The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 434: The Hermit

Chapter 434: The Hermit

My name is Dr. Kiryu Nasumi.

And I am the only real person in this world.

At least... that’s what I thought when I woke up in the body of some dumb child. A child thinking thoughts that felt like they were half mine until they weren’t.

That child turned out to be a demon. And an angel. I watched him grow up. Make the same choices I made when it came to who to be. Beyond biology or gender...

And I watched him take the hits like a goddamn masochist. A stubborn one. And a strong one, but still.

He knew the game was rigged from the start. From the moment he found out what being ’demonkin’ meant. That moment we got stabbed by some fucking teenager.

Seventy-something years of living for me at that point, and I just knew it would be some asshole human with more anger than sense that killed us. Don’t get me wrong, from everything I learned by then, I’d guessed this world was the fresh start I’d wanted for Humanity Take-Two, but all I saw was more of Earth.

God, I thought you were so dumb for such a smart kid. Well, you had my smarts but not enough of my cynicism to count. I think I know why, though. Whoever plopped me in your head did it as a hack job. Everything they wanted and a bunch of stuff they didn’t.

First thing I remember since waking up in you is the same thing is the same thing you remember. Sad eyes. Grey skies.

Plenty of those nowadays, Kid. Fair warning in case you don’t get to see what I see.

Guessing that means what was done to us happened after you were born. Not sure if that tells you anything, but it’s a thought that I had that you never did.

I had a lot of those. Mostly just ways I’d off myself the moment I got a lick of control. Or how I’d off this world of yours if it turned out to be the same old bullshit with a fresh coat of fantasy. Didn’t want to live long enough to see Earth happen again.

Figured I might take a look around and see who needs killing since I didn’t really have another choice as a passenger in your body.

And yeah, that makes me a villain. I’ll never pretend to be otherwise.

I stopped being the hero of my own story the day Luda died.

And look, I know you know something about that already. Hard not to see the fragments of my own memories when you think about the itty bitty parts you dreamt about. Especially when you feel for just a moment how much of a self-righteous prick I am. Or, well, was.

I had hoped back then that no one would remember me. That, if everything failed, humanity’s last act would be to die in the darkness it had made for itself.

Somehow, I fucked that up too. Because this new world remembers me. They put ME of all people in their fucking pantheon, at the back of the book. Their big fucking warning that all things must end.

Lucky for everyone I’ve decided that’s not my call to make. Not this go around.

Whatever happens when I’m gone, it’s on you, Kid.

I owe you that.

That’s why, if you don’t get my memories, then I want you to at least learn about some of my mistakes.

That’s why I’m

BANG

The door of the hookah lounge burst open as Elevated rushed in, blades and spells at the ready.

Their target didn’t move except to put away the letter he’d been writing, disappearing it into storage as he brought the mouthpiece of the hookah before him up to his lips with the end of his prehensile tail.

"Great, I was beginning to think nobody would notice me," the steam-shrouded demon sitting amidst the cushions in the pit chuckled.

"Your terror ends here and now demon!" the lead Elevated spat.

"What, did they only send five of you? I’m insulted."

"Five is more than enough to-" The leader stopped talking the moment he heard the collapsing bodies behind him.

He looked to find his team on the ground, little holes sizzled through their throats at an upward angle that disconnected their brains from their spines. With a cry, he charged forward, leveling his spear as he thrust it forward at the demon, only for it to disintegrate along with the arm that held it.

An arm made of godflesh, which should have regenerated, but instead a grey corruption spread from the socket. He took two steps back, stunned as the strength began to leave his body.

"Oops. Did I mention the countermeasures? I’d have thought you’d have figured it out from the first team, but I guess dead men tell no tales." The demon waved a hand and the Elevated rose off the floor, grasping at his own throat with his one remaining arm as he gagged and gasped.

"Huh, always wanted to try that. Oh, don’t be such a baby, I’m not going to kill you. I need you to send the message that the angels sending their willing slaves isn’t going to cut it when it comes to me."

The demon took a long pull from the mouthpiece and blew the steam right in the Elevated man’s face. "So how about you take a nice, long walk back home while I find another hookah lounge... or better yet..." The demon clapped his hands together as a sudden thought occurred to him. "Rainier! Tell your boys to send this half-angel named Rainier at me. I hear he’s pretty good," the demon chuckled, then with a snap of his fingers released the Elevated to drop onto the floor where he lay gasping for breath.

"Pretty hard to move without that exosuit at full power, ain’t it? They turned you all into addicts for the worst kind of drug. Power. Think about that the next time your masters send you to a frontline they’ll never set foot in. Think of how little they actually give you."

As the Elevated continued to cough, the demon stood and flickered.

*

Outside the front door, Kiryu sighed and looked at the cowering figure of the owner - a pudgy human man who might have been half dwarf or just short.

"Sorry about the mess," Kiryu said, flipping the man a large gold before sauntering off down an alleyway.

The streets of Araqlun were busy, even at this time of night.

Kiryu made his way through the crowds of one of a dozen night markets, sampling goods and overpaying for them with the money he’d "acquired" since entering the city. Ignoring the glares and the muttered curses.

He went from stall to stall, buying out as much food as he could from anyone who respected him enough not to spit at him or call him a demon to his face.

But, of course, he couldn’t be a full demon, walking around brazenly at the new seat of angelic power. At least the people cursing him were right about that.

It had been a bit rough at the start. He’d stuck around the outskirts trying to figure out how to reign in all the mana leaking out of him. Or rather, all the mana circulating around him as Kir’s body cycled itself slowly towards a higher state.

He’d figured out a workaround by funneling the mana entirely towards his feet, and generating an open pocket dimension with a small barrier that would accept only mana into it. The result had felt a little floaty at first, since he was essentially walking with a nigh-frictionless field between his feet and the ground, but a few suit adjustments had more than compensated for it, even if the bottoms of his feet looked like little voids.

As Kiryu bit the meat off of a set of skewers, he gave a hearty wave at some sex workers who were catcalling him, but he wasn’t about to take advantage of Kir’s good looks for that kind of a good time, no matter how much he enjoyed the ideas that popped into his imagination.

For now, he made his way towards the outer part of the city, letting the illusion over what he was calling his magitech armor fade as he started down another long alleyway.

He found the family exactly where he’d seen them last time, huddled against a wall near the center. A demonkin-beastkin couple with a daughter who looked entirely human except for the jackal ears atop her head. Though he wondered if she was a hybrid or if this was a step-parent situation, he gave the girl a little smile as he knelt and pulled out a packet of food, handing it to her.

She looked up at her parents, who nodded, before unrapping a skewer and biting into it with a look of pure bliss.

"Have you three considered my offer?" Kiryu asked.

"I have," the jackalkin father said. "My wife and I agree, if there’s a contract or Oath you need, I’ll be the one to take it as long as you leave them out of it... Anywhere’s better than staying here."

"I told you before. No contracts. No oaths," Kiryu replied.

"I beg apologies, but demons aren’t exactly known for making deals for nothing," the man’s wife said.

"Lucky for you, I’m only half a demon. So I’m not going to just dump you ’anywhere.’ It won’t be completely safe, but it’ll be safer than here. Are you willing to trust me?"

The couple looked at each other, with resigned nods.

Rising, Kiryu gestured for them to stand before reaching out with his hands. "Keep contact with me. You might feel a little disoriented at first."

The world around them flickered, and suddenly, the four of them were standing on a hill far outside the gates of a city that rose high onto a promontory overlooking a lake.

The look on their faces as Kiryu dropped a small bag of gold into the father’s hands was one of utter shock.

"And you’re sure there’s nothing you want?" the woman spoke up, steel in her voice.

Kiryu puffed some air through his lips. "You know, now that you mention it, I could use directions to a hookah lounge. In Aaru, that is. They don’t really do that sort of thing here in Norneau... but maybe you could start a trend."

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