The Tale of how I got Pursued by an Angry Demon Lord(Part .2)

"Remind me how I got dragged into this again?" Miyamoto complained as he took a wide step over a root.

"You let Makono go, remember?" Musashi replied. "Then Lux made you come out here with us to find her."

"It was a rhetorical question. What do we even do when we find her anyways? Bring her back? The girl obviously doesn't want to stay. At this point we might as well be kidnapping her." Miyamoto continued in just as mopey of a tone.

"We have to bring her back, if we don't you guys will all be forced back to your world." Graxia answered in a cheery voice as she pranced forward.

"And why does that matter to you? If we go home that means our job is done, if more heroes are needed I'm sure they'll be reincarnated also."

"Well duh, Thanatos will protect Rexia. But the next heroes he summons won't be you guys."

Miyamoto blushed and turned his head away. "Try stating something that isn't so obvious."

Graxia just laughed and continued going forward.

               *****************************************     

Makono had been making her way to Castle Lothrin for a while. It wasn't until recently, however, that she started being stalked by two men in cloaks.

She never got a clear view of them but she could tell that they were after her, the odd turns and twists she took in an attempt to dissuade them proved that.

She took an abrupt turn and leaned flat against a tree, waiting for one of her stalkers to run by so she could ambush him.

Her thoughts began to settle in her mind as she leaned against the tree completely motionless. 

A whole town of people willing to die for her, most people would love to have something like that. But not her, after all this wasn't the first time she had that.

The demon lord's castle was at its peak, though it couldn't grow food on it's own land it relied on nearby towns and settlements for resources.

Her father was the demon lord and her mother was a Homo Bestia. Of course, demons were still being hunted and most of the other races still despised them. But the love her parents shared was pure and though the rest of demon-kind resented it, none dared say so in the presence of her father.

On the moment of her birth, everyone celebrated. Makono was the heir for the throne of demon lord, it wasn't a title gained by heritage but by some impossible odds she was born as one just like her father.

Makono never thought that it was a gift however, for her, being a demon lord just meant that people would put her life above theirs, and when they died, she would be responsible.

One night, when Makono was still young, she had gotten out of her room for some water, but as she walked down the candlelit halls of her palace, she heard a couple of guards talking. Curiosity got the better of her as she leaned against the wall and peaked into the room they were in.

"What do we do? The Organization has blocked out all of our supplies," One said in a hushed voice, unfortunately for them though Makono's Homo Bestia ears could still hear them.

"We don't have much of a choice, there's too many to fight, we have to ration out supplies so our lord may remain in comfort."

Makono's father walked in through a separate entrance, his long red hair glowed in the flickering of the candle lights as his elegant robe swayed just below his hips, the entrance to the room that he used was at the side however so she couldn't see his face.

"No, we must ration. That's a fact, but do not worry for me, Bulbyr needs the food more as she's to become the next demon lord. Besides, I'm going out, I have to do something about our supplies."

"Lord. It's too dangerous. Your power is great for sure, but there's simply too many of them."

Her father just smiled and walked out where he caught her spying.

"Oh you heard everything didn't you?" He asked in a kind voice. "My little lady. Don't worry, Bulbyr, I'll be back, I promise."

A few days after that, Makono felt a burst of power. Immediately, she recognized that it was the power of the demon lord. She also knew exactly what that meant.

Slowly the demons that she knew, and reigned over since her fathers death began mutating into unrecognizable creatures due to the starvation.

Back at her palace she watched the kind beautiful smile of her mother disappear as she slowly faded from existence over the span of several months.

One by one the demons of her castle disappeared or worse until she was completely alone surviving on the food and resources her people died to protect. The Demon Slayers Organization eventually left and the castle remained dormant for years outside of herself and whatever creature made the place it's home.

She swore that nobody would die for her like that again, and yet there she was, Lux was prepared to sacrifice anyone and everyone for her just to stop the war. Even the person that saved her in the darkest moment of her life. The person that welcomed her into his party. The same person who became her friend, and showed her new friends.

She wasn't gonna let history repeat itself. She wasn't gonna let anyone else die for her sake.

Finally one of her pursuers ran in front of her, which she tripped by extending her foot forward. Without leaving a second to waste she immediately took his arm behind his back and made his knuckles touch the back of his head.

"Who're you? Why have you been following me!?" Makono interrogated.

The man just chuckled.

Makono turned her head to face where she sensed something coming but was immediately kicked in the gut, launched off of the guy she pinned and was pushed several feet back.

"I'm surprised you can't recognize a fellow demon." The demon on the ground said as he stood up.

"What a sloppy lord you are, but you already knew that, Bulbyr, lord of the fallen." The other taunted.

"..." Makono growled.

The demon that Makono pinned growled in anger. "Do you even know who all you killed, what about us!? What about our daughters!? What about our  family!? Just because you were born with that damned title doesn't mean you get to survive while we starve and wither away into dust!?"

Makono stumbled back until she was against a tree.

The other demon lowered his hood to reveal a long scar down the center of his face. "My kid sister mutated into an unrecognizable monster. I tried to reason with her, I tried to save her! But nothing worked, in the end she gave me this scar, and I gave her death."

Makono fell to the ground, it was as though she was back in her castle, her thoughts began to run rampant in her head. "Murderer, traitor, selfish brat."

"Your death will avenge those we lost." The scarred one said as he wrapped his hands around her neck and lifted her in the air scrapping her back against the tree.

She didn't fight, even when her vision began to get clouded.

"I deserve this..." She thought.

Whether it was a vision or asphyxiation Makono saw the outlines of her friends. A twisted and perverted nun, a tall armored leader, a bouncy bunny-eared girl, a short pink-haired barmaid. All of Towyn stood before her.

"Your really gonna let us all down?" A voice belonging to an edge-lord looking hero said. "You think it's better if your dead? You wanna make everyone you care about feel the same way you did before I found you?"

"Of course not." Makono quickly argued. "But-"

"No buts. Don't let yourself die. That would be selfish. Unlike something you had no say in."

Makono place her hands on the demon who was strangling her and engulfed them in a brilliant black flame.

"Argh! You brat! You'd deny all of those that you've killed their revenge!" The scarred one said as he dropped Makono and rubbed his burnt wrists.

"Guess we'll have to do this the hard way. It doesn't matter anyway, the two of us are more then a match for you."

"Are you sure about that? Did you forget who I am?" Makono asked as she slowly approached the two.

"You really are scum! Your gonna kill us!? We could be all that's left of your home." The scarred one yelled.

"Don't bother trying to negotiate with her. She's not gonna listen, all she knows is death."

"I remember," Makono said as she placed her hand on a tree burning her hand print into it before making it burst in black flames. "The faces of everyone that served my father and I. Their being is etched into my mind. And you, you aren't there."

"Cat's out of the bag now I suppose. " The unscarred one said as he threw his coat off revealing the tattoo of the Chained Demon on his arm. "I was getting bored of playing victim anyways."

The scarred one erupted his hand in black flames then clenched his hand into a fist.

"You'll pay for deceiving me."