Death's Door

Much to Cereb"s disdain, his nights had been anything but restful.

Even in his dreams, he was plagued by none other than the Dark Lord.

Due to his ability to invade minds of others, he saw many messed up things within other people"s heads, so by now he was used to them.

But whatever the h.e.l.l it was that he saw inside Dark Lord"s psyche made all of them look like kittens by comparison.

It was not the memories of torture, of which there were a lot of.

Nor was it the memories of countless deaths.

Cereb: "How can one man have memories of dying? And so many times?"

When he was inside Dark Lord"s head, Cereb caught a brief glimpse of the monster residing within him.

On the inside, each person has a core form, the true self of the individual.

Essentially the essence of the person.

In Dark Lord"s case, it was an enormous, red eyed monster.

Two large crow-like wings growing from his back, his face was made of a swirling cloud of darkness within which only his glowing eye was visible.

One of his eyes had a large slash mark through it and was permanently closed, but the one eye that was open seemed to peer into Cereb"s own soul.

Everything within Dark Lord"s mental realm was connected to that Shadow Monster.

And the moment that monster saw Cereb Belius; it pounced upon him, tearing into Knight of Mind"s own mental plane, scarring him in some fashion.

Just to put a salt on the wound, Dark Lord in the real world proceeded to escape, but only after hitting Cereb with a solid hammer fist on his family jewels.

It was a crippling blow, in more ways than one.

Since then, his groin function has never been the same.

Every healer he went to told him that his performance problems were purely psychological; there was nothing physically wrong with him.

And they were right.

Night after night, Cereb Belius would wake up, shaking in fear.

It became something like a recurring nightmare at this point, nightmare he saw no hope in escaping.

Cereb: "NO!"

Once again he woke up, after a yet another one of his restless night.

Dark Lord…Dark Lord….that was all he could think of…

Cereb despised him, hated him so much that it burned him on the inside.

Even when he was not physically there, Dark Lord still held so much power over Cereb, and Cereb hated him for it.

Dark Lord was like a plague, going from one location to the next, causing devastation everywhere he goes.

By now, he was certain, when that Shadow Monster attacked him; it must have planted a piece of itself inside Cereb, infecting him with a mental virus.

It was like a scar that simply refused to completely heal.

And the worst part?

Dark Lord was fully aware of what he did to Cereb.

When they finally found the Holy Maidens, Dark Lord left a mental message within their minds.

Dark Lord: "Did you miss me?"

It was a message directed to Cereb, a mockery at his expense.

Cereb: "How can one man cause this much chaos and suffering?"

Just thinking of him, Cereb felt his heart and stomach grow cold.

He knew that demons and Demon King Draco were a threat, and that he should not underestimate them.

But the Dark Lord….that man"s existence alone made it impossible for Cereb to sleep in peace.

Cereb: "As long as he is out there, our kingdom is always going to be in danger"

Cereb: "It took him mere months to do what demon-kind could not accomplish in years, and now because of him, we have a war with the Elven Kingdom at our hands…"

According to Knight of Night, Dark Lord caused an international crisis while calling himself the Knight of Death.

Cereb: "Could it be that he is a former hero turned rogue? But why? Why would a hero betray his own country?"

Cereb was more and more confused by Dark Lord"s actions.

Instead of finding out anything from Dark Lord when he mentally invaded his mind, instead, it was Cereb who ended up becoming Dark Lord"s victim.

Cereb could not deny, Dark Lord broke something within him.

His confidence as a warrior was shaken.

His pride as a hero was shattered.

And his faith as the protector of his kingdom was destroyed.

All at the hands of one man.

Cereb: "Dark Lord? Ha ha ha… More like the Devil…."

In general, humanity worshipped the few specific G.o.ds, the Big names: Lord Solaris, the Big Five, Lady Chronos, and Lord Michael.

Those were the G.o.ds that humanity respected and worshipped.

But none said that all G.o.ds were good.

Due to his years of collecting information, Cereb managed to learn of countless things by probing the minds of those around him.

And one of such things was the existence of beings that were far scarier than the Demon King.

Because of how much effort G.o.ds have taken, Cereb was not completely certain of what those creatures were, but more often than not, he heard the term Devil used while referring to them.

The Devil….in the old archives, he found a being referred as such, the one whose coming the G.o.ds dreaded.

He was a being that could bring the rise of evil G.o.ds.

Devil, like the Demon King referred to the mightiest of demons, but he also represented the embodiment of evil and chaos.

All of those things were happening right before their eyes.

Cereb couldn"t help but suspect that it was heralding of the destruction ahead of them.

Cereb: "I wouldn"t be surprised if Dark Lord really is the Devil or at least the herald serving an evil G.o.d…"

Cereb: "A hero turned rogue serving the evil G.o.ds….if that is the case, it would explain why he is causing so much chaos…"

And if that was the case, he needed to be stopped; otherwise, their kingdom was as good as doomed.

* * *

"I am the Knight of Death, so it should be fine for me to keep this for a bit, I am sure that reaper would not mind me borrowing her Death Log"

Champions of the G.o.ds were in a sense their apostles.

As such, Dark Lord was the champion and apostle of Olim, the G.o.d of Death.

By position alone, he outranked this Reaper, so he saw nothing wrong with taking her possession for a little while.

Dark Lord: "The fact that this Death Log showed up in front of me is too big to be dismissed as coincidence"

Dark Lord: "If I had to guess, this is Mrakus"s doing. I don"t know what he hopes to gain by knocking out that angel and having me find the Death Log in her possession, but I will use it for my ends…"

Mrakus was only one Dark Lord knew who could manipulate everything so seamlessly.

In many ways, Mrakus was Dark Lord"s patron, a patron whose aid Dark Lord had to reluctantly accept if he wanted to accomplish his mission.

Dark Lord: "I will think of this later"

But the biggest issue remained.

Nur Finnerman was growing stronger.

It was only a matter of time before he would break out of the mental prison Dark Lord trapped him in, and then it will be Dark Lord"s turn to rot in that cell.

Dark Lord: "Not just yet. I still have things I must accomplish. The mission I must fulfill. But my time here is limited"

Despite how confident he appeared in the mental realm, it was a very close fight. If Nur was just a little stronger, Dark Lord would have been overpowered.

Somehow, Dark Lord managed to buy himself some time.

Dark Lord: "I can"t delay it any longer. Time for being patient has run out, it is time for decisive action"

"Please! I don"t wish to hurt you!" a panicked young man"s voice reeked of desperation

"You are not exactly in any position to say that" the demi-human woman answered while pointing her sword at him.

Dark Lord silently watched the scene before him; he recognized both of them.

The woman attacking the poor fool with a sword was none other than Jude Valens.

As for the fool, it was none other than his subordinate, Morphus, the angel.

Dark Lord: "Still, her swordsmanship is impressive, even better than Meros, I should say"

Morphus was desperately dodging her slashes but she kept coming at him.

Knowing there was no hope of escaping unscathed at this rate; Morphus resorted to revealing his extra appendages.

Two pure white wings emerged from his back, acting as shields protecting Morphus"s body.

Wings clashed against a sword.

Morphus was desperately trying to defend himself while Jude put more pressure on her sword.

Holding on to her sword with one hand, she delivered a mighty uppercut to Morphus"s jaw, causing him to fall down.

Morphus: "Ouch…."

Jude: "Angel-folk? Who are you?"

Morphus"s eyes were spinning in their orbits; apparently her punch was strong enough to knock the living daylights out of him.

Dark Lord: "Jude-san, could you please refrain from killing the young idiot? He may be foolish, but he is one of mine"

Jude: "Is that so? As you wish, Mr. Finnerman"

She immediately unsheathed her blade.

Morphus: "Oooh, that hurt….Master! You are here! I have been searching all over for you!"

Morphus pounced on Dark Lord, almost like a loyal dog that has finally reunited with its beloved owner.

Morphus: "Master! Where were you? Everyone was worried sick, you know! We even split up to search everywhere in order to find you!"

Dark Lord: "Yeah, sorry about that, Morphie"

Dark Lord patted Morphus"s head.

Dark Lord: "*Cringing* You remind me too much of a dog"

Morphus: "It is fine, it"s fine! As long as master is here, everything is good"

Jude: "So I take he is your subordinate?"

Dark Lord: "One of them, but yes"

After clearing up the misunderstanding, Dark Lord lowered his head before thanking her.

Dark Lord: "Thank you so much for your hospitality, Jude-san, I will not forget it"

Jude: "The pleasure was all mine, Mr. Finnerman. I pray we meet again"

Just like that, they parted ways.

Morphus: "That lady sure was scary"

Dark Lord: "True enough"

Morphus: "But she seemed very familiar for some reason. Who is she?"

Dark Lord: "She is Jun"s mother"

Morphus: "What? Really?"

Dark Lord: "The resemblance is uncanny, if you ask me"

When Dark Lord turned around, he found Morphus pouting at him.

Dark Lord: "Is something wrong?"

Morphus: "Everyone was so worried after you disappeared, master. And you were here all along?"

Dark Lord: "I will apologize to them afterwards"

Morphus: "You don"t have to, Milord! We are your subordinates; we could never be so impudent"

Dark Lord: "No matter what position you are in, if you do not acknowledge your mistakes, then you are no better than a common fool"

Morphus: "You are right about that…Uhm, Milord?"

Dark Lord: "Yes, Morph?"

Morphus: "Did you achieve something by coming here?"

Dark Lord: "Not intentionally, but yes"

Dark Lord proceeded to pull out a log book out of his pocket.

Morphus: "A notebook?"

Dark Lord: "One that belongs to a Reaper. And inside of it, so much valuable information. Not only names of the ones who are going to die and the causes of death, but also the circ.u.mstances surrounding them"

Dark Lord: "It is up to date; it updates every minute as we speak and has practically everything that happened within last three day period for each soon to be deceased. And do you see the several bolded names? Even if they were simply in the background, the log book still recorded their presence, depending if they interacted or had some kind of contact with the soon to be deceased"

Morphus: "I recognize one name. Merina…Is that not the G.o.ddess milord claimed to have met?"

Dark Lord: "Exactly. And she is not the only one. See where I am going with this?"

Morphus: "Does that Log Book have information on the location of the G.o.ds in the kingdom?"

Dark Lord: "Not all of them, but this is a very good start"

Morphus: "But why do you wish to find these G.o.ds in the first place, milord? Was it not the entire point to avoid them?"

Dark Lord: "Till a certain point yes. But now that the war has been declared, the human kingdom"s warriors will have their hands full with the elven kingdom. This gives us a perfect opportunity to take decisive action"

Morphus: "Don"t tell me…Will you kill the G.o.ds?"

Uttering that statement alone seemed absurd.

Each deity was an unparalleled existence.

Of the three divine beings (dragons, angels, G.o.ds), G.o.ds were easily the most recognized and feared ones.

It is said that if a dragon, angel, and a G.o.d of equal power were to clash against each other, then the outcome would be as follows: G.o.d would triumph over an Angel but fall to a Dragon, Dragon would triumph over a G.o.d but fall to an Angel, and an Angel would triumph over a Dragon but lose to a G.o.d.

But that was only if the G.o.d, angel, and the dragon were of equal power.

All of the G.o.ds in this world were so above them in terms of power that such advantages were rendered meaningless.

Morphus recognized that he was a weak being, even among angels he would be cla.s.sified as the low tier.

It would take an arch angel to be in the same league as G.o.ds, and even then it would likely not be enough.

To Morphus, G.o.ds were creatures he needed to avoid at all cost, lest get obliterated on the spot.

But to Dark Lord, the G.o.ds were a nuisance standing in his way, which is why he strategized a way to eliminate them.

And now, all the preparation were in place.

He had been delaying it long enough.

It was time to start hunting G.o.ds.

Dark Lord: "Absolutely, Morphie. Absolutely"

Morphus: "Aah, yes Milord!"

Morphus was clearly shocked by Dark Lord"s matter-of-factly reply. Still, considering it was Dark Lord he was speaking to, it was not surprising.

By now, Morphus knew exactly what type of a man Dark Lord was.

He never lied about his intentions.

If he said he would kill someone, he was the type that would make sure to carry it out.

Just look at what happened to the elven king…

Morphus: "While we are…. on that…. subject… milord….uhm… Mr. Finnerman?"

Dark Lord: "Not a single word, Morphus. Not a single word"

Morphus: "*Gulp* Yes, milord"

* * *

Demon King, Arin Draco, was sleeping like a newborn lamb.

Due to the conflicts between humans and demons, Arin always had a lot on her plate to handle.

It was no wonder why she was so tired.

Having a day like this when she could get a good night"s worth of sleep was rather rare.

Unlike when she is awake, her deepest desires tended to show through while she slept.

Arin: "My darling…love you…*Kissing sounds*"

She embraced the object of her affection with her entire body, wrapping her legs and arms around it, all the while kissing it non-stop.

Arin: "My beloved, let us fly to the sky….*Kissing*"

In her mind, she was on a date of her dreams.

And the partner accompanying her, her dream lover was none other than a certain demon.

The Lord of Darkness…but in her dream, he was her mate, her king, and her lover.

Here, he was her husband.

Arin: "Dark Lord…I love you, I love you so much…."

She kept uttering such things without any sign of stopping.

If anyone saw her like this, their image of the Demon King would be instantly shattered.

Rather than the Demon King, she looked more like a love-struck girl.

Unfortunately for Arin, someone else did indeed see this.

After hearing strange sounds coming out of Arin"s bedroom, Kazan grew slightly alarmed and decided to check if the Demon King was safe.

Nothing could have prepared him for what he witnessed.
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What Arin was hugging was a huge body pillow, and on it was the image of the Dark Lord"s body.

Apparently she improvised a bit since she did not know how he would look like without a shirt, but the face was unmistakable.

She kept uttering his name over and over while embracing and kissing the body pillow with all her might.

Since she had so much work to do with little to no breaks, Kazan suspected that she might have been frustrated, but he could have never guessed just how much.

Dragon type demons are known for their extreme virility, or simply put, their boundless l.u.s.t.

Since she was their king, she had to act professional at all times while suppressing her inner desires.

But when you bottle up such desires for too long, sooner or later, they explode.

Kazan: "Brother, you are one lucky man"

While he did suspect that Arin had a crush on Runfar, Kazan was still shocked at how deep her affections were for him.

Not uttering a single word, he was about to leave the room, only to hear another voice, a feminine one.

Temur Tang: "Why don"t you just marry him already and get it over with, my king?"

Hearing that, Arin immediately woke up and screamed so loudly that everyone inside the castle of the Demon King could hear it.