- "But Agni, he is the villain of the story! How can you take his side?"I look at Ayan and say, "If killing heartless insects who wear human skin makes a villain, then I will always support him." Ayan says with a smirk, "I can't even imagine what you will do if you ever get any kind of superpower." I smile and say, "Let's just say, if that ever happens, no one will, in a million years, think about hurting anyone or doing any crime. I will traumatize the people of the Earth by demonstrating what will happen if anyone dares to abandon their humanity." "Oh! Calm down, bro!" Ayan says. I say with a smile, "I am calm, bro. It's not like I will receive any superpower today."
After finishing my class for today, I decide to walk all the way home. The beauty of Kolkata never gets old. And tomorrow is the weekend. So, it won't be any problem for me to walk 5 kilometers today. Oh! How rude of me! Let me introduce myself.I am Agni Roy. I am a 2nd-year college student. My family is a big one for this modern age. I am the fourth boy among five brothers and two sisters in my family. If I want to clarify my status in the family, I am the unnoticed one. But I don't really ca...My heartbeat skips some beats. I can't move my legs. It seems like my legs are glued to the road. I look down. What I see gives me goosebumps. I am standing in the middle of a red triangle-shaped line burned into the road. There is also a triangle shape inside of it. If I am not mistaken, in anime, summoning rituals were circle-shaped. Then why a triangle for me? Don't tell me it's an evil one! I try to escape the triangle. But my legs are still glued. Suddenly the lines of the triangle start glowing. Yeah, nothing can be done. I stop futile resistance. The triangle becomes too bright. I can't see anything except red light. After a few seconds, the light vanishes. It takes more than a few seconds to see clearly. But I am not ready for what I am seeing.I am inside a gigantic room, surrounded by six figures wearing black robes. Their eyes are glowing red. Everyone has two slightly curved horns. What the hell!
- "Welcome to the Demon Realm, Hero Agni!" A deep voice speaks from behind.I turned around. At the far end of the room, there is a figure sitting on a dark throne. He has a tall, sturdy, muscular physique, glowing red eyes, and two curved horns. You need to be psychologically strong to stand before him.I ask, "Demon Realm! Is this hell?" He replies, "No. This is Emberkeep, the royal fortress of Vel Azar."- "Emberkeep? Vel Azar? Never heard such names."- "This is not your world, Hero. This is another world."- "Yes. That makes total sense. I am suddenly in some kind of Isekai. Not mentioned in the demon realm. Wait! That triangle-shaped line brought me here, right? But why?"He gets up from the throne and comes to me. He says, "I am Varthion Vel Azar, the King of Demons. I summoned you, the chosen one, to save demons from complete annihilation." What! Did I hear right? I say, "Wait...wait! To save demons, you say?"- "Yes."- "Then, you made a mistake. I am an ordinary college student from Earth. I don't have the power to protect myself from you. I mean demons like you can kill me in the blink of an eye. Then how can I save Demons from someone even more powerful than you?" Varthion laughs and says, "Hero Agni, when you arrived here through the summoning ritual, you were given the power according to your will and mental strength. You are also provided with our language system in your head, which is why you are understanding our language as well as speaking it. By the way, you can easily check that whenever you want." Is he telling the truth? I have powers now? I mean, yes, I do feel some strange sensation inside my body. I feel lightweight. If I have power, what is it? I raise my right hand and clench it into a fist. The sensation surges. Flames burst to life around my fist. This flame is not red, not orange. Dark blue! That startled me. It's not burning my hand. It feels amazing. Varthion says, "I have never seen that kind of flame before!" I say, "I have never even seen any kind of flame on my fist before!"Varthion says, "Chosen One, I request you to be our hero and save us with your flame." I sigh and say, "No. A person cannot become a hero just because someone requests him to be. If I don't feel the urge to fight for you and protect you, how can I be your hero? Nobody can make a person into a hero. The person has to choose the path himself. I don't know anything about this place. Why should I be a hero for an unfamiliar world? Yes, I have powers now. But I have the right to choose whether I use the power or not. Maybe you summoned me here with so much effort, and if I don't be the hero you desire, your race will be annihilated. But that doesn't mean I need to oblige your expectations. Being a hero is a calling from the inside of that person. Your request or threat will never make someone a hero." Varthion says, "I understood your noble words, chosen one. I can't force you to be our hero. So, let me tell you about the despair we are in. Maybe after listening to that, you will change my mind. And if you still are not convinced, then I will do my best to send you to your world." I say, "Fair enough. Let's hear it." Varthion orders another demon to bring a chair and place it in front of the throne. The demon does so. Then Varthion says, "Take a seat, chosen one; it will be a little long." Despite the appearance, I have a feeling that I can trust Varthion. I sit on the chair facing the throne, and Varthion sits on the throne. Varthion starts telling me the history and the current situation. I question him when I have doubts. He answers patiently. It really takes a long time to gather what is happening here. When he finishes, I feel anger boiling inside of me.
The short version of the history and current situation of this world is...A couple of decades ago, this world was very comfortable for all races. Humans, elves, dwarves, demons, orcs, goblins, and all other races lived peacefully in their own towns and villages. They sometimes interacted with each other. There was no racism or violence among them. But all of a sudden, a religious order named The Sanctus Dominion was created. Their mission is to purify the world from evils. By evils they mean all races except human, elf, and dwarf. They manipulated those three races against the rest of the races. They said that an oracle told them to annihilate all the other races in order to purify the world. They formed an army called Holy Knights. Their first target was Foxkin. They attacked one of their villages. They either killed them or enslaved them. This act made other races full of anger. One night some fighters of Foxkin from another village attacked the Fortress of the Sanctus Dominion and killed 10 holy knights. The next morning, the Sanctus Dominion announced this event as an evil act ordered by the demon king, Zarveth Vel Azar. For the next 2 years, they tried their best to manipulate the whole world. After that, they summoned a female hero from another world. They also manipulated her. The lady hero possesses a blessing that allows her to turn any weapon into a holy weapon just by touching it. Some say the lady hero is powerful, somewhat invincible. But the Sanctus Dominion never let her go on any mission. Her duty is only to touch all the weapons of holy knights and pray for them from the Sanctus Dominion. One day suddenly Holy Knights attacked Velzaroth, the Demon Kingdom. Many demons were killed by holy weapons. The demon king Zarveth fought valiantly but was overwhelmed by the holy weapons. The six sages of Velzaroth created a teleportation portal that was linked to Ashkaran, the capital city of the Demon Realm. Varthion, son of Zarveth, his sister, Vaelya, and hundreds of civilians escaped through the portal. Zarveth held the line and protected the gateway till his last breath. Varthion became the King of the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm is a separate dimension from the real world. Without the Demon King's permission, no one can enter here. That's why demons are safe here for now. The holy knights are now killing and enslaving other races without any issue. That's why Varthion ordered six sages to perform the hero summoning ritual. And now I am here. I remain silent after hearing all these. Varthion says, "Chosen One, can I ask you a question?" I say, "Sure."- "Are you religious?"- "Of course. I have faith in God more than anything."- "I thought so. After all, you are the chosen one. I understand your situation now. I will start the preparation to return you to your world."- "Why? I can feel who is telling the truth and who is not. And I am sure that what you've told is nothing but the truth. Then why?"Varthion sighs and says, "A person who is faithful towards God won't help demons no matter what the situation is." I smile and say, "You are wrong. I am religious, and that's why I will help you, demons." Varthion becomes surprised and says, "Why? Demons are evil beings. Look at us, we are opposite to holy beings. That's why holy weapons are fatal to us. Helping us means disrespecting your religious thoughts."I say with a smile, "No, Demon King. In my world, there were two demons named Prahlada and Vibhishana. Both of them walked on the path of truth. That's why Lord Vishnu, one of the three Supreme Gods, protected them. If your act doesn't possess any kind of evil intention, then it doesn't matter which race you belong to; God will always protect you. If God himself doesn't appear before you, he will protect you through a medium. Since I was chosen to appear before you when a hero was needed, I think it's my God's intention to help you through me. You said that demons are evil, right? But you are created by God. Everything that is created by God isn't evil. A person's thoughts, intentions, and acts can be evil. Because it was created by that individual. A demon won't be evil without any evil intention. You are God's creation. So no, Demon King. I am not here to defy my God. I am here because my God wants me to. And I believe a demon who walks in the truth can be closer to God than a human who is lost in hatred." Varthion looks at me with big eyes. After a few seconds he says, "That means you will be the hero of the Demon Realm, Chosen One?" "Yes, Demon King. I will be the hero of the Demon Realm." I say with a smile.
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