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Yeah, i wrote this a few months ago, it was the prolugue for my story lol.
Prologue: 1,000 Years Ago: The Age of War
“We finally meet face to face… Demon King Nekros Zephrich.”
The smell of ash clung to the air of the throne room like a curse, thick and suffocating. The only light provided were the torches flickering wanly in the moonlight. At the far end, seated upon a throne carved from solid obsidian, waited the being whose very name made gods hesitate.
Nikoli’s grip on his sword tightened.
The Demon King Nekros Zephrich flashed a perfect fanged smirk, far more composed than it should have been. “I’m guessing you’re Nikoli Caspian. I was wondering if you’d manage to make it here alive. I’m impressed.”
He wasn’t what Nikoli had expected. Not even close. He had pictured a large, grotesque, monster who looked more like an ogre than a demon, a disgusting twisted beast both inside and out.
But the man on the throne was not a grotesque beast. The figure lounging on the obsidian throne was… exceptionally beautiful. He was more attractive than any human, demon, or god Nikoli had ever met. With his jewel-like blood red eyes, a lean, muscular build and tousled jet black hair that shined like a crow’s feathers. Pearly white fangs, razor sharp horns, and beautiful, patterned wings. He didn’t look like a mindless monster.
He looked almost human. But to Nikoli, that made it infinitely worse. Especially since he could feel the blush creeping up the back of his neck.
The Demon King lounged on his throne of midnight obsidian. He was resting his chin on his fist, wearing that arrogant smirk of his. His blood red eyes were only filled with mild curiosity, no fear, no guilt, no sadness, nothing that he should be feeling. If anything the Demon looked bored.
Nikoli’s blood began to boil.
How could this demon— no, this beast, sit here calmly like he hadn’t slaughtered thousands upon thousands of humans in an instant?
“You really are a monster….” Nikoli spat, voice crackled with an unfamiliar burning hatred for the demon before him.
The Demon King tilted his head, his demonic red eyes tinted with amusement. A smirk tugged at his lips, as if Nikoli had just made a mildly amusing joke.
“I’ve heard that many times before. I suppose you can call me that if it helps you humans sleep at night.” He drawled lazily, with one of his perfect eyebrows raised in skepticism.
Nikoli trembled with a rage that was very unlike him. How can he be so apathetic? Nikoli had lost everything because of the war started by this monster. He felt anger unlike anything he felt before, hungering to see the light fade from those cursed red eyes. He wanted to see the Demon King writhe in pain, begging for the mercy that he had never shown. But for some reason Nikoli didn’t strike. Instead he continued speaking with the Demon King.
“How can you act as if you don’t care… How many humans have you killed? How many families have you destroyed? What did humans ever do to you!?!”
The Demon King laughed, but it was not one of amusement; it was a bitter laugh, laced with resentment.
“I would answer that question, but I don’t want to overwhelm you by shattering the narrow world view you humans have.”
“Don’t pull that bullsh*t, what reason would you ever have to start the war? You only kill because you can, humans did nothing to you!! How many humans have you killed?” Nikoli snarled, glaring at the demon king.
Nekros’face melted into a look of disdain. “How many demons have you killed.”
Nikoli flinched, taken aback.
How many demons had he slaughtered?
More than he could count…. But it was for the greater good! He had lost comrades, friends, and family in this war, there was a reason they died… right?
He shook his head as if trying to dispel the thought. “That’s different. Humans can feel, human feel sadness, humans can be kind. Demons can only feel hatred an- ” He stopped himself at the look on his enemy’s face but, it was too late, the Demon King’s eyes flashed with something dark.
His expression wasn’t that of fury but of such a raw, unfiltered, pain Nikoli almost recoiled. He knew that look
“We can't feel? Is that really what you think?” He snarled, his fangs bared.
“How deluded can you humans get!!? Demons are emotionless killers that exist solely to yearn for blood? Is that what the gods tell you can sleep soundly at night without an ounce of guilt for slaughtering innocent children?!! Is that why humans laugh when slaughtering demons?” His voice was raised in a cold fury.
The ground began to tremble, cracks formed in the wall of the solid obsidian stone. The air crackled with mana, the Demon King’s blood eyes illuminated with a strength that made the hair on the back of Niko’s neck stand up.
“How can humans be so delusional??! We can’t feel? I’ve never heard something so ridiculous. We feel everything. We laugh when we’re with the people we care for, we feel fear when our lives are threatened, we cry when we lose people we care about, we smile, we hurt, we love. We aren’t the mindless monsters you try and paint us as.”
“Hate and love aren’t very different. Both are the reason for everything I’ve done, every life I’ve taken, every city I’ve burned. I’m not trying to say I’m in the right, but you humans have have no right to act as if you’re innocent.”
The Demon King clenched his fists. “Humans have destroyed everything I’ve ever cared about. They murdered my mother, my unborn sibling, my grandparents, my uncle, my little brother and sister; they took EVERYTHING from me. Demons are the monsters? You weren’t there when my mother begged for her life on behalf of her unborn child, and what did they do?”
Nekros laughed bitterly. “They killed her without hesitation.”
Niko stared at the Demon King, unsure of what he could say to that.
“I thought I would … In the end, I have still failed to protect what mattered most to me.”
Nikoli just stared. This… this was not the ruthless tyrannical Demon King his elders had spoken of. The Demon King they had described cared only for bloodshed and absolute control. He was not… this. Niko wasn't supposed to look at the Demon King this way.
“As the chosen hero of the gods, it is your duty to strike down evil, that is why we must destroy the Demon King. As long as he is alive, peace will never be possible. He will stop at nothing to devour this world in darkness.”
Niko stared, unable to form the words he felt were appropriate.
The Demon King smiled bitterly.
“The only thing I desire is to insure demons can in peace, so I can finally give up on this agonizing life.”
Nikoli wanted to object to that, but not for the reason he was supposed too.
The Demon King looked Nikoli in the eye.
“I was going to end the war a month from now. It took losing everyone I cared about to make me realize that continued pursuit of my selfish desire for revenge would just end more lives. I don't want another victory standing in a graveyard. I will not allow another life to be lost to this wretched war,”
The Demon King made an expression that looked hollow, empty, broken. In that moment he looked like someone who had felt pain beyond even his own comprehension.
Nikoli faltered. This wasn’t the face of a man who had massacred thousands for the sake of power. It was the face of a man who had nothing less to lose.
Nikoli, you must wonder why I’m telling you all of this now. It is not because I want you to pity me, or understand why I did the things I have done. It’s not because I want you to stay awake at night with the heavy feeling of guilt, just like I have. It’s because I need you to understand what I am about to do.”
Nekros met the hero’s eyes again, this time there was no hatred, fury, or even vengeance in his eyes. Rather, he wore a gaze of exhaustion and resignation.
“One of us have to die for this war to finally end, and it’s not going to be you.”
By the time Nikoli realized what was going on, it was too late.
A magic sigil ignited beneath the Demon King’s feet. It was bright, ancient, pulsing, and so powerful that the ground quaked and the walls shook.
“Wha- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!” The hero lunged toward the Demon King, but a barrier of force sent him flying backwards.
Nekros’ body began to glow, it was as if the light spilling from his skin was the life being torn out of him.
“My life force should be enough to create a magic barrier strong enough to resist godly magic. Humans, gods, and demons won’t be able to bother each other for a long time now. We’ll live separately, the way it was meant to be”
“But why… why would you do this?” Nikoli’s voice cracked.
“Because someone has to be the last to bleed, and it might as well be me.”
The Demon King, staring at the hero, smiled smally. “I apologize, that was really melodramatic wasn’t it? It’s a shame you caught me on a bad day, I usually don’t act like this, I wish we could have gotten to know each other better Nikoli.”
Nekros smirked smugly, his usual arrogant demoneur finally returning, as if he had won a personal battle.
“And hey, who knows, I might be reincarnated about… 1,000 years from now give or take a few. Maybe I’ll get another chance.”
“Another chance for what?” Nikoli’s voice was hoarse from the ashen air.
The Demon King’s form flickered, as if he was breaking apart, but Nikoli could still see his blood colored eyes dancing with amusement.
“To live without losing everything.”
His figure was almost disintegrated now. The magic flames roared so loudly, Nikoli could barely hear the final words of Demon King Nekros Zephrich.
“I kept my promise mom.”
And then, he was gone.
Ash scattered across the throne room, the throne at the end of the hall empty. Without the Demon King the castle felt like a hollow shell.
He had come to kill a monster.
Instead, he had watched a man tear out his own soul to save a world that hated him.
Yeah the original draft for this was written about 6 months ago so it wasn't as good, I changed it up a bit because I didn't want to write a whole new scene, but it’s definitely diff from what this is. Also Nikoli is gonna reincarnate too and become the love interest in my aNgStY dEmOn yAoI
But yeah. This is a thing i wrote lol.
