[1 hour later]
After running away from the ogres and demons for a few minutes, the reinforcements finally came to kill the rest of the remaining enemies.
Although our side didn't go through the battle unscathed, we didn't lose enough people to start getting worried.
Shortly afterwards they all went to the room with the hidden trapdoor on the ceiling.
Before we went through the trapdoor, the commander gave us a pep talk.
"In this war, we have lost many lives! Many heroes and soldiers have died at the hands of the enemy, but today, we will end this war! Be it for your loved ones at home, your country or even yourself, I know everyone here has gone through their own share of hardships that only they themselves will understand! For the final time, I ask all of you to fight your hardest until the end, and all of your achievements will not be forgotten! Now fight, and we shall show those demons that humanity should not be messed with!"
"YEAH! LET'S GO!"
All of the soldiers got fired up after hearing the motivational speech of the commander.
With everyone's moral at their highest, we charged through the trapdoor and ran straight up the stairs. At the top of the stairs stood a huge circular door with golden engravings carved on it.
The engravings read: "Hihe, we are currently running an experiment so please wait! Oh, how exciting, isn't it!"
"..."
The peculiar engravings silenced everyone for a moment, before we regained our concentration and busted through the door.
"Haaah! Demons, we have come...?"
What stood behind the circular door was... nothing at all.
There were no signs of any demons or anything in general being in this room. Except for the huge drill sticking through the ceiling, there was nothing but air in the room.
"Don't lose moral! Continue looking for the enemies, and don't leave a single spot untouched!"
All the troops immediately checked everything, not even skipping a single meter of the huge staircase, but in the end, nothing was found.
The huge drill on the ceiling was also examined, but since we were fighters and not technicians, we didn't understand how the thing worked or what it was used for.
Seeing this wasn't going anywhere, I went up to the commander and asked:
"Sir, maybe we could call some technicians here and check all the other rooms downstairs. They could have kept some important information there and the technicians will be able to check all the machines here. Since the enemies are hiding, I don't think they will attack any time soon, and if they do then we will find their location."
The commander pondered for a bit, before coming to a decision.
"Gather everyone here! We will change our plans!"
After everyone gathered near the commander, he continued talking about his plan.
"We are going to call some technicians here to examine the machines! In the meantime, I want all of you to search the rooms downstairs for any clues! Report back to me if you find anything suspicious, even if you don't understand what it is!"
****
[1 day later]
(George Ernestyn)
After the troops stormed the demon king's base, most of the enemies suddenly disappeared. They found a huge drill on the ceiling and after the best technicians of the country examined it... the drill turned out to be some kind of world-transporter.
'Now... What am I supposed to do in this situation? I never expected a circumstance where I'd have to choose between letting the demons go rampage another world, but possibly losing the trust of the citizens, or sending a ton of my troops to a random world with perhaps no way of coming back or contacting this world ever again.'
Just when I finished my inner monologue, someone knocked on the door.
"Enter."
I saw two figures enter the room. The boy had spiky, blond hair, while the girl had long, blond hair falling all the way down to her waist. Although they were smiling, there was a cold glint in their emerald-green eyes.
They were my son and daughter, Kevin and Iris.
Kevin was the one who broke the silence.
"Hello father, we have just returned from our mission."
Hearing my son's words, I grumpily responded:
"And what did you actually achieve? Not only is the demon king still alive, but a lot of other enemies also escaped!"
Kevin frowned a bit before countering:
"And what does that matter? Our mission was to bait a part of the enemies away from the main base, and we did that. The rest was the job of the main forces."
"You dare talk back to not only your father, but also your king?! I knew I should have been stricter when I trained and raised you! This insolent behavior of yours is not acceptable!"
Droplets of spit flew out of my mouth as I frantically shouted at my son. Although most would call this an overreaction, no one else but my children were here.
"Father! Please calm down! My brother just came back from a long and exhausting mission. He is just irritated that the demons managed to get away."
Iris quickly tried to calm down the raging king, but it only made him angrier.
"Calm down?! You think that you can order me around?! It seems like both of you are getting impudent! I raised both of you as a single parent with so much love and care, but this is what I get in return?!"
Kevin's eyes turned bloodshot and he screamed back at me.
"You! A single parent?! You little shit! You killed our mother! You don't even have the right to talk about love and care!"
Still shaking in anger, Kevin grabbed his sister's hand and quickly stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Haaaaa! Is that how you want to play! Fine, I've made my decision!"
I kept screaming to Kevin, not caring about the fact that he already left.
****
(Kevin Ernestyn)
"You still don't have enough conviction! Grow some balls or something! This isn't the time to stand still and do nothing, we have to talk back or nothing will change!"
I shouted in anger at my sister, who was slightly trembling in the corner of the room.
"Y- yes brother... I understand. I'll do my best next time."
"Doing your best is not enough! We have to be absolutely certain!"
I walked out of the room, leaving my sister behind and giving her some time to think.
'I have to do this, even if I have to do it alone.'
****
[2 months later]
(George Ernestyn)
The day is finally here. After I made the decision to send a small group of soldiers to the other world, a lot of people wanted to stop me. It took me two months to convince everyone and choose the 'lucky' ones that got to go to another world to battle the demon king again.
Of course, I chose my two children, along with another 98 elite soldiers, to go to the other world.
Even though 100 people aren't enough to take down the demon army, I wanted the public to think that I was at the very least attempting to save that other random world.
My true goal however, was something else.
'Finally, I can get rid of those children.'
I just wanted Kevin and Iris out of my world, and today, that was going to happen.
****
(Kevin Ernestyn)
Since me and my sister were going to get transported to another world in an hour, we were putting on our armor and preparing our equipment.
Iris looked at me for a few seconds, before saying:
"Hey, do we really have to do this? We are already going to another world, so we'll never meet our father again."
"Yes."
Slightly shocked by my immediate answer, she asked again:
"But why? It won't help us in any way."
"I've already convinced myself Iris, and there's no way you can stop me. Just accept it already."
After we finished preparing our stuff, we walked out of the room, towards the huge drill that they moved to the capital of Empyria.
After arriving at the drill, the king came up to us to say goodbye.
Even though it was only for the sake of appearance, our father slightly smiled at us and said:
"Good luck in the other world, my son and daughter. I'll always root for you."
We graciously bowed and spoke in sync:
"Thank you father. We will do our best."
After that, I smirked at the king and whispered:
"I wish you the best of luck for the rest of your life."
As me and my sister walked into the room with the drill, I could see the slightly confused face of the king in the edge of my vision.
Together with the other 98 soldiers, we kept waiting in the room. The drill slowly started up, and after a while, the light blinded my eyes and I fell unconscious.
****
(George Ernestyn)
"Hahaha! Finally!"
As I laughed to myself, I slowly walked into the throne room.
'Aaahhh... It feels like a load has been taken off my shoulders. I feel so free now.'
My mood was at an all-time high right now, and I happily sat on my throne.
~Click~
"Huh?!"
As I sat on my throne, the throne slightly fell down because of my weight, although only by a few centimeters.
'Weird. What happened to my throne?'
~Click~ ~Click~
While I was looking at my throne, I suddenly heard another series of clicks.
"Servants! What is happe-"
~Boom~
A small explosion set off under my throne, launching the throne high up off the ground, taking me with it.
"HAAA! What's happening!"
~Boom~ ~Boom~
After the first explosion, another series of explosions happened in my room, bouncing me from one wall to another.
~Cough~ ~Cough~
I spit out a mouthful of blood, as I layed on the ground next to the fire and broken walls.
"Ple... please, someone save me..."
My muscles didn't want to move anymore, as I was helplessly covered in flames.
My skin was burned by the fire, and I slowly lost my sense of touch.
After my sense of touch, was my sight, and then the rest of my senses.
After I lost my senses... I slowly lost my life.