“Ugh!” A grunt came from my side.

“Are you awake?” I murmured with an obvious bit of fear.

The response I got was another grunt. I sucked my breath in and waited.

Maybe it was a false alarm, I thought. I didn’t want to embarass myself, especially not when Bria’s hawk-like sight was fixed on me waiting to do another blunder. A few more seconds, and all my doubts were waved. The bruised face of the Golden Sun bobbed. Slowly, he looked up, letting out a few grunts in the process. His eyelids cracked open, and he looked left and right, I assumed to analyze his current situation.

“Are you awake?” I repeated my question.

His drooping eyes turned towards me and shot wide open, as if a bucket of cold water was dumped on his head. As soon as our eyes met, he sneered. I felt my knees slightly buckle, but I did my best to plant my feet on the ground. Our battle flashed inside my head, and a sharp pain erupted from my side even though I knew my injury had long healed.

Damn it, Get it together! I scolded myself in the attempt of recollecting my thoughts.

“What do you really want with me, huh, Kaito?” He sneered. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed inside the room as the shackles on his hands and feet collided with one another. Those shackles were imbued with Bria’s enchantments. She claimed that he’s powerless as long as he’s in those shackles. Still, the shackles weren’t able to lessen his domineering aura. If I didn’t know any better, I was certain he was glowing with mana.

My forehead was covered in beads of sweat, but based on his reaction, he hadn’t noticed that yet.

“N… Nothing.” I almost stammered, but caught myself midway. “I just wanted to know your side. Why?”

“Why what?” he asked in a growl, his eyes still shooting daggers.

“Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking mindlessly? Why are you slaughtering monsters?” Perhaps due to rage, my words didn’t waver. It was clear and crisp.

“What?! Are you nuts?” He didn’t even bother hiding the mockery in his voice.

“You’re asking me why I’m killing monsters? Why am I attacking? Grinding?” The corners of his mouth rose, and his expression turned mischievous. The sound of shackles was replaced by his own laugh. “To gain experience, of course. Heroes can’t be weak, Kaito. We need to farm to increase our levels. That much is common sense.”

I could feel my cheeks and ears getting hotter. It didn’t make sense to me. “Hero?! Do heroes slaughter?! Do heroes massacre the innocent?!”

“The innocent?! Can you hear yourself, you dirtbag?! Those are monsters! How can they be innocent?” He shot back, somehow in a softer, but still angry voice.

“They haven’t done anything! There were even children!” I retorted, the scenes from Bria’s aura flashed in my mind. Anger made me forget about my fear of him, as well as the overwhelming difference between our strengths. “They were just living life in their own monstrous ways, yet you killed them in cold blood! For what?! For grinding?! This isn’t a damn game!”

“Bullshit!” he shouted. “I don’t know what they did to convince you that monsters are good, but have you seen hordes of monsters slaughter humans? Hacking and slashing the fleeing kids and women? I have! That was the first they showed me the moment I arrived here!” He gritted his teeth. A spark of anger flashed across his eyes. The scenes he described. The fighting and slaughter. They sounded familiar. That was similar to what Bria had shown me.

That caught me off guard. I wanted to refute, but I stammered, “I- I--”

“I guess so! Besides, how were they even to summon you?! As far as I know, summoning magic is of light attribute. How did demons manage to summon you, huh?!”

“Bria… It was with Bria’s help…” I murmured, almost in a whisper. Even I was no longer convinced of what I was saying.

“Bria? This witch? Heh! As if witches aren’t demons.” He sneered. “So, basically nothing! You know nothing, Kaito! Not a goddamn thing!” His voice echoed inside the room. He had completely shutted me up. What he was saying was completely logical.

I craned my neck to look at Bria for answers just in time so see a cloud of mist fly towards the Golden Sun’s face. As soon as it hit him, his head drooped. My brows furrowed. I looked at Bria for answers, but was met by a casual smile.

“Don’t mind what he said, Kaito. He’s playing with your mind.” She went closer and patted my back. “I believe we should meet our Lord now, right?” She flashed another smile.

With my brows still creased, I absentmindedly nodded.

Bria waved her hands in circular motion, and the portal appeared. On the other side was an almost pitch dark room. The Golden Sun’s words still rang inside my head, but Shiki nudged me forward. With a clouded mind, I stepped into the portal.

***

As soon as we arrived at the Demon Lord’s Chamber, Bria and Shiki had fallen on one knee.

“We have returned, Lord Lureschka,” Shiki and Bria said in chorus as I positioned myself behind them.

I looked up just in time to see Lureschka’s figure shrinking. She pulled down the red hood covering her face, revealing two little horns on top of her head.

“Oh, you’re finally back, Kaito!” she said in a high pitched voice. She ran past Shiki and Bria and stopped right in front of me. “How was your quest? Did it go well? Did it go well?” she continuously asked with youthful fervor.

Despite her tone, I couldn’t bring myself to be giddy. The Golden Sun’s-- no, Adam’s words rang inside my head like a broken record. It made me question my beliefs. Am I really doing the right thing? Do I really know what I am doing?

My thoughts got me preoccupied. When I snapped out of it, the first thing that greeted me was a child’s face with creased brows and glossy eyes a few inches away from mine. If it was a few months before, I would’ve been surprised. But now, I simply brushed it off, realizing the awkward atmosphere my spacing out created.

“Kaito?” Lureschka asked in a gentler, more worried voice.

I pushed my thoughts aside and replied, “Ah, yes--”

“Who’s this kid, Kaito?” Adam interjected, causing a dozen pairs of eyes to glare at him.

Despite not seeing Lureschka’s generals, their killing intent was almost tangible. Lureschka craned her neck behind me and creased her brows further. “Kaito, who’s this?”

“Ah, yeah. Uhmm, he’s the Golden Sun…” I answered absentmindedly.

Her jaw almost dropped to the ground, and her eyes widened. “That’s him?! You did it, Kaito! You stopped him!” She started jumping. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to be excited.

“Bria and the samurai called her Lord. Don’t tell me this brat is a Demon Lord?” Adam scoffed, and before he knew it, Kiriwan was already touching the skin of his neck.

I looked at Lureschka. Her glee was completely replaced by anger. It seemed that she could tolerate a bit of ignorance, but not disrespect.

“Bria, take him into the chamber. Get all the information you can out of him,” Lureschka commanded, her voice cold and heartless. Bria stood up. The sound of her heels hitting the stone floor filled the room.

Chamber? The gears inside my head started to churn. It felt like everything was finally falling into place. “Lureschka wait…”

She turned to me, her expression had returned to her default innocence. “Yes, Kaito?”

“Chamber? Where are you taking him? Take information? Are you going to torture him?”

“Torture? No, of course not. Bria will take him to our question and answer chamber. She’ll ask him a few questions, and we’ll give him a pleasurable stimulus to answer,” she explained matter of factly. Her default smile was plastered on her face as she did.

“Bullsh*t!” Adam cried. “Don’t believe them, Kaito! They’ll kill me! They’re demons! They’ll kill me!” He pleaded.

With how he treated me, I didn’t really care what would happen to him, but an avalanche of questions was messing with my head. “How did you summon me?” I muttered, almost in a whisper.

The entire chamber fell silent. There were no gasps, but there were also no other sounds.

“What, Kaito?” Lureschka asked, serious but friendly.

“How did you summon me?” I repeated, but this time, louder and firmer.

“Haha, like I told you. Bria studied the summoning magic and used it to summon you.”

“Lies!” Adam’s voice broke the silence. “Demons can’t use light magic no matter how hard they try! You must’ve used another way! A bad one, I bet!”

Lureschka’s eyebrow twitched, and I could feel the room warming up. “Bria, take him now!” she shouted.

“No!” I shouted back. I couldn’t just let her brush everything under the rug. I needed to know. “Answer me, Lureschka!”

She turned around, and silence once again filled the room. Not even Adam said anything. She stepped closer, but her footstep sounded heavier. Another step, and it got heavier again. By the time she reached my side, she was no longer the child I was used talking to. The horns on her head had fully erupted into hundreds of black carapaces stacked on top of each other. Her soft, white skin turned garish purple. When I met her gaze, I noticed blue veins snaking from her ears to her eyes. Her irises had turned blazing red, while her eyeballs became pitch black.

“I told you already, Kaito,” her voice was deep and… demonic. “Bria studied the summoning magic. But if you’re really curious, then I’ll explain. What he said is true.” She almost spat the word he. “We, demons, can’t harness the power of light, so we had to improvise. Humans have natural light magic within them. We harnessed the magic of ten thousand humans and proceeded with the summoning.”

Harnessed ten thousand humans’ natural light magic? What does that mean?

“Kaito! They killed them! Humans’ light magic is their lifespans!” Adam shouted through gritted teeth, his voice cracking.

Hearing that made my stomach churn. My stomach clenched so tight, I felt like gagging. Panting, I replied, “W-what… then, you are also evil! You killed them! Release him!”

Lureschka didn’t even bat an eye. Instead, she walked towards her throne. The moment her aura met my skin, it felt like thousands of sharp needles were pricking my skin all at the same time. She sat on her throne without the tiniest bit of sound. “Or what, Kaito? What will you do?” she replied, the excitement in her voice had completely vanished.

“I… I’ll take you down!” I replied, resolute.

Her demonic laughter soon filled the chamber. It felt like my eardrums would tear. “Can you really? With the Golden Sun in our hands, you are now replaceable, Kaito. Do you really dare?” A smile crept on her face.

I gritted my teeth. I was of no match to Adam, more so to Shiki. I definitely couldn’t take on Lureschka.

While I was hesitating, Adam shouted, “Wait! I-- I’ll be your loyal follower! Don’t kill me! Don’t torture me! I swear I’ll follow all your orders!”

That damn weasel!

“Interesting!” Lureschka’s laughter once again filled the chamber, and she shifted her gaze towards Adam. “Are you willing to be my champion?”

“Yes!” Adam replied without any hesitation, and as soon as he said that, Shiki let him go.

The next moment, a dark spike pierced Adam’s shoulder. His knees collapsed, and he wailed. Two beams of dark light shot out from his eyes, and his being was enveloped by darkness. A few seconds more, and the dark aura disappeared, leaving Adam like nothing had happened.

Not good! My instincts shouted for me to run, and I wholeheartedly agreed. I channeled my mana into my foot and used Wind Walk to run away. But just then, a loud clang echoed. I hit something metallic, and I fell to the ground. When I looked up, Shiki was standing in front of me, Kiriwan in his hand.

“Trying to run away?” Lureschka’s ominous voice asked behind me. “You served me well, Kaito. I’ll give you one last chance. Usually, threatening me is enough to get you killed, but I will offer you a choice. Be my prisoner or die.”

I grit my teeth. I might have actually met my end. If so, I wouldn’t just sit down and wait. I unsheathed Gale and channeled all my mana into it, then unleashed the blackest Crescent Slash I ever used.

The slash sliced the air as it headed towards Lureschka. But as it was about a meter away, it dissipated. “Foolish!”

Shiki grabbed me by the arms. It felt like two vice grips were holding me down. “I wouldn’t kill you. That’s way too light for what you did. Bria, Shiki, punish him.”

The space in front of me crackled. The air started to swirl, and a red portal appeared in front of me. On the other end was what remained of my army. The Goblins, Kobolds, War Orcs, Nighthowls, and Skizzmos camped outside our house.

“Rihoku!” I shouted as soon as my eyes saw a glimpse of his black fur. He heard my cry and somehow made it to the portal. But just a second later, a rain of fireballs with molten rocks as core rained down on my army’s camp. The cries of Goblins masked those of the Kobolds. One after the other, the tents caught fire, turning those inside into living torches. One War Orc was unfortunate enough to be decapitated by one falling fireball. Its head flew with its expression still in shock. Even from the portal, the strong smell of burning flesh whiffed my nose. I cried and shouted, begging for them to stop, but the shower continued to fall. I shouted until my throat could only produce a raspy voice, but the flee for help had only gotten louder.

When Rihoku jumped to our side, he immediately went for Bria’s neck. However, he was met by another fireball stronger than anything I had encountered. Rihoku whimpered, then hit the ground with a loud thud. I could hear his fur burn and his flesh sizzle. I shouted on top of my lungs, disregarding the pain from my throat. All I could do was watch in horror as all of this unfold. I was weak. I was worthless. When my army’s camp was no longer anything than a pile of ashes and Rihoku was barely breathing. I shouted again and completely ran out of voice. But no matter how hard I cried, nothing changed. My people were still being slaughtered. Even my dog was barbecued in front of me. My spirit had left my body. All that remained was an empty shell. All strength had left me, and I couldn’t move a muscle nor make a sound.

A grunt came from behind me, and Adam appeared a few meters away from me.

“Do it.” I could hear Lureschka saying.

Adam cracked his fingers, as if preparing to hit a homerun. Then, a dark ball of mana appeared from his hand. It was similar to the ball of light he used on me before, but this time, it was white. With a fast flick, the ball came towards me. A few seconds later, darkness got the better of me.