"The world is ending."

A soft voice creaked through the castle of Hrynal, the land of the demons.

The skies had turned black and red while ash covered the grounds all around. All the demons remaining gathered at one end and the humans at the other.

A grand war.

An epic on a scale no one in the world had ever seen before.

All of it was coming to an end.

"Do you think the hero will be able to hold out?" The princess of the Empire asked to the general. The humans all had united under one banner, but the last of their hopes seemed to be on the verge of defeat.

No.

—BOOM!

—CRASH!

The battle taking place in the skies wasn't one they could judge.

"MWAHAHA! MORE! HERO, MORE POWER!"

The demon king's screams echoed as he swung his claws. As if the sky itself was about to fall, the simple movement tore a hole into space.

But the hero wasn't any pushover.

"DEMON LORD! I will kill you and make a huge fucking harem!"

The hero swung his holy sword. A white crack splayed over the skies and crashed into the black one the demon lord had brought.

"HYAH!"

The hero screamed and reeled back.

"Just a little more! Hero!"

The princess clasped her hands together and prayed.

"You just have to hold on a little more!"

The demon king uttered a laugh as he watched the hero tumble through the skies.

"It was a fun battle, Hero. I haven't enjoyed a fight since a long time. But it is now time that the humans end."

The demon king raised his hands.

A clump of black formed above his hands. A giant sphere like none other. The ball of massive energy sent a tempest through the lands while electricity that could crack space itself whirred around the mass of energy.

The hero's mouth fell wide open.

"How… how could this happen…" The hero was left surprised. "Is this it…? This power…."

"Goodbye, Hero."

It was then.

A single man came in between the two.

Right in the middle of the battlefield that had been cleared, a young man with black hair and golden eyes stood, scratching his stomach as he yawned.

"What is this…?" the Demon king spoke.

"Haha…" The hero laughed. "I held on… I leave this to you—"

"Aaahm, guys what the fuck?" the black-haired man spoke. He stretched his hands above his head and popped his spine. A satisfied gasp left him. "Can you tone it down a bit? I was fucking sleeping."

"SILENCE!" The demon king raged. The skies trembled and the clouds shook at his scream. "Critter!"

The demon king swung his arm down, and the giant mass of unbridled energy came crashing down. As if the wrath of the gods had befallen down, no, even the gods wouldn't be able to handle this strength.

"Weirdo."

But the man only flicked his fingers.

—BOOOOOOOM!

And the world trembled.

In the middle of its path, the mass of demonic energy crashed into the man's flick… and was completely shattered.

"W-what…?"

The demon king mumbled.

"Not bad though, that was almost like a mosquito."

The man yawned once more while looking at his fingers strangely. Then, he gazed back up at the demon king.

"Y-you… WHAT SORCERY DID YOU PULL—"

"Fuck. Lower it, man!"

The demon king shut up.

The mere presence that man exuded. As if he were a tiger and the demon king himself but an ant, as if he were the ocean and the demon king himself but a droplet.

Fear.

Pure, unbridled fear encapsulated the demon king's every last fiber of being. It felt as if every single thread that made up his existence was being unraveled and held in front of that man.

But.

A rat would bite when cornered.

A man would fight when in a bind.

And a demon…

A demon would rage when looked down on.

"HHHAAAAH!" The demon king screamed. All his powers surged through the skies. The final final form that he had prepared against the power of friendship and love revealed itself as his strength rose to points that they had never before.

The entire world was in his palm.

Just once. He only had to clench his fists once and everything would be over.

And yet.

And yet that man.

YAWNED.

THAT MAN YAWNED.

His powers increased further and further, all of them condensed in his hands as he shot toward the man, his moves ready to kill.

The ground trembled.

The people tipped over.

The skies cried, the earth shook, the gods bit their lips.

"Damn it."

Before his hands could touch him. The demon lord stopped. His strength was still his own. Yet, instinctively, he stopped.

"What did I tell you about keeping it down?"

The black-haired man swung his hand.

A head fell to the ground.

The demon king was gone.

Forever.