"Ugh, caves again! It's like we're catching moles hiding underground."
Leo said in irritation. His fondness for caves declined greatly after his experiences in the last one.
Meanwhile, Alesha and Tony crouched on the ground and stared into the crater, looking for any clue.
"Shh, don't be so loud. We don't know if there are demons nearby, and the last thing we need is an ambush. This place is massive, so the number of demons and ogres coming and going from here must also be enormous." Tony spoke calmly, but his tense face and the rough way he gripped the ground betrayed his outer persona. He finally realized how dangerous it would be if all the monsters in the crater stormed out.
"Let's stay here for a minute. We can rest up and think about the next move." Kevin said. He turned away from the large hole and sat down on the ground in a slouched manner.
'It really is a desperate mission for them. I wonder how anyone could've thought a hundred humans would be able to beat thousands of monsters.' I kept my thoughts to myself as I glanced at the others.
Alesha and Tony were both still anxiously crouched next to the edge, eyes glued on the multitude of caves.
Behind the two stood Iris, with her hands clasped by her mouth, and Leo, with his gauntlets already equipped.
Kevin was still sitting next to me. His eyes were closed, but in his right hand sat the hilt of his sword lying on the ground. I couldn't guess what he was thinking.
I stood by the edge next to Tony and Alesha, silently eyeing the hole.
A minute after we arrived, a lone demon appeared from the left side of the crater. The demon ran down the slope toward one of the caves at the base of the hole, rushing inside.
After just a moment, a dark silhouette of a human-like creature with a small stature appeared from the same cave.
The figure walked out of the cave, and the sunlight beamed on its dark skin. It wore an oversized red frock coat with black stripes, which nearly extended down to its bare feet, combined with a regular pair of black jeans. The coat meshed beautifully with its deep violet eyes and blood-red hair that streamed down its shoulders to the center of its back.
Despite the eye-catching color of his hair, something even more noticeable was revealed by the bright sunlight.
The 50-centimeter horn sticking out of his forehead!
"Demon king!" Tony couldn't help but shout in surprise. His whole body jumped, and cold sweat drenched his back.
It was completely unexpected that we would find the demon king so soon!
Everyone hurriedly ran to the crater's rim, looking down at the demon king. Even from afar, we saw the beaming smile on his face. The demon king looked back at us, seemingly meeting each of our eyes.
"He saw us! How did he spot us so quickly!?" Alesha yelped before taking a few steps back.
"Should we... Can we kill him? Guys, he's right fucking there! This is our chance!" After Leo recovered from the shock, he restlessly shouted while staring at the demon, itching to sprint forward and end everything.
At the same time, two ogres walked out of another cave, carrying a golden throne on their shoulders. Each step from the ogres made the ground beneath their feet tremble.
The ogres put the golden throne down next to the demon king, who casually sat on it with a carefree smile, leaning his head on his right hand.
He never stopped observing us, like a lion waiting for the chance to strike its prey.
Kevin didn't panic and slowly spoke with his sword in his hands.
"No, let's wait for now. Remember, there could be countless amounts of monsters hidden in the caves... and we don't know how strong the demon king is either." He emphasized the latter half.
"But-" "Wait!"
Iris immediately cut Leo off. She turned her head sideways and frowned, cupping her ear with her hand.
~Tremble~
The whole ground started shaking harder and harder, like the beginning of an earthquake.
On the horizon, a wave of dust kicked off from the ground, and underneath that dust cloud came a mix of red and green.
"Shit! Guys, we have to run!" Tony shouted as he saw the stampede of demons and ogres rapidly approach from behind.
Leo furrowed his brow and walked to Tony with large strides.
"Run away!? I would rather die than run away now after we've gotten so far!" Leo walked right up to Tony until he was just a few inches away from his face and grabbed his shoulders.
"Leo! Think about your fucking life! How is this situ- ~GAH~" Tony released an ear-splitting scream as his shoulders crumbled under Leo's gauntlets.
With clenched teeth, Tony kicked Leo in the stomach.
Leo stumbled backward, giving Tony the chance to jump away with his arms dangling from his shoulders and tears gathering in his eyes.
Iris quickly took a few steps backward with her mouth agape, while Kevin and Alesha looked equally surprised. Kevin slowly walked forward toward Tony. Tony turned around and ran as soon as he saw the blurry figure approach him.
Between his heavy breaths and gritted teeth, Tony screamed, "Stop! Get away! Go... Please go away!" The whole time, he did not stop running or look back, completely leaving the area in a panic.
Meanwhile, the stampede was getting closer and closer. It would only take another few minutes before the charge would reach us.
Kevin stopped moving and abruptly turned his head back and screamed, "LEO! TRAITOR!"
Leo raised his head and looked at Kevin with his eyes unfocused, slightly opening his mouth but closing it right after. He straightened his back and took in a deep breath.
Kevin clasped his sword tightly and rushed toward Leo with sharp, ruthless eyes. Alesha followed behind Kevin, but I could see her glancing at Iris and me. Leo also closed the distance and approached them swiftly.
"What a disgusting sight, don't you agree? They were supposed to be a team that would defeat me! Not themselves!"
"..."
"..."
I turned to the man, no, the demon who was standing next to me. His left eye looked at the people in front of us, while his right eye stared straight at me, akin to the eyes of a chameleon.
"I'm also on that team."
"Mhmm, yes, I know. But now that I see you with my very own eyes... standing right he-"
I closed my fist tight and snapped my entire arm at the demon beside me. Launching toward him from such proximity should have resulted in my fist connecting, but instead, all I hit was air.
It was the first time someone dodged my punch since the incident.
"Ha! I knew it! You ARE the same as me!"
He jumped up into the air, and I immediately went after him. I felt my body leave the ground and soar into the sky, unburdened by the high velocity or the sudden change in vision.
We quickly rose above the high mountains in the distance into the clouds.
"The land is beautiful from up here! But... it's too overwhelming! It's suffocating me! That's why the next one has to be better!"
I saw the king covering his eyes with his hand while still plastering a gentle smile.
I stared at him while we gradually fell back to the earth below. He opened his fingers and peeked through the gaps, this time both eyes gazing straight at me, unblinking.
"So, as fellow colleagues, we can stop fighting now. I don't like all that blood and gore, and neither should you!"
~THUD~
We landed near the crater's center, creating a small cavity and blowing dust and dirt into the air.
I instantly launched at the king, stretching my arms wide to get ahold of him. He gracefully bowed down to the ground, ducking underneath me.
I quickly raised my right hand and swung at him, but he again leaned back and dodged it.
I kicked his leg, but he barely jumped over it. I threw a volley of small rocks at him, but he nimbly dodged it all. I rammed my head toward his chest, but he managed to swerve away at the last moment. It continued for several minutes, but he didn't fight back once.
After having failed to hit him, I stopped the futile attacks.
His smile turned wider and crooked.
"Have you realized it now? We are the same! Colleagues! We can't fight each other!"
Abruptly, my body jumped to the right entirely out of my control. A tiny fist blasted the air behind me. Before I could even start to think, my body moved again, swerving to the left, dodging a kick from the demon. The muscles in my legs contracted, and I shot a few meters into the air, jumping over his head.
'Ugh! What is happening... Was something controlling my body?' I didn't necessarily feel baffled or perplexed, but that didn't mean I liked the foreign feeling. I landed and stared at the demon.
"Do you feel it now? You understand right? We are not meant to fight! You can never beat me and I can never beat you!"
"We... can never fight each other? How did that happen?"
"Not being able to use your body feels shit, right? I have to admit, even I didn't expect it to be that bad. It was my first time as well."
"Punch me again."
"Ooh, you're an odd one. I guess there are differences between us." He closed the distance at an absurd speed, and my body automatically dodged his attack again.
If he punched me, then I would dodge it. If I punched him, then he would dodge it.
It was a battle between two impenetrable shields.
'Turns out I was overconfident in both my battle prowess and knowledge. I still can't understand any of this. Why is my body not responding?' I thought as I saw another fist fly past my face.
"Hey, you satisfied now? I assume you don't want to dodge the whole day."
"You can stop then."
However, he didn't slow down with his attacks. Instead, they sped up even more.
"Nonono, It wouldn't be fair to stop right away! I was stuck for quite some time you know!" His eyes were glued to mine. He held the same smile as before, but I could feel his madness protruding from his gaze.
Only now did it occur to me that this wasn't just your average superpowered neighbor going wild but a certified war criminal in two different worlds.
"You said you didn't like blood and gore."
"Where do you see any? We can't even call it a real fight if we know there won't be damage."
I tried to counterattack him, but he would attack me right before I could use my body, forcing me to dodge without any care for my own will.
'I'm stuck! I don't have time to stop this cycle of dodging. My body won't listen to me.' I realized. There was no time between the enemy's attacks, so there wasn't an opportunity for me to do something. I was only able to turn my eyes and talk.
He went silent for a few more minutes before opening his mouth again.
"Do you know why I'm keeping you here? Do you want to know?"
"..."
"Well, there is a good reason for it." His smile didn't falter for a second, and neither did his attacks, "Are you really not curious? About how we became so strong? Why we can't fight each other? Why our bodies aren't completely in our control?"
"..."
"I will show you anyway."
From the corner of my eye, I noticed the dark caves lighten in a blue hue, and my ears picked up a familiar drilling noise.
The same noise that got me to this planet in the first place.