《The Demonic Servant》


 Prologue

    In this desolate place I call my home, I ''walked'' across the vast land. Nothing could be seen in this sorry excuse of a ''land'' except for the depressing grey of the ashes that made up the floor.


    No sun, no moon, no stars, no trees, no grass, no animals and no people. The only thing one could find would be the occasional soul wondering about aimlessly and mindlessly.


    Of course, the only exception to that would be me, but by now, I don''t think the difference between me and those things is that noticeable. I too, essentially, wander about aimlessly. However, unlike those souls, I do have a mind, albeit messed up.


    My name? I have long forgot it, and stopped trying to remember it. Now, instead, I carry the names of all of those I devour.Who might I devour, you ask? That would be an idiotic question. Didn''t I just comment on the fact that thereare only souls around here?


    In order for me to live, I need sustenance. That is the same for all living beings, no matter who or what they are. The only exception I can think of would be void dwellers, but those things barely move, so of course they need next to no sustenance.


    However, a soul is a very sturdy thing. It is very hard to ''eat'' a soul. Furthermore, judging by my memories, which I absorbed, these souls are exceptionally strong, since they all come from great and evil being. Necromancers in particular are almost impossible to devour, but for me, it''s still possible if I take my time.


    By going down that train of thoughts, one could assume that the stronger a soul is, the better it is to eat. And such person would be right, but also not. A soul can be very strong, but still very weak. It''s a confusing analogy, I know, but imagine this. You have an egg. That egg has a very tough shell, but if you break that shell, the inside is incredibly soft. Souls have ''shells'' too, in a sense.


    Ah, I''m rambling again. It''s a habit I picked up from the souls I ate. Many of them had the tendencies of making huge, psycological speeches during, before or after fights, and usually it''s those exact speeches that either power up their murderers or anger someone they shouldn''t anger.


    Speaking of murder, I just finished my meal. And like the millions of times before, I must move on, in search of another wondering soul.


    When I first ''woke up'', there were souls almost everywhere. And despite this world being seemengly endless, by now, souls are starting to become scarce. I fear for what will happend when those souls run out. Will I be left here to finally die? Wouldn''t that be a good thing?This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    No. I had already decided that I would live. Dying would be an insult to all of those whom unwillingly sacrificed their souls for my continued existance. I may be a horrible being, considering that by devouring countless evil souls I also became ''evil'', but I am still honorable. It is the last rope I hang on to to somewhat enjoy living. Everything else already lost meaning to me.


    Isn''t it depressing? I hang onto a broken pride, a pride so twisted and corrupt that even I know it. However, that''s what eons of loneliness, with the only company being the voices in your head telling you to kill yourself and the mindless souls that roam this hell, does to any sentient being.


    And yet, despite that mind-breaking depression,I keep on fighting. I keep on wondering, eating and searching for a way out of this place.


    I have already lost hope. And yet, I keep on searching for that light I lost. But no matter what, those voices, those accursed voices, keep destroying that light every time my hands reach out for it.


    "You will never find salvation..."


    "You should die! Murderer! Monster!"


    "You think that you''re any different from those things? You''re just an idiot..."


    Despite learning the art of ''ignoring everything'', you cannot run from yourself. The voice of my subconscious knows more about myself then I ever will, and I know it. I ran out of tears a long time ago though - or I would have if I was physicaly capable of crying.


    It is not like I have not considered suicide. However, my morals challange me and forbid me from doing so. As I already said, killing myself would be an insult to all of those I devoured, despite the fact I don''t actually care about them. And yet, the voices say I should kill myself exactly because of it.


    It all comes down to a question of morals. Is it right to devour others to keep living, or is it wrong?


    Almost every living being, as far as I know, has their morals set in stone. And yet, I, whom has millions upon millions of different sets of morals, does not. This is one of the many side-effects that absorbing memories does to you, unfortunately.


    How many times have I wished to be like the people in my memories? Living happily with my family, playing with my siblings, laughing with my parents and running through colorful cities? I cannot answer my own question, as it would break my mind once again.


    The saddest thing about all of this is that I do know a way to get out of this place, but it is impossible for me to grasp it with my own hands. I would need assistance from the world of the living, and the chance that I just happend to be at the right place at the right time is so small,that saying 0.000001% would be an exaggeration.


    And yet, here I am, still searching for that beacon of hope. Many times have I come extremelyclose to escaping this hell, and Every. Single. Time I have failed.


    But, despite all of those failures, I keep on searching. Sometimes I wonder why myself. Perhaps fate is guiding me? Or perhaps I''m just hard-headed? Who knows?


    And for once in my whole life(?), that hard-headness will finally pay off...


    <hr>


    This prologue was just a short introduction to the main character. Next chapters will build up the plot and world better.

 Chapter 1

    [MC''s POV]


    Wondering around in a land full of nothingness, eating the occasional soul, ignoring the voices in my head telling me to kill myself. Honestly, just the normal everyday things that I have to go through. Fun, right?


    However, today that fun will end. As I was munching on a devil''s soul, I sensed one of the familiar vibrations in the fabric of space. Immediately, I shot like a cannonball towards the origin of the vibrations.


    As I got closer and closer, the voices in my head became more and more vicious. They kept roaring at me things like "You''ll never make it!" or other such things. I roared back at them in my mind, temporarily shutting them up.


    Getting on all fours, I broke through the speed of light as the ground under me began cracking, dangerously slowing me down. As I neared my goal, I sensed it getting weaker and weaker. A sense of desperation took a hold on my mind, waking the voices up once again and making me run even faster.


    I sped up more and more, just as the vibrations got weaker and weaker. Distances in this hell can easily reach the millions of kilometers, and there really isn''t any end. My theories is that it goes around and around, but one would never be able to tell, as there are no landmarks anywhere, and making any is pointless as they would simply disappear.


    Just as the familiar, swirling blue portal appeared in my vision, my speed broke through the limits of light and reached the mana speed (10 times the speed of light).


    However, it was all in vain. Just as my hand was about to reach the already-miniscule portal, it closed just as I was a couple meters from it.


    I stopped in place for a solid minute, my face expressionless. Soon, I turned around and began walking once more. What''s the point of crying? This wasn''t even the first time it happend, albeit it surely was the closest.


    However, just as I was about to leave the area, I felt those blessed vibrations appear once again. Turning around, in the same exact spot as before was another portal. It was small, around the size of a man''s head, but it was a portal nonetheless.


    For an instance, my mind froze. I couldn''t think anymore. However, the next moment, forget about mana speed, my body almost broke itself from the sudden increase in speed. The ground sure did.


    The portal was exceptionally small, and my body would never fit through it. This was a serious problem, but not an impossible one.


    I reached the portal and immediately shoved my hands in between two ends. The thing tried and tried to close on me, threatening to break my hands and arms. Gritting my teeth, I roared in pure rage and determination as a giant web began spreading from under my feet.


    Immeditely, like snakes, the webs each directly headed for all the souls in the area. Thousandsof black and red tendrils attacked viciously, gathering all the souls and dragging them back to me.


    After a couple seconds, hundreds of souls were gathered around me. Opening my mouth to an impossible degree, I sucked in all the souls and began turning them into pure energy.


    The problem was simple, and so was the solution. Although flesh and blood could never hope to break the fabric of space, souls, mana, qi and divine force can. And what am I? A soul. However, I still needed some extra help, and these souls provided it.


    Ignoring the torrentof memories streaming into my mind, I converted all of the souls into the purest energy and sent it all to my arms. My strenght instantly increased hundredfold, and the fabric of space seemed to cry out in pain as I tore a hole large enough for my huge body to fit through.


    As I passed through space and time itself, I felt a force try and wipe out my memories and sense of self. This force was the reason why, with the exception of heroes, all summons are usually mindless slaves. They would be summoned without will, and a being without will is essentially a slave to whoever gets their hands on them. However, I''m different.


    Gathering all of my remaining energy in my first, I ''punched'' this force head on, making it cry out in pain. I didn''t stop there, however, as I released a monstrous aura, corroding all of the primordial chaos floating around this endless plane of existance. I felt the force pause for a bit, before finally retrating, recognizing that it wasn''t worth the effort.


    Smiling for the first time in a very, very long time, I let the pull of the summoning bring me towards my new home. Be it devils or angels, whoever summoned me deserves my full servitude. That was a decision I made long ago, and I never let go of. Furthermore, the voices in my mind had finally shut up by themselves for once, allowing me to bathe in the bliss of hope.


    [3rd person POV]


    Inside of a castle, a family happily chatted together. This family consisted of a man in his 40''s, a woman around the same age as the man, a girl and a boy.


    At first glance, they might not seem much. However, this family was in truth, the royal family of the most powerful kingdoms in the entire continent: The Silverheart family!


    "Dad? You''re spacing out again!" Whined the girl at her dad, the middle-aged man.


    "Uh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking of some things..." The dad smiled, trying to avoid having to mention his inner thoughts about politics and economy.


    "Haha... Dear, stop thinking about things. Just enjoy this evening. I mean, when do we ever get together like this?" The woman laughed heartily and looked at her son "Albert, what were you talking about? Something about a suprise for us?"


    The son, Albert, upon hearing his mother, perked up and immediately began blabbering "Oh yeah! Well, I wanted to wait a bit longer, but teacher said that I''m now ready to summon a familiar! He did say that my chances of succeding for the first couple tries are slim, but at least I can start!"


    Both the king and queen looked stunned for a second before smiling happily. "Really!? But you''re so young! Are you sure that Duke Bradley told you that you''re ready?" The king asked questioningly. Albert looked offended and immediately responded with an "Of course!"


    The queen laughed and ruzzled her son''s head a bit and complimented him heartidly. Jealous, the girl threw herself at her mother. Being only 8 years olds does have it''s perks, althoughthe 15 years old Albert would definetly deny it.


    After another hour of such happy-go-lucky chattering, the king called for the court magician. As the wizard entered the private chambers, he bowed deeply and exclaimed "Bradley, duke of Manascia and court magicians requests entry!"


    "Granted!" The king answered, and the magician rose from his bow and sat on one of the couches, in front of the king and next to his student.


    "So? Our son is almost ready to summon a familiar?" The queen asked, excited. The duke nodded with a smile, making the queen exclaim "That''s great! Albert, make sure to succeed soon, as I''m beginning to get worried..." She stopped herself in time, and her excited smile turned into an awkward one.


    Tensions were high between the human kingdoms and the demon kingdoms. It wouldn''t even be suprising if war broke out in 10 years or so. The chances of assassins were high, and having a familiar means having a meatshield, although many would disagree. Still, for a familiar, dying isn''t a problem, as they can simply be called back a week later.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The summoning of familiars is a practice very common amongst Silverheart''s nobility, and even wealthier commoners sometimes do it. Royalty however, are practically guaranteed to have a familiar with them, and they are usually stronger then normal too.


    As the king and the duke discussed for a bit about some random subjects, the duke finally revealed today''s suprise.


    "Well, you see your majesty, your son really wanted to have you come and observe his first attempt." Said the duke with a teasing smile directed at Albert, whom turned away in embarassment.


    Laughing, the king accepted the proposal. As the duke brought them onto the courtyard, he began drawing strange symbols and chanting strange tongue-twisters. Albert stood behind him, looking rather eager. As for the rest of the family, they stood at the side-lines, watching with warm smiles.


    When Bradley finished his strange rital, he pushed Albert forward whilst giving some words of encouragement. Albert put his hand on a particularly detailed rune at the outer perimeter and began inserting his mana.


    After a bit, a strange portal opened up where the drawings once stood. Albert kept the portal up for a couple seconds, before having to remove his hand, closing down the portal.


    Bradley sighed and shook his head before walking up to the disappointed kid and patting on the back. "Don''t worry, kiddo. Almost nobody gets it in their first try, and it''s just a matter of luck. You did nothing wrong."


    Albert nodded, albeit sadly, before heading back to his family for their congratulations on his attempt. He smiled slightly at the thought of such a good family.


    As the king and queen congratulated their son, the girl waddled over to the strange runes and looked at them curiously. Noticing her, Bradley approached her and began explaining "Princess Sophia, do you know how this works?"


    Noticing that she was discovered, she blushed fiercily before shaking her head. Bradley chuckled and began explaining "Well, this thing essentially draws upon the great and endless void. It is where all of our familiars originate from, and by merging with our mana, they automatically form a contract with us. Or at least, that''s the theory. Many different kinds of familiars exist, and details aren''t easy to get, as familiars themselves don''t really know either."


    Sophia nodded and looked at the large drawing expectadly. "Can I try?" She said in a light voice, earning a laugh from Bradley.


    "Well, with your mana, it''d be hard to summon anything, but you can try. I mean, what''s the problem in trying?" He said, knowing the girl would never summon anything. How wrong he was...


    Nodding, the girl put her hand on the same rune Albert did, and injected her small amount of mana in it. However, she had to take away her hand almost immediately from the stinging pain.


    Bradley looked at her with a teasing smile and began explaining "To successfully summon a familiar, you need to grow up more because then you''ll have more mana..."


    "ROAAAAAAAAAAARRR" A tremendous, blood-curling roar emerged from the summoning circles, making the blood freeze in all of those who heard it, and even those who didn''t felt a huge chill run down their spines.


    Then, the summoning circle began revolving and revolving, shocking everyone into silence and making them all just stare stupidly.


    The once black runes turned bloody red, and the ground began shaking, making the two kids fall on their butts.


    The moment Bradley regained his wits, he grabbed Sophia immediately and backed off, the king grabbed Albert and headed behind Bradley too. No words were spoken, it was obvious something had gone wrong with the summoning.


    The ground began shaking more and more fiercely, so much so that the castle itself threatened to collapse, but luckily, the magical defenses weren''t as easily destroyed by a mere earthquake.


    Then, a huge hand, no, perhaps claw would be a better term, emerged from the ground. After that, another hand emerged and following that, a devilthat could only come from the deepest parts of hell emerged.


    The devil was at least 4 meters tall and had a huge spiked tail twice his lenght swishing behind him, as well as two enormous, bloody red wings that could surely extend at least to 10 meters each. Horns 50cm in lenght protruded from it''s forehead, and extremely sharp teeth filled it''s mouth. A terrifying aura appeared, making even the battle-hardened Bradley feel like he was but an insect gazing up at a giant.


    The devil''s expressionless face didn''t display any of it''s thoughts. Bradley cursed in his mind ''damn it! How did such a thing even get summoned!? Nothing of the like ever happened before!!''


    Using telepathy, Bradley quickly told the king "I''ll stall for time! Your majesty, please run! There is no way we can beat this thing without help from the royal guards!" Although he said this, Bradley didn''t believe that the royal guards would be of much use. After all, to him, royal guards were like ants. To this monster, perhaps saying that they were nothing more then empty air would be an overestimation.


    The devil''s eyes darted around before fixating on the young girl hiding behind Bradley, she was grabbing at his shirt and was so scared that tears were running down her eyes.


    Then, the devil took a single step. It was but a step, and yet, it somehow appeared right in front of Bradley. Faster then anybody could react, the Devil picked him up and threw him away. When Bradley hit the wall he was thrown torwards, he coughed blood.


    As a magician, he was not trained for close-combat. Still, his magical armour could stop swords up to the A rank. Even S ranks would have to put effort to tear it down. To be thrown so casually destroyed any confidence he held in defeating the abomination.


    The devil''s eyes returned to the young girl, who had fallen down and was staring up at the monster, her eyes filled with tears. Soon, she began sobbing and crying, but she didn''t even dare call for help. No, she couldn''t. Her voice was suppressed by the sheer fear she felt.


    "No!" the king cried out as the Devil began moving again, however, nobody expected what happened next.


    The Devil fell down, one knee on the ground and the other up. His hand went to his heart and the other went on the ground. Then, he spoke. "Master..."


    The world seemed to freeze at it''s words. Nobody understood what had happened, however, the devil hadn''t quite finished.


    "My greatmaster, I sincerely thank you for saving this useless and uncapable me. I am forever grateful for your great act of kindness towards this worthless me. I am willing to offer myself as your servant for as long as time shall flow and the great river Stynx runs through the universe. My skills include all aspects of necromancy, demonic and devillish magic, blood magic, mind control, various skills related to souls, cooking, sewing, blacksmithing and other miscillanous tasks. I am also well-versed in the ways of weaponry and long-ranged weapons. I have no clear weakness due to my many expertises, but I know of some ways to suppress me. I beg my master, please accept this worthless being as your servant. Should I be lacking in anything, I can promise to learn any craft or art in a short time should you request so."


    "Eh?" The girl let out a stupid-sounding sound, just as everyone else soon did.


    "EEEEEHH???"


    "Please forgive me for my uncerimonious entry, master. However, I was met with some problems during the summoning. I am fully aware of my error, and prepared for any punishment that I might incour." The devil said, it''s head touching the ground in submission.


    "E... Eh? M-mom? D-dad?" The girl asked, unsure of what was happening. She was still scared, but now she was more confused then anything. After all, she was merely 8, and she couldn''t understand much. However, she could understand that this strange monster didn''t intend on harming her.


    "Slowly... come over here sweety..." The king bekoned, trying to get the daughter to their side. The girl instantly ran towards them and jumped in her father''s arms and began crying. Soothing her, he still kept an eye on the devil... oh wait, it wasn''t there anymore...


    "Hihihi!!" The queen let out a scream and the king swiftly turned around, only to be met with a giant, bowing devil a couple steps away from him.


    Cold sweat began travelling down his back and he felt an urge to scream and run away, but his training as a king allowed him to keep calm and look at the situation critically.


    ''This monster doesn''t seem intent on harming us... at least for now...''


    Glancing over to Duke Bradley. He laid unconscious on the ground, having been knocked out by a single blow. Still, he was alive, which was good.


    Clearing his throat, the king asked "What is your name, devil?"


    The devil didn''t answer, instead, it kept bowing down, unbothered by the request.


    A vein popped up on the king''s face "Ahem... May I know your name, sir devil?"


    Once again, silence.


    "..." The king wasn''t sure what to do. He knew that acting all-mighty here was abad idea, but he had no idea of what to do.


    The girl had stopped crying by now and was staring at the devil in a mixture of curiousity and fear. Being a kid, and a sheltered one at that, she had very few ''fearful'' encounters, and her recognition for danger was low.


    Reaching out her arm, she tried to touch the devil''s head, whom, suprisingly, moved up it''s head to allow her to touch it.


    The king didn''t dare to move, nor say anything in fear of displeasing the devil. However, in his mind, he was roaring ''Stop! Don''t touch it god damn it! What if it gets mad!''


    However, she couldn''t read minds, and she soon began giggling as she felt the strangely soft hair of the devil. It''s raven black hair reached down all the way to it''s knees, almost touching the ground. And considering it was 4 meters tall, that''s a lot of hair.


    A couple of minutes passed like this, and the tense athmosphere of before passed by. Soon, guards rushed into the courtyard to find the king frozen with his daughter in his arms, the queen sitting on her butt staring blankly at the king, the prince looking confused, and the court magician, the strongest magician in the kingdom, unconscious. Oh, and also a giant, terrifying devil being petted like a dog by the princess.


    Normal everyday things, normal everyday things...

 Chapter 2

    [MC''s Pov]


    "Uh... your majesty?" One of the guards, with an obvious death wish, dared to intrude upon this whishful moment, but I held back from killinghim on the spot and roasting his soul for a thousand years, as my soon-to-be-master probably wouldn''t like it.


    "It''s... It''s alright... just go away..." The king said, trying to back away. I simply moved forward when he did. I was somewhat annoyed at this lower life form''s attempt at stealing my master from me, but then again, how could they understand master''s greatness?


    As the guards slowly surrounded both me and my master, I emitted a bit of my aura, freezing them in place. One of them screamed out "Call the bishop! It must be an archdevil or even a prince!"


    Pfft. As if. Devils are weaklings compared to me, but who could ever care for what those lowlives'' think? However, should they be thinking bad things about master... perhaps I should check...


    "Master, forgive me for my intrusion, but the summoning drained me quite a bit. I will need to go feeding for a while, if you excuse me." I said before my whole body turned transluscient and dust-like. After that, I shot towards master''s forehead. The king had tried dodging, but how could I ever miss such a simple thing? My body entered through her foreheadand left my soul mark, two wings circling arounda strange rune at the center.


    "Ah!" Master cried out, before her body fell asleep. When she awoke, we were both inside of her soul domain. It was weak for now, as master is still young, but I''m sure she''ll grow up to be so powerful even gods will fear her. That is a least for my great master.


    "W-where are we? What did you do to me!?" She cried out in fear. I bowed deeply and answered


    "Forgive me, great master, but materializing in the mortal world for me is taxing. I was hoping you allow me to let me make a soul connection, so that you may summon me whenever you wish for me to do your bidding."


    Her face displayed a number of emotions. Confusion, fear... and... hope? Hm?


    "S-soul connections?" She asked, unsure. "Master, soul connections are bonds between two souls. They can be of servitude, patnership or other things. I am willing to make a connection of absolute servitude under two conditions."


    She looked shocked, but I continued "My first condition, if master forgives me for asking this, would be that I am allowed to disobey any command that might directly, indirectly or is in any way, a threat to my life. I will also ask for master''s permission to allow me to do what is best for master."


    "I-I..." She didn''t really know what to say for a while, before she suddently gathered up courage and shouted "No! I will never make deals with devils! Dad said devils are bad people!"


    A bit sad at her misunderstanding, I corrected her "But master, I am no devil. I am but a mere soul, having been granted salvation by master. I beg of you, please do not reject me. I... I do not know if I could ever hold on anymore should I go back to that hell..." My words turned venomous at the mentioning of that hell, but I quickly corrected my words.Stolen story; please report.


    "But dad said you''re a devil?" She said, unsure. "No master. Your father is merely a fool thinking himself a scholar. Whilst for mortals like him, his knowledge might be impressive, for immortals like me it is equivalent to comparing Einstein to the average 1 years old."


    "Y-you know of Einstein!?" She shouted, her tone changing to a more mature one. "Yes master. I know that you are a reincarnated human from planet X-B-523, also called Earth. My apologies for not telling you beforehand, but I feared you might not want your family to know of such secrets."


    She fell on the ground, her face in her hands, in what I belive Japanese like her call a seiza position. "B-but I thought... my acting... I tried hard..."


    "Indeed, Master. Your acting was to the point, however, your body language and soul ondulations are easy to read. Furthermore, no 8 years old would ever try to use the [identify] skill consciously."


    It seemed as if my words pierced her heart, as she exxagerately fell to the floor in defeat. "So you even noticed, huh... Well, at least your hair is soft..."


    "I thank you very much for the compliment, master. However, I would like to establish our link soon, as I believe your family is currently rushing your body to the bishop, and for as much as I hate to say it, he will be able to force me out of your soul due to me suppressing myself in order to now damage your soul."


    She sighed in defeat and said "Fine. Do your thing. I died once already, and it''s not like I have a choice..." She grumbled out.


    With a light "Thank you, great master", I initiated a soul connection. With this, I would be able to travel between both hell and this world. Although I don''t want to go back there, I know full well that unless I am willing to massacre thousands of people everyday and feed on their souls in the mortal world, I will need to make trips back to that hell in order to feed. But, with this soul connection, I will be able to travel directly here, and the ''force'' will not stop me, on the opposite, it will even aid me.


    Red, snake-like patterns appeared under my feet and extended to every part of master''s soul. She looked grim, but her face soon turned into a relaxed one. Normally, connecting two souls would be painful, but I can change that fact. I''m not a grandmaster of souls for nothing.


    After a couple of seconds, the patterns disappeared and her souls returned to normal. She looked at me weirdly, but before she could say anything, I prostrated myself fully and askedin a serious tone. "I ask thee, will you accept this worthless soul as your servant?"


    She looked lost and confused, but still managed to answer "Y-yes...?"


    Then, I felt a strange connection I never felt before forming between us two. I already knew that this would happend, and yet, when it did, I could not stop myself from shedding some... no, a lot of tears.


    "W-what''s wrong?" Ah... She''s concerned about me... How sweet...


    "It... It''s nothing master... I-it''s just that I just realized I''m finally free... free from that hell of loneliness..." I said, and I could not stop myself from sobbing for a bit. Manliness? What''s that. Pride? That''s reserved for other times. I couldn''t help but bask in this bliss, freed from the voices and freed from knowing that I would die alone, trapped in that hell I was born in.


    Master looked completely shocked now, as she had been for quite a while now. However, I couldn''t care less, as I felt someone try and force me out of her soul. Angered by their arrogance, my soul roared back at them full force, whilst I paid careful attention not to hurt master''s soul.


    If it wasn''t for that, the meagre soul of that arrogant bastard would have been wiped out all planes of existance. However, my soul was very limited, so it was merely pushed away without damage to the soul itself, but the body took a brunt hit.


    Tsk. Bastards. "Please forgive me master, but I will need to go now. To summon me, call me through our link. I will reappear by myself in around a day or two, and I once again must thank you for your great act of kindness." I said before returning to that hell, a smile on my face at the idea of being able to finally leave this place forever after I gather enough energy and fully materialize my soul in that world. Heh, I can''t wait...

 Chapter 3

    [Bishop''s Pov]


    As I was rumaging through mountains and mountains of paperwork, an acolyte suddently barged in my study and began shouting in panic "Lord bishop! The king has sent a request for your presence!!"


    Startled, I try to calm the young acolyte down and get further information "Calm yourself, youngster. Why would the king want me in his presence? I don''t belive I''ve done anything to aggravate him?"


    The acolyte quickly shook his head and said "No sir! B-but the messanger said that a devil has appeared in the castle, and it might even be a Prince!"


    My eyes widened in shock and I mumbled "May the lord save us all..." before rushing to grab my coat and weaponry and then heading towards the castle by magic, ignoring all the startled stares from the other church members.


    Devils are creatures from Hell, and as such, they are very, very powerful. However, they are managable, as they are also very weak to our holy magic. But! Starting from Archdevil ranks, they obtain a resistance towards it, and without that weakness, even one devil can burn down an entire city. As for Prince ranks? Well, those can destroy entire kingdoms without leaving anything behind.


    I don''t have much hope in defeating the Prince devil, for as much as I know, only the pope can do that. Perhaps a couple of archbishops could hold it down, but I, as a mere bishop, can only hope that it won''t kill us all, which is a pretty big assumption.


    10 minutes later, I barge into the castle as the guards lead me towards the king. Luckily, I didn''tsee any destruction, so I prayed to the Lord that just went away.


    As I entered the courtyard, I found the queen crying over her daughter, and his majesty incessantly giving order to the guards. I also found the famous court magician overseeing the whole thing, although he had a grim look on his face.


    Arriving in front of the king, I bowed to him before speaking "Your majesty, I reckon the devil has been dealt with?"


    He looked at me grimly as he shook his head. Then, he wordlessly brought me in front of his daughter, which the queen kept holding close in a hug and crying over.


    Moving her hand, she revealed a strange, demonic symbol on her forehead. Frowning, I examined it closely, trying to recognize which devil it might belong to. There aren''t many princes in this area of the world, or better said, the area of hell connected to this part of the world.


    "Hmm... I can''t recognize it..." I murmured before saying "Your majesty, please back off for now, as this may be dangerous."


    Although the king struggled to convince the queen, they eventually both backed off along with the guards. Before I could purify the princess, the court magician came up to me and said "Sir bishop, if I was you, I would be careful. That thing is strong, very strong."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I frowned and wanted to ask more, but he shook his head and then he too backed off. Sighing, I placed my hand on the princesses'' forehead and activated the [Holy Purification] spell.


    At first, everything went okay. A holy light shone on the princesses'' body, and the marking seemed to shrink back. However, after a couple seconds, a roar that could even make dragons piss themselves in fear emerged from the marking.


    I staggered back, coughing out great amounts of blood. The guards immediately came to support me, but I waved my hand saying I was fine.


    I really was, at least physically. Mentally, I was terrified. I could feel that the monster held itself back, that roar was so perfectly executed that it did not even do so much as graze the princess. I had a feeling in my gut that this was not a Prince... And I doubt it''s a Devil King. No, we were dealing with something far beyond that. We were dealing with a God.


    This realization hit me like a meteorite, and I couldn''t help but pray to the Lord, and hope he would come down and smite this evil from our planet. After all, only gods can deal with gods. But, as the Lord is all-loving, he did not come down to save us...


    Just as I was about to lose hope, the princess suddently opened her eyes and looked around, confused. Upon seeing this, the queen cried out and hugged her daughter tightly, saying things like "It''s okay sweetie..." or "It''ll be alright..."


    Interrupting the happy reunion, I immediately checked her forehead again. Indeed, the rune was still there, but she didn''t look like she had been possessed.


    "Princess, tell me. How do you feel? Did you fight off the devil?" I asked, concerned. She shook her head and said "He... He said he wanted to be my servant...?" She said, trying to push me away.


    However, I didn''t stop. "Princess, please do not be joking. That thing is at least a Devil Prince, and they''re known for their tricks during deals. Tell me exactly what happend."


    "I... H-he said that he wanted to be free, and to do that he needed to be my servant? Did I do something wrong?" She asked whilst hiding behind her mother, who was now glaring at me. For as much as the church holds a lot of power in this kingdom, angering royalty is... unsuggested, so I bowed and excused myself quickly.


    The king cooed her a bit and asked her what happened, and she retold the tale word by word. I was shocked near the end, as she didn''t seem to be lying, no, she wasn''t lying at all. I somehow knew it.


    Otherwise, why did that being hold back? I have no doubt that if itactually wanted to kill me with it''s attack, I would be dead. No, it wanted to kill me, but it held back in order to not hurt the princess.


    The king stayed silent for a bit before saying "Sweety, are you sure it made a soul connection? That''s stuff of legends, you know?"


    She nodded and added "Yes! It''s only demands were that I do not compromise it''s life and that it may do what''s best for me."


    Biting his lips, the king nodded grimly, thinking of possible loops. The second demand might have some of said loopholes, but those are manageable.


    "Well, we don''t have much choice but to wait. You will spend your time until the being comes back in the castle, and Duke Bradley and Bishop Leon will follow you at all times. Is that okay with you?" He asked, looking at me and the court magician, who had somehow appeared besides him.


    We nodded silently, both of us surely thinking of ways to stop the devil, but no answers came up. How can you stop such a thing, after all? The most I could would be to roll over and die.


    And thus, the church would send multiple acolytes to the castle, constantly following the princess in secret. The wizard guild too would send their apprendices to keep an eye on her, along with several other guilds. However, none of us were prepared for when the being actually came back... {cliffhanger!!}

 Chapter 4

    [3rd Person POV]


    As the day passed uneventfully, the various spies, guards and observers all went back to their various rooms, some in the castle and others in their tents outside.


    Many of these people were somewhat angry at the sudden assignment, and at the following failure. Some were even angry at the royal family for summoning the creature, which all things considered, very few had seen, but all had felt.


    As the moon rose and sleep overtook all, a lone shadow could not be seen sneaking aroundmany of the night shift guards. Those lower tier guards indeed had no chance at spotting this shadow, whom after arriving in front of a certain room, silently sneaked in.


    After entering the light of the room, the shadow revealed itself. A man, perhaps in his twenties with short black hair, and even blacker clothes weilding a small, very sharp dagger.


    ''Hmph. Too easy, just how low has this kingdom fallen?'' The assassin snickered inwardly. He had been assigned by the neighboring king to assassinate the potential threat that was the princess, as not only was she rumored to have incredible magic talent, but the day before had also summoned a very strong familiar, as the magical ripples had even been felt in his country. The rumors were all over the place, and that king had gotten the word in just a couple hours. That was how big the event was.


    Scared out of his mind, the assassin''s king had quickly sent said assassin to deal with the threat before it became... Well, a threat. He had to rush here using teletransportation, which was very expensive to operate.


    The assassin grinned at the though of plunging his... ''blade'' into the girl. Furthermore, ha had been told he could do whatever with the corpse, and when he realizedthat he would essentially have a cute little princess as his toy, albeit dead, he was quite elated.


    No sound came from his footsteps as he slowly walked towards the bed. The wind seemed to remain still as he took out his dagger and eyed the cute little thing sleeping peacefully.


    This girl had long blonde hair, a very cute face that would surely grow to become beautiful enough to topple kingdoms and for some reason, had a small mark on her forehead.


    Mercilessly, the assassin plunged his dagger into the girl''s throat, aiming to cut off her head in one fell swoop.


    However, before that could happend, he suddently felt like his spine was turned to ice. The world seemed to come to a still as he slowly turned around, but he never could get a look at what killed him, as his body was viciously torn apart in a matter of a split second.


    ''Hmph. A stupid bugthinkshecan touch my master? You deserve to have your soul roastedin the fires of hell for the next millenia for this sin...'' A creepy laugher emerged from the shadows as a demonic hand extended and dragged a certain soul somewhere...


    The bloody chump of meat that was all that remained of the assassin suddently combusted, burning into nothingness without even leaving ashes behind. No sound could be heard as all of this happend, however, if one was to listen extremely carefully, they would hear bloodied screams as though someone was having their body slowly peeled off from them multiple times over.


    Morning came, and with it, came the sun. Or is it the opposite way around? Anyway, Sophia groaned as the sunlighthit her eyes.


    Getting up, she took off her pijamas and began getting dressed as a voice resounded next to her.


    "Good morning master. How was your sleep?" She swiftly turned around, eyes as wide as saucers, and found a 4 meter tall, devilish monster in a butler suit standing right behind her. It was quite the comic site, except she was naked, and he was... well, standing there, looking at her?


    "W-what are you doing here!?" She screamed as she threw a towel at his face, which didn''t make him even budge an inch. With a strange calm, he explained "I am serving master. I finished gathering supplies a while ago, and I also finally finished condensing my form into this world. I can now travel between both worlds freely, and can be considered a native of both as well."Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "That''s not! That''s... Just turn around!" Sophia cried out in exasperation. She was still somewhat scared, but she also didn''t know what to do. "Forgive me master, but I hold no sexual desires. Furthermore, I consider myself a decent stylist, and I thought I may help you in choosing what to wear." The devil said with a bow before walking forward Sophia''s wardrobe.


    As she was left with an agape expression, the devil frowned and began commenting "Hmm... This one''s bad... this one sucks... this one is better left for dogs... this one is worthy of being called shitty..." Sophia felt an invisible arrow pierce her heart, as her favourite dresses were ruthlessly insulted.


    Finally, after a couple minutes, the devil picked out a red dress with intricate rose patterns and walked over to Sophia, who walked backwards with a bad premognition.


    "W-what are you doing?" She asked with a pale face, and the devil shamelessly answered "Dressing you, master. My memories tell me that important people needed to be dressed by servants, henceforth I will do so."


    "I-I can dress myself!" She shouted as her back reached a wall, no further escape possible. With a blank expression, the devil said "Our contract stated that I am allowed to do what is best for you, including disregarding some orders. Therefore, allow me to do my work..."


    As she walked out from her room, Sophia felt strangely violated. The devil had essentially blocked her up and dressed her, and no matter what she did or what she said, he wouldn''t budge on the matter. However, that was not the scary part.


    No, what was scary was how everybody seemed to ignore them, as though they could not see her. Some were even talking about her, and despite her trying to silently get their attention, they wouldn''t see her.


    She even tried shouting, but it still yielded no effect. They didn''t even notice the giant devil walking behind her, towering over themby twice their heightat least.


    Finally giving up, she turned around and looked at her ''servant'' with a frown.


    "Did you do this?"


    "Forgive me, what may I have done to warrant your question?"


    "What I mean is, why is everybody ignoring us?" She asked, exasperated.


    His expression turned into a sneer as he said "Lower life forms should not even have the right to look up at you master. They should just crawl on the ground like the bugs they are, and get squashed like ones by you, Master."


    Sophia felt a chill run down her spine at his words.She felt several things wrong with his words, no, every word he said was wrong in his opinion, but the expression on his face shut her up. It was an expression of pure, unwavering confidence, and despite her not being very good at judging people and their expression, she knew nothing could change this arrogant devil''s mind.


    "People aren''t bugs..." She said in a low voice, somewhat afraid of angering the devil. She still didn''t feel comfortable with him, after all.


    "Of course not. Not all people are bugs, or at least not those favoured by Master. However, some people, be it humans, elves, beastmen or other sentient races, if master was to know the truth behind all the lies they spout, you would be horrified." He said with a condemning expression.


    "Of course, if Master wishes for it, I can exterminate all of those liars..." He said as he extended the offer. Sophia quickly shook her head and ignored him, not wishing to become the hitler of this world.


    They kept walking silently through the bustling hallways of the castle. People didn''t even seem to notice them as they passed by.


    After ten minutes, Sophia finally arrived in a very large and decorated room, full of tables and servants bringing food everywhere. This was the castle''s lunch area, where the nobles that sometimes came over for meetings ate.


    Heading towards the largest table in the area, she found her father, mother and brother talking with each other. Since she was a late riser and since they thought the devil wouldn''t come for at least another day or two, they didn''t wake her up.


    Sighing, she asked the devil behind her "Can you stop hiding me?"


    "As master wishes."


    Sophia suddently felt a bit odd, but the feeling only lasted an instance. The next moment, her father turned and looked at her, blinking for a bit before smiling and getting up to hug her.


    "Sweety! I''m sorry, I didn''t see you there. Are you ok? Did you feel anything at all while you slept?"


    Sophia nodded as she revered in her dad''s embrace. Having a loving family was a new thing for her, as in her past life she didn''t have such good luck.


    "Mmm... I''m fine dad, thank you." She said with a smile and walked over to her seat next to her mother and in front of herbrother. The king naturally sat at a reserved seat, and the most luxurious one. Despite their unorthodox ways, they still needed to maintain the image of royalty in public.


    Sophia dully noted in her mind that nobody had commented that the very devil they were discussing was right behind her, and although he looked bored and even despiteplaying around with a strange blue ball, he somehow managed to hold a strange elegance in his posture and movements, worthy of a first class butler.


    In her mind, she was debating wether to show him to his parents or not. Though she didn''t trust him, she somehow felt that she should. The possibility thatthe though was coming from their link appeared in her mind, getting her a headache.


    Unsure of what to do, she simply ate her breakfast silently. What to do, what to do... Maybe she should just show him? But that would scare them... Or maybe... [Shitty cliffhanger!!]

 Chapter 5

    [3rd person''s POV]


    As Sophia debated what to do about the current situation, a holy aura suddently flooded the room, making everyone suddently turn towards the source.


    When everybody''s eyes landed on said source, they went as wide as saucers. A man around 20-25 years old with pure white robes stood there. What was even more impressive was the incredibly complicated symbol on the back of both hands. They resembled two shining suns orbiting around the planet.


    All of the nobled gathered in the dining area immediately went to their knees and saluted the man with gusto, however, he simply ignored them and walked towards the royal family, his face grave.


    Getting up, the king and queen did a small bow as well towards the man, suprising Sophia and her brother, whom swiftly did the same.


    The butler devil behind Sophia eyed the man for a split second, sending shivers down his spine as he walked over, however, it ended just as quickly as they came, shocking the man and making him fearcefully glance at Sophia.


    "Greeting, Pope Francis." Greeted both the king and queen at the same time, followed by the kids and the nearby servants, whom prostrated and began praying. The man nodded and he too greeted the king and queen.


    "Your majesty, I''m sure you know why I am here, correct?" He asked, eyeing the king. He nodded grimly but still asked "Yes, I do. However, I do not believe this has anything to do with the church?" He asked, his eyes sharpening.


    This was still a king. Although the church was very influential, it could never hope to beat a king in his own lands. He still knew that no matter what, money and benefits ruled the world. If the pope himself was here, then that meant something was up.


    The pope shook his head and answered "Originally, we would not involve ourselves in these matters, since all are free to do make their choices, good or bad. However, the goddess herself manifested this morning and told me to come here."


    Several gasps resounded across the room. For the goddess herself to manifest, this must be a huge problem.


    Meanwhile, said problem merely snickered and commented inwardly "Pfft. I bet it''s that Lunaria girl... Or maybe it''s the Alice one? So many light goddesses..."


    The pope continued "The goddess herself told me that a great evil had been born, and that the world will be plunged into chaos. However, we can prevent this. Princess, may you come here for a second? I will need to examine the mark on your forehead."


    Reluctantly, Sophia did as the pope said. He placed a hand on top of her forehead and closed his eyes. His expression soon turned into a frown, and he began chanting "Oh great goddess, heed my call, and save this mere mortal from eternal torment! You are all that is holy, and your light shall spread across the world! Come, save us! [Holy Savior]!"


    The heavens themselves seemed to have appeared as an extremely holy light shined from all of the pope''s body. The light then condensed around his palm, entering Sophia forehead, whom looked worried but otherwise unharmed.


    The devil''s expression turned suprise for a second as he commented to himself "Hm? Trying to take control of me through my connection? Kekeke, if it was any other being, they''d be in trouble. However, what can a pitiful mid-rank goddess do to me?" He laughed a laugh filled with madness and allowed the holy light to enter him.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Inside of his mind, a girly shape took form before condensing into a beautiful woman wearing a pure-white dress and weilding a short sword. Her blonde hair streamed behind her back as she looked around.


    "As expected, that thing''s mind domain is really vast." She lightly commented as she soared into the ''skies'' and began spreading holy light everywhere.


    As the light touched the ground, it began fizzling and burning, as if trying to fight back the light. The goddess'' expression turned serious as more and more light poured out, finally subduing the ground.


    "There we go. Phew, that was hard." She exclaimed, whiping a trace of sweat on her forehead.


    However, the next moment, maniacal laughter resounded through this imaginary world. The goddesses'' eyes widened as she looked around, trying to find the source of the laugh.


    "One time, there was a small bird~


    This small bird wished to fly, to usher it''s wings~


    And yet, the cruel world didn''t allow it to do so~


    Taken and eaten by much bigger birds~


    When another bird saw this, he said~


    Why can''t I eat the big birds?~


    And when he tried eating one...


    He discovered that he could not~


    Because a bug can never wish to fight a giant~"


    As the song was sung by what seemed to be the very world itself, the goddesses'' expression turned unsightly. She shouted out "Where are you!? Show yourself!"


    For a moment, there was silence, then a multitude of voices began once again singing.


    It was as if millions and millions of beings were singing at the same time, many different vocal cords that normally should never match somehow did the impossible, and began forming coherent words.


    "And the bird fought~


    And the predators ate~


    And the remains devoured~


    Where is your salvation now, my dear intruder?"


    A terrible premognition appeared in the goddess'' mind. She tried to run away, but before she could do that, the previously subdued earth suddently exploaded.


    Uncountable creatures of all shapes and sizes burst forth from the ground, skies, seas and other dimensions. Dragons, demons, devils, hydras, evil gods and many other such things all charged at the goddess, obviously wishing to tear her apart.


    Gritting her teeth, the goddess began throwing holy rays everywhere whilst fending off the other monsters with her sword. This continued for a couple hours until all the monsters suddently retreated, leaving a severely injured and tired goddess to fall on her knees, exhausted.


    Then, all the creatures seemed to melt together as they formed a gigantic being, towering hundredsofmiles above the goddess. Her teeth clenched as the being began laughing "Kekeke... You dare think that you can subdue me? In my own domain? Poor, poor goddess. Having gotten too used to being the absolute strongest, havent you, Lunaria?"


    Hey eyes widened as she gritted out "H-how do you know that name?! Just who are you!?"


    "Me? I am merely the result of what happends when the world fucks up. Kekeke... How I wish to defy you, strip you and humiliate you in front of all your dear followers and your all-precious hero..."


    Her eyes widened even more as her legs began trembling "It''s... YOU!" She screamed in rage, but didn''t move.


    "Me? Oh course I''m me... Keke, how dumb. You remember your husband? That very person whom assaulted you every night? Too bad, because he doesn''t exist anymore. He was quite tasty, though." The giant said, licking it''s lips.


    "DAMN YOU!" The goddess screamed as she charged the impossibly large giant. However, it was futile as she was swatted away like a fly and sent crashing into the ground.


    "It''s too bad this is merely a clone with the original conscience in it... If it was your real body, I''d enjoy toying with you more. However, time is running short, and I think we should end this little game of ours..."


    As the goddess tried getting up, a giant hand suddently grabbed her, and despite all of her resistance, she was mercilessly thrown into the giant mouth, where she was crushed to death by thousands of teeth the size of mountains.


    Gulping down the goddess, the devil closed it''s eyes for a moment before opening them up again. He laughed as he said "How lucky of you... If your real body had been here, we could''ve finished this much faster... now I have to hunt you down..." He laughed a laugh filled with lunacy before the world suddently ended, and the 4 meter tall devil''s eyes opened up once again.

 Chapter 6

    [3rd Person Pov]


    The pope furrowed his brows. For some reason, his Mistress wasn''t responding to him. Usually, after a holy purification, she would send him a small message and give him a divine revelation or some other things.


    However, she wasn''t responding this time. What could have happend? Perhaps the Mistress wasn''t content?


    Sighing, he removed the hand from the child in front of him. He could already feel the evil powers ''corrupting'' her soul. Perhaps, just perhaps, she could be saved. If not, he might need to order a holy execution to rid the world of this evil.


    Furthermore, if the evil in the child still existed, that meant the source still did as well. Eyes filled with annoyance, he turned towards the king and declared:


    "Great king, it appears something has gone wrong. The Mistress isn''t responding, and the child continues to be corrupt. I will take her into custody for the time being, and will try to find a way to save her."


    The king immediately put up an angered expression and was about to berate the pope in fury, but his advisors held him back. Although the church couldn''t offend a king easily enough, the other way around was even more severe.


    The church of light held near-absolute power over many of the lower and middle classes. Whilst there were few in the nobility that were fervent believers, the power it held was still enough to incite masses towards revolution, and no king would ever want that.


    The pope erased his expression and put up a kind face "... Forgive me, I was inpolite. Do not worry, we won''t do anything to her. I just wish for her to be cured before the great evil awakens."


    Meanwhile, Sophia just had a dumb expression on her face as several acolytes beconed for her to come with them. As she realized what was going on, and realized the possible inplications, she was throughtly disoriented.


    She didn''t know what to do. Although her father was a loving one, he was still a king, and would gladly sacrifice his offsprings should it mean stability for the kingdom. Furthermore, she had few friends, and none in the court here. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Hence, she turned to her only ally with supplicating eyes: The giant devil standing behind her, whom was currently eyeing the acolytes as though they were diseased rats. No, perhaps it was worst then that.


    Noticing her looking at him, he bowed and asked "Master, it seems this... filth, has dared to try and take you. May I ask you for your permission to throughtly slaughter them and start a holy war in your name to cleanse these mediocre lands of their filth?"


    Ignoring the last, somewhat unnecessary part, she smiled faintly and asked, ignoring the acolytes which were starting to get annoyed "No, don''t hurt them... Just... show them you''re not bad, okay? Please?"


    "Master, there is no need to say please to this mere servant. I shall do as thou wishes anytime."


    At that moment, a tremendous aura burst into life in the room and far beyond. Phantom faces appeared on the walls, some screaming in hatred and others in sadness. A phantom image of a colossus with huge wings, 6 arms and hundreds of eyes Burst from the ground and seemed to pierce into the heavens as it roared, displaying it''s boundless power.


    Then, it all vanished. However, in that single moment that seemed to have stretched for eternity, most guards excluding the high-ranking ones had fainted along with the acolytes. Albert too had fainted, along with the queen. Only the pope, bishop (Whom had stayed silent through the entire ordeal) and the Court Magician Bradley stayed conscious, albeit with plenty of cold sweat.


    Everybody''s eyes were all directed at the being whom stood in between them and Sophia. It''s eyes showed ridicule and seemed to consider all as dirt beneath it''s feet.


    Then, it spoke, almost looking reluctant to do so, albeit for a messed up reason. "Trash like you shouldn''t disgrace my master with your filthy eyes, but since it is Her wish, I shall allow it. Now scum, you will not do anything that my master does not wish, and you will all consider me ''not bad''. Is that understood by you braindead treacherous monkeys?"


    Everybody awake began nodding unconsciously, nobody excluded. Only when they regained their wits and began digesting what had happend did they each began to react consciously.


    "Y-you! I-it''s you!" The king cried out in a voice resembling that a person would make when facing a titan.


    The pope grit his teeth as he unconsciously muttered under his breath "This power... Devil King? No... Emperor? No... Not even those monsters in fairy tales can describe that thing..."


    The Court Magician simply stared blankly, strange thoughts going through his head.


    As for Sophia, she just facepalmed and sighed. So troublesome, why did this self-proclaimed servant of hers have to be so difficult? It was worst then handling her baby-sat elementary-school children back in her old world.

 Chapter 7

    [3rd Person Pov]


    After a short moment of silence, the devil tilted it''s head slightly and asked once more "Well? Speak. Do not keep my master waiting."


    Finally regaining his courage, the pope stepped up and shouted "Devil! In the name of the great goddess, what do you want!?"


    Looking at him as though it was looking at trash, the devil spat out "Filthy slave, have you gone deaf? Or are my memories incorrect, and not only does that bitch force you to slave for her, but also takes away your hearing? Regardless, since I''m such a benevolent soul, I will say it once again: Consider me ''good'' and do not go against my master''s will."


    As Sophia heard the two bickering back and forth like children, and seeing her father having lost since run away along with the court magician, leaving her mom, brother and herself stuck in here, she didn''t know wether to laugh or cry. Her dad was probably confident the devil wouldn''t touch her, which was correct,


    However, she had absolutely no idea how to deal with the issue at hand. At some point in time, after hours and hours of bickering, the pope and the devil had began a strange theological discussion, which she had no idea how it got there from one trying to threaten the other.


    "I''m telling you, the lore of magic was made by the goddess, obviously. Everyone knows that!"


    "Brain-dead maggot, has your brain been fried so much that you do not understand the obvious? The goddess was obviously born of the mana released by certain types of souls, and hence she holds absolute power over you slaves."


    "What do you know about the goddess you hellspawn! For you to sprout such blasphemy, have youno shame!?"


    "Keke, blasphemy is just a word for uncivilized barbarians to accuse others of not believing in the same thing, and just because you think about something, you expect everyone else to believe it when you are so weak? Has your brain been filled with dried potatoes instead of brain matter? Or perhaps, you never had a brain to begin with?"


    "Will both of you shut up!?" Sophia finally screamed, tired of their pointless bickering. The devil instantly bowed, displayingits flexibility as it somehow managed to reach all the way to the ground with it''s head. As for the pope? Well, he just shut up, realizing that having a child shutting them both up like that was somewhat... humiliating? He felt a strange sense of deja vu, for some reason though.


    However, the pope suddently felt his head slam into the floor with enough force to shatter it, but somehow his skull remained intact, although he earned a concussion. A giant hand had gripped him tightly, andlifting his eyes up he saw the devil, still bowing, holding him down in a bow.


    Although he felt humiliated, he already knew that resistance was pointless. Besides, had the devil actually harmed him physically before when they disagreed or now? The answer was no. Although prejudice is not an easy thing to get rid of, logic went a long way to save people from doing pointless things. Sometimes.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Sighing, Sophia began explaining "Mr. Pope, as you probably realized, the... uh... my familiar does not wish anybody harm. Also, he''s not evil..." "Master, by doing a soul scan, my soul showed to have reached 45% vampiric corruption, 82% chaotic corruption, 62% demonic corruption and 92% devillish corruption. Research shows that a soul with 20% corruption in any one category is considered ''evil'' by the church of retarded light." "... Okay, he''s evil, but he''ll obey me. I think. You will, right?" Sophia asked with a small sigh escaping her young lips.


    The pope was impressed at Sophia unnatural maturity, but chose not to pry further. Meanwhile, the devil was nodding fiercely with a proud (read: dumb) smile on it''s face.


    Giving up, the pope shook off the devil''s hand, whom suprisingly didn''t insist and got up. Sighing, he relented "Fine. As long as it does not join the demon hordes or practice any forbidden art, I will tolerate it''s presence. However, I want you to swear to me in the name of the Mistress that you will never use him for your own personal gains." The pope said, his eyes fierce and determined.


    "You dare ask such things of my master!? I am her tool to use to conquer all...!" Sophia instantly cut him off "It''s fine. I swear it."


    The devil had a shocked look in it''s eyes as it looked at it''s master with a look of that a kicked puppy would make "But master... I want to conquer things for you..."


    Sophia just shook her head and left the room, leaving the two behind. One of the two instantly began screaming in fury at the other, cursing him and his goddess in 46 different languages and 235 dialects, then proceeded to make a couple of threats before returning to it''s dimension. The other simply stood behind, confused at the strange words the hellspawn had left.


    As Sophia came out of the door, she was instantly grabbed by a her father, whom had been standing there the whole time with many of the highest ranking guards and priests to intervene in case things went wrong. His face was blank, making Sophia grimace, as she knew that face.


    As he dragged her somewhat forcefully away, she whined "Dad... Please... You''re hurting me..."


    Her dad simply growled out "Shut up Sophia. Just shut up."


    As they left the castle in secret after they met up with Bradley, whom he too had a grave expression on his face, her father finally released her, making her stumble a bit.


    As she stabilized her footing, she didn''t dare look at her father in the eyes. She knew he was mad, as he probably knew that she could see the devil, but chose to not tell anybody. Punishment was only to be expected for such a grave mistake, endangering their entire family like that was not a small matter after all.


    However, contrary to her expectations, she suddently felt two hands go around her and drag her into a warm hug. She felt warm droplets fall on her head from above as she asked "D-dad? What''s wrong?!"


    As she looked up, she saw his face. He was basically crying, trying as hard as he could to hold back his tears. He was gritting his teeth in frustration whilst hugging her as closely as possible.


    After a short while, he finally choked out "I''m sorry... I''m so sorry sweety... I''m a horrible father..."


    Not understanding what was happening, she instinctively returned her father''s hug. Finally, he began to sob completely, the scene unseen to anybody but them (And a semi-omnipotent, nigh-immortal devil looking at the father with a jealous expression)


    "I-I thought you were going to die! I had no idea what to do!? And what did I do?? I ran! I just went to ask for help!" The king began to say through his tears. Sophia simply hugged him tighter.


    "I''m sorry sweety... You have such a pitiful father... Haha... After all, brother''s words were true... I might be a good king, but I am pitiful as a person..."


    As they stayed like that for several minutes, the king having finally stopped crying and now only holding her kid in what could be interpreted as a sob-story, an overly dramatic drama, or a father-daughter relationship. However, that is for whoever is seeing this to judge.


    [And thus, they then all went home and slept. Happy ending, get!]

 Chapter 8

    On top of a mountain that seemed to pierce the heavens, a giant figure shifted uncomfortably.


    ''Ugh... What''s going on? What''s with this sense of danger?'' The figure opened one of it''s eyes and looked in a certain direction, it''s gaze seeming to pierce through space itself.


    ''What... What''s going on?'' Confused, the giant figure rose up from it''s slumbering haven. The mountain shook as it moved it''s massive body, a perpetual lightning storm surrounding it''s body.


    As the figure revealed itself, storms spread out across the surrounding lands, bringing devestation to all. Fortunately, the ''all'' consisted of ''none'', as nobody dared to settle in this figure''s vicinity.


    "Hm? Show yourself, intruder!" The figure roared, finally showing it''s true form.


    If one could take a goat, a shark, a dragon and a human together and mold them together, then make them hundreds of meters tall, then the result would be this monstruosity.


    "I don''t speak with food, but since you''re going to become nutrition of my master soon, I''ll at least show you lowlife some respect..." A relatively small figure compared to the giant monster appeared, floating in the air in front of the monster.


    This newcomer didn''t look to be affected by the raging storm at all, instead, it''s composure resembled that of a person choosing ingredients at the supermarket.


    "Keke, it took me a while to find you. All the previous ingredients were unsatisfactory or looked unappetazing. However, you look perfect..." The smaller figure began laughing. It''s eyes were filled with an instanity that only the most fanatic of priests could have during a cerimony.


    "You dare consider me as food!? I am the mighty Gilmakkar, the lord of storms and master of disaster! Perish you insolent being!" The giant goat thing roared in pure hatred. It''s emotions were confused, as it felt extremely angry at this being for making it somehow feel fear, and yet it''s instincts were screaming at it to run.


    "Mortal fool, bow before the power of the gods!" Gilmakkar roared as a titanic storm sweeped up the land, devouring the insolent being that had awakened it.


    However, from inside the storm, a silent and yet so loud voice resounded, "You consider me a mortal? A mere demigod DARES TO CONSIDER ME A MORTAL?"


    All of a sudden, the storm that could destroy nations was completely annihilated by sonic boom, pulverizingthe entire mountain, sendingGilmakkar flying and making him cough a lake''s worth of blood.


    "You werejust food, but I was benevolent enough to show some respect. It seems that I was wrong, you''re not food, you''re just slightly tastier trash." The smaller figure, whom now seemed so big compared to Gilmakkar, slowly said.


    "W-who are you!? What are youuu??" Gilmakkar roared in terror, it''s body shaking from fear.


    "Me? Hah, trash like you dares to ask for the mighty name my master bestowed upon me?!" The figure roared, finally showing itself fully.


    A 4 meter tall devil-like creature with two great horns on it''s temples, two huge blood-red wings and a tail twice it''s height stood like a king in it''s palace. Two terrifyingly large swords in it''s huge hands, and an expression full of anger on it''s face.


    "Demigod Gilmakkar, I hereby demote you to mere tastier trash in the name of my master. Die." The devil said, not as a threat but as a statement.


    Roaring, Gilmakkar gathered all of it''s strenght and prepared to unleash it''s ultimate attacked, but before it could do that, it''s body was suddently split into hundreds of pieces by a single swing of one of the devil''s swords.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Hmmm... Perhaps I should Have brought Fillet instead of Massacre and Slaughter. That trash didn''t even deserve to die by the most glorious of theweapons I made... Or perhaps a single stone could have killed it? No, that would be an insult to master''s nutrients... Well, it should be fine anyways..." The devil murmured, not realizing how unimportant it''s worries were.


    Shrugging in a way that screamed ''Eh, I''ll figure it out later'', two giant blood-redhands came out from the ground and grabbed at the carcass before dragging it to whatever hell they came from.


    Turning around, the devil disappeared in a flash, not even leaving afterimages. A couple of seconds later, a figure appeared inside of a certain castle, in a certain room.


    Whistling to itself, the devil put it''s two horribly named blades away before taking out a giant kitchen knife. Then, it reached it''s hand out into a small spacial hole that conveniently appeared and took out a small piece of a certain demigod.


    A couple of hours later, a family gathered in their dining room. A young girl around 12 years old, a boy about 19 years olds and a middle-aged couple.


    Around them, many servants came and went, bringing a great variety of foods to the table. As the family chatted happily, Sophia, the 12 years old girl, noticed somebody, or something, standing behind her.


    "What is this meat? It''s really good!" She praised, making the being behind her explaing "After checking all the markets and bazaars in the continent, I deemed today''s meats to be unsatisfactory. Hence, I took the opportunity to go and gather some meat myself, Master. It comes from a slightly tastier trash named Gilmakkar."


    Hearing this, the womanasked "Gilmakkar? Isn''t that the Storm God whom destroyed a country after they accidentally woke it from it''s slumber?"


    Strangely enough, she wasn''t even suprised. One time, this psyco of a devil had brought to the castle a mighty Primordial Dragon. If that wasn''t crazy enough, the dragon itself basically acted like a small dog in front of the devil, not daring to go against anything the devil said.


    "Indeed it is so, mother of Master. I researched a slight bit on it, and after determining that it''s death would not cause any severe repercussions since Master ordered so, I killed it. It should have enough meat to last for a couple months."


    Sighing, Sophia asked in a resigned tone "Can you not call me master... it feels weird..."


    "Forgive me master, but your greatness must be conserved through honorification." The devil instantly answered with a small bow.


    Rolling her eyes, Sophia resumed her meal. More or less, although the church was still against it, most of the highest ranking nobles had already accepted the devil.


    After all, not only had it completely annihilated monster hordes several times, saving multiple cities, it was also completely loyal to Sophia, whom was easy to manipulate (or at least they thought). Hence, not only did they have a powerful defender, but also a loyal one.


    Of course, some nobles had tried to go against the devil, either directly trying to condemn it to death for dumb reasons or by sending assassins and plotting in the dark.


    For the first type, they were all mercilessly beat down, bones broken and muscles ripped. One guy even had his tongue cut off after he ''insulted the devil''s pride''. As for the second type, all of the assassins never came back, and all plots miserably failed in front of the devil''s omniscent information-gathering abilities.


    However, there was a third type of nobles: those whom tried to kill Sophia in various ways. Needless to say, they were all brutally massacred, their homes found completely ravaged and painted with gore. No matter wether it was poisoning, indirect manipulation or outright accusing her, none worked.


    At the end of it, the nobles just gave up. As for the royalty? Well, they were the true victims here. After all, the nobles could scheme from far away, but since the devil and the royalty literally lived together, the devil knew everything about them. And why would they do anything anyways? They had no reason to.


    The commoners? They were simply told some make-shift story about how a devil was summoned by an evil cult and slain by a mighty hero, whom died in the attempt. A real sob-story indeed. After all, the devil only showed itself when it was either with it''s master or in front of those it deemed ''worthy'', otherwise it was invisible.


    After the family had finished their meal, each went about their own business. The king had paperwork to do, lots of it, the queen had to go out with her ''friends'' and Sophia''s brother had to study. As for her herself? Well, she had plans today.


    As she got up from the table, she grabbed the devil by it''s hand and began dragging it with her outside of the public eye. Obviously, the devil did not resist, and even seemed intoxicated by the mere touch of it''s master. A creep? Possibly.


    "Master, are you planning to go try adventuring?" The devil asked. Sophia nodded and answered "Uh... Yeah... how did you know? Wait, you''re not against it!?" She asked, her eyes going wide.


    "Of course not Master. Your will is enough to make me destroy this world, I will always abide to it." The devil said, a fanatical look rising in its eyes.


    "Yeah, yeah. Anyways, can you come with me? Dad won''t get angry if he knows you''ll come with me..."

 Chapter 9

    In the lively halls of the adventurer''s guild, many of the adventurers were either drinkingat the tavern zone or choosing quests.


    Some had grim faces, some had hopeful ones, others rejoiced, and even more cried murningful tears for their loved ones. One could say that this was a place full of emotions, which was true in a sense.


    However, there was a stark difference between every adventurer. It was clear who were the ''elites'' and who were the ''newbies''. One could tell by simplylooking at the small badges attached to their chests or belts or by where they were sitting, as the veterans sat in the center whilst the newbies sat at the edges.


    However, some of these adventurers didn''t even bother wearing badges. Most of thesehad countless scars and very musclous bodies, whilstthe rest of them hadslim builds and possessed a very strong aura surroundingthem.


    As the doors opened, a young girl around 12 years old strolled in with an embarassed smile on her face. Some of the more questionable adventurers focused their gazes on her almost immediately, as if scrutinizing all of her. Others simply glanced at her before going back to whatever they were doing.


    Making up her courage, the girl walked up to a freereceptionist, whom looked at her with a gazze similar to that of a hen looking at her chick.


    When she finally arrived at the desk, she raised herself on her toes to look at the receptionist in the eyes. As for said receptionist? Her eyes had been filled with hearts the moment the girl had reached her desk. Indeed, the girl was very cute, guaranteed to become beatiful enough to topple kingdoms.


    "Hello~! How may I help you?" The receptionist asked, her attitude turning towards that of a businesswoman.


    "U-uh, right. Hi! I''m here to register as an adventurer!" The girl, obviously Sophia, said with renewed determination.


    "O-oh. Are you sure cutie? Don''tyou think you''re too young to join the guild? You still have a long life ahead of you..." The receptionist asked with worried eyes. Kids joining the guild weren''t rare, but those were usually very poor or had been abandoned. This girl didn''t look like either of them, hence her question.


    "Well, I always wanted to become an adventurer. Are there age restrictions?" Sophia asked with sad eyes, making the receptionist shake her head with a wry smile.


    "No, but we have toassign minors withexperienced parties in order for you youngsters to learn from them. Of course, you can always just join a group of your own, but you have to have at least one C-rank in your group." The receptionist explained, suprising Sophia at the guild''s fairness.


    "Uh, I have a friend that should be coming soon... He''s not C-rank, but he should be strong enough, is that fine?" Sophia asked with pleading eyes, making the receptionist shudder ''Dangerous!! She''s too cuteee~!"


    "Well dear, we would need to test him. When is your friend coming?" The receptionist asked with a smallsmile.


    "He should be here anytime now... He said he needed to get geared up..."


    Just as she finished saying this, the air in the room fell by dozens of degrees in an instant. Everyone''s eyes, receptionist and Sophia included, instantly went towards the entrance of the guild.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    There, what could only be described as a steel monstrousity stood, towering over everybody. It''s giant body high enough to almost reach the ceiling.


    It''s whole body was covered in pitch-black armour, including it''s head. A tail emerged from it''s tailbone, longer then a normal man and as thick as a torso. It too was covered in armor, and tensspikes jutted out from it.


    Two horns emerged from it''s temples, but those too were covered in armor. Not one bit of skin was showed, and the only part that allowed any onlookers to remotely look at the creature lurking in the armor was the eye slit.


    Inside of it, two shining red eyes floated, making the creature look like an incarnation of slaughter. An aura of death constantly seeped out from the monster, making even the toughest of veterans have a river of cold sweat run down their backs.


    Slowly, as if time slowed down, the creature began walking. It''s steps made the entire building shake. Although some of the magicians chanted spells under their breaths, everybody stood still, trying to determine wether this monster was friendly or not.


    Finally, the monster reached a certain petrified receptionist and a curious young girl. Bowing slightly, it introduced itself "Greetings, ma... Lia. Forgive me for taking this long, but wearing this armor required some time."


    Sophia sighed and said "It''s fine, stop scaring everyone¡±,only to then murmur ''showoff'' under her breath.


    Although the veterans could tell the aura of massacre around the monster had lessened, it still remained. Although they felt uneasy, most realized that it was no danger, so they just tried to go about their business.


    However, not all of them decided so apparently, judging by the 18-years old boy with short black hair and a foreign face that just decided to suddently get up, take out his sword and scream to the monster "What have you done to the poor girl? Challange me, and if I win, you will let her go free!"


    The room quieted down once more, everybody''s eyes having shifted from the armored monster to the crazy youngster. Even Sophia herself had a bit of an ''o'' face.


    Then, the monster suddently turned it''s head a full 180 degrees, making weird crackingnoises. Theburning red eyes in it''s helmet''s slit shining a dangerous light.


    "... I decline. I do not accept challanges from trash, and besides, ma... Lia is already free. I would never dare do anything that goes against her will." It said in a mocking tone.


    Widening his eyes, the youth grit his teeth as he attacked anyway, in front of several veterans and inside the guild. Nobody tried to stop him though, as almost everyone sane of mind knew that it would be a bad idea to have anything to do with the metal-man/monster.


    "Naive and stubborn... You''re exactly the kind of person that gets on my nerves the most!" The metal monstersaid, it''s words resounding through the whole building, sounding strangely close to a death sentence.


    "Shut up, monster! I''m the good guy here!" The youngster roared as his sword slammed against the monster''s face. Normally, this would give a concussion or break some bones even with a helmet, however, the unthinkable happened instead.


    Not only did the steel demon not budge an inch, thesword itself shattered into hundreds of pieces, sending them flying across the room. The youngster''s eyes widened once more, but this time it was in fear.


    Almost as if picking up trash, the metal monster grabbed at the youngster''s neck with a singel hand and lifted him up easily. He tried to resist, kicking and punching, but it was all for naught.


    With a slight press, the youngster''s neck shattered: his bones brokeand artillaries exploded. After the cruel act, the metal monster simply threw him away rather uncerimoniously.


    Bowing to it''s secret master, it said "Forgive me for the gruesome sight, Lia. I''m sure somebody will deal with the trash soon enough anyways, but I believe I should get going. I do not believe I am fit for the adventurer''s guilds, and I''d much rather take on the mercenary guild." It said, before leaving once more, leaving the entire guild quiet.


    Of course, nobody could hear what Sophia said under her breath, in a voice so light not even the devil itself heard it.


    "Why do I feel nothing at the death of an innocent...? Well, he wasn''t really innocent... but to think I''d feel nothing... Did my mind change along with my body?"


    And so, the rumors of the ''SlaughterKnight'' began circling around. Soon enough, many more nicknames would be obtained, and many brutal accomplishments would be earned.

 Small update

    I''m not dead! Well, sort of. I''ve been busy with school and all, but I''ll avoid giving useless excuses. I''m planning on posting 4 chapters from Friday-Monday, one chapter per day, so, rejoice my little catlings! Be filled with some moar shitty overpowered mc!


    FillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerFillerThe genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    UPDATE: I apologize greatly, but the new releases will need to be pushed back to next week. I cannot find the time to make them, so do please forgive me...

 Dead : (

    I''ve been having some trouble in real life. I have like 5 unfinished chapters for this story on my drive, but unfortunately, I simply cannot find the want to finish them.


    Furthermore, I felt like the story itself was really cringy. Furthermore, it wasn''t even related to one of my favorite topics, gender bender.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    So, yeah, just putting it out there again, this story is dead. I apologize sincerely for the false update 2 months ago, however,  that was also the time when something really important in my life came up, and it devoured my time like a clingy addiction that refuses to let go. I''m sorry.