บท 1: Prologue - The War

There were vast plains and hills of grey grass covering the landscape. They were all barren and the only kind of plant life that could grow on them was the grass and leafless, black as charcoal trees. The entire scene made the world seem dull and dreary especially with its blood-red sky.

But it turned into a lively battle in a second. There were people, varying in sizes, features, color all dressed in different kinds of armor. They were divided into people with white armor and a red cross engraved on their backs and another with armor pitch-black as a city night sky with a white Dragon's head engraved on the right side of their chests. They would be holding a weapon in their hand or have it glow a bright color the next. Blood would be sprayed everywhere regardless of side.

"YOU LOWLY HUMANS!"

And then a domineering came from the black side. On a nearby grey hill just like the rest, there was a woman. She was tall for a woman, standing at 170 centimeters. Her eyes were a beautiful gold and catlike eyes and silky white hair reached all the way to her waist. Her fair, snow-white skin was stained with blood sprays from here to there. Not only was her white hair an uncommon sight, her pointed ears and blue and black tail that was sectioned like bone made her look like a demon. Her black mermaid dress had edges that moved like bluish-black flames that would burn anyone that would come near.

As her voice began to fade out, blades of darkness rained down on the battlefield, all carrying those same bluish-black flames on her dress. Screams of terror came out of the white side. Whoever tried to run away would be burnt by the flames if they weren't stabbed by the swords already.

The white side was diminished greatly after the rain of swords. The white-haired woman stared at the battlefield with cold eyes. Disdain crept up in her eyes whenever her sight would come across a figure clad in white.

"Hey, hey, hey. So many humans are so greedy nowadays. Even more than the Skylarks! Hahahahahaha... So many are shit, aren't they?"

She moved her gaze to the figure that had abruptly appeared to her right. He had dark purple hair that was basically black and a pair of blood red eyes that would give anyone a chill if they stared into them for even a second.

"Shut your trap, Leo." Although she said that, she agreed with him. This war only started in the first place was because those greedy humans wanted to conquer the Demon territory up in the Mid Plane. They were even able to bring it all the way into the Demon Plane. Well, maybe it was fated to be that way. With so many ancient stories about the feud between the Humans and Demons maybe there would never be a time where they could peacefully coexist for even a millennium.

She scanned the man called Leo from head to toe. Seeing that he had not a single ounce of blood on him anywhere, she asked: "Are you sure about using the blood of our enemies?"

"It's called being resourceful, my dear Luna. And..."

His hand jerked slightly and a nearby enemy was instantly decapitated by paper thin red strings. The man's head and body didn't burst out with blood but were instead absorbed into those red strings.

"...Being killed by your allies is such a terrible fate." Luna always admired his efficient killing style. It was clean and efficient, suited for assassination, unlike her magic that could only cause massacres. That doesn't mean she disliked it though.

"Yes, you're right, Lord Leo." And then a sweet and charming voice came from behind them. The two were instantly put on guard when they sensed murderous intent behind them. But it was lowered again when they saw who was behind them.

It was a cute girl that looked to be sixteen. She had soft brown hair that only reached her shoulders and innocent and naive eyes. Her name was Merilyn and was the Demon Lord in charge of logistics of this war. She was in charge of logistics because of her exceptional affinity for Space magic. They assumed that the murderous intent was for all the traitors that had been caught in the past. Because of that, they hadn't expected it.

They hadn't expected it when a golden dagger had appeared in her hand and stabbed Luna's stomach.

"...Merilyn... You..." Luna's eyes were filled with disbelief at the girl in front of her. She wasn't able to say another word before she could feel something Holy spread inside her body. She could only fall down on the dull grass before her body would be consumed by it. She knew she could only die in a matter of seconds since Holy-type objects and magic were the major weakness of all members of the Demon Race.

'Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I should have trained her against seduction attacks from the enemy. She's obviously doing this out of love for that harem protagonist Hero.'

She laughed at herself for not realizing this point. After all, Merilyn was the youngest at 250 (which is young for a Demon, whose lifespans easily reach a thousand) and thus, one of the most naive ones among the 8 Demon Lords. She had thought that giving her some responsibility would make her mature a bit.

Luna thought that it was probably when one of the cargo lines was attacked some time ago. She laughed even more when she realized that this probably gave her the chance to meet than damn Hero. Her consciousness was already fading when out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Merilyn's head getting chopped off by Leo's strings.

Leo then turned to her with eyes full of tears. She saw him trying to shout something but couldn't hear anything the more her mind turned into a blur. The last thing she saw was him getting pierced by a glowing, white arrow.

'Leo...' She tried to reach out to him only to let her arm fall limply back on the ground.

"...I... Demon Lord of Envy, Lunaria Satanas Avyssos, will exterminate all that man's lineage... Even if it takes a 1000 years!"

And with that, the last sliver of consciousness she had left in her slipped away. But her vow was not left unnoticed. In a place far, far, far away from here was a person smiling as he watched.