“As I mentioned before, my name is Sento Draco, of the Draco clan of Dragon demons. And this is my tale.” Sento Draco began his tale at Ren’s request. Ren and Kizilkoz were silently listening to his words. “I was born into the Draco clan about two hundred thirty years ago, and I also participated in the Selection of the Demon King, which I failed. But the one who was appointed the Demon King, Margau Kanat, the 32nd Demon King, chose to appoint me as one of his eight Demon Lords. I was entrusted with the power and responsibility of a Demon Lord in order to protect our kind from extinction."

"Unfortunately, not long after he was elected as the Demon King, the humans have invaded our realm through the portals that separate our realm from theirs. They were led by their gods who indoctrinated a capital purge of demon kind. So many innocent demons were killed, butchered, slaughtered in their own homes. Old, young, children, toddlers, hatchlings…all of them were purged. Our king led us against the humans who have committed such atrocities. We fought bravely against the hordes of men, but they were at an advantage, they had the backing of the god, specifically- Serena, the God of Humanity, who led the charge."

"Even Demon King’s safety is threatened if faced with a god, if she got her hands on my king and killed him; my brethren would have been demoralized and would have been an easy prey for humans to kill. I couldn’t let my king die at the hand of the goddess, but the confrontation between them was inevitable. So, I resolved to seal this goddess away myself. I used Deity sealing spell upon her, locking her in diamond form. Unfortunately she used the Evil Sealing Spell at the same exact moment I cast my spell, thereby trapping me beside her."

"When both of us were sealed, the diamonds upon which we were sealed ended up lost within the confusion created within the battlefield, in the end my king was never able to find me, no matter how much I called, he couldn’t hear my voice. For two centuries afterwards I was stuck in this place, buried near the very goddess I so despised. I believed that this was a punishment for not believing my king, for taking things in my own hands about dealing with the goddess, I was too arrogant. My sole consolation was that my king was safe.” He looked around the place. “I never thought that this former battlefield would be used as a trial ground for the Selection of New Demon King. Say, how is Margau Kanat doing right now?”

“Who?”

“Margau Kanat, the 32nd Demon King, member of Kanat clan of Bat demons?”

“That demon has not been demon King for a very long time. He is most likely deceased. Currently the Selection is going on to find a new Demon King to replace the old one who has perished.”

“Perished? Are you saying right now there is no demon King to control the kingdom?”

“Yep.” Ren said nonchalantly.

“That is horrifying. Without central authority to keep the clans in check and make sure they are united against a common enemy, the clans will butcher each other for power.” Sento Draco’s face turned grim.

“Master Karatengu. Do you intend to succeed the trials and reach your goals?” Sento Draco asked while looking at Ren with his focused, slitted red and yellow eyes.

“Well, I will get there when I will get there, so intending to reach my goals is just a natural course of action.” Ren had no idea what Sento Draco was implying, he thought that Sento Draco was talking about Ren’s culinary aspirations, how he wanted to make food that was delicious and most of all edible. He had no idea just how wrong he was in his assumption.

“Wise words. If that is the case, then I shall serve you faithfully, I will make sure you shall be the one to triumph.” Sento Draco promised that he would make sure his new leader would succeed as the new Demon King.

Then, Sento Draco remembered something crucial.

“Master Karatengu, what about the Demon Lords?”

“What about them?” Ren sheepishly asked.

“Are they currently active or are they are dead.”

“Not really sure about that, I mean I know my grandpa is a Demon Lord but that is about it.” Ren muttered.

“Ren, there are currently six active Demon Lords, appointed by the last Demon King” Kizilkoz now chose to speak. “There were seven before, but the Draco clan Demon Lord of this generation has been killed in failed invasion of human realm ten years ago.”

“I see. So the situation is rather unstable, and your living ancestor is a Demon Lord as well. I see, it makes perfect sense.” Sento said before addressing Ren. “Master Karatengu, believe I should be upfront about my abilities to you from the get go. I am a gold ranked demon who is capable of transforming into my true form for combat purposes, and I also am able to utilize Demon eyes. My dominant abilities are flight, light magic, fire magic, and wind magic. I am also capable of using other elements but not at an expert level.”

“Wow, you are amazing!” Ren found himself impressed by his new companion.

“Your slave is glad to be praised.”

“Slave? You are not my slave.”

“But I pledged to serve you…”

“Then you are my servant, my subordinate, not a slave.” Ren said in a serious manner.

“I see, so that is how it is. You are one magnanimous demon, Ren Karatengu; I never expected the one to free me to be such an honorable soul.” Sento Draco found himself impressed by younger demon’ values. It seems like he really was a leader material after all. All the while talking, Sento Draco evaluated Ren, whether he was worthy of being follower to. Now Sento Draco was convinced that Ren truly was worthy of being his new leader.

“I already pledged myself to you through master-servant contract, but conversing with you has only affirmed my decision. Ren Karatengu, from now on my life is in your hand, use it as you see fit. I shall obey any order without question. That is my vow.” Sento placed his hand upon his heart, now a glow appeared on his chest and disappeared.

“The spell of promise? Why would you go that far, Mister Draco?” Kizilkoz recognized the spell. It was cast upon the heart in order to make sure one kept his promises, but it was usually cast on someone else not on one self.

“That vow is symbol of my resolve. The resolve to serve my master has to be sincere; otherwise I would be no better than human scum. I would gladly make a spell of promise if it means serving my master.”

“Considering the fact that you just met me, Sento Draco, why would you want to serve me?” Ren asked.

“For two reasons. By freeing me you have secured my loyalty and with your wise words you have gained my respect. That alone makes you worthy of serving. With your goals made clear, there is no reason for me to hesitate. I live to serve a worthy leader, the one who shall lead the Demon kind to greatness. My old leader is gone. Now, the one I chose to lead me would be you, Master Karatengu.”

“I see. Will you persist to serve me even if I refuse?”

“Of course.” Sento nodded.

“In that case, serve me well. Sento Draco. And from now on just call me Ren, calling me by family name gets annoying really fast.”

“As you wish, Master Ren.” Sento Draco said in respect.

Kizilkoz could only watch in awe as Ren acquired not only allegiance of the Demon Lord, but his respect and loyalty. She couldn’t believe her eyes. The Ren Karatengu who she initially took for a fool before realizing his true power, she never dreamed that he could with words alone inspire a loyalty into someone who was at the level of Demon Lord. This kind of ability of his was unprecedented.

Kizilkoz gulped from a sense of admiration she felt towards the Karatengu demon. ‘He really is more than meets the eye. Father, I have found one heck of a powerful ally!’ She thought as she was looking at the scene before her. The Demon Lord was bowing to Ren, acknowledging him as his master, Ren was not even at Demon Lord’s level, but he managed to win the loyalty of Demon Lord nevertheless. ‘So that is what you meant by ‘Leaders inspire loyalty’, huh.’ The words of her late father, Akil Ras, echoed in her head. She never thought that what he said would come true right before her eyes. She could only think ‘The world sure is huge.’

* * *

“You let him go alone?!! What were you thinking?” Akjan’s face had a terrifying expression, almost as if she was scared out of her mind. She was holding on to collar of Aijasyl’s clothing.

“It’s Ok! He is not alone and he did not go far, Kizilkoz is with him and if anything happens she will make a firecracker signal.” Aijasyl desperately tried to calm Akjan down to no avail.

“But what if they get ambushed, and Kizilkoz ends up getting knocked out before she makes the signal? Then Ren’s life would be in jeopardy! Why didn’t you call me? I would have gone with him myself if that was the case.”

“You were busy setting up the camp with Shaula, so I didn’t wish to bother you with our young master’s silly whims.”

“Even if his whims are silly, letting him go just with one bodyguard is unacceptable. Show me where he went; I will check whether he is ok!”

“Calm down there! I am sure he is fine!”

“But..”

“Akjan, boss is going to be fine. He is far stronger than any of us. Back when we were ambushed by the ice demon, he was the only one who was able to fight her off. We have much to improve to reach his level.”

“You did a good job yourself, beating that ice giant alone.” Shaula praised Orin.

“It was nothing. Unlike boss who was able to handle several of them, I could only destroy one before being frozen. I know that my strength lies in my Mi energy from my horns, but that’s just it. I do not know how to manipulate my mana in my body, nor do I have any other tricks up my sleeve.”

“If we come back to the household alive, would you like me to teach you?” Shaula asked.

“That would be most kind of you, thank you Lady Shaula.”

“Just Shaula is fine, Orin.” Shaula replied.

Then Shaula looked at her best friend, Akjan who was looking at the mountain side while trembling a little.

“Worried for Ren?” Akjan nodded in response.

“Don’t worry, he is going to be fine. You heard Orin, young master is not weak.”

“I know. I just can’t help it.” She smiled. “When I lost everyone in my family and wanted to end myself, he was the only one who came for me. The only demon who made my empty world feel…not so lonely. He even invited me to his family, the Tengu clan, me, a total stranger to him! I never thought I would see the day when a demon would extend his hand to help another, but there he was, standing tall and mighty. Just looking in his eyes I felt my purpose. I promised myself that day that I would protect him at any cost, even if it costs me my life. Sitting here like this makes my promise sound like empty words.”

“You really do love him, don’t you?” Shaula asked.

“Yes, I do. Even if he doesn’t love me back, I shall always love him. The type of demon he is…He is a worth of giving my life for.”

“That he certainly is.” Shaula agreed. “They should be coming back soon. I mean…” She turned her head to the left and saw three figures coming their way. “They are back!”

“They are!” Akjan and every one of Tengu clan participating saw their master and Kizilkoz walking back towards them, but they were not alone. Accompanying them was a large demon that resembled nothing short of a humanoid red dragon.

“WOW!” Aijasyl couldn’t help but gulp. He looked rather handsome and mighty and he radiated an aura of strength and fear. She couldn’t help but stare in awe at the Dragon type demon coming their way. The other Tengu clan members felt the same sense of fear and odd sense of fascination with who was the demon their master was bringing to them.

* * *

“Well, as such, you will be joining as the brand new member of the Tengu clan, the servant family to my Karatengu clan. Is that acceptable?” Ren cautiously asked.

“Of course, master Ren. This one is grateful to be given the chance to serve you.”

“Flattery is not going to get you anywhere, just so you know.” Ren mumbled, not able to completely hide his embarrassment. Being respected by someone who appears so mighty and exudes an aura of unimaginable strength is rather weird.

“Understood. Anyways…Why are you bringing her with you?” Sento pointed at the diamond in Ren’s hand, which Ren now put in his pocket.

“Well, it’s not like I am going to leave her here, but freeing her seems to be a no-no, considering the nonsense she said about demons, I can’t believe a goddess could be so rude! I bet she was lying about it all and no other god than her thinks of demons that way! You stupid diamond head!” Ren tapped the diamond, hearing an irritated voice within the diamond screaming at him, but unable to do anything else.

“I am afraid that she wasn’t lying, Master Ren.” Sento said calmly.

“Are you saying that all gods hate demons that much?”

“Indeed. In this world, there are no Human Gods, or deities for that matter, only the Great Ones. I am not surprised that you might not be familiar with gods. That goddess came from the world our kingdom abandoned long ago. She is from world called Alem, while we are currently in a world of Sulum.”

“Sulum?” Ren asked confusedly.

“Ren, are you really so oblivious as to not know the name of the world you are in?” Kizilkoz asked.

“I thought the world was called Kalkan, is that not so?”

“That is the name of the kingdom, you dumbass! Sulum refers to the entire world, this realm itself, while Kalkan is just one of the kingdoms within it. Though, without a doubt, it’s one of the larger ones.”

“Oh, I see.” Ren nodded. “So, what do the gods have against us? This shouty lady…” He took out the diamond from his pocket. “She keeps screaming that she wants to kill us, is that normal?”

“Unfortunately so, Master Ren. Gods are age old enemy of demon kind.”

“I see. Then even more of a reason to keep her here.” Ren put the diamond in his rear pocket. “By the way, in crystal form, can she do anything?”

“She has all her senses, but she cannot move nor interact with anything, though passive abilities might be utilized, it depends…I could see everything while trapped in a diamond, but I couldn’t do much about it.”

“I see.”

They kept walking, and soon noticed that they came near their camp.

“Oh, we are here already! Well, let’s get you inside the camp and have you meet everyone!”

“Yes, master Ren.” Sento Draco smiled and nodded. Seeing his new Master’s wave his arms at the demons that were running towards him, Sento could only think that he was lucky to have been found by a demon not a human.