First off, I hate describing clothes (but I did it anyway). If you want an image, look up Timid from Gakumon. That's exactly how Alba will look for the next couple chapters only with his Demon Lord cape. I also apologize for my lack of facts in the first chapter. I mistook (my memory was foggy) Rchimedes' Future Sight magic for mind reading…oops. And the thing about Alba's red eyes, I know now that Rchimedes had contacts, but I'm still changing them.

VERY IMPORTANT TO THE STORY: Elf retrieved the maker-kun from Crea to put into Lake, but since Alba already has a maker-kun, Elf didn't need to do that. Therefore, none of the stuff with Salt ever happened and the maker-kun is still in Crea. Salt still awakened his mana, but never went missing because Elf didn't need him. Lake went with Ross and Crea because…he got lost? And I guess Salt and Lym went to go find him along with Foyfoy who chased after them. I didn't think this through…but that's irrelevant (totally contradictory)!

On with the story!


Chapter 2: Ross and Noin, Thinking

Ross dug his heel into the dirt ready to chase after them, but a hand was put to his shoulder to stop him. Crea was there, he had seen everything, "I know you want to go after them, but we have no clue where they went."

"I can just get Janua to find them."

Crea shook his head, "Even if you did, what would you do when you found them?"

He had a good point. There was nothing Ross could do at the moment. He could get Janua to locate Maou and then use Ruki's gate to get to them, but what then? He couldn't fight them, they were too strong. He let his arms drop; there was nothing he could do.

He felt a slap on his back, "Hey now, don't get all upset, Shii-tan! You'll figure something out eventually!" Ross sighed hoping his statement was true. At least Crea was back to normal, it was weird seeing him all serious and actually smart for once.

"Now, let's go join the other guys and party!" Ross blinked, "Party?"

"Ah, Cecily-san made everyone throw a party for Lake's return. Come on, let's go!" Ross sighed again. He doubted he could enjoy this party, but he might as well entertain them for a while until he figured out what to do.


Dezember watched as his new master dragged Noin and Juli around the carnival, "Why is there a carnival in the Demon World?" No one answered him, not like he was expecting it to be answered anyway. He followed the black and green blur that was the new Demon Lord as it came and went from stand to stand.

Having gotten to the Demon World, the first thing Maou did was change his appearance. He dyed his hair black and added dog ears, which he thought looked more like cat ears, switched his brown boots for black ones along with black capris. He even ripped off the sleeves of his prison wear and put a green short-sleeved jacket that was furred at the collar over it with a giant gold pull tab on the zipper. He was currently throwing balls at a stack of milk bottles.

Maou tossed a ball at the middle of the stack knocking over all the ones on top. Aiming for the lower row, he was surprised that they didn't deter, the ball just simply bounced off. He pointed at the bottles, "Hey, I totally hit those."

The guy at the counter, who did not have any features drawn on him at all, just shrugged, "Sorry, kid. You get one more try."

Juli and Noin backed away. At first glance, even when Maou still looked like Alba, they knew he was not one to be messed with. Maou was given another ball. He aimed it again, but this time he infused it with mana. Instead of knocking the bottles over, it went straight through the first two and cracked the two next to them before shooting out the other side of the booth, "Eh? They still didn't fall?"

"Nice try, kid, but no one can beat this game!" He said it like he was proud. He wasn't trying to hide the fact that it was rigged at all. Maou stood there for a while thinking, an ominous air surrounding him, "That so?"

He raised a finger and above the tip appeared a little red sphere, "This game is boring." The sphere dropped from his finger and Maou transported all of them to the outskirts of the carnival using the gate before the little red ball even touched the floor. Just as their feet hit the ground, the earth trembled beneath them as the bright glow of fire exploded behind them.

They all looked back, except for Maou, only to find a charred crater where the carnival once stood. Maou sighed, bringing the attention back on himself, "What a bore. Come on, let's go find someplace else." He started walking away with Juli and Noin staring at his back, "So cool!" They ran to catch up with their new idol leaving Dezember behind to wonder what in the world just happened. He turned to look at the burnt ruins again and mumbled, "With all that noise it's a wonder why the 2nd Demon Lord isn't already here."

Maou's dog ears twitched like they were actually real. Off to the side, Juli stared at the things on the once brunet's head, "Did those things just move?" Noin also stared in wonder waiting for them to move again, "I think they did, but aren't those fake?"

Maou tilted his head, "'Demon Lord'? I thought I was the Demon Lord."

"Ah, yes, but, there's still the 2nd who was here before you…"

Maou hummed, "If there's a Demon Lord then there also has to be a castle, right? Let's go to the castle! Castles are fun!" He raised his arms and started walking. Juli and Noin followed him while Dezember trudged behind.

Oddly enough, Dezember didn't even need to show them the way. They arrived at the castle without any trouble whatsoever. He had to wonder how Maou knew where the castle was since this was his first time in the Demon World since being fused.

Maou stopped in front of the enormous structure in awe, "So this is the Demon Lord's castle? Wow, this place looks great! Let's go!"

"You can't just waltz in like that!" Despite Dezember's protests, Maou barged into the castle without a care in the world. Just as its exterior, the inside was also very large. A long hallway greeted them when they opened the door. The creaking noise from the door bounced off the walls in the silence magnifying it tenfold to sound more like the growl of an ugly monster.

Maou strolled past the many doors lining the hall. It was like he knew where he was going despite never being there. He opened what seemed like a random door. It was just as classy as the rest of the castle, but behind the door is what shocked them. There, behind the door, was the Demon Lord and his wife eating dinner.

"Alba-kun?" The 2nd Rchimedes looked up from his food. The brunet looked different from when he last saw him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "... Did you get a haircut?"

"That's the only thing that hasn't changed!" Dezember's outburst went ignored. The 2nd knew something was different about Alba and it definitely (possibly) was not (could be) his hairstyle. A powerful aura was radiating from him. It was so strong and foul, how did he not notice it before? Alba had always been powerful, especially after he acquired mana, but this was at least 10x that power. And the people that came in with him, they were followers of the 1st Rchimedes. He couldn't make any sense of this scene, so he just gave up.

Maou ignored the 2nd's staring. He seemed to be preoccupied with the Demon Lord's cloak, but who could tell with his eyes closed like that? "I like your cloak. Can I have one?"

The 2nd got up with a blush, all suspicions gone, "Sure!" (It's not everyday someone compliments him on his sense of style), "Actually, I still have the one Honey gave you. Let's go get it."

"But, dear, you haven't finished your dinner."

"Alba-kun wants his cloak. It's not every day we get to see him after all."

"Yes, but you haven't finished your dinner."

"But Alba-kun is here."

"...But you haven't finished your dinner…."

There was a short pause before the 2nd conceded, "Alright, we'll go after we finish dinner." Honey just smiled. And so, all of them began eating the wonderful food that Honey made, all except Dezember who had no idea what was going on anymore. He walked over to Maou, "Demon Lord-sama, is it really a good idea to be eating so casually beside your enemy?"

The 2nd was shocked, "'Demon Lord-sama'?" He slammed his hands on the table and stood up, "Alba-kun is not a demon! How dare you accuse him of such treachery?!"

"But you're a demon!" Dezember put a hand to his head tired of all the outbursts he was making recently. He never needed to do this much when the 1st was with them. Then again, all Dezember did was get in his way and cheer on the side lines. Oh, how he wished to be of more use to his great Demon Lord. Wait a second… if the 1st Rchimedes' soul is within Alba… Dezember took a quick glance at Maou. That would mean he could still be of use to him! Forget Lake-sama, even if the kid was blood related he wasn't the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord now was Maou-sama, and Dezember would do everything in his power to help him this time.

While this was all going on in his head, Dezember's physical body portrayed much of his inner thoughts. The spectators that were still eating dinner found amusement and confusion in his odd actions, but didn't try to stop him because he seemed really happy.


Back in the human world at the small-town party, Ross was chewing on a kebab when he heard Tsukkomi shouts (*). Looking around, he saw Salt talking to a man in a tan coat. Figures it'd be Salt. What was he expecting? Alba wasn't with them anymore, so the only Tsukkomi characters left were Salt and Lym. Speaking of Alba, that man in the coat looked a little like the hero.

"I'm telling you, Sir, you really need to get that wound treated!" The man just laughed, "I already told you, I'm a doctor, so I bandaged it myself." He pulled up his shirt to show the kid.

"A stick is not needed for a stomach wound!" Salt sighed. Surely not all old people were like this guy. If they were, Salt would go insane before he even got to their age. "Hey."

Ross came up behind Salt, "Ross-san! What happened to Alba-san?" The hero's name piqued the man's interest, "Alba?"

"So you know him?" The man was unintimidated by Ross' glare. Salt was dragged away by Cecily against his will leaving the two adults. He also wanted to know about this strange man and how he survived past childhood. After a minute of simple staring, the man smiled and tipped his hat to hide his eyes, "I never imagined my little boy would become a hero. Actually, it's quite befitting of him."

"What do you mean? And who are you?" The man laughed, "He'd always try to save someone and be the leader or just help people with their problems. Actually, he was kidnapped when he was helping a shady guy with a box." Normally, if Alba were here, he'd have some kind of outburst. But Ross was alone now and he didn't know how to deal with someone like this guy. So, he just stared and listened unable to come up with a single retort.

"He came back three days later all tuckered out an' such. Poor kid. His momma was all worried too, but I knew he'd come runnin' on back in no time!" He was suddenly speaking like a Westerner. Ross could do nothing but stare. How would Alba deal with this?

The man crossed his arms and nodded his head, "He could escape from the most ruthless of criminals. He was truly a hero at heart." Weren't heroes supposed to defeat the criminals? This man was indeed odd; perhaps he was Alba's boke in the past, that is, if Alba possessed his Tsukkomi traits back then.

"Well, I must be off. It was nice talking to you, uhm…"

"Call me Ross."

"Well then, Ross-kun, I'm Midnight Frühling. I bid you farewell." Right as he left, Ross realized he still didn't know what the man's connection to Alba was. From their conversation, he knew Alba very well and must be a close family friend or something of the sort.

A gate appearing beside him didn't let him think more on it. Out of the gate popped the 2nd Rchimedes and his wife, "Creashion-san! I have terrible news!"

"What happened?"

"Alba-kun took over my castle!" Maou is in the Demon World? How idiotic of him. Ross should have known the castle in the Demon World would have been his first stop. There can't be two Demon Kings after all.

Now that he knew where Maou was, Ross just needed a plan of attack, "Can you tell me anything about how Maou fights? Does he have any weaknesses from what you saw?"

The 2nd blinked, "'Maou'?" It would seem that despite having met the guy, he did not know Alba had become the new Demon Lord. Ross sighed, he picked this guy to be Demon King for his moralities and skill in battle, he didn't expect him to be smart, but he couldn't possibly be that dumb. "Didn't Alba seem strange to you?"

"Now that you mention it, there was something off about him. I thought it was his new haircut, but later on I figured that certainly wasn't it. It was too hard, so I gave up." He needed to say something, anything, but Ross couldn't find any words. Reprimanding sounded nice, but how to go about it… Where was a Tsukkomi when you needed one?

"Oh, dear, don't be silly. That wasn't Alba-san, or at least not completely."

Honey stood next to her husband with her ever cheerful smile that looked eerily similar to Maou's, though, in a more comforting way. "'Not completely'? So you can sense souls?"

"Not exactly. I only know that because I've touched Alba-san's soul before. It was when he was in the Dimensional Rift where I gave him maker-kun."

The soul, Alba's soul was still there. "Could you sense another soul in him?"

Honey pursed her lips, "Hmm, it was faint, but I do recall getting the feeling of another person with us. It was very strange though, I didn't think I could sense souls at all."

Interesting… So Alba's soul is still existent and Rchimedes is there as well, but why didn't Rchimedes take over yet, is the question. "Anyway, what can you tell me about Maou's fighting style?"

"Oh, we didn't fight him." Ross' silent indifferent glare urged the 2nd to what his wife started. The 2nd fidgeted under the raven's disapproving gaze, "He came in during dinner and we ended up eating together. After that, he told me to leave the castle. Since he said it so nicely I had to leave."

"...In other words, you were scared." The 2nd was down on his knees with a dark cloud palpable above his head.

How pathetic. So Maou was strong enough to scare even the 2nd from a fight. Ignoring the 2nd's depression, Ross gritted his teeth as he tried to think of something that could possibly help him. The blue glow of the dancing mana atop the 2nd's head captured his eyes.

That's right, before anything, Ross would need more power if he wanted to even attempt battling Maou. But, if he made another maker-kun now, he'd have to wander around looking for anger and hatred to power it. That would take too much time, time that he did not have. There was also the problem of getting the necessary ingredients to make another maker-kun.

Ross' eyes widened in horror. If Maou had Rchimedes' soul within him, could that mean Rchimede's memories are also…

He glowered at the 2nd with terrifying eyes out of fear and anxiety, "Take me to the castle."

"Eh? Creashion-san?"

"Hold up!"

Crea stood in front of Ross with a defiant glare, "I told you already. Even if you know where he is, what can you do? Calm down and think this through."

"There's no time to think! If Maou's memories of Rchimedes surface—"

"What proof do you have that they will?" Ross stopped. "The way he fought," he said after a while, "He was definitely competent at using magic. Alba had the strength, but didn't know how to use it. Rchimedes was too idiotic to use it right, but he knew everything about it. His moves when we fought, they clearly showed mastery of magic."

By then, everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation. It was certainly more entertaining than that egg magic guy.

Crea hummed, "Well, that is true. His fighting style didn't look like Alba's after all…." He ran his hand through his hair, "Man, I can never argue with you. If you think it's right, go for it, but I'm going with you."

"Me too! I wanna go see the Demon Lord's castle!" Lake pushed past all the bodies in front of him and stumbled toward the two older boys. Salt made it through the crowd right behind Lake. Since Lake was an idiot, he took it upon himself to look after the kid despite them being the same age…and he also wanted to see the castle.

"And I want to save Alba-san!" Ross stared at his supposed older brother, dragging the silence unnecessarily long, "No way."

"Awww but why?!" The cool façade Lake commanded crumbled at his brother's words, "I want to save Alba-san just as much as you do!"

"No. You're not coming and that's final."

"I'm supposed to be the big brother! You can't tell me what to do—" Poor Lake was cut off by his mom, "No! My sweet Lake is never leaving me again!" She nuzzled Lake's cheek affectionately with her own as he struggled in her hold, "Shion can't leave me either!"

Ross stood unaffected by the terrifying face his mother was making. "Mom…" The word felt foreign on his tongue. After living his whole life without a mother, he couldn't picture one now even if she was kneeling right before him. Her expression softened to a pointed glare. "I'm an adult; you don't need to worry about me."

The soft smile he gave her made Cecily tear up and hug Lake even tighter making his head swell up like a balloon. A hand patted Ross' shoulder, making him turn his head to see Crea beaming at him, "That's right! I totally forgot! It doesn't feel like it, but we're over 20 years old aren't we!"

"It doesn't feel like it because you still act like you're 12."

"How mean!" Crea crouched down off to the side teary eyed as he waited for Ross to finish talking to his mother. Seeing as Cecily was busy crying and hugging Lake for dear life, Ross took his leave.

Some part of him liked the idea of having a mother; someone there to hold you, to support you, to love you. He always wondered what it felt like to have a mother; an actual parent that didn't spend all their time in their room doing some crazy experiment that was bound to fail like all the previous attempts. Crea didn't have any parents, so Ross never brought it up, but he still wondered. It wasn't that he was dissatisfied with his life, no, he was actually pretty happy. Even if he didn't have a mom while growing up, he was content with his life. If only Rchimedes saw that, maybe he wouldn't have done what he did.

Ross shook his head. If Rchimedes hadn't found mana and made him go on that hellish journey, they never would have been sealed together for 1000 years. If Ross' life had gone normally, he would have never met his precious person.

First it was Crea. It may have taken over 1000 years, but he was finally able to free him from Rchimedes. Now, 1000 years later, Ross needed to do it again.

Wait for me, Alba. I'll get you back.


"Wow, so this is the Hero Academy." A shady trio strolled down the first floor hallway of the new hero school. The one in the middle stopped, "I have a great idea! I'll make a demon school!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Demon Lord-sama!"

The middle one stopping was a given sign for the other two to stop. "But what would we learn?" questioned the smallest one in a bear hat.

"We could have classes like Magic 101, and Naming Moves 101, and Being Cool 101."

"Why do they all have 101 at the end? And don't some of these classes sound pointless?"

"You need to have 101 at the end of a class name otherwise it isn't a class. It's common knowledge." His two companions cheered for the idea. They talked amongst themselves in the middle of the hallway unaware of their audience.

Sochi leaned into her chair and threw an arm over the back. Why were they in the classroom without a teacher? Hell, why were they still in school? Plus, there were only three people. A class with three people and no teacher wasn't a class at all. Being a school for heroes, you'd expect it to be packed with cool people. But no, it was filled with random people that the king thought 'looked the part' or applied of their own free will. They were separated into three different years based on age, but in reality they were all first-years.

Whatever, it didn't change the fact that she was bored. Her two brothers were talking about something, but she wasn't paying any attention. The brunet tilted her head to stare out the window, only, instead of an empty hallway, there were three weird guys being all happy. "Who are they?"

Van and Couver stopped talking when they heard her finally say something. She hadn't said a word the entire conversation. It didn't seem to be directed at them, like she was merely saying it to get it out, but they looked into the hallway anyway.

All three of them simply watched the other trio in the hall for a good minute or two before Van spoke, "Hey, doesn't that guy look like the Legendary Hero Alba-san?" The other two scrutinized the raven in the middle.

"No way," Sochi waved her hand, "That guy is too cheerful and happy. Alba-san was all dark and cool. Plus he was wearing his favorite prison suit and he isn't allowed to leave the cave, remember?"

"Yeah, but that guy is also wearing prison stripes." Couver pointed to the raven's shirt just barely visible from his green jacket.

"That's proof that it's Alba the Hero!" Van yelled getting everyone's attention, "Everyone! Alba the Hero is in the hall!"

"…Who are you yelling at? There's no one here."

"Ah…I forgot."

It may have been on deaf ears in the room, but the ones outside sure heard his call. The demon trio stopped their planning and looked into the classroom they didn't realize they stopped by. Seeing three children, Maou's happy mood went up another level, "Kids! There are kids in there! Mini heroes!"

He smashed through the windows and landed on a desk. He crouched down and smiled cheerfully at the freaked out children, "Hey, do you…" A sudden cold chill swept through the area as Maou cracked open a blood red eye, "…wanna try dying?"

The sudden change in attitude and his wicked grin paralyzed the poor heroes-in-training. Their legs wouldn't move nor could they turn away. It was like that one eye of his that they could see had complete control over their bodies rendering them helpless like a lamb staring into the throat of a tiger. The only thing they could think about was the overpowering urge to run. Every part of their being screeched at them to flee, as far away as possible and never to look back, but they were unable to.

Just as they thought it was the end for them, a rumbling from the floor above distracted Maou. The rumbling continued over their heads and then down to their floor before they heard someone yell, "Hey! Who are you?!"

The two demons still in the hall turned to face the new arrival; a scary-looking guy that seemed like the type to be very loud. "Hero Academy Second-Year! I'm Douki Bakugenki!"

Another guy walked out from behind him, "Seia Ryuusei," was all he said.

Maou popped his head out from the broken window all cheery again, "Hi! My name is Maou, the new Demon Lord, and I've come to kill everyone here!" He said going along with the sudden introductions. Maybe announcing their plan was a bit much…nah, it was pretty obvious. After all, what else would a Demon Lord be doing in a school for heroes?

"Not while we're here! Come on, Seia! Let's send these guys flying!"

Dezember took a stance, "I will not let you lay a finger on Demon Lord-sama."

"Wait, Dezember." Dezember glanced over his shoulder. Maou slipped through the window landing gracefully on his feet as his new cape flowed with his body, "I'll handle these guys. You take care of those kids and anyone else in this building. Noin will stay with me."

"But, Demon Lord-sama."

"I trust you, Dezember. That's why I'm giving you full control over this mission. Besides, this guy is interesting." Maou focused on Douki with a glint in his eyes. Dezember wanted to cry for joy. His precious Demon Lord trusted him enough to give him the important task of annihilating all the hero candidates even after Dezember was so opposed to him at first. Demon Lord-sama forgave him and even trusted him with this major mission. Oh happy days! "I will not fail you, Demon Lord-sama!"

Maou nodded as Dezember jumped into the classroom. "Oh no you don't!" Douki charged after Dezember, "Out of the way!" He brought a fist down at Maou who caught it easily with one hand.

Douki pulled his arm away and held his fist in his other hand. That guy was strong; his hand hurt from Maou's grip. "Careful, Douki, that guy is strong."

Yeah, he got that from the short contact he had with the guy. He felt a hand put on his shoulder, "Douki, we need to get to a more open space."

"But that black guy—!"

"We need to focus on the guy in front of us. He says he's the new Demon Lord and there's no doubt he's incredibly powerful." He said it like he couldn't care less, he was always like that, but the little squeeze Seia gave to Douki's shoulder told him his companion was just as tense as he was. In truth, Seia didn't care about the Demon Lord, but Douki was worried and as long as the demon was at the school, Seia was as well. Now, how to get him out of the school…

"Hey! Can we fight somewhere else?!" If his eyes were open, Maou probably would have blinked, "Hm? Sure."

Well, that was easier than he thought.

"Alright. Exit's that way." Seia pointed behind Maou who immediately turned around and started walking. He turned his back just like that? He wasn't concerned about his enemies one bit; didn't even think of them as a threat. Seia felt a bead of sweat run down his cheek. What were they getting themselves into?

As they were walking, Douki whispered to Seia, "Hey, doesn't that guy remind you of someone?" Seia scanned Maou's back. Now that he mentioned it, the new Demon Lord did remind him of a certain brunet they helped out a while ago. That couldn't be possible though, the brunet would never have become the Demon Lord. Plus, this guy was completely different; the only thing the two had in common was their hair style.

Seia didn't need to say anything for Douki to understand. They had been partners for a long time; it wasn't hard to tell what the other was thinking. There was no confirmation that it was really the little brunet they knew, and considering the circumstance it was too risky to ask.

They walked in silence until they reached the school exit. Once they stepped out, Maou stopped. The two ravens behind him also stopped. They tensed, prepared for any sudden move he would make.

Maou raised his hand. Douki and Seia bent their knees staring intently as a black hole formed in front of him. He turned around and smiled at them, "Okay, we'll take this gate to some place farther away. Normally you'd need a suit to go through without injury, but I can tell you guys aren't human."

Maou didn't wait for a response. He jumped into the portal, but Noin stayed behind. "If he wanted to go somewhere farther, why didn't he just open a portal in the school instead of walking with us?"

"…To be polite?" Seia frowned at that. He couldn't believe the Demon Lord would be polite to anyone. Maybe the 2nd and his family, but definitely not the 1st. That guy wanted to kill everyone; the same was the case with the guy that just went through the portal. He couldn't make any sense of it.

"Well? What are you guys waiting for? Don't even think about chickening out now. Maou-sama is waiting."

The two stared at the little demon questionably, "Who are you?"

"Ack! They have no respect! I'm one of the 12 great demons of the Demon World and loyal servant to Maou-sama! Be terrified!"

"We don't need to be scared of a servant." Noin grinded his teeth. Damn these jerks; they were totally looking down on him, "Never mind! Just get going already!"

The two shared a look before stepping through the gate with Noin jumping in soon after. The first thing they noticed was the sudden change in atmospheric pressure; one that they were well acquainted with. The place they came to was barren and devoid of any life. It was just dirt and rock as far as the eye could see.

"Seia…"

"Yeah," Seia scanned the area, "We're in the Demon World."

"Welcome!" Maou stood a few feet away from them with that annoying smile still on his face. Noin trotted back to his side. "Ne, Noin, what do you think of that loud one?"

"Hm? Well, he's better than that other one." Maou hummed, "How about we test him out?"

"Wha—" Douki couldn't even get out one word before Maou was in his face. A swift kick to the stomach sent him flying. Maou grinned, "Interesting."

Seia readied a punch at the back of Maou's head, but the dog-eared demon disappeared in a blur causing the punch to go through thin air. Maou appeared by Noin again, "Noin, get back."

"Y-yes, sir!" As much as he wanted to fight, he didn't have any puppets at his disposal, so it was best not to get in Maou's way for now. Then a thought came to him: there was nowhere to hide. This place was just a barren wasteland; where the hell could he go? Oh well, he just ran a couple yards until he thought he was at a safe distance. Besides, the two non-humans had all their attention on Maou, so Noin was safe for the time being. Man, Juli was sure missing out. Too bad Maou made him stay at the castle.

Seia forced Maou onto the defensive; although, it looked more like Maou was having fun. No matter how hard he tried, Seia couldn't land a single hit on the guy. It was like he was dancing right through his fingers, or fists in this case. He didn't stop though, he couldn't, he just had to hold out for a few more seconds.

A battle cry rang out behind the Demon Lord. Douki jumped into the air bringing his fist down only to smash it into the ground causing a crater to form in the dried up earth. The sudden disappearance of his opponent brought Seia's barrage of futile punches to a stop. Once again, Maou slipped right past him and escaped harm. He thought they had him with that plan, but he should have expected as much from the Demon Lord. This wasn't just any opponent they were dealing with.

"Don't think you can get rid of me that easily!"

Maou smirked, "I knew you'd be back. You blocked that kick just in time. You reflexes are amazing."

"Don't think you can win me over with praises either!"

"'Win you over'? Oh, no no no, I want to have fun with this before you become our puppet."

Douki had only a second to wonder what he meant. "Douki, Formation B."

"Roger!" The two split in different directions. They circled around Maou as he looked back and forth between them glittery and impressed, "'Formation B'. I like the sound of that."

Douki dove at Maou's heels successfully kicking him off balance. Seia leaped into the air high above them, the sun making his body a tiny speck against it. He pulled his arm back diving headfirst toward the unprepared Maou…or so he thought.

Maou pulled his arms out from under his cloak and brought them up to bring himself over in a back arc. He caught Seia as he came down and kicked him away before pushing off the ground with his hands to land on his feet.

Seia flipped in the air to keep from having a bad fall on his head. Formation B didn't work, just like he thought, but they did manage to hit him once. They'd need something craftier if they wanted to win.

"Douki, let's try Operation 257."

"What?! But we haven't tested it yet!"

"Then let's start now." Seia bolted away leaving the scene. Maou tilted his head, "Did he just run away?" He sidestepped to avoid being hit by a fist that flew by, "Don't be so cocky! You still have an opponent!" Douki sent a barrage of punches at Maou just as Seia had done earlier. And just like earlier, Maou wasn't even trying to fight back.

Maou leaned back to dodge a punch to the face, but another fist came at him from the side. The first one was a diversion to keep his attention and get him in place for the other one to hit. In all the fun he was having, this one tactic actually caught him off guard. There wasn't any time to fully dodge the hit, so he brought his arms up to block it. Even so, the force of the punch sent him back.

As he was in the air, he noticed the faint presence of mana coming toward them, very quickly might he add. Before he realized it, the ground that was once a few inches from him was suddenly a couple yards. The new elevation was accompanied by a little tingle in his back. Could he have been hit? But when did it happen?

The loud guy was suddenly in his face again with another punch. Maou blocked it again, but it made him fly back the other way. The guy wasn't very fast, but he was strong. Maou readied himself for landing, but his feet never made contact with the ground. Once again, he was flying through the air with a new tingle in his back.

He was hit again, but by whom? Why was he not able to see them? Maou focused on the invisible one, but while he was trying to pinpoint his location, Douki smacked him away again. He tried again, but the same thing happened. He couldn't find the invisible guy if they kept hitting him.

Douki pulled his fist back as Maou came at him again, but Maou had had enough. He punched Douki into the ground finally getting this ridiculous cycle to stop and immediately turned on his heel to give the other guy an uppercut, but he didn't stop there. He chased Seia up into the air and sent him away with a powerful kick to the gut.

Seia landed painfully creating a crater and tumbling a few times before coming to a stop. He pushed himself up, but fell back down when a sharp pain made itself known when he put force onto his arm. That fall did a number on him. The scratches and bruises alone were enough, but now he had a broken arm. He should have been prepared; no way was the Demon Lord going to fall for a cheap trick like that. "For the second time I underestimated you, but I won't do it again."

"If he did it twice already, you can expect he'd do it again."

Seia whipped his head around. It was that little guy in the bear suit not a foot away from him. With all his attention on Maou, he'd forgotten about this guy… Who was this guy again?

Earlier he said he was a servant of the Demon Lord's, which meant he was also a demon. That would mean he was strong, so why wasn't he fighting? Wait, when they started fighting, Maou said something to him and then he ran away. Did that mean he was scared of his master? No, he spoke highly of him before they went through the portal. Maybe…

Seia grabbed Noin by his neck with his uninjured arm. "Let go of me!"

All he was doing was struggling in his grip. Seia was right, this guy can't protect himself, so he ran away to stay out of the fight. He could use this to his advantage.

The sudden spike in bloodlust caused his heart to stop. The killing intent in the air, there was so much of it that Seia couldn't stop shivering. "Hey…"

The terrified raven shakily turned his head. Suddenly, his vision was dominated by red, a horrible crimson that promised absolute damnation. "Let. Him. Go."

He was sweating so much he felt like his face was going to melt. Even if he told him to let go, Seia's body was too busy trembling to move properly. Never in his two lives had he ever felt this way before; it was utterly horrifying, that feeling of helplessness with the utmost certainty that you were going to die in less than 3 seconds, utterly horrifying especially if you still wanted to do something in your life.

The little bit of movement behind Maou caught his eye. He was able to move just long enough to shout "Don't do it, Douki!" but it was too late.

Douki tried to sock him from behind, but Maou tilted his head to the side. The king craned his neck, "You're becoming a nuisance." For the first time, Maou's eyes were fully open, the cross pupils of his eyes hidden by the blazing flames of rage.

He grabbed Douki's head and smashed his skull into the eroding rock underneath them breaking the earth and probably bone as well. In a nanosecond he was next to Seia with a fist in the raven's face releasing his hold on Noin and sending him flying. Maybe later Maou would look back and laugh at how easy it was to beat them, but he wasn't in the mood right now.

"M-Maou-sama…?"

"Are you alright?" Noin was taken aback. Maou was worried about him? He got angry because he was in danger? That…that…that kind of pissed him off actually, but he was still grateful. If it were anyone else, Noin would have brushed it off. But this was Maou, the Demon Lord, him worrying about his subordinate, it was an honor. Plus, the way he beat them up was so cool! Noin's respect just went up 10 levels. This guy was way better than the lousy 1st, he couldn't even compare to the 4th and his glory.

"MAOU-SAMA! THERE'S A PROBLEM AT THE CASTLE! YOU NEED TO COME BACK NOW!"

Noin shivered. Nononono, Juli! Now was not the time! Maou was already in a bad mood! The brief display of concern was all but gone. As Noin had suspected, Maou's anger had not vanished yet.

"Noin." Said boy jumped. "Do what you want with these guys, I'll pick you up later."

"H-hai! Maou-sama!" The one thought going through Noin's mind at the moment didn't have anything to do with puppets:

I feel sorry for whoever's at the castle right now. No matter who it is, they're going to die.


OMAKE

Seia glared at the flight of stair in front of him with Douki by his side. Douki tilted his head, "So? What will we do?"

Seia pondered the question before responding, "Operation 785."

"Yes, sir!"

(No, actually this is something I just came up with that will probably never be used again. It's not canon.)


Tsukkomi: The "straight-man" in a comedy duo a.k.a the sane one.

Boke or Boké: The idiot in a comedy duo.

Douki Bakugenki=reincarnation of Grandpa (the one who showed Ross' past to Alba)

Seia Ryuusei=reincarnation of Hasegawara Ryuusei (the cow in love with Janua)

I was debating whether to split the chapter since it seemed like it was really long. I'm not sure if people like longer chapters or shorter ones. I really couldn't think of a good name for this chapter, so it might change a few times.