《Return of the Anarchists》


 2 Fall of The Anarchists Part-1

    The day that Lucas most dreaded had finally come.


    It was the fall of the anarchists.


    The Hero''s squad had infiltrated their HQ, they had lost signal with Martin who had gone chasing the decoy and Lucas was heavily wounded. The hero was looming above him, looking down at him...


    "It''s the end of the line Lucas. This farce ends now. This world is better off without the anarchists"


    "You are right Mr. Hero, It is indeed time to end this farce.- Vincent! Do it!"


    "My pleasure!" laughing maniacally, he pressed the big red button.


    [This base will self-destruct in 60 seconds, kindly evacuate!]


    "Are you crazy, Lucas."


    "Crazy! No, I have never been more sane. If this world doesn''t need us any more. We will leave it ourselves. We never got to choose how we lived, we can at least choose how we die."


    The oh-so-proud hero and his allies ran like a bunch of scared rats. Lucas wasn''t sure if they had survived, and he couldn''t care less.


    "Kaboom!"


    The entire island base blew up in one of the most brilliant explosions the world had ever seen. Lucas was flung off, full of wounds, into the ocean.


    Sinking admist a red haze of his own blood. Lucas couldn''t help but question himself -


    "Was I really wrong."


    He tried to grasp the bubbles leaving his mouth, but they evaded him just like his life-force slowly ebbed away.


    The Hero''s words still echoed in his head, - "We could have been great friends, if only you hadn''t gone down the path of evil." How nauseating. Self-righteous bull-crap! Lucas never went down the path of evil, he went down the path of anarchy. He just wanted to survive and be in control of his own life! Was he wrong. Did he really deserve to be destroyed by a goody two shoes hero like some sort of cliched villain.


    He wasn''t denying that he had sinned.


    He had.


    928,437 people.


    That''s the number of deaths the anarchists and thus, he was responsible for.


    However he had only ever murdered one person his whole life. Stabbed him right through the back when he was least expecting. The blood trickled down his hands onto the cold floor and the soulless eyes of the corpse seemed to be asking him only one question-"Why?"


    However it was all for his goal.


    He wasn''t a villain.


    He was an anarchist.


    He was the f*ckin'' Prince of shadows the whole world feared.


    That scum of a hero would long have been destroyed by the very nations he was trying to save if they weren''t busy trying to deal with the anarchists. If the anarchists hadn''t killed most of the human scum, and implanted fear into the hearts of the rest. No one would have supported the hero''s campaigns. The hero wouldn''t have been able to change the world for the better if the threat of the anarchists weren''t looming by. And he DARED to call him, Lucas evil!


    However, deep down Lucas knew that this wasn''t what really haunted him, he had often been detested by the world and called a villain.


    .


    .


    .


    Lucas had never lost.


    Not since the day his father died. A person too good for his time, someone too soft, and someone who believed in heroes. Heroes that never came. Heroes that were just a pipe dream, that once broken by reality would bring in the most crushing feeling of helplessness. Since that day Lucas had vowed to himself that he would never feel that helpless again. He would never lose to the world again, he wouldn''t be soft-hearted. He would become the most powerful man alive. He would hold so much power that nothing will be able to get in his way and no one would suffer the way he did.


    But today, he had lost.


    To a hero.


    All the schemes, plots, betrayals and backstabbing.


    All the sins, the murders, the effort and the tears.


    It had all been for nothing.


    The anarchists were wiped off this world.


    Martin was missing.


    Vincent had blown himself and their base together to kingdom come.


    At least the world was now a better place, and there wouldn''t be more people like him in the future.


    Lucas slowly closed his eyes and let the darkness slowly embrace him. The prince of shadows was returning to the shadows.


    However just as he was being embraced by eternal darkness, his blood seemed to re-arrange itself into a 4-dimensional pentagram that glowed a deep crimson.


    Then he vanished without a trace.

 3 Fall of The Anarchists Part-2

    Martin had never felt so pissed in his entire life, excluding perhaps the time his entire family was killed off by the Anganese Empire. He had actually been duped. Since when did the hero start using deception tactics.


    He jumped onto the jet ski and went towards the base at full speed.


    He had a very uneasy feeling in his heart. A feeling of pure dread.


    He had always possessed a strong sixth sense, that was currently tingling like a bag of popcorn in a microwave.


    He had just entered within sight of the base when it happened.


    The entire base blew up. The tongues of fire blossomed like the most horrifying lotuses. The sheer beauty in the destruction made it more uncanny.


    Martin knew that all was over.


    That level of destruction and beauty could only be achieved by Vincent.


    The very fact that he used it meant they had lost.


    The Anarchists had lost.


    Martin wanted to feel angry, but he couldn''t find a single emotion within him.


    He was entirely numb.


    Numb not calm.


    Martin would get calmer the more rage he felt.


    But today he just felt numb.


    He had once been driven by pure vengeance. In order to take revenge on the corrupted nobles of the empire, he had abandoned everything.


    His humanity, morals, dignity-everything.


    It was the anarchists that rekindled hope in him.


    A reason to live.


    Something much stronger than vengeance.


    The sum of parts that made a greater whole.


    Anarchy.


    He had eventually achieved his vengeance. The anarchists had risen to the top of the world bathed in all its glory.


    There is, however, one eternal truth about anarchy.


    It only loses when its no longer needed.


    The world had already healed.


    So, they were now rejected by it.


    Thrown away like used tissue.


    Martin went through the ruins time and time again, hoping to find something.


    Anything.


    However, he was just grasping for straws.


    If he had found something, that would mean Vincent''s explosion had failed its purpose.


    He couldn''t even find a hair of a corpse of Lucas or Vincent.


    Martin felt a strong bloodlust rise within him cracking through his numbness and taking over all his emotions.


    It was the most intense desire to kill.


    However it soon faded back to calm.


    Who would he kill?


    The hero?


    Vengeance wasn''t the answer this time. Lucas and Vincent weren''t pushovers who would want to be avenged.


    Moreover, He knew.


    Lucas wouldn''t want him to do that. Lucas might seem a rash megalomaniac, but he was the most cunning, sordid individual to have ever existed. All of his enemies were manipulated by him akin to puppets with strings.


    If he wanted the hero dead, the hero wouldn''t have reached so far.


    The hero had to live. His death would cause the recently healed world to spiral into panic.


    Then, the corrupted nation leaders?


    Already killed long ago with his very own sniper rifle.


    Thus, he had no choice but suppress the bloodlust.


    He was a man with a code. He only killed those he deemed worthy.


    Unable to do anything, and full of frustration towards the world, Martin couldn''t help but fall to his knees and scream at the world uncharacteristically.


    He kneeled throughout the night in mournful silence.


    The pale moonlight illuminated his lonely figure.


    As the sun slowly rose upon the land, he rose up and started to slowly walk away.


    However he had just taken a few steps, when the suns rays, bent around him in weird angles. Like 4-dimensional magic circles that glowed blindingly.


    Then, they vanished without a trace, taking Martin with them.

 4 The Summoning

    "Welcome, Oh summoned hero! Welcome to our world! I, King Grathazor of Humaria have summoned thee here, to request thy help to save my nation from great peril!"


    Martin found himself in the middle of what seemed to be a royal receiving room. It was huge with marble pillars, and seemed to be illuminated with-hmm magic crystals? Is that a thing here?


    There were 20-some soldiers surrounding him, there was the king and someone in long robes who seemed to be their high priest.


    No matter which world you go to religion never changes, huh! The anarchists were of course all atheists. They always loved things that started with the letter ''A'' except perhaps the hero named Adam or apocalypses. No Vincent would love apocalypses.


    "We apologize for the discourtesy but desperate circumstances call for desperate measures"


    Desperate times call for desperate measures. Who knew that better than Martin himself. Judging from the tired face of the king he didn''t seem to be lying. His prejudice against monarchy and the tell-tale presence of supernatural powers aside, the most pressing problem was that


    .


    .


    He seemed to have been summoned to another world.


    It''s not that Martin was slow on the uptake, mind you he had one of the best observational skills in the world.


    Moreover after interacting with the Prince of shadows who ate deception for breakfast for so long, he had grown quite immune to it.


    So he knew, better than anyone else in his situation could ever have, that what he was experiencing was 100% real.


    ''


    ''


    ''


    It was just that he couldn''t help but find his situation -


    ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS


    Just a few moments ago he seemed to be lamenting about how the world had rejected him, and now he found himself in ANOTHER F*CKING WORLD. He bloody got kicked out of the damned world, no joke.


    That aside what did the king just call him in terribly outdated English.


    A Hero.


    Yes, Martin knew that compared to the rest of the anarchists he did follow a code of only killing those he deemed worthy of eating his bullet.


    But, under no circumstances, was he delusional enough to think of himself as a hero.


    Martin often liked to identify himself with idea of vengeance. Yes, justice and vengeance are often two sides of the same coin. Martin had leaned towards the latter for the most of his life. Heroes who liked to insert their meddlesome sense of justice up people''s asses were some of the people that disgusted him the most.


    And to be actually called a hero


    .


    .


    .


    It was just too fucken hilarious


    And so folks, the first thing that Martin did after coming to this new world was to laugh.


    He laughed crazily and incessantly. He laughed cynically and self-mockingly. He laughed at his sorrows-things that his previous world had taken from him and at his current situation-that the current world had thrown at him.


    He laughed till tears started streamed out of his eyes.


    Damn he needed that!


    Clearly panicking now, the king went on


    "We kid you not great hero. Our nation is indeed in great peril. We need thy assistance in defeating the evil demon lord and ridding this world of his menace."


    Martin paused, not because of the kings words, but because he could see something familiar in the king''s eyes. It was the flames of vengeance. He had lost someone close to him. That Martin could tell. He wasn''t as good at judging people as Lucas, but he could always spot the flames of vengeance. he had after all been consumed in it once after all, before he learnt to use it as a weapon.


    He decided to respond by pulling a page out of Lucas'' book by acting like a smug son-of-a -b*tch.


    "Well, well. What do we have here. First let me get things straight. Hero ain''t on my resume."


    Martin paused for dramatic effect, Lucas would surely have his eyes popping out if he were to see Martin imitating him in such a poor-ahem great fashion.


    "However, I am an expert assassin. They used to call me the Blue Phantom. So killing off this demon king of yours shouldn''t be a problem. Its just-"


    "What? We can give you money, power, women anything." The king with a hint of desperation in his voice.


    Martin frowned, the king really reminded him of his past. Desperate and vengeful, even a little helpless. ... hmm.


    "Now, now no need to get so worked up, I am not some villain who lusts for power" (Sorry Lucas!) Damn if only I had a chair to lean on and a smoke, it would make this so much cooler. I am starting to get why Lucas enjoyed this so much.


    "It''s just that I have a few conditions.


    One - I must know all the details about the situation. I only kill those whom I deem worthy of eating my bullet.


    Two- There seems to be the presence of some supernatural elements, magic or something in this world that was absent in mine. I will need someone to show me the ropes."


    "Yep, that''s all for now."


    The king seemed relieved now. "Yes, your observations are indeed correct. This world does have the presence of magic. Currently we aren''t able to rank people''s ability on a proper scale now, as there too many different variables involved. Magic is mostly a supplementary vocation. However, those who can use magic effectively in combat are unstoppable forces on the battlefield.


    ''''Hmm seems interesting."


    "Yes, currently the knight Captain Marcus and Head mage Freya will help you learn the basic skills. They will also accompany you on a few field missions till you are able to adjust to the power levels, and fighting styles of this world."


    "You can rest today, and visit the library. They will come to meet you tomorrow morning. We hope you will be able to adjust quickly, as the final battle is only 45 days away."


    "Very well then, King, I will cooperate with you for the time being. Just a reminder before I leave, show me sincerity and I will reciprocate, if you try to double cross me just remember that I was once lauded as the incarnation of vengeance" flashing one of the most warmest and kindest smiles that he ever had, Martin followed the soldiers out of the room to his living quarters.

 5 The Library

    King Grathazor watched on as Martin left the room. He straightened his back, slowly returning to his royal grandeur. He turned to the head priest and inquired "So Gabriel, what do you think about the young man?"


    "A fine young man your majesty. In my opinion he is exactly like what he stated- A sharp blade of vengeance."


    "He seems to be pretending to be a sly individual, but is actually quite straightforward"


    "That he is."


    "Your majesty I didn''t quite understand why you let him dominate you throughout the exchange."


    "One must be humble when asking for help. I did have to show my sincerity."


    "Yet, he does have a problem doesn''t he?"


    "Yes, my king. He seems to have just suffered a big loss and had his beliefs shaken."


    "That''s good, moreover he is still young , that means he can still be moulded. The blade of vengeance cuts both ways, we can turn him into a blade of justice."


    "Of course by the time you are done, you will surely make a hero out of him."


    "Yes I will Gabriel, yes I will."


    ---


    Martin entered the room and closed the door.


    Leaping onto his bed he couldn''t help but lament


    "That sly old bastard!"


    Martin knew that the king wasn''t as simple as he let on. Unfortunately Martin was never as good at scheming as Lucas was.


    was...


    It seems that he had already started to refer to Lucas in past tense.


    The fall of the Anarchists really hit him hard. They were once an unstoppable force. Nations would tremble at their name. Anarchy at its finest. Yet, he knew that they never really embodied the soul of anarchy. Anarchy was after all- order in the absence of governance, but they ran along like a bunch of edgy teenagers yelling power, vengeance and chaos.


    He wasn''t as shaken by his summoning as by the deaths of Lucas and Vincent. He knew he had to accept it. One thing he had learnt over the years was that escaping from the truth only hurt more than accepting it.


    At least he now had an outlet to direct his bloodlust at. If the Demon King was actually how he was led to believe, he was the perfect target.


    Sighing to himself, Martin shook his head and stood up.


    "I still know too little about this world."


    He walked to the door and requested to be led to the Library.


    ---


    The library was huge with pillars of marbles, towering bookshelves and murals all over the walls and the roof.


    Martin froze, It was because he just realized a huge problem. The language of this world wasn''t English, but he didn''t seem to have any problems communicating with the people. He looked up and read an inscription.


    "The Place for the cure of the soul"


    It wasn''t written in English but he could understand every single word written. It seemed to be a side-effect of the summoning spell. It seems that magic here wasn''t as simple as throwing random spells at each other. That aside this discovery made him extremely excited and terrified at the same time.


    Excited, as it meant the end of all language barriers.


    Terrified, as it meant that this world was slowly getting even more difficult to understand.


    Magic, by definition is science so advanced that one doesn''t understand how it works.


    The unknown, after all has been the biggest source of humanity''s fears since time immemorial.


    He slowly looked at the murals to learn about the history of the realm.


    The first one depicted God forming the realm and all the creatures receiving his blessings.


    Mermen rose from the sea, Beastmen from animals, Elves from the trees and dwarves from the mountains.


    Humans were raised from the earth, but that''s when shit hit the fan.


    In the second mural, Humans started learning the art of magic and spread it to the other races. God impressed by their ingenuity decided to turn some of the humans into his angels to serve him.


    However that seemed to be a huge mistake.


    They faithfully served god until some of them got fed up. One angel decided that enough was enough and decided to stab God right through the back, both literal and figuratively. He later came to be known as Diablo the Ist


    ''Damn, that brings up some memories!''


    In the third mural, God seemed to be in his dying throes. The rest of the angels scattered and those who had chosen to follow the traitor were all cursed. They were stripped of their power and became the new race of demonkind. Finally they were banished from the plane just before god breathed his last.


    Marcus moved on to the fourth mural, but it seemed to be incomplete. It depicted the demons returning to invade the land time and time again before a human hero would kill the demon king and force them back. Sometimes the hero died with the demon lord, at others he would fail after which the demons would retreat after a war of attrition. The world appeared to be stuck in a vicious cycle.


    "Beautiful aren''t they" a voice said from beside him.


    "What?"


    "The murals."


    "Yes Indeed." he replied. "but history is full of as many lies as there are truths."


    "Of course, Lies are often the most beautiful things in the world, while truths are what hurt the most."


    "Sorry for interrupting you. My name is Freya. I am the head mage of this nation and your magic instructor."


    Martin turned and found a beautiful woman dressed in - well mage clothes, robe and all standing next to him arm outstretched. She was a typical western beauty with blond curly hair, sparkling blue eyes, cherry lips and- ahem! This might not be the best time to mention it but Martin wasn''t the best around girls.


    Putting on his most ''Lucas'' grin so far, he shook her hand.


    "Nice to meet you, Miss Freya. You may call me Martin."


    "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Martin. So I take it you are interested in learning more about our world"


    "Yes indeed, but for the time being I would like to know more about how magic works here. Especially regarding how I was summoned."


    "Very well Mr.Martin."

 6 Marcus and Freya

    "We can only see three dimensions of the world in our everyday lives. However we already knew of the existence of the fourth dimension and hence parallel worlds thanks to the invasion of the demons"


    "We thus spent a lot of our time trying to research parallel worlds and how to contact them. As we know nothing about the other worlds, we could only minimize our losses and hope for the best. We finally came up with a teleportation ritual capable of transporting only one person. Since sending someone into unknown co-ordinates is too risky. What we worked on was trying to summon an otherworlder to our world. That way we will be able to initiate contact, and have a reliable set of co-ordinates."


    "So, My summoning was part of an experiment. How many more have been summoned before me."


    "Only two. One was already dead when he arrived, and the other was an animal that died soon after. We were forced to halt the experiments and could only try to improve our search algorithms. Unfortunately realms similar to ours have a barrier around them that is difficult to get access to. So our only hope is to try through a cracked or weakened spot of the barrier."


    ''Holy crap, Vincent''s bomb was that strong! Looks like that knucklehead really meant it when he said he would go out with a bang.''


    "So you basically sucked me in through a hole in the barrier between worlds"


    "Yes, and we barely managed to.


    As the wars went on, our world seemed to have been caught in a vicious cycle. Its been centuries since any major development in our civilization. The wars instead of leading to increased development, has been instead looping back to our state after the previous war. So, in order to break free from this phenomenon we finally decided to use our last resort.


    Restart the research and seek help from an external variable. An otherworlder."


    "How, interesting. A hero would be the perfect identity of said otherworlder"


    "Yes it would, but this is more than an identity, its what we hoped to find. People need hope and what more than a hero that fell from the sky"


    "Aren''t you being too frank with me. I believe you just told me some of the top secrets of your state."


    "I wouldn''t have bothered if you were an incapable individual. We are after all the top brass of a nation, a single wrong decision would lead to disastrous consequences. You are as much of a potential ally as you are a threat. In such cases it would be best to show transparency and sincerity. We wouldn''t want to sabotage our cooperation due to unnecessary lies."


    "Furthermore different people require different approaches,


    you should no that better than most Mr. Martin. Am i right?"


    ''This cunning littl- calm down Martin, act like Lucas, act like Lucas!''


    "You are as impressive as I was led to believe Ms.Freya. You are right on spot."


    "You flatter me Mr.Martin." Freya responded adjusting her hair behind her ears.


    "I must say I truly admire your way of doing things. Since you have shown me your sincerity, it shouldn''t be too much of a problem for me to assist you. One can never have too many friends, now can they."


    Martin outstretched his hand which Freya shook. They both smiled knowingly.


    "Now that this is out of the way, let me tell you about the basics of magic in our world."


    "The air surrounding us has elementary particles known as mana present in them. Manipulation of these particles constitutes magic."


    "Magic had been divided into six main branches- light, dark, fire, water, earth and air.


    This is mainly because those are the types of crystals we can find. Crystals can be used for storing magic spells like those lights in the halls and complex magic rituals like your summoning"


    "Whenever someone comes of age they can choose upto two magic disciplines. This is because the body can only handle two types of mana at a time. Other than the pure elements, there are often subdivisions like ice, lightning, metal, poison etc.."


    Freya lifted her hand and a tiny flaming tornado appeared above it.


    "Air and fire, those are my disciplines. Pure elements after all have the highest firepower and versatility."


    "Interesting and how do I go about choosing my disciplines."


    "Most people have to be trained to sense the particles and then absorb a low-grade crystal of the appropriate elements. The kingdom will however provide you with two high-grade crystals of your choice. You would then be able to instantly awaken your abilities."


    "I suppose that such high-grade crystals are only available to those high up in the ranks."


    "You''re right. We are in fact making a huge investment in you. I hope it would be worth the effort."


    "Me too."


    "I will take my leave now. I will see you tomorrow afternoon. I hope you would have chosen your disciplines by then''


    "See, you tomorrow Ms.Freya"


    Martin watched on as Freya left the library.


    ''What a scary woman!'' First they requested for his help and they are now already trying to make him feel indebted. Rational people are often way more scarier than evil corrupted ones.


    ----


    The next day, in the training courtyard.


    Martin saw a tall blonde man with broad shoulders walk up to him.


    "I am the head knight. You can call me Marcus. I heard that you came here from another world."


    "Is that so? Well you have heard right."


    "As you have decided to take on the Demon lord I would like to see if you really have what it takes. Care for a spar? I want to witness your fighting style." Marcus stared on grimly and provocatively.


    "So the test has finally arrived I see. I like that you didn''t confiscate the weapons that I brought with me to this world-"


    It was a quite sordid move they played. Fighting style my ass! A spar wouldn''t just reveal Martin''s abilities and thus usefulness. It would also reflect on his world as he represented the higher ability levels. Martin was sure of that, after his chat with Freya. The algorithms had been adjusted to look for the prefect candidate.


    "-but you are soon going to regret it!"


    Whipping out two pistols from his underarm holsters,


    Martin fired off a few quick shots.


    He wasn''t called the blue phantom for his health. If it was a show they wanted, a show was what they would get.


    Evading the fire and deflecting the rest of the bullets with his sword, Marcus shot back "Impressive toys, but you are going to need more than that to defeat me."


    Marcus shot forward cleaving his sword in a beautiful arc towards Martin''s neck. Flipping over the sword, martin landed a few feet away, firing bullets at Marcus throughout the exchange.


    "Looks like you might have something in you, but I was just getting started." Marcus rushed forth first but Martin kept evading. A few exchanges later, Martin was covered in small cuts while Marcus had scrapes all over him.


    "Checkmate Marcus. I got you." Marcus turned to find a gun at his temple " Looks like you really got me. I was almost forced to use magic."


    "Yes, you but you really went easy on me."


    "Well I could say the same for you Martin. You held back too."


    Martin froze, ''Monsters they are all monsters!''


    "Hahahaha! Looks like you got me there"


    They both burst into laughter.


    Now that the ice was broken they both sat next to each other.


    "So, what''s the deal between the demon lord and this king of yours."


    "You noticed huh. His son and daughter, both the crown prince and princess died because of the current demon lord. He calls himself Diablo the VIIth"


    "No wander his eyes would darken whenever he mentioned the demon lord."


    "Yeah, no shit.! Otherwise why do you think there was no princess to honey trap you the moment you arrived."


    "Really, I thought Freya was the honey trap."


    "You thought she was the trap! Hahaha this is gold man! That crazy woman ain''t no trap. She may look pretty but let me tell you a secret, she is one crazy hell of a-"


    "Ahem! Its good that the two of you are bonding but I would really like to borrow Martin now. It''s time for him to choose his magic disciplines."


    The two jumped only to find Freya standing right behind him looking at them expressionlessly.


    "Holy crap! Where did you come from Freya, see I told you she has magic powers that can sneak behind people too. That''s a big red flag bro!"


    "Shut up douchebag!"


    "Well, in her defense she is the head mage, so she should have magic powers and- I''ll shut up now."


    Martin looked away, being glared at by a crazy woman early in the morning wasn''t very enjoyable, moreover he was quite excited about the magic initiation ritual.


    He turned away only to find Marcus giving him a I-told-you-so face.


    Martin smiled. Not a fake smile or conspiratory smile, but his first real smile since Lucas and Vincent''s death.


    He realized that these people might really not be that bad after all. This could also be one of their schemes in all probability but he would rather wait and see how it plays out. Taking a break from being a vengeful maniac can be quite stress relieving at times. One should really try it. Works like a charm!

 7 Diablo the VIIth

    Demonkind had been living and surviving in Grimoria from as far as anyone could remember.


    However they were extremely low on resources. Repeated wars invading the human realm Saforia was the only way they could sustain themselves. Unfortunately that led to the stagnation of the realms.


    More importantly, Demon lord Diablo knew that he had very little time left.


    Ever since his spies had brought news that the hero had been summoned, he knew that his days were counted.


    There was no other way. The world had to emerge out of the vicious cycle, and his death was the best way out. He knew that a huge war was coming, and if they weren''t united to face it, nobody would survive.


    He looked at the murals that Diablo the First had left them.


    Humans weren''t the only race that had been converted to angels. The elves and beastmen were too.


    The one who killed God might have been Diablo, but he was just the scapegoat of the entire movement. Those who had intended to stay angels even after god''s death were the real culprits.


    Ironically after his death, they also lost all their powers forming a new race of fallen angels.


    They had never been seen since then.


    "How is the boy?" Diablo asked.


    "He has just recovered his consciousness, my lord. He seems to be looking around blankly."


    "Take me to him."


    It had been almost two days since that boy had arrived, and now he had finally regained consciousness. Diablo hoped that the algorithm had picked the right candidate.


    Diablo entered the room and found the boy sitting up on the bed staring out of the window, into the distance.


    Taking a seat, he kindly smiled at the young man.


    "My name is Diablo the seventh. I am the ruler of this little castle. May I know your name Sir?"


    The boy slowly turned to face him. He had messy black hair, and newly grown horns. A side effect of the healing ritual used to save his life.


    His eyes seemed to regain clarity. He then smiled brightly.


    A tinge of madness that anyone would have missed briefly flashed through them.


    He opened his mouth and replied-


    "Lucas"


    "My name is Lucas Nothstein. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Demon Lord Diablo."


    ---------


    "You seem to know of my identity?"


    Lucas grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.


    "No, not really."


    "However this race seems to call themselves demons, and I heard them refer to the lord of this Castle as Lord Diablo."


    "Is there another identity associated with your name, Sir?"


    "Yes, I am also the lord of my entire race stationed here in this realm."


    "However lets talk about you for now. We had attempted to summon a being from a parallel world, and we found you half dead and drowning."


    "Oh. So you are the ones who saved me. Please accept my gratitude."


    "It seems I had little gas leak in my house that caused a bit of an explosion" replied the boy while pouting.


    ''Little explosion my ass! There was a fucking hole in the barrier between worlds.''


    Unfazed by the lie, Diablo leaned forward and grinned dangerously.


    "Quite interesting. You see, My race is currently facing a big peril and my retirement is looming here. My offspring may inherit the throne but none can hold the title of Demon lord for the moment.


    I was hoping to look for a like-minded individual to be my successor, and even achieve contact with another world in the process."


    "How do you know whether I can be trusted?" shot back Lucas with a mischievous look on his face.


    "I do not, but you have the benefit of doubt, moreover I have trust in the oracle''s summoning algorithm. I hope that we will be able to prove your capabilities, and from a cooperative trustful relationship"


    "It sounds very beautiful, but why do you think I would be interested in becoming a Demon lord of a race that has nothing to do with me. Of course I will repay the debt for saving my life but aren''t you asking too much of me."


    "Isn''t it obvious. Its for the power, you have the means to possibly have an entire race at your beck and call. Moreover, I am only asking you to give us a change, I am sure once you have a taste of what it means to be a demon you will never want to go back."


    "Is that why you gave me these horns"


    Lucas asked while holding his newly grown horns in a quite a cute fashion eyes gleaming with curiosity. But that was what made it look so much more eerie.


    "I am sorry, but that was a side-effect of the healing ritual. It was designed for us demons after all." replied Diablo not looking apologetic in the least.


    "Don''t worry. It is quite a fitting accessory for me. You see I was once known as The Prince of Shadows.


    I will take you up on the offer. Its just."


    "What?"


    Lucas raised his head looked right into the demon lord''s eyes.


    Smiling darkly and abandoning his cheerful facade he said,


    "Tempting me with power. That wasn''t fair of you."


    -------


    "So my lord, what was the candidate like. Can he really lead the demons. Would it be wise to leave the fate of our race in the hands of an outsider?" a figure in the dark could be seen asking Diablo that question.


    "He is extremely dangerous. He is either extremely insane or inanely cunning.


    Either way he is capable all right."


    "So, the question is whether he can be trusted?"


    "Yes, but that''s what we have you for Lilith. I am sure you will be able to determine that in time."


    "Yes Father, of course. You can count on me." smiling darkly a young girl walked out of the shadows. She looked like a pretty eastern beauty with long black hair streaming down, and two cute horns popping out from her head.


    "He might be the Prince of Shadows, but I am the Lady of Darkness."

 8 Choosing the correct elements.

    Lucas watched on as Diablo left the room. He couldn''t help but have mixed feelings about his current situation.


    He had actually regained consciousness much earlier. He still pretended to that he hadn''t recovered to compose himself and understand about the situation. From the little he heard he was able to piece that though the humans seem to be losing, they have some new trump card up their sleeves. This wasn''t the first war either and most demon lords had an uncanny reputation of being killed by heroes.


    The anarchists had just been destroyed, and here he was being asked to be the successor of a goddamned demon lord.


    He wondered how Martin had being doing. He was sure that Martin had at least survived. Would he try to kill the hero in revenge. No, he wouldn''t be that stupid. He would eventually move on. Lucas wished that Martin could at least find new friends he could trust.


    He was rather reluctant to agree to the deal. Its not that the power wasn''t attractive, it was in fact too attractive.


    But to be handed over in a silver plate, calling it suspicious would be an understatement. He couldn''t help but reflect back to his recent conversation with Diablo.


    The demon lord was someone extremely dangerous, in the same league as him.


    Lucas was a master manipulator, there was nobody he couldn''t read like a book. However the demon lord was too foggy. There were some clear parts that were intentionally shown but the rest were hidden away.


    Lucas knew that he was walking on eggshells and thus decided to behave how Vincent would''ve- a half-insane crazed son-of-a-b*tch.


    What bothered him was that Diablo somehow reminded Lucas of his own father. Not the weak-hearted part mind you, he could smell the mercilessness and bloodlust from across the room. It was the part where one was helpless against the change of the times. That''s the reason that Lucas had chosen to believe in the demon lord''s sincerity for now.


    Successor to the demon lord.


    As an anarchist, trying to be a ruler of a monarchy was completely against his beliefs, but he had to find something out for sure.


    He had made anarchy into a symbol of power and chaos.


    Perhaps he should first have a feel of absolute power then decide whether it was worth the effort.


    Just as vengeance is related to justice, freedom is often related to power. If he were to lose his freedom in pursuit of power, such power isn''t worth the bargain. He was an adaptable individual, he could be the incarnation of freedom as much as he was the incarnation of power.


    He had already suffered defeat once. The next times the anarchists rose, they wont make the same mistakes, and they would NEVER fall again. Lucas took a deep breath as his eyes slowly filled with unshakable determination.


    It''s just that...


    Lucas felt around his head. Were the horns really necessary? It was just too unwieldy, jutting out of his head as if they had always been there.


    The door opened and a young woman gracefully entered.


    "You must be Lucas, The Prince of Shadows"


    Well that''s one way to introduce yourself.


    "Yes, you can just call me Luke." He replied innocently.


    "Are you the rumored beautiful Ms.Lilith"


    "Yes, I am Lilith, Lady of Darkness. You can call me Lily" she replied smiling back equally innocently.


    Well, well what do we have here. It hadn''t been half an hour and his first test had already arrived. If it was any other day he would have flirted a bit, but following Vincent''s character he would have to act like a dense idiot, who has zero understanding of romantic relationships. Well too bad for the lady.


    "So, Lily how may I help you?"


    "Well since you are the candidate to succeed the demon lord it wouldn''t be good if you walk around without any magic skills. Without any magic you would basically be a walking target." giggling cutely she went on, "So please do follow me."


    "Magic!" Lucas'' eyes shone like two bright stars. Its as if something inconceivable was mentioned to him.


    "Yes!" Lilith smiling with equal intensity replied "This world has the presence of magic, you should have noticed it by now, considering that summoning you from another world is also magic."


    Lucas grinned sheepishly "Of course! How silly of me. Lets go immediately. It sounds really interesting."


    Of course he knew that magic existed in this world. It was just that they had concealed it completely. He wasn''t conscious when he was summoned or healed. It could have easily been advanced technology. Horns could at the end of the day be a genetic mutation. What really gave it away was the subtle clues of medieval age culture all around him and well the king did mention the word ritual.


    Lucas came into the room and there were six crystals glittering in front of him.


    Light(white), Dark(black), Water(blue), Fire(red), Earth(yellow), Air(green).


    "You can only absorb two elements, make sure that your choice matches your affinity."


    Looking at the elemental crystals, Lucas couldn''t help but click his tongue. To confirm with his act he should choose explosive elements like fire and light, but this choice should be irreversible.


    He raised his arm and held the dark crystal. Soon a black stream enter his brain and he could see all the various possibilities he could achieve if he absorbed the crystal. Smiling to himself he chose to absorb the crystal.


    Element- dark


    Specialization-shadows/smoke


    He was playing a mad character after all, he needn''t be restrained by logic.


    Then he immediately went for the white crystal.


    Element - light


    Specialization-mirage (reflection/refraction)


    At the end of the day he was a manipulator. He won all wars before they even began. Combat was never his specialty. Smoke and Mirrors, on the other hand were perfect for putting on a show.


    Lilith slightly raised her eyebrows at his choice but didn''t say anything more.


    -----------


    In a similar room Martin was presented with a similar choice. Since he was the blue phantom he would have to follow the color scheme while making sure no corners were left unturned.


    He chose to absorb the green and blue crystals.


    Element-Air


    Specialization-Lightning


    Element-Water


    Specialization-Ice


    "Lightning and Ice? Lightning is an extremely violent element and hard to control. Ice on the other hand should be able to help restrain your lightning while assisting speed by reducing friction. Quite an interesting combination. It should help complement your skills." Freya nodded with approval, feeling a bit more relieved.


    -----

 9 Training, Departure and an essential question.

    7 days later (38 days left the war)


    Martin had been training in his use of magic for the last few days. Now he was sure that he had a basic grip on it. His combat ability had rapidly risen these past few days. He had also gotten closer to Marcus and Freya.


    They had then decided to move around the nation so that Martin could get accustomed to the power levels and so that they could develop some basic teamwork ability.


    In the clearing in the forest Marcus and Freya were busy attacking a 5 metre tall behemoth of a beast. It had been terrorizing the nearby villages for quite some time now.


    Martin waited at his spot, he slowly raised the scope and pointed it at the beast. Its weak point was actually it''s chest that was skillfully being kept out of harm''s way. Freya unleashed an AOE wind blade storm at it while Marcus erected an earth wall blocking its retreat. He then lit his sword aflame and lunged right towards the chest of the beast. The beast twisted to Avoid the attack but left the very spot exposed in the process. Not wasting a second Martin pulled the triggered. Boosted with lightning the speed of the bullet was much faster than before and much more penetrative.


    After the bullet penetrated its body it started to freeze it from the inside making its movements even more sluggish. Then Martin snapped his fingers. The bullet exploded within the beast''s body sending paralytic electric currents throughout and stopping it heart. The beast collapsed onto the ground in a slump.


    "Damn, its cool each time I see that." Marcus commented while clicking his tongue in admiration."


    "The technology of the other world is as impressive as I was led to believe indeed." Freya added while nodding.


    Martin arrived in a flash. His modified boots used ice to reduce friction and lightning for propulsion. With his combination of science and magic Martin truly lived up to his name of the Blue phantom whenever he moved.


    Especially on a frozen field. His quick speed was akin to teleportation. The more magic he used, the more his body adapted to work with it.


    "Looks like you are now in top shape now. I think we should go to the palace and decide on how to defeat the demon lord during the war."


    "I believe it might be too late by then. We have been making a lot of waves here. The demon king should have learnt of my existence by now."


    "Yes, but there is nothing he can do about it. You are just another opponent to defeat on the battlefield after all"


    "Yes, but I don''t like giving the enemy time to prepare. Moreover-" Martin didn''t want to return to the palace. He still remembered the chat he had with the king before leaving. Each time he thought of it he would feel uncomfortable and unsettled.


    "Martin?" Freya asked concerned "Stop spacing out."


    "Yeah! Sorry, I was saying I would like to make a personal investigation on the Demon lord to find out his weaknesses."


    "And, if the opportunity presents itself- Assassinate him"


    "Do you think sneaking into the Demon realm is something easy. Especially in times of war." Marcus replied exasperatedly.


    "Its difficult but not impossible." Freya said while thinking about something.


    "Freya not you too. I know you hate the demon lord because-" Marcus shut up after being glared by Freya but still went on. "This is madness!"


    "I am sorry but I agree with Martin on this one. Its not like the demons are the only ones with spies. I have a plan on how to infiltrate successfully."


    "How?"


    "By disguising ourselves as beastmen mercenaries."


    "That can work. However if you are doing this I am coming too."


    "Wait I was talking about leaving alone. You guys don''t have to come with me."


    They both looked at me as if I had just said the stupidest thing possible.


    "There''s no way we are going to abandon you dude and just let you walk into the demon''s lair on your own." Marcus said righteously.


    "Guys." Martin was a little moved honestly. It reminded him of the time with the anarchists and their motto to leave no man behind.


    "Also, there is no way we are letting you out of our sight. You are the summoned hero and an important asset to the nation. As an otherworlder you could become a threat if left unsupervised." Freya added.


    "Yeah that too" Marcus added a little embarrassed.


    "Fair." Martin nodded hid head begrudgingly.


    ''Damn give me back my moved feelings.''


    "So, I will look into the matter and make preparations. You two can set up camp"


    Freya walked away and started using her communicator to send signals to the relevant personnel.


    -----


    As Martin lay awake in his tent his mind once again drifted to the conversation he had with the King before leaving.


    "So, You are going out for training"


    "Yes"


    "So I believe you must have heard by now that the Demon lord had killed my children"


    "Yes."


    "So, you see I hate him very much. Every cell in my body screams for vengeance, but that''s not why I want him dead."


    "Then why?"


    "As a king, I have to keep my personal feelings in control. He needs to be killed for justice and not vengeance."


    "..."


    "Before you say anything, I am aware that this war is mostly due to an ancestral feud and I am as much responsible for the deaths as he is making my words seem hypocritical. They are the truth."


    "The demon king contacted me a few days ago."


    "What!"


    "He says that he intends to end this centuries long feud once and for all. The war hasn''t lasted long this time and our losses are still recoverable. If the war is to continue, then both our nations would be pushed decades back. Being the instigator, the demons would thus have to accept a major loss. Their realm is low in resources, so many of them will have to immigrate here, thus the demons would also have to have a positive but pitiful image for the masses."


    "Propaganda can be arranged but there is one person this nation would never be able to forgive."


    "The demon lord.." Martin slowly muttered.


    "Funny, isn''t it. The person I hate the most contacted me to arrange for his own death." the king gave a really cynical smile while saying that.


    "Why are you telling me this ?"


    "We have been observing you these past few days and I have realized that you are someone extremely fixated with vengeance, or were at least were fixated once."


    "I just want you to remember one thing. Perhaps its because you remind me of my late son but listen up."


    "Vengeance is a blade that cuts both ways. The demon lord is being killed for justice and not vengeance. Its justice because he is atoning for his sins, and his death would save the rest of his race and ours too. It would be vengeance if his death were just for a personal grudge."


    "As Hippocratic as these words might seem they depict the cruel truth of the world. The line between justice and vengeance is extremely thin. Many people kill but forget the reason behind it. I just want you remember when you take his life, that it wasn''t for petty vengeance. It was for justice."


    "You may now leave."


    Martin left the hall feeling slightly annoyed.


    Petty vengeance! Since when was vengeance petty. Vengeance was an unstoppable force of nature!


    Nonetheless, he couldn''t help but admit that there was a ring of truth in the king''s words. Killing for justice and killing for vengeance were completely different things. The king might be right. Perhaps it was time he stepped out of killing for vengeance and started killing only for justice. He had already started down that path when he decided to judge his victims before killing. It was perhaps time to abandon all bias due to vengeance and see things objectively from a fresh perspective.


    Perhaps it was , perhaps it wasn''t. He would withhold his decision for now.


    The more urgent problem was the demon lord planning his own death. For a person to have the resolve to abandon their life for a cause, that person must be extremely dangerous.


    Martin knew that better than anyone else.


    The anarchists were exactly such an organization. Lucas might cut corners and manipulate people but he was always particular on who got to join the Anarchists. Each and every one of them believed in their cause and were more than willing to give their lives for it. Unfortunately, they all still failed, perhaps it was because the world wasn''t ready for them or perhaps their beliefs were wrong all along.


    Thus, Martin had to see for himself. Until he was sure what type of person he was going to kill and why was the reason he was killing him, he wouldn''t do anything. Was it really for justice or was the king just hiding vengeance under pretty words.


    He had to know.

 10 An Undercover Operation

    Ever since Lucas had activated his magic he had been quite busy. When he wasn''t training his new tricks and abilities, he was either reading up in the library about the nation or having discussions with Diablo.


    Over the past few days the old demon lord had really grown him. He was quite a nice chum. They often discussed politics and strategy and ended up astonishing each other of how despicable schemes could possibly get. Personally, Lucas felt he had learnt a lot, the demon lord had a lot more experience than him. It was like a whole new world of sordidness and shamelessness was opened up to him. It was beautiful.


    Lilith also dropped by from time to time trying to learn more about him and testing his capabilities in various ways.


    "A Demon lord has to be ready for assassination attempts at all times! I will help you train! Don''t worry I will hold back." she had declared as soon as Lucas had completed his basic magic training. Lucas knew he couldn''t afford to underestimate this Lady of darkness. with her cloak of darkness and dagger of light, she was an extremely terrifying assassin.


    So when Lilith jumped out of the darkness stabbing straight at his heart. He was prepared and he didn''t move at all....


    Lilith passed through him.


    It was just an illusion made of refracted light, the real Lucas wasn''t even there. He stepped out of a nearby shadow and pointed a revolver at her.


    "Yes! I survived the assassination!" he exclaimed in glee that was in odd dissonance to his actions.


    Lilith soon recovered and smiled equally gleefully. "Congratulations! You passed!"


    "So are you going to leave for the operation?"


    "Yes, You will come with me right!"


    "Of course, How could I leave you alone. I have to keep you safe and keep testing you too!" Lilith humphed and replied.


    Lucas was planning to go undercover into the realm. Until he had seen the situation of the nation from ground zero, he wouldn''t be able to make the right decisions when and if he succeeded the Demon lord.


    ----


    "So, you wanna say something to me before I leave old man?"


    "Not really, just wanted to say bye."


    "You seem awfully happy"


    "Yeah, you seem promising I can finally get rid of this stupid throne and become free!"


    "Free?"


    "Yes, though being the demon lord gives me power, there are also a lot of rules and responsibilities. It was fun while it lasted, now I want freedom."


    "So, what will you do after retirement?"


    "I dunno, tour the realms. There quite a few stunning sights hidden there. Perhaps go and visit the merpeople. I heard they were quite a seclusive bunch. Perhaps if the technology develops, an interdimensional world-hopping tour would be really swell."


    "Tch! What kind of useless Demon lord you are. Ever so ready to throw away the throne and run around like a little kid"


    The demon lord laughed sheepishly which was quite an amusing sight to see, at least for Lucas I am not talking about normal people here.


    "I have gotten old. Just remember to that you can''t abandon power nor freedom. Use your power to protect your freedom."


    He paused for a minute as if hesitating, but finally said


    "If possible don''t take others'' freedom to protect your power either"


    Quite uncharacteristic for a Demon Lord, but Lucas understood what the demon lord meant. If the anarchists hadn''t been so overbearing and merciless in their previous world they would have been worshiped by the people instead of being treated as terrorists.


    Lucas knew that he had gone too far last time. So he was determined to find out why and where he went wrong, so that the next time the anarchists rose they would be welcomed and not hated.


    Keeping an open mind was thus essential.


    "I will try to avoid it."


    The demon king smiled relieved then as he thought of something smiled viciously.


    "Of course none of that applies when dealing with scum. You know better than me how those disgusting hypocrites are to be dealt with."


    "Of course old man. None of them will be spared."


    Yes, this trip also had another purpose. It was to purge the demon nation from the inside to prepare for their integration with the human realm.


    Diablo told Lucas of his plans for surrender and how he hoped Lucas to eventually be able to take over the combined nation that ruled both demons and humans alike. This was a Trojan horse, if they cannot defeat the enemy, just join them and take over. After all the main reasons for the demons to attack were scarce resources, and not irreconcilable differences.


    ---


    "So are you ready to leave?"


    "Yes. What are we going to use as identities."


    "Beastmen mercenaries."


    "Isn''t that too predictable?"


    "Yes, but there is nothing anyone can do about it."


    "That''s right."


    Unlike the Human and Demon nations, the beastmen didn''t have any countries. Evolved from animals they still had their instinctive distrust towards each other. They had small settlements here and there and the Lion king did represent their species but thats all.


    Other races like the merpeople and elves had rarely been seen since the war started. They were mostly seclusive tribes and occasionally traveled for trade purposes.


    -----


    Somewhere in the demon nation in a mercenary camp.


    "So who is the new rookie?" A tall member of the bear clan and clearly the squad captain inquired.


    "Yes sir, he is someone from the snake clan." the vice captain, a member of the fox clan reported.


    "Elements?"


    "Pure fire and metal of the earth series."


    "Is he a blacksmith?"


    "No sir he claims to be a ''demolition expert''"


    "What''s that supposed to be"


    "He blows stuff up! Like the exploding fireball spell but in a whole bigger scale"


    "What name did he give"


    "Vincent sir."


    ....


    "Vincent Crepitus."


    "Say the whole name in one go, who are you trying to build suspense for here."


    Clearly feeling wronged the vice-captain still admitted his fault.


    "Yes sir, will keep that in mind.''


    "Is there any news of the other mercenary camps?"


    "Yes sir! Among the Big Five other than us two other camps have also accepted new rookies."


    "So many rookies at once! It seems that the times are getting even more dangerous."


    "A storm seems to be brewing!" the vice-captain declared in a grave tone.


    "Will you quit it with all the drama!" the captain retorted.


    ''Who the heck just said that the times were getting even more dangerous! Asshole!''


    "Sorry sir!"


    ---

 11 Order and Chaos

    Vincent loved chaos. He thrived on it!


    Vincent had grown up in the Stratocracy where everybody worked like unfeeling machines. The cold hard order and control over even the tiniest of details had always made Vincent feel suffocated.


    Different rules constrained him, however he still rose through the ranks. His rebellious nature was never accepted. A new rookie outdid him and he was tossed aside. Of course to add insult to injury that very rookie later ended up joining the hero''s crew.


    When he was escaping and was blown off by a grenade, something inside of him snapped. Even as the shrapnel pierced his eyes and separated an arm, his eyes had widened in amazement.


    The explosion was pure chaos. It wasn''t constrained by the rules, and all order was broken into pandemonium. Vincent had felt as if imaginary chains around him were broke. He had fallen in love with explosions ever since.


    So when Lucas had asked him do it, he had pressed the big red button with no hesitation at all. There was even anticipation and mad fanaticism. This was after all his best creation yet. It would be the very incarnation of chaos unleashed onto the world.


    However when the explosion took place vaporizing him and all the surrounding anarchists he didn''t feel excited. A single tear evaporated from his cheek as soon as it left his tearducts.


    It wasn''t a tear of happiness. It was a tear of loss and intense grief.


    For the briefest of moments he felt sad.


    His friends, his efforts and life. Everything were gone. He felt reluctant to go away. Unknowingly he had forgotten to take in the magnificence of the chaos. He was busy thinking about all that he was losing.


    He was frustrated at his behavior. This was a moment he had often dreamed of, the day he would die and take everything down with him with a huge bang. Something of epic proportions that the whole world would remember for centuries.


    Chaos so powerful that it would even rip apart the fabric of space-time.


    However he only felt immense grief, he still wanted to live.


    Call it fate or destiny but both his wishes came true.


    A rift was indeed blown in the fabric of space-time and his soul was sucked through it.


    Vincent soul was flung into another world where it sunk into the dying body of a beastman.


    He had transmigrated.


    After merging with the body''s memories Vincent realized that it belonged to a new and rising mercenary called Vince. With elements of fire and metal, he was quite good at metalworking and combat. Unfortunately his crew had been wiped out in a fight with a high-level elemental beast.


    Looking at the kaleidoscope of memories crashing into his head Vincent couldn''t help but feel extremely annoyed. The original Vince was the exact opposite of him. An idiot obsessed with rules and order.


    An extremely stuck-up son of a b*tch.


    Kind of like Martin.


    However the kid also had a deep set trauma. His settlement had once been razed to the ground by a monster. The deaths and chaos left a long lasting impression in the owners mind.


    So, when these memories started to fuse with that of Vincent''s he instinctively rejected them at first.


    However, this could prove to be dangerous and even lead to schizophrenia and worsen his insanity.


    Thus he ultimately accepted the memories.


    Looking back Vincent couldn''t help but agree, chaos was only fun before it happened to oneself. Pure order on the other hand did more harm than good. A balance needed to be achieved, kind of like that between gravity and dark energy to ensure the survival of life.


    Nonetheless, he was extremely biased towards biased


    So, a new Vincent that outwardly acted like a stiff and order-loving snake but inwardly raving for chaos and destruction was born.


    Whether his insanity had gotten worse or gotten greatly reduced was ultimately a matter of perspective.


    Struggling to adapt to his new memories, Vincent took the most logical step.


    He applied to a mercenary squad that worked for the demons. The Flaming Knights, one of the big five mostly consisting of fire users.


    It was logical as he still needed to learn more about the world and find a way to keep the legacy of the anarchists alive. Since he had survived it meant that even the universe wanted him to keep spreading anarchy. He would create a new branch of Anarchists in this world. One that Lucas would be proud of if he were still alive.


    Suppressing his rising emotions, Vincent decided to check his skillset and felt greatly relieved. It was the perfect combo for making grenades. The explosive power of power and the penetration of metal shrapnel would cause massive destruction.


    Outwardly smiling serenely Vincent was cackling madly in glee inwardly. Instead of forming multiple personalities his internal and external behavior had instead become extremely contrasting.


    Vincent flickered his forked tongue through his fangs and slithered forward.


    He then paused. Something seemed to be wrong.


    Extremely.


    He looked back at himself and couldn''t help but twitch his eyebrows. He was a beastman of the snake clan. A friggin snake dammit. Even though the snake scales had basic fire resistance, if he had to be a beastman couldn''t it be something cute like a wolf or cat.


    Luckily he still had two legs, two arms and an extremely handsome face. Yes so what if he was green-skinned had fangs and a weird forked tongue. So what if had pointy ears and a tail jutting out of his ass. He was still sexy as hell. Now he just looked like a venomous beauty. Its just that his tail, was a bit too reptilian. Look on the bright side! At least he had legs and didn''t have to slither around on the ground. Wait even when he walked his tail would make a weird sound just like that of a slithering snake.


    Damn it sucked!


    There was no damned internet or video games here. Even if there were cute beastgirls his snake-like appearance wouldn''t give him any brownie points. However he had heard that snake ladies are extremely dangerous but charming too.


    Yeah, in case you haven''t noticed Vincent was also a major playboy in the previous world.


    Shaking his head in self-pity Vincent set off for the camp.

 12 The Price of Killing. The Price of Power. 2 in 1

    What is the price of killing? The one who can answer this question best was none other than Lucas himself. Once a leader of an organization who killed thousands, who could understand better? Though many deaths weighed on him why was it that he was only said to have murdered one person his entire life?


    The world had once been in complete chaos. Life was as cheap as dirt and the two superpowers of the world duked it out with no regard to the deaths caused. The smaller countries were nothing but pawns and battlegrounds for them.


    On one side was the Anganeese Empire- an age old institution that had been revived. Absolute monarchy and cruel nobles that leeched of the populace like vampires were widespread again.


    On the other side was the Pastene Stratocracy- a military dictatorship where you either followed the rules or died for insubordination.


    In such times the smaller nations banded together and the United Hope Federation was born. Led by the nations of Pensam and Hograsia, they soon rose as the third superpower of the world, and once they did the entire world came to a standstill. A delicate balance of a triumvirate was formed and all wars were stopped.


    Suprisingly in the process the hope federation that was supposed to save the world become something it most despised. In order to ensure smooth functioning many assassinations and schemes had taken place. Though called a federation, it had evolved into a one-party rule. Most of Pensam was crushed by Hograsia in a fashion similar to what Diablo was probably planning by surrendering and merging with the human empire of Saforia. In the new world only the strong survived and those who advocated for mercy and cooperation were too soft and had no place in it.


    Lucas had learnt that lesson at an early age. Those were the exact words of his fathers'' killer. "Only the strong would survive. He was too weak for this world." His father had once been an important leader of Pensam and as he was too soft he had to be removed. With his death it was an open road for the radicals. They steamrolled all opposition and the hope federation became a the biggest hope. The hope federation didn''t provide hope, it took way all hope and crushed it under their heels.


    Disillusioned but unwilling to give in, Lucas had joined a rebel group. A resistance of sorts against the cruelty of the world. He soon got close to them. Their leader even treated him akin to a little brother. He had even thought his father had been right. Heroes would always come.


    It was as futile as one would expect. They were extremely mild and advocated non-violent protests. They robbed the rich and helped the weak. They tried to bring hope.


    The only thing they got were insults. They were ''just another terrorist group''.


    They were never heroes. The world didn''t deserve any. All it should get was anarchy.


    It was all about power.


    Those that held power could do everything and those who didn''t were useless. In order to embrace that truth Lucas had to cross a line of no return. He had to pay the price to get rid of all hesitation to achieve his goals and unleash the inner devil.


    He picked up a dagger, not a gun but a dagger and stabbed the leader right in the heart from the back.


    The dagger slowly pierced through the flash, bypassed the ribs and pierced the heart. However that wasn''t he only heart that was broken back then.


    Blood slowly trickled down his hand onto the cold hard floor.


    His tears mixed with the blood as his hands were dyed a deep crimson. The soulless eyes seemed to asking him ''why?''.


    He knew that he had to pay the price of killing.


    Who that held power didn''t have blood on their hands.


    He had to start where it hurt the most.


    The price of killing was losing all of your restraints.


    It was losing your humanity.


    It was crossing an invisible line in your heart.


    Once you have killed, you will no longer hesitate to do it again.


    No method would go against your morals when trying to achieve your goals.


    Because you no longer had any morals left.


    All the deaths the anarchists had caused, all the anarchists that had died in the line of fire, were nothing more than collateral damage to Lucas.


    The murder still haunted him, but it also empowered him. Once you pay the price of killing, absolute power would be in your grasp, no weakness would be left in your heart.


    Or so was what Lucas had once thought.


    Power never equated to victory. No weaknesses didn''t equate invulnerability.


    Why? because that was the price of power.


    Power corrupts.


    It enslaves you, intoxicates you and leaves you wanting even more.


    Lucas had still preserved. He never forgot the reason he wanted the power. Too raise anarchy destroy all superpowers and unite the world.


    However, before he could reach it. the hero had snatched it away.


    Without killing innocents. Without being hated by the world. The hero had defeated him.


    The world had been united. Not by the anarchists but against the anarchists.


    Thus this time Lucas had decided to take a milder approach, this time he would try to make the anarchists loved and not hated. He still wasn''t sure how but he knew he would figure that out eventually.


    ---


    Lucas and Lilith''s first mission in the realm was to get rid of some demon extremists. Those that had kept beastmen and human slaves. Those that treated the lives of all other races as dirt. The absolute scum of demonkind. The ''true demons''. These were mostly rich businessmen, landowners and army-men.


    The army would have to wait for now, but the rest- Lucas rubbed his hands gleefully. This time they would all fall down without him personally spilling a single drop of blood.


    "Are you sure you can do that? Wouldn''t it be easier if I just assassinated them?"


    "No my dear Lily! We need to uproot this problem from the roots. We will use their guilty conscience and fear for revenge against them."


    "Most of these people have never seen what the real battlefield is like, and thus have extremely weak wills."


    Lucas phased over to the bedroom of their first target. "Patrick Lecherson"


    "Let the show begin!"


    ---


    Patrick Lecherson was a 52 year old successful business magnate of the demon realm and like most others a big pile of shit. He kept countless slaves and abused a lot of human and beastmen. If not demon they don''t deserve to live. That was his motto. They were of course many businessman who thought that idea was ridiculous and understood that the only reason for war was the dwindling amount of resources in Grimoria. He couldn''t care less. He was excited he had been told that a new slave shipment would soon be coming over and they were quite a few pretty girls in them. Though slavery had been long banned by the demon lord, he often turned a blind eye to those in power. He didn''t know that his doom was coming soon. He slept peacfully until-


    Lightning cracked in his room, he could see a dim shadow looming over him with a dagger in hand. He tried to attack the figure but soon realized it was incorporeal. It soon condensed to form a little human girl. Her eyes were black all over and blood slowly trickled down her mouth.


    She tilted her head to the side and spoke in the most bone-chilling voice he had ever heard.


    "Master... do you remember me?"


    She was the human slave that he had recently killed for accidentally pouring tea onto his clothes.


    "How are you here?"


    "Why did you kill Lucy master? What was Lucy''s fault. Lucy''s parents were all killed why did you kill them all. Why did Lucy have to die.''


    He soon started seeing scenes of Lucy''s parents being killed brutally in front of her eyes. He saw himself from her perspective, abusing her, and ordering her death.


    He saw various scenes from the battlefield. Demons and humans killed each other, rivers of blood flowed. Many grieved over their fallen comrades.


    Captured demons were tortured in human cells. Some demons were also turned into slaves.


    "Why did you kidnap my family. Release the slaves! Release them!"


    Various voices joined together into a dreadful cacophony echoing in his ears.


    "Release them! release them or else demons would be treated even worse in the human realms."


    "Retribution will come for the damned! Die! Die! DIE! Why don''t you release them? Just DIE!


    "Stop it, stop it please!" Patrick was drenched in sweat completely pale and crying dreadfully. He had pissed himself and was shivering in his sheets.


    All the sounds stopped.


    The girl stepped closer to him, leaned forward and whispered in his ears. "Release them....."


    "....or die!"


    She used her claws and pierced his chest, slowly squeezing his heart until stopped beating.


    Her abyssal eyes seemed to be overflowing with hatred and malice.


    Patrick woke up in a start! Drenched in cold sweat he looked around but no one was there. He muttered to himself "Was it just a dream?"


    "It was, but it would become the future of you and all demon-kind if you don''t mend your ways." a voice sounded from the darkness.


    Patrick slowly composed himself. He wasn''t stupid, he realized that everything that he had seen and experienced was because of the voice he just heard.


    "Yes sir. I will immediately release them and mend my ways. Please don''t kill me."


    The voice just humphed in disdain and vanished altogether.


    Patrick finally relaxed when the voice left.


    "A true devil!"


    The ability to manipulate people and make them see illusions was something characteristic of true devils. They were mysterious existences only said to exist in myths, but Patrick was sure that he had just met one.


    Patrick hadn''t always been rich and powerful. He had been a normal merchant before the war started, he even had a few human friends that helped in his smuggling business.


    However power corrupts, he too had to pay the price of power and fell into depravity. The visions he just had were like a wake up call to him. The conscience that he had long buried under his temptations seemed to have suddenly reactivated and hurt him all over.


    How hypocritical, when he had sinned the conscience never seemed to exist, and now that his life was being threatened it pop up like an annoying b*tch screaming ''I told you so''.


    ---


    "Do you think that will work?"


    "It should, I have given him a chance. It depends if he is willing to take it."


    "and if he doesn''t?"


    "We kill him and hang his body for everyone to see."


    "We should have done that in the first place"


    "Relax Lily, too much bloodlust isn''t good for your health. Moreover, I choose my targets carefully. He would be even helpful during the merger. If he has to be killed that would be mean my failure because I win all wars before they even start."


    "But not all in the list are redeemable, what about them?"


    "Kill a few , scare the rest. People like Patrick will also help spread the word."


    "The demon was right, you are a true devil indeed."


    "..."


    "But I like it, nothing less is to be expected of the next demon lord. Only a true devil can lead us out of this cycle of war and death. You looked really cool back then!" Lilith gave Lucas a thumbs up.


    Lucas was a bit taken aback. It was the first time that someone had actually praised his schemes. Though Vincent and Martin both respected him, none of them really praised him for that. Vincent was too stupid to understand the intricacies and Martin never commented.


    Lucas smiled genuinely and replied


    "Thanks for the appreciation Lily. Don''t worry there is more where that came from."


    Lilith''s eye slowly twitched at that but she nodded her head in approval nonetheless.


    ''He is just like father when he was younger but slightly different at the same time. If he can truly save our realms with minimal bloodshed we might just, ever so slightly have a fighting chance when the others'' come.''


    "Come on, this is going to be a long night." Lucas snapped her out of her reverie as he was looking at the list and names he had circled.


    Lilith glanced over and couldn''t help but agree.


    "A long night indeed."

 13 Sneaking in Part-1

    Martin had been on the move along with Marcus and Freya. Ever since they decided to walk into the demon''s lair. The king didn''t seem too displeased with their decision, almost as if he had predicted that it was going to happen.


    They were now sitting in an underground base opposite to highly secretive gang members.


    "So you want to go to the Demon realm."


    Of course they had no idea of their identities, the trio had long disguised themselves as aspiring beastmen mercenaries.


    "Yes, we want to join the Thunderous Hawk legion."


    "One of the big five eh! You sure you are up for it."


    "Don''t underestimate us. We are really strong!" as you might have guessed their spokesperson was none other than Marcus. How he managed to convince Freya to let him do the talking i one of the major mysteries of this realm.


    The thugs looked at each other and sniggered "A new sucker every year."


    "Sure, we will be able to provide passage but in no way can we guarantee your safety."


    "Why is that, we can deal with most types of elemental beasts." Martin inquired while raising his eyebrows.


    The thugs looked at each other in amusement.


    "Kid. Beasts are the least scariest thing out here in these parts. What you should really be worried about are the Demon slavers and other Bandit groups. Out here in the borderlands, stuck between the two nations, its no man''s land. Its the survival of thugs like us. War means death, but it also means opportunities."


    "So, you mean you are afraid of others in the same trade?"


    "We aint afraid, its just that when push comes to shove, no one is going to bother saving your sorry asses."


    "We can take care of ourselves all right. Your only concern is to get us through the rifts to the recruitment grounds."


    "Heh, why not!"


    ---


    The Borderlands were truly a no-man''s land. The zone where Grimoria and Saforia were merging was full of many large scale and small scale rifts. The larger ones were mostly guarded by armies on either side but the small scale one weren''t that easy to handle, opportunists, outlaws, slavers and anyone trying to make a buck by fishing in muddy waters would come here.


    There came in all shapes and sizes, Humans , beastmen, demons even an occasional elf. However due to the lack of nation to back them and their origin of beast, beastmen were often treated the worst. Many of them were captured here and turned into slaves. As if that wasn''t enough. It was quite common to find loot, elemental crystals and other precious items around these parts. Thus treasure hunters weren''t a small number. It was like an entire ecosystem. The predators were the mercenary camps. The smaller predators were the outlaws. Treasure hunters were often the scavengers and slaves were the herbivores.


    Yes, out here it was law of the jungle.


    However hidden characters like them were obviously rare. Low-profile wasn''t a thing to people here. If you were capable. There would be many more people willing to take you in than those willing to snuff you out.


    Thus, the group set out to cross the treacherous land and sneak into the demon realm.


    "So, How is life here for outlaws like you. How do you avoid the soldiers?"


    "Life''s pretty sweet, but who said anything about avoiding soldiers."


    "Why is that?" Martin inquired clearly intrigued.


    "We have business relations with them. Smuggling forbidden goods, weapons, drugs everything.


    "Even slaves?"


    The Man was about to answer but hesitated.


    "No, not anymore. For some reason there seems to be recent drop in demands recently. There are also rumors surrounding slavers being killed by some self-righteous vigilante."


    "Hmm, this is new. Slavery is banned in both nations anyways."


    "Only on the surface. They usually just pay a blind eye to it. however the situation seems to be changing recently.


    After all it was only a matter of time before something like this would have happened. All it would take is an exceptionally skilled group of beastmen to rebel and start targeting all slavers for it to fall into chaos. Retribution will always come."


    "Its quite strange for you talk to about retribution?"


    "Not really, we are all outlaws here. Who hasn''t sinned here. No one will admit it but we are always afraid of retribution for our actions. After all, even though the strong prey on the weak here. Who is strong and who is weak keeps changing quite regularly. That''s why we mostly hold back as long as the crime could be traced back to us. There are unsaid rules everywhere."


    Martin couldn''t help but ponder.


    The situation here, it was so uncannily similar to the Anarchy that they had once striven for (excluding the part about slavery). Even though there is no governance, people know there limits and that there are consequences for every action. Unfortunately in such cases retribution always comes as vengeance and cycles of avengers and feuds never end. Justice doesn''t survive long in a real anarchy.


    Though a world where no one had the right to govern you except you yourself was an interesting ideal. It was extremely difficult to put into action.


    As they were approaching the rift, they all couldn''t help but relax.


    "Looks like the trip was easy and uneventful this time. We are quite lucky right!" Marcus commented as they slowly approached the rift.


    Now my friends, has anyone ever heard of Murphy''s law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Obviously, once Marcus had made such a cliched statement, how could the universe just let them slip by without a cliched response. It would just be wrong, right at the very primordial level of existence.


    So, just as they were approaching dense poisonous gas slowly started to rise around them and shadowy figures obscured by mist slowly walked out of the mist. All that could be seen where black silhouettes smiling creepily at them with dazzlingly white teeth.


    "Surrender or DIE!"


    A creepy voice that seemed to originate from the deepest pits of hell demanded them to surrender.


    Creepy high pitched laughter surrounded them. Everyone seemed to have goosebumps.


    "These aren''t any outlaws. Its the mistdevils. run for you-" a scream was suddenly cut shot as their surroundings were completely silent.

 14 Sneaking in Part 2

    What is the most deafening and overwhelming sound in the universe. It is of course the sound of silence. Their surroundings were wrapped in bone-chilling silence.


    "Its the mistdevils, they are suspected to be supernatural entities born form negative emotions of the battlefield. They are extremely erratic in nature, come and go as they please and they are said to feed on blood." a thug conspiratorially whispered


    "They just said surrender or die. Why would they bother if they just want to kill us either way." Marcus pondered.


    "YO mistdevils! it seems like you are smart creatures. How about YOU surrender and we will let you live."


    Their surroundings seemed to suddenly drop a few more degrees. The silence grew even more oppressive. Then was suddenly broken by the bone-chilling laughter of the abominations.


    The mist grew thicker and the silhouettes seemed to turn an even darker shade of black. They could hardly even see each other.


    "Enough already! Let me just end these circus performers." Freya raised her hands and blew away most of the mist with a whirlwind.


    The devils seemed prepared and suddenly started to phase around them forming multiple mirages.


    They immediately killed multiple thugs


    Martin smirked and immediately struck the ground turning his surroundings into a frozen tundra. "You attacked to kill first. Which means I can now kill you all!" His smile seemed to be as devilish as their hidden attackers.


    He immediately started to attack the mistdevils. His speed was akin to instant teleportation. Unfortunately it was difficult to change directions repeatedly when speeding. He immediately started firing at them with railgun pistol bullets.


    Both the assailants and Martin seemed as if they were on another realm of existence. All the rest of them could see were blurs and afterimages.


    Soon the mist cleared away and martin blew away the imaginary smoke from his pistols.


    Lying around them were six corpses belonging to.... regular beastmen. It seems they had just run into a bunch of imitators.


    "Most of the hired guides were already dead. The rest looked at Martin in horror, but the leader soon recovered.


    "Hmm, looks like you were serious when you said you wanted to join the thunderous hawk legion."


    He looked at the corpses and muttered. "Bloody illusions. Its been quite a time since illusionists have walked the land. They are somehow always associated with devils."


    "Well it seems that show''s over. The rifts up ahead you can probably go the rest of the way on your own." saying as much their guides ran away without wasting a second.


    "You shouldn''t have shown off that much! See you scared them off!" Marcus pouted in mock discontent.


    "More would have died if I hadn''t"


    "Besides, if you hadn''t opened your big mouth we would have passes through easily."


    Martin searched the corpses, he didn''t find anything interesting except a badge with the symbol of a winged eye. He showed it to Freya.


    "Do you recognize this symbol?"


    Freya looked over and her countenance instantly paled.


    "The winged order." she replied while sucking in a breath.


    "Who are they?"


    "They are said to be remnant worshipers of the so-called fallen angels from demon mythology."


    "They are a secret organization that aim to overthrow the current empire to welcome the arrival of the fallen angels."


    "It seems that attack wasn''t as simple as it seems. They were perhaps trying to assess the abilities of the hero."


    "That means we have been exposed?"


    "Not necessarily. They could just be aware of our plan but no one knows our current identities."


    Marcus immediately went over and incinerated the bodies with a light beam. "If we leave quickly we might be able to avoid notice."


    Nodding in approval they quickly moved and crossed over the rift to the other side.


    ----


    The borderlands existed on both sides of the rifts. The mercenary camp head quarters existed near the capital but to reach there, they would have to first reach the recruitment centers in the borderlands, no one could enter official territory without identification or someone vouching for you.


    The humans unlike the demons didn''t hire any beastmen mercenaries to work for them. Instead they were directly recruited into the army. The demons on the other hand belonged to a different realm. So open recruitment wasn''t really possible for them. Hiring mercenaries was an easy solution.


    Following the map they were able to reach their destination without many obstacles this time.


    They entered the tent. A beastmen of well-the hawk clan was sitting behind the desk. He looked over from above his horn-rimmed glasses. He slowly removed a crystal and placed it in front of them.


    "No this is not the legendary talent testing crystal?" he declared loudly.


    ''Nobody asked smarty pants!'' Martin grumbled inwardly.


    "Did you take a good look at it?"


    "Find a crystal each that looks just like this within the next 5 days and we will send you to the headquarters"


    Freya slowly removed three identical crystals from her bag and placed it in front of the man.


    "..."


    "Well that was the fastest test I have ever conducted."


    The situation slowly turned awkward.


    It turns out that it was just a high grade elemental crystal that could be obtained from the nearby monsters. It was attribute-less, meaning it could be used to store mana. It was extremely rare and difficult to find these beasts, that''s why they were expensive too.


    "Looks like you had good information sources."


    "If you can come this far, then you would surely have some talent. I will stand by my word and directly send you to the Headquarters."


    "Thank you!"


    The man then helped provide them with a validity letter and forged IDs. Directly head for the capital. With these documents in hand no one would give you any trouble.


    And thud Martin and friends set out directly for the capital of the Demon nation, unwittingly skipping over an entire entrance test arc.


    -----


    Meanwhile Vincent wasn''t having such an easy time at the borderlands. Unlike the royals with money and connections. He was just a transmigrator stuck in the body of a washed up mercenary with little fame to count.


    He found himself frozen from below the neck in ice while a voice demanded from behind him-"Give me all your valuables or DIE and I will take them from your corpse!"


    For the hundredth time Vincent couldn''t help but complain-Just what is it with the people of this world and death threats? Do they really enjoy yelling the word DIE so much?

 15 The Snake and The Mongoose

    She hated them.


    They took away everything from her.


    Her parents were killed in front of her eyes.


    Her friends were captured and sold.


    Her home had been destroyed.


    She could still remember their smile as they watched everything burn. They had watched on as Her world had crumbled around her and how everything had been taken away from her.


    She wanted to more than just killing them. She wanted their world to crumble like hers had once.


    She escaped and hid in the borderlands. Death and fortune were too sides of the same coin here.


    She would rise and nothing could stop her. She eyed her first target. A snake-beastman. How fitting, she thought! My first prey will also be my natural nemesis. He would be her first stepping stone. Then she would conquer the borderlands and reign as queen. Then all would beg her for mercy.


    Trapped in her delusions, she quickly attacked.


    "Surrender or DIE!"


    Yes! Tremble before this queen! I will make you all pay!


    ----


    It''s not that Vincent couldn''t see the appeal of death threats. In the previous world he too had made his fair share of them. Trapping multiple people in a building and threatening to blow everyone to kingdom come were some of his most enjoyable experiences. The Fear, the terror and pure reigning chaos were something he thrived on.


    It''s just that the people of this world...


    ..had no class.


    Low-level thugs that are more bark than bite. They thought that threatening his life would scare him. Of course not! It was just too damn annoying, they couldn''t even give him any thrill!


    He immediately used his fire to free himself from the ice. He slowly turned around and with a gaze full of genuine sympathy said "Now why did you have to go and say that. We might have become good friends you know. At least try to find out more about a person before you try to kill them. Such a pit-"


    Vincent suddenly paused because the one who had just threatened him was a small girl of the mongoose clan.


    Now, just in case you didn''t know, mongooses and snakes have been nemeses since time immemorial.


    She was pointing a spear made of ice that seemed to be on fire at the same time. Icy flames? Was this a divine flame? Nah! Just a combo move.


    "Cat got your tongue? Hand over everything if you want to live." she smiled savagely and her eyes seemed to reveal insanity.


    ''It''s just a little kid.'' He immediately scatterd makeshift bombs all around the area just to be sure . Then he created iron chains and used them to restrain her.


    "Metal and fire! Tsk!"


    She tried to freeze the chains to turn them brittle but all she could achieve was preventing herself from being burnt.


    "Let me go!"


    Vincent looked on, a tad amused. She was one of the better skilled robbers he had encountered on the journey. The only good thing about encountering robbers was the fun of robbing them back!


    "How old are you girl? Little girls like you shouldn''t be out here in the borderlands." Vincent remarked kindly.


    "I am Fourteen. I am no little girl. Let! Me! Go! I will spare your life and even let you keep your stuff!"


    Of course, age was just a number to the anarchists. Lucas had started off the first chapter of the anarchists at the age of 13. When he died, Vincent himself was only 19, so was his current body. (Martin was 21 and Lucas was 20).


    "Why should I? You just tried to kill me. I need some compensation no?"


    The girl gritted her teeth and looked at him hatefully.


    She took out a dagger from her clothes and threw it over.


    "Here that''s all I have, now let me go!"


    Desperation, unwillingness and hate. The girl seemed to have recently gone through a lot. She seemed to be just on the brink of insanity. Vincent''s eyes slowly narrowed. She reminded Vincent of himself when he was younger.


    "That''s all? Don''t fool me."


    "..."


    "Don''t tell me I was your first target."


    "..."


    "You have never ever killed someone before have you?"


    "There''s always a first time for everything!"


    Vincent smirked. This girl.


    She was a perfect recruit for the Anarchists. She was young full of negative emotions and energy. She just needed a way to shape them. If Vincent had never met the Anarchists, he probably would have become some small time suicide bomber, wasting away his life with almost no impact. He wouldn''t have become the universally feared Infernal.


    "You seem to know an awful lot about first times huh."


    "..."


    "Ok bad joke! Keep the dagger. I am no longer interested in killing you."


    Vincent released her, throwing the dagger back at her, he turned and walked away.


    Of course not! There''s no way he could let such a promising recruit go.


    After a few steps he suddenly turned around and smiled warmly.


    "Though I must admit you really make me curious. With your magic powers you could easily get accepted into a mercenary squad. What are you doing robbing people in the borderlands."


    The girl''s face suddenly froze over.


    "You think I don''t know that! They killed everyone! I need to have my revenge. I don''t care about the war or the fame!"


    "Who, is it that you want dead?"


    "The slavers."


    "They come in all shapes and sizes- demons, humans and other beastmen themselves. I am going to kill every last one of them."


    "You are too weak now. Also one should never let vengeance dictate one''s life."


    "Why do you care! Just piss off"


    Vincent smiled, now here was his chance. He was reminded of the time when Lucas had recruited Martin.


    Vincent knelt and looked into the eyes of the girl


    "What if I tell you that I can help you claim that vengeance. I can help you see them burn. Not just the slavers themselves. I could help remove the very thought of such crimes from the hearts of all men!"


    The girl''s eyes widened in wonder, then she scoffed in disdain. "You really talk big for a snake. Get the point. Why the hell would you help me achieve anything."


    Vincent smiles, this was the moment "Because I can see that you are special. You have the fire in your eyes and once determined nothing will ever stand in your way. All you need is a little direction. Follow me and join the Anarchists. You could be a part of our rise as we sweep across the world."


    "How do I know that you even have the ability to achieve that."


    Vincent smiled triumphantly. Hook, line and Sinker.


    " I was hoping that you would ask that."


    Vincent suddenly snapped his finger and-


    the bombs that he had scatters all over blew up on by one in the most deadly and beautiful of explosions.


    It seems that Vincent was more excited in showing off his new toys rather than recruiting the girl. The only reason he wasn''t cackling madly in glee was the influence of his new body.


    "I can teach you how to do that."


    "Yes! I will follow you! You can call me Kate."


    "Welcome to the Anarchists. My name is Vincent"


    And so the a very odd situation of Snake and Mongoose shaking hands could be seen , both grinning widely with eyes full of insanity.


    ...


    "So, how many people does our organization have?"


    "Currently only the two of us. Three if Martin is still alive, but in this world, It''s just you and me."


    "..."


    "What?"


    "I feel that I have just been scammed big time."


    "It''s just your imagination. Now come on and help me carry the bags."


    Thus the two of them walked off into the distance.


    What would happen when a snake and Mongoose teamed up against the world?


    Only time would tell.

 16 Training the new Anarchis

    It had been a day since Kate had started following Vincent. She was almost completely convinced by now that she had been completely scammed. There wasn''t a single other person in their organization and he was actually planning to apply to mercenary camp.


    However she still followed him as she felt a odd dense of sympathy for thew poor bloke. She wanted to be a queen that reigned supreme and united all beastmen and this guy dreamed of crating some super-shady all powerful secret organization. He was probably as insane and delusional as him.


    Also the guy was strong all right. Moreover, the way he gave death threats and attacked people was extremely cool and amazing. He was also a good teacher.


    A group of bandits were camping out in the open.


    Vincent and Kate walked into the clearing, completely exposed and unarmed.


    Some of them looked over and whistled "Looks like we have some fresh meat."


    "Can you believe they walked right up to us!"


    Vincent ignored all of them and looked at Kate and asked,


    "Do you remember the best way to make someone do what you want them too?"


    "Give them the feeling of pure terror! Threatens to kill someone close."


    Vincent''s gaze softened for a second before going back to his usual self.


    "No, girl that is only for kind folks. Out here in the wild, people only care about saving their own skin."


    The bandits didn''t take kindly to being ignored "Hey quickly leave all your valuables here if you want to live!"


    "Yeah! Leave the little girl too, such a cutie will fetch us a lot."


    Vincent continued as if he couldn''t hear them,


    "Pure terror is when you let someone believe they are in control only to have the ground pulled out from under them. The moment when they realize that their world crumbles around them. The moment when they realize that they are completely in the enemy''s palm, when they realize there is no hope of resistance, is pure terror."


    The girl nodded her head vigorously, then smiled darkly. Of course crumbling their worlds would surely be a pleasurable situation.


    "Then Observe- the power of face slapping!"


    "OY! I will count to ten and if you don''t do as we say, DIE!"


    Vincent tsked "No class at all!" Shaking his head he looked at them with a face full of sympathy.


    "I am afraid that you folks haven''t understood the gravity of the situation here."


    "If you really want to live, give ME all of YOUR money and I would let you go."


    "Hahahaha! Looks like this guy''s brain has short-circuited due to fear!"


    Vincent continued "See that Katie, they currently believe they are in control that''s why they are spouting stupid lines that seem to come straight out of a crappy novel"


    He snapped his fingers and well the camp they were sitting in moments ago was blown up. A geezer of piping hot lava seemed to rise to the sky and fell back down annihilating a lot of their surroundings.


    "Now I have taken the ground right from under their feet!"


    "I thought you meant figuratively when you said it, not literally."


    "This just double the effect."


    "The thugs scrambled in panic and immediately activated their magic barriers."


    "Cheap tricks, but now you won''t be able to harm us."


    "Do you really believe that yourself"


    "Vincent unhurriedly stepped towards them, he seemed to be a devil ripe from the pits of hell.


    He smiled calmly and sincerely at them.


    "Now, if you don''t listen to me I will blow all of you up, in a brilliant explosion."


    "Katie have you ever seen fireworks"


    "I did once when i was really young."


    "Would you like to see some again"


    "Yes!" she clapped her hands in pure happiness, then proceeded to look at the bandits with excitement "Are you going to send these poor uncles up into the sky?"


    "Wait! Don''t kill us! Here take everything we have!"


    "Please let us go! We will do anything for you!" they pleaded miserably.


    "Look, they really are spouting lines that seem to come out of a crappy novel. The power of terror is really strong!" The girl nodded her heads as her eyes glowed in deep understanding. She seemed to have been enlightened.


    Looking at those seemingly innocent eyes the thugs couldn''t help but feel another chill creep up their spine. Devils! Hellspawn! These guys were too terrifying.


    "Don''t think too much. The author was probably too lazy to give such cannon fodder characters any decent lines"


    "..."


    "Here, please take everything! just spare our lives." one poor guy even seemd to wet his pants as he broke down into tears.


    "How about we let them go Vincy, they seem too pitiable"


    "You think so too! Yeah these guys are no fun. I will show you fireworks later!"


    "It''s a promise!"


    The thugs seemed relieved as if they had been blessed by the heavens. Leaving all their stuff they took the first opportunity to flee.


    "That was fun!" Kate remarked after they had left. "We even made a lot of loot."


    "I hope you paid attention to the lesson! I will not bother teaching you later!"


    Kate sighed, there seemed to be something really wrong with this guy. At one moment he would be all crazy and cool. The next he would become a naggy stuck-up bore.


    "Ya! Ya! I remember! Also don''t forget your promise"


    "Don''t worry I always keep my word!"


    "Yeah right!"


    "Here!" Vincent said as he threw a few bags in her direction. "Carry this stuff!"


    "Damn! I am not your pack mule. Don''t take advantage of me!"


    Darn it! Why was she even still following this bastard. Shaking her head in frustration she followed on nonetheless.


    ----


    Vincent thought back to the their recent robbery. Whenever he was in the middle of a fight, his old persona seemed to slowly resurface, but most of the time still acted like a Martin- a stuck-up bloke.


    Vincent sighed, driving away his unpleasant thoughts his mind drifted back to his early adventures with the Anarchists. How they went threatening world governments into giving them supplies, abolish slavery and other stuff. There was this once time they had threatened to blow up a whole city if all their inhabitants didn''t dye their heads hot pink. Though it was later revealed to be just a diversion strategy, everyone had done it as the anarchists were believed to be a bunch of crazy lunatics anyway.


    Those were the good times...

 17 It has already begun...

    Lucas looked at his next targets. The Demon corps. They were the warlords the army generals and extremely radical demon supremacists. Not only would they prove to be a problem with the merger with Saforia, they would also pose a lot of trouble and challenges when Diablo would appoint him as successor. As someone who removed all threats before they could even fester, they were of course the nest on his list.


    Yes, it was no longer ''if'' he was appointed successor. Over the past few days he had mostly scared a lot of the businessmen and landowners into submission. His achievements had been recognized by Diablo and Lucas also felt that ruling a nation would be an interesting experience. After all this new world was a new beginning for him, he was young it was the time to try some crazy shit.


    However he still knew that till now he had only attacked the ''soft'' targets, extremely easy to manipulate. The direct approach was all that was needed for those fools. Those that didn''t listen were just killed by Lilith.


    Lilith...


    That girl was almost as scheming as her father. She may be supporting him now, but as the king''s daughter he knew that she would later become his biggest challenge to overcome.


    "I will help you if things go wrong but you will have to deal with the next targets mostly on your own."


    "Of course Lily, you just relax and watch the show you wont be needed in the next part of purge either way."


    One way to deal with her would be to try and seduce her, but it wasn''t as if she didn''t have similar ideas already. Lucas wasn''t interested in going that rabbit hole anytime soon. He had no time for romcoms- he had seen enough to know that the seducers often fell in love themselves. Lucas believed that if he were to ever involve himself in a romantic relationship it would be with someone he completely trusted.


    That aside he was indeed telling the truth. There was no need for help this time. These type of people were crazy fanatics and smart people. Too control them he will have to do indirect methods, deception, misdirection and subterfuge.


    The best way to make them do something, is to make them believe its their own idea. Convincing, trapping and fooling. It was done equally in the dark as in the light and thus it was finally time to enter their circle. As high-level beastmen mercenaries.


    ----


    Lucas and Lilith thus decided to go undercover and apply to the Darkness league. They were highly involved with the demons and the best option.


    Lucas choose to pretend to be a member of the wolf clan while Lilith chose- surprise surprise to become a black cat beastman.


    Showing the seal of the princess, it was clear that they had connections and power thus the mercenaries didn''t ask too many questions and quickly completed their admittance formalities.


    Of course after joining your past and identities were irrelevant. They even helped to keep it a secret. It was in fact a taboo to ask about someone''s past unless you were extremely close.


    The leader of their camp seemed quite pleased with their presence though.


    Marvin Darkstorm was a tall broad member of the Black Panther clan. His right hand man, Vesian Grey was actually a demon. The son of a famous demon general. He was a bit too rebellious in nature for the army and thus chose to join the mercenaries for more freedom and fun.


    Unlike the other Mercenary camps. The Darkness league was completely loyal to the demon realm.


    "Welcome to the camp. You are promising young recruits. As the war draws near we do needed some elite recruits."


    "Elite cannon fodder you mean" grunted Vesian nearby.


    "Don''t mind him."


    "The inter-camp meet will be held about a week from now. So I hope you would be able to settle in quickly. The final decisions on the war effort will be made then."


    A week from now, that means 15 days left before the war.


    There had already been plenty of skirmishes between the armies but the decisive battle''s date was already predetermined between the two realms. The battleground would of course be the borderlands. In previous wars both the sides retreated due to heavy losses. However this time a deal was secretly made between the two kings. A war treaty would be sent to the demon realm that whichever side is to loose the war is to unconditionally surrender and merge with the new nation.


    Of course though the words merge are used, the losers would basically choose to be subordinated. Thus the current anti-slavery campaign had massive foresight involved. Also if the winning side didn''t have enough power to make the other side accept defeat the treaty would fall apart.


    A massive blow to the morale would be needed for that.


    Diablo still hadn''t told him the details about that. He was planning to retire. It didn''t seem something that a winner would do and if he was planning to lose what is the price they would have to play. Lucas had grown quite attached to the old man over his time in the palace and thus couldn''t help it when an upsetting premonition came over him.


    What was that old fogey planning anyway. Anyways, first things first.


    The treaty had to be accepted and the terms finalized at the inter-camp and army war meet.


    Thus Lucas only had only one week to make sure that when the time came, all the generals and parties involved accept the treaty.


    Shaking his head Lucas cleared his mind of the messy thoughts and bid farewell to the League leader


    They left the tent and walked around camp.


    "There seems to be something going on, everyone seems restless." Lucas commented.


    It could be seen from the body language of most beastmen, something was afoot.


    "Of course, News of your exploits has spread over and more and more beastmen seem to be joining the anti-slavery movement. Imagine their feelings if they realized it was all being orchestrated by the next demon lord. It seems that the wheel of change will soon start turning and our worlds will be able to break free from stagnation"


    "Dear You give me too much credit. Whenever a world stagnates too much it needs to be given an overhaul. No, actually it is the truth of the universe. Entropy always rises, thus stagnation is only the accumulation of power. The moment this world breaks free from it, there would be a massive boom. The winds of change had already started blowing when you made the decision to summon me, what remains to be seen is whether the this upheaval will change the world for the better or for the worse?"


    "Why would you say that?"


    "Because." Lucas smiled widely. It was a pure yet simple smile that contained a lot of meaning.


    "The rise of Anarchy has already begun..."


    ------


    All the talk about Anarchy and subterfuge reminded Lucas of the old days and their first biggest achievement.


    The fall of the Empire.


    Yes, That''s how the anarchists first made it big.


    They began by plotting the demise of one of the word''s three biggest superpowers.


    The Anganeese empire.

 18 Fall of The Empire

    Dark Crimson was the only color the boy could see.


    He Lifted his hands in front of his face and all he could see was sticky red liquid dripping from it.


    "Stupid! Stupid! StupiD!"


    "It''s all my fault."


    His small hands clenched until the knuckles whitened.


    "Mom! Dad! Tina!"


    "Please say something."


    There was no response.


    "Anything..."


    They were all gone.


    "Please..."


    The Empire''s soldiers had killed them.


    Why?


    Why did they have to die!


    He didn''t know.


    Perhaps some noble had gotten offended for some petty reason or they had committed some minor crime.


    He didn''t care why either.


    That was how cheap life was here.


    If you didn''t have any standing, or backing you will be immediately killed in broad daylight.


    There were no consequences anyways.


    Why was he the only still alive?


    Just because he had refused to leave his room that day?


    All he did know was that the Empire''s soldiers killed them.


    They had to pay the price for his death!


    Killing is unforgivable!


    But who would he kill.


    The boys hatred was too large to just kill off his family''s murderers.


    He didn''t even know which noble it was.


    Even if he was killed another would rise in place.


    It would be pointless


    But that none of that mattered.


    He would just destroy the entire Empire.


    Simple enough right!


    Why bother with the details, he would just bring the entire empire to its knees.


    Everything else was irrelevant.


    The boy smiled brightly. The fires of vengeance had already been lit.


    That was when the fate of the empire was sealed


    Because the name of the boy was Martin Glace.


    Once he was determined to destroy something, nothing was capable of stopping him.


    ------


    6 years later, the goal was achieved. All with the help of the biggest puppeteer and mastermind in history - Lucas Nothstein.


    The Anarchists had grown all over the world. It was like a cancer. They couldn''t be treated or removed. Under the oppressive regime their revolutionary ideas spread like the common cold.


    They operated under the cover of darkness.


    However not everyone got to see their true face.


    To many nobles of the Empire, they were a shady organization that did arms dealing aiming to dominate the black market..


    To the Empire they were just a bunch of Stratocracy radicals that got banished plotting the downfall of the Hope Federation.


    To the other nations they were empire rebels.


    Most of the nobles had been pitted against each other .


    Controlling the balance of power from behind the shadows some even believed that they were aiming for world domination, which to an extent they had indeed achieved.


    That''s when they finally made their move.


    They tipped the war in the favor of the Empire and pushed the other two nations to the brink of collapse.


    Everything was ready and prepared. As external conflicts became irrelevant, internal conflicts rose steadily. Everyone was in position.


    Lucas had rearranged the Empire into a stack of dominoes.


    All that was left, was to tip off the first piece.


    Martin looked through his scope at the man exiting the Royal Palace. He paused for a second while entering his car.


    The second was all Martin needed.


    His eyes were devoid of all emotions and an extreme calm gripped him.


    Even though he was full of rage and the person who killed his parent was right within his scope.


    The vengeance boiled within him, threatening to break through his composure, yet Lucas wasn''t affected in the least. He had long begin to control his vengeance as a weapon than let vengeance control him.


    All he knew was that this person was a target. Someone the Anarchists wanted gone.


    The Poor Duke''s head blew up like a watermelon as the armor piercing bullet flew right through his head.


    The head of the Rose family had died just like that. The pieces were now set in motion and the fall had begun.


    The blame was on the heads of the unsuspecting Lavender family.


    Next the Rose and Lavender families started a covert war.


    Then news was released that the Lily families had planned out the assassination. and had put the blame on the lavenders.


    The dominoes kept on falling.


    The final straw on the camel''s back was the King''s death.


    The king had long fled the capital, that was being terrorized by Vincent under a bomb threat.


    The army, the Nobles and advisers were all trapped in the Palace.


    However the king had long fled.


    He didn''t get too far.


    The Anarchists didn''t even bother with him.


    He was stabbed in the back by his most faithful servant.


    Who had long been infected with the ideals of Anarchy.


    After all, Those who misuse power will always face retaliation.


    The entire Empire went up in chaos when the servant threw the king''s severed head into the palace.


    It was pure chaos.


    Before anyone could react.


    The Empire had fallen from the within after weakening the other two nations.


    The blood of the nobles had been used to draw the symbol of the Anarchists.


    Right under it were the three principles.


    Power. Vengeance. Chaos.


    Their bodies spelled out the word Anarchy.


    The world world knew right then.


    A new organization had risen in the shadows.


    They called themselves The Anarchists.


    However to the two remaining superpowers-


    They were a pack of wild wolves,


    out for their blood.


    ------


    Lucas looked at Martin.


    Martin didn''t cry in happiness as his vengeance was over.


    Neither did he become a broken person with no goal in life.


    When he had first joined the Anarchists his eyes would always be ice-cold.


    Calm and emotionless.


    Yet Lucas had seen what wasn''t there.


    A fire deep within. A fire of vengeance.


    As Martin worked with them, they were many times when they had disagreements.


    Times when he was vicious towards the Empire.


    However he had soon changed.


    He had evolved. As Anarchy showed him the true reality of the planet.


    He slowly started to develop a killer''s code.


    He would take vengeance for those who couldn''t.


    Today, his thirst had been quenched.


    He wasn''t empty as he still had something to live for.


    He had the Anarchists behind him.


    Lucas was curious to see how Martin will change now, that his Vengeance had been quenched.


    Lucas then turned and looked at the destruction and aftermath left behind by them.


    Later he would often wonder why did they become labelled as an evil organization.


    Did they use too much blood when drawing the symbol. Probably not...


    Now he just smiled at the fallen nation.


    It was just the beginning.


    The Empire was split between the Stratocracy and Federation like a hot pie.


    The Anarchists didn''t care who ruled.


    To them all rulers were nothing but targets.


    "So what is our next target."


    "The Federation is to messy right now."


    "It is time to blow up the Stratocracy.


    Those military dogs have been having things too easy. Haven''t they."


    "Yes indeed."

 1 Fall of The Anarchists Part-1

    The day that Lucas most dreaded had finally come.


    It was the fall of the anarchists.


    The Hero''s squad had infiltrated their HQ, they had lost signal with Martin who had gone chasing the decoy and Lucas was heavily wounded. The hero was looming above him, looking down at him...


    "It''s the end of the line Lucas. This farce ends now. This world is better off without the anarchists"


    "You are right Mr. Hero, It is indeed time to end this farce.- Vincent! Do it!"


    "My pleasure!" laughing maniacally, he pressed the big red button.


    [This base will self-destruct in 60 seconds, kindly evacuate!]


    "Are you crazy, Lucas."


    "Crazy! No, I have never been more sane. If this world doesn''t need us any more. We will leave it ourselves. We never got to choose how we lived, we can at least choose how we die."


    The oh-so-proud hero and his allies ran like a bunch of scared rats. Lucas wasn''t sure if they had survived, and he couldn''t care less.


    "Kaboom!"


    The entire island base blew up in one of the most brilliant explosions the world had ever seen. Lucas was flung off, full of wounds, into the ocean.


    Sinking admist a red haze of his own blood. Lucas couldn''t help but question himself -


    "Was I really wrong."


    He tried to grasp the bubbles leaving his mouth, but they evaded him just like his life-force slowly ebbed away.


    The Hero''s words still echoed in his head, - "We could have been great friends, if only you hadn''t gone down the path of evil." How nauseating. Self-righteous bull-crap! Lucas never went down the path of evil, he went down the path of anarchy. He just wanted to survive and be in control of his own life! Was he wrong. Did he really deserve to be destroyed by a goody two shoes hero like some sort of cliched villain.


    He wasn''t denying that he had sinned.


    He had.


    928,437 people.


    That''s the number of deaths the anarchists and thus, he was responsible for.


    However he had only ever murdered one person his whole life. Stabbed him right through the back when he was least expecting. The blood trickled down his hands onto the cold floor and the soulless eyes of the corpse seemed to be asking him only one question-"Why?"


    However it was all for his goal.


    He wasn''t a villain.


    He was an anarchist.


    He was the f*ckin'' Prince of shadows the whole world feared.


    That scum of a hero would long have been destroyed by the very nations he was trying to save if they weren''t busy trying to deal with the anarchists. If the anarchists hadn''t killed most of the human scum, and implanted fear into the hearts of the rest. No one would have supported the hero''s campaigns. The hero wouldn''t have been able to change the world for the better if the threat of the anarchists weren''t looming by. And he DARED to call him, Lucas evil!


    However, deep down Lucas knew that this wasn''t what really haunted him, he had often been detested by the world and called a villain.


    .


    .


    .


    Lucas had never lost.


    Not since the day his father died. A person too good for his time, someone too soft, and someone who believed in heroes. Heroes that never came. Heroes that were just a pipe dream, that once broken by reality would bring in the most crushing feeling of helplessness. Since that day Lucas had vowed to himself that he would never feel that helpless again. He would never lose to the world again, he wouldn''t be soft-hearted. He would become the most powerful man alive. He would hold so much power that nothing will be able to get in his way and no one would suffer the way he did.


    But today, he had lost.


    To a hero.


    All the schemes, plots, betrayals and backstabbing.


    All the sins, the murders, the effort and the tears.


    It had all been for nothing.


    The anarchists were wiped off this world.


    Martin was missing.


    Vincent had blown himself and their base together to kingdom come.


    At least the world was now a better place, and there wouldn''t be more people like him in the future.


    Lucas slowly closed his eyes and let the darkness slowly embrace him. The prince of shadows was returning to the shadows.


    However just as he was being embraced by eternal darkness, his blood seemed to re-arrange itself into a 4-dimensional pentagram that glowed a deep crimson.


    Then he vanished without a trace.

 2 Fall of The Anarchists Part-2

    Martin had never felt so pissed in his entire life, excluding perhaps the time his entire family was killed off by the Anganese Empire. He had actually been duped. Since when did the hero start using deception tactics.


    He jumped onto the jet ski and went towards the base at full speed.


    He had a very uneasy feeling in his heart. A feeling of pure dread.


    He had always possessed a strong sixth sense, that was currently tingling like a bag of popcorn in a microwave.


    He had just entered within sight of the base when it happened.


    The entire base blew up. The tongues of fire blossomed like the most horrifying lotuses. The sheer beauty in the destruction made it more uncanny.


    Martin knew that all was over.


    That level of destruction and beauty could only be achieved by Vincent.


    The very fact that he used it meant they had lost.


    The Anarchists had lost.


    Martin wanted to feel angry, but he couldn''t find a single emotion within him.


    He was entirely numb.


    Numb not calm.


    Martin would get calmer the more rage he felt.


    But today he just felt numb.


    He had once been driven by pure vengeance. In order to take revenge on the corrupted nobles of the empire, he had abandoned everything.


    His humanity, morals, dignity-everything.


    It was the anarchists that rekindled hope in him.


    A reason to live.


    Something much stronger than vengeance.


    The sum of parts that made a greater whole.


    Anarchy.


    He had eventually achieved his vengeance. The anarchists had risen to the top of the world bathed in all its glory.


    There is, however, one eternal truth about anarchy.


    It only loses when its no longer needed.


    The world had already healed.


    So, they were now rejected by it.


    Thrown away like used tissue.


    Martin went through the ruins time and time again, hoping to find something.


    Anything.


    However, he was just grasping for straws.


    If he had found something, that would mean Vincent''s explosion had failed its purpose.


    He couldn''t even find a hair of a corpse of Lucas or Vincent.


    Martin felt a strong bloodlust rise within him cracking through his numbness and taking over all his emotions.


    It was the most intense desire to kill.


    However it soon faded back to calm.


    Who would he kill?


    The hero?


    Vengeance wasn''t the answer this time. Lucas and Vincent weren''t pushovers who would want to be avenged.


    Moreover, He knew.


    Lucas wouldn''t want him to do that. Lucas might seem a rash megalomaniac, but he was the most cunning, sordid individual to have ever existed. All of his enemies were manipulated by him akin to puppets with strings.


    If he wanted the hero dead, the hero wouldn''t have reached so far.


    The hero had to live. His death would cause the recently healed world to spiral into panic.


    Then, the corrupted nation leaders?


    Already killed long ago with his very own sniper rifle.


    Thus, he had no choice but suppress the bloodlust.


    He was a man with a code. He only killed those he deemed worthy.


    Unable to do anything, and full of frustration towards the world, Martin couldn''t help but fall to his knees and scream at the world uncharacteristically.


    He kneeled throughout the night in mournful silence.


    The pale moonlight illuminated his lonely figure.


    As the sun slowly rose upon the land, he rose up and started to slowly walk away.


    However he had just taken a few steps, when the suns rays, bent around him in weird angles. Like 4-dimensional magic circles that glowed blindingly.


    Then, they vanished without a trace, taking Martin with them.

 3 The Summoning

    "Welcome, Oh summoned hero! Welcome to our world! I, King Grathazor of Humaria have summoned thee here, to request thy help to save my nation from great peril!"


    Martin found himself in the middle of what seemed to be a royal receiving room. It was huge with marble pillars, and seemed to be illuminated with-hmm magic crystals? Is that a thing here?


    There were 20-some soldiers surrounding him, there was the king and someone in long robes who seemed to be their high priest.


    No matter which world you go to religion never changes, huh! The anarchists were of course all atheists. They always loved things that started with the letter ''A'' except perhaps the hero named Adam or apocalypses. No Vincent would love apocalypses.


    "We apologize for the discourtesy but desperate circumstances call for desperate measures"


    Desperate times call for desperate measures. Who knew that better than Martin himself. Judging from the tired face of the king he didn''t seem to be lying. His prejudice against monarchy and the tell-tale presence of supernatural powers aside, the most pressing problem was that


    .


    .


    He seemed to have been summoned to another world.


    It''s not that Martin was slow on the uptake, mind you he had one of the best observational skills in the world.


    Moreover after interacting with the Prince of shadows who ate deception for breakfast for so long, he had grown quite immune to it.


    So he knew, better than anyone else in his situation could ever have, that what he was experiencing was 100% real.


    ''


    ''


    ''


    It was just that he couldn''t help but find his situation -


    ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS


    Just a few moments ago he seemed to be lamenting about how the world had rejected him, and now he found himself in ANOTHER F*CKING WORLD. He bloody got kicked out of the damned world, no joke.


    That aside what did the king just call him in terribly outdated English.


    A Hero.


    Yes, Martin knew that compared to the rest of the anarchists he did follow a code of only killing those he deemed worthy of eating his bullet.


    But, under no circumstances, was he delusional enough to think of himself as a hero.


    Martin often liked to identify himself with idea of vengeance. Yes, justice and vengeance are often two sides of the same coin. Martin had leaned towards the latter for the most of his life. Heroes who liked to insert their meddlesome sense of justice up people''s asses were some of the people that disgusted him the most.


    And to be actually called a hero


    .


    .


    .


    It was just too fucken hilarious


    And so folks, the first thing that Martin did after coming to this new world was to laugh.


    He laughed crazily and incessantly. He laughed cynically and self-mockingly. He laughed at his sorrows-things that his previous world had taken from him and at his current situation-that the current world had thrown at him.


    He laughed till tears started streamed out of his eyes.


    Damn he needed that!


    Clearly panicking now, the king went on


    "We kid you not great hero. Our nation is indeed in great peril. We need thy assistance in defeating the evil demon lord and ridding this world of his menace."


    Martin paused, not because of the kings words, but because he could see something familiar in the king''s eyes. It was the flames of vengeance. He had lost someone close to him. That Martin could tell. He wasn''t as good at judging people as Lucas, but he could always spot the flames of vengeance. he had after all been consumed in it once after all, before he learnt to use it as a weapon.


    He decided to respond by pulling a page out of Lucas'' book by acting like a smug son-of-a -b*tch.


    "Well, well. What do we have here. First let me get things straight. Hero ain''t on my resume."


    Martin paused for dramatic effect, Lucas would surely have his eyes popping out if he were to see Martin imitating him in such a poor-ahem great fashion.


    "However, I am an expert assassin. They used to call me the Blue Phantom. So killing off this demon king of yours shouldn''t be a problem. Its just-"


    "What? We can give you money, power, women anything." The king with a hint of desperation in his voice.


    Martin frowned, the king really reminded him of his past. Desperate and vengeful, even a little helpless. ... hmm.


    "Now, now no need to get so worked up, I am not some villain who lusts for power" (Sorry Lucas!) Damn if only I had a chair to lean on and a smoke, it would make this so much cooler. I am starting to get why Lucas enjoyed this so much.


    "It''s just that I have a few conditions.


    One - I must know all the details about the situation. I only kill those whom I deem worthy of eating my bullet.


    Two- There seems to be the presence of some supernatural elements, magic or something in this world that was absent in mine. I will need someone to show me the ropes."


    "Yep, that''s all for now."


    The king seemed relieved now. "Yes, your observations are indeed correct. This world does have the presence of magic. Currently we aren''t able to rank people''s ability on a proper scale now, as there too many different variables involved. Magic is mostly a supplementary vocation. However, those who can use magic effectively in combat are unstoppable forces on the battlefield.


    ''''Hmm seems interesting."


    "Yes, currently the knight Captain Marcus and Head mage Freya will help you learn the basic skills. They will also accompany you on a few field missions till you are able to adjust to the power levels, and fighting styles of this world."


    "You can rest today, and visit the library. They will come to meet you tomorrow morning. We hope you will be able to adjust quickly, as the final battle is only 45 days away."


    "Very well then, King, I will cooperate with you for the time being. Just a reminder before I leave, show me sincerity and I will reciprocate, if you try to double cross me just remember that I was once lauded as the incarnation of vengeance" flashing one of the most warmest and kindest smiles that he ever had, Martin followed the soldiers out of the room to his living quarters.

 4 The Library

    King Grathazor watched on as Martin left the room. He straightened his back, slowly returning to his royal grandeur. He turned to the head priest and inquired "So Gabriel, what do you think about the young man?"


    "A fine young man your majesty. In my opinion he is exactly like what he stated- A sharp blade of vengeance."


    "He seems to be pretending to be a sly individual, but is actually quite straightforward"


    "That he is."


    "Your majesty I didn''t quite understand why you let him dominate you throughout the exchange."


    "One must be humble when asking for help. I did have to show my sincerity."


    "Yet, he does have a problem doesn''t he?"


    "Yes, my king. He seems to have just suffered a big loss and had his beliefs shaken."


    "That''s good, moreover he is still young , that means he can still be moulded. The blade of vengeance cuts both ways, we can turn him into a blade of justice."


    "Of course by the time you are done, you will surely make a hero out of him."


    "Yes I will Gabriel, yes I will."


    ---


    Martin entered the room and closed the door.


    Leaping onto his bed he couldn''t help but lament


    "That sly old bastard!"


    Martin knew that the king wasn''t as simple as he let on. Unfortunately Martin was never as good at scheming as Lucas was.


    was...


    It seems that he had already started to refer to Lucas in past tense.


    The fall of the Anarchists really hit him hard. They were once an unstoppable force. Nations would tremble at their name. Anarchy at its finest. Yet, he knew that they never really embodied the soul of anarchy. Anarchy was after all- order in the absence of governance, but they ran along like a bunch of edgy teenagers yelling power, vengeance and chaos.


    He wasn''t as shaken by his summoning as by the deaths of Lucas and Vincent. He knew he had to accept it. One thing he had learnt over the years was that escaping from the truth only hurt more than accepting it.


    At least he now had an outlet to direct his bloodlust at. If the Demon King was actually how he was led to believe, he was the perfect target.


    Sighing to himself, Martin shook his head and stood up.


    "I still know too little about this world."


    He walked to the door and requested to be led to the Library.


    ---


    The library was huge with pillars of marbles, towering bookshelves and murals all over the walls and the roof.


    Martin froze, It was because he just realized a huge problem. The language of this world wasn''t English, but he didn''t seem to have any problems communicating with the people. He looked up and read an inscription.


    "The Place for the cure of the soul"


    It wasn''t written in English but he could understand every single word written. It seemed to be a side-effect of the summoning spell. It seems that magic here wasn''t as simple as throwing random spells at each other. That aside this discovery made him extremely excited and terrified at the same time.


    Excited, as it meant the end of all language barriers.


    Terrified, as it meant that this world was slowly getting even more difficult to understand.


    Magic, by definition is science so advanced that one doesn''t understand how it works.


    The unknown, after all has been the biggest source of humanity''s fears since time immemorial.


    He slowly looked at the murals to learn about the history of the realm.


    The first one depicted God forming the realm and all the creatures receiving his blessings.


    Mermen rose from the sea, Beastmen from animals, Elves from the trees and dwarves from the mountains.


    Humans were raised from the earth, but that''s when shit hit the fan.


    In the second mural, Humans started learning the art of magic and spread it to the other races. God impressed by their ingenuity decided to turn some of the humans into his angels to serve him.


    However that seemed to be a huge mistake.


    They faithfully served god until some of them got fed up. One angel decided that enough was enough and decided to stab God right through the back, both literal and figuratively. He later came to be known as Diablo the Ist


    ''Damn, that brings up some memories!''


    In the third mural, God seemed to be in his dying throes. The rest of the angels scattered and those who had chosen to follow the traitor were all cursed. They were stripped of their power and became the new race of demonkind. Finally they were banished from the plane just before god breathed his last.


    Marcus moved on to the fourth mural, but it seemed to be incomplete. It depicted the demons returning to invade the land time and time again before a human hero would kill the demon king and force them back. Sometimes the hero died with the demon lord, at others he would fail after which the demons would retreat after a war of attrition. The world appeared to be stuck in a vicious cycle.


    "Beautiful aren''t they" a voice said from beside him.


    "What?"


    "The murals."


    "Yes Indeed." he replied. "but history is full of as many lies as there are truths."


    "Of course, Lies are often the most beautiful things in the world, while truths are what hurt the most."


    "Sorry for interrupting you. My name is Freya. I am the head mage of this nation and your magic instructor."


    Martin turned and found a beautiful woman dressed in - well mage clothes, robe and all standing next to him arm outstretched. She was a typical western beauty with blond curly hair, sparkling blue eyes, cherry lips and- ahem! This might not be the best time to mention it but Martin wasn''t the best around girls.


    Putting on his most ''Lucas'' grin so far, he shook her hand.


    "Nice to meet you, Miss Freya. You may call me Martin."


    "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Martin. So I take it you are interested in learning more about our world"


    "Yes indeed, but for the time being I would like to know more about how magic works here. Especially regarding how I was summoned."


    "Very well Mr.Martin."

 5 Marcus and Freya

    "We can only see three dimensions of the world in our everyday lives. However we already knew of the existence of the fourth dimension and hence parallel worlds thanks to the invasion of the demons"


    "We thus spent a lot of our time trying to research parallel worlds and how to contact them. As we know nothing about the other worlds, we could only minimize our losses and hope for the best. We finally came up with a teleportation ritual capable of transporting only one person. Since sending someone into unknown co-ordinates is too risky. What we worked on was trying to summon an otherworlder to our world. That way we will be able to initiate contact, and have a reliable set of co-ordinates."


    "So, My summoning was part of an experiment. How many more have been summoned before me."


    "Only two. One was already dead when he arrived, and the other was an animal that died soon after. We were forced to halt the experiments and could only try to improve our search algorithms. Unfortunately realms similar to ours have a barrier around them that is difficult to get access to. So our only hope is to try through a cracked or weakened spot of the barrier."


    ''Holy crap, Vincent''s bomb was that strong! Looks like that knucklehead really meant it when he said he would go out with a bang.''


    "So you basically sucked me in through a hole in the barrier between worlds"


    "Yes, and we barely managed to.


    As the wars went on, our world seemed to have been caught in a vicious cycle. Its been centuries since any major development in our civilization. The wars instead of leading to increased development, has been instead looping back to our state after the previous war. So, in order to break free from this phenomenon we finally decided to use our last resort.


    Restart the research and seek help from an external variable. An otherworlder."


    "How, interesting. A hero would be the perfect identity of said otherworlder"


    "Yes it would, but this is more than an identity, its what we hoped to find. People need hope and what more than a hero that fell from the sky"


    "Aren''t you being too frank with me. I believe you just told me some of the top secrets of your state."


    "I wouldn''t have bothered if you were an incapable individual. We are after all the top brass of a nation, a single wrong decision would lead to disastrous consequences. You are as much of a potential ally as you are a threat. In such cases it would be best to show transparency and sincerity. We wouldn''t want to sabotage our cooperation due to unnecessary lies."


    "Furthermore different people require different approaches,


    you should no that better than most Mr. Martin. Am i right?"


    ''This cunning littl- calm down Martin, act like Lucas, act like Lucas!''


    "You are as impressive as I was led to believe Ms.Freya. You are right on spot."


    "You flatter me Mr.Martin." Freya responded adjusting her hair behind her ears.


    "I must say I truly admire your way of doing things. Since you have shown me your sincerity, it shouldn''t be too much of a problem for me to assist you. One can never have too many friends, now can they."


    Martin outstretched his hand which Freya shook. They both smiled knowingly.


    "Now that this is out of the way, let me tell you about the basics of magic in our world."


    "The air surrounding us has elementary particles known as mana present in them. Manipulation of these particles constitutes magic."


    "Magic had been divided into six main branches- light, dark, fire, water, earth and air.


    This is mainly because those are the types of crystals we can find. Crystals can be used for storing magic spells like those lights in the halls and complex magic rituals like your summoning"


    "Whenever someone comes of age they can choose upto two magic disciplines. This is because the body can only handle two types of mana at a time. Other than the pure elements, there are often subdivisions like ice, lightning, metal, poison etc.."


    Freya lifted her hand and a tiny flaming tornado appeared above it.


    "Air and fire, those are my disciplines. Pure elements after all have the highest firepower and versatility."


    "Interesting and how do I go about choosing my disciplines."


    "Most people have to be trained to sense the particles and then absorb a low-grade crystal of the appropriate elements. The kingdom will however provide you with two high-grade crystals of your choice. You would then be able to instantly awaken your abilities."


    "I suppose that such high-grade crystals are only available to those high up in the ranks."


    "You''re right. We are in fact making a huge investment in you. I hope it would be worth the effort."


    "Me too."


    "I will take my leave now. I will see you tomorrow afternoon. I hope you would have chosen your disciplines by then''


    "See, you tomorrow Ms.Freya"


    Martin watched on as Freya left the library.


    ''What a scary woman!'' First they requested for his help and they are now already trying to make him feel indebted. Rational people are often way more scarier than evil corrupted ones.


    ----


    The next day, in the training courtyard.


    Martin saw a tall blonde man with broad shoulders walk up to him.


    "I am the head knight. You can call me Marcus. I heard that you came here from another world."


    "Is that so? Well you have heard right."


    "As you have decided to take on the Demon lord I would like to see if you really have what it takes. Care for a spar? I want to witness your fighting style." Marcus stared on grimly and provocatively.


    "So the test has finally arrived I see. I like that you didn''t confiscate the weapons that I brought with me to this world-"


    It was a quite sordid move they played. Fighting style my ass! A spar wouldn''t just reveal Martin''s abilities and thus usefulness. It would also reflect on his world as he represented the higher ability levels. Martin was sure of that, after his chat with Freya. The algorithms had been adjusted to look for the prefect candidate.


    "-but you are soon going to regret it!"


    Whipping out two pistols from his underarm holsters,


    Martin fired off a few quick shots.


    He wasn''t called the blue phantom for his health. If it was a show they wanted, a show was what they would get.


    Evading the fire and deflecting the rest of the bullets with his sword, Marcus shot back "Impressive toys, but you are going to need more than that to defeat me."


    Marcus shot forward cleaving his sword in a beautiful arc towards Martin''s neck. Flipping over the sword, martin landed a few feet away, firing bullets at Marcus throughout the exchange.


    "Looks like you might have something in you, but I was just getting started." Marcus rushed forth first but Martin kept evading. A few exchanges later, Martin was covered in small cuts while Marcus had scrapes all over him.


    "Checkmate Marcus. I got you." Marcus turned to find a gun at his temple " Looks like you really got me. I was almost forced to use magic."


    "Yes, you but you really went easy on me."


    "Well I could say the same for you Martin. You held back too."


    Martin froze, ''Monsters they are all monsters!''


    "Hahahaha! Looks like you got me there"


    They both burst into laughter.


    Now that the ice was broken they both sat next to each other.


    "So, what''s the deal between the demon lord and this king of yours."


    "You noticed huh. His son and daughter, both the crown prince and princess died because of the current demon lord. He calls himself Diablo the VIIth"


    "No wander his eyes would darken whenever he mentioned the demon lord."


    "Yeah, no shit.! Otherwise why do you think there was no princess to honey trap you the moment you arrived."


    "Really, I thought Freya was the honey trap."


    "You thought she was the trap! Hahaha this is gold man! That crazy woman ain''t no trap. She may look pretty but let me tell you a secret, she is one crazy hell of a-"


    "Ahem! Its good that the two of you are bonding but I would really like to borrow Martin now. It''s time for him to choose his magic disciplines."


    The two jumped only to find Freya standing right behind him looking at them expressionlessly.


    "Holy crap! Where did you come from Freya, see I told you she has magic powers that can sneak behind people too. That''s a big red flag bro!"


    "Shut up douchebag!"


    "Well, in her defense she is the head mage, so she should have magic powers and- I''ll shut up now."


    Martin looked away, being glared at by a crazy woman early in the morning wasn''t very enjoyable, moreover he was quite excited about the magic initiation ritual.


    He turned away only to find Marcus giving him a I-told-you-so face.


    Martin smiled. Not a fake smile or conspiratory smile, but his first real smile since Lucas and Vincent''s death.


    He realized that these people might really not be that bad after all. This could also be one of their schemes in all probability but he would rather wait and see how it plays out. Taking a break from being a vengeful maniac can be quite stress relieving at times. One should really try it. Works like a charm!

 6 Diablo the VIIth

    Demonkind had been living and surviving in Grimoria from as far as anyone could remember.


    However they were extremely low on resources. Repeated wars invading the human realm Saforia was the only way they could sustain themselves. Unfortunately that led to the stagnation of the realms.


    More importantly, Demon lord Diablo knew that he had very little time left.


    Ever since his spies had brought news that the hero had been summoned, he knew that his days were counted.


    There was no other way. The world had to emerge out of the vicious cycle, and his death was the best way out. He knew that a huge war was coming, and if they weren''t united to face it, nobody would survive.


    He looked at the murals that Diablo the First had left them.


    Humans weren''t the only race that had been converted to angels. The elves and beastmen were too.


    The one who killed God might have been Diablo, but he was just the scapegoat of the entire movement. Those who had intended to stay angels even after god''s death were the real culprits.


    Ironically after his death, they also lost all their powers forming a new race of fallen angels.


    They had never been seen since then.


    "How is the boy?" Diablo asked.


    "He has just recovered his consciousness, my lord. He seems to be looking around blankly."


    "Take me to him."


    It had been almost two days since that boy had arrived, and now he had finally regained consciousness. Diablo hoped that the algorithm had picked the right candidate.


    Diablo entered the room and found the boy sitting up on the bed staring out of the window, into the distance.


    Taking a seat, he kindly smiled at the young man.


    "My name is Diablo the seventh. I am the ruler of this little castle. May I know your name Sir?"


    The boy slowly turned to face him. He had messy black hair, and newly grown horns. A side effect of the healing ritual used to save his life.


    His eyes seemed to regain clarity. He then smiled brightly.


    A tinge of madness that anyone would have missed briefly flashed through them.


    He opened his mouth and replied-


    "Lucas"


    "My name is Lucas Nothstein. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Demon Lord Diablo."


    ---------


    "You seem to know of my identity?"


    Lucas grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.


    "No, not really."


    "However this race seems to call themselves demons, and I heard them refer to the lord of this Castle as Lord Diablo."


    "Is there another identity associated with your name, Sir?"


    "Yes, I am also the lord of my entire race stationed here in this realm."


    "However lets talk about you for now. We had attempted to summon a being from a parallel world, and we found you half dead and drowning."


    "Oh. So you are the ones who saved me. Please accept my gratitude."


    "It seems I had little gas leak in my house that caused a bit of an explosion" replied the boy while pouting.


    ''Little explosion my ass! There was a fucking hole in the barrier between worlds.''


    Unfazed by the lie, Diablo leaned forward and grinned dangerously.


    "Quite interesting. You see, My race is currently facing a big peril and my retirement is looming here. My offspring may inherit the throne but none can hold the title of Demon lord for the moment.


    I was hoping to look for a like-minded individual to be my successor, and even achieve contact with another world in the process."


    "How do you know whether I can be trusted?" shot back Lucas with a mischievous look on his face.


    "I do not, but you have the benefit of doubt, moreover I have trust in the oracle''s summoning algorithm. I hope that we will be able to prove your capabilities, and from a cooperative trustful relationship"


    "It sounds very beautiful, but why do you think I would be interested in becoming a Demon lord of a race that has nothing to do with me. Of course I will repay the debt for saving my life but aren''t you asking too much of me."


    "Isn''t it obvious. Its for the power, you have the means to possibly have an entire race at your beck and call. Moreover, I am only asking you to give us a change, I am sure once you have a taste of what it means to be a demon you will never want to go back."


    "Is that why you gave me these horns"


    Lucas asked while holding his newly grown horns in a quite a cute fashion eyes gleaming with curiosity. But that was what made it look so much more eerie.


    "I am sorry, but that was a side-effect of the healing ritual. It was designed for us demons after all." replied Diablo not looking apologetic in the least.


    "Don''t worry. It is quite a fitting accessory for me. You see I was once known as The Prince of Shadows.


    I will take you up on the offer. Its just."


    "What?"


    Lucas raised his head looked right into the demon lord''s eyes.


    Smiling darkly and abandoning his cheerful facade he said,


    "Tempting me with power. That wasn''t fair of you."


    -------


    "So my lord, what was the candidate like. Can he really lead the demons. Would it be wise to leave the fate of our race in the hands of an outsider?" a figure in the dark could be seen asking Diablo that question.


    "He is extremely dangerous. He is either extremely insane or inanely cunning.


    Either way he is capable all right."


    "So, the question is whether he can be trusted?"


    "Yes, but that''s what we have you for Lilith. I am sure you will be able to determine that in time."


    "Yes Father, of course. You can count on me." smiling darkly a young girl walked out of the shadows. She looked like a pretty eastern beauty with long black hair streaming down, and two cute horns popping out from her head.


    "He might be the Prince of Shadows, but I am the Lady of Darkness."

 7 Choosing the correct elements.

    Lucas watched on as Diablo left the room. He couldn''t help but have mixed feelings about his current situation.


    He had actually regained consciousness much earlier. He still pretended to that he hadn''t recovered to compose himself and understand about the situation. From the little he heard he was able to piece that though the humans seem to be losing, they have some new trump card up their sleeves. This wasn''t the first war either and most demon lords had an uncanny reputation of being killed by heroes.


    The anarchists had just been destroyed, and here he was being asked to be the successor of a goddamned demon lord.


    He wondered how Martin had being doing. He was sure that Martin had at least survived. Would he try to kill the hero in revenge. No, he wouldn''t be that stupid. He would eventually move on. Lucas wished that Martin could at least find new friends he could trust.


    He was rather reluctant to agree to the deal. Its not that the power wasn''t attractive, it was in fact too attractive.


    But to be handed over in a silver plate, calling it suspicious would be an understatement. He couldn''t help but reflect back to his recent conversation with Diablo.


    The demon lord was someone extremely dangerous, in the same league as him.


    Lucas was a master manipulator, there was nobody he couldn''t read like a book. However the demon lord was too foggy. There were some clear parts that were intentionally shown but the rest were hidden away.


    Lucas knew that he was walking on eggshells and thus decided to behave how Vincent would''ve- a half-insane crazed son-of-a-b*tch.


    What bothered him was that Diablo somehow reminded Lucas of his own father. Not the weak-hearted part mind you, he could smell the mercilessness and bloodlust from across the room. It was the part where one was helpless against the change of the times. That''s the reason that Lucas had chosen to believe in the demon lord''s sincerity for now.


    Successor to the demon lord.


    As an anarchist, trying to be a ruler of a monarchy was completely against his beliefs, but he had to find something out for sure.


    He had made anarchy into a symbol of power and chaos.


    Perhaps he should first have a feel of absolute power then decide whether it was worth the effort.


    Just as vengeance is related to justice, freedom is often related to power. If he were to lose his freedom in pursuit of power, such power isn''t worth the bargain. He was an adaptable individual, he could be the incarnation of freedom as much as he was the incarnation of power.


    He had already suffered defeat once. The next times the anarchists rose, they wont make the same mistakes, and they would NEVER fall again. Lucas took a deep breath as his eyes slowly filled with unshakable determination.


    It''s just that...


    Lucas felt around his head. Were the horns really necessary? It was just too unwieldy, jutting out of his head as if they had always been there.


    The door opened and a young woman gracefully entered.


    "You must be Lucas, The Prince of Shadows"


    Well that''s one way to introduce yourself.


    "Yes, you can just call me Luke." He replied innocently.


    "Are you the rumored beautiful Ms.Lilith"


    "Yes, I am Lilith, Lady of Darkness. You can call me Lily" she replied smiling back equally innocently.


    Well, well what do we have here. It hadn''t been half an hour and his first test had already arrived. If it was any other day he would have flirted a bit, but following Vincent''s character he would have to act like a dense idiot, who has zero understanding of romantic relationships. Well too bad for the lady.


    "So, Lily how may I help you?"


    "Well since you are the candidate to succeed the demon lord it wouldn''t be good if you walk around without any magic skills. Without any magic you would basically be a walking target." giggling cutely she went on, "So please do follow me."


    "Magic!" Lucas'' eyes shone like two bright stars. Its as if something inconceivable was mentioned to him.


    "Yes!" Lilith smiling with equal intensity replied "This world has the presence of magic, you should have noticed it by now, considering that summoning you from another world is also magic."


    Lucas grinned sheepishly "Of course! How silly of me. Lets go immediately. It sounds really interesting."


    Of course he knew that magic existed in this world. It was just that they had concealed it completely. He wasn''t conscious when he was summoned or healed. It could have easily been advanced technology. Horns could at the end of the day be a genetic mutation. What really gave it away was the subtle clues of medieval age culture all around him and well the king did mention the word ritual.


    Lucas came into the room and there were six crystals glittering in front of him.


    Light(white), Dark(black), Water(blue), Fire(red), Earth(yellow), Air(green).


    "You can only absorb two elements, make sure that your choice matches your affinity."


    Looking at the elemental crystals, Lucas couldn''t help but click his tongue. To confirm with his act he should choose explosive elements like fire and light, but this choice should be irreversible.


    He raised his arm and held the dark crystal. Soon a black stream enter his brain and he could see all the various possibilities he could achieve if he absorbed the crystal. Smiling to himself he chose to absorb the crystal.


    Element- dark


    Specialization-shadows/smoke


    He was playing a mad character after all, he needn''t be restrained by logic.


    Then he immediately went for the white crystal.


    Element - light


    Specialization-mirage (reflection/refraction)


    At the end of the day he was a manipulator. He won all wars before they even began. Combat was never his specialty. Smoke and Mirrors, on the other hand were perfect for putting on a show.


    Lilith slightly raised her eyebrows at his choice but didn''t say anything more.


    -----------


    In a similar room Martin was presented with a similar choice. Since he was the blue phantom he would have to follow the color scheme while making sure no corners were left unturned.


    He chose to absorb the green and blue crystals.


    Element-Air


    Specialization-Lightning


    Element-Water


    Specialization-Ice


    "Lightning and Ice? Lightning is an extremely violent element and hard to control. Ice on the other hand should be able to help restrain your lightning while assisting speed by reducing friction. Quite an interesting combination. It should help complement your skills." Freya nodded with approval, feeling a bit more relieved.


    -----

 8 Training, Departure and an essential question.

    7 days later (38 days left the war)


    Martin had been training in his use of magic for the last few days. Now he was sure that he had a basic grip on it. His combat ability had rapidly risen these past few days. He had also gotten closer to Marcus and Freya.


    They had then decided to move around the nation so that Martin could get accustomed to the power levels and so that they could develop some basic teamwork ability.


    In the clearing in the forest Marcus and Freya were busy attacking a 5 metre tall behemoth of a beast. It had been terrorizing the nearby villages for quite some time now.


    Martin waited at his spot, he slowly raised the scope and pointed it at the beast. Its weak point was actually it''s chest that was skillfully being kept out of harm''s way. Freya unleashed an AOE wind blade storm at it while Marcus erected an earth wall blocking its retreat. He then lit his sword aflame and lunged right towards the chest of the beast. The beast twisted to Avoid the attack but left the very spot exposed in the process. Not wasting a second Martin pulled the triggered. Boosted with lightning the speed of the bullet was much faster than before and much more penetrative.


    After the bullet penetrated its body it started to freeze it from the inside making its movements even more sluggish. Then Martin snapped his fingers. The bullet exploded within the beast''s body sending paralytic electric currents throughout and stopping it heart. The beast collapsed onto the ground in a slump.


    "Damn, its cool each time I see that." Marcus commented while clicking his tongue in admiration."


    "The technology of the other world is as impressive as I was led to believe indeed." Freya added while nodding.


    Martin arrived in a flash. His modified boots used ice to reduce friction and lightning for propulsion. With his combination of science and magic Martin truly lived up to his name of the Blue phantom whenever he moved.


    Especially on a frozen field. His quick speed was akin to teleportation. The more magic he used, the more his body adapted to work with it.


    "Looks like you are now in top shape now. I think we should go to the palace and decide on how to defeat the demon lord during the war."


    "I believe it might be too late by then. We have been making a lot of waves here. The demon king should have learnt of my existence by now."


    "Yes, but there is nothing he can do about it. You are just another opponent to defeat on the battlefield after all"


    "Yes, but I don''t like giving the enemy time to prepare. Moreover-" Martin didn''t want to return to the palace. He still remembered the chat he had with the king before leaving. Each time he thought of it he would feel uncomfortable and unsettled.


    "Martin?" Freya asked concerned "Stop spacing out."


    "Yeah! Sorry, I was saying I would like to make a personal investigation on the Demon lord to find out his weaknesses."


    "And, if the opportunity presents itself- Assassinate him"


    "Do you think sneaking into the Demon realm is something easy. Especially in times of war." Marcus replied exasperatedly.


    "Its difficult but not impossible." Freya said while thinking about something.


    "Freya not you too. I know you hate the demon lord because-" Marcus shut up after being glared by Freya but still went on. "This is madness!"


    "I am sorry but I agree with Martin on this one. Its not like the demons are the only ones with spies. I have a plan on how to infiltrate successfully."


    "How?"


    "By disguising ourselves as beastmen mercenaries."


    "That can work. However if you are doing this I am coming too."


    "Wait I was talking about leaving alone. You guys don''t have to come with me."


    They both looked at me as if I had just said the stupidest thing possible.


    "There''s no way we are going to abandon you dude and just let you walk into the demon''s lair on your own." Marcus said righteously.


    "Guys." Martin was a little moved honestly. It reminded him of the time with the anarchists and their motto to leave no man behind.


    "Also, there is no way we are letting you out of our sight. You are the summoned hero and an important asset to the nation. As an otherworlder you could become a threat if left unsupervised." Freya added.


    "Yeah that too" Marcus added a little embarrassed.


    "Fair." Martin nodded hid head begrudgingly.


    ''Damn give me back my moved feelings.''


    "So, I will look into the matter and make preparations. You two can set up camp"


    Freya walked away and started using her communicator to send signals to the relevant personnel.


    -----


    As Martin lay awake in his tent his mind once again drifted to the conversation he had with the King before leaving.


    "So, You are going out for training"


    "Yes"


    "So I believe you must have heard by now that the Demon lord had killed my children"


    "Yes."


    "So, you see I hate him very much. Every cell in my body screams for vengeance, but that''s not why I want him dead."


    "Then why?"


    "As a king, I have to keep my personal feelings in control. He needs to be killed for justice and not vengeance."


    "..."


    "Before you say anything, I am aware that this war is mostly due to an ancestral feud and I am as much responsible for the deaths as he is making my words seem hypocritical. They are the truth."


    "The demon king contacted me a few days ago."


    "What!"


    "He says that he intends to end this centuries long feud once and for all. The war hasn''t lasted long this time and our losses are still recoverable. If the war is to continue, then both our nations would be pushed decades back. Being the instigator, the demons would thus have to accept a major loss. Their realm is low in resources, so many of them will have to immigrate here, thus the demons would also have to have a positive but pitiful image for the masses."


    "Propaganda can be arranged but there is one person this nation would never be able to forgive."


    "The demon lord.." Martin slowly muttered.


    "Funny, isn''t it. The person I hate the most contacted me to arrange for his own death." the king gave a really cynical smile while saying that.


    "Why are you telling me this ?"


    "We have been observing you these past few days and I have realized that you are someone extremely fixated with vengeance, or were at least were fixated once."


    "I just want you to remember one thing. Perhaps its because you remind me of my late son but listen up."


    "Vengeance is a blade that cuts both ways. The demon lord is being killed for justice and not vengeance. Its justice because he is atoning for his sins, and his death would save the rest of his race and ours too. It would be vengeance if his death were just for a personal grudge."


    "As Hippocratic as these words might seem they depict the cruel truth of the world. The line between justice and vengeance is extremely thin. Many people kill but forget the reason behind it. I just want you remember when you take his life, that it wasn''t for petty vengeance. It was for justice."


    "You may now leave."


    Martin left the hall feeling slightly annoyed.


    Petty vengeance! Since when was vengeance petty. Vengeance was an unstoppable force of nature!


    Nonetheless, he couldn''t help but admit that there was a ring of truth in the king''s words. Killing for justice and killing for vengeance were completely different things. The king might be right. Perhaps it was time he stepped out of killing for vengeance and started killing only for justice. He had already started down that path when he decided to judge his victims before killing. It was perhaps time to abandon all bias due to vengeance and see things objectively from a fresh perspective.


    Perhaps it was , perhaps it wasn''t. He would withhold his decision for now.


    The more urgent problem was the demon lord planning his own death. For a person to have the resolve to abandon their life for a cause, that person must be extremely dangerous.


    Martin knew that better than anyone else.


    The anarchists were exactly such an organization. Lucas might cut corners and manipulate people but he was always particular on who got to join the Anarchists. Each and every one of them believed in their cause and were more than willing to give their lives for it. Unfortunately, they all still failed, perhaps it was because the world wasn''t ready for them or perhaps their beliefs were wrong all along.


    Thus, Martin had to see for himself. Until he was sure what type of person he was going to kill and why was the reason he was killing him, he wouldn''t do anything. Was it really for justice or was the king just hiding vengeance under pretty words.


    He had to know.

 9 An Undercover Operation

    Ever since Lucas had activated his magic he had been quite busy. When he wasn''t training his new tricks and abilities, he was either reading up in the library about the nation or having discussions with Diablo.


    Over the past few days the old demon lord had really grown him. He was quite a nice chum. They often discussed politics and strategy and ended up astonishing each other of how despicable schemes could possibly get. Personally, Lucas felt he had learnt a lot, the demon lord had a lot more experience than him. It was like a whole new world of sordidness and shamelessness was opened up to him. It was beautiful.


    Lilith also dropped by from time to time trying to learn more about him and testing his capabilities in various ways.


    "A Demon lord has to be ready for assassination attempts at all times! I will help you train! Don''t worry I will hold back." she had declared as soon as Lucas had completed his basic magic training. Lucas knew he couldn''t afford to underestimate this Lady of darkness. with her cloak of darkness and dagger of light, she was an extremely terrifying assassin.


    So when Lilith jumped out of the darkness stabbing straight at his heart. He was prepared and he didn''t move at all....


    Lilith passed through him.


    It was just an illusion made of refracted light, the real Lucas wasn''t even there. He stepped out of a nearby shadow and pointed a revolver at her.


    "Yes! I survived the assassination!" he exclaimed in glee that was in odd dissonance to his actions.


    Lilith soon recovered and smiled equally gleefully. "Congratulations! You passed!"


    "So are you going to leave for the operation?"


    "Yes, You will come with me right!"


    "Of course, How could I leave you alone. I have to keep you safe and keep testing you too!" Lilith humphed and replied.


    Lucas was planning to go undercover into the realm. Until he had seen the situation of the nation from ground zero, he wouldn''t be able to make the right decisions when and if he succeeded the Demon lord.


    ----


    "So, you wanna say something to me before I leave old man?"


    "Not really, just wanted to say bye."


    "You seem awfully happy"


    "Yeah, you seem promising I can finally get rid of this stupid throne and become free!"


    "Free?"


    "Yes, though being the demon lord gives me power, there are also a lot of rules and responsibilities. It was fun while it lasted, now I want freedom."


    "So, what will you do after retirement?"


    "I dunno, tour the realms. There quite a few stunning sights hidden there. Perhaps go and visit the merpeople. I heard they were quite a seclusive bunch. Perhaps if the technology develops, an interdimensional world-hopping tour would be really swell."


    "Tch! What kind of useless Demon lord you are. Ever so ready to throw away the throne and run around like a little kid"


    The demon lord laughed sheepishly which was quite an amusing sight to see, at least for Lucas I am not talking about normal people here.


    "I have gotten old. Just remember to that you can''t abandon power nor freedom. Use your power to protect your freedom."


    He paused for a minute as if hesitating, but finally said


    "If possible don''t take others'' freedom to protect your power either"


    Quite uncharacteristic for a Demon Lord, but Lucas understood what the demon lord meant. If the anarchists hadn''t been so overbearing and merciless in their previous world they would have been worshiped by the people instead of being treated as terrorists.


    Lucas knew that he had gone too far last time. So he was determined to find out why and where he went wrong, so that the next time the anarchists rose they would be welcomed and not hated.


    Keeping an open mind was thus essential.


    "I will try to avoid it."


    The demon king smiled relieved then as he thought of something smiled viciously.


    "Of course none of that applies when dealing with scum. You know better than me how those disgusting hypocrites are to be dealt with."


    "Of course old man. None of them will be spared."


    Yes, this trip also had another purpose. It was to purge the demon nation from the inside to prepare for their integration with the human realm.


    Diablo told Lucas of his plans for surrender and how he hoped Lucas to eventually be able to take over the combined nation that ruled both demons and humans alike. This was a Trojan horse, if they cannot defeat the enemy, just join them and take over. After all the main reasons for the demons to attack were scarce resources, and not irreconcilable differences.


    ---


    "So are you ready to leave?"


    "Yes. What are we going to use as identities."


    "Beastmen mercenaries."


    "Isn''t that too predictable?"


    "Yes, but there is nothing anyone can do about it."


    "That''s right."


    Unlike the Human and Demon nations, the beastmen didn''t have any countries. Evolved from animals they still had their instinctive distrust towards each other. They had small settlements here and there and the Lion king did represent their species but thats all.


    Other races like the merpeople and elves had rarely been seen since the war started. They were mostly seclusive tribes and occasionally traveled for trade purposes.


    -----


    Somewhere in the demon nation in a mercenary camp.


    "So who is the new rookie?" A tall member of the bear clan and clearly the squad captain inquired.


    "Yes sir, he is someone from the snake clan." the vice captain, a member of the fox clan reported.


    "Elements?"


    "Pure fire and metal of the earth series."


    "Is he a blacksmith?"


    "No sir he claims to be a ''demolition expert''"


    "What''s that supposed to be"


    "He blows stuff up! Like the exploding fireball spell but in a whole bigger scale"


    "What name did he give"


    "Vincent sir."


    ....


    "Vincent Crepitus."


    "Say the whole name in one go, who are you trying to build suspense for here."


    Clearly feeling wronged the vice-captain still admitted his fault.


    "Yes sir, will keep that in mind.''


    "Is there any news of the other mercenary camps?"


    "Yes sir! Among the Big Five other than us two other camps have also accepted new rookies."


    "So many rookies at once! It seems that the times are getting even more dangerous."


    "A storm seems to be brewing!" the vice-captain declared in a grave tone.


    "Will you quit it with all the drama!" the captain retorted.


    ''Who the heck just said that the times were getting even more dangerous! Asshole!''


    "Sorry sir!"


    ---

 10 Order and Chaos

    Vincent loved chaos. He thrived on it!


    Vincent had grown up in the Stratocracy where everybody worked like unfeeling machines. The cold hard order and control over even the tiniest of details had always made Vincent feel suffocated.


    Different rules constrained him, however he still rose through the ranks. His rebellious nature was never accepted. A new rookie outdid him and he was tossed aside. Of course to add insult to injury that very rookie later ended up joining the hero''s crew.


    When he was escaping and was blown off by a grenade, something inside of him snapped. Even as the shrapnel pierced his eyes and separated an arm, his eyes had widened in amazement.


    The explosion was pure chaos. It wasn''t constrained by the rules, and all order was broken into pandemonium. Vincent had felt as if imaginary chains around him were broke. He had fallen in love with explosions ever since.


    So when Lucas had asked him do it, he had pressed the big red button with no hesitation at all. There was even anticipation and mad fanaticism. This was after all his best creation yet. It would be the very incarnation of chaos unleashed onto the world.


    However when the explosion took place vaporizing him and all the surrounding anarchists he didn''t feel excited. A single tear evaporated from his cheek as soon as it left his tearducts.


    It wasn''t a tear of happiness. It was a tear of loss and intense grief.


    For the briefest of moments he felt sad.


    His friends, his efforts and life. Everything were gone. He felt reluctant to go away. Unknowingly he had forgotten to take in the magnificence of the chaos. He was busy thinking about all that he was losing.


    He was frustrated at his behavior. This was a moment he had often dreamed of, the day he would die and take everything down with him with a huge bang. Something of epic proportions that the whole world would remember for centuries.


    Chaos so powerful that it would even rip apart the fabric of space-time.


    However he only felt immense grief, he still wanted to live.


    Call it fate or destiny but both his wishes came true.


    A rift was indeed blown in the fabric of space-time and his soul was sucked through it.


    Vincent soul was flung into another world where it sunk into the dying body of a beastman.


    He had transmigrated.


    After merging with the body''s memories Vincent realized that it belonged to a new and rising mercenary called Vince. With elements of fire and metal, he was quite good at metalworking and combat. Unfortunately his crew had been wiped out in a fight with a high-level elemental beast.


    Looking at the kaleidoscope of memories crashing into his head Vincent couldn''t help but feel extremely annoyed. The original Vince was the exact opposite of him. An idiot obsessed with rules and order.


    An extremely stuck-up son of a b*tch.


    Kind of like Martin.


    However the kid also had a deep set trauma. His settlement had once been razed to the ground by a monster. The deaths and chaos left a long lasting impression in the owners mind.


    So, when these memories started to fuse with that of Vincent''s he instinctively rejected them at first.


    However, this could prove to be dangerous and even lead to schizophrenia and worsen his insanity.


    Thus he ultimately accepted the memories.


    Looking back Vincent couldn''t help but agree, chaos was only fun before it happened to oneself. Pure order on the other hand did more harm than good. A balance needed to be achieved, kind of like that between gravity and dark energy to ensure the survival of life.


    Nonetheless, he was extremely biased towards biased


    So, a new Vincent that outwardly acted like a stiff and order-loving snake but inwardly raving for chaos and destruction was born.


    Whether his insanity had gotten worse or gotten greatly reduced was ultimately a matter of perspective.


    Struggling to adapt to his new memories, Vincent took the most logical step.


    He applied to a mercenary squad that worked for the demons. The Flaming Knights, one of the big five mostly consisting of fire users.


    It was logical as he still needed to learn more about the world and find a way to keep the legacy of the anarchists alive. Since he had survived it meant that even the universe wanted him to keep spreading anarchy. He would create a new branch of Anarchists in this world. One that Lucas would be proud of if he were still alive.


    Suppressing his rising emotions, Vincent decided to check his skillset and felt greatly relieved. It was the perfect combo for making grenades. The explosive power of power and the penetration of metal shrapnel would cause massive destruction.


    Outwardly smiling serenely Vincent was cackling madly in glee inwardly. Instead of forming multiple personalities his internal and external behavior had instead become extremely contrasting.


    Vincent flickered his forked tongue through his fangs and slithered forward.


    He then paused. Something seemed to be wrong.


    Extremely.


    He looked back at himself and couldn''t help but twitch his eyebrows. He was a beastman of the snake clan. A friggin snake dammit. Even though the snake scales had basic fire resistance, if he had to be a beastman couldn''t it be something cute like a wolf or cat.


    Luckily he still had two legs, two arms and an extremely handsome face. Yes so what if he was green-skinned had fangs and a weird forked tongue. So what if had pointy ears and a tail jutting out of his ass. He was still sexy as hell. Now he just looked like a venomous beauty. Its just that his tail, was a bit too reptilian. Look on the bright side! At least he had legs and didn''t have to slither around on the ground. Wait even when he walked his tail would make a weird sound just like that of a slithering snake.


    Damn it sucked!


    There was no damned internet or video games here. Even if there were cute beastgirls his snake-like appearance wouldn''t give him any brownie points. However he had heard that snake ladies are extremely dangerous but charming too.


    Yeah, in case you haven''t noticed Vincent was also a major playboy in the previous world.


    Shaking his head in self-pity Vincent set off for the camp.

 11 The Price of Killing. The Price of Power. 2 in 1

    What is the price of killing? The one who can answer this question best was none other than Lucas himself. Once a leader of an organization who killed thousands, who could understand better? Though many deaths weighed on him why was it that he was only said to have murdered one person his entire life?


    The world had once been in complete chaos. Life was as cheap as dirt and the two superpowers of the world duked it out with no regard to the deaths caused. The smaller countries were nothing but pawns and battlegrounds for them.


    On one side was the Anganeese Empire- an age old institution that had been revived. Absolute monarchy and cruel nobles that leeched of the populace like vampires were widespread again.


    On the other side was the Pastene Stratocracy- a military dictatorship where you either followed the rules or died for insubordination.


    In such times the smaller nations banded together and the United Hope Federation was born. Led by the nations of Pensam and Hograsia, they soon rose as the third superpower of the world, and once they did the entire world came to a standstill. A delicate balance of a triumvirate was formed and all wars were stopped.


    Suprisingly in the process the hope federation that was supposed to save the world become something it most despised. In order to ensure smooth functioning many assassinations and schemes had taken place. Though called a federation, it had evolved into a one-party rule. Most of Pensam was crushed by Hograsia in a fashion similar to what Diablo was probably planning by surrendering and merging with the human empire of Saforia. In the new world only the strong survived and those who advocated for mercy and cooperation were too soft and had no place in it.


    Lucas had learnt that lesson at an early age. Those were the exact words of his fathers'' killer. "Only the strong would survive. He was too weak for this world." His father had once been an important leader of Pensam and as he was too soft he had to be removed. With his death it was an open road for the radicals. They steamrolled all opposition and the hope federation became a the biggest hope. The hope federation didn''t provide hope, it took way all hope and crushed it under their heels.


    Disillusioned but unwilling to give in, Lucas had joined a rebel group. A resistance of sorts against the cruelty of the world. He soon got close to them. Their leader even treated him akin to a little brother. He had even thought his father had been right. Heroes would always come.


    It was as futile as one would expect. They were extremely mild and advocated non-violent protests. They robbed the rich and helped the weak. They tried to bring hope.


    The only thing they got were insults. They were ''just another terrorist group''.


    They were never heroes. The world didn''t deserve any. All it should get was anarchy.


    It was all about power.


    Those that held power could do everything and those who didn''t were useless. In order to embrace that truth Lucas had to cross a line of no return. He had to pay the price to get rid of all hesitation to achieve his goals and unleash the inner devil.


    He picked up a dagger, not a gun but a dagger and stabbed the leader right in the heart from the back.


    The dagger slowly pierced through the flash, bypassed the ribs and pierced the heart. However that wasn''t he only heart that was broken back then.


    Blood slowly trickled down his hand onto the cold hard floor.


    His tears mixed with the blood as his hands were dyed a deep crimson. The soulless eyes seemed to asking him ''why?''.


    He knew that he had to pay the price of killing.


    Who that held power didn''t have blood on their hands.


    He had to start where it hurt the most.


    The price of killing was losing all of your restraints.


    It was losing your humanity.


    It was crossing an invisible line in your heart.


    Once you have killed, you will no longer hesitate to do it again.


    No method would go against your morals when trying to achieve your goals.


    Because you no longer had any morals left.


    All the deaths the anarchists had caused, all the anarchists that had died in the line of fire, were nothing more than collateral damage to Lucas.


    The murder still haunted him, but it also empowered him. Once you pay the price of killing, absolute power would be in your grasp, no weakness would be left in your heart.


    Or so was what Lucas had once thought.


    Power never equated to victory. No weaknesses didn''t equate invulnerability.


    Why? because that was the price of power.


    Power corrupts.


    It enslaves you, intoxicates you and leaves you wanting even more.


    Lucas had still preserved. He never forgot the reason he wanted the power. Too raise anarchy destroy all superpowers and unite the world.


    However, before he could reach it. the hero had snatched it away.


    Without killing innocents. Without being hated by the world. The hero had defeated him.


    The world had been united. Not by the anarchists but against the anarchists.


    Thus this time Lucas had decided to take a milder approach, this time he would try to make the anarchists loved and not hated. He still wasn''t sure how but he knew he would figure that out eventually.


    ---


    Lucas and Lilith''s first mission in the realm was to get rid of some demon extremists. Those that had kept beastmen and human slaves. Those that treated the lives of all other races as dirt. The absolute scum of demonkind. The ''true demons''. These were mostly rich businessmen, landowners and army-men.


    The army would have to wait for now, but the rest- Lucas rubbed his hands gleefully. This time they would all fall down without him personally spilling a single drop of blood.


    "Are you sure you can do that? Wouldn''t it be easier if I just assassinated them?"


    "No my dear Lily! We need to uproot this problem from the roots. We will use their guilty conscience and fear for revenge against them."


    "Most of these people have never seen what the real battlefield is like, and thus have extremely weak wills."


    Lucas phased over to the bedroom of their first target. "Patrick Lecherson"


    "Let the show begin!"


    ---


    Patrick Lecherson was a 52 year old successful business magnate of the demon realm and like most others a big pile of shit. He kept countless slaves and abused a lot of human and beastmen. If not demon they don''t deserve to live. That was his motto. They were of course many businessman who thought that idea was ridiculous and understood that the only reason for war was the dwindling amount of resources in Grimoria. He couldn''t care less. He was excited he had been told that a new slave shipment would soon be coming over and they were quite a few pretty girls in them. Though slavery had been long banned by the demon lord, he often turned a blind eye to those in power. He didn''t know that his doom was coming soon. He slept peacfully until-


    Lightning cracked in his room, he could see a dim shadow looming over him with a dagger in hand. He tried to attack the figure but soon realized it was incorporeal. It soon condensed to form a little human girl. Her eyes were black all over and blood slowly trickled down her mouth.


    She tilted her head to the side and spoke in the most bone-chilling voice he had ever heard.


    "Master... do you remember me?"


    She was the human slave that he had recently killed for accidentally pouring tea onto his clothes.


    "How are you here?"


    "Why did you kill Lucy master? What was Lucy''s fault. Lucy''s parents were all killed why did you kill them all. Why did Lucy have to die.''


    He soon started seeing scenes of Lucy''s parents being killed brutally in front of her eyes. He saw himself from her perspective, abusing her, and ordering her death.


    He saw various scenes from the battlefield. Demons and humans killed each other, rivers of blood flowed. Many grieved over their fallen comrades.


    Captured demons were tortured in human cells. Some demons were also turned into slaves.


    "Why did you kidnap my family. Release the slaves! Release them!"


    Various voices joined together into a dreadful cacophony echoing in his ears.


    "Release them! release them or else demons would be treated even worse in the human realms."


    "Retribution will come for the damned! Die! Die! DIE! Why don''t you release them? Just DIE!


    "Stop it, stop it please!" Patrick was drenched in sweat completely pale and crying dreadfully. He had pissed himself and was shivering in his sheets.


    All the sounds stopped.


    The girl stepped closer to him, leaned forward and whispered in his ears. "Release them....."


    "....or die!"


    She used her claws and pierced his chest, slowly squeezing his heart until stopped beating.


    Her abyssal eyes seemed to be overflowing with hatred and malice.


    Patrick woke up in a start! Drenched in cold sweat he looked around but no one was there. He muttered to himself "Was it just a dream?"


    "It was, but it would become the future of you and all demon-kind if you don''t mend your ways." a voice sounded from the darkness.


    Patrick slowly composed himself. He wasn''t stupid, he realized that everything that he had seen and experienced was because of the voice he just heard.


    "Yes sir. I will immediately release them and mend my ways. Please don''t kill me."


    The voice just humphed in disdain and vanished altogether.


    Patrick finally relaxed when the voice left.


    "A true devil!"


    The ability to manipulate people and make them see illusions was something characteristic of true devils. They were mysterious existences only said to exist in myths, but Patrick was sure that he had just met one.


    Patrick hadn''t always been rich and powerful. He had been a normal merchant before the war started, he even had a few human friends that helped in his smuggling business.


    However power corrupts, he too had to pay the price of power and fell into depravity. The visions he just had were like a wake up call to him. The conscience that he had long buried under his temptations seemed to have suddenly reactivated and hurt him all over.


    How hypocritical, when he had sinned the conscience never seemed to exist, and now that his life was being threatened it pop up like an annoying b*tch screaming ''I told you so''.


    ---


    "Do you think that will work?"


    "It should, I have given him a chance. It depends if he is willing to take it."


    "and if he doesn''t?"


    "We kill him and hang his body for everyone to see."


    "We should have done that in the first place"


    "Relax Lily, too much bloodlust isn''t good for your health. Moreover, I choose my targets carefully. He would be even helpful during the merger. If he has to be killed that would be mean my failure because I win all wars before they even start."


    "But not all in the list are redeemable, what about them?"


    "Kill a few , scare the rest. People like Patrick will also help spread the word."


    "The demon was right, you are a true devil indeed."


    "..."


    "But I like it, nothing less is to be expected of the next demon lord. Only a true devil can lead us out of this cycle of war and death. You looked really cool back then!" Lilith gave Lucas a thumbs up.


    Lucas was a bit taken aback. It was the first time that someone had actually praised his schemes. Though Vincent and Martin both respected him, none of them really praised him for that. Vincent was too stupid to understand the intricacies and Martin never commented.


    Lucas smiled genuinely and replied


    "Thanks for the appreciation Lily. Don''t worry there is more where that came from."


    Lilith''s eye slowly twitched at that but she nodded her head in approval nonetheless.


    ''He is just like father when he was younger but slightly different at the same time. If he can truly save our realms with minimal bloodshed we might just, ever so slightly have a fighting chance when the others'' come.''


    "Come on, this is going to be a long night." Lucas snapped her out of her reverie as he was looking at the list and names he had circled.


    Lilith glanced over and couldn''t help but agree.


    "A long night indeed."

 12 Sneaking in Part-1

    Martin had been on the move along with Marcus and Freya. Ever since they decided to walk into the demon''s lair. The king didn''t seem too displeased with their decision, almost as if he had predicted that it was going to happen.


    They were now sitting in an underground base opposite to highly secretive gang members.


    "So you want to go to the Demon realm."


    Of course they had no idea of their identities, the trio had long disguised themselves as aspiring beastmen mercenaries.


    "Yes, we want to join the Thunderous Hawk legion."


    "One of the big five eh! You sure you are up for it."


    "Don''t underestimate us. We are really strong!" as you might have guessed their spokesperson was none other than Marcus. How he managed to convince Freya to let him do the talking i one of the major mysteries of this realm.


    The thugs looked at each other and sniggered "A new sucker every year."


    "Sure, we will be able to provide passage but in no way can we guarantee your safety."


    "Why is that, we can deal with most types of elemental beasts." Martin inquired while raising his eyebrows.


    The thugs looked at each other in amusement.


    "Kid. Beasts are the least scariest thing out here in these parts. What you should really be worried about are the Demon slavers and other Bandit groups. Out here in the borderlands, stuck between the two nations, its no man''s land. Its the survival of thugs like us. War means death, but it also means opportunities."


    "So, you mean you are afraid of others in the same trade?"


    "We aint afraid, its just that when push comes to shove, no one is going to bother saving your sorry asses."


    "We can take care of ourselves all right. Your only concern is to get us through the rifts to the recruitment grounds."


    "Heh, why not!"


    ---


    The Borderlands were truly a no-man''s land. The zone where Grimoria and Saforia were merging was full of many large scale and small scale rifts. The larger ones were mostly guarded by armies on either side but the small scale one weren''t that easy to handle, opportunists, outlaws, slavers and anyone trying to make a buck by fishing in muddy waters would come here.


    There came in all shapes and sizes, Humans , beastmen, demons even an occasional elf. However due to the lack of nation to back them and their origin of beast, beastmen were often treated the worst. Many of them were captured here and turned into slaves. As if that wasn''t enough. It was quite common to find loot, elemental crystals and other precious items around these parts. Thus treasure hunters weren''t a small number. It was like an entire ecosystem. The predators were the mercenary camps. The smaller predators were the outlaws. Treasure hunters were often the scavengers and slaves were the herbivores.


    Yes, out here it was law of the jungle.


    However hidden characters like them were obviously rare. Low-profile wasn''t a thing to people here. If you were capable. There would be many more people willing to take you in than those willing to snuff you out.


    Thus, the group set out to cross the treacherous land and sneak into the demon realm.


    "So, How is life here for outlaws like you. How do you avoid the soldiers?"


    "Life''s pretty sweet, but who said anything about avoiding soldiers."


    "Why is that?" Martin inquired clearly intrigued.


    "We have business relations with them. Smuggling forbidden goods, weapons, drugs everything.


    "Even slaves?"


    The Man was about to answer but hesitated.


    "No, not anymore. For some reason there seems to be recent drop in demands recently. There are also rumors surrounding slavers being killed by some self-righteous vigilante."


    "Hmm, this is new. Slavery is banned in both nations anyways."


    "Only on the surface. They usually just pay a blind eye to it. however the situation seems to be changing recently.


    After all it was only a matter of time before something like this would have happened. All it would take is an exceptionally skilled group of beastmen to rebel and start targeting all slavers for it to fall into chaos. Retribution will always come."


    "Its quite strange for you talk to about retribution?"


    "Not really, we are all outlaws here. Who hasn''t sinned here. No one will admit it but we are always afraid of retribution for our actions. After all, even though the strong prey on the weak here. Who is strong and who is weak keeps changing quite regularly. That''s why we mostly hold back as long as the crime could be traced back to us. There are unsaid rules everywhere."


    Martin couldn''t help but ponder.


    The situation here, it was so uncannily similar to the Anarchy that they had once striven for (excluding the part about slavery). Even though there is no governance, people know there limits and that there are consequences for every action. Unfortunately in such cases retribution always comes as vengeance and cycles of avengers and feuds never end. Justice doesn''t survive long in a real anarchy.


    Though a world where no one had the right to govern you except you yourself was an interesting ideal. It was extremely difficult to put into action.


    As they were approaching the rift, they all couldn''t help but relax.


    "Looks like the trip was easy and uneventful this time. We are quite lucky right!" Marcus commented as they slowly approached the rift.


    Now my friends, has anyone ever heard of Murphy''s law. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Obviously, once Marcus had made such a cliched statement, how could the universe just let them slip by without a cliched response. It would just be wrong, right at the very primordial level of existence.


    So, just as they were approaching dense poisonous gas slowly started to rise around them and shadowy figures obscured by mist slowly walked out of the mist. All that could be seen where black silhouettes smiling creepily at them with dazzlingly white teeth.


    "Surrender or DIE!"


    A creepy voice that seemed to originate from the deepest pits of hell demanded them to surrender.


    Creepy high pitched laughter surrounded them. Everyone seemed to have goosebumps.


    "These aren''t any outlaws. Its the mistdevils. run for you-" a scream was suddenly cut shot as their surroundings were completely silent.

 13 Sneaking in Part 2

    What is the most deafening and overwhelming sound in the universe. It is of course the sound of silence. Their surroundings were wrapped in bone-chilling silence.


    "Its the mistdevils, they are suspected to be supernatural entities born form negative emotions of the battlefield. They are extremely erratic in nature, come and go as they please and they are said to feed on blood." a thug conspiratorially whispered


    "They just said surrender or die. Why would they bother if they just want to kill us either way." Marcus pondered.


    "YO mistdevils! it seems like you are smart creatures. How about YOU surrender and we will let you live."


    Their surroundings seemed to suddenly drop a few more degrees. The silence grew even more oppressive. Then was suddenly broken by the bone-chilling laughter of the abominations.


    The mist grew thicker and the silhouettes seemed to turn an even darker shade of black. They could hardly even see each other.


    "Enough already! Let me just end these circus performers." Freya raised her hands and blew away most of the mist with a whirlwind.


    The devils seemed prepared and suddenly started to phase around them forming multiple mirages.


    They immediately killed multiple thugs


    Martin smirked and immediately struck the ground turning his surroundings into a frozen tundra. "You attacked to kill first. Which means I can now kill you all!" His smile seemed to be as devilish as their hidden attackers.


    He immediately started to attack the mistdevils. His speed was akin to instant teleportation. Unfortunately it was difficult to change directions repeatedly when speeding. He immediately started firing at them with railgun pistol bullets.


    Both the assailants and Martin seemed as if they were on another realm of existence. All the rest of them could see were blurs and afterimages.


    Soon the mist cleared away and martin blew away the imaginary smoke from his pistols.


    Lying around them were six corpses belonging to.... regular beastmen. It seems they had just run into a bunch of imitators.


    "Most of the hired guides were already dead. The rest looked at Martin in horror, but the leader soon recovered.


    "Hmm, looks like you were serious when you said you wanted to join the thunderous hawk legion."


    He looked at the corpses and muttered. "Bloody illusions. Its been quite a time since illusionists have walked the land. They are somehow always associated with devils."


    "Well it seems that show''s over. The rifts up ahead you can probably go the rest of the way on your own." saying as much their guides ran away without wasting a second.


    "You shouldn''t have shown off that much! See you scared them off!" Marcus pouted in mock discontent.


    "More would have died if I hadn''t"


    "Besides, if you hadn''t opened your big mouth we would have passes through easily."


    Martin searched the corpses, he didn''t find anything interesting except a badge with the symbol of a winged eye. He showed it to Freya.


    "Do you recognize this symbol?"


    Freya looked over and her countenance instantly paled.


    "The winged order." she replied while sucking in a breath.


    "Who are they?"


    "They are said to be remnant worshipers of the so-called fallen angels from demon mythology."


    "They are a secret organization that aim to overthrow the current empire to welcome the arrival of the fallen angels."


    "It seems that attack wasn''t as simple as it seems. They were perhaps trying to assess the abilities of the hero."


    "That means we have been exposed?"


    "Not necessarily. They could just be aware of our plan but no one knows our current identities."


    Marcus immediately went over and incinerated the bodies with a light beam. "If we leave quickly we might be able to avoid notice."


    Nodding in approval they quickly moved and crossed over the rift to the other side.


    ----


    The borderlands existed on both sides of the rifts. The mercenary camp head quarters existed near the capital but to reach there, they would have to first reach the recruitment centers in the borderlands, no one could enter official territory without identification or someone vouching for you.


    The humans unlike the demons didn''t hire any beastmen mercenaries to work for them. Instead they were directly recruited into the army. The demons on the other hand belonged to a different realm. So open recruitment wasn''t really possible for them. Hiring mercenaries was an easy solution.


    Following the map they were able to reach their destination without many obstacles this time.


    They entered the tent. A beastmen of well-the hawk clan was sitting behind the desk. He looked over from above his horn-rimmed glasses. He slowly removed a crystal and placed it in front of them.


    "No this is not the legendary talent testing crystal?" he declared loudly.


    ''Nobody asked smarty pants!'' Martin grumbled inwardly.


    "Did you take a good look at it?"


    "Find a crystal each that looks just like this within the next 5 days and we will send you to the headquarters"


    Freya slowly removed three identical crystals from her bag and placed it in front of the man.


    "..."


    "Well that was the fastest test I have ever conducted."


    The situation slowly turned awkward.


    It turns out that it was just a high grade elemental crystal that could be obtained from the nearby monsters. It was attribute-less, meaning it could be used to store mana. It was extremely rare and difficult to find these beasts, that''s why they were expensive too.


    "Looks like you had good information sources."


    "If you can come this far, then you would surely have some talent. I will stand by my word and directly send you to the Headquarters."


    "Thank you!"


    The man then helped provide them with a validity letter and forged IDs. Directly head for the capital. With these documents in hand no one would give you any trouble.


    And thud Martin and friends set out directly for the capital of the Demon nation, unwittingly skipping over an entire entrance test arc.


    -----


    Meanwhile Vincent wasn''t having such an easy time at the borderlands. Unlike the royals with money and connections. He was just a transmigrator stuck in the body of a washed up mercenary with little fame to count.


    He found himself frozen from below the neck in ice while a voice demanded from behind him-"Give me all your valuables or DIE and I will take them from your corpse!"


    For the hundredth time Vincent couldn''t help but complain-Just what is it with the people of this world and death threats? Do they really enjoy yelling the word DIE so much?

 14 The Snake and The Mongoose

    She hated them.


    They took away everything from her.


    Her parents were killed in front of her eyes.


    Her friends were captured and sold.


    Her home had been destroyed.


    She could still remember their smile as they watched everything burn. They had watched on as Her world had crumbled around her and how everything had been taken away from her.


    She wanted to more than just killing them. She wanted their world to crumble like hers had once.


    She escaped and hid in the borderlands. Death and fortune were too sides of the same coin here.


    She would rise and nothing could stop her. She eyed her first target. A snake-beastman. How fitting, she thought! My first prey will also be my natural nemesis. He would be her first stepping stone. Then she would conquer the borderlands and reign as queen. Then all would beg her for mercy.


    Trapped in her delusions, she quickly attacked.


    "Surrender or DIE!"


    Yes! Tremble before this queen! I will make you all pay!


    ----


    It''s not that Vincent couldn''t see the appeal of death threats. In the previous world he too had made his fair share of them. Trapping multiple people in a building and threatening to blow everyone to kingdom come were some of his most enjoyable experiences. The Fear, the terror and pure reigning chaos were something he thrived on.


    It''s just that the people of this world...


    ..had no class.


    Low-level thugs that are more bark than bite. They thought that threatening his life would scare him. Of course not! It was just too damn annoying, they couldn''t even give him any thrill!


    He immediately used his fire to free himself from the ice. He slowly turned around and with a gaze full of genuine sympathy said "Now why did you have to go and say that. We might have become good friends you know. At least try to find out more about a person before you try to kill them. Such a pit-"


    Vincent suddenly paused because the one who had just threatened him was a small girl of the mongoose clan.


    Now, just in case you didn''t know, mongooses and snakes have been nemeses since time immemorial.


    She was pointing a spear made of ice that seemed to be on fire at the same time. Icy flames? Was this a divine flame? Nah! Just a combo move.


    "Cat got your tongue? Hand over everything if you want to live." she smiled savagely and her eyes seemed to reveal insanity.


    ''It''s just a little kid.'' He immediately scatterd makeshift bombs all around the area just to be sure . Then he created iron chains and used them to restrain her.


    "Metal and fire! Tsk!"


    She tried to freeze the chains to turn them brittle but all she could achieve was preventing herself from being burnt.


    "Let me go!"


    Vincent looked on, a tad amused. She was one of the better skilled robbers he had encountered on the journey. The only good thing about encountering robbers was the fun of robbing them back!


    "How old are you girl? Little girls like you shouldn''t be out here in the borderlands." Vincent remarked kindly.


    "I am Fourteen. I am no little girl. Let! Me! Go! I will spare your life and even let you keep your stuff!"


    Of course, age was just a number to the anarchists. Lucas had started off the first chapter of the anarchists at the age of 13. When he died, Vincent himself was only 19, so was his current body. (Martin was 21 and Lucas was 20).


    "Why should I? You just tried to kill me. I need some compensation no?"


    The girl gritted her teeth and looked at him hatefully.


    She took out a dagger from her clothes and threw it over.


    "Here that''s all I have, now let me go!"


    Desperation, unwillingness and hate. The girl seemed to have recently gone through a lot. She seemed to be just on the brink of insanity. Vincent''s eyes slowly narrowed. She reminded Vincent of himself when he was younger.


    "That''s all? Don''t fool me."


    "..."


    "Don''t tell me I was your first target."


    "..."


    "You have never ever killed someone before have you?"


    "There''s always a first time for everything!"


    Vincent smirked. This girl.


    She was a perfect recruit for the Anarchists. She was young full of negative emotions and energy. She just needed a way to shape them. If Vincent had never met the Anarchists, he probably would have become some small time suicide bomber, wasting away his life with almost no impact. He wouldn''t have become the universally feared Infernal.


    "You seem to know an awful lot about first times huh."


    "..."


    "Ok bad joke! Keep the dagger. I am no longer interested in killing you."


    Vincent released her, throwing the dagger back at her, he turned and walked away.


    Of course not! There''s no way he could let such a promising recruit go.


    After a few steps he suddenly turned around and smiled warmly.


    "Though I must admit you really make me curious. With your magic powers you could easily get accepted into a mercenary squad. What are you doing robbing people in the borderlands."


    The girl''s face suddenly froze over.


    "You think I don''t know that! They killed everyone! I need to have my revenge. I don''t care about the war or the fame!"


    "Who, is it that you want dead?"


    "The slavers."


    "They come in all shapes and sizes- demons, humans and other beastmen themselves. I am going to kill every last one of them."


    "You are too weak now. Also one should never let vengeance dictate one''s life."


    "Why do you care! Just piss off"


    Vincent smiled, now here was his chance. He was reminded of the time when Lucas had recruited Martin.


    Vincent knelt and looked into the eyes of the girl


    "What if I tell you that I can help you claim that vengeance. I can help you see them burn. Not just the slavers themselves. I could help remove the very thought of such crimes from the hearts of all men!"


    The girl''s eyes widened in wonder, then she scoffed in disdain. "You really talk big for a snake. Get the point. Why the hell would you help me achieve anything."


    Vincent smiles, this was the moment "Because I can see that you are special. You have the fire in your eyes and once determined nothing will ever stand in your way. All you need is a little direction. Follow me and join the Anarchists. You could be a part of our rise as we sweep across the world."


    "How do I know that you even have the ability to achieve that."


    Vincent smiled triumphantly. Hook, line and Sinker.


    " I was hoping that you would ask that."


    Vincent suddenly snapped his finger and-


    the bombs that he had scatters all over blew up on by one in the most deadly and beautiful of explosions.


    It seems that Vincent was more excited in showing off his new toys rather than recruiting the girl. The only reason he wasn''t cackling madly in glee was the influence of his new body.


    "I can teach you how to do that."


    "Yes! I will follow you! You can call me Kate."


    "Welcome to the Anarchists. My name is Vincent"


    And so the a very odd situation of Snake and Mongoose shaking hands could be seen , both grinning widely with eyes full of insanity.


    ...


    "So, how many people does our organization have?"


    "Currently only the two of us. Three if Martin is still alive, but in this world, It''s just you and me."


    "..."


    "What?"


    "I feel that I have just been scammed big time."


    "It''s just your imagination. Now come on and help me carry the bags."


    Thus the two of them walked off into the distance.


    What would happen when a snake and Mongoose teamed up against the world?


    Only time would tell.

 15 Training the new Anarchis

    It had been a day since Kate had started following Vincent. She was almost completely convinced by now that she had been completely scammed. There wasn''t a single other person in their organization and he was actually planning to apply to mercenary camp.


    However she still followed him as she felt a odd dense of sympathy for thew poor bloke. She wanted to be a queen that reigned supreme and united all beastmen and this guy dreamed of crating some super-shady all powerful secret organization. He was probably as insane and delusional as him.


    Also the guy was strong all right. Moreover, the way he gave death threats and attacked people was extremely cool and amazing. He was also a good teacher.


    A group of bandits were camping out in the open.


    Vincent and Kate walked into the clearing, completely exposed and unarmed.


    Some of them looked over and whistled "Looks like we have some fresh meat."


    "Can you believe they walked right up to us!"


    Vincent ignored all of them and looked at Kate and asked,


    "Do you remember the best way to make someone do what you want them too?"


    "Give them the feeling of pure terror! Threatens to kill someone close."


    Vincent''s gaze softened for a second before going back to his usual self.


    "No, girl that is only for kind folks. Out here in the wild, people only care about saving their own skin."


    The bandits didn''t take kindly to being ignored "Hey quickly leave all your valuables here if you want to live!"


    "Yeah! Leave the little girl too, such a cutie will fetch us a lot."


    Vincent continued as if he couldn''t hear them,


    "Pure terror is when you let someone believe they are in control only to have the ground pulled out from under them. The moment when they realize that their world crumbles around them. The moment when they realize that they are completely in the enemy''s palm, when they realize there is no hope of resistance, is pure terror."


    The girl nodded her head vigorously, then smiled darkly. Of course crumbling their worlds would surely be a pleasurable situation.


    "Then Observe- the power of face slapping!"


    "OY! I will count to ten and if you don''t do as we say, DIE!"


    Vincent tsked "No class at all!" Shaking his head he looked at them with a face full of sympathy.


    "I am afraid that you folks haven''t understood the gravity of the situation here."


    "If you really want to live, give ME all of YOUR money and I would let you go."


    "Hahahaha! Looks like this guy''s brain has short-circuited due to fear!"


    Vincent continued "See that Katie, they currently believe they are in control that''s why they are spouting stupid lines that seem to come straight out of a crappy novel"


    He snapped his fingers and well the camp they were sitting in moments ago was blown up. A geezer of piping hot lava seemed to rise to the sky and fell back down annihilating a lot of their surroundings.


    "Now I have taken the ground right from under their feet!"


    "I thought you meant figuratively when you said it, not literally."


    "This just double the effect."


    "The thugs scrambled in panic and immediately activated their magic barriers."


    "Cheap tricks, but now you won''t be able to harm us."


    "Do you really believe that yourself"


    "Vincent unhurriedly stepped towards them, he seemed to be a devil ripe from the pits of hell.


    He smiled calmly and sincerely at them.


    "Now, if you don''t listen to me I will blow all of you up, in a brilliant explosion."


    "Katie have you ever seen fireworks"


    "I did once when i was really young."


    "Would you like to see some again"


    "Yes!" she clapped her hands in pure happiness, then proceeded to look at the bandits with excitement "Are you going to send these poor uncles up into the sky?"


    "Wait! Don''t kill us! Here take everything we have!"


    "Please let us go! We will do anything for you!" they pleaded miserably.


    "Look, they really are spouting lines that seem to come out of a crappy novel. The power of terror is really strong!" The girl nodded her heads as her eyes glowed in deep understanding. She seemed to have been enlightened.


    Looking at those seemingly innocent eyes the thugs couldn''t help but feel another chill creep up their spine. Devils! Hellspawn! These guys were too terrifying.


    "Don''t think too much. The author was probably too lazy to give such cannon fodder characters any decent lines"


    "..."


    "Here, please take everything! just spare our lives." one poor guy even seemd to wet his pants as he broke down into tears.


    "How about we let them go Vincy, they seem too pitiable"


    "You think so too! Yeah these guys are no fun. I will show you fireworks later!"


    "It''s a promise!"


    The thugs seemed relieved as if they had been blessed by the heavens. Leaving all their stuff they took the first opportunity to flee.


    "That was fun!" Kate remarked after they had left. "We even made a lot of loot."


    "I hope you paid attention to the lesson! I will not bother teaching you later!"


    Kate sighed, there seemed to be something really wrong with this guy. At one moment he would be all crazy and cool. The next he would become a naggy stuck-up bore.


    "Ya! Ya! I remember! Also don''t forget your promise"


    "Don''t worry I always keep my word!"


    "Yeah right!"


    "Here!" Vincent said as he threw a few bags in her direction. "Carry this stuff!"


    "Damn! I am not your pack mule. Don''t take advantage of me!"


    Darn it! Why was she even still following this bastard. Shaking her head in frustration she followed on nonetheless.


    ----


    Vincent thought back to the their recent robbery. Whenever he was in the middle of a fight, his old persona seemed to slowly resurface, but most of the time still acted like a Martin- a stuck-up bloke.


    Vincent sighed, driving away his unpleasant thoughts his mind drifted back to his early adventures with the Anarchists. How they went threatening world governments into giving them supplies, abolish slavery and other stuff. There was this once time they had threatened to blow up a whole city if all their inhabitants didn''t dye their heads hot pink. Though it was later revealed to be just a diversion strategy, everyone had done it as the anarchists were believed to be a bunch of crazy lunatics anyway.


    Those were the good times...

 16 It has already begun...

    Lucas looked at his next targets. The Demon corps. They were the warlords the army generals and extremely radical demon supremacists. Not only would they prove to be a problem with the merger with Saforia, they would also pose a lot of trouble and challenges when Diablo would appoint him as successor. As someone who removed all threats before they could even fester, they were of course the nest on his list.


    Yes, it was no longer ''if'' he was appointed successor. Over the past few days he had mostly scared a lot of the businessmen and landowners into submission. His achievements had been recognized by Diablo and Lucas also felt that ruling a nation would be an interesting experience. After all this new world was a new beginning for him, he was young it was the time to try some crazy shit.


    However he still knew that till now he had only attacked the ''soft'' targets, extremely easy to manipulate. The direct approach was all that was needed for those fools. Those that didn''t listen were just killed by Lilith.


    Lilith...


    That girl was almost as scheming as her father. She may be supporting him now, but as the king''s daughter he knew that she would later become his biggest challenge to overcome.


    "I will help you if things go wrong but you will have to deal with the next targets mostly on your own."


    "Of course Lily, you just relax and watch the show you wont be needed in the next part of purge either way."


    One way to deal with her would be to try and seduce her, but it wasn''t as if she didn''t have similar ideas already. Lucas wasn''t interested in going that rabbit hole anytime soon. He had no time for romcoms- he had seen enough to know that the seducers often fell in love themselves. Lucas believed that if he were to ever involve himself in a romantic relationship it would be with someone he completely trusted.


    That aside he was indeed telling the truth. There was no need for help this time. These type of people were crazy fanatics and smart people. Too control them he will have to do indirect methods, deception, misdirection and subterfuge.


    The best way to make them do something, is to make them believe its their own idea. Convincing, trapping and fooling. It was done equally in the dark as in the light and thus it was finally time to enter their circle. As high-level beastmen mercenaries.


    ----


    Lucas and Lilith thus decided to go undercover and apply to the Darkness league. They were highly involved with the demons and the best option.


    Lucas choose to pretend to be a member of the wolf clan while Lilith chose- surprise surprise to become a black cat beastman.


    Showing the seal of the princess, it was clear that they had connections and power thus the mercenaries didn''t ask too many questions and quickly completed their admittance formalities.


    Of course after joining your past and identities were irrelevant. They even helped to keep it a secret. It was in fact a taboo to ask about someone''s past unless you were extremely close.


    The leader of their camp seemed quite pleased with their presence though.


    Marvin Darkstorm was a tall broad member of the Black Panther clan. His right hand man, Vesian Grey was actually a demon. The son of a famous demon general. He was a bit too rebellious in nature for the army and thus chose to join the mercenaries for more freedom and fun.


    Unlike the other Mercenary camps. The Darkness league was completely loyal to the demon realm.


    "Welcome to the camp. You are promising young recruits. As the war draws near we do needed some elite recruits."


    "Elite cannon fodder you mean" grunted Vesian nearby.


    "Don''t mind him."


    "The inter-camp meet will be held about a week from now. So I hope you would be able to settle in quickly. The final decisions on the war effort will be made then."


    A week from now, that means 15 days left before the war.


    There had already been plenty of skirmishes between the armies but the decisive battle''s date was already predetermined between the two realms. The battleground would of course be the borderlands. In previous wars both the sides retreated due to heavy losses. However this time a deal was secretly made between the two kings. A war treaty would be sent to the demon realm that whichever side is to loose the war is to unconditionally surrender and merge with the new nation.


    Of course though the words merge are used, the losers would basically choose to be subordinated. Thus the current anti-slavery campaign had massive foresight involved. Also if the winning side didn''t have enough power to make the other side accept defeat the treaty would fall apart.


    A massive blow to the morale would be needed for that.


    Diablo still hadn''t told him the details about that. He was planning to retire. It didn''t seem something that a winner would do and if he was planning to lose what is the price they would have to play. Lucas had grown quite attached to the old man over his time in the palace and thus couldn''t help it when an upsetting premonition came over him.


    What was that old fogey planning anyway. Anyways, first things first.


    The treaty had to be accepted and the terms finalized at the inter-camp and army war meet.


    Thus Lucas only had only one week to make sure that when the time came, all the generals and parties involved accept the treaty.


    Shaking his head Lucas cleared his mind of the messy thoughts and bid farewell to the League leader


    They left the tent and walked around camp.


    "There seems to be something going on, everyone seems restless." Lucas commented.


    It could be seen from the body language of most beastmen, something was afoot.


    "Of course, News of your exploits has spread over and more and more beastmen seem to be joining the anti-slavery movement. Imagine their feelings if they realized it was all being orchestrated by the next demon lord. It seems that the wheel of change will soon start turning and our worlds will be able to break free from stagnation"


    "Dear You give me too much credit. Whenever a world stagnates too much it needs to be given an overhaul. No, actually it is the truth of the universe. Entropy always rises, thus stagnation is only the accumulation of power. The moment this world breaks free from it, there would be a massive boom. The winds of change had already started blowing when you made the decision to summon me, what remains to be seen is whether the this upheaval will change the world for the better or for the worse?"


    "Why would you say that?"


    "Because." Lucas smiled widely. It was a pure yet simple smile that contained a lot of meaning.


    "The rise of Anarchy has already begun..."


    ------


    All the talk about Anarchy and subterfuge reminded Lucas of the old days and their first biggest achievement.


    The fall of the Empire.


    Yes, That''s how the anarchists first made it big.


    They began by plotting the demise of one of the word''s three biggest superpowers.


    The Anganeese empire.

 17 Fall of The Empire

    NOTE: I made some minor changes in the chapter as i realized there were some inconsistencies. Sorry for the inconvenience.


    ----


    Bright red.


    No, it was dark crimson by now.


    It was the only color the boy could see.


    It seemed to be take over all of his vision.


    The colour seemed to slowly spread and seep over much like the pool of blood his family was lying in.


    He Lifted his hands in front of his face and all he could see was sticky red liquid dripping from it.


    "Stupid! Stupid! StupiD!"


    "It''s all my fault."


    His small hands clenched until the knuckles whitened.


    "Mom! Dad! Tina!"


    "Please say something."


    There was no response.


    "Anything..."


    They were all gone.


    "Please..."


    The Empire''s soldiers had killed them.


    Why?


    Why did they have to die!


    He didn''t know.


    Perhaps some noble had gotten offended for some petty reason or they had committed some minor crime.


    He didn''t care why either.


    That was how cheap life was here.


    If you didn''t have any standing, or backing you will be immediately killed in broad daylight.


    There were no consequences anyways.


    Why was he the only still alive?


    Just because he had refused to leave his room that day?


    All he did know was that the Empire''s soldiers killed them.


    They had to pay the price for his death!


    Killing is unforgivable!


    But who would he kill.


    The boys hatred was too large to just kill off his family''s murderers.


    He didn''t even know which noble it was.


    Even if he was killed another would rise in place.


    It would be pointless


    But that none of that mattered.


    He would just destroy the entire Empire.


    Simple enough right!


    Why bother with the details, he would just bring the entire empire to its knees.


    Everything else was irrelevant.


    The boy smiled brightly. The fires of vengeance had already been lit.


    That was when the fate of the empire was sealed


    Because the name of the boy was Martin Glace.


    Once he was determined to destroy something, nothing was capable of stopping him.


    ------


    6 years later, the goal was achieved. All with the help of the biggest puppeteer and mastermind in history - Lucas Nothstein.


    The Anarchists had grown all over the world. It was like a cancer. They couldn''t be treated or removed. Under the oppressive regime their revolutionary ideas spread like the common cold.


    They operated under the cover of darkness.


    However not everyone got to see their true face.


    To many nobles of the Empire, they were a shady organization that did arms dealing aiming to dominate the black market..


    To the Empire they were just a bunch of Stratocracy radicals that got banished plotting the downfall of the Hope Federation.


    To the other nations they were empire rebels.


    Most of the nobles had been pitted against each other .


    Controlling the balance of power from behind the shadows some even believed that they were aiming for world domination, which to an extent they had indeed achieved.


    That''s when they finally made their move.


    They tipped the war in the favor of the Empire and pushed the other two nations to the brink of collapse.


    Everything was ready and prepared. As external conflicts became irrelevant, internal conflicts rose steadily. Everyone was in position.


    Lucas had rearranged the Empire into a stack of dominoes.


    All that was left, was to tip off the first piece.


    Martin looked through his scope at the man exiting the Royal Palace. He paused for a second while entering his car.


    The second was all Martin needed.


    His eyes were devoid of all emotions and an extreme calm gripped him.


    Even though he was full of rage and the person who killed his parent was right within his scope.


    The vengeance boiled within him, threatening to break through his composure, yet Lucas wasn''t affected in the least. He had long begin to control his vengeance as a weapon than let vengeance control him.


    All he knew was that this person was a target. Someone the Anarchists wanted gone.


    The Poor Duke''s head blew up like a watermelon as the armor piercing bullet flew right through his head.


    The head of the Rose family had died just like that. The pieces were now set in motion and the fall had begun.


    The blame was on the heads of the unsuspecting Lavender family.


    Next the Rose and Lavender families started a covert war.


    Then news was released that the Lily families had planned out the assassination. and had put the blame on the lavenders.


    The dominoes kept on falling.


    The final straw on the camel''s back was the King''s death.


    The king had long fled the capital, that was being terrorized by Vincent under a bomb threat.


    The army, the Nobles and advisers were all trapped in the Palace.


    However the king had long fled.


    He didn''t get too far.


    The Anarchists didn''t even bother with him.


    He was stabbed in the back by his most faithful servant.


    Who had long been infected with the ideals of Anarchy.


    After all, Those who misuse power will always face retaliation.


    The entire Empire went up in chaos when the servant threw the king''s severed head into the palace.


    It was pure chaos.


    Before anyone could react.


    The Empire had fallen from the within after weakening the other two nations.


    The blood of the nobles had been used to draw the symbol of the Anarchists.


    Right under it were the three principles.


    Power. Vengeance. Chaos.


    Their bodies spelled out the word Anarchy.


    The world world knew right then.


    A new organization had risen in the shadows.


    They called themselves The Anarchists.


    However to the two remaining superpowers-


    They were a pack of wild wolves,


    out for their blood.


    ------


    Lucas looked at Martin.


    Martin didn''t cry in happiness as his vengeance was over.


    Neither did he become a broken person with no goal in life.


    When he had first joined the Anarchists his eyes would always be ice-cold.


    Calm and emotionless.


    Yet Lucas had seen what wasn''t shown.


    A fire deep within. A fire of vengeance.


    As Martin worked with them, they were many times when they had disagreements.


    Times when he was vicious towards the Empire.


    Over time he evolved. As Anarchy showed him the true reality of the planet.


    He started to control vengeance than let himself be controlled by it.


    However he would still need to release it from time to time.


    He slowly started to develop a killer''s code.


    He would take vengeance for those who couldn''t.


    Today, his thirst had been quenched.


    The Overflowing storm of vengeance within him had for the first time in years calmed down.


    Yet, he wasn''t empty as he still had something to live for.


    He had the Anarchists behind him.


    Lucas was curious to see how Martin will change now, now that he had overcome the shadows of his past.


    Not that Lucas was one to talk.


    He himself had never and probably never would be able to get rid of his unnatural thirst for power.


    Never again....


    Lucas then turned and looked at the destruction and aftermath left behind by them.


    Later he would often wonder why did they become labelled as an evil organization.


    Did they use too much blood when drawing the symbol. Probably not...


    Now he just smiled at the fallen nation.


    It was just the beginning.


    The Empire was split between the Stratocracy and Federation like a hot pie.


    The Anarchists didn''t care who ruled.


    To them all rulers were nothing but targets.


    "So what is our next target."


    "The Federation is to messy right now." He was also not ready to destroy them just yet.


    Moreover there seems to be some ''hero'' of sorts trying to reform them.


    A perfect candidate. Lucas would still wait and see how it plays out.


    "It is time to blow up the Stratocracy.


    Those military dogs have been having things too easy. Haven''t they."


    "Yes indeed."


    -----


    NOTE: I made some minor changes in the chapter as i realized there were some inconsistencies. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 18 When night falls will you come to where the red moon shines on the damned?

    Like any demon lord with notoriety to his name, Diablo had 4 demon generals.


    The 4 that controlled the pace of the war. One musn''t ever underestimate a general after all they did rule the startocracy back in Lucas''s old world.


    Lucas looked at the list that had been prepared for him-


    "The first and easiest target should be Vesian''s father - Damien Grey


    A person highly supportive of beast-men and should thus be an ideal ally."


    Lucas noted.


    "Unfortunately he loaths humans to his very core." Lilith sighed in response.


    ''Though he wasn''t a sadist he never left any prisoners alive.'' Lucas added mentally.


    "He would ultimately still be the easiest to convince. He is scheduled to arrive in camp 4 days late, perfect time."


    "The second target- Emma white is a complete emotionless weapon of the throne.


    She is extremely loyal to Father. As long we convince her that accepting the treaty is beneficial to the throne she won''t be a problem."


    But Lucas wasn''t one to fall for that crap. Pure loyalty was just a myth from stories. Only betrayal is eternal. Wasn''t he betraying himself right now. An anarchist trying to claim a throne. Stupidity!


    It''s not like he had a better choice, he was in an unfamiliar world and when the strongest being of the realm wants you to be their heir, you don''t say no. Letting go of such a good opportunity to gain power would be utter stupidity. Of course once he had ensured the smooth cohesion of both the realms he would probably go back to being an anarchist.


    This wasn''t his world anymore. He had no right to force his views upon them.


    "She is a woman of extreme ambition. She obviously has eyes on the throne"


    "So you do realize that the bitch aint simple. Good for you. I always knew she was only playing nice to get nominated. Who would have guessed Father would just flip the table and summon a hier from another dimension."


    "and you?"


    "What about me?"


    "Aren''t you dissapointed that you weren''t chosen as the heir."


    For a second Lilith looked at Lucas as if he was the biggest idiot in the world.


    Then she giggled beautifully and Lucas couldn''t help but admit that she looked hella cute.


    "Do you think that if I wanted to inherit the throne, that you would have been offered it.


    I think it would be alright for me to tell you this now."


    She paused for dramatic effect.


    "It was my idea to summon you from another dimension."


    "..Wait, What!..."


    "You see, most demon lords don''t really have a happy fate."


    "..."


    "The Hero and The Demon Lord are two titles bound by fate, to keep on killing each other. Time and time again."


    "As the Humans have decided to summon an otherworlder as a hero we decided to summon a other-worlder to become the Demon lord. Honestly you were just supposed to be a puppet ruler.


    It''s just that father adamantly refused to hand the throne to a manipulable fool so we tweaked the algorithm to look for a competent summon instead."


    "Brutually honest aren''t you"


    "That I am"


    Inwardly Lucas was flipping out big time though.


    The Humans had summoned a God-damned fucking hero.


    Here he thought he had seen enough heroes to last a life-time but..


    He just hoped that this hero... wasn''t as annoying as the previous one, or else he will just destroy him the first chance he got.


    Of course, they use algorithms here. Unlike the wierdo Diablo, the humans would obviously choose a gullible person that could be fed the save our world crap!


    Unlike the previous world the summoned hero was just another outsider.


    Killing him off wouldn''t affect the natives to an extent that propaganda couldn''t fix.


    That''s it! Lucas was thus determined to eliminate the hero the first chance he got.


    "Moving on... the other two targets are a completely different scenario."


    "Yep, trying to convince the sadistic Roger Black is stupidity. It would be better to just have him killed in the war."


    "Fredrick Scarlet is just a bloodthirsty battle maniac. He couldn''t care less about the treaty as long as he gets to keep fighting and killing."


    "That will be a problem though. I am not sure we can even convince the rest of the people in the borderlands to just go back home and live like a peace-loving do-gooder."


    "Were you even paying attention. Who said anything about peace."


    "Of course. There seems to be multiple third parties that have been on the sidelines for a long time..


    There are elves, there are mermen and of course the fabled to exist-"


    "Fallen Angels..."


    -------


    Emma White was looking out of the window of her room at the sleeping city under the moon.


    She had returned from the battlefield to prepare for the war-meet.


    She was extremely frustrated.


    Everyone knew that the Dark lady had no interest in inheriting the throne.


    Unlike the other generals, she had been the most loyal to the throne and that God damned Diablo didn''t even show any inclination of considering her for the throne.


    Now she was receiving news that the King had found a heir to inherit the throne. A male at that.


    She raised her hand to throw her cup of wine across the room but paused and suddenly asked.


    "Who is it? Reveal yourself!"


    She turned around but no one was to be found.


    On her desk there was an open letter and the feather of a raven.


    The letter seemed to have been written with blood.


    It had only one sentence written on it-


    "When night falls will you come to where the red moon shines on the damned?"


    "Who the hell? A raven''s feather?"


    "Interesting. To think that someone would be playing games within the Demon capital. They sure have gotten bold."


    She turned the letter around.


    "Come alone and you might find what you seek the most."


    "Truly have guts."


    "Of course I would come. I have always been a fan of supersizes."


    The woman known to her enemies as the infamous ice devil, known to be an expressionless and unfeeling weapon was now smiling widely, eyes glinting with wild abandon and excitement.


    "Looks like I might just have some fun tomorrow night."


    -----


    Ever since Martin had come to the Demon capital. Under the calm facade, there seemed to be a lot going on. It looked he would have spend quite some time investigating in addition too reporting at the camp HQ, during his stay in the capital.

 19 Revenant Shadow

    Martin, Freya and Marcus had gotten admitted into The Thunderous Hawk legion without too much trouble.


    They seemed to be mass recruiting cannon fodder. The military meet will probably have a tournament of soughts to classify high level cannon fodder from the low level ones. Of course it will also be used as a premise to decide the balance of power between the various camps.


    The Thunderous hawk legion was an extremely loose group, they were basicaly an affiliation. They didn''t bother much with the members.


    The leader of the camp didn''t even bother showing them his face and just had them enrolled and told to come at the event on time and report to the senior members. It was quite anti-climatic.


    The meet would help them gain a lot of intel on the demons, only exiting wouldn''t be as easy as entering was.


    No important information will be revealed to the mercenaries either.


    They were nothing but pawns.


    They knew that themselves too, but neverthless those who do survive and have a lot of kills become legends.


    It was still chance for him to experience life in the demon city and analyze the characteristics of Diablo as a person and if needed as a target.


    Martin wasn''t arrogant enough to think that he could kill the Demon lord inside the palace but if he were to ever take a single step outside then, hehe....he would show him just why he was called the blue phantom.


    As they split up for the night, Martin decide to explore the city and walked into a pub and listen on the latest gossips.


    "Hey, have you heard that there is a devil on the loose."


    "A DEV-shhh! Keep your voice down idiot!"


    "Yeah, so what about it?"


    "They say he goes around and haunts the dreams of corrupted merchants and forces them to release all their slaves.


    Those who don''t agree die gruesome deaths while asleep."


    "Yeah, they call him the Bloody Liberator"


    "I hear he might go for the army next, and the war is just around the corner too!"


    "Utter nonsense! Its probably just a rogue beastman, I am telling you I don''t even understand why the lord even bothers hiring those lowlives"


    "Well, its better they work for us than those humans. We have already lost too many loved one to them."


    They chatter went on, but Martin couldn''t help but feel even more intrigued.


    Just how many hidden players were there in the shadows.


    They had just had a run in with the winged order not too long ago, now there was some crazy bloody liberator on the loose, not to count he himself was one big variable to the situation.


    The more he stayed in this world the more complicated it seemed to get.


    He then decided to go pursue the clues left behind by the winged order. Just yesterday night there seemed to be a new inscription on it. If his guess was right it was a notification of a meeting.


    ---------


    Lucas observed his target Emma White, the silver-haired, blue-eyed ice queen. He had been observing for a day. The more he oberved the body language and quirks the better he would be able to formulate a plan to deal with her.


    After all no matter how emotionless she may seem, the micro-expression were extremely easy to read for a veteran like Lucas.


    After all to this date only Diablo has managed to stump him, to an extent Liliy too, she somehow manges to influence him not to pay too much attention to her micr-expressioms. He always subconsciously seems to ignore her. All he could do was just keep hs guard up.


    The target seemed awfully agitated, she seemed to be.....anticipating something.....


    As Dusk started to settle, she slipped away from her quarters and headed towards the outskirts of the city.


    Following closely behind in the shadows, Lucas couldn''t help but find his thoughts grow wild. Was she perhaps meeting with a secret lover? Perhaps it was a human and they had a forbidden love.


    Of course not! Lucas noticed that he was getting too distracted by random thoughts lately. Emma White did seem to be anticipating something but her malice towards it wasn''t exactly hidden either.


    --------


    As the moon slowly rose and shined upon the ground. Emma entered the Graveyard of the fallen.


    The big Inscription read, here lie the damned.


    Yes this was the graveyard where they buried the corpses of all humans, beastmen and traitors.


    Where all the criminals and outlaws were buried.


    Why bother burying humans you ask? Well yes, they could just destroy the body but one of the previous demon lords had a twisted pleasure by burying them all together and claiming that all their souls would all go to hell. No one knew what he was really up to.


    The Graveyard was- of course abandoned and thus seemed to be the perfect place for clandestine meetings.


    Feeling a sense of danger she immediately channeled her steam element to levitate herself up in the air, immedeately forming multiple icicles to counter-attack.


    "Who are you? Were you the one who called me?"


    "Quit perceptive aren''t you miss? You can call me shadow."


    "What an original name?"


    "Now, now quite fiesty aren''t we?"


    "I am quite a straightforward person you see. Let me cut straight to the point."


    "Now miss do tell me, do you believe in life after death?"


    "..."


    "What, is this supposed to be some holy propoganda now?"


    "I will take that as a no.


    However, the 7th demon lord, Lucifer the 3rd believed in it. After all he wouldn''t have made such a hellish graveyard for the damned otherwise."


    "Nobody had really ever proven the existence of souls but the demon wanted those buried here to suffer anyways.


    That''s what they did. Lie here and rot away tormented by the malice and damned to hell."


    "That was when our Lord and Saviour decided to enlighten them and save Us all."


    His voice stated to fragment such that it seemed as if multiple voices were coming from his mouth


    "Those that were dead shall now rise


    those that trampled from above shall fall


    We suffered in life, we suffered in death


    We will make the world suffer in undeath


    We are the Revenats Of the Flying Eye"


    The wind started howling and blowing wildly, the crysthaneums lying on the graves started to float and swirl in the wind.


    The man who called himself shadow slowly removed his cloak to reveal his face.


    It was covered in bandages, his eyesockets were empty and his teeth were dirty and rotting.


    "The Lord saved us all. We will spread his holy message and enlighten you all to the divine truth."


    "The time for the world to join us in undeath is approaching soon. Please suppoert our noble cause General White and become one of us."


    Ravenous laughter slowly rose in the air, and the ground started to rumble as varoius corpses dug their way out of the ground and slowly surrounded the Demon general.


    "Shit!" Emma couldn''t help but curse at her current situation. She was completely surrounded. No matter how strong she was, a general without an army was nothing but a joke.


    She knew that this time she was in deep trouble.

 20 Marked for Death- wait it actually worked.....

    Just as General White was being pushed into a corner, crisp footfalls could be heard walking into the graveyard.


    They seemed to cut through silence and atmosphere like a blade in the dark.


    Clap Clap Clap


    "I must really commend you for naming yourself Shadow in my presence, ignoring the fact how cringey that is, I don''t appreciate you stealing my prey." declared a young man as he sauntered through the newly risen undead.


    The man''s presence seemed awfully natural in his surroundings, his dark luscious curls and deep abyss-like eyes gave of the vibe of a ruler of darkness. His hooded cloak obscured the rest of his features as he seemed to walk between light and shadows.


    Two horns could barely been seen jutting out of his head, and his clean white teeth would sparkle brightly while he smiled warmly.


    He looked as if he were the devil reincarnated.


    The young man was of course none other than Lucas Nothstein.


    "And to whom do I owe this pleasure?" replied the revenant flashing back an equally twisted smile.


    The two gazed at each other as they tried to measure each other out, but to an outsider it could almost be mistaken as two long lost friends gazing at each other once re-united.


    "Who I am is irrelevant, I am just a hunter and you are stealing my prey."


    Lucas could see general white looking at both of them, no doubt trying to figure out a way out of the situation.


    Nonetheless, the excited look on her face was unmistakeable. She definitely was thinking something wild.


    Wait a minute.


    She wasn''t one of ''them'' right.


    However that smile...


    Yep he was definitely imagining that, no way in hell was she a fujoshi


    Yea right....


    He turned back to Shadow and continued


    "And you see, it extremely pains me when someone lays a hand on my prey."


    Lucas smiled again exposing his white teeth. "I tend to be extremely unreasonable when in pain."


    Lucas as you might have guessed was extremely pissed.


    Juat where the heck did these undead lunatics spring up from. Like there was no warning at all.


    For fuck''s sake he was sure that information on these lunatics was purposefuly hid from him.


    He was happily planning how to brainwash this stupid general and know he is somehow supposed to save her from this freak.


    Lucas was never a combat expert. Sure he could handle himself in a fight and easily escape unharmed, but that was it, he was not an expert in fighting.


    Psychological warfare on the other hand was exactly his forte.


    The revenant replied after pondering a moment "What exactly do you need from our newest member sir. She is soon going to be one of us. We aren''t stealing her, we are just welcoming her into the embrace of our lord."


    Tch..


    Bloody lunatic...


    "You see, I need her alive at least till the meet. You can do whatever you want with her after that."


    "Well, a nice proposition but I see no reason to do so, moreover I have strict orders to turn her before the meet." the revenant replied with a hint of regret in his tone.


    Lucas nodded in sympathy "It is indeed true. Mind telling me what do you intend to use her for.


    If our goals align we might even come to an agreement"


    Lucas was of course bullshitting.


    There was no way in hell he was siding with a lunatic who wanted to watch the whole world burn.


    (\u003ccough\u003e Vincent \u003ccough\u003e it seems was an exception to this rule.)


    He was just staliing for time while preparing and positioning his magic arrrays.


    Lucas was always a fan of theatrics.


    He was silently placing mirrors all around while preparing to turn himslf into smoke.


    When the time came he would annihilate them easily.


    "Well she would just be an easy way for us to infiltrate the Demons and how she is going to be used, cannot be disclosed to outsiders."


    "In fact, adding you to the list of undead would be sooo much more fascinating." he replied silently licking hjis rotten teeth and lips with his tongue.


    Well so much for stalling.


    "Is that so." Lucas sighed. "What a pity then."


    He pointed a finger gun at the revenant.


    "All who stand in my way, shall be marked for oblieration


    Then froze. Old habits die hard it seems..


    Back when he was the leader of the anarchists, he had never gotten his hands dirty.


    Those he wanted dead, he would just point finger guns at and Martin would finish the job, once Lucas snapped his fingers. Really cringey but it put great psychological pressure on the enemies.


    It was only funny till the blood started spilling. The


    Lucas slowly withdrew his finger gun and sighed to himself "It seems like I will have to get my hands dirty this time."


    The revenant however still wanted to chat "Join us too. The time for our rise has come, wouldn''t it be better to fight with us than against us." he looked over creepilly and seemingly lustfully at Lucas.


    Lucas grimaced, the more that guy talked the more disgusted he felt.


    He walked backwards to his sahdow portal, preparing to begin the show, but paused for a second his eyes taking on a mischevious glint.


    He tilted his head to one side and looked at the revenat right in the sockets.


    He snapped his fingers.


    "Die."


    He said as if it was more of a fact than a command. As if that were the most natural of things in the world.


    He didn''t really expect anything to happen, but it did.


    Shadow died.


    His head exploded suddenly and the blood and grey matter scattered everywhere onto the surrounding zombies.


    The entire graveyard was held in dead silence.


    Emma White was staring at the headless corpse, eyes wide open, unable to believe that the man could kill others with a snap.


    Ting, ting, ting.


    A small bullet casing bounced and rolled down to his feet.


    Lucas silently picked it up and read the inscription.


    .300 Winchester Magnum


    Lucas closed his eyes and smiled widely, silently uttering a word.


    "Martin...."


    However before he could spend any more time processing the situation few small spiked metal balls were thrown into the graveyard.


    Without wasting a second he grabbed the demon general who was still trying to figure out what the fuck was going on, and escaped...


    As the entire graveyard was full of explosions and flying shapnel shreeded zombies like swiss cheese, Lucas could just make out the sound of someone laughing maniacally.


    "Die, you filthy zombies! Die! HAhahahaha! Feel the wrath of my EXPLOSION!"


    "Yea, just looking at them make me puke."


    Lucas deadpanned


    "Fucking Vincent too!"


    "Just what the Fuck is going on here tonight!" General White exclaimed while looking at Lucas.


    He shrugged, responding-


    "You and me both pal"


    "You and me both..."

 21 A Case of Hit and Run

    When Martin had decided to go and check out the meeting place of the winged order, he hadn''t expected to uncover a huge conspiracy.


    Going on his own without Marcus and Freya perhaps wasn''t the best idea after all.


    "Why haven''t the mistdevil group arrived here?"


    "I guess the summoned hero took them out."


    "Is that so.....If he managed to take them out. It would be better not to interfere in his fight between the demon lord."


    "What about the successor?"


    "We haven''t managed to find enough information on who the Demon Lord has chosen to be his successor. It seems like he just popped out of nowhere."


    "Currently let us try to infiltrate their ranks, we can release those lunatics of the flying eye onto them."


    "Yeah, if they manage to..ahem. Increase their ranks it might be able to get us more inside information."


    "Tell Shadow that the Lord wants him to be at the Lucifer''s graveyard tommorow night, and turn all who come. We will make sure of the rest."


    They were planning a horrendous operation involving raising undead, and there scheme wasn''t limited to any one nation. He had to finish his job here and quickly return to the human realm. Nothing was as simple as it seemed.


    Martin came early and took position. As he was scoping out the battlefield he could see a silver-haired woman come in.


    ''Hmm, that must be the infamous ice general.''


    He saw the lunatic from the winged order explaining his evil schemes.


    That''s when he came in.


    A cloaked figure hidden in light and shadow.


    The familiar voice, the familiar style and that same damned smile.


    That familiar smug expression that just made you want to punch him in the face.


    When the figure pointed a fingergun at the revenant, Martin had already subconsciously pointed his rifle at the target.


    And when the figure snapped his fingers, Martin had already pressed the trigger before he could realise what he was doing.


    The bullet accelerated by lightning element pierced right through the skull of the revenant before exploding it into a mess.


    Old habits die hard indeed...


    Martin could recognise those abyss-like eyes of the cloaked hunter from miles away.


    Lucas.


    The Prince of Shadows was here.


    Martin felt extremely complicated.


    What was Lucas doing here? Was he even real and not a hallicunation? What was his endgame this time? Why was he saving the demons? Was he summoned too? Why did he have honest-to-god-bloody-fucking-horns for shit''s sake?


    Did Lucas want the Anarchists to rise again? And if he did, did Martin want to join him this time?


    There were too many questions, but too little answers.


    Currently he was holding the title of the hero, the last person in their lives who had held that title was responsibile for the fall of the Anarchists.


    How would Lucas react?


    Should he go and meet him now?


    Then it happened.


    Again.


    The entire graveyard blew up in explosions, like roses in bloom.


    No, that wasn''t it.


    He heard the unmistakable voice of a lunatic telling them to taste his EXPLOSSSION.


    Martin''s hands started shaking.


    He had just gotten a glimpse of Lucas when.....


    The scene was too bloody similar to what he had seen when their base self-destructed.


    All he could do was watch on helplessly from a distance when everything blew up in explosions.


    Martin took a deep breath-


    "Fuck You Vincent!!!!"


    "Just go to hell or something!"


    "Senseless Asshole, I know its you. The next time I see your stupid face, i am going to punch you so hard!"


    He damn well knew that this stupid explosion addict was none other than Vincent. It was too much of a bloody coincidence to be anyone else.


    Lucas was already here, why not Vincent too.


    Nothing made bloody sense anymore.


    No one else would be as dense and ruin a moment.


    Martin decided to swiftly leave the scene.


    There was too much of a commotion, the demon corps would arrive soon anyways.


    More importantly, he needed time to think.


    Too much had happened in too short of a time span.


    -------------------------------


    Once Vincent and Kate reached the regristation point of the flaming knights, they were rolling in cash.


    Ignoring the amount of times they robbed bandits, the rest of their journey across the borderlands was quite smooth.


    ''Now we have enough capital to kick start the Anarchists''


    ''Now we have enough bling for this queen to build her kingdom.''


    Even the Regristration was smooth.


    They just checked the control over the fire element, and asked them to go and report at HQ.


    It was quite anti-climatic.


    However that was as far as their smooth journey went.


    They forgot to bring a map, and thus on the way to the capital, they got lost multiple times.


    Their bad luck just didn''t stop coming.


    They ran into high level bandits 9 times, barely escaping each time.


    They ran into the middle of beast horde, stole the egg of high level creaure and more about 13 times, barely making it out with their lives each time.


    They encountered various supernatural phenomenon 2 times.


    A village full of dead people that happened to be cannibals - they ran.


    A mistdevil attack in the middle of a desrted road - they ran.


    They were extremely low on mana reserves.


    Vincent felt extremely vexed as the pride of the anarchists had been rubbed into the dirt.


    Kate just felt even more sure, that she had been scammed big time, and kept on questioning herself why did she even agree to become the protoge of this loser.


    Filthy and tired, they barely managed to spot the capital city in the distance.


    It was like the sun had risen after a long night.


    Like hope had finally arrived for them.


    Trudging towards the city, calamity struck again.


    Fucking Zombies everywhere.


    "Just what are these abominations." Kate remarked whil scrunching up her nose.


    Vincent was pissed off, they had been travelling for so long. He just wanted to find a fucking inn and sleep.


    He snapped.


    Enough was enough.


    "Feel the wrath of my EXPLOSION!! Ya fucking Zombies"


    "Die! Die! Die!"


    "That should teach y''all to stay out of our way."


    "Ye heard ''im, nobody blocks this queen. Just go and explode!"


    He could just barely make out the voice of people cursing at him, but Vincent just didn''t give a flying fuck.


    "Well the roads now clared sweetie, off we go."


    "Finally"


    And just like that.... both of them left the scene and went on towards the city not even bothering to glance at the dumbfounded parties around him.


    Like seriously they just came, blew everything up, and left as if nothing happened.


    Well judging from his character, even if he did find out that Lucas and Martin were nearby, he still would have ignored them and left for the city.


    -------------------------------------------------


    As everyone had left the graveyard, all that was left was steaming piles of debris, burnt flesh and blood.


    In a corner, one lone zombie seemed to have survived, it slowly completed its body by collecting other pieces of flesh.


    It straightened his back and his eyes seemed to gain the sparkle of intelligence.


    "Thank the Lord, that I am not restricted to one body, or I would have been a goner."


    "Please forgive me lord, I failed the holy mission."


    "This lowly one miust be punished."


    The zombie took his hands and used them to slowly claw out his eyes and throw the onto the ground.


    "However, there seems to be many new players on the field. Many new ssacrifices will be prepared. It seems like thereis going to be a lot of excitement."


    Removing his hands from his face, the newly revived revenant Shadow, couldn''t help but laugh maniacally, while blood was slowly dripping out of his now empty-sockets.


    "HA! ha! Ha! hA!"


    "The Undead shall rise again!Prasie the Lord! Praise the Saviour!The Revenants of the Flying Eye shall reign,The world shall be cleansed for its injustices."


    He then slowly retreated into the shadows, before the demon corps could come to investigate the incident.


    ----------------------------------------------------

 22 The Start of a new Era Start of Arc-2

    (Arc-2 start: The Inter-dimensional phenomenon)


    As Lucas and Emma retreated from the graveyard, he slowly went over the recent events.


    He was 99% sure that the sniper was none other than Martin. The bullet and the shot all pointed towards it.


    Diablo did mention about a hole in space-time. It is perfectly possible that they weren''t the only ones who had exploited it.


    The only other person Lucas knew that was summoned here was the human hero.


    That would mean, that Martin could very well be the hero. Martin, a hero!


    That was so ridiculous that Lucas didn''t even know where to start. Either way he will decide how to handle the Martin situation later, it wouldn''t be wise to approach him now as there is a huge chance that he is under surveillance.


    There was a much bigger problem currently. One that started with a capital V.


    Vincent Crepitus.


    Though, Lucas had no proof he was sure of his instincts. The hit and run bomber they had just met had to be Vincent. It couldn''t be anyone else.


    But.....


    Vincent shouldn''t be alive.


    He was at the very epicenter of the explosion.


    The fact that he survived and was somehow transported to this world, meant that the space-time hole was a lot more mysterious than originally perceived.


    It also means that Vincent is a wild-card, one that no power knows about.


    ''The Demons and Humans couldn''t the only ones aware of the space-time anomaly. The ever silent Elves and merpeople should also have the necessary technology, not to mention whoever were these guys at the revenant of the flying eye.''


    ''There were many ways to exploit this anomaly. Humans and Demons decided to summon us here, it is equally possible that they also sent someone to our world that we don''t know about. That could also be the case with other races.''


    ''Which means that our current lives aren''t as irrelevant to our previous world as we first thought.''


    ''All these possibilities and we are still only talking about this dimension, the multiverse should also have other worlds interested in inter-dimensional contact/expansion.''


    Originally Lucas was just passively completing a quest to succeed as The Demon Lord, but now he felt an extremely new surge of urgency.


    ''The reason that I win all my battles before they begin is that I know the position of every piece on the chessboard before making a move.''


    ''Now however there are too many unknown elements. The chessboard can also no longer be confined to a 2-dimensional plane. He had to take the initiative and speed up the process. He had to finish this war before it started.


    Just manipulating around was not going to be enough. The time to slowly test and measure his opponents, surroundings and the world was over.


    He couldn''t mope around his loss anymore. The last time he lost because he didn''t manipulate the public opinion in his favor and blatantly used underhanded tactics.


    It was time to take action. The Anarchists will start spreading their claws in this world too. Lucas would make sure they would never leave the shadows. They would be a force that will keep watch over the rest of the world and make sure that the common people don''t suffer. Pure Anarchy wasn''t possible, but rule under Anarchists was.


    He had a world to conquer, and it wasn''t going to be the last as he knew that things would soon get multi-dimensional.


    Emma White looked at the man in front of her, she had expected to find some excitement in her outing, but this was a lot more than she had bargained for.


    After reaching a distance the both of them stopped moving.


    The man''s aura seemed to change throughout. Before if he, might have seemed like a controller of darkness, now he seemed like a Monarch hidden in Shadows.


    One with ambitions larger than the world itself.


    "Originally, my plan was just to make sure that you support the treaty the humans propose."


    "Now, it seems like there are many more parties hoping to profit from this war, and you are an easy target."


    General White scrunched up her eyebrows, just who did he think was an easy target.


    "Now, I would like to propose a deal with you. I can promise the title of Demon Lord to you if you agree to join our organization and follow all of our orders. You don''t even have to become a zombie!"


    "Why do all of you keep offering me the throne? Is it-"


    "Yes, the fact that you want the throne is ''that'' obvious."


    "..."


    "You can make that decision later, I will come and visit you. For now, you just have to agree to the treaty. If we win the war you will get to become the monarch of two realms.In exchange, I will take care of these Revenants silently. How about this deal. You have nothing to lose either way."


    Emma couldn''t help but feel tempted. God knew how long she had lusted for that throne.


    Before it seemed impossible, as the crown prince Lucifer the 5th seemed all set for succession, but then after his mysterious disappearance he was pronounced dead. The dark lady had never shown interest in the throne but the rumors that the king had found a new heir were all over the place.


    Help from a mysterious organization would increase her chances by a lot. He was right, for now, she would accept the deal and would think about the other offer later on.


    "I will think about it."


    "Glad to hear it"


    With that Lucas slipped into the shadows and went right back to camp.


    He needed to have a chat with Lilith. As much as she said she had no designs on the throne, it could only mean that her ambitions were much greater.


    She could either be an extremely valuable ally and an asset to the Anarchists or an extremely deadly enemy.


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Adam had won.


    He had defeated the Anarchists and wiped them off the face of Terra.


    He had saved the world and made it a better place.


    He was the hero of the entire planet of Terra.


    Unfortunately, the last attack made by the Anarchists in their dying throes had affected them heavily. Many of his friends and allies had died in the explosions. The important ones had survived as they had stayed behind.


    He would have died too, but for some reason, Lucas had decided to save him before sinking to the bottom of the ocean.


    If that was all it would have been fine, unfortunately, it wasn''t.


    The Island that once used to be the base of the Anarchists, now is a no-man''s land.


    A spawning point from where ''they'' came.


    ''Otherworlders'' of all shapes and sizes.


    Of all races and origin-worlds.


    From different dimensions and orientations.


    Bringing things like Magic, futuristic technology, sorcery and a lot more.


    The interactable world had become so much larger.


    The existence of other worlds had just become mainstream, as more and more worlds learned of the existence of others and made contact with others a dark forest of mistrust was slowly developing.


    An inter-dimensional war was soon going to take place, and Terra was going to be the battlefield.

 23 Secrets from the Pas

    Adam had been a part of the Hope federation as a kid. When he saw that the people he believed in crush the hopes of their nation he had felt unparalleled hatred. Especially towards his parents, big-time politicians who just couldn''t wait to get their hands dirty and exploit everything they could.


    He felt extremely disgusted. He often questioned himself why people had to each other. He had decided as a child that he would change the twisted world for the better.


    Where everyone hurt each other, he would rather burn himself than hurt someone else. He would be the bright light that would guide everyone to the right path. He would put an end to all misery in the world.


    When the Anarchists had first risen, Adam had been their biggest fan. He felt that he had finally found others who thought like him. Hearing that their leader Lucas was someone his age ignited an even stronger passion in him to burn all his potential to be the spark of change. He used to look up to them...until they decided that human lives were as cheap as the people they were trying to stop.


    Adam had never felt as heartbroken as he was back then, the worst part was that deep within a voice agreed with them. It said that some things were unavoidable, and some sacrifices had to be ma


    Those he believed to be his heroes turned out to be villains instead.


    Heroes never came, they are within you. He didn''t need someone to be his hero. He would be the hero he wanted, and the one that the world needed.


    --------------------------------------------------------------


    Lilith looked into the distance as she went over the events of the past few months. It all started with the disappearance of her older brother Lucifer the 5th 6 months ago, before the war even began.


    He was the support and the successor of the nation, the successor of the demon lord. He was however never known for his fighting powers, he was known for his inventions and discoveries in magic technology. When he had disappeared he had been researching inter-dimensional technology and had been trying to rupture holes into space-time.


    What they knew was that he had either died or succeeded.


    However, she knew her brother the best that idiot would never want to come back if managed to escape this world. He knew how much that doofus hated killing and war. Quite a failure of a demon. At least he never let his enemies find that part of him.


    She turned around and looked at the young man in front of her.


    When they had discovered another hole and fed the algorithm to look for the next demon lord, they had been hoping to find Lucifer, instead, they found this man.


    Lucas Nothstein.


    The man was an enigma that wore many masks, sometimes a naive child, sometimes a lunatic rebel, at times a reigning monarch of the night and at others a handsome gentleman.


    What was his true self, what was his true goals, from what she did know, he could lead the demons as a capable demon lord, what she still wasn''t sure was whether he was worth the risk. Whether he could be trusted to become the next demon lord without making the mistakes os his predecessors.


    The man had been staring at her for a while. he decided to break the silence.


    "I have decided that I would not become the next Demon Lord."


    "Why?" Lilith asked back expressionlessly.


    "Let me tell you a story about a little boy"


    "The little boy always used to believe that heroes would come and save his world."


    "He slowly lost everything important to him, but he kept on believing in them"


    "However, heroes never come."


    "So, he decided to be one himself. He had felt powerless so he decided to become powerful enough to control his fate."


    "He hated the overwhelming power that his opponents held, he had decided that no one should hold that much power, the world would be better off in anarchy."


    "However as he succeeded, he realized that he enjoyed the power he gained, the very power he didn''t want anyone else to have."


    "He never became the hero he set out to be. As he went up the path of power he slowly became a villain. However he was adamant that he was doing it all for anarchy."


    "He ultimately spiraled into self-destruction"


    "The power he had gained for his freedom, robbed him of his freedom instead. Perhaps it was too much power, perhaps too little or maybe it was just the wrong type of power. It could be that he had just used it wrong. The boy was me. Being summoned here and given a second chance at life I have been analyzing my past a lot."


    "I have decided that as an Anarchist trying to become a king would be stupid and hypocritical, also my to beneath my ambitions."


    "My quest for power was never wrong. You cannot have too much power-"


    Lucas turned and smiled at Lilith. Immense confidence seemed to be oozing out of his pores. He seemed to be clear of what exactly he wanted, perhaps for the first time in his life.


    "Where I went wrong was to let the power control me and take away my freedom. What I have to become is the leader of the Anarchists, an organization that unlike its name doesn''t go about destroying kingdoms, but this time keep them in check and makes sure no one suffers the way I did"


    Lucas paused again to once again look at Lilith in the eyes, his abyss like eyes seemed to tug at her soul.


    "You should know that Lady Of Darkness, you were never interested in becoming the Demon Lord as your ambitions were much bigger"


    "And what if I did?" Lilith replied by raising an eyebrow. She suddenly felt a bit apprehensive or even scared of what Lucas might say next.


    "So, you see you can either be a great ally or a deadly enemy."


    There it was. A sinking feeling slowly started to develop in her stomach.


    "Due to the sincerity that your old man has shown me, I will complete his goal of ensuring the security of the demon race and help in the smooth merger. I can even make sure that in the new nation demons will have a lot of prosperity and the war will and smoothly.- Unfortunately, we don''t have enough time."


    "Time for what?"


    "I am not the only one summoned here, and my intuitions are indicating that a much bigger war is coming. I am sure you are aware of that. It''s just that your plan isn''t fast enough."


    "I Lucas- The Prince of Shadows always win my wars before they begin. As this war is my own, I will have to end it before it even begins."


    "What do you plan to do?"


    "It''s quite simple actually- Its time for the..."


    Lucas continued while raising his hands and looking up towards the sky


    "..Return of the Anarchists"


    "The question here is whether you would be on our side or against us...."


    "Lilith, lady of darkness- Will you join the Anarchists?

 24 The official reunion.

    "-NO FRICKING WAY!"


    "Pretty Please!"


    "No!"


    "Well screw you, I will go and ask myself"


    This little girl is getting more of an attitude every passing day. Vincent humphed in exasperation. He had just asked her to go and ask around the market where to find materials.


    It would be a lot less suspicious if a little girl goes asking for sulphur, phosphorous, and other dangerous chemicals.


    Well after asking around he had to give up. The most he might get was some coal. This world hadn''t even begun the steam revolution yet. Widespread magic has reduced a lot of innovation, not to mention the frequent warring where the strong prey on weak culture is bred. Research work was almost non-existent.


    They had gotten admitted into the Flaming Knights. The captain and vice-captain were quite the unique bunch. For now, they only had one job, and that was preparing for the army meet.


    So, accumulating strength was the most important for now. A good arsonist prepares. Looks like he will have to improvise and experiment with the native elements of this world to find the best explosives.


    "Let''s go Kate. We are going to go find a place to experiment with all the crystals we collected in the loot. If I am right then things are going to get a lot more heated out here."


    -------------------------


    "Yes, I will join you," Lilith answered. "It''s not like I have much of a choice."


    "Well, For now, secretly visiting people in their homes will take too long. We will need to directly prepare for a big show at the army meet."


    "The magical artifacts in this world are extremely low and all the artificers seemed to have fled to the elves for safety from the war. So, it seems we will also have to improvise and build our own devices for the coming time. It is time to arm ourselves"


    "I didn''t know you had such skills?"


    "I don''t...but I know someone who does. All we have to do is wait for the signal."


    ---------------------------------------


    Martin had been in a trance ever since he had returned to the inn. He didn''t know what and how to process the situation. Just a few weeks ago he had seen everyone go up in ashes, now at least two of them, the most important ones at least we''re still alive.


    Martin was happy. Yes he was thrilled that he would get to see them again. However he wasn''t sure what he wanted anymore. He clearly had a mission to kill the demon lord.


    Now, he didn''t know whether any of this was important anymore. What was necessary was to meet and clear things up.


    He did want to end this war, as an anarchist it was his duty to fight against the injustice of the world. Lucas would also be interested. They had to meet but not as anarchists but under their current identities.


    He went and called Marcus and Freya-


    "So, what did you want to tell us?"


    "Well, there have been some developments. First, I would like you to meet a friend of mine."


    "First follow me."


    They slowly exited the inn and started walking on the empty streets of the city.


    "Did you make a new friend while you were investigating yesterday. Is there some sensitive information?" Freya asked thoughtfully.


    "You will see, when you meet them."


    "Them?"


    "Just wait for the signal."


    "Which signal-"


    "shhh! Did you hear that?"


    "What?"


    Then in the distance far from the border of the city they could hear a huge explosion rising like a mushroom cloud in the distance.


    "That....is the signal. I knew that there is no way that lunatic could spend a day without making a huge scene.


    ---------------------


    "So that was done by your friend who is supposed to help us make the artifacts?"


    Lilith asked


    Lucas awkwardly scratched the back of his head the replied- "Well, he does have a bad habit of attaching self-destruct buttons on his devices. Never mind. We have to reach him before anyone else does."


    -------------------------------


    "Holy shit, when you were experimenting with explosives, you didn''t say anything about weapons of mass destruction," Kate yelled at Vincent while washing the soot off of her face.


    "You are too naive, this is not even close to a real terror weapon. It is equal to a few stacks of dynamite. Nothing much. Wait till you see the missiles. Those are basically explosions on wings. Absolute beauties."


    Kate shook her head, no doubt thinking that she had gotten herself in the wrong company. Her parents had always told her to avoid crazy people, looks like she discovered the truth too late.


    "Let''s leave to another place to test out more prototypes. Trying to forcibly react fire and water crystals, is good enough. I can''t wait to see how Light and Dark react.


    However, before they could move any further Vincent could barely see a blue streak of light speeding towards him from the corner of his eyes. Just as he dodged it, It came back towards him and a big punch smacked him right in the face, sending him flying into the crater left by the explosion. However thanks to his snake lineage he was able to balance himself easily.


    As the Blue blur slowly became visible Vincent couldn''t help but have his jaw drop.


    "What the hell was that for Martin!"


    "I just felt like it! You just keep blowing everything up perhaps some of your screws would have been blown out of your head. I was just helping screw them back again!"


    "But why the face. You always bully me."


    Just as they were bickering they suddenly stopped as they saw someone walk out of the shadows next to them, clapping slowly as he entered.


    "Well, I am glad to see that you too are getting along well."


    Vincent turned and saw the face of the newcomer. Sure enough that smug face that just made you want to beat him up was still there. Lucas...


    "Lucas..is that you? Wait....why do you have horns."


    Lucas''s face instantly darkened, he then regained his composure and asked-


    "Why is your skin green and why do you have a tail sticking out of your butt."


    Vincent opened his mouth then closed it again.


    "Let''s all agree to never speak of this again."


    The three of them all nodded in agreement and an awkward silence slowly settled over them.


    Looking at each other they couldn''t help but...


    collectively burst into maniacal laughter like the lunatics they were.....


    A few meters away Marcus, Freya, Kate, and Lilith couldn''t help but look at the trio while huge question marks seemed to be written all over their faces.


    What they could realize that this seemed to be the start of something new, something that the entire-multiverse would remember for years to come.

 25 Planning for the Military-Mee

    "Now that we have gotten the reunion out of the way let us get on with the introductions, shall we?"


    "I am Lucas, ex-leader of the anarchist, the current heir to the demon lord. This is Lilith the Princess"


    "Nice to meet you" Lilith curtsied while surveying the others coldly, obviously surprised about the presence of the human elites.


    "The name''s Vincent, you ladies can call me Vince, this runt here is called Kate. I am just an explosion enthusiast."


    "Who, the hell did you just call a runt!" Kate retorted while failing to kick Vincent in the shins.


    "I am Martin Glace, these are my companions Marcus and Freya-"


    "Oh, I know them very well. I am quite surprised to see you two on this side of the borderlands, Head Mage and Head Knight" Lilith remarked coldly.


    "Likewise it''s a pleasure to meet you Lady of Darkness." Freya replied in an equally expressionless tone. There seemed to be invisible sparks flying between their eyes.


    "-and I guess I am now The Hero of Saforia." Marcus continued unfazed.


    The surrounding temperature seemed to suddenly drop by a few degrees. Lucas smiled and softly muttered "The Hero? That name brings up some memories."


    Then he suddenly exchanged a glance with Vincent and they both burst into another fit of laughter.


    "M-Martin is The H-Hero! Bro this is Gold!" Vincent wheezed out.


    "Yes our little vengeful maniac has finally grown up." Lucas replied while wiping tears out of his eyes.


    "Hey! No fair! Who the hell was just proclaiming to be the heir to the demon lord now?"


    "But still, \u003cMartin the hero\u003e just sounds so wrong. It''s like they accidentally summoned you here instead of poor old Adam."


    "Ok, let''s get down to business here, I have no interest in letting the upcoming war happen. I am sure you all know by now that both the kings are planning for a merger after the war?"


    "Yes"


    "I still believe that the war will cause too many irreparable losses. it would be better to resolve all conflicts before the war begins. All we need to do is to raise the Anarchists to unite the world under their banner while removing all unsavory elements along the way."


    "Don''t you think killing will be counterproductive to our goals" Marcus asked.


    "We can blame it on the winged order. We also need to take care of them and eliminate them, before their main forces can arrive. They are already too much of a Pain."


    "That we can all agree on." Freya nodded.


    "Ahem! So Boss! You guys can continue I still have some experiments to complete. Ok, Kate, these are the other Anarchists, I totally didn''t scam you.


    Now just say Hi to them and we will leave."


    Kate was obviously taken aback by all these new arrivals. Heir to the Demon Lord, The hero of Saforia. Just what the heck was going on. The rival nation leaders are already surrounding this young queen!


    When she realized that they were a part of the Anarchists she was now sure that maybe Vincent hadn''t completely scammed her.


    "Hi!" She excitedly waved her hands at them.


    "Whoa, whoa! You aren''t going anywhere Vincent!"


    "Why? "


    "The Demon corps have already almost caught you twice. Can you please stop playing with fire" Lilith stated.


    Vincent looked at her and smiled slyly. "Girl! I love to play with fire!"


    Lucas facepalmed. This idiot will never learn.


    "Ahem what I meant was we needed your help in constructing some good magical equipment. I will tell you the details. I am sure you must have enough materials by now. There is no way you didn''t rob every single person you could see, if you managed to cross the borderlands to reach here."


    "About that... I kind of exploded most of them."


    "..."


    "..but I should have enough, for your purposes!"


    "Good! I will explain the rest of the plan to you guys nows. Now listen up."


    ---------------------------------------


    A few hours later at the inn.


    Marcus commented while slumping onto a chair "I didn''t know that you had such cool friends bro! They seem like some really swell people."


    Freya was busy pacing up and down the room and couldn''t help but retort. "Seriously! What I didn''t expect was that the demons also knew how to conduct summoning rituals. They also now know of our presence. I hope this Lucas can keep her mouth shut."


    Marcus went on obliviously "This Vincent guy totally gets it man! I can''t wait to see my modified sword."


    "Are you even listening! This is so frustrating. Do you think we can trust these people." Freya was clearly agitated now.


    Marcus sighed and turned to her "Can you trust Martin?"


    "Yes, I ... from what we have seen of him till now. He is genuine in his desire to save our nation and he might not be an ideal hero material, he can still be trusted."


    "Then, just trust his friends too. Let us try to go along with the plan for now. The winged order is a mutual enemy either way."


    --------------------------------


    The first comment Lilith made after returning was-


    "I never expected your friends to be this unique. However as I am now an anarchist too. I have to admit that the other members aren''t too shabby either."


    "Well, the Anarchists only admit quality people."


    "So, what is the current plan. We have to first deal with the remaining problems on this side of the borderlands before crossing over. That means dealing with the demon generals, the mercenary camps, and the winged order. We currently have people in most of the camps. We will have to pay some visits to the generals and camp leaders. By the time the military meet has ended. We have to suppress all the mercenary camps and deal with the generals. I have decided to reveal my identity as Diablo''s heir in a soul-stirring fashion by the end of the meet. Probably after publically killing one of the generals for insubordination."


    "What about the winged order?"


    "We will let Martin''s group handle that-it would keep them busy for now, while we can observe them."


    ----------------------------------


    Kate observed Vincent as he seemed to collapse onto his bed with lifeless eyes.


    "Why are you being so dramatic? Shouldn''t you be happy that you met your old friends?"


    "Happy? Those bastards always bully me! Now I have to waste all my precious time and loot into making weapons for them. When am I going to do more explosions."


    This.....Kate really felt helpless. This idiot seemed to have only one word in his dictionary. Explosions, explosions, and explosions. When she first met him he still used to put on a front of being a cold-hearted and civilized man, but now he is shamelessly throwing his inner chaos around.


    "But, on the bright side, you will get to explode a lot of people in the army meet.


    You also have to mingle and meet with the other mercenary camps. You can cause so much more destruction and chaos."


    Vincent immediately recovered "Yes, Of course! Let me get this over with quickly. Tomorrow is going to be really fun."


    Kate once again shook her head helplessly "Just who is the kid here..."

 26 The 4 generals and the winged order

    Roger Black looked at the soulless eyes of his prisoner. He hated all humans. He loved it when they lost all hope and gave in to his demands. He hated the way they treated his race as a group of heretic monsters. He loved it when they threw away all their dignity and begged him for mercy.


    He didn''t particularly like beastmen either. Those lowly creatures did however make good servants and cannon fodder.


    Demons were the one supreme race of the planet, all those that opposed their rule should perish.


    He had clawed his way up from being a little demonling on the streets to the fearsome general- feared as the black fist.


    After releasing some of his chaos magic to kill off the prisoners, he slowly left the dungeon. The army-meet was coming. He had to make sure that all the resources were invested in the army. He wouldn''t let those cannon-fodder camps try to take any of the glory.


    This time the humans would fall.


    He would make sure of it.


    Even if the demon lord and hero kill each other. He won''t finish the war until either one of them dies out.


    After it was the only thing he cared about, his hatred consumed him completely, he would even sell his soul to Devils if needed.


    -----------------------------------------


    Damien Grey looked at the base of the Darkness league. It was the mercenary camp that he had supported.


    Though he often felt that the beastmen had been unnecessarily dragged into their feud against the humans. War was necessary for survival.


    He often wished though that all the meaningless fighting would stop and the nations could be in harmony. If everyone just shared their resources instead of hoarding them up, wouldn''t the world be a better place.


    However as much as he supported the beastmen he still felt that they were better cannon fodder. He would rather have them charging in first than his demon legion.


    This meet, he would make sure that within the camps the Darkness league holds control, and a balance is formed between the camps and the army.


    --------------------------------


    Fredrick Scarlet was often called the bloodthirsty general and the most vicious of them all. He was the infamous battle maniac.


    He looked smugly at the base of The Crimson Cult, one of the Big 5 with as much bloodlust as him. They loved soaking their blades in the blood of the enemies. He had secretly been in co-operation with their leaders for a long time. Many might perceive him to be a battle-hungry idiot, but on the contrary he was one of the most cunning generals.


    He had always wanted more power, and he knew where to place his bets. He didn''t care how the meet and even the war went. What he was concerned about was the aftermath.


    He had heard that the Demon Lord wanted to merge with the human nation after it ended. He didn''t want the war to stop. As long as there was war, the military was needed, and as long as they were needed he would have power.


    Power was everything, as long as he had enough of it, nothing could stop him. All those who stand in his way would join the river of blood that he had created.


    ------------------------------


    Emma White helplessly looked at the set of instructions that Lucas had left her. She was the ever feared demon general but also the youngest.


    She had decided to latch onto the gamble that was the Anarchists. She would help support them in exchange for the throne. However she was no pushover, if they dared double-cross her, she would ensure that they would all fall together."


    "Ensure that the mercenaries have dominance over the army, and among the camps pay more focus on the neutral camps."


    -----------------------------------


    Revenant shadow smiled to himself in glee as he slowly released the zombie maggots all over the Annihilation order, the last of the Big 5 mercenary crews. By the end of the day most of them would be converted into servants of the lord.


    He had already infiltrated the base after failing that mission.


    He was sure that as more and more corpses fell in the war. The world will join them in undeath following the guidance of The Flying Eye.


    "Mr.Nameless Hunter I will remember you. You will make a fine sacrifice to the Lord."


    The revenant slowly chuckled to himself as he thought of those fools from the Winged order. They actually believed that the flying eye was their subsidiary and that the winged ones would lead them to glory. When they find out that the true lord was the one of undeath they would all despair before joining us all in undeath.


    -----------------------------------------------


    In a secret base of the winged order.


    "Have all preparations been made for the army meet."


    "Yes, The general that is in cahoots with us will help us. Though it is a shame that Those lunatics of the flying eye couldn''t get us more insiders"


    "Yes indeed, we will have to make another evaluation of the threat level of Emma White."


    "We have to ensure that the war goes unhindered. Once, both the demons and humans were weakened by the war, the winged ones will be able to come and sweep them all. The winged order shall rise and gain its deserved glory."


    "Yes indeed, praise be to the winged ones."


    "Any word from our operatives in the beastmen settlements of the self-proclaimed lion king and the elves"


    "Everything is going according to the plan. The elves are all going to co-operate with the holy ones, the beastmen are just puppets."


    "The mermen?"


    "They have all gone into hiding in the sea, they might as well belong to a different world. The gulf between the land dwellers and those seaweed tramps is too wide. All they can do is hide in their shells at the bottom of the ocean/"


    "Good, its time for the operation to begin"


    -------------------------------------------------------


    As the Blood Moon cast dark shadows all over the capital of the Demon realm, various powers secretly acted in the dark.

 27 Blood and Chaos Army Meet -1

    As all preparations came to a close. The sun slowly rose on the demon capital as the demon army-meet started.


    The first phase involved where warriors would challenge each other from different mercenary camps, while the soldiers fought between the military legions.


    This helped develop a hierarchy within the camps and between the 4 legions.


    The second phase would involve exchanges between the mercenaries and military but that is after the first phase ends.


    In the arena the infamous Bloodthirsty Blade -Fredrick Scarlet and the Killing Chaos- Roger Black stood opposite to each other, glaring, as they measured up their opponents.


    They, of course, weren''t going to personally fight each other, like entertainers in a ring.


    Instead, they would be sending their trusted soldiers.


    It would be a best of 5.


    The two generals looked at each other as silent sparks flew between them.


    "I must say you seem extremely confident General Black."


    "Of course, The demons that I have personally trained have the purest of bloodlines and strongest of the batch. They will crush all opposition."


    "Is that so, General Black? That makes me so much more excited to see my warriors bathe their blades in their blood as it spills onto the ground." General Scarlet replied with a maniacal grin on his face.


    The First warrior of the black legion rose up the stage. He hefted a huge greatsword over his shoulders and looked condescendingly at his opponent.


    "Gregor Trem, Darkness, 7 years of experience."


    The Warrior of the Scarlet legion also stepped up the stage dragging an oversized scythe behind him.


    "Call me Ferom, Magma user. prepare to have your blood evaporated right from your body!"


    The two instantly launched themselves at each other as the stage became a blur of red and black.


    -------------------------


    On the other side of the event grounds, various mercenary troops were duking it out with each other.


    Mercs full of bravado kept on challenging each other as their camps tried to show dominance.


    Unlike the organized duels at the Military side, it was a huge mess here. Only by the end of the event will one know which camps dominated the rest.


    "The Scarlet and Black generals are currently duking it out. So it is the best time to check out the Crimson Cult and Annihilation Order to determine whether they have any ties with the generals." Marcus stated as he looked at the young member of the snake clan next to him.


    Vincent turned and nodded in assent "Yep, also the mercs from those camps are a bit too war-hungry and bloodthirsty. It is time to crash their party and neat some sense into them."


    "So.....are we going to blow up their camps?" Marcus asked with a hint of anticipation in his eyes. It seemed that Vincent''s influence had rubbed off on him a bit.


    "You bet we are!" Vincent smiled happily "But first, we should shake things up a little."


    Marcus nodded, a mischievous glint flashing across his eyes.


    He suddenly twisted around and punched Vincent in the gut, hollering in outrage.


    "What do you mean that the mercs from Crimson Cult are actually the undercover dogs of the Scarlet General"


    Vincent slowly stood up slowly wiping off a sliver of blood from the edge of his mouth.


    "Bastard! You think I am joking!


    Those scums are always mad fellows. They are too alike. We should crush them anyways. Otherwise they would take away our chances. They are too cruel to their fellow beastmen"


    "Yeah! They have already killed over 34 people since the start of the matches. I reckon they are sabotaging us for the second phase."


    Soon, a bunch of other voices joined them and they all went en masse to storm the base of the Crimson Cult. It was time to deal with each camp. One at a time.


    The crowd slowly encroached on the crimson cult and started challenging them. Using the distraction, Vincent and Marcus snuck into the living quarters.


    "You check the boss, I''ll go plant the bombs." Vincent whispered at Marcus and slithered into the darkness.


    -------------------


    Meanwhile in an abandoned mine outside the city, Kate and Freya were investigating the suspected hideout of The Winged Order.


    "Uggh!" Kate commented scrunching up her nose. "What do you even expect to find in this stinking dump. Those freaks just have left long ago."


    Freya replied chastising "Clues of course! They should have left behind some traces right?"


    Kate bent down and picked up some fallen black feathers- "Look, I think they had a hobby of keeping crows or something. I should also try something like that. Showup in majesty with a bird perched on my shoulder. Crows are too ugly, a hawk or eagle maybe, no falcon sounds better......."


    "Its most likely messenger birds. Thankfully they are just bird feathers."


    "What did you think you would find, Dog fur?"


    "..." Kate


    "Well, I totally understand if that was what you thought. I am quite an understanding individual. It could also be snake sheddings. Dang! There was this one time I saw Vincent shed off an entire layer of skin. Well, I didn''t SEE him do that, but I saw the end product and shit was it-"


    Freya glared irritatedly "It could have been the feathers of some fallen- never mind...."


    "You Anarchists all come from the same mold- loud and annoying!"


    Freya continued to mutter under her breath


    "At least Martin is better...."


    "Oooh, do you like him?" Kate asked conspiratorially.


    "No!"


    "Now, now don''t be so quick to deny-" Kate looked up to check her expression then changed what she was going to say


    "I understand, Sorry!"


    "Good girl" Freya nodded happily. It seems that the girl wasn''t that annoying after all.


    "It must be hard for you."


    "Wait...What exactly did you understand?" Freya suddenly started to feel a chill for some reason.


    "It must be Marcus in that case."


    "He''s my cousin."


    "..." Kate


    "Well, whaddya know, Incest is wincest?"


    "..." Freya


    Freya shook her head to calm down her anger.


    She''s just a little girl. Just a little girl. Only with a mouth big that kept on spewing shit, that just made you want to gut her. She''s just a little kid.


    Freya decided to use her wind magic to re-arrange the scene and reconstruct the previous events in hopes of clues.


    Objects went flying left and right as if they were being thrown about in reverse and invisible ghosts were moving about the room.


    "There have been three people here, two of them are members of the winged order and they seem to have left for a new location."


    "A third person had come to visit them and judging by the physique and height and, body language."


    "No way......"


    "It is one of the male demon generals."


    "No shit! How the hell did you figure that out from these vague clues?" Kate asked dumbfoundedly.


    "Magic!" Freya said. It was only one word but seemed to hold immeasurable depth and meaning.


    "That made no bloody sense! Magic what? You can''t just say magic and expect me to roll over and accept that!"


    "It''s magic." Freya nodded solemnly and expressionlessly again.


    "..." Kate


    "Hey, you are n-"


    " -It''s the will of the world" God, was it fun to give the brat a taste of his own medicine.


    "At least stick to the same excuse you-"


    "Let''s go back and report the information. We have more hideouts to check later to see if we can find their trail."


    (AN: If any of you guys were wondering how she found out, it was part deduction because the physiology of demons(two extra horns) and their height and body language gave the clues and part cause THE PLOT demands it.)


    -------------------------


    Meanwhile at the arena. The first match was over with greatsword wielder practically burying his opponent into the ground.


    General Black smirked arrogantly at Fredrick Scarlet


    "It seems that you are going to lose."


    General Scarlet nodded his head seriously and looked his rival in the eye.


    "Roger Black, even if you do win this match, do you think you will gain anything?"


    "Of course I would! I get to crush you and your heretic ideas!"


    "No, What I mean is do you think you will get away with what you are doing just because of your services to the nation"


    "What are you talking about?" Roger Black asked back, his tone several degrees colder.


    "Why? You are asking ME that Roger" Fedrick slurred along slowly, enjoying himself as he dragged on the sentence. "You should know yourself how you are plotting the downfall of this nation." Fredrick laughed haughtily as he pointed an accusatory finger at the other general.

 28 Chaos and Schemes Army Meet-2

    "FREDRICK SCARLET! HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF TREACHERY TOWARDS OUR RACE!"


    "Well, it''s all thanks to your Demon Supremacist ideals. If only you weren''t such a stuck-up bitch who only wants Demon to fight then we will lose. We need their support."


    "Never! I will never let those scum get any glory. If you think otherwise you are free to defeat me."


    "Well, on second thought do whatever you want. I couldn''t care less as long as I get to fight and kill people. After all...I am just a bloodthirsty battle maniac"


    "Hmph!"


    "Well, my second challenger has come."


    A sloppy haired thin-built fighter walked up the stage. He immediately removed twin daggers from his vest and began spinning them at fast speeds.


    He looked straight at the Greatsword wielder,


    "I don''t bother telling my name to dead people."


    "Why You!"


    The crimson twin dagger wielder immediately dashed forward in a flash and stopped moving.


    "As I said, Match over."


    A small line of blood could be seen on the arms and neck of the Black Legion trooper.


    And then his arms fell off blood spilling all over the floor.


    Before his neck could fall of the head he was however rescued.


    The medical staff immediately took him away for treatment.


    ----------------------------


    "So what do you think of those two?" Lilith asked


    "They both are extremely suspicious. From what we have gathered, one demon general is working with the Winged order, so these two are extremely suspicious. What''s your opinion, Martin?"


    "To me Roger Black is a straightforward scum, who believes that his race is superior. I doubt he would work with another race. Fredrick Scarlet on the other hand..." Martin commented as he observed the two generals with the scope.


    "Yes, I doubt whether he really is a battle maniac or just hiding is cunning nature behind a front." Lilith added


    "Hopefully Vincent and Marcus would be able to dig up some interesting information n in the chaos. Once we know who is friend and who is foe."


    Lucas grinned malevolently, "We can begin taking action."


    Martin nodded in agreement and smirked with schadenfreude "Knowing those two, they must be having the time of their lives."


    -------------------------


    "Crap, We are totally not having the time of our lives!" Marcus whisper shouted under his breath as the Cult leader slowly made his way to where he was hiding.


    "What the hell is taking Vincent so long, and why is this guy moving so slowly, if you know I am here just come over already!


    Marcus had infiltrated the camp of the cult leader and was going through their documents. There was a high chance that they were affiliated or supported by the Scarlet General.


    ''Enough is enough time for me to just jump out and attack him, to hell with keeping my cover''


    "GET YOUR ASS RIGHT HERE, CRIMSON CULT LEADER. I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL. IF YOU DO NOT COME THAT MEANS THAT YOU ARE JUST A COWARD!!!"


    Vincent could be heard shouting just outside.


    " These dogs don''t know how to take a hint. Apostle, take care of the documents, we have to prepare for the trade with the general."


    Saying that the leader ignored his suspicions and went outside, to deal with Vincent.


    ''Thanks man! I really owe you one.'' Marcus thought to himself while sighing in relief.


    He immediately uses a rock projectile to trip the Apostle over and knocked him out. Then he started going through all the documents in the tent.


    Meanwhile...


    Vincent was totally having the time of his life. After planting all the bombs, he went and directly provoked the leader. It was time to cause some chaos!


    The mob outside had grown large and the cult was already being suppressed by the members of almost 3 different camps.


    "Who is the one who challenged me?" The cult leader walked out at a leisurely pace.


    "Looks like you dogs need to be taught just why is our camp called the Bloodthirstiest of them all."


    His expression warped into one full of malevolence " I will enjoy hearing you screams as I make you bleed to death and slowly spill your guts onto this ground."


    Vincent smile happily, this is just what he needed. an opponent who thought too highly of themselves. these were the ones that fell the hardest.


    He gracefully jumped onto the stage and bowed while introducing himself


    "You can call me The Infernal."


    The cult leader decided to quickly destroy the arrogant little kid in front of him.


    He suddenly brought his hands to the ground sending a darkness-chaos-balls at Vincent.


    Dodging them, he sent red hot metal chains at the leader.


    The chains wrapped around him while burning into the skin.


    Before the leader could free himself, Vincent brought his palms together and then took them apart pantomiming an explosion.


    "Boom!"


    Instantly various bombs exploded all over the place before the captain even managed to attack.


    "What the-" The leader was flabbergasted. He freed himself and looked at the camp. The treasury and his personal tent were all blown up into ashes. there were multiple fires raging around the rest of his camp.


    "You!" The leader''s eyes went red with rage, he turned to look at his opponent only to find him...


    ....running away.


    "See you later sucker! I hope you enjoy the rest of the meet!"


    Vincent didn''t stay behind to enjoy the show.


    What a joke! He had just bombed another camp he wasn''t interested in getting jailed.


    Martin had just exited the camp with the documents when it was blown behind him


    "..."


    Damn that Vincent, at least give a bloody warning beforehand!"


    -----------------


    Back on the other side the match ended with the ultimate victory of General Black.


    "Which parties will be involved in the next match?"


    "Emma White and Damien Grey."


    "Looks like we should investigate grey next....any luck with Black?"


    "Not yet... but Marcus did find something juicy from the Crimson Cult."


    "What did he find?"


    "The Crimson Cult does have a cooperative relationship with General Scarlet but it seems limited to assistance in smuggling goods across the border. It means that he does interact with human counterparts. There is however no indication of involvements with the Winged Order" Martin reported.


    "Interesting...Continue keeping an eye on our dear friend Roger Black."


    Lucas continued,


    "Its time I gave this Scarlet General a visit!"