Chapter 2 is here at last! Lastly, I hope the cliffhanger on the last chapter wasn't cheesy or anything... once again that was the first cliffhanger I ever wrote (Try imagining writing cliffhangers in a scientific paper =|). I stated it before and I don't mind saying it again but this is my first attempt at novel type of writing (most of my literary works are scientific papers).
If there are some people who don't know what the plot of the story is let me give a brief introduction. As the title states, I will be giving my take on how one would judge Maou for the atrocities he has committed on Ente Isla. Alright enough of me, hope you enjoy!
It's too late; the gap was too small... in a matter of milliseconds Maou's fist would collide with the masked figure. The only thing he could do at this point was to pray his attack leave a fatal wound. A devil praying, the irony was bitter but it was all he could do at this point.
He was so content with the life he was leading in Japan at this point. He sincerely wanted to adopt a pacifist lifestyle and reflect on his previous actions. He wanted to re look at how he lead his life as the Overlord of Ente Isla that commanded a vicious demon army. Just his name alone gave palpitations to the strongest warriors. Every time he thought back to his reign of terror he felt so disgusted with himself. Sure, he justified himself by claiming it was all for the demon race and to ensure the future for later generations. Yet that wasn't enough, it will never be enough, after all, there were decisions he could have made that could have gotten the job done but in less brutal methods.
After retreating to earth he cursed himself for stooping so low as to become something so despicable, that he almost wanted to scrape his skin until there was just flesh and bone. Yes; he became "A human", the very creature he fought against, the same creature he had himself and his army prey upon.
As he lived his life on Earth he began to understand new ideologies, maybe it was his human emotions causing him to not think straight, but he still welcomed them and allowed it to freely shape his psyche.
The human shell totally enveloped his soul creating a layer which couldn't be pierced from the inside. With each step his shell left behind a new color, a color which he hoped might help him start a new beginning - to turn over a new leaf. He even established a new philosophy; to always be willing to help, not just demons but also humans.
Yes... he was pretty happy with how far he was able to climb on earth, without having to hurt another human. But that would all change; today he would seriously wound a human. Hell, he should have negotiated before straight on attacking.
*CHRUCCK*
The figure grabbed it stomach and howled on the spot. Maou who couldn't bear hearing the screams covered his ears in hope he could pass out. No he can't, he needs to man up for his actions.
After a few seconds the figure stopped circling in spot and began to fall backwards. Having noticed this, Maou quickly placed his arms behind his assailant and slowly laid himself onto the cold sidewalk with the individual's feet slowly sliding forward. He was trying to be as gentle as possible so that he wouldn't disturb any organs within the person gut region and cause further pain.
All he needed to do was lift the mask and reveal the true identity of his assailant; he already had a pretty good clue on who it was. As he placed his hand on the mask his fingertips touching the cheeks of the passed out assailant, he felt coldness. His heart began beating uncontrollably as all the worst case scenarios began playing in his head.
"Dear God" he muttered "I killed him".
The face was that of a middle aged man with black hair and blue eyes. Nothing about this man was striking, just ordinary, nothing worth remembering. But why was it that Maou was able to recognize him?
It finally occurred to Maou as he remembered serving this man at MgRonalds just yesterday. In fact, he recently became known as a "regular" at MgRonalds. For the past month he always ordered the same menu item around the same time every day. Not only that but he always sat at the same spot and ate in the same fashion.
As creepy as it may sound, but most of the MgRonalds staff paid attention to how this individual ate his meals. He was so monotonous that it was a real site to see. Whenever he entered the store the entire MgRonalds staff would talk about him.
'Oh he's back guys, anyone wanna bet on whether he will order something different?'
Once it was apparent that he would always order the same menu item the staff would start preparing his meal before he would even order. Even the workers who didn't have their shift when he arrived knew the masked man came and asked for the regular.
Maou thought this was amazing really. To him it seems like a normal occurrence, but for his human co-workers they took it so differently. 'I guess being especially ordinary can make you famous, huh' thought Maou.
The customer never smiled or frowned. He was just like a robot.
But tomorrow the MgRonalds staff would not see him again. Soon they would start wondering where he went, and sure enough as unlikely as it could be the authorities might get involved. Judging by how humans react, reaching this conclusion didn't seem like a far stretch to Maou.
Maou began searching for a pulse but to no avail. He couldn't sense any air escaping the man's mouth nor did his chest rise and fall. Just a lifeless body, like the countless others he had seen, yet this body was creating so much turmoil in his mind. He couldn't bear it and for a moment he felt his lunch climb up his body, wanting to escape the captivity within his stomach. Maou held it back with a hand over his mouth. It wasn't just his lunch that wanted to be let loose, his mental awareness was ebbing away, causing him to collapse on the pavement. He wasn't just going to lose it yet, he tried his damn hardest to remain conscious.
After tossing and turning on the pavement for what seemed like forever he realized something important.
He shot up immediately like someone stuck two leads of the same car battery to his fingers.
This was just a normal human; he couldn't sense any signs that he was from Ente Isla, plus the barrier that engulfed him was made from demonic energy, and surely this person wasn't demon. Even if he was part demon he should have easily survived his punch. Things weren't adding up and Maou began to feel devastated once again.
"Damn it, I still looks like I killed him, and he may not have even been related to the person who assaulted me"
"For all I know he was just passing through the area" yelled Maou
For the first time in a long time Maou felt this type of sadness, sadness after committing a heinous crime, a crime where one realizes how far they went.
'But wait' Maou thought. 'There doesn't seem to be any signs of him bleeding?'
"Internal organ damage" Maou said aloud.
He quickly lifted the other party's shirt and the sight before him was truly a sight no one should ever witness.
His lunch ended up on the pavement in the end.
There, right before him laid a dead man with a gaping hole in his chest. The area where his heart should have been was completely devoid of flesh and bone.
"This… this…." was all Maou could stammer as he tried wrapping his head around things.
"This was truly some form of demonic sorcery" uttered Maou as his eyes tried to settle anywhere but on the mutilated corpse beside him.
This day was far too exhausting for him. He needed to return to his Demon Generals for consultation on their opinions on what just transpired. After assessing his magic reserve he determined that he should have enough for a teleport, however, unsure on how far it will take him.
"I should be able to reach home from here, but probably scraping it at best" grunted Maou lifting the man on his back
He suddenly felt very conscious of the sensations on his own body as he tried feeling the hole in the man's chest upon his back. After all it wasn't everyday where you see, let alone feel a literal hole in a body.
'Maybe I should walk' said Maou aloud
"What if another assassin comes for me? I'll need some magic to defend myself"
"No, anything is better than carrying a heartless man across the streets." pondered Maou.
"I'm surprised no one noticed this incident" though Maou while quickly scanning around before he cast his teleport.
"3… 2…. 1… and off we go" muttered Maou as he prepared the incantations.
-O.o.O-
*15 minutes before the current time*
"Urushihara did you fill out that MgRonalds application Demon-King handed to you?" harped Ashiya while picking up and cleaning the dishes that were spread out on their "so called" dinner table.
"I hope milord is doing well, he hasn't returned for a while; I wonder if he had anything to eat since morning"
"Yeah whatever" sighed Urushihara passively eyes locked on the animated characters on his computer screen.
Couple minutes passed by accompanied with deadly silence.
"Urushihara-" Ashiya began only to be cut off
"Dude seriously stop fussing over every small issue you can think of. It's really getting annoying; in fact you have been having more of these fits recently, which is even worse.
"I am not fussing over anything; I'm just worried about milord! He is acting highly irritable these days and I'm not sure why"
"Go ahead and ask him" retorted Urushihara while trying to concentrate on the animated characters displayed on his screen, he knew he just signed the agreement to get a 20-minute lecture from Ashiya but he didn't care at this point.
"How dare you say that!"
"Here we go again….."
"How dare you show that attitude towards Demon General Alciel" bellowed Ashiya.
"Well Demon General Alciel wasn't acting appropriate in his position so DEMON GENERAL Lucifer decided to take action" making sure to put as much emphasis as he can on the "demon general" honorific.
"You made your point, but you must agree that something is clearly bothering Demon King"
"Once again Ashiya, I believe so but if he isn't discussing the matter with us then it probably isn't as important."
"But still-" cut in Ashiya
"I'm not done yet" remarked Urushihara who spared Ashiya a glance to get his point across.
"As I was saying ... if you feel he doesn't want to bother us with it, and you feel so inclined to ask him then go right ahead. We are demon generals for a reason, to make decisions that will help Maou and further his goals."
Ashiya whose mouth was hanging far lower than what a normal human should be capable of was looking at Urushihara with what Urushihara called "Ashiya dumb ass dumbfounded face".
Another silence shrouded the demon fortress but this time it was Urushihara to break it with a more concerned face that usual.
"Did you sense that Ashiya" inquired Urushihara while typing vigorously on his computer.
"Yes I did but where did it originate from?" responded Ashiya who was looking outside the window on the Devil's Castle.
"Somewhere near" said Ashiya trying to pinpoint where he felt magic be released "the park" completed Urushihara who was now standing next to Ashiya trying to examine the outside surroundings.
Suzuno was staying with Emilia to discuss "women related things" so she said to her demon neighbors. It was a terrible lie and she knew it but no one really pried too much about the real details of her meetings with Emilia.
"Ashiya this is a perfect opportunity to scout around and look for the location and hopefully chip off some magic to fill our reserves" said Urushihara excitedly.
"No. I'm sure milord already sensed this and will be returning to the devil castle to consult with us regarding this." responded Ashiya locking his eyes outside scanning every single detail for any sign of abnormality.
"In fact, I believe milord is in the center of this magic presence and we should remain here to protect the castle from foreign siege."
"I don't know about you but I'm going to scout around and see what I can find" said the NEET who summoned his demonic purple wings; stretching them out as he prepared for flight.
"NO STOP!" yelled Ashiya shutting the window in an effort to stop the NEET from escaping. "What if milord arrives very soon! What will I say when he questions your lack of presence."
"It's not like he is gonna randomly teleport here and start giving orders" sneered Lucifer.
"I didn't randomly teleport, I calculated it precisely. Also my first order is for you to stand down Lucifer, and listen to Alciel judgement for once." bellowed a deep voice behind the two demonic males. The voice itself carried a chilling tone that caused Lucifer to break into a cold sweat.
"MILORD! Why are you standing on our DINNER TABLE" screeched Ashiya who was pondering about how many times he will need to scrub the wood furniture to deem it worthy of being eaten on.
"Ashiya, calm down we clearly have more pressing matters to deal with." sighed Maou while stepping of the only table present in the devil's castle.
"I apologize milord, forgive my insolence" bowed Alciel who quickly glanced at Lucifer signaling him to bow as well.
"No need for formalities, but please make some room in here we got an unexpected and peculiar guest with us today."
"Milord! I asked you to give me 30 minutes in advance before you invite someone over. How else am I supposed to prepare food and clean our humble abode to suit current living standards."
"Ashiya, you don't need to prepare for the dead" spoke Maou while snapping his fingers.
A body materialized in the designated "clean" area on the apartment floor, the same body which Maou fought except there wasn't a shirt on this time.
Urushihara gazed intently on the corpse while Ashiya was covering his mouth in disgust.
Maou told his roommates the details of the occurrence and making sure to emphasize the part where the man had a hole in his chest since the beginning.
Finally, Urushihara broke the dreadful silence which was infesting the Devil's fortress.
"Hey Ashiya aren't you worried how the blood with stain the floor"
"Now is not the time for petty jokes" said Maou strictly while gazing at his subordinates hoping they could provide any insight that could possibly shed any light on the issue.
"Milord, I understand you said this earlier and I apologize for having you repeat yourself but you said this hole was present before you punched him?"
"Yes Ashiya that is correct"
"Well then Milord this is clearly necromancy and since you said the shield that encompassed you was made with demonic energy then it must be a demon from Ente Isla. Wouldn't you agree Lucifer?"
Lucifer who was deep in thought didn't respond immediately to Ashiya's inquiry but instead mumbled
"Malacoda died a while ago"
Seeing as how his scene partners appeared to have reached the same conclusion as he did, it was safe to proceed to the next step in analyzing the situation.
"Yes Lucifer…. According to Camio, Demon General Malacoda has passed away this year which mea-" explained Maou but was cut short by Lucifer "No."
"No?" inquired Ashiya who wasn't able to discern the context in which Urushihara was thinking in.
"Barrbariccia isn't powerful enough to be able to control dead bodies with a missing heart. After all the basics of necromancy is controlling the heart of the unlucky target." explained Lucifer still staring intently at the lifeless corpse in front of them.
"How are you so sure" asked Maou
"Because me and him never got along well with each other"
"You never get along with anyone" interjected Ashiya
"Hmmph say what you want but I'm a very charismatic guy." retorted Lucifer
"GUYS! Stay focused we don't have much time before Suzuno returns and I'll need to dispose of this body before she comes or else we will be in a lot of trouble." yelled Maou.
"As I was saying before an ill-mannered boor-"
"Lucifer I swear if you keep killing my time your laptop will learn to swim with a toaster in the bathtub.
Having his most valuable and only possession threatened Urushihara had no choice but to be concise and to the point or else risk living the rest of his like without any entertainment whatsoever.
"I and he fought a lot because he felt that he should have been a Demon General. Furthermore, he could only command freshly dead corpses and even so he wasn't able to command an army of a hundred troops for over two hours."
"That sounds like an impressive feat that requires a good grasp on necromancy though?" said Maou pointing out a major flaw in Urushihara explanation.
"He has talent I'll give him that, but from what you're saying this man was acting like a robot for 3 weeks. I'm almost 100% sure Barbariccia couldn't have pulled off that stunt. Also if it was him we should have sensed a gate opening just like at the beach when Ciriatto came emerging with his army." responded Lucifer now peering through the window, examining the sky for any celestial abnormalities.
"Essentially you're saying that you don't know who could have done this, but they can't be from my demon army?" asked Maou playing with his hair as he sat in the corner pondering about any entity that could be the master of this corpse.
"Milord what is to say that whoever is behind this madness isn't currently aware of your current whereabouts and whether or not he is planning to lay siege on the devil's fortress." inquired Ashiya in a worried tone.
"I'm not sure Ashiya…. I think it's about time we find a way to defend ourselves. I would hate to ask for Emilia's help in this situation" said Maou with a wry smile.
"Speaking of which, they are already here; they just entered the perimeter" said Urushihara examining the camera software connected to the TechLogi camera he installed on top of the devil fortress door.
"CRAP!" yelled Maou "What should we do about this body! It's not like pig headed Emi is going to buy my story of being attacked"
"Dude chill out a bit, these walls are paper thin, they will definitely hear you yelling like a damsel in distress" said Urushihara flippantly.
"Who knows maybe they won't even enter our apartment." Ashiya added
"As if that ever happened! Whenever Emi comes over she makes it a point to check up on us to make sure we aren't up to no-good" spat Maou using bunny ears to denote the no good.
"Ashiya help me lift this body and place it somewhere less noticeable"
"That's not gonna help" sang Urushihara focusing on the camera
"Lucifer if you aren't going to help how about you stall for time" said Maou exasperatedly.
"No way dud-"
"LUCIFER! FOR GOD'S SAKE STOP WHINING" yelled Maou inadvertently garnering the attention of the individuals outside of their apartment complex.
-O.o.O-
"Seems like there arguing" sighed Suzuno shaking her head.
"Not surprising, and I'm pretty sure it's about Lucifer…." commented Emi "Might as well use this moment to land some insults on him while he is being hounded on the devil side."
"You too are childish Emilia"
"Said the midget" mumbled Emilia
"Tsk.. Tsk.. Childish…. how childish"
"Let's just continue upwards."
-O.o.O-
"It's hopeless" said a dejected Maou "There literally isn't any place to make him less noticeable."
"Told you" retorted Urushihara only to gulp the last part after receiving a deathly glare from both Ashiya and Maou.
Maou for unknown reasons even to him was staring intently at the corpse, which in turn was inducing an awkward tension to settle in the devil's fortress.
"There at the stairs. Hehe maybe Emilia will fall backwards" mumbled Urushihara in an attempt to dissipate the increasing tension.
Maou who was focusing so hard completely missed what Urushihara said but instead seemed to feel something chilling about the corpse. Unsure of how or why, but something about the lifeless vessel was refusing to loosen its hold on Maou's interest.
It was giving off an eerie aura, no not because it's a lifeless corpse, but instead as if it were calling for something. Unsure of whether he was the only one who felt this way he decided to ask his roommates. However before he did that, he decided to watch the corpse a little bit longer while he chose his words.
While examining every feature of the vessel he almost yelled when he thought he saw something that could not be possible. He just saw the pinky and ring fingers on the left hand twitch a little as if the corpse was regaining consciousness.
'No that's impossible it doesn't even have a heart. Plus it was motionless for the past hour why would it decide now is a good time to move.' thought Maou 'Moving without body parts that is only something Malacoda could do. Who really is this individual and who does it work for'
While trying to assess the situation a gut wrenching thought hit him right in the head and made all of his previous problems seem minuscule.
'Oh my God, what if it actually moved and starts walking around when Emilia enters. She would definitely think the three of us were experimented necromancy on humans here in Japan. This would be our end.'
All the Demon King could think of now is how to hide this corpse and how to explain the situation.
'DAMN IT' he cursed himself inwardly. If only he decided to hide early on then this situation would never happen.
Trying to organize his thoughts on what to say or even do at this point he saw the same hand twitch once again.
'Should I tell Ashiya and Lucifer about this? No it would only freak them out more, plus what would they think? Their leader is beginning to hallucinate from the fear of being caught by the hero! Damn that Emilia, if only she could stay out of my life.'
Even while contemplating his legs were violently shaking, not because of Emilia finding out but because this lifeless body supposedly moved not just once but twice, confirming that he isn't imagining the impossible.
In the background he could hear Ashiya and Lucifer talking about God knows what. Probably on how to deal with the hero and head inquisitor when they begin their relentless questioning,
The eerie sensation was only getting worse by the second and Maou was about to collapse from this overwhelming tension. It was too much for him, all of this happening in one day would cause any being to cripple from exhaustion.
A sudden draft from the window made its way to Maou and froze him to the bone as it cooled the sweat beads on his body. It wasn't the draft that was freezing his body in place; but the sensation that something was watching him with enormous, eternal eyes.
Eyes that felt like it was piercing every cell in his body looking for something within him; his soul maybe? Eyes that no matter where you run, no matter how dark it is, even at the depths of the murkiest ocean... it will find you and pull you to its call.
As for what happened next completely shattered Maou's already feeble attempt to regain his composure.
Wowie that was rather long, at least I hope so =P. If you're wondering, there will be more dialogue next time and more Emi as well. Once again I hope this cliffhanger was worded well and I hope to see you in the next chapter! Please rate, review, comment even if it's something along the lines of "NO THIS SUCKS" or "MILORD WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR GRAMMAR" it will be greatly appreciated!
(Honestly I don't think my grammar is that bad but who knows, maybe I'm just rolling in my own ignorance)
-I Iz No one