Sophia continued her rapid-fire explanation. I could feel my soul leaving my body already. My horrifying memories of studying reading and writing day in and day out back at the orphanage started to resurface.
Facing this fate again may have been the greatest despair I had felt since my rebirth.
I could really never forgive these demons...
†††
I’d been getting strange headaches as of late, and before long, I sprouted horns.
Five years had passed since my reincarnation. As I sharpened my fangs for my inevitable rebellion, I spent my days studying, practicing the demonic school of martial arts, and investigating the castle (running around it basically). Out of nowhere, I was tormented by an agonizing pain coming from both sides of my head. Kind of hard to describe, but it was drastically different from one of Sophia’s punches. Despite the strangeness of the situation, I went to bed like normal, then woke up to find my pillow soaked in blood. Something felt off, so I checked and sure enough, I had horns. Even though they were still quite small, those horns were symbolic of all demonkind, and they were growing from the sides of my head.
“Congratulations, little one! Actually, that name isn’t quite suitable anymore. Congratulations, Lord Zilbagias!” As I sat dumbfounded, feeling around my new accessories, Sophia entered the room while clapping. Even though it was the same old Sophia, I was left speechless at the sight of her.
At first, it was like I could see a storm of magical energy swirling inside of her. But that wasn’t exactly right. It was more like she was a storm of magical energy. Rather than being a physical being, it was more like she was a howling wind that had been forced into a humanoid form. Everything about it seemed so...unnatural.
It actually made a lot of sense. That would explain why devils exploded to varying degrees when they died. Their “form” was being destroyed, so all the energy bound within them was being released at once.
“Ah, looks like you can see it now, Lord Zilbagias,” Sophia grinned, spreading her arms like a magician onstage. In between her outstretched palms, magical energy leaked out and formed a collection of words in the demonic alphabet: “Congratulations on Graduating From Hornless-ness.” Even when taking my past life into account, this was the first time I could see magical energy so vividly.
So, this is how mages see the world? I suppose other races adept at using magic, like dragons and forest elves, could see the same thing. It was common knowledge that a demon’s horns were an important sensory organ, but I’d had no idea they were this powerful. It was like I was seeing everything in a new light, even the world before my very eyes.
“My lady will be pleased to hear about this! Especially since it happened so early. Normally demons don’t grow their horns until eight or nine years old, and for some late bloomers, not until they’re ten.”
My thoughts drowned out her voice as I bit my lip. This was proof. I was no longer human and had been reborn as a demon. Until now, I’d been able to distract myself from that reality by immersing myself in my daily life, but there was no denying it anymore. The world I knew was completely different now.
There was also another shocking realization—I’d never be able to sleep on my side again. But I can never manage to fall asleep when sleeping on my back...
“Incredible! Is this the first time a child has grown horns this young?!”
As expected, Prati was ecstatic. She was probably itching for any opportunity to go brag to the mothers of the other heirs. With those pessimistic thoughts in mind, I took a moment to observe her to get a gauge on her magical potential.
She was strong. Easily a high-level demon, which was fitting as a wife of the Demon King. Compared to the whirlwind that was Sophia, her presence was more like a massive, solid boulder. Having a physical body likely was a major factor in that regard. For better or for worse, she was more stable.
“Congratulations, Lord Zilbagias.”
“Congratulations!”
I turned my attention to the servants in the corner of the room, bowing as they congratulated me. Despite my familiarity with these maid imps, they somehow seemed smaller. If I were to compare Sophia to a lion, these imps were more like rabbits. It would probably take a hundred of them to even come close to her beastly energy.
Speaking of which, the beastfolk seemed even less reliable. Their physical capabilities trumped that of the imps, yet they were greatly lacking in a magical sense. Kind of put into perspective why demons treated them as a lesser race. Humans probably didn’t look much different. Last were the night elf maids. They also seemed weaker than I had expected. More impressive than the beastfolk, sure, but they were on about the same level, maybe a smidgen higher, than the imps.
The story goes that the night elves were the descendants of elves that had been exiled from the forest elves’ society. In ancient times, the elves worshipped the spirits, so their lifestyle complemented nature by living in harmony with the forest and its animals. But over time, some of them came to reject the wholehearted embrace of nature. They indulged in hunting, and had no qualms trying to twist nature to suit their whims. In the end, the friction between these two groups of elves blossomed into a civil war, and the rebels were exiled from their forest homes.
Likely because they had lost the favor of the spirits, their magical abilities diminished and their life spans began to shrink. Despising their forest brethren, they turned to worshipping the gods of darkness, calling themselves “night elves.” At this point, they were effectively an entirely different race. On one side were the forest elves, proud wielders of incredible magic and with a rich, healthy tan to their skin. On the other side were the night elves, abhorring sunlight and sporting deathly pale complexions.
Losing their magic had some upsides. The night elves adapted to life in the darkness, their crimson eyes able to perceive heat as well as light. Their skill with bows was so widely renowned it surpassed that of the forest elves. Granted, forest elves had little need for bows and arrows given their incredible magic.
Anyway, the night elves waged a perpetual war of revenge against their forest brethren. While clinging to the hope of reclaiming their magic and long life spans, they offered their blood as sacrifice to the gods of darkness out of desperation. So despite being of an entirely different race, they had jumped at the chance to cooperate with the warmongering demons in their invasion of foreign kingdoms.
With the same love for bloodshed and cruelty, and the same sickly pale skin, the demons and night elves got along quite well. At least, on the surface.
“Congratulations.”
Though the night elf servants congratulated me all the same, there was a certain coldness to their smiles. The night elves were treated well due to proving their loyalty time and again, dating back to when the demons formed their kingdom, but their weakness in the realm of magic led to them earning the disparaging nickname of “the hornless.” No matter the similarities to demons in terms of looks and demeanor, the lack of horns and thus magical abilities meant they were perceived as being weak. There were also the devils, a race bearing the same magical prowess as the demons, and even growing similar horns.
“Congratulations.”
There was nothing I could do but ponder about the true feelings behind those cold smiles as they congratulated me for getting my horns, the symbol of great magical power.
But there was one thing I knew for certain. The Demon King’s army was no monolith.
“Once again, congratulations, Zilbagias. I’m sure you will gain a new perspective on the world from this day forward.” Having calmed down a little, Prati continued fanning herself. “At minimum, you should be capable of defending yourself. Until now, we have put firm restrictions on where you may go, but now we can give you more freedom.”
“I can defend myself?” I echoed, tilting my head in confusion.
“Firm restrictions” was no exaggeration considering I had basically never left the castle, and there were some places within the castle which were completely off-limits. For one, I was forbidden from entering the palace where the Demon King and my older brothers and sisters lived. The reasoning I’d been given was that it was too dangerous. There was no telling what the other princes and princesses or their families would do to me, but did growing horns really change the circumstances that much? What, did demons literally lock horns when they fought or something?
“Allow me to demonstrate the blessing that those horns are, Zilbagias.” With a suspicious smile, Prati snapped her fan shut. Energy poured out of her, flooding the entire room.
“Kneel.”
The pressure in the room became immense. It was as if the surrounding atmosphere was turning into a gel. I could feel a definite compulsion coming from those words. Reflexively I defended myself. When learning how to fight against demons, this was always step one: imagine a hollow, transparent shell around yourself. The purpose of it was to defend yourself against magic and curses.