Extra: The Start of The Ordeal
“As of tomorrow, you will serve under the Demon Lord as his maid.”
So said the chief servant, to me, a girl who was, it must be said, far too inexperienced. The responsibility was far too heavy. I was an ordinary demon who had dared to dream of escaping the countryside for life in the city, and as if out of nowhere, I had received these orders.
Through a haze in which I felt like my own legs were giving out underneath me, I trudged forth toward my new place of work. The life I had been given would now be offered in servitude to the Demon Lord, who had risen from a slumber of hundreds of years. My one salvation was the fact that I would not be alone—I would be working in shifts, sharing the work with the chief maid. However, even in this I was to undertake my duties under her cold, emotionless gaze, which came with its own unique discomfort.
To be blunt, I wanted nothing more than to burst into tears.
The Demon Lord was absolute, and his presence was, in and of itself, overwhelming. It was my duty to tend to him, and yet, before I could feel any sort of honor for my position, I felt only terror. My terror was not directed at the Demon Lord as an individual but rather at the idea that I might make some kind of embarrassing error in the presence of one so revered.
I wanted to avoid the ire of such a demon at all costs. I could not stand the idea that he might shun me.
Such was the sheer power in his gaze when we first met.
For some days, I went about my duties with the utmost care. We made small talk, but the Demon Lord’s features were emotionless—I could not tell if he was serious or joking. He sometimes disappeared from a room without so much as a word. Working under this silent pressure wore away at my heart and mind, but nevertheless, I did my utmost to carry out my duties. However, when I finally thought that I had become used to serving at the Demon Lord’s side, that very confidence shattered like a pane of fragile glass.
On that day, the Demon Lord burst into what sounded very much like laughter. To see him like that—his eyes emotionless but his mouth curled into the shape of a smile—was, to be honest, creepy. It was scary and so incomprehensible to me that I wanted to cry. Nonetheless, I mustered up my courage and I spoke.
“Whatever is the matter, my Lord?” I asked.
He put his hand to his forehead and laughed. When he was finally done, the Demon Lord turned to me.
“I felt the nostalgic energies of an old dragon,” he replied.
“Do you mean . . . a real dragon?” I asked.
“They exist now, do they not? One, or was it two? How very intriguing. I wonder if this is his handiwork?”
Those who listened attentively to the Demon Lord were drawn to the charm in his every word. And yet, charmed as I was, I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. In other words, I was utterly clueless as to what he meant.
“Before I was sealed away,” said the Demon Lord, “the dragon was handled in much the same way as I was. It was left in surprisingly good condition to boot.”
“Oh . . .” I uttered.
“But its power is out of balance. Perhaps it has been awakened by someone,” said the Demon Lord, closing his eyes as if to savor and enjoy each word. “I sense its power mixed with impure magic. In any case, the dragon is weakened—it has been resurrected imperfectly.”
I was still perplexed at the idea that dragons really existed. Their existence in the present day had yet to even be confirmed.
“I do not completely understand what you are saying, so I apologize if my question is a foolish one,” I ventured, “but is a dragon different to other flying beasts, such as wyverns?”
“Dragons are very different to such domesticated creatures. And this evil dragon is one that sits at the top of all living creatures.”
“An evil dragon?”
“A power of pure calamity and an existence to be detested.”
Though there was a severity to the words the Demon Lord spoke, there was also a clear enjoyment in them.
“A very troublesome creature,” he continued. “It does not listen to reason. It does not think. It is only capable of responding to its instincts. It was blessed with great wisdom, and yet, it shuns this gift. A foolish thing.”
I could not even imagine such a monster. I had not even known that one once existed. It was difficult for me to even believe that such a beast had been awakened and was now on the verge of wreaking havoc again.
“The only thoughts that fill the dragon’s head are those of hatred and destruction. I used the beast but once. In that time, it decimated three whole nations in a single night. Do you understand now why such a monster is so dangerous?”
“There is no word for it other than terrifying,” I replied.
The ability to level three whole nations in the space of a single evening was beyond monstrous. I had of course heard the stories of the Demon Lord’s invasion before his power was sealed, but even he did not utilize such fiercely destructive tactics.
“Using the dragon is easy,” said the Demon Lord. “You merely need to provide a target for it. But attempt to control the monster, and it will quickly turn upon you. Even one such as I couldn’t kill the dragon outright.”
Though left unspoken, the fact that the Demon Lord could not kill the dragon only served as a reminder of how extraordinary its power was. But if the Demon Lord himself could not handle such a monster, then was it not as much a threat to demons as it was to humans?