A few days later.
The familiar front gate of my castle stood before me.
The structure had been built as a three-dimensional magic circle, so even after two thousand years, its grand form remained unchanged. At its core was a special magic that allowed it to automatically regenerate, even when its most vital components were destroyed. A substantial part of the castle had collapsed when I had created the walls between the realms, but it was now restored to its former grandeur. The only notable difference was its new title of Demon King Academy.
The many people around me were entering the gate one after another. Presumably, they were also prospective students here to take the entrance exam.
“Do your best, Anos!” mom called, chipper as ever.
Despite me assuring them it was unnecessary, both mom and dad had insisted on seeing me off at the gate when they had learned I’d be taking the entrance exam.
“A-Anos! R-R-Remember to stay c-c-calm!” Dad was stuttering profusely.
“Perhaps you should calm down too, dad.”
“R-Right. Sounds like you’ll be fine.”
“Yup, yup! Our little Anos is already so reliable at one month old. He’s sure to pass!”
Of course, none of the other students had come here with their parents. The gazes of those around us bored uncomfortably into me.
“I’ll be going now.” I turned on my heels and made my way over to the line of demons before the gate.
“Go, go, Anos! Fight, win, Anos!”
Hmm. Perhaps that’s a little too much, dad...
So this was what having human parents was like, huh? It wasn’t so bad, actually. Just a little embarrassing.
Just then, another embarrassing voice rang out from behind me, sounding alongside dad’s.
“Hooray, Misha! You’ve got this, Misha!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see a rugged man with a beard yelling his heart out. There was some demon blood in him, just as there was in dad, but the scent of human blood was stronger. A human, then.
The man’s gaze was fixed on a girl who was walking along with a blank expression, carefully hiding her embarrassment. She had platinum-blonde hair that grew long over her ears with loose waves at the ends. It was hard to tell from the front, but the back was cut much shorter. Her charming features—her blue eyes and button nose—had a hint of childlike innocence left to them.
The black and white robe she wore was embroidered with a design of demonic origin, so perhaps her other parent was a demon.
As I reached the gate, dad’s voice grew louder than ever.
“You can do it, Anos! Go, go, Anos!”
The girl who had passed me looked back in curiosity, then followed dad’s gaze to me.
“Ah...”
Our eyes met.
“We both have it tough, huh?” I said in greeting.
Her reply was short and quiet. “Yeah...”
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
Whether shy or simply untalkative, she didn’t say another word beyond that. But she didn’t seem particularly wary of me either.
“I’m Anos. Anos Voldigoad.”
As soon as I said those words, I realized my mistake. It was, after all, the name of the founder. While part of me didn’t want to create an unnecessary fuss, another part saw no reason to hide the truth. Well, it would come out eventually. It was only a matter of time.
“I’m Misha. Misha Necron...”
Surprisingly, she didn’t comment on my name. I found that a little odd, but whatever. It had been two thousand years. Not everyone had to be interested in the Demon King Anos.
“It’s nice to meet you, Misha.”
“Yeah...” she said again. All her replies were short and succinct.
Just as we were about to pass through the gate, a man stood in our way. He was dark-skinned with a rock-hard physique, and his white hair was cropped short. He looked to be about twenty years old, and he smirked wickedly as he looked down on us.
“Aww, did mommy and daddy have to hold your hands here? Since when did the Demon King Academy become a playground? Ha!”
Hmm. What kind of opener was that?
The crowd around us began to stir.
“Hey, isn’t that...” someone whispered.
“Ah... This is bad. Zepes has set his sights on them. They’re not getting away from a jackass like that in one piece...”
It seemed he had quite the reputation.
That aside, the line was veering towards the right. If I remembered correctly, that was where the exhibition arena was located. With that in mind, I supposed the entrance exam would be a practical test.
“Are you good at fighting, Misha?”
“Not really...”
So it wasn’t her specialty. Well, that was acceptable for a peaceful world.
We turned right, following the line.
“Hey! You— Hey! I’m speaking to you, jerk!”
The voice was so noisy, I turned around. The man from earlier was glaring at me.
“Hmph. Finally faced this way, huh?”
Good grief, this descendant of mine had no manners. Perhaps a little discipline was in order.
“My bad,” I conceded. “Your magic was so weak, I didn’t see you.”
“Wh...at...?!” The man’s eyes widened in fury. “Are you knowingly insulting me, the Demon Duke Zepes Indu?”
“Demon Duke...? Doesn’t ring any bells. You’re famous?”
Oh, I see. It must be a fresh moniker that had popped up sometime in the last two thousand years.
“You bastard... This is your last chance to apologize.”
What a cold voice. Zepes clenched his fist, a hostile look in his eyes. Particles of magic gathered around him to form several magic circles.
One, two, three...five magic circles, huh?
When Zepes opened his fist, a jet-black flame of condensed darkness flickered in his palm.
“Wha...?”
“Ha! Surprised? Fine, let’s hear you beg for your life. Get on your knees and kiss my feet if you don’t want that girl’s face burned to the bone with Gresde, the flame of darkness, consumer of gods! Bwa ha ha ha!”
Wh... What...
What low-level spellcasting! He needed five whole magic circles to use a Gresde of that level?! Even I had been expecting something bigger than a spark after such an arrogant buildup. Not all of my descendants were blessed with great power, it seemed. How pitiful.
“I have no interest in picking on the weak.”
I let out a small huff of air. With that, the flame on Zepes’s palm went out.
“What the... That can’t be! It’s impossible!” he yelled in shock. “Y-You bastard... What the hell did you do?!”
“Why the surprise? I blew out the light of your match.”
“You’re comparing the flame of my Gresde to that of a match?!”
From the outset, the way Zepes and I used our magic was fundamentally different. Zepes had to desperately gather it just to cast a simple spell. If I were to cast the same spell, the power to supply it would come to me naturally.
Being unable to do this in the Mythical Age would have meant certain death... Had complacency in this peaceful world really made magic regress so far? Well, I guess that just meant this was a good era to live in—especially if it allowed demons this weak to talk so big.
“You... Don’t think you’re getting away with this alive...”
That aside...had this guy still not realized the difference in our strength?
“Wait.”
The moment I uttered the word, Zepes stiffened as though his whole body was paralyzed.
“Is something wrong?” I asked him.
“Wha... I...I can’t move... What did you...?!”
Ah, I see. The magic permeating my every word had compelled him to obey me. His magic resistance was so pathetic that he could be ordered around with an unintentional verbal jinx.
“Just stand there and repent for a while.”
The next instant, Zepes’s face crumpled with regret. “What have I done...? How could I speak to a stranger like that? Oh, if only the ground would swallow me... How could I ever apologize for this?” Zepes continued his repentance while he stood as still as a scarecrow.
The bystanders let out a collective gasp.
“Whoa, that guy’s something else. Zepes is apologizing to him...”
“Yeah, did you see how he canceled Gresde like it was nothing? He must be pretty skilled at counter magic...”
“I don’t even recognize his face. What if he’s a dark horse of the Cohort of Chaos...?”
They sure liked to exaggerate. At any rate, I suppressed my voice after that—he should be released after ten minutes or so.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Shall we go?” I asked Misha, who had been waiting for me to finish.
We walked off together.
“Anos...” she said quietly.
“What is it?”
“Are you strong...?”
I let out a chuckle. “I won’t deny it. But that wasn’t the matter here.”
Misha gave me a puzzled look. “What was the matter?”
“He was just too weak.”
With that, we entered the arena where the examination was being held.