by Virlyce
Tafel’s left hand grasped the hilt of her sword, and she swung it while spinning around to face Gabriel. Gabriel raised his mace and blocked the blow. He was forced to take three steps to the side to steady himself. Floofykins hissed and spat a fireball at Gabriel’s feet, causing him to swear and leap backwards. “Stupid mutt.”
“What’s your problem?” Tafel asked as she stabbed her sword into the ground. “I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you’d be this stupid. You know you’re weaker than me. Why provoke me?”
“Me? Provoke you?” Gabriel asked and chuckled. “No. That’s not how the nobles will see it. After all, you killed Lamach earlier tonight and now you came to attack me. Bloodthirsty princess who’s slaughtered thousands—including hundreds of innocent children—returns home and kills one brother while the other narrowly escapes with his life. That’d make a great story, eh?”
Tafel’s eyes narrowed. “You killed Lamach?”
“Not me,” Gabriel said with a smirk and shook his head. “You did. I don’t use a sword after all.”
“I suppose you’re doing this so you can become the demon lord once they try to overthrow me? Which family is backing you? What makes you think I won’t kill you here?”
Gabriel laughed and threw his mace to the side. “Can you do it, sister?” he asked with a smile and spread his arms to the side. “Take that sword and run it through my heart like you did to those countless innocents. The nobles won’t care if you killed me, but the citizens will panic. They’ll think, what if I’m next? If the demon lord is willing to kill her own brothers, what’s to stop her from killing us?”
Tafel raised her sword and pointed it at Gabriel. The image of a child’s face stricken with fear superimposed itself over Gabriel’s. Tafel’s hand trembled as she took a step forward. Childish screams resounded in her head, begging her to stop. She listened. Her sword slipped out of her hand as she hung her head and trembled while gritting her teeth. Floofykins whimpered and licked Tafel’s hand while pushing her thighs with her hooves.
“That’s what I thought. Pathetic.” Gabriel walked over to his mace and hung it by his waist, doing his best to keep his body from trembling.
Floofykins growled at Gabriel and dashed towards his leg. She bit clear through his greave and shin bone, causing him to fall over and howl. Floofykins snarled and spat the bloody glob onto his face. Her wings flared outwards, and she pawed at the ground with her hoof like a bull before a charge.
“I’ll kill you!” Gabriel howled as he grabbed his mace and swung it at Floofykins. She caught the shaft of the mace with her mouth and bit down. A crack formed on the orichalcum weapon before it broke completely. Gabriel stared at his now-headless mace before his brain registered pain in his unhurt leg. He screamed. Floofykins spat out another bloody glob and tackled Gabriel’s chest, knocking his head against the ground—stunning him. She raised one leg and peed over his stomach before snorting and trotting back to Tafel’s side. Grimmy had once told her to not eat humans. Now Floofykins knew why. They tasted terrible.
Tafel hugged Floofykins who rubbed her snout against Tafel’s face, leaving bloody trails on her cheeks. “I want to see Vur,” Tafel said with tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Her horns glowed silver, and the two disappeared, leaving behind a moaning demon prince with bubbling armor.
***
“Vur.”
“Yes, Mom?” Vur asked as he sat cross-legged in front of Sera. The two were resting in a moonlit glade with fairy birthflowers carpeting the ground. The dragons had given him a space in the roost to plant the birthflowers; though, Grimmy took objection with Vur’s new gardening hobby.
“I have a task for you,” Sera said as she gazed at Vur with her golden eyes. “I can sense your grandfather’s beginning to wake up. I want you to become the king of the humans; it’ll be a nice present for him to celebrate his awakening.”
“Oh,” Vur said and nodded. “Why would it be a good present though?”
“Well,” Sera said and raised her head to look at the stars in the sky, “he did try to wipe out the human race when they first invaded. However, something happened and he told us not to kill them before he went to sleep, but conquering them with you as the king should make him happy.”
Vur scratched his head, which was starting to be full of hair again after having it shaved off by Lindyss’ skeleton. “I don’t really get it, but okay. I’ll do it. Does it matter how?”
Sera shook her head. “Just try not to kill too many of them. That’ll ruin the purpose of making you king,” she said. Vur nodded. “You have around a decade or two at the current rate of his awakening.” She unfurled her wings. “You can continue planting your flowers now. I love you. Take care.”
“Bye, Mom,” Vur said and waved as Sera flew out of the glade. He dug a hole in the ground, and a skeleton walked over, handing him a flower. He planted it and packed soil around its stem before nodding. Vur’s body froze for a split second before he turned around with a smile. “Hi, Tafel.”
Tafel had teleported behind him with Floofykins in her arms. “Good evening, Vur,” she said with her eyes downcast. She raised her head as a tear streaked down her cheek. “Hold me?”
“What’s wrong?” Vur asked as he stepped forward and embraced Tafel. Floofykins squealed in protest and slipped out from between the two. Tafel shook her head and rested her chin on Vur’s shoulder. Her body trembled as she silently sobbed and wrapped her arms around Vur.
An eternity passed in silence before Tafel stopped trembling and leaned her upper body away from Vur. “Would you hate me if I did something bad?” she asked, staring into his eyes.
“Well, it depends on…,” Vur said and stopped himself as Tafel’s gaze shifted downwards and to the side. “No. I wouldn’t.”
“Really?” Tafel asked as she lowered her head. “What if you walked into a room and I was in the middle of killing a bunch of helpless children?”
Vur placed a finger underneath Tafel’s chin and tilted her head upwards. “Then I’d ask if you wanted any help,” he said. She avoided Vur’s gaze.
“But—”
Tafel’s eyes widened as Vur leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Her body tensed for a second before she closed her eyes and reciprocated. Moments passed. Tafel broke away from Vur and stared at his chest, her cheeks flushed. “Learn to read the mood…,” she said in a soft voice. “Jeez.”
Vur smiled and shrugged as Tafel shook her head and sighed. “Feel better?”
“Mm.”
“Good.”
Four skeletons popped out of the ground and formed a makeshift bench with their bodies. Tafel sat next to Vur and Floofykins crawled onto her lap.
“Hey,” Vur said. “Just wondering, but what did you do to become the demon lord?”
“Hm?” Tafel leaned her head against Vur’s shoulder. “I beat up the previous demon lord in front of a bunch of nobles.”
“I see.”
“Why?”
“No particular reason.”
***
“Vur? What are you doing here?” Paul asked with wide eyes. “And Ms. Besteck… I didn’t think either of you would show up for the memorial.”
Lillian stood next to Paul—frozen—with an ice cream cone on the floor in front of her. Vur and Tafel were standing in the center of a plaza filled with a countless number of humans giving them a wide berth. “I-it’s been a while,” Lillian said and lowered her head, lamenting over her fallen treat.
“Hey,” Paul whispered and nudged Lillian. “Why are you being such a stranger?”
“I’m not being a stranger,” Lillian hissed back. “We don’t really know his fiancée after all.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Vur asked and tilted his head. “I heard that the king was supposed to make a public appearance today in front of a lot of important people, so I decided to take a look.”
Tafel blinked a few times and frowned as she thought back to a certain question Vur randomly
asked her one night.
“Oh. Yeah,” Paul said. “The king’s declaring a national holiday out of respect for the ones who died during the worm outbreaks.” He lowered his voice. “Rudolph and the pope were amongst the first casualties. Lillian and I were worried about you; you disappeared on us and we never heard from you again.”
“Do you guys want to move somewhere less conspicuous?” Lillian asked. “It feels like everyone’s staring at us.”
“Everyone is staring at us,” Paul said.
Tafel tugged on Vur’s arm. “Can we move out of the crowd?” she asked with a tremble in her voice. “I don’t like it.”
“Our grandpa’s back there,” Paul said as he motioned in a vague direction. “We can go watch the memorial with him. He’s not too fond of crowds either.”
The sea of people parted as the group of four made their way out of the plaza. “What’ve you been up to for the past two months?” Paul asked as they headed towards a secluded corner.
“And what’s with the flower tattoo?” Lillian asked as she pointed towards Vur’s chest.
Vur looked down. Stella’s birthflower had sunk into his skin and left an outline of a rose with its roots wrapped around his body. “A friend gave it to me,” he said. “As for what I’ve been doing… making babies, I guess. It feels nice. I’ve also remodeled a mountain to make it more hospitable for my children.”
Lillian’s face turned red as she stared at Tafel whose face turned an equal shade of scarlet. Paul slapped his hand on Vur’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs up.
“Vur…,” Tafel said and glared at the dragon-boy. “Can you not say such ambiguous things? People will take it the wrong way.”
Paul cleared his throat as the group arrived in front of his grandfather. “Well, I don’t think that was very ambiguous. What other meaning could that possibly have?”
“What are you talking about?” Grandpa Leonis asked and raised his eyebrow. “You must be Vur. I’ve heard a lot about you from Paul and Lillian.” His eyes narrowed as his gaze landed on Tafel’s horns. “And this young lady is?”
“Vur’s fiancée who’s sleeping with him before their marriage,” Lillian said in one breath and stared at her toes.
Tafel stomped her foot. “We’re not!”
“We aren’t?”
“Not in the way she’s talking about!” Tafel’s face turned an even brighter shade of red.
“What’s going on here?” Grandpa Leonis cupped his hand and whispered to Paul.
Paul cupped his hand and whispered back, “I don’t know, but she’s the demon lord, so we probably shouldn’t tease her too much.”
“Demon lord!?” Grandpa Leonis shouted and swiftly covered his mouth with his hands. A few people at the edge of the plaza turned their heads.
“It’s in name only,” Tafel said as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I let my mom handle everything.”
“I see…,” Grandpa Leonis said and nodded. He placed his hands on Paul’s and Lillian’s heads. “You two have made yourself some very interesting friends. I’m surprised, considering how … special you are.” He smiled at Lillian.
“Hey!” Lillian said and crossed her arms. “Don’t make fun of me! It’s not nice.”
A cannon shot resounded through the air, and the murmurings of the crowd died down.
“Looks like it’s starting,” Paul said as he shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand. Gale and his entourage of bishops came into view from the northern side of the plaza followed by the king and his accompanying soldiers a few paces back. “I see Michelle. It looks like she became a bishop since we’ve last seen her.”
“So she’s getting even further out of your league is what you’re saying?” Lillian asked as she elbowed Paul’s ribs. “You have to step your game up. Look at Vur; he’s walking straight for—, wait. Why’s he walking that way? Hey, Vur? Uh, Ms. Besteck?”
“Call me Tafel, please. I’m younger than you two,” Tafel said as she sighed. “Vur’s going to cause a huge commotion any second now. I shouldn’t have brought him here.”
Grandpa Leonis burst out laughing. “I wonder what surprise that boy’s going to show us,” he said as the crowd parted and made way for Vur.
Gale stopped in his tracks when Vur walked in front of him. Vur tilted his head and squinted at Gale’s face. “I know you,” Vur said and rubbed his chin. “You’re one of the volunteers that the skeletons brought.” He turned away from Gale’s blanching face and waved at a bishop behind the new pope. “Hi, Michelle.”
“Vur?” Michelle asked. “You have to stand with the crowd. You’re not supposed to pass the line by the guards.”
“What line?” Vur asked. “No one stopped me.” The guards standing near the line behind him scratched their cheeks and whistled, pretending not to notice.
The king frowned as the group of people in front of him stopped in their tracks. “Why’d you stop?” he asked and walked to the side of the bishops. His eyes widened when he saw Vur. “You!”
“There you are,” Vur said and smiled as he walked around Michelle. He amplified his voice with wind magic. “I’ve come to seize the throne. Prepare yourself.”
The king froze. “Huh?”
The crowd burst out into a commotion. Tafel slapped her forehead with her palm and sighed. Paul and Lillian stared ahead with their mouths gaping. Grandpa Leonis broke out into a booming laugh.
A flash of light emanated from the tattoo on Vur’s chest and blinded the crowd. When they regained their vision, Vur was standing over the unconscious king with the royal crown on his head and golden scepter in his hand.
“That was easy,” Vur said and walked back the way he came. “Oh, wait a moment. Paul wanted to be a bishop…” His eyes focused on the bishop standing next to Michelle. “Your build is the most similar to his.”
Tafel squinted her eyes at Vur in the distance. “Is he stripping a bishop?”
“You’re asking the wrong question,” Paul said as he regained his composure. “Did he just assault the king?”
“I mean,” Lillian said and rubbed her chin, “he did eat a god. Assaulting the king isn’t as bad, right?”
Shouts and screams composed of many mixed emotions echoed through the air as the king’s entourage encircled Vur. They readied their weapons as the bishops chanted. A few nobles in the crowd equipped their swords as well.
A black rune appeared on Vur’s forehead. He snorted before shouting, “Kneel!”
Waves of energy poured out of his body and washed over every person present. Chills rolled down their spines as their legs turned to jelly while some people fainted outright. Everyone—except for Tafel—fell onto their knees with sweat pouring out of their bodies. With one word, Vur had silenced the capital.
“Does anyone object to me becoming king?” Vur’s voice boomed throughout the plaza. Silence reigned as the people remained unmoving. Ten seconds passed.
“We object,” a feminine voice said, breaking the silence. A golden spirit formed in the sky above the people.
“Wait, he’s the one who ate Sir Edward,” a different feminine voice said.
“But we still have to stop him,” the spirit said in a male voice.
“I’m not dying for something like that,” another voice said. “It doesn’t matter who ends up as king.”
The spirit cleared its throat. “We give the new king our blessing!”
“…”
Tafel sighed and closed her eyes.
Vur retracted his aura and smiled at the crowd before walking back to his group. The crowd broke out into whispers as they regained their strength.
“King? Him?”
“Is this real?”
“The spirits accepted him. It’s my first time seeing them in person.”
One man, wearing a white suit with an eagle crest on his shirt pocket, shoved aside the man beside him. “I can’t accept this!” he shouted towards Vur who was making his way past him in the crowd. “Someone like you
can’t become king!”
Vur tilted his head and turned towards the man. “Oh? Then why didn’t you say anything earlier when I asked if there were any objections?”
The man gritted his teeth. “That’s because…,” he said as his voice trailed off. “It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that, at this very moment, I refuse to accept you as king.”
“As king, I deny your refusal,” Vur said and continued walking towards Tafel.
“What’s wrong with all of you?” the man shouted as he whirled around and gestured at the people in the crowd. “How can you just accept this!?”
A few nobles murmured in assent and nodded. The commoners exchanged glances with each other and avoided the man’s gaze. “This doesn’t change anything for us,” one man with a straw-hat said. His pants were ragged and torn at the ankles. “The crown could change hands to a pig and our quality of living would be the same.”
“How can you say that?” the man with the eagle crest asked and slapped the commoner. “The king cares about all his people! Letting someone like him”—he pointed at Vur’s back—“become king will ruin the nation. I bet he doesn’t know the first thing about running a country!” He shouted at Vur, “Do you know who I am!?”
Vur turned his head and narrowed his eyes. “Are you important?”
The man puffed his chest out. “Yes! I’m Raffgier, head of the Ruhr household! The amount of wealth and power I hold is second only to the royal family. There’s no one who hasn’t heard of me.”
Vur nodded. “In that case, I declare Raffgier a traitor and strip him of his noble title and land. You,” he said and pointed at the man with the straw-hat. “You’re now the head of the Ruhr household.”
“Eh?” both the noble and the commoner asked.
“You can’t do that, Vur,” Tafel said. She had teleported next to him during the commotion.
“Why not?” Vur asked and tilted his head, ignoring the flustered Raffgier.
“You just can’t! It doesn’t make sense,” Tafel said as she sighed. “You’re breaking the order of things. Apologize to the king and give that poor bishop his clothes back.”