'Painful!'
'…So painful!'
'Why does it hurt so much?'
'Why is dying so painful? I thought that dying sets you free from the restrictions of the flesh. Heh, I guess I was wrong.'
'Who would have thought that the great demon king reverenced by the entire demon race and feared by the Holy nation will cower before death bathed in an endless stream of pain and agony. Heh, such is my fate… Argh! It hurts.'
Huff, puff, huff, puff!
Belmont floated in the endless void. He had never been so weak, so fragile, and so helpless before. Even his life before he elevated his status as the demon king and ruled over the entire demon race was seven times better than the state he currently found himself in.
'I guess the high and mighty is fated to such tragic ending. Well, at least I didn't fall without putting up a good fight. My final performance will forever remain in their memories. With such grand performance they will never be bored in their entire life if they are reborn. Heh, heh. That serves them right. They will never betray anyone in their next life.'
Belmont gave in to the control of the eternal Void. The abyssal darkness had nullified all of his senses. He felt like a newborn unfamiliar with this world. A world free from the concept of time and space itself, encompassing everything "there is and there will be" with boundless nothingness.
The void had a way of exerting its influence on any soul within it. The more he struggled with it the more powerful the attraction force became. Belmont did what he had to do, he gave in to the control of that abstract force.
And like a stream of abyssal darkness, the currents pulled on to his soul carrying him deeper into the heart of the void.
While Belmont was drifting further away into the unknown with his sense of time cut off, boredom tinged his soul, and he found himself reminiscing about his past life.
***
Belmont had been the first and only demon to have sat on the great demonic throne and ruled over the entire demon race without being of a noble demon blood. He built his fame not from heirlooms, family inheritance, or some powerful ancient demonic bloodline advantage, but from his own strength, talents, feats, and sheer willpower. He was born a misfit, but he fought his way to the very pinnacle of demon society becoming their sovereign in the end.
The demon race was at war with the Holy nation —the realm of humans blessed with holy light. The war stretched on for a thousand years and both realms had failed to completely eradicate the other. But with each battle fought, a mountain of corpses was left on their trail.
The slaughter continued even when Belmont took over the demonic throne. He had to watch countless demons fall everyday, slaughtered like livestock in a pen by the warriors of holy light. It wasn't a pleasing sight. These demons were now a part of his responsibilities ever since he seized the crown. And he couldn't deny the fact that he saw splitting images of himself from a handful of them, back when he was still growing when he hadn't attained the throne and it's authority.
Belmont called for a duel to the death between himself; the monarch of the entire demonic race, and the Holy King; the holy nation's blessed ruler. He wanted the both of them to settle the dispute between both realms without drawing more blood.
…
"I never assumed demons to be so reasonable. I must say I am a bit curious to know more about you. If only we hadn't ended up in opposite sides of the battlefield we could have been great friends." The supreme blessed ruler of the holy nation, the Holy King, Lucius Zephyr said.
"What did you expect? Demons shouldn't be regarded as monsters, we still have emotions you know." Belmont asked.
Lucius stared at Belmont in astonishment and then smiled.
"Cruel, savage, barbarous, untamed, ravenous creatures that only know slaughter, bloodshed and battle, obsessed with the screams of dispair and the cries of agony. That's how we imagine your kind, demon. Well, that proves that my point of view is very narrow. What's your name noble warrior?"
This time it was Belmont's turn to laugh. 'Noble? Ain't you being too generous.'
"They call me Belmont." Was what he actually said.
"Belmont, sovereign of the demonic race. I, Lucius Zephyr, the Holy King, Supreme ruler blessed by God to lead the human realm do accept your deul to the death to usher peace between both realms. I solely swear by my honor as a Holy knight chosen by God to never violate the terms of this oath." Lucius declared in a hoarse voice.
'That was easy. Knights and their honor. Good thing I have none. But I have my life to swear on.' Belmont thought.
"I, Belmont, Demon king of the demonic realm solely swear on my life to keep to the agreement of this duel." Belmont also swore. 'Simple. You don't have to be so dramatic about it.'
Immediately after exchanging vows and pleasantries, both parties draw their sword and took a battle stance. They channelled the power of their essence and began the battle to the death. Their powers were no joke, the catastrophe left behind by their devastating battle was capable of eradicating nations. Their soldiers were in a daze as they watched the battle between demigods unfold. Their fight triggered natural disasters all over the vast battlefield.
In the end, they were evenly matched. They had to employ battle experience, battle IQ, cunning, and prowess as the fight stretched onward. The idea was that, the person with the highest battle IQ, cunning, prowess and battle experience would overpower the other and eventually win the duel by slaying the other.
Light pillars descended from the heavens, blades broke as they collided, chains of darkness reached out from the hurricanes of swirling sand and debris, the ground was smeared in blood, the earth beneath their feet was utterly destroyed, scorched and more craters surfaced. Tremors erupted as the earth groaned in constant agony.
After what felt like forever, the disastrous fighting eventually ended and then silence enveloped the battlefield.
Undoubtedly, the battle was over. Hope appeared in the faces of both realm's armies as they peered into the distant clouds of dust.
The silhouette of two figures appear vague, veiled by the clouds of dust. One stood tall with a broken sword in his grips as he looked down at the other, who knelt helplessly in defeat. As the clouds of dust subdued, the armies were able to discern the two figures. The former was the Demon King Belmont, the sovereign of the demon race, while the latter was his opponent, the Holy King Lucius Zephyr, blessed ruler of the holy nation.
Both men were in a dire state. Their bodies were covered in profound cuts and vast wounds. At some point during the disastrous battle, the demon king had lost an arm, but he did well to repay the favour by brutality pulverizing both upper limbs of his opponent.
Lucius smiled and expressed his contentment with the battle. Belmont just watched the dying man breathe his last breath. His thoughts unknown. At the end Lucius admitted weakly, "You won fair and square. So what are you going to do now. I hope you keep your words and never violate the terms of our oath. You're the strongest demon I have ever fought, Belmont. We are friends right? I will never forget you, my friend…"
Bang!!
Before Lucius could complete his last statement, a stray Warhammer slammed into his head echoing a "bang" sound throughout the vast battlefield. Even when he was nothing but a talking corpse, Lucius's head still survived the impact of the Warhammer and was in good shape.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!!!
The Warhammer kept ramming into his head repeatedly. At the end of the last strike, his transcendent skull gave in and a disgusting puddle of blood and brain matter seeped out from the cracks on his head.
"Heh, heh, what a tough crazy bastard."
At some point, while Belmont curiously watched Lucius as he spoke his last words, a giant-like humanoid being crossed the battlefield in an instant and dealt the final blow. The humanoid being's head had two huge twisting horns crowned his head. He was clearly a demon.
The demon grinned sheepishly as he licked the flesh paste that splattered on his face,"Disgusting." He spat out the foul taste of the Holy King's blood and brain puddle.
Belmont weakly lifted his head up, before him towered the figures of six menacing beings; the giant Warhammer wielding humanoid demon cladded in a dark armour, a calm demon wearing gold rim glasses and donning a long black robe, a demoness wielding a spear, a demon that resembled a teenage boy with two short pointy horns on his head and a wicked grin worn over his face. Another demoness that exuded a seducing aura, there were two giant batwings behind her back and a whip-like tail, her finger tips covered in very long and sharp nails.
And lastly, a Demon donning a black three pieced suit, a black top hat, and black leather shoes. The demon walked with a black inlaid cane in hand like an elegant gentleman. He wore a warm smile on. But Belmont could see through his calmness, it was a facade, hidden within his eyes where a dark and profound malice and killing intent. He was a monster.
Belmont recognized these demons. All six of them served as the right-hand men to the Demon King, they were members of the demon council hailing from powerful demonic families. The six Demon Generals.
Belmont looked back at Lucius Zephyr's corpse once more, he had grown fond of the dead human. But he tried not to show it. He retracted his gaze directing it towards the newcomers. A frown surfaced on his face, his eyes burning with a glint of hatred and anger. He was supposed to be the one to slay the knighty human, and yet they stole the kill from him.
All he wanted to do right now was dash towards them bash their heads or send their heads flying, but he was in no condition to start up another fight. Even though he could, he was completely outnumbered, and his opponents weren't simple themselves, there was no way he could win in such a pretty bad shape.
Belmont had to suck in all the rage, because these were also his people and he wasn't planning to fight his own kind.
However, after taking down Lucius, the Demon generals didn't let their guard down. They tacitly surrounded Belmont from all angle, their weapons warming up within their grips.
A sudden realization struck him. This demons weren't here to congratulate him on his victory. Infact, they were here to exploit the vulnerability and weakness brought by the fierce battle between Belmont and Lucius. They gathered here to kill him when he was at his weakest.
'Cowards! Can't you learn from the knights and have a bit of pride and honor. Ah, I forgot they are demons, this is actually how demons behavior. It's in their nature. I would do the same if I wanted to strike someone stronger.' Belmont said silently to himself.
The six demon generals had always eyed his throne. They would occasionally spread rumors that a misfit wasn't fit to rule the entire demonic realm, inorder to stir up rebellious thoughts within the hearts of other demons. He knew all about their schemes in the shadows but chose to pay a blind eye to them.
Belmont was no fool. He knew he had a lot of enemies. Before coming to this duel he had thought about the possibility of being attacked during the duel, so he meticulously prepared for it. Only that, he hadn't thought that the enemies will attack after the battle, when he was exhausted and pretty banged up.
"Sorry Belmont but you grew too soft. You even want to call for a peace treaty with the humans, forgive me but I can't allow that to happen." The Demon wearing gold rim glasses and dressed in a long black robe said politely.
"Von, what's up with you? Stop apologizing and let's kill the demon already. It's not like he would offer us welcoming arms and forgive us so lightly. We were going to kill him after all." The Warhammer wielding demon, B'gark said in a halfmockingly tone. He grinned from ear to ear as he tightened his grip on the warhammer.
Soon, the battle commenced. Belmont was on the defensive, blocking each enemy's attack. His half-healed wounds reopened as he strained his body to its breaking point. The enemies were clearly overpowering him with their destructive might and numbers. He was eventually driven to a corner. The attacks he couldn't dodge, found their way dealing fatal blows on his dismantled body.
Belmont screamed in agony, the pains that burned under his skin was so excruciating and unbearable. Any demon would have died from merely brushing through the pains he felt. But Belmont was not just any demon. He was that peculiar demon that rose from nothing but the cruelty the world had to offer, he was the Demon King forged from the torments of life. So Belmont gritted his teeth and endured the pains. He was waiting for the right moment. He was cooking up a plan of his own.
'I can sense it. Finally, the preparations are complete. Time for my grand performance!' Belmont muttered to himself inwardly.
A spear was coming from his right; a demoness was bulleting towards him from behind in an inhuman speed; a downward smash was delivered by B'gark's terrifying warhammer; from his left, several beams of blood shot towards him; his front was blocked by two demons lunging at his direction. There was no possible escape.
Belmont sidestepped, allowing the spear to stab directly into his heart, he swiftly dodged the attack from the flying demoness by crouching. Then he grabbed her by the neck, squeezing tightly. Immediately, he bombarded her face with several devastating blows. When he finally dropped her, her face was caved in in a bloody mess. The beams of piercing blood struck his back, puncturing an infant fist-sized holes through his entire body. Belmont had loss a lot of blood, there was no way he could possibly survive the aftermath of this battle. But he worried not, this was all part of the plan.
The demon generals saw Belmont hesitate. This fueled their resolve. They immediately launched towards him like missiles aiming to make good use of the opportunity by dealing fatal blows.
As they drew three meters closer to him, Belmont suddenly grinned devilishly.
"It's a trap." Their instincts rang alarms.
However, before they could react and leap away, dark chains tore through the earth beneath their feet and binded them in place. The dark chain even tore into the flesh of most of them.
Suddenly, an enormous dark runic circle appeared on the ground beneath them. The magic circle emanated a dark radiance that encompassed the whole of their being. And when the lights faded, the battlefield was left empty, the earth scorched. They were all gonna. Lucius's corpse and Belmont included.
***
Belmont remember how the battle ended. How he used a powerful spell he had stumbled upon from an ancient ruins. The spell was capable of annihilating everything and all things within its attack range
That was the first time he used the spell. So he had to believe what was written down on the stone slates about its effects. Seeing that he was dead and floating in an abyss of darkness, it is possible that the spell proved effective.
That was it? His final grand performance was suicide.
'That's right, demons are cowards after all. And I am a demon, why should I be exempted?'
Suddenly, Belmont could see a light in the distant darkness. This was actually the first thing his eyes had seen since he was plunged into this abyss. A spark of hope burned in his soul.