Asher realized he was getting ahead of himself since he hadn't even figured out his current situation.
He didn't care who his current body belonged to or how the previous person ended up dying. All he cared about was moving forward and finding out more about this demon realm he was in. He had only visited demon realms through the gates that appeared on Earth, but he never stood for too long to explore them since the gates would always close quickly once the quest was complete.
Those who accidentally got left behind never came back, and Asher didn't even have to guess what happened to them.
But now that he was a demon, he wasn't worried about blending in, but his ignorance about life in the demon realm could make him end up in trouble.
Still, right when he was trying his best to not feel disappointed, he noticed something he had glossed over before,
[ MP - 0 / 0 ]
'What the fuck does this mean? I am manaless? How is this possible?' Asher was devastated and realized that he couldn't really sense any mana in his body. Then didn't this mean that he was doomed despite getting a second chance? Without mana, how could he possibly dream of getting stronger? Without mana, one cannot evolve their body to the next level.
"There he is!"
Asher was distracted from his thoughts when he heard multiple footsteps and voices from behind. He quickly turned around with a wary expression, only to see multiple demon men with green skin, pointy nose and sharp teeth. He recognized them as goblins, though these didn't seem to be the less intelligent types. Goblins were usually considered as low level demons but even among them, a small fraction of them were stronger and intelligent ones.
They were wearing armor and had weapons with them as well. As if by instinct, Asher was prepared to fight them since situations like this were what he had experienced for most of his life.
His whole life, he had slayed demons, and the instinct to kill them had been ingrained in his bones.
However, now he didn't know exactly why, but he wasn't feeling any repulsion or anger towards these goblins as a whole. This was something he realized he had lost after being reborn as a demon.
As a Hunter in his previous life, he had loathed demons since whenever they arrived on Earth through the gates, they would kill, destroy, pillage and commit all sorts of evil to indulge themselves.
He had lost a lot of dear ones to them, which in turn motivated him to become the strongest Hunter. But now, that hatred that had motivated him in his past life was strangely absent. He wondered if it was because he became the very thing he once used to hate.
He decided to play it safe and was about to ask something when one of them said, "Phew, we panicked for nothing."
"I told you guys. There is no way this blockhead could get that far on his own. The Royal Consort is crippled in the head as well, after all."
"Tsk, are you blind? Look at all the blood and the bodies around here. There was definitely a battle here, but how come our Royal Consort seems alright without a scratch? His servants are all dead. Was it the Hunters? I heard that a gate opened somewhere around here."
'Eh? What nonsense are these guys spewing?' Asher was bewildered by what he was hearing. At first, he thought that they might have mistaken him, but then he felt that it didn't make sense. These guys definitely knew whom they were talking to.
"What's going on?" Asher finally asked since he wanted to get some control of this weird situation.
All five men raised their faces with expressions of shock and disbelief as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard. Their reactions only confused Asher even more when one of the men mumbled in a surprised tone, "The Royal Consort can speak?"
"What the…So I didn't imagine that?"
"We should let Her Majesty know!"
'Eh? Royal Consort?' Asher couldn't wrap his mind around what they were mumbling. And hearing how they addressed him as 'Royal Consort' meant that he was the husband of a demon queen! Did the Demon King's daughter already succeed his throne so fast?
How could a level 1 with no mana like him have such a status? What kind of person did this body exactly belong to before?
And seeing how surprised they were after he spoke made him wonder if the previous owner of this body never spoke. Was he mute or something? No...they mentioned he was crippled in the head? Did they mean he was mentally retarded before?
"Please, Your Highness. Come with us. We will get you to safety," The men hurriedly said as Asher followed them since they didn't seem like they were kidding. It was better to play along and learn more about his situation.
On the way, Asher asked the guard walking beside him, "Tell me what you know about me."
All five men exchanged surprised glances. It seemed as if they were still not used to hearing him speak or act like this.
"Ahem, Your Highness, I don't know if you remember everything that happened in your life, nor do I know if the rumors are true but based on them, it was said that you were born without the ability to think or act. And even after growing up, things never changed," The guard said while his fellow guards observed the expression of their Royal Consort.
'So the previous guy was really born mentally disabled? As if being manaless wasn't enough,' Asher mused and could only imagine how such a life must have sucked. He remembered the strange visions or memories he saw right after he had died. Now he realized that those memories belonged to this body. But these memories were still vague and blurry.
He also noticed that even these guards considered him pitiful based on their attitude and words.
Before he spoke to them, they were even talking casually around him, but now that they realized he was no longer mentally disabled, they were careful with their words, even though it was only because of his status that he was still finding it hard to believe.
Killing the Demon King still felt like yesterday, and today he was already married to the Demon Queen. What kind of joke was that?
"What about the Demon King? What happened to him?" Asher asked since he felt all this was a bit weird.
The guards again had looks of surprise as the one walking beside Asher answered with a baffled look, "Your Highness…our Demon King, unfortunately, died a year ago."
"Yes. It was all because of those fucking Hunters! They killed our king and continue to enjoy their petty lives," Another guard said with a look of remorse and seemed to have been a loyal servant of the late Demon King.
"How unfair. If only we had the strength to kill those powerful Hunters, we would have already taken up any such quests and wrecked their ugly homes. Unfortunately, we are too weak to do anything," Another guard lamented.
'An entire year passed after I died? What the fuck…' Asher didn't know how to react after realizing this fact since the memory of him being betrayed by everyone he knew was still fresh in his mind.
"Then what happened after that? Who ascended the throne?" Asher asked with squinted eyes, having two guesses in his mind about who the successor was.
Married to the demon queen? :3
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"Of course…his daughter, the demon princess, sorry, I mean the Demon Queen, ascended the throne right after," The guard answered, though when he mentioned the words 'Demon Queen', a glint of fear crossed his eyes.
"Then when did I become the Royal Consort?" Asher asked with a narrowed gaze.
"Uhhh…actually, Your Highness was already engaged to our queen for a very long time, and the marriage happened right before the late Demon King left for his final quest. We don't know why but the Demon King had taken Your Highness at a very young age, planning to wed you to his daughter once the time comes," The guard explained while still finding it surprising and puzzling, wondering why the late Demon King would wed his precious daughter to a retard with no power at all.
Even now, after he seemed to have gained intelligence, he was no stronger than a commoner.
Asher became silent as he deeply thought about what the guard had said. Based on his words, the Demon King surely knew something he didn't. Otherwise, all the decisions he took just don't make sense.
And based on how the guards were discussing the Demon King and his daughter, it seemed that the two of them shared a strong father-daughter bond which would then rule out the fact that he forced his daughter to marry him out of spite or something.
"There you are! Why were you all taking so much time to bring him back?" A frustrated shout of a woman echoed in the area as Asher looked up after pushing away his thoughts.
He saw a tall woman with red skin and big glimmering dark blue eyes that seemed quite eye-catching. She had long dark red hair with bangs, long yet thin eyebrows, and luscious dark red lips. And on her head, there was a band from which two dark red horns were extending towards the sides.
She was wearing a revealing dark silver breastplate that showed off her upper bountiful breasts while her well-built six-pack abs were completely visible along with the rest of her flat stomach.
Her arms had metallic red vambraces, and the dark silver chausses covered most part of her legs. Still, it revealed a glimpse of her silky upper thighs and added to her overall seductive yet intimidating charm.
Most men would drool after seeing her hourglass figure, but if they saw the piercing look in her dark blue eyes, they would think twice before looking at her again. Her face was pretty enough to stand out even among other beautiful women, yet her intimidating expression and the aura she was giving off would make people look at her in a careful way.
Asher could tell that she was a high-ranked demon and seemed quite strong, too, just based on her disposition.
And quite scary, apparently, after he saw the guards beside him bow their backs fully as they profusely apologized, "F-Forgive us, Battlemaster! W-We were searching everywhere we could to find His Majesty. And there is also good news!" One of the guards quickly stepped forward and whispered something to her, making her squint her eyes as she looked at Ash with a doubtful look.
She motioned with her hand to stand aside and asked Ash in a stern voice, "Do you know your name, Your Highness?"
"Of course I do. But what is your name?" Asher asked with his hands behind his back. He didn't know why but he could sense some hostility from her toward him. He decided to first play along and find out more about his situation.
Her eyebrows raised as if in disbelief, "He can really speak? How come this became suddenly possible? Do you remember anything, Your Highness? No…since you don't know my name, you must be ignorant about everything."
She looked at the guards and said, "All of you get ready to leave and write me a full detailed report of what happened and whatever you saw. I need it on my table within 2 hours. Now, get out of my sight."
The guards bowed in fear as they scurried off before they accidentally infuriated her.
Asher noticed that this woman must be quite a frightening figure in the demon kingdom.
She turned towards Ash and said, "And you, you can call me Lady Ceti, and I am the Battlemaster, or since you can't understand what that means, I am the right-hand woman of Her Majesty. Now, follow me."
'The right-hand woman? No wonder she seems so overbearing,' Asher realized some things as he silently followed her towards a carriage drawn by red-eyed demon horses. She addressed him casually right after the guards left, making him realize that despite his official status, he held no power or respect. But that was something he expected, considering what he was before.
Still, that didn't mean that he would let this woman keep looking down on him forever. After everything that happened, he had hardened his heart to make sure that no matter who or what, they all would fall before him as long as he could destroy those who tried to destroy him.
Asher got into the carriage along with Ceti, who sat opposite him. And right when they took off, she kicked his leg with her feet and said, "Hey! Stop daydreaming and listen since you have no idea who the hell you are."
Asher took a deep breath, feeling insulted by getting kicked, but he suppressed his anger since he still didn't have a full idea of his situation. As a veteran Hunter in his past life, he knew not to let his emotions get the best of him.
He also didn't know much about the Demon Realm since nobody stayed in this realm too long to learn anything. And those who did never came back and were considered dead for obvious reasons.
All he knew was that centuries ago, the first Hunters were born when some light from the skies struck certain humans around the world. After that, all of them started receiving certain "quests" in their minds which warned them of the demons that were going to attack their world.
And those who successfully completed their quests would receive rewards that allowed them to surpass their human limits and become something more. Everyone thought that it was the gods who came to their rescue by creating "heroes" among them to ward off the demons at the right time. But in the present era, the World Hunter Association seemed sure of the fact that it was angels who gave humans a chance to protect their world.
This only made Asher more curious about the demon realm since he could find out more about the enemies he had been fighting for most of his life. But, of course, his priority was still the vow he made to himself after transmigrating.
Ceti didn't like how Ash was looking at her. She felt as if he was looking at something beneath him, but she then thought that it was all her imagination, considering how clueless he must be.
"The guards told me that they already briefly told you who you are but don't misunderstand your status just because you are the husband of our queen in name. You better keep your head low and exist as if you don't exist, just like before. Then everything will go on peacefully. Just don't cause a nuisance for our queen. This is my fair warning to you. Otherwise, you will see my face more often. And trust me…you don't want to," Ceti said in a sharp tone.
What do you guys think of her? :#
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