Prologue
“I’ll kill you…”
“I will definitely kill you!!! Demon Lord!!!”
A soul-shattering roar erupted from a human boy sitting on a bed in a small room, causing several demon maids nearby to instinctively furrow their brows. Yet, the Demon Lord, who sat beside the boy, showed no sign of displeasure.
Instead, she merely smiled, addressing the boy before her. “You can try, if you think you’re capable.”
The Demon Lord’s nonchalant tone contorted the human boy’s face in rage. Though his entire body was swathed in bandages, he gritted his teeth against the searing agony that coursed through him and swung a fist at the Demon Lord.
His feeble strike, however, was effortlessly parried by the Demon Lord. Utterly spent, he collapsed back onto his bed as if all his strength had been drained.
“Oh dear, a blow like that won’t kill me, boy~”
“Kill you!!”
“I will definitely kill you, to avenge my parents!! You damned Demon Lord!!!”
Witnessing his attack fail, the boy unleashed his pent-up fury in a deafening roar. Meanwhile, due to his strenuous exertion, faint streaks of crimson began to seep through his tightly wound bandages.
Seeing this, the maids standing nearby rushed forward, scolding him. “Don’t move! Just a moment ago, you were clinging to life by a thread. Now that you’ve narrowly saved yourself, you must cherish your life.”
“Shut up!! I don’t need you damned demons to tell me what to do!”
“I’m telling you! As long as I don’t die today, I will kill every single one of you in the future! Not a single one will be left!!!”
“You!”
Evidently, the human boy’s words incensed the demon maids present, and each instinctively took a step back, as if unwilling to deal with him any further. Noticing this, the Demon Lord, who had remained silent until then, suddenly raised her hand and delivered a sharp rap to the human boy’s head.
“Ow!! What was that for?!”
“Well? Did it hurt?”
“Huh!?”
Staring at the Demon Lord, who had inexplicably struck him then just as inexplicably asked such a question, the human boy roared in fury, “Of course it hurts! What in the world are you thinking, Demon Lord?!”
“Is that so? It’s good that it hurts. But do you know? If your punch landed on a demon, we demons would feel the same pain.”
“Huh? What kind of obvious nonsense are you spouting?”
The Demon Lord’s words left the human boy utterly bewildered. The Demon Lord, however, simply offered a gentle smile, then spoke softly. “I merely wish to say that we are, in essence, no different. Look, we speak the same language, grow up on food cultivated from the same soil, yet we are compelled to slaughter one another.”
“We could sit down and converse peacefully, and we feel the same agonizing grief at the loss of our loved ones, yet in the end, we invariably eliminate each other, and by the most barbaric means imaginable. Don’t you find it utterly absurd?”
Though the Demon Lord’s tone was calm, the unmistakable undertone of sorrow in her words profoundly resonated with the human boy. For reasons unknown, after hearing the Demon Lord’s speech, he instinctively fell into a deep contemplation.
Seeing this, the Demon Lord offered a soft smile, then stood up. “Very well, since you’re alright now, it’s about time I left. In a few days, once your injuries have healed, I’ll have someone escort you out of the Demon Lord’s Castle.”
“Wait! You can’t leave yet!”
Just as the Demon Lord was about to exit the room, the human boy suddenly called out to her, then demanded, “First, tell me your name, Demon Lord! Regardless of the meaning behind your words, it is an undeniable truth that my parents died in this war because of you! So, at least let me know the name of my sworn enemy!”
“Heh, you know my identity, yet you don’t even know my name? Very well, if you insist on knowing, I shall tell you~”
“My name is Chris, and in the future, I shall be one of the three great Demon Lords. If you intend to kill me, you’d best be prepared, boy.”
Having uttered these words, Chris prepared to exit the room. But before she could take another step, the human boy’s voice rang out from behind her.
“Then you remember this, too! My name is Alex, and I will surely be the one who claims your life! Just you wait!”
After hearing Alex’s defiant words, Chris walked out of the room without a backward glance.