Whispers…
(Kill, devour, plunder…)
They kept gettting louder…
(Destroy, annihilate, Carnage…)
"Graaah, shut up!", Astar slammed his head against the wall.
Quiet.
(Kill, devour, plunder…)
They came back.Though he could barely think straight, either by the luck of his soul or the instinct to escape, Astar walked drunkenly up a flight of spiral stairs.
Within the chambers of the Demon Lord at the same time that Astar had awoken.
"Sir, we have collected the remains of the Demon Lord and Sir Dash".
"Good, did you find any treasuries kept hidden within this decrepit place?".
"…N-no Sir, we're s-still investigating, but I'm sure we'll find something soon—!", the soldier had by the end of his sentence, been speaking so hastily he himself couldn't understand.
A swift back handed slap struck down on the man, his body falling down from the impact.
"Come back to me when you have some good news".
"Y-yes sir".Astar was still climbing, an insatiable hunger eating away at him.
A woman could be seen behind the Demon Lord's throne.
"Watch it!", she complained after another soldier had bumped into her. But the sound off her impact with the ground was strange. A little off, so to speak. It sounded hollow.
"Hey you, come help me here".The throne creaked against the floor as it was pushed to the side revealing a small dip shaped as though it could be pulled on. The three soldiers looked to one another as if trying to figure out if this was real.
"Sir!", one of them immediately jumped at the opportunity to report their findings.
The girl clicked her tongue in regret. If only she hadn't gotten lost in thought.But while the three had nothing but high sprits, none of them had expected the sudden opening of the trap door.
Their heads swung towards the opening. But only two of them were able to process what came next, for one of their heads had already been removed from their body.
"Henry!", it was one of the boys who had pushed the throne.
The scream however was cut short, another head was sent into orbit.At this point, the whole room had been alerted. But none of them knew what was going on, their vision only showed them fountains of gushing blood, a screaming woman, and it couldn't be…? Their minds stuck as though their brains had been overloaded… it was the hero. Not dead, not slain in a valiant battle against the Demon Lord, he was alive.
While the soldiers had certainly been left in exasperation, the head knight swiftly composed himself.
"Surround him!".The soldiers, by muscle memory and conditioning, surrounded the man they thought to be the hero.
But their thoughts soon were thrown out the window. This couldn't be the hero, the scruffy torn appearance of this man did not match the image of the Hero. They didn't know if this was an illusion, a monster, or a demon. But the one thing they did know was that this thing… was the enemy.
"Demon, by the light of our Gods' grace, may you return to your hell that is by the Demon Lord's side, at the behest of our swords".
"Demon? Hukughkukuku", his laughter sounded rotten and eerie.
"I saved you all, I killed the Demon Lord and you call me? Me!? A DEMON???!!!!".
Sweat ran down the faces of the soldiers, anxiety and fear rising up within them.
"But killing those two did feel good huhu kuhu", he laughed within short bursts as though he found everything so amusing, he couldn't contain himself. "Maybe being a Demon suits me better?".
This seemed to be the signal that initiated it all. Battle cries sounded from the soldiers, they had made their resolve. This was not their Hero. How dare a demon try to imitate the saviour of humanity?
Slash after slash, each soldier made an attempt at striking down Astar and yet every time there seemed to be an opening in his defence, another stab came back from his palms.
This whole time, Astar had not been using a sword, he hadn't been using anything. Only his hands were enough to chop off the heads of such weak little things.
Every lifeless corpse that stained the floor seemed to quieten the whispers in his ear. This burning hatred he felt, this hunger, this thirst, everything faded with the tears of flesh and screams of despair.
By the end of it, there was only one left…
"Please, please don't kill me".
"…", Astar merely stared at him.
"I have a wife, a small girl".
"…"
"She needs me".
"…".
Astar approached the man. His hands grabbing him by the throat.
But something seemed to stop him, as if telling him to stop. Why was he hesitant?
(Kill, kill, kill)
Astar shook his head as if to fight the whispers.
(He's lying, it's probably better for them if he's dead, think of the horrible things he's done, did he thank you once for your sacrifice?)
"Shut…".
(Don't be like that, I'm only here to help)
"Stop saying—".
(Why does he get to have the happy life you deserved while you get tossed to the side?)
"Shut up!", warm liquid oozed down Astar's hands. His eyes regaining a sense of clarity that he seemed to have lost.
He looked back at the pile of dead he had scattered across the marble floor.
"This, I didn't mean it…"
"This isn't me…"
"It was a mistake".
(Don't fight me, Astar, I'm only a part of you).
"No- NO! You made me do this".
(You know that's not true)
"You it's all your fault".
(I'm only a part of you)
"No that's—you're lying".
A figure stood in front of him, but this time it wasn't the Demon Lord, but it was himself, a darker, more sinister… him.
"I know everything about you Astar".
"I know the pride you felt at being the hero, the greed you showed as you accepted the donations from the poor to fuel your lavish lifestyle, the anger you let out on those who you saw beneath you".
"I'm no longer the Demon Lord, Astar…. I'm you"."No- NO", Astar ran out the throne room, he didn't know where he was running to, or what he was trying to find, but he wanted to escape.
That wasn't him, and yet it felt as though everything said, was true. That wasn't who he was, right? That wasn't who he was trying to be.
But… was it?
He was running away from the darkness at the back of his heart. After the Demon Lord was dead, he hoped he could set things right, he hoped he could do some good for once, start from zero.
The Demon Lord was an excuse to fight his wrongs and somehow even that failed. Was he just never meant to be good? Was this all the will he had to change?
He pushed the doors open revealing a bright blue sky.His eyes set themselves upon a large fountain set at the front of the castle.He approached the running waters slowly.
Somehow even though the Demon Lord was a being of evil, he still seemed to have an eye for art. The water from the fountain splashed down creating ripples that spread all around its base.
He stared at the sunken appearance he had within his reflection. Rugged stitches tied around his chest as if in a hasty and amateur manner, only to secure the skin in place.
"If I am evil, so what? Maybe it's time I accept that… and I'm sure I should give them a gift for this reality check".
He chuckled.
"I will return the favour".