Demon King

————

“Please choose your name and race.”

“Call me Gloom. Any intelligent race will do. Preferably one that looks human and is a bit violence-oriented. After all, I've been a civil servant for most of my life, and I don't want to work overtime doing paperwork anymore. Let me enjoy the thrill of battle!”

“Confirmed. Transmigrating.”

“Guiding the next Transmigrator.”

“Please choose your name and race.”

“Sturgess. Demon.”

“Confirmed. Transmigrating.”

————

When Louis was fourteen years old, the Demon King, Sturgess, summoned him to the side hall of Dark Abyss Castle.

“Lonia of the Vampire Royal Court is my new disciple. Your current rank as heir is behind hers. Once both of you reach adulthood, I will arrange a duel between you. Whoever wins will take the throne of the Demon King. Any objections?”

The demon, standing nearly three meters tall, spoke.

His face, which could hardly be called handsome, was completely gloomy, yet his tone was filled with a disdain and sarcasm that clashed with his somber expression.

Louis stood frozen in place for a long time.

“...Why?”

“Because she is stronger than you.”

Sturgess replied bluntly.

“You are peers. You are the only pure-blooded prince of the Demon Court, and she is merely the second princess of the Vampire Court. Yet, she is already stronger than you. From now on, both of you will train and grow stronger here in Dark Abyss Castle. This is your last chance.”

Louis said nothing more.

He stood in place, staring in confusion at the Demon King before him with deep purple eyes that had not yet been consumed by malice.

Demon King Sturgess. Some also called him the “Tyrant.”

A pure-blooded demon who did not belong to the Royal Court. A Transmigrator from three hundred years ago. A monarch renowned for his iron-fisted rule and absolute power.

He was a being who had slain both the previous Demon King and the previous Hero, then launched countless wars to push the borders of the Demon Realm miles into human territory.

The expansion of the Demon King's territory directly enhanced and sustained the Demon King's strength and lifespan. Even though centuries had passed, Sturgess had never shown any signs of fatigue.

Yet, such a man was considered the shame of the demon race by the inner circle of the Demon Royal Court.

He was tyrannical, arrogant, and self-opinionated. But most importantly to the Demon Royal Court, he had relentlessly persecuted the Royal Court bloodlines during the early days of his ascension.

The Demon Royal Court had humiliated him before his rise to power. Consequently, after becoming the Demon King, he had ground the Demon Court Head of that generation into meat paste under his heel, step by step.

“Louis, you are the hope of the Royal Court. You are our final trump card.”

For as long as Louis could remember, the elders of the Court had warned him so.

“You are a once-in-a-century genius among the demon race, the child destined to inherit the throne of the Demon King.”

Indeed, that was the case. He was a genius, after all.

“You will reclaim the dignity of the Royal Court from the hands of that foreign half-breed.”

Even if he could only live for a few more years, it wouldn't matter.

As long as he became the Demon King, it would mean the Royal Court had not fallen.

His family would finally be able to hold their heads high, and the reputation of the Demon Royal Court would change from a ‘laughable court purged by an outsider’ back to the original ‘head of the Ten Courts.’

So, even if Lonia of the Vampire Court came, it didn't matter.

After the Demon King left, Louis jogged back to his room, thinking to himself with pride.

I am the prince of the demons, and I am a genius. The throne of the Demon King will definitely be mine in the future.

“I will definitely become the Demon King! A great king who is stronger and more beloved than anyone else!”

Then, just before stepping through his door, he saw that child.

Her eyes were hollow, as if she were already dead.

An aura emanated from her entire body, so intense it felt suffocating.

She had long black hair and crimson pupils. The maple leaf hairpin in her hair on the right side was already cracked and broken.

He also saw the colors of their surroundings continuously fading away.

She did not turn her head, nor did she pause even for a fraction of a second because of Louis. She simply walked past him in silence as he stood frozen in place.

On that day, the prince of the Demon Royal Court, the boy who dreamed of becoming the Demon King, met the future Demon King.

...

Over the next four years, Louis saw Lonia in the training hall every single day.

She arrived very early and left very late.

Sometimes, her blood vessels would overload from practicing Crimson Scale Surge, and Sturgess would kick her to the ground, calling her a piece of trash. Other times, she would suffer from severe stomach cramps due to overtraining, dry-heaving up massive amounts of stomach acid.

Yet, whenever she stood back up, she would continue training until dawn, repeatedly practicing various techniques from different angles and postures.

She wouldn't stop until she had reabsorbed every drop of blood spilled on the training platform back into her body.

Late at night, Louis would often pass by the training grounds and see her still swinging her sword at the empty air, repeating the most basic exercises as if possessed, until her arms completely lost all strength and she collapsed to the floor.

But even when she lay exhausted on the floor, she would only stare at the ceiling for a few seconds before struggling to her feet, her chest heaving violently as she resumed swinging her blade.

He wanted to go over and greet her, but he could never find a proper reason to do so.

When she was sixteen, Lonia Catori began attending the Ten Courts Joint Conference in Sturgess's stead.

Louis had seen her walking out of the corridor after changing into her formal attire.

She wore a long black satin dress with a dark red brooch pinned to her collar, her hair neatly styled into a bun by her maids. Yet, that ugly hairpin remained in her hair, branded onto her exquisite figure like some sort of scar.

The other nine Court Heads, excluding the Vampire Court, all cast skeptical and scrutinizing gazes upon the young girl.

She would sit there, listening to every speech before responding point by point. Her words were well-reasoned and persuasive.

Although doubts still lingered, she had done exceptionally well.

Then, starting from a certain day, all the doubts suddenly vanished.

Louis later learned the reason from the idle gossip of the personal attendants.

The Lich Court Head had spoken a few words to Lonia's face during a meeting.

“A half-breed is a half-breed. Just touching you leaves a stain. A filth that will not disappear even in death.”

After the meeting ended, he never walked out of Dark Abyss Castle. Because he had completely ceased to exist.

No one remembered who he was, only that there had once been a Lich Court Head who had defied the Acting Demon King here.

It was said that the other Court Heads' last memory of him was of a figure stripped of all color, weeping and screaming that he couldn't remember anything at all.

It was as if a black-and-white sketch drawn upon the world had been casually erased by its creator.

Sturgess did not blame her for this. He merely patted her shoulder in encouragement.

Then, he said:

“Don't forget, you are also pure-blooded.”

Louis felt as though her eyes had grown even more lifeless.

She didn't cry; her tears had likely dried up long ago.

When he was seventeen, Lonia reached Rank Nine.

Every phosphor fire in Dark Abyss Castle went out simultaneously for half a second before lighting up once more.

Everyone inside the castle felt a chill creep up from the base of their spines, as if something had swept through the entire building in an instant to claim ownership.

That night, when Louis passed by the training hall, he saw that the lights inside were still on.

The door was not closed.

He hesitated for a moment, but driven by curiosity, he ultimately walked over to the doorway.

Lonia stood at the edge of the training field, facing a full-length mirror that both she and Louis had looked into many times. The mirror reflected her entire body.

She touched the surface of the glass, pressing her fingertips into the mirror as if interlacing her fingers with her own reflection.

Crack. Crack.

Cracks spread outward from the holes pierced by her fingers, and the mirror shattered into a pile of shards on the floor.

She stared blankly at the shattered pieces on the ground for a long time.

Louis stood at the door, watching her from a distance.

He thought about going inside to ask how she was doing. But before he could make a move, Lonia turned around.

She stared at him.

“Get out.”

This was the first time she had ever spoken to him of her own accord.

Louis had just taken a step forward when he froze.

Those eyes were still dead, containing absolutely nothing.

She still wasn't crying, but he felt an instinctive urge to comfort her.

Yet, she told him to get out.

He wanted to say she was being rude, to say he hadn't done anything, to offer some other excuse.

Do I not even have the right to care about you?

But in the end, he left obediently.

During their last sparring session, her very first move had broken his ribs.

He had been in too much pain to stand, so Sturgess had immediately declared him the loser, then patted Lonia's head in satisfaction.

Even though Lonia didn't show the slightest hint of joy, instead biting her lip as if she were about to throw up, Sturgess did not stop his hand.

Louis had always wanted to say something to Sturgess.

He wanted to tell him that he had worked hard too, that he could have kept fighting, that he had sacrificed so much to become the Demon King—so could he please look at him just a little more?

Louis had always wanted to say something to Lonia.

He wanted to ask why she insisted on becoming the Demon King, why she always wore that ugly hairpin, what reason she could possibly have to bear such a mission, and what on earth she was living this living hell of a life for.

She was stronger, more talented, and worked harder than him.

Sometimes, he truly felt that this peer of his was indeed more qualified to be the heir, feeling a tragic yet genuine admiration for her strength.

But far more often, he resented her from the bottom of his heart.

Becoming the Demon King. That was the expectation the Court elders had placed on him, his very reason for being, and the goal of his entire life.

Since birth, he had barely known any form of recreation. He dedicated more than half of every single day to training, solely to make himself stronger and more worthy of bearing the title of the Demon King.

Why must you snatch away even my chance to sacrifice myself for everyone?

You are clearly so much better than me and should have a far grander future. This is already the only thing I can take pride in, so why must you compete with me even for this?

Why can't you just hold back? You are already so powerful, what would it matter if you waited a few more years? I want to be the Demon King too. Even if I only have three years, I still want to be king.

I want to prove that the Demon Royal Court isn't some pathetic joke, that my family shouldn't be ridiculed by the other Courts, and that the prince of the Demon Court is capable of leading the demon race to glory.

Are you unwilling to give me even this kind of opportunity? I only wanted three years to prove all of this.

—Entangled in a mix of admiration and jealousy, he ultimately chose to endure.

Because there was nothing he could do.

Yet, he still felt admiration for her. It was this very admiration that sustained him, allowing him to tell himself that he was utterly and fairly defeated.

But on the night Lonia turned eighteen, that admiration shattered completely into dust.

On that day, Sturgess led Louis to the dueling arena prepared for the two of them.

The circular spectator stands were completely empty, save for the central stone platform gleaming coldly under the phosphor fire.

Lonia had already arrived.

She glanced at Louis, then turned her gaze toward Sturgess, who stood nearby.

The young girl did not hesitate for a single moment.

“『Authority Manifestation: Reign Over Endless Hell』”

The world turned pitch black.

He recognized this power. When Lonia became serious, everything around her would be stripped of its color, turning into a spotless, pure white.

He knew this was an Authority whose true name remained unknown, but he had never seen what this power looked like when fully unleashed.

A suffocating darkness swallowed everything. Pain and despair, deeper than the Abyss and more violent than the Black Tide, blanketed the entire world at this very moment.

“I've known for a long time that you wanted to kill me. Did you think I wouldn't be prepared?”

Sturgess sneered, drawing the proof of the Demon King.

“Is that half-breed mutt really worth this much?”

『Cardinal Sword: Skeletal Crown』

He drew the strongest sword in the Demon Realm.

“『Cardinal Unleashed: Demon Realm Manifestation』”

A simplified Demon Realm, shrunk countless times, unfolded before them. The relief sculptures of the ten original Court Heads surrounded the perimeter, silently watching the scene.

Then, 『Darkness』 was released at maximum power.

“『Authority Manifestation: Abyss Descending』”

Night spread from beneath Sturgess's feet, tearing and biting at Lonia's darkness.

Only to be torn to shreds.

From Lonia, Louis saw a second Authority. An Authority she had never displayed before.

She softly chanted the true name of the Authority, but Louis could hear absolutely nothing.

He watched as the relief sculptures of the ten Court Heads were blasted to pieces, and Sturgess's 『Darkness』 was swallowed, dissolved, and utterly crushed.

No one paid any attention to Louis.

Standing in the shadows of the spectator seats, he watched Sturgess's expression shift from arrogant pride to astonishment, from astonishment to terror, and finally from terror to complete blankness.

Before he could even complete his second move, the Demon King had already lost all ability to resist.

Lonia did not kill him immediately. She merely allowed the darkness to pour into every orifice of Sturgess's body, tearing everything apart from the inside out.

The nearly three-meter-tall Demon King let out a sound that Louis would never forget for the rest of his life.

Then, as her palms closed and tightened, the darkness followed suit. Sturgess's entire body was compressed into a fleshy sphere the size of a jellybean.

Lonia released her grip, and the fleshy sphere fell onto the stone platform, bouncing twice before rolling to Louis's feet.

The phosphor fire shone upon it, reflecting a horrifying, greasy sheen.

He was not yet dead, still rolling inch by inch, trying to get as far away from this place as possible.

Lonia then picked up Sturgess and the Skeletal Crown, slowly walking outward.

Outside stood dozens of attendants directly serving under Sturgess. Lonia tossed the jellybean-sized sphere onto the obsidian floor before them.

“I am the new Demon King. Any objections?”

Sensing a familiar aura from the fleshy sphere, they all nodded in unison.

She crushed the sphere under her heel.

Night diffused from Sturgess's remains, wrapping around and entangling Lonia before finally forming a line of text, 『σκότος』, which branded itself onto her throat like a slave's mark.

Louis was still standing in the corridor.

When Lonia returned, she was still carrying the Skeletal Crown.

She walked up to Louis, reversed the sword, and shoved it into his hands hilt-first.

“It's yours.”

Louis lowered his head, staring at the Skeletal Crown that had been forced into his hands.

He stood frozen in place.

Lonia watched him quietly, waiting for him to respond.

A long, long time passed.

“Do you have any idea how much I sacrificed to become the Demon King?”

“I know.”

“Then why are you just giving it to me like this?”

“Because I don't need it. Take it and play with it.”

Louis grinned, a distorted smile spreading across his face.

“What are you talking about? Do you even know what this is?”

He paid no heed to Lonia's icy expression.

“This is the fucking demonic sword forged from the fused bone and blood of the ten original Court Heads! It is the cardinal key symbolizing the Demon King's dominion over the Ten Courts! A crown jointly constructed by the ten Court Heads! This is the dignity of the Demon Realm and the symbol of the Demon King! What on earth do you take these things for?!”

“Nothing.”

“...What?”

“I said, they are nothing.”

Lonia let go of her grip.

“I am the Demon King. Even without this sword, I am still the Demon King.”

“『Darkness』 belongs to me, and the 『Skeletal Crown』 belongs to you. From now on, do not utter a single useless word in my presence.”

The Skeletal Crown slipped from Louis's hands, but he frantically caught it and held it tight against his chest.

“What the fuck do you think you're...”

He looked up, the anger and hatred in his eyes practically overflowing.

Swish.

A sharp gust of wind grazed the side of his forehead, followed by a piercing pain that surged into his mind.

Lonia retracted her finger, watching as one of the horns on Louis's head slid off from its base.

“Next time, it'll be your neck.”

Having said her piece, she turned around and walked toward the exit.

Louis stood in the corridor for a long time.

Even though his horn had been severed, he did not move. It wasn't because it didn't hurt, but because he didn't dare to.

The Skeletal Crown let out a low hum in his hands, as if greeting its new master, or perhaps lamenting the young girl who had just left.

But Louis didn't care about any of that.

He only cared that his resolve to risk everything, his desperate struggles, and the eighteen years of his life had yielded nothing more than a sword she had casually thrown at him.

“Why...”

A black tide surged.

『Jealousy』 took root at this very moment in this world where she reigned as the Demon King.

Taking root at the exact moment his illusions shattered.