The Hero looked up at the sky as he raced through the pitch-dark desert. It was cold enough for him to see his breath. It was his fault that the Demon Lord had been captured. That wasn’t going to be easy to forget, though this was hardly the time for wallowing. “Always choose to look ahead over dwelling on regrets. If you fail, then think of the best way to fix it and keep moving forward.” Something the Hero’s father had once said to him surfaced in his mind. Papatega wasn’t the best father, but the Hero did look up to him to an extent, and the man was a former hero in his own right. Perhaps that saying was one passed down through the Hero’s family for many generations. It could even carry some mysterious power. While unlikely, the Hero decided that this was true. The girl he was reaching out to would probably kill him once he saved the Demon Lord. But after telling himself that such a fate would (hopefully) be nothing compared with Oniko’s training, the Hero messaged Nicoletta’s little sister, Cass. [Hey, Cass, how’s it going? Sorry to bother you, but I’ve got a request.] [Wow, bold of you to ask me for something after ignoring, like, all my messages, you know where you stand, right, you must get how I feel sending you messages all this time, so first of all, I’m going to have to demand nine liters of blood as an apology. Do you know what that means? Lolol. An adult human male only has about four and a half liters of blood, so you’ll be offering me, like, two people’s worth of blood as a compulsory tribute, but it’s the right thing to do if you think about it, although, even if you gave it to me, I wouldn’t be allowed to drink it because that Demon Lord girl has outlawed all vampires from drinking human blood, so you’ll be breaking her rules, but as long as you’re okay with that…] Her message continued like this for a while. The Hero had known what he was getting into when he had texted her. If her words alone are this overpowering, what in the world is she like in real life…? The Hero paled at the mere thought. While they were communicating over the internet, he read every word so as not to be impolite. When Cass’s messages finally slowed, he quickly explained his reason for reaching out to her. […Wow, that sounds fun.] In a break from her usually obsessive behavior, Cass got on board surprisingly quick. Maybe she was glad to have someone ask her for help for the first time in her life. Cass’s socialization had always been very one-sided. She wound up running a popular blog somewhat accidentally through the simple process of posting about her hobbies and her sister’s sexual fetishes. Never had someone come to her asking for a favor. Like the Hero, she was a shut-in, so he could guess what kind of personality she had and what she would want in return. [I’ll get back to you with text files after I gather enough info. This won’t take long!] Unlike her in previous messages, Cass’s sentences were now short and only conveyed what was necessary. It turned out that being a shut-in did have its advantages. Cass was a good writer, she was proficient at getting things done quickly, and she worked with precision because she was experienced with locating and uploading accurate data. The risk of online backlash had honed her into the sort who meticulously verified their stories before posting them. “Okay…” A small wave of relief washed over the Hero when he received the fruits of Cass’s efforts. “…This is gonna work!” The Hero immediately checked through each document, and every time he responded, Cass would get back to gathering more intel about the Six Sages and the town of Balse. Unfortunately, Cass was a little too quick at her work. In every free moment, she would continue to bombard the Hero with incredibly long stalker-style messages.
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I was always alone. Always in solitude. The Demon Lord was only three years old when she first felt that way. It was around then that her power first began to show itself, and the things she touched began to decay and melt. She was still a young child, so she found it fun and started touching anything that captured her interest. One day, however, she poked a sturdy, steel-made toy and watched it crumble. Unable to understand what had happened, she started crying and threw herself at her mother, who was still alive at the time. “There, there. I know that was scary. But you’re okay now. See, you can touch Mommy and Daddy. We’re not going to melt.” Every time the Demon Lord sobbed, her mother would soothe her by patting her on the head and gently talking her down. None understood the Demon Lord the way her mother did. Despite her fears, the Demon Lord’s power grew steadily greater. Eventually, the ground beneath her began to melt, and those with low magic power feared that merely standing in her presence would destroy them. An official notice was then issued to every demons to keep a healthy distance from the Demon Lord under all circumstances. She was forbidden from interacting with anyone other than her parents or her aide, Nanny. Any who saw her approaching in the castle turned and fled. When the Demon Lord was five, her mother died of illness. Officially, the story was that the woman had been terminally ill. However, the Demon Lord was old enough to wonder if she had been the real cause of her parent’s condition. Young though she was, her power already eclipsed her father’s, and even he started vomiting blood when he touched her. From then on, the Demon Lord was denied physical contact with her family, and she fell into total isolation. The days that followed were spent alone. The Demon Lord had to keep her distance from her mother’s bed when she watched the woman. Despite the risk, however, her mother mustered the last of her strength to call her daughter toward her. She then hugged her and said, “I love you, Demon Lord… I know there is—” The Demon Lord could only barely hear her mother over her own sobs. After expressing her undying love, the Demon Lord’s mother departed this world. …Mom, why did you die…? …Was it because of my terrible power…? …It was my fault… …I killed Mom… It didn’t take long for the Demon Lord to reach this conclusion. “Wahhhhhhhhhh!!!” While wailing, she unleashed an explosion of magic power and took off flying from the Demon Lord Castle. The Demon Overlord pursued her immediately, but the five-year-old was already the strongest creature on the planet, and he had no chance of catching her. If any humans had happened to glance up at the right time, all they would’ve seen was a distant object hurtling through the sky faster than a shooting star. Mom died because of me. Other demons are suffering because of me. Humans despise me. What should I do? Mom is gone. I make things hard on Dad. …Being alive is too painful. Everyone hates me… The world would be better off… …if I didn’t exist. Hopeless, the Demon Lord flew until she exhausted her magic power, the life source of demonkind, and crashed into a big tree in some unknown land. I should just die.