The Destroyer
By: Aviantei
A The Devil is a Part-Timer! One Shot
[Twelve Shots of Summer Second Raid 3/12]
I.
He is born as an ordinary boy, a demon, but otherwise untouched by expectation. He is a child with parents, and he lives that way, untainted for years.
As he grows, he learns what it means to be a demon, the sort of things that are expected. Ever the hard-worker, he does his best, pushing forward.
It isn't until his reputation starts to stick that the layers begin to form.
He works for conquest. Bit by bit, he takes over demon territory. The layers form as specks—a recognition there, the understanding of his power there. He grows, and his reputation grows with him: the boy trying to become the Devil.
Somehow, he ends up with followers. They think he's strong enough, so they stick at his back, make his conquests easier. Several of them are older than him, teach him new tricks or just watch to see what he'll do.
Fleck by fleck, the title of leader sticks to him.
Alciel is the first future general to join his side. A tactician, incredibly powerful, but completely willing to serve. He puts the boy—becoming grown, becoming closer to a man—on a pedestal, the first to call him Demonic Highness.
And the up and coming demon thinks he likes the sound of that.
Their conquests become greater. Soon, half of the demonic kingdoms are under his control. Opposing demons jockeying for control send their armies, attempt to do battle, but the demon that was once a boy can see the fear in their eyes when they come to face with him.
More and more layers attached to him. A reputation just slightly out of proportion with the reality. And what they're seeing is that, and not exactly him.
The other generals join in time, Adramalech and Maracoda, and then, as the conquest of the demon realms comes to a close, Lucifer. It isn't long before the title of Devil is his, a young man by demonic standards, now standing at the top.
The Devil. Maou-sama.
He doesn't realize it, but the layers are plastered to him, thick enough that it's a wonder he can even move.
II.
Ente Isla is the next target, a land of humans. Focusing on the central capital, the Devil's army easily overtakes the castle, forms it into their base of operations. The generals split into separate forces, taking on the remaining resisting lands.
He's hit with the reputation of invader, of demon, of monster. More and more humans fear the demon king, treat the sins of his army as his own. Sticking harder than ever before, the layers continue to build up.
Humans are killed—another layer.
Territories are taken over—another layer.
Lucifer sets fire to the eastern continent—the layer is shared, but some of it still sticks, is caked on to the Devil.
Churches are collapsed—layer.
Prisoners are taken then executed as examples—layer.
The Hero rises in opposition—
—and the Devil turns his forces against her, attaching himself to the role known as evil.
III.
They stick to his skin, the ideas, the reputations. They take up more space than the lands he's conquered. Just layers and layers, expanding out, distant, blinding, inflexible, covering everything about him. It's a fact of living, but it's a deep burial, a suffocating presence glued onto his skin, completely adhering to his shape.
Except when he leaves Ente Isla, when he comes to Japan, his body human, that of a boy, only several times more weak.
He's smaller, and there's space between him and those layers, there's room to breathe.
It's not permanent. New layers tack on. Alciel, forever following his Demonic Highness. The Hero, carrying her past grudge even into this new world. The approving attitude of Kiseki, the absolute adoration from Chi-chan.
And as he walks away from the old caked on layers—behind, but not forgotten—he finds the new ones surrounding him to be a lot more comfortable.
Gah, I just loved Devil is a Part Timer!
Anyway, this was written for the [Twelve Shots of Summer: Second Raid] challenge, a fun little thing where we write twelve prompted one shots over twelve weeks. Week three's prompt was "And Then There Will Be Cake," which I decided to take, well... Cake can also be used as a verb (like caking on), which usually refers to layers, and... Well, you can see where I was trying to go with this (I hope).
For more literal takes on this prompt you can check out the Twelve Shots of Summer C2 or forums (the latter I have a link to on my profile), and find some great one shots to read by a group of super awesome writers. And if you feel interested, you could join us for the summer, too! Everyone is wonderful and supportive, so you'll get some good feedback, too!
Putting the advertisements aside, I really like touching on the "before" era to canon, the eras of demonhood and Ente Isla. I get it doesn't really fit into the tone of canon too well all the time, but there's a lot of stuff that really influences Maou, Alciel, and Lucifer, so I like thinking about it. One day, I'd really like to write some longer fics on the subject.
To be honest I considered writing about Alciel and Lucifer in this piece, too, but the flow worked better centering on Maou, so... I'll probably do a couple of companion pieces later on.
On a side note, Right Stuf is having a Yen Press sale for the next week, which is good chance to pick up some Devil is a Part Timer! books. Hm, know what I'll be doing once I finish up my move...
Thanks for reading!
[POST] 061915
[EDIT] 082415