After their success on the second wave of Melromarc, which ended with very few casualties on account of three deaths and twelve injuries, the heroes and their groups were taken back to the castle to commemorate with a party in their names. They were somewhat enjoying it except for Ren who wasn't big on social gatherings
That all changed when someone entered the room, all eyes turning to his direction as his appearance was sure to catch attention
The person was an anthropomorphic owl demon. He is tall and slender, with a white, heart-shaped facial disk and small black beak, resembling that of an owl. He has two pairs of almond-shaped red eyes, one set atop the other, with no visible irises or pupils, albeit white highlights do occasionally appear when he is excited.
With gray-blue feathers, which gradients to dark gray-blue on his head and long, plume-like tail. He had a lighter gray-blue puff of fur on his chest.His limbs are long, thin, and black, and his feet are tipped with bird-like claws.
For this occasion he was wearing a deep red tunic with six linked golden buttons down the breast, and beige breeches. He accessorizes with a feathery top hat that features a regal gold crown encircling it, as well as a long burgundy cape, tattered at the hemline, with a plush ermine-look fur collar, and long black gloves with white feathered trims at the elbows
This was the shield hero, Stolas Ars Goetia and everyone there hated him, each for their own reasons.
The majority of the population despised him for being a demi-human, as that was a sentence to death or slavery here in Melromarc due to its prejudice against the race of animal people.
The nobles hated him because he was one of their own, a member of nobility but different from most there, he was not a lord or count but a prince, which meant he outranked them, and the simple thought a filthy Demi was above them sent their bloods to boil
The heroes hated him because he was a cheater, sure they could say they hated him ever since he was trialed for assaulting a female companion of his group, having his only defense for the argument being that 1: he couldn't get drunk out of mere mortal booze, 2: he had a cloaca and 3: he was positively gay and would not rape a woman he didn't even see as attractive and 4: he had shown them prove of that night's event through magic. But that didn't matter that much to the heroes, mostly Motoyasu actually cared about that, as they hated other aspects of him
In the delusions they had conjured to themselves, that this world was a game and they were the main characters, Stolas was an outline that put a wrench to this fantasy. First was the fact he was not a human or from Japan like them, which made him unique and thus more interesting, they were happy to learn more about him in their first night together, discovering he is royalty and from a realm of magical beasts and humans (as he was smart enough to not mention he was from hell, instead coming with a fictitious world to explain his appearance)
That wasn't the thing that made them hate him, it was the fact he was so powerful, from the start he showed magical abilities when he just changed his clothes into a loose fitting robe when they went to sleep, or how he made a plate of steak float towards him when they had dinner in the castle. When they asked, he simply responded by saying he knew magic as that was part of his royal duties to know magic so he could perform rituals for the lower class as well as maintain the order of power
Him having access to a tool they didn't was already infuriating, but after the trial they just heard rumors about him and his exploits. Turning people to stone, making things turn inside out, conjuring meteors from the sky, flight, opening portals and a whole nine yards of supposed demonic abilities he had, they dismissed most as exaggeration but a lingering thought remained that he had indeed all that power, and if so that made him their superior and them inferior and they couldn't accept that
The king hated him for all the same reasons as the others, but he had his own personal grudge as he blamed all of the demi-human kind for his sister's death and that applied to their worshiper god, which was the shield due to being the one hero in the past to defend them against humanity's wickedness. When he had summoned the shield to his country along with the other heroes he already had plans to make his life hell, but he tried to be hopeful, perhaps the shield would be naive and controllable, he could perhaps turn his greatest enemy into a tool to use, then he saw the shield and that thought was thrown out the window
Not only was he a demi-human but he was royalty as well, as if mocking him for also being a royal. That would already be enough, but then the devil was making his staff quake, wanting to leave him for the owl demon, Aultclay knew that his star staff seeks only those who have great knowledge and absurd magical potential, and when the shield demonstrated feats of magic he never seen before while casually waving them away as nothing, and showing a interest in wanting to know more about the world, it made Aultclay fumed from his mouth.
It was like the shield devil was mocking him as it took a form completely opposite to his but sharing characteristics to his old self as if to make him look at a twisted reflection of his former glorious self, and to add salt to the injury, he apparently had a daughter as well, which made the act of raping his daughter even worse. Sure the shield hero defended his supposed innocence by showing them the events of that night through magic but the king couldn't buy that sort of trick from a demon, he would have killed him already if it wasn't for the shield in his arm
"What are you doing here, demon?" Aultclay asked with his tone filled with poison as a hateful glare was sent to the prince, who merely looked at the king unamused
"I was told there would be cake, and since I did my part fighting back the wave, I saw it as only fitting for me to come to this party held in the name of the heroes" Stolas answered, in all honesty he didn't want to be but the reason for his presence was truly for the food, Satan knows how much he has been craving for some good and delicious sweet pastry
"You're no hero" a random noble spoke up, Stolas merely looked his way and the man shrunk upon himself scared, before the owl demon chuckled
"Yes, but I hold that title, don't I?" He replied as he moved towards the table, getting himself a plate and a cup of wine, sitting himself in one of the tables as he ate his food without acknowledging the dozens of eyes staring at him. The people tried to resume back into the commemorations but now they were kept distracted by the shield hero just being there
"That fucking bird... Soured the whole mood" Motoyasu whispered in a corner of the room, he really despised that guy with a passion, not only for raping his companion and being a op cheater but because he felt so utterly confused when seeing him, something about his face and physique made Motoyasu's hearth to beat faster and his face to get hot, he feared the worst...
"Motoyasu-sama..." Malty whispered as she approached him, innocently worried face being just a mask for her devilish intentions as she thought of a way to make this party fun again for her
[Author's notes]
Per request of a friend, I triy a hand at writing a helluva boss character just before the end of the year. Not gonna lie he is kind of powerful considering the things he is shown doing in the series, but I guess the more fun part would be him interacting with the cast