Chapter 1: 0. Prologue
Year XXX
Drip. Drip.
Crimson eyes watched the water drip down with curiosity. With this action, he seemed to be bored out of his mind. He tapped the edge of his seat with his index fingers and then he looked down on the shadows that formed humanoid shapes and were sweeping on the floor.
He opened his mouth to start.
"I… want to go back home."
There was only silence in the room but the man was looking blankly up in the air. Soon, there was a ripple in space, and a hole opened up.
"What do you mean?"
There was a voice.
'Heh.' The man smirked and put his hand on his cheek as he leaned back in his chair. "I mean I want to go back home."
"..."
The voice kept silent. The man tilted his head. After a few more minutes of silence, the voice stirred.
"You are home."
The man shook his head. "Not this," he said.
"Earth. My home of the past. The home of my real self." he said.
"..."
Nobody answered him. He pouted and huffed, knowing that the voice cut off communications with him.
"What a sappy guy," he said. He scratched his head and sighed. Even without their permission, he was going back.
"Alzar." he called.
"Yes, M'lord?"
The door opened and a person wearing all black entered. His long blue hair tied up and his pale blue skin shone even in the dimly lit room. He looked young like a child but his eyes glinted with crimson evil.
"I want you to prepare for my departure," the man said.
Alzar nodded without a word and called upon more shadow servants. The whole place was being cleaned and the man nodded in satisfaction.
"Good. I will go now."
"M'lord, not even a goodbye to your vassals?" Alzar asked.
"Nah, they'll know about this soon anyway." The man shrugged without a care. "Besides, I was sure I made myself clear that I'd disappear sooner or later."
"Or are you questioning my actions?"
—Boom! Boom!
"This subordinate has sinned! This subordinate seeks your apology for questioning your authority, M'lord!"
Alzar knelt on the ground with his whole heart. He was unable to bear the pressure that was being brought out continuously. The pressure seemed heavier than even a boulder, in human terms it felt like a giant put one foot on their back without so much effort yet managing to bear heaviness.
The man nodded and stood up from his seat. "Tell no one of my departure."
With that said, he disappeared into the shadows.
Alzar took one last look at the throne and then sighed. He opened his hand and waved making a black screen appear.
"...Tell them to set up as many traps as they can." Alzar took a deep breath.
"That should buy M'lord enough time to leave."
***
Inside the gloomy depths of the jungle, five brave people ventured in wearing shiny armor with fancy books and sharp swords. They were looking around in vigilance and not once did they talk.
As their steps went briskly, their eyes scanned the front. One person was muttering words from behind with their hands clasped together in a form of prayer.
"Oh, Great Azrim…may your blessing be prominent in this time of need. Bestow us your power of light to vanquish away this darkness…"
His hands were tightly clasped, then it emitted bright light and a transparent glow seemed to cover the entire team. It seemed that the person who was praying from behind was asking for a god's help.
"...This should be the place, right?" The person from the front said. He seemed to be the leader, judging from how he was stationed at the front. His eyes were sharp and his armor was very catchy. He seemed like those heroes you'd see in fantasy novels.
"The Demon King's liar," the leader said. He turned around and looked at his team. "Natalie, can you use your mana to lift up those boulders?" he pointed from behind.
The woman named Natalie nodded. "Sure, where should I put them?" she grabbed her wooden staff and readied to cast a spell.
"Just use them to crash into that wall," he pointed at the wall covered with vines. "Once it's done, the entrance inside the hideout should be revealed." The leader seemed confident in his deduction, so Natalie naturally obeyed.
"Hup!" Natalie puffed out air from the use of mana. It took her a lot of energy to lift boulders left and right altogether. She focused hard and charged towards the path with all her might.
"Haaaaaah!" she moved her staff and the area seemed to shake from the impact.
A few coughed at the remaining specks of dust scattered. Soon they looked at the outcome and saw the wall cracked open leading to an entrance inside.
"This is it. Get ready,"
Everyone was tense. Gulp.
They can't help but remember the words of the Seer who gave them the prophecy.
"Five shall slay the mighty dark lord. Fear nothing but his might. One shall leave while five shall fight."
It was a very confusing thing. "One shall leave while five shall fight"? Who the hell would want to leave in the middle of a fight? A coward maybe.
Soon they entered and fought off mobsters set as traps by the Demon King. One by one they could feel their energy decrease but the leader continued to persist.
"This is too much," the leader frowned. "Just what is the Demon King trying to prove? That he's strong?"
"Rumer, it's the Demon King." Natalie shrugged. "He surely wants to flaunt his powers and show how he can stop weak people."
The leader, Rumer, clicked his tongue. "But we're not weak, are we? So let's get this finished."
Slay and slay they continued to slay.
It was nearly nighttime when they finished.
Pant. Pant. Sigh.
They were all drained. One of them couldn't stop their hands from shaking but they disregarded it as they stood in front of the big black ugly door.
"This is it." Rumer clenched his fist.
"Charge!"
"Ahhhhh!"
The door opened with a loud bang. The shadows were frightened and dissolved, leaving nothing but Alzar.
Alzar looked at them with complex emotions. "...What brings you here, heroes?"
"We've come to kill the Demon King, you devil! Where is he?!" Rumer shouted with courage and looked around.
But there was no Demon King, just an empty throne and a lone Devil.
"...Well," Alzar inhaled. "Sorry to break it to you, hero, but the Demon King has long disappeared."
"What?" Rumer was shocked.
"T-That can't be! The Demon King isn't a coward, he's just setting up another trap, isn't he?"
They readied their weapons and looked at Alzar with vigilance. But Alzar merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Really," Alzar insisted. "The Demon King is gone. He's retired."
"....What did you say? Retired?" One of Rumer's companions choked. "Are you treating us as clowns?"
Alzar wanted to unleash his powers then and there at these dumb heroes. But then he remembered how the Demon King wanted peace and order when he left.
So Alzar huffed and snapped his finger. The heroes tumbled when a gust of shadows spread through their minds, engulfing them in memories shown in Alzar's point of view.
They saw the last interaction of the Demon King and Alzar and were forced to believe that the Demon King did leave.
Alzar could see Rumer's face churn of ugliness and snickered. Even in the end, they could never see even a speck of the Demon King.
In the memories he showed, it was only the voice of the Demon King as Alzar kept his head low throughout their conversation.
After it finished replaying, Alzar snapped his fingers again and sent the heroes out of this place.
The five heroes sat dumbfoundedly on the ground just outside the lair of the Demon King. Their eyes were in a daze, and Rumer was in major disbelief at what happened.
The last thing Rumer could see was Alzar's face making fun of them.
"Damn you!" Rumer screamed and threw his sword away. He stomped like a child and furrowed his brows.
"I can't believe the Demon King would be cowardly and run from this fight! Ugh!" Rumer complained.
***
Year 2025
Five months after Kang Minwoo was last seen.
Kim Dongshik stopped around the playground he and Minwoo once always played. There was still the lingering feeling peft behind in that place, and Dongshik can't help but feel like crying.
It was weird.
Why did Minwoo suddenly disappear?
There wasn't a sign of him anywhere and not one hint if he was kidnapped or killed. All Dongshik knew was that Minwoo wanted to go to that food stall that was his favorite and then the next day Minwoo's mom was crying to the police.
It had been five months since then and the police had stopped, declaring Minwoo as deceased. His mother and Father moved away from this place and were never seen again. Dongsik was sad to see them leave with broken feelings, but there was nothing he could do.
Everyday he could only come into the playground and hoped that he'd see Minwoo once again.
"Ahh, Minwoo…if you're here right now you'll make fun of my face, right?"
"Yeah. You look really ugly with that snot on your nose,"
"Haha…yeah…."
Dongshik had a whiplash and looked behind him in horror and surprise.
"Mi-M-Minwoo??!!!"
His screech was so loud that Minwoo wanted to beat him up. His brow twitched and he smiled, "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"T-The…Y-You!"
Dongshik kept pointing at him which made Minwoo confused. "What "You"? What happened?"
"Y-You…you're here! Oh my god!!" Dongshik screamed and pounced on Minwoo with joy.
Faced with the familiar-unfamiliar hug, Minwoo wanted to push him away but didn't. His disappearance must've really caused a blow to this guy.
Dongsik cried like a baby.
But Minwoo didn't care. Minwoo was glad he was back and that he was free.
His past?
Well, the Demon King retired.
Minwoo smiled
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone