Chapter 1: The Death of THE of the LOVED ONE

This where it all begins…

A few days after the celebration,

Yuuri was signing some papers with the help of Gwendal in his office, when suddenly,

"Lord Gwendal! Yozak reporting on duty, sir!" Yozak barge into the room and gave Gwendal a salute.

"What's all this fuss about?" asked Gwendal.

"Your Excellency…" Yozak then, handed Gwendal a piece of paper.

Gwendal stared at the folded paper and asked, "What is it?"

"Why don't you try reading it, your Excellency? That letter was from Big Shimaron." Yozak replied.

Gwendal then opened the paper and read the letter. As he read the letter his forehead crouched and his hands crunched into fists.

"What is it about, Gwendal?" Yuuri asked innocently.

"It's a letter for you, from King Hedrick of Big Shimaron. You might want to read it yourself." Gwendal gave Yuuri the letter.

While reading the letter, his eyes grew bigger. And the said letter slipped out of his hand. He then stood up from his seat, and sat on the couch. Yuuri covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head. "This can't be happening…"

"What's the matter, heika?" asked Gunter as he picked up the letter that dropped on the floor. He then read it and was furiously shocked with what the letter states.

King Yuuri Shibuya of the Demon Tribe,

I, King Hedrick Understein of Big Shimaron, declare war over the Great Demon Kingdom. Incase you are wondering, I've written this letter the night after our little signing of Peace Treaty. I have been planning for this just a few days after you offered as a peace treaty. A peace treaty is not enough to settle this all, Big Shimaron wants domination and power over the country of Shin Makoku after 3 days, or else, my army will march towards your country and destroy all of Shin Makoku. You are a big nation, but we are a stronger one, for Big Shimaron does not have a soft-hearted king.

Best wishes, to your majesty and his betrothed, you are going to need it.

King Hedrick Understein

"Gwendal, how did this happen? I demand an answer!" Yuuri punched the wall.

"I don't know; that's all the answer I can give you, Heika." Gwendal replied.

Yuuri fell to his knees and hit the floor with his arms, "Why is this happening? Why do they have to do this? Everything is going fine, why does it have to be like this?" He asked to no one in particular.

Gwendal then, knelt beside Yuuri and gripped tightly on Yuuri's shoulders, "As much as I want to grief with you Heika, we have duties to attend to. So stand up and don't be such a wimp like what my brother accuses you to be." He then turned to Yozak and asked, "Where did you find this letter?"

"Well, when I was in my way to Big Shimaron to deliver that little invitation for the love bird's wedding, one soldier from Big Shimaron arrived in the gates of The Blood Pledged Castle. He said he was here to deliver some sort of thanksgiving letter for the maou. When he was gone, I decided to open the letter myself before giving it you as I always did. And then the little thanksgiving surprised me as well… I guess we all have three more days to live, if I know the kiddo, he would surrender to Big Shimaron, won't you kiddo?" Yozak turned to Yuuri.

"You read all my private letters before giving them to me?" Gwendal confronted.

Yozak then raised both his arms and confessed, "Well, sometimes I do but there more times that I don't." And then he gave a nervous chuckle.

"That's none of our concerns Gwendal, now I think we should pay more attention with our next step." Gunter suggested with a serious tone that he's never used before.

Gwendal then stood up and paused to think. And then finally, he made a decision. He then turned to Yuuri and looked him in the eye, "I'm sure that you'd disagree with the course of action that I will propose, but I think that this is the best thing do, for Shin Makoku, for everyone."

"What is it, Gwendal?" Gunter asked.

"I think we should answer to their little surprise. We should declare war as well, your majesty." Gwendal proposed.

"But-"was Yuuri's reflex reaction.

"But what, Heika? You will just let your people be slaves of those filthy humans?" Gwendal's sudden rise of adrenaline surprised Yuuri. Those words gave Yuuri's blood, let's just say, a little boil.

Yuuri stood up and grabbed a hold of Gwendal's uniform. "Gwendal, haven't we settled that before? No harsh words about humans! Do you want me to 'accidentally' slap you too and be my fiancé? Don't you realize that my mother is one of those 'filthy humans' you are insulting?"

Gwendal gave Yuuri a chuckle.

"What are you chuckling about?" asked Yuuri.

"If you are this impulsive in protecting your mother's dignity, then why can't you do it for your country? Heika, remember, you have an obligation not only to your family, also, but you have a huge obligation to Shin Makoku. So don't decide for yourself, don't decide with that twisted feelings of yours about a peaceful warfare of yours because that won't help us now. We need our 27th demon king. Shin Makoku needs her Maou now. We need you. So pull yourself together and make your decision before it's too late!" Gwendal urged.

Those words hit Yuuri big-time. It made him realize something. Yuuri then loosened his grip on Gwendal's uniform, and as what Gwendal said, pulled him self together. "I've made my decision." Yuuri gave Gwendal a serious nod.

Gwendal then fixed his uniform and faced Yuuri. "Yes, your majesty?"

"Gwendal, prepare the troops. If King Hedrick wants war, then it's war that he gets." Yuuri ordered. He sounded determined that let everyone in the room be shed with the little light hope that was peeping from outside the window.

"Heika…" Gunter looked unto Yuuri's eyes and saw through it the maou's resolve. Yuuri had finally formed his resolve. His final resolve…

"And what are you looking at, Gunter? You can't just stand there and watch? I'm assigning you with the evacuation of the people around the borders. Cease to it that everyone in the borders will be evacuated near the capital. And I'm putting Shin Makoku under Red Alert! As for you Yozak, I want you to inform Big Shimaron that Shin Makoku is not going to let them be the supreme rulers of this land. And come back safe in one piece. You are still needed here." Yuuri was determined. He was going to promote peace in this land no matter what it takes.

--

It's been a few hours after the controversial letter arrived, and by now, all of Shin Makoku had found out about the declaration of war. The moment Wolfram found out about Yuuri's sudden decision, he refused to believe that Yuuri would answer war, so he quickly went to the Maou's office to confirm the news.

"Yes, Wolfram, it's true. We are on war." Yuuri answered coldly as he signed some papers.

Wolfram was confounded. It's as if he can't believe his own ears, did he just hear Yuuri say that? The blond then went straight to Yuuri and shoved away all the papers above Yuuri's desk to the floor. "But Yuuri, that's insane! That's not like you! How can you allow this to happen? I thought you said that you don't want war. You said that you would promote a peaceful world and we will all live in tranquility. Humans and Mazoku! That was your dream, right? And back then, you said that you are determined to fulfill that dream and that you will never cease until that pathetic dream of yours is carried out! But are you doing now? Answer me, Yuuri!"

"Can you leave us two alone?" Yuuri asked as he turned to Gunter who was the only one with then inside.

"Of course, heika," Gunter then showed obeisance to his maou and left the room.

"Can you answer me now that we're alone?" asked Wolfram furiously.

The young Maou then stood up from where he was seated and stood in front of Wolfram. Yuuri then wore off the cold mask that he was wearing and smiled at him?

"It's quite cold, isn't it? Why don't we take a nice hot bath?" He asked his fiancé, which is very unusual. I mean, it's unusual that Yuuri was the one who asked.

Wolfram just flashed him a confused look.

--

In the huge bath,

"Don't you think it's very relaxing to have a nice hot bath after along day?" asked Yuuri.

Wolfram faced Yuuri, "Yuuri, tell me what's wrong."

"Are you asking me what's wrong? Well, what's wrong, is me. I'm wrong… I've tried every conventional way to try and save everyone but look at what happened! I gave my best in searching for the four forbidden boxes, I gave my everything in defeating Shinou, I convinced other human countries to gain alliance with us, and I tried to talked King Hedrick into signing that stupid peace treaty with us, but look at out situation now! No matter what I do, still, nothing happens. And now, were in war! And I promised to everyone that no war will ever happen to Shin Makoku, but look at me now…Look at me now Wolfram. I declared war! I always thought of people declaring wars, or war-freaks or pro-wars as monsters! And now I'm one of them! I'm a monster! I'm a monster Wolfram! A monster…" Then tears started to flow down from the young maou's innocent eyes.

Wolfram couldn't take it. It was the last thing he wanted to see, to see Yuuri cry. He then tried to comfort Yuuri by caressing the maou's left cheek as he wiped the tears away with his thumb. "That's not true…Your not a monster. In fact, you're too cute to be a monster. Your more of a…uhh… a…….."

"A humungous beast?" asked Yuuri.

"No, I compassionate and loving king…Our demon king… That's what you are; you are Yuuri and not anything else, just Yuuri." Wolfram then combed his hair with his hand then leaned on the edge of the huge bath. "Let's just relax and enjoy this nice and warm bath."

"Thank you, Wolfram." Yuuri then rested his head on Wolfram's shoulder. "What would I do with out you…"

"Cheat on your fiancé. That's what you'd do when I am not around." Wolfram replied.

"I'm not asking you." Yuuri answered back.

"You don't need to, because I won't leave you. Although I'm not sure of whether you'd leave me or not…" Wolfram thought.

"I won't. I can't…I'll always be here. I'll always be around, not only for Shin Makoku, but for you too…" Yuuri then closed his eyes and relaxed leaning on Wolfram.

"I know, Yuuri, I know."

---

"Gunter, give me a status report. How many percent are the chances of us winning this fight?" Yuuri asked.

"Well heika, Big Shimaron's army is fast approaching our border. They attack every country that goes in their way to reach Shin Makoku, so I'd guess that they'd be pretty injured and tired the moment they get here so we might have an edge, although, I know they won't come here unprepared, and plus I heard that their army had been training for this for a few months now so they'd be ready, so I guess, if my evaluation is right, we have a 50 chance of wining…" Gunter answered.

Yuuri thought for a second, and then turned to Gwendal. "Gwendal, what do you think?"

"I don't know your majesty. We are in a 50-50 situation here, King Yuuri. It's quite a fair fight if you'd ask me. There is a huge chance that we can win, but yet there is also a big chance for us to lose. And like what Gunter said, they won't come here unprepared. Perhaps they have some kind of secret weapon installed for us." Gwendal replied.

"Is everyone ready?" Yuuri asked as he turned to Yozak and Conrad.

"I'll be honest with you, Heika, Shin Makoku is not ready for another war, but we are ready to die just to protect our homeland. Even if it was the last thing we ever do…" Conrad replied with his deepest resolve.

"Then I'm coming with you!" Yuuri said.

"That's not going to happen, kiddo, you're staying here within the walls of Blood Pledged Castle." Yozak patted Yuuri's head as if the young maou was a little boy.

"I can't just stay here! Everyone needs me! I'm not staying here!" Yuuri insisted.

"Yuuri, A king marching into war is the most reckless thing I've ever heard! And actually, I think I like a wimp who thinks, than a fearless dumb ox who does not think at all!" Wolfram opposed, but well all know Yuuri.

"No! Say whatever you want but, no ones going to stop me from fighting!" Yuuri remained persistent.

"Your majesty, please reassess your decision." Gunter beseeched.

Yuuri the turned to Gwendal, "Gwendal, you asked me yesterday that if I was this impulsive when it comes to my mother, then why can't I do it with Shin Makoku? Then let me prove to you that I do love Shin Makoku as much as I love my family! Gwendal, please! Let me go… Let me protect Shin Makoku like a true king!" Yuuri begged.

Gwendal just chuckled. "I never knew that my brother's stubbornness and impetuousness was contagious that even his fiancé, the maou, got contaminated. Well if that's what you want, then I won't stop you, Heika, in one condition…"

"What condition?" He asked.

"We will all come back alive." was Gwendal's reply.

Yuuri smiled at Gwendal. "Of course, Gwendal…"

"If Yuuri's coming, then I'm coming as well!" Wolfram added.

"Fine then, we need every help that we can get from anyone." Conrad nodded.

"Now that everything's settled, let's get it on!" Yozak said, lifting up their spirits into battle.

--

Right now, Yuuri, Wolfram, Conrad, Gwendal, Gunter, Yozak, and their respective troops are traveling to the end of the borders of Shin Makoku. Only Annisuna and Lady were left in the palace to take care of the kingdom while they were gone. The Von Spitzberg troops, led by Lord Stoffel and his henchman, Raven; some rebels led by Adalbert; and some more troops led by Hube, were heading to the borders to meet with King Yuuri and the others and fight along side with them. Shin Makoku has marches full force into battle and is determined to win against the mighty soldiers of Big Shimaron who threatens to invade their almost peaceful country.

After a few hours, they have reached the town the border between Shin Makoku and the human countries are. They still have a remaining 26 hours to wait until the army of Big Shimaron reaches their camp. Meanwhile, Yuuri and Wolfram is inside the tent reserving their strength for the up coming battle…

"Yuuri, what are you doing?" Wolfram asked bizarrely as Yuuri walked around in circles holding some kind of burning leaves.

"I'm burning maple leafs for good luck…" Yuuri gave nervous chuckle. "It's some kind of offering to the gods to bestow us wisdom and strength. It's like what Conrad said, we need all the help that we could get." Yuuri chuckled again.

Wolfram sighed. "Yuuri, that's ridiculously, ridiculous!"

"What do you mean?" asked Yuuri naively with another nervous chuckle.

Wolfram emitted another sigh. "Yuuri, first of all, we don't have gods here. And if ever we have, we don't really worship them, and remember, mazokus worship Shinou, and his not a god! His was just an average mazoku before he defeated Sousho. And you know what? I heard that Shinou was fond of calling everyone nicknames, he practically have nicknames for everyone, but that does not matter now. My point is, Yuuri, relax. Worrying won't help. I know I'm not in the place to say this but Yuuri, you need to show your people that you're strong, don't show them your wimpy side now, or else they'll lose hope. Yuuri, you're our only hope, you're only reason we are confident to march into war like this, because you're here. Shin Makoku would be lost in the darkness if your not here. So show us the demon king, not Yuuri the wimp!"

"Wolfram…"

"What? I said that wimpy image off!" Wolfram said back.

"Wolfram, Shin Makoku survived without me or Shinou for four thousand years. The Mazokus can survive without me… You can all win this even without me. Hey, I'm not the one controlling your bodies to move or breath, it's you. So you can live without me as king. And besides, I can't fight the whole army of Big Shimaron alone! I need every single one of you to win. I'm the one who needs you. And besides, I would never leave Shin Makoku alone. I will watch over Shin Makoku and protect every mazoku inside or outside the borders of Shin Makoku, like Shinou did, for all eternity…" Yuuri promised.

"Pretty words Yuuri, too bad they won't happen…" Wolfram snapped.

"It will…"

--

"Everyone, now we are face to face with the invaders… I know that many of us will end up dead after this. You may not be able to see your family and say farewell. And we might even lose, that's the worst case scenario, but let's not let them get what they want so easily! If we die, we die with honor! We die for the welfare of Shin Makoku! Now everyone I thank you for being here, as your king and as your servant, I am very grateful that you are all here. Now, CHARGE!!!!!!!!!" was Yuuri's last words before they all charged to battle.

It was a fierce battle and thousands have already dropped dead but yet the war had only just begun. Many have been injured but they have to injure it. As for Yuuri,

"Wolfram, watch out!" He said as he dodged the attack for Wolfram and slashed the attacker.

"I'm not going to thank you for that." Wolfram said as he slashed another opponent charging at them.

"Your majesty, are you alright?" Gunter then ran unto them.

"We're okay!" Yuuri replied with a wink.

"So Gunter, what now?" asked Yuuri between gasps.

"I guess we just have to get rid of them all, heika!" Gunter stabbed another opponent...

Yuuri's face saddened even more. The thought of war already makes Him sad, how much more if it was before his eyes?

'This is the most tragic scene that I've had ever been to. Seeing all this and being a part of it was what hurts the most. May be it really was a bad idea declaring war in the first place. Why is this happening? Why does all of this have to happen? And I can't even do anything to stop it from happening. Endless killing, blood spilling, and pure hatred, why is this happening? Some people call me the deliverer of justice, the savior of the persecuted, the executioner of the law, but yet I can't do anything to stop this? Am I even worthy to be the maou? What's my purpose here if I will just let everyone die? I'm so useless!' Yuuri thought as he collapsed but Wolfram was able to catch him.

"Yuuri, what are you doing? Don't let them catch you off guard! Pull your self together, would you!" Wolfram bellowed.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so useless…I'm not worthy to be treated like a king…." Yuuri broke down between sobs.

"Yuuri…not now… You're great king…When you made the decision of declaring wars against your own will you proved that to all of us… Yuuri, you're- watch out!" Wolfram dodged the attacker from behind Yuuri.

"Wolfram!"

Wolfram then clashed sword with the attacker and was al most winning. And then as he charged to the opponent, he accidentally tripped unto a rock and fell down. The opponent took this chance and was charging to Wolfram…

"WOLFRAM! NO!!!!!!"

"Yuuri…"

Okay everyone, that's it! The first chapter…

Try to make guests of what happens next… and review…

Though, I'm warning you, there's going to be a huge twist!!!!!

Hahahahahahah!!!

Thanks!!!