"Who do you think you are to betray me?" a man said bored as he sat on a throne, looking down at a mere man before him,
"I am Makarov! And I've played house with you for long enough! I will not follow or serve someone like you! Someone who does not act like a King, but a mere child in a high position! A fool born to rule! But not deserving!" Makarov yelled as he conjured the staff of Wukong and gripped it tightly.
"Then leave," The Ruler said bored as he was picking at his nails and not even giving any face to that Devine Demon before him.
"No" the deep voice of a man emerged as the doors busted open and another Divine Demon walked in,
"hm, So I've been betrayed by another, yet again" but not even looking at them he had already expected it, and if that guy came, then so did the others,
Not needing to look up he knew that 8 more humanoid Demons walked into the throne room, and as they did,
"He who never kills"
"He who never strikes, he never trains, he never fights, he is a true pacifist"
"He who doesn't rule with an open fist, but uses the influence of his words"
"He's a Demon? Or is he an Angel"
"He is the weakest in all of existence yet he sits on a throne belonging to a ruler who rules with absolute power and strength. . .Not will"
"He is a Demon of unknown origin, he who appeared on a throne and we were told to obey and never object"
"We gave listen for a hundred years! And in all odds, we sore our fidelity to you! Our unwavering loyalty! But we can no longer stand listening to the words of a mere child!"
"It's been fun master... But the games have to come to a close, it's the end... 'I'm sorry' lord Ashmedai"
The 8 had said one after another.
And as they joined the other 2 betrayers, the Ruler yawned, "are you done yet?" He was starting to get tired.
However his action angered the Devine Demons "you insolent child!" one of the girls yelled,
But then Makarov put his hand out in front of her and he stepped forward as he told them all not to attack yet.
"Listen Ashmedai, your time is up, you are a king who holds no power, nothing in any way, all your subjects have abandoned you and have joined us the Council"
"My offer is kind, they all want to see you dead, but I, I believe in second chances, so abandon your pride, you can still leave with your life intact, after all, you who holds no strength hasn't the power to resist us, so you can't deny my offer"
Looking at the kid on the throne, the bored Ruler's expression stayed the same... Until it didn't?!
Finally looking at them his frosty blue eyes shimmered a bloody-Crimson-red.
"Silence!" his word echoed around the room and this angered the Devine Demons and Makarov. How dare this child think anything when he was being so kind to let him live! Yelling at the Ruler his mouth moved. . . . . .But no words came out.
"You call me weak? But you have no clue what real power looks like" - The Absolute Ruler of the Dark Realm.
* * * * *
Talking amongst each other, the Heroes couldn't understand why Mahiru wanted to keep him? Except for the Main Hero, she just crossed her arms and watched his every action as well as the Angel who observed his behavior.
Watching as he got out of the coffin, he hopped onto the bed and as he did, he laid there getting comfortable.
And as he did that, his mood spiked to joyous, but not caring about what he was doing the Main Hero didn't waste any time as she walked up to the bed and sat at the edge closest to him, "Asmodeus right? Can I see your Demonic features again?" she asking out of nowhere, confusing him?
"Demonic features?" he repeated and she gestured to his horns, wings, and tail, he didn't get why she wanted to look at his body, but looking at her she didn't have any and so he naively agreed to it, showing her his hidden features as he crossed his legs sitting up.
"I've never actually seen a Demon's body up close? Or at least one that looks human, I've never encountered one? They all usually look beastly?" Talking as she got a good look at his horns and wings, the then reached for his tail as it swayed around and as she grabbed his tail he flinched and an "ah~" squeal fled his mouth.
Moving his tail away from her he hid it behind his back as the armor scales up there had nevers making him still able to feel what it touched,
With a slightly excited-like breath, he tried steadying himself from that new sensation that she threw at him and he said,
"I'm a Demon?" not knowing what a Demon was he asked and she nodded her head, but he still didn't get it, she made it sound like he was vile for what he was?
"Is Demon bad? You make it sound like you are disgusted by Demon?" with his common language being so-so he said that yet she understood him and had a difficult look on her face,
"I've never met a good Demon before, My sensei and master have said to us that there are a few, a few good Demons... But I've never seen one before, well, other than you, or so I hope you're a good one" Listening to her and getting a good part of it, his tail wagged and he smiled,
"If bad makes you sad, then I'll be a good Demon" not meant to, but cutely saying that it got her to chuckle, to think a demon, a creature which she saw to all be Evil murderers, had just sworn to be good... For her.
"You better be good or you'll end up as just another Demon...And killed," not sugar coating it, she was going to kill him herself if he was bad, but listening to her say that he frowned, could it be he might want to take it back?
"...Good means live, Bad means die?" however the case was he just didn't understand.
"precisely" she answered him, but there was a problem with that—
"But there's no such thing as good or bad?" his beliefs stood neutral in all terms, he didn't believe in righteous or evil, good or bad, it was the true philosophy of a neutral being, and it wasn't a choice, it was just in his nature.
"Then say that to the Demon King... If it wasn't for that evil son of a bitch then my parents... My parents would still be here..." clenching the sheets, tears rolled down her face,
And as he saw her saddened state as she thought back to her family before the Demon attack on her home village, he felt obligated to try and make her feel better, he didn't want to see her or anyone sad,
So as he for on his knees he hugged her, and as he did she didn't push him away, that girl in the strong armor had just started crying as he embraced her.
.
.
.
Moments after she told him to let go and as he asked if she was sure, she said yes but then as he sat on his feet looking at her as she wiped away the tears with her hands, he just curiously looked at her?
'She has a melancholy scent?'
Meanwhile, as the Angel observed all of this she found his existence strange, even if he was a lesser Demon, he was still a Demon, yet he acted as he cared, and with her angelic [Truesight], she saw right through him and she could tell that this was truly how he was?
* * *
After a few hours passed, they took a breather to rest before traveling into the boss room to clear this Tier 4 Dungeon, moreover, they also used this time to question the lesser demon named Asmodeus and look around for any secret powerful equipment and scrolls.
However they failed at both and he truly knew nothing, the Priestess named Sebrina couldn't detect any lies from him while in that room, and as for the room... It was just a bedroom.
.
.
.
"Listen closely Asmodeus, from now on you are not a Demon anymore, your human just like the 6 of us. And under no circumstances can you ever show your inhuman Demon features! Ever!!!" Mia said as those were the requirements for them not to kill him, and also so everything else doesn't try and kill him too.
"Demon equals bad?" he said and Sabrina nodded her head along with the Angel,
"If I'm Demon, I'm seen as bad?" Asmodeus
"Exactly" Mia
Drilling their philosophy into his head for a few moments, the Ranger turned to the others confused?
"I don't understand, is he going to be traveling with us from now on? I guess it could be fun to have a student I can take under my wing, but with him not even being a Rank 1 Demon or having a class, it might be a bit too hard for him to keep up with us?" the Ranger Hero named Fila who actually didn't mind him being apart of the group said,
But then the Assassin Mahiru stepped forward.
"Our main objective was a failure, I'm going back to Camelot and he'll be staying with me," she said but then Mia put her hand out, opposing that.
"But he's a boy? We get he's your servant but isn't that a bit too much? You know how boys are, and even if he's a Demon, he's still a male" she spoke her opinion as she didn't have a good opinion on guys.
"umm... Forget about him, we aren't done with what we're looking for, we still need to power up and get strong enough to raid the Demon kingdom and kill the Demon King! the Mage named Farah said as she hit her staff on the ground.
But as she said that, Mia thought about what they said,
"No, Mahiru has a point, we should return to the academy and scout more dungeons and Ruins to help us get stronger, but at the same time we should also take the time to recover from this before the next adventure," Mia said as she knew they didn't have a chance against the demon king at their current power, they needed more strength.
"Plus we have to check with the Adventures Guild to collect our pay for the quest, and we can also sell the stuff he collected from the Demons and golems here" the Rouge named Caroline wanted to get paid more than anything.
* * *
After talking amongst each other for a bit of time and Asmodeus and Zim back together, the Angel finally spoke up as the final decision-maker,
"Then it's decided, once we clear the dungeon well return to Camelot"
"After all, your the academy's best Heroes, so I need you to be healed up, and ready for all that's to come!" Saying that she then turned to Mahiru.
"And that's why I think you should join our academy too, become a hero and rise in the ranks for the greater good," she said but Mahiru crossed her arms,
"I think I'll pass" she had no plan on becoming some hero, she already had her life set.
"I see, then will you be coming on our next adventure, your a great asset for these girls and a good role model to inspire them to get stronger," she said as Mahiru eyed Asmodeus who had the slime in his lap just sitting there with him.
"Just like I said before, I'll come if you hire me," she said and then a soft smile came on her face and the Angel found this interesting.
"Well then, I can't wait to have you and that little Demon join us next time," she said showing an innocent smile.
"Huh!?" not just Mahiru got shocked but so did the others "Master don't you know what we do to his kind? I don't think killing his kind in front of him is something he should witness" Mia whispered to her and she laughed.
"He's a valuable asset though, whatever his species might be, he's still a demon and the average Demon is stronger than the average human or angel. So if we can sharpen his skills and make him an enemy to his own kind. . .Then we could then use him as a pawn to help take down our enemies" Angel
"After all, the other Demons won't see him as a threat~" the mischievous bitch planned on using him from the start, and now it had the hero's thinking about it and all the advantages of having him on their side.
But then Mahiru sighed "depending on the quest I'll bring him along, after all, he's just a Demon, so I guess owning him actually has its benefits, especially for someone like me" an Assassin and her Demonic puppet, that sounded about right to them as they looked at her and now realized why she wanted him.
"So he's just something for you to use?... Even if he's a Demon, he's also a living and breathing person? How could you just use a life like it means nothing!" Mia backed away from all of them as she heard them talk about that.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, an Angel and Assassin, of course, the life of someone means nothing to the both of you" she got upset and she gripped her sword,
"Because if that's the case them he's coming with me, and I won't let any of you use him like an item, a tool, for the heaves or for you..." She started getting angry,
"I won't let a good Demon be used like this!" she drew her sword and thunder crackled and enveloped her weapon.
"Because I'm the type of hero to protect the innocent and I'll protect this innocent Demon with my life!!!" - Mia