Zroxes The Demon General

“Who are you?”

The serpent dragon only stared at me before retreating back into my body. My consciousness was pulled into a void, where I found myself face-to-face with the same orange dragon I had seen before. The dragon gazed at me and spoke.

Orange Dragon: “You once killed me, so now I’m going to give you a gift.”

Rei: “Are you going to kill me?”

Orange Dragon: “No. I’ll lend you a hand to slay these demons. They’ve become a persistent existence, so I want you to eradicate them.”

Rei: “So you’re helping me because you can’t defeat the demons yourself… and that serpent form, was that you?”

Orange Dragon: “Yes. Also, I did it because you’ve piqued my interest.”

Orange Dragon: “So, what’s your name?”

Rei: “……… Eir.”

Orange Dragon: “That’s a lie! State your true name!”

Rei: “…Rei.”

Orange Dragon: “My name is Gradios. Nice to meet you, Rei.”

I only stared back at him in silence. My consciousness returned, and I found the serpent dragon in my hand. This creature had a physical body, yet it could also shed its form and become intangible. Gradios explained to me that he could shift freely between spiritual and physical states.

Remembering the knights, I hurried back to their location. There, I saw countless fallen warriors, with only about ten survivors still clinging to life, though unconscious. After checking them, I found their injuries ranged from minor wounds to severe trauma. I began using recovery magic on them.

(Recovery Uprate!)

Their bodies slowly began to heal. Minor injuries would need six hours, while the serious ones might take a full day.

“For now, this is the best healing magic I can use on them.”

I gathered the surviving knights into one place. As I did, one of them started regaining consciousness, prompting me to quickly hide behind a toppled tree.

Random Knight: “I’m… alive? What happened to everyone?”

The knight looked around, realizing the battlefield had turned into utter chaos. Demon corpses littered the ground.

Random Knight: “The demons… are dead? Ahh, I remember—the lieutenant demon attacked me and knocked me out. Don’t tell me… he’s still alive!”

The knight frantically searched for the lieutenant demon and discovered his mangled corpse.

Random Knight: “He’s dead… We really did it! We killed the lieutenant demon! Yeahhh!!!”

His shout roused the other knights, and he rushed to share the news. The moment they heard, their voices rose in a joyful cheer.

Knights: “Yeahhh! We did it! We saved the kingdom!”

They embraced one another, celebrating their survival. But the joy soon dimmed, weighed down by the sight of their fallen comrades. Eventually, they decided to send one knight back to Halaf Kingdom to report the victory and request help in retrieving the bodies of the dead.

Captain Knights: “Joey, you look to be in better condition than the rest of us, so I command you to return to the kingdom and bring people to carry our fallen friends.”

Joey: “Yes, sir!”

The knight murmured an incantation to summon his horse. He mounted and rode off.

Knight 3: “Sir, I remember hearing that we had reinforcements—why is there no sign of them? Have they already left?”

Captain Knights: “That makes me curious too. I know for certain many of our reinforcements are dead… but whatever. The most important thing is we managed to defend the kingdom from those demons.”

Knight 3: “Yes, that’s the most important thing!”

Captain Knights: “When we get back, I’ll treat all of you!”

Knights: “Yeahh!”

The mood warmed; they began talking about what they would do when they returned home. Watching them somehow made me feel sad. The knight sent to return to the kingdom came back with many people hauling carts to carry the fallen. I watched them load the knights with somber faces. At that point I decided to return to camp.

As I began to leave, I noticed one of the demons still alive. It stared at me sharply, but slowly my fear faded and I charged at it. It lunged to kill me, but I countered with water magic.

(Water Bullet!)

I fired a sphere of water that only managed to wound it lightly. The demon tried to claw me, but I had already planted my illusion on it. The illusion stopped its attack, and I called Gradios into my hand and struck the demon with him. The blow inflicted serious damage. As I prepared to finish it off, an idea struck me—to gather more information about demons.

“Wait… what if I use him to get information about the demon race?”

I stopped my attack and tried asking him questions about demons, but it didn’t work—this demon couldn’t speak a language I understood. I wondered if he could at least lead me to where demons lived.

(Could he bring me to demon territory? But I shouldn’t underestimate them, considering the knights were defeated by these demons…)

After thinking for a long while, I decided to go to demon territory. I checked my Shin Card and looked at the amount of mana I had. At the very least, I felt confident I could escape if things turned bad.

“Bring me to where you come from!”

“GRAHHHH!”

I covered myself with the demon’s blood, and it began running, carrying me straight into demon territory. Hours passed, and finally, we arrived.

“This place… wait, I see a castle. Is this another kingdom?”

The kingdom had fallen and was now under demon control. The demon led me into the ruined castle grounds. I saw countless collapsed houses, leaving behind nothing but rubble. Scattered everywhere were broken clothes and belongings.

Seeing this, I quickly came up with a plan—to plant illusions into as many demons as possible. I drenched the demon escorting me with water magic infused with my essence, then ordered him to touch the other demons.

“Alright… preparation complete! Now, go!”

To my surprise, he carried out the order quite well. Honestly, I’d been pessimistic about this plan, but the results were far better than expected. Several demons fell under my illusion, and I ordered them to do the same. Within minutes, hundreds of demons had been bound by my illusion. I then instructed them to come meet me.

The demons began arriving one by one. I touched them to strengthen the illusions further, then started asking questions.

Rei: “Anyone know about the Demon King?”

Several demons responded, but I couldn’t understand their words due to the language barrier. Then, finally, I heard a voice I could comprehend—it belonged to a ManRake demon, the same kind I had encountered before.

ManRake: “IIIIII KKNNOOWWWW DDEEEMOONN KKIINNGG.”

Rei: “Tell me about it.”

The ManRake explained that the true Demon King had once been asleep, so another demon had declared himself Demon King in his place. I also learned that the real Demon King’s power was utterly terrifying.

The Demon King was said to be capable of destroying mountains, splitting the sea, and even bringing down the stars. Hearing this made me feel uneasy—terrified, even—but the ManRake added that the Demon King never once rose from his throne. He only commanded his subordinates to carry out his will.

(I know the Demon King is strong, but with that much power, couldn’t he just do it himself?)

(Or maybe… he simply has no interest in doing it himself?)

If the Demon King wouldn’t move personally, then for now I would put him out of my mind and focus on learning about the strength of his subordinates.

Rei: “So, how strong are the Demon King’s underlings?”

The ManRake explained the ranks and powers of the demons. At the bottom were the regular demon soldiers. Above them were the Lieutenants, like the one I fought earlier. Higher still were the Majors, and at the top—the Demon Generals.

The Demon Generals’ power was overwhelming. If they wished, they could reduce an entire nation to ashes. Their strength was said to rival even the hero, Volse. There were once five Demon Generals, but now only one remained: Zroxes.

Zroxes possessed unimaginable power and speed so great that the human eye couldn’t follow. His abilities allowed him to bypass physical attacks entirely, making him an almost impossible opponent to defeat. On top of that, he wielded a special green sword that could not be destroyed.

When I asked where Zroxes was now, the ManRake told me—he was currently attacking the Kingdom of Rosos.

*Rosos Kingdom*

Magicians: “What is this!? He’s alone, yet he managed to defeat all of us!”

Zroxes: “In just a few days, every race will be wiped from this world. You all know the power of the Demon King, yet you still dare to fight him. You’re only digging your own graves.”

Countless soldiers of the Rosos Kingdom fell one after another against Zroxes. This kingdom was supposed to be the strongest of all, boasting countless talents and warriors… yet today, all of that would vanish because of Zroxes.

Sword Saint: “We were supposed to be the strongest kingdom—and he defeated us without even breaking a sweat!?”

King of Rosos: “We cannot allow him to rampage any further! We must stop him here! Even if it costs us our lives, we will stop him here!”

The magicians began chanting a grand sealing spell—one that would engulf the entire kingdom.

Magicians: “Eternal World of Cup!”

A massive seal spread across Rosos, enclosing the entire kingdom along with everyone inside. The people of Rosos resolved themselves to be sealed away together with Zroxes for eternity.

But Zroxes, seeing their desperate act, only sneered.

Zroxes: “A seal, huh? You should know such things can’t stop me.”

Zroxes: “Let me show you something after this.”

And so, the Rosos Kingdom was sealed along with the Demon General, Zroxes.

Inside the seal, Zroxes drew his sword. The soldiers braced themselves, ready for one final battle. But Zroxes simply swung his blade upward.

A deafening roar echoed across the entire world. The explosion shattered the seal woven by Rosos’ magicians, bursting upward into the heavens—so immense it could even be seen by Rei. The shockwave shook the entire world, and when it finally subsided, a massive crater remained. It was twenty kilometers deep. Rosos Kingdom had been completely annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

Zroxes: “Now you see what I meant, right? …Oh, wait. You’re all dead. Silly me.”

*Back to Rei Pov*

I asked ManRake who the leader of this place was, and he answered that it was the demon major, Dracca. Dracca was a dragon-shaped demon, his body black with crimson streaks running across it. I asked where Dracca was now, but ManRake admitted he didn’t know. Finally, I asked the demons if they knew any weakness of Dracca, but not a single one of them had an answer.

Rei: “I wonder where the other humans are?”

To my surprise, that question was answered by ManRake.

ManRake: “THEYYY INNN THHHEEE KINNGGDDOOOMMM BAAASSEEMMMENNNTTTT!”

I was shocked by his words and quickly asked where that kingdom basement was.

BOOOOMMMM

Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out, making me instinctively cover my ears.

Rei: “What is happening!?”

I saw blood pouring from the demons’ ears. Even though I had covered mine, my eardrums had ruptured. Seeing the situation, I immediately cast a healing spell on myself.

(Heal!)

My hearing slowly returned, while many of the demons collapsed unconscious from the sound. Fear gripped me as I thought of the people trapped in the basement, so I commanded the demons to take me there.

ManRake: “WEEE HHEERRREEEE.”

I hurried inside and searched for them. Two demons blocked the way, so I quickly cast lightning magic to disable them.

(Lightning Bolt!)

The stench of decay hit my nose, letting me know I was getting close. Suddenly, something tugged my hood back. I turned—and froze in shock.

It was Maia.

Rei: “Maia!?”

Maia: “That’s right—it’s Maia!”

Rei: “W-what are you doing here?”

Maia: “That should be my question! What are you doing here? Back in Halaf Kingdom, I saw you leave the kingdom, so I followed you.”

Rei: “You’ve been following me since the moment I left the kingdom?”

Maia: “Yes! Watching you save the knights and defeat the demons was really incredible!”

Rei: “…Thanks.”

I had forgotten the last time anyone had praised me. So when Maia did, I didn’t even know how to respond.

Maia: “Shouldn’t we get moving now?”

Rei: “Oh, right!”

We headed toward the source of the stench. It led us to a door. The moment I pushed it open, a sight beyond description made me want to vomit. Inside was a massive prison filled with rotting human corpses. My body went weak at the sight, but I forced myself to believe—there had to be survivors.

Rei: “Is someone there? Please, answer me!”

Maia: “We’re here to help you! Don’t be afraid!”

Rei: “Anyone!”

Then, faintly, I heard a groan from one of the cells. We rushed toward it, and hope sparked within me—about twelve people were still alive. Their bodies were frail, nothing more than skin stretched over bone.

Maia: “Rei, let’s bring them back to the kingdom.”

I nodded silently, casting recovery magic on them before helping them out of the basement.

By the time we emerged, dawn had broken. When the survivors saw the rising sun, they smiled faintly, as if clinging to life itself. Seeing their fragile state, I cast an illusion on them, calming their minds.

I summoned several demons capable of flight and ordered them to carry the survivors to Halaf Kingdom. To quicken the journey, I placed another illusion on the demons, making them move faster than their true speed. What would normally take an hour was covered in just forty-five minutes.

At the gates, I recognized the same guards as before. To avoid panic, I masked the demons with illusion so the guards saw only me and the survivors.

We landed safely, and I instructed the gatekeepers to bring the rescued people inside.

Gatekeeper 1: “Who are these people?”

Rei: “They come from kingdoms already overrun by demons. Let them in!”

One of the gatekeepers quickly summoned additional guards to escort the survivors into safety and thus i decided to go home.

Rei (thought): I hope they’ll be safe…