Side Story: The Strength to Face the Mirror
I had failed disgracefully in the war against the Llinger Kingdom. As punishment, I had been stripped of my rank. I was no longer Commander Amila Vergrett of the Demon Lord’s third army. Now, I was simply a soldier.
Still, I did not feel humiliated to have been demoted. I would no longer lead or direct from the backlines. Instead, I would earn my honor as a soldier in the thick of battle, killing our enemies with each slice of my blade. I would strengthen my allies through direct action. The Demon Lord had said as much himself. His words had brought about a change in me.
I understood now what I was to do, so I trained endlessly, waiting for our next battle to arrive. The sun had long since set over the training grounds, but on I went, swinging my sword and feeling it cut through the air. I had done this tens of thousands of times, but still I was not satisfied. Even when I had climbed to the rank of commander, I had not felt sated.
A mountain stood before me. A mountain I was still not strong enough to summit.
“I must become more,” I grunted.
One mountain was my teacher, the commander of the Demon Lord’s first army, Nero Argens. He was a warrior who wielded wind magic along with outstanding swordsmanship. With his magic flowing around his body, he easily deflected attacks and moved as fast as the wind itself. In battle, he buoyed his allies as the blood of his fallen foes rained around him.
He was my goal. He was the mountain I had to summit and surpass. But he was not the only one.
“Rose!” I growled.
Rose, the woman who had caused us such suffering in our last battle. As I said her name my grip on my sword tightened. I grew tense. So I let my shoulders relax and took a deep breath.
The day I was demoted, I threw away my personal grudge against her. Because of it, I had been too caught up in my own feelings. I had forgotten my duty. My grudge had left me a fool.
“But the fact remains,” I said to myself. “I must surpass her.”
The sight of Rose bringing my own teacher to the brink of death was burned into my brain. I had only just entered the Demon Lord’s army and was still little more than a trainee. The mission that my teacher brought me on was my first ever. That was why he had ordered me to remain on the backlines; yet, when I felt a change in the air and had gone to check on everyone, I had been met by a hellscape.
The knights who had looked after me on our way into the forest were now dead, having given their lives as they took the lives of the Llinger knights. And while I had managed to get to my teacher and drag him to safety, all the while I had felt the specter of death itself on my back as we ran. It was Rose, glaring at us as she crawled, dragging herself through a field of corpses.
That was the day we met.
I had never felt anything like the murder I felt in Rose’s eyes. And even though I knew that the gaze came from nothing more than a pathetic human, there was a hatred in her that threatened to freeze me completely. I had fled in complete and utter fear. I had never once believed that anyone could take my teacher to the brink of death. I had never believed that humans could be such terrifying creatures.
“I cannot defeat her.”
I had admitted defeat the moment I saw her. I felt humiliated.
And yet, my spirit persisted.
I felt a fighting spirit well within me, eclipsing the weakness I felt. I wanted to defeat this human who had pushed my own teacher to the limit. It was not about revenge for the fallen. They had given their lives in battle for the future of our kind; vengeance was an insult to their names.
My desire to win was what drove me. Nero was a mountain I had to conquer, just as my fellow knights had been targets for me to reach and surpass. While I could not deny that I hated Rose, my will to defeat her eclipsed my hatred.
“The fire in my heart continues to burn,” I said.
I opened my eyes and gripped my sword tight in hand.
I am the blade of the Demon Lord. I am a soldier that will carve his path.
Until now, I had been obsessed with Rose. I had polished my skills, always and forever with my eyes on our battle. But defeat had brought with it perspective.
I do not fight to regain lost honor. I fight for the future of our race.
I fought because the humans had oppressed us and driven us into the remote lands we now called our domain. It was my duty to fight for all the demons who suffered this fate.
I took a breath and held my sword in a high guard. After an instant of silence, I sliced through the air. I still had so far to go, but that was fine. I was just a soldier. I was no longer a commander and no longer had to worry about the complications of that job. I could focus purely on myself. I could focus on confronting who I was and building from it.
The next battle was going to be harder. It was going to be bigger. I might even see Rose somewhere on the battlefield. If we did face one another, I would put aside my feelings and fight her with the pure desire to fell her in battle. I would do that for the future of the demon race and for the Demon Lord himself.
“There is no more confusion within me,” I said.
I am Amila Vergrett, soldier of the Demon Lord’s army. I will polish my skills so as to ensure our victory.