A lonesome dark mountain stood tall against the raging hot winds.
Jagged and proud, it dwarfed other peaks of the mountain chain, cutting the night sky with its sharp edges. A bloody moon bathed its slopes in the ghostly light.
Under that light, a young man with pale skin and black hair sat quietly, gazing upon the horizon.
….
The landscape around Ethan was desolate, the same as him. The barren land stretched out as far as the eye could see, devoid of life or hope. The dark, hollow ground seemed to echo the grim reality of this forsaken place.
It was as if the very soil had been drained of its essence, just as Ethan felt his soul had been.
The pair of black horn protruding from his head—a constant reminder of the transformation he had undergone—marked him as something no longer entirely human.
He sat still, a figure of despair amidst the raging winds of emptiness.
It had been Five days since he had arrived in the Abyss, the Demon Land, he now loathed with every fiber of his being.
The demons had destroyed everything he had—they’re cruel.
Beside him, MANAS floated in a pixie form, a small but radiant figure adorned in delicate fairy-like clothes. Her tiny wings fluttered as she hovered near him, her eyes filled with concern.
Her royalty toward him was unwavering. She watched him closely, her worry growing with each passing moment.
Her master, who had once been full of determination and fire now seemed on the brink of collapse, crushed by the weight of his grief and the enormity of his loss.
Ethan’s mind was a storm of thoughts, each one more painful than the last. Faces of his friends and loved ones flashed before his eyes, their expressions filled with sorrow as they bade him farewell in his memories.
The image of Aria, the woman he had shared a fleeting moment of happiness with, lingered the longest. He wondered what she had felt in those final moments—had she thought of him? Had she remembered him as the darkness closed in?
The reality was too painful to accept. The chance of her survival was slim, almost nonexistent, and the thought of her suffering, of her dying alone in fear and despair, tore at his heart. The agony of that possibility was a burden he didn’t know how to bear.
—
His thoughts drifted through the complexities of this world. Why was he reincarnated this world? Was it just to suffer?
What’s with all this talk about Righteous and Demonic factions, Heroes and Demon Lords, Solis and Abyss? Why does such a stark division exist in the first place?
Moreover, why wasn’t he reborn into a world of peace and prosperity, where he could have lived without the constant shadow of death looming over him?
MANAS, ever-attuned to his emotions, felt a sharp pang in her heart, seeing her master so vulnerable and lost.
“Master, I told you before,” she said softly, her tiny voice filled with concern, “there’s a 0.9% chance of reviving them if we could somehow kill that Demon Lord and take over his body.”
Succubus Bella had revealed the true culprit—the Demon Lord Beelzebub, a terrifying entity with the demonic power to devour everything in his path. He had led the attack to their city with a motive to grow his children—Dreadnaught Colossus stronger.
There are a total of 99 Demon Lords in the Demon Land, each ruling over their own region with unmatched authority. These Demon Lords possess the terrifying ability to summon wind and storm with just a flick of their fingers, showcasing their immense control over the demonic powers.
Among them, seven Demon Lords stand out as the most powerful, each representing one of the seven deadly abilities tied to the seven deadly sins. These seven are feared and revered above all others for the sheer destruction they can unleash.
Beelzebub is one of these seven, embodying the deadly ability of Gluttony. His power is not just in his ability to consume, but to devour everything in his path—whether it be physical matter, energy, or even souls. His insatiable hunger knows no bounds, making him a force of nature that even other Demon Lords fear to confront. The sheer magnitude of his power is enough to bring entire cities to ruin in an instant.
With Devour as his weapon, Beelzebub’s strength is unparalleled, and the devastation he can cause is beyond imagination.
….
“Defeat the Demon Lord?” Ethan found the idea both absurd and oddly amusing.
“Hahaha… Defeat Demon Lord Beelzebub? What a joke!”
His laughter rang out, tinged with bitterness as he recalled that horrific moment—the moment when that demon devoured an entire city of 200,000 souls as if they were nothing. How could anyone hope to defeat such a monstrous entity? Even the city lord, with his S-Rank power, had been utterly powerless.
So, how could he possibly do it? And how much time would it take to even reach that level of power?
This demon land was devoid of Mana, replaced instead by a corrupting demonic or abyssal energy. He couldn’t even go back to human land at his condition. His own kind would butcher him if they would have seen him.
He couldn’t even use his Unique skills. His Mana reserves were dangerously low, teetering on the brink of depletion. Who knows how long MANAS would last by his side? After all, she relied on his Mana to exist.
Although he had acquired some demonic abilities that allowed him to tap into this abyssal energy, it wasn’t nearly enough to challenge a being like Beelzebub, a Demon Lord with the terrifying power of Gluttony/Devour.
In the past five days, Ethan had done nothing but wallow in despair, wasting away his time in this forsaken land. Succubus Bela, who had been surprisingly tolerant of his behavior, merely watched his lazy actions with silent disapproval.
As his maniacal laughter echoed through the barren landscape, MANAS, usually calm and composed, found herself growing irritated—a rare occurrence.
“MASTER!” she shouted, her tiny voice laced with urgency, her brows knitting together in frustration.
But Ethan didn’t respond, lost in his hopeless thoughts, a foolish grin plastered on his face.
MANAS’s irritation deepened, her brows furrowing further. “MASTER!” she yelled again, her voice resonating louder, amplified by the sheer force of her will.
Ethan halted his laughter, his curiosity piqued as he turned his gaze to her, wondering what could provoke such a reaction from his usually serene companion.
MANAS met his eyes, her expression fierce despite her small stature. “How can you be such a coward? My master can never be a coward. Don’t you care about your friends at all? If you truly cared about them, you would already be searching for a way to grow stronger, to save them as soon as possible.”
She paused, catching her breath, her stern gaze never leaving his face, which now bore an expression of shock.
“So what if the chance is only 0.9%? So what if he’s a Demon Lord? No one shall stand a chance against your might as long as you keep pushing forward.”
Her eyes glowed a fiery red as if trying to sear these words into his very soul. She was desperate to wake him from his stupor, to reignite the hope that once burned so brightly within him, to remind him that his journey had only just begun.
A deep sense of shame washed over Ethan. Here he was, wallowing in self-pity, while MANAS, a tiny pixie, was the one reminding him of his responsibilities.
She was right. “Did he really not care about his friends?” he asked himself, the question gnawing at his conscience.
“Was it simply because he hadn’t known them for long? It had only been two weeks, after all.”
“No…” He shook his head vigorously, casting away the nonsensical thoughts. Of course, he cared about them. And he would prove it to himself. He would save his friends. He would resurrect Aria and others, no matter what.
A powerful surge of determination welled up within him, his spine straightening as his resolve hardened like steel.
He stood up tall, like an unyielding mountain, and spoke with newfound conviction, “Yes, you’re right, MANAS. I’m sorry for putting you through so much.” His voice was heavy with guilt as he stared out at the desolate mountain ranges, the landscape a stark reminder of the challenges ahead.
He turned to MANAS, meeting her gaze with unwavering resolve. “Now, tell me how to conquer the whole world, not just these filthy demons.”
Ethan’s voice echoed through the desolate land, filled with newfound determination. He stood tall, shedding the weight of his past and embracing the resolve that surged within him.
“I shall rise above everyone else!” he declared, his eyes burning with intense fire. The person he had been was gone, replaced by someone stronger, forged through pain and suffering.
“I shall have a new identity!” His voice grew stronger, each word a vow etched into his soul. The name he now chose was not just a name, but a symbol of his rebirth and destiny.
“From now on, MY NAME IS AENGUS DEGARO!” he said coldly, embracing his new identity with unshakable conviction.
The name seemed to be calling out to him to embrace this identity.
!
