transported..."

  "I hope that using a fifth of my mana reserves was worth it. It's a hit, or a miss... Time is not on our side after all, we cannot let the Hero grow. This would be our greatest failure as Demons. I wonder why none of the previous Demon Kings tried to kill the Heroes before they accumuted experience. It it incredibly counter productive and it threatens our whole race...What were they thinking for fuck's sake ?!"

  That was part of the discussion Ka'h and the Wise King had a few days ago. This would be the longest yet also shortest month in the Demon's second life. The moment everyone stepped into the territory of the elves... there would be no turning back. It would be bloodshed though and through. But to survive... develop, live in peace... To turn this world for the Demons to thrive...

  One month...I hope I'm not making a mistake. I hope I'm not sending them to their death for nothing.I hope I can defeat the Hero. And avoid Raya.