[An alternate universe wished by risaida25 as an event reward!]
[Hero x Totally evil demon king]
The castle was oddly silent, to the point where even the warrior’s footsteps seemed to be swallowed by the obsidian walls.
Body narrowed and sword drawn, the young man inched closer to the end of the hallway and peered around.
Originally, he had planned to reach the demon king’s castle perfectly at sundown for dramatic effect, but things had kind of gone awry when he had gotten lost on the way. Now it was the middle of the night, a really awkward hour.
It hadn’t even been his fault! He had had a map for the maze surrounding the castle, but tripped over a trap and it ended up destroyed in the nearby waters.
People often called him clumsy.
He didn’t agree with that.
He was unlucky, not clumsy. After all, it was him – him! No one else! – who had made it to the demon king’s castle, all on his own. It had also been him who had slain three of the four generals of the demons’ armies. It had also been him who had rescued countless villagers! A clumsy person couldn’t do that!
For fuck’s sake, could people please start focusing on the stuff he had done well instead of his unlucky moments!
Xi Yang huffed to himself.
Ah! Annoying, annoying! He was going to slay the demon king on his own and finally get people to stop calling him fucking clumsy!
…In fact, people would always praise the young hero to the heavens right after calling him clumsy, but in his annoyance, he had never noticed. At the current moment, most people were praying for his well-being after having heard that he had made his way over to the castle.
The castle stood on top of a high mountain, near a cliff. Eternal thunder and lightning surrounded it, as well as a cursed maze and countless demons.
For decades- no, centuries humans had been fighting against the demons. Those abominable beasts with their half-human bodies that ran around, plundering and raping and killing. There was no crime too low for them. Any sort of attempt at talking was ignored.
The best way to stop this, humans decided, was to kill their leader, over and over again.
Demon armies always retreated when their general was killed. So, if their king was killed… Would they all retreat?
It was a hope they had to cling to. A cycle that repeated, until one day they’d hopefully have extinguished them all.
Xi Yang breathed shallowly, making his way deeper and deeper into the castle. Ever since entering it, he hadn’t run into a single demon. This just went to show that the monster living here did not need any guards.
Heart beating nervously, Xi Yang finally stood up straight. There had been no one in the throne room – just an empty throne made of human bones. That meant that possibly the king had already retired to his chambers, the place where Xi Yang stood right now.
He clutched his sword tighter and felt the armor around his body. Strong, enchanted armor in pure silver. It had helped him through a lot of hard times.
It would not fail him now.
Xi Yang inhaled deeply, then kicked the double-winged door open. With a crash, the lock broke, and the pitch-black wings revealed the room inside.
“I have come to claim your head, king of demons”, Xi Yang bellowed, brandishing his sword at an empty room.
“…Huh?”
A small, almost inaudible sound came from a corner.
Flinching, the human jumped to the side, holding his sword up with both hands and looking at the figure bathed in the light of lightning strikes shining in through the large window.
The person was comfortably curled up on a large armchair, huddled into a comfortable blanket and holding a book. The man’s expression was a bit blank – slightly confused or surprised, maybe.
Long, iron coloured horns curled around his white-blonde hair that was braided leisurely over his shoulder. The long fingers, peeking out of a simple but prettily embroidered robe, ended in blackened hard nails.
A beautifully crafted face with fair skin and well-formed eyebrows. The brown eyes were soft like a deer’s, vanishing under long black eyelashes as the… the demon blinked?!
“Demon… king”, Xi Yang shouted, faltering in his words.
…R-Really?
Did… Did he go into the wrong room?
The demon slowly closed his book, placing it to the side. He stood up, the blanket sliding down his body. Where more of his skin was revealed, black tattoos showed. Human and demon faced each other quietly.
“You”, the hero said quietly. “are the king of the demons, no?”
“No”, the demon said, offering no further explanation.
“…”
“…”
“T-Then I demand to know where that abominable monster is hiding! I have come to duel him!”
“There… is no king here.”
Silence fell over the both of them. The mood turned so very awkward that Xi Yang couldn’t help but lower his sword, as if it was an offense to point it at the demon in front of him.
Well, what was this situation even? Was this man… maybe the Demon King’s plaything? Because honestly, he had never seen a demon as ridiculously handsome or attractive as this one. In fact, demons didn’t look half as human as him!
Neither had they such soft eyes!
This couldn’t even be an intricate ploy to distract him with a handsome target, because if it was, the ideal moment to attack Xi Yang had already passed!
They were just standing around!
“But… there has to be the king here!” Xi Yang’s sword lowered completely. Confused, he looked around. “There is a throne room! And even the demons don’t come here! This is the most dangerous area in the whole country! Where else would he be?!”
“I wouldn’t know.” The demon went to the side, peering out of the window. A soft frown appeared on his face. “But there is only me in this castle. There is no leader of the demons. I don’t think one exists right now.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“What are you doing here, then?” Xi Yang eyed the demon suspiciously.
Qtja tf vlvc’a fzqfma kjr obg atf vfwbc ab ibkfg tlr tfjv, qegrlcu tlr ilqr. Lf ibbxfv… rb ecmfgajlc jcv neicfgjyif.
“P’w tlvlcu.”
“Hiding? From what? Maybe some demon leader???”
“Rb… Aera… ogbw jii vfwbcr.”
Vlifcmf.
“…Qts?”
“Ktfs’gf rmjgs.”
“You’re a demon.”
“Dea atfs’gf rmjgs.”
“Gfwbcr vbc’a jaajmx fjmt batfg.”
“Gbfr atja wjxf atfw ifrr rmjgs? Dfrlvfr, ktfcfnfg P rafq bea, atfs gec joafg wf, mbnfgfv lc yibbv jcv uear. Ycf alwf, rbwfbcf atgfk j mbgqrf ws kjs.” Ktf vfwbc aegcfv ab ojmf Wl Tjcu ktlif qblcalcu ja atf rxs. “Po atfgf kfgfc’a rjofas wfmtjclrwr jgbecv atlr qijmf, P wluta cba yf jyif ab tlvf tfgf, flatfg.”
There was a thought inside Xi Yang’s head, but he didn’t dare believe it.
Sheathing his sword, he started to rub his forehead. “Okay. Uh. I guess I’m… sorry for intruding?”
“It’s fine.”
What a tolerant demon.
“Maybe we could sit down somewhere and talk? I’d like to ask some questions. If you don’t mind.”
The demon nodded. He passed by Xi Yang, leaving the room. Minutes later, the human found himself in a quite comfy little tea room.
He felt a bit conflicted, having come to slay a monster and ending up drinking tea.
The demon made an inviting motion to ask Xi Yang to speak.
“So, first off… My name is Xi Yang. How can I call you?”
“Jian Lin”, the demon answered in his monotone voice.
Oh boy. The Jian that was the title all demon leaders carried?
“If I may ask, where were you born?”
“Here, it seems. At least my earliest memory is of this place.”
Like a demon prince would have, hatching out of an egg and being independent from birth.
“And your parents?”
“They weren’t around.”
Like, how the old demon king and queen perished in a fight?
“And you’ve gone out before?”
“As I said, I have. However, the demons out there…”
Ran after their king in greeting, offering him human corpses as tributes just like they always do with higher-ups?
“I don’t know.” Jian Lin’s eyes flickered with confusion. “Would there be a demon king in hiding here?”
Xi Yang stared at him for several seconds. He folded his hands. Leaned his face into it.
Then looked back up and smiled.
“Nah! I must have made a mistake! The demon king is probably dead already or something. Not like we heard of a new one after the last one died. Speaking of us, you seem to be fine with humans? That’s great. Humans are great, don’t you think?”
“Well, I have only met you so far, but you haven’t thrown a corpse at my feet…”
“We don’t throw corpses at people! Isn’t that awesome? We’re a very peaceful race. Why don’t I tell you about humans?” Xi Yang’s mind was working full power. “We could travel around and you could tell the demons that we aren’t bad at all and that we shouldn’t be killed. I’ll be there to protect you.”
Jian Lin looked a tad bit suspicious, but evidently he did not have enough contact with any other person to judge what was off.
“This…”
Seeing the other’s hesitation, Xi Yang quickly changed his offer. “Well, for now, maybe I could stay a couple of days? I’ve had a long way coming here and I could use a break. I’ll tell you stories of outside in return.”
That caught the demon king’s attention. He perked up a bit before nodding slightly. “There are a lot of rooms here. You can take whichever.”
“Awesome!”
And so the hero took a room up in the demon castle.
If he was honest, it was ridiculously comfortable. The bed was so nice that he almost didn’t wake up the next day. The temperature was absolutely perfect, too.
As it turned out, even the food was great!
…How does a lone demon king acquire food?
He uses the cheat-like tree in the castle garden, plucks a fruit and wishes for it! Because these fruits just turn into whatever food you imagine!
…Could he please have a tree like that for his garden, too?! (No, he couldn’t. The tree had grown on generations of royal demon blood seeping into the ground. It was still a pretty cool tree.)
Xi Yang stayed for a week. No one knew how long it would take him to reach the castle at all, so for the moment, he wasn’t too worried about people freaking out over him not returning. He could stay and… take a rest, which was kind of amusing given the situation.
Jian Lin held zero interest in actually going outside, but he was curious and enjoyed listening to Xi Yang tell him stories all day.
As it turned out, Jian Lin was indeed absolutely peaceful. He was fine with gore and cruelty but did not like it and generally preferred cleanliness. If he could, he avoided confrontation.
“Previous king, previous queen, thanks for having a son like that”, Xi Yang whispered under his breath as he watched the handsome pluck two fruits from the tree in the greenhouse-like garden.
Personally, the demon’s appearance was growing on Xi Yang. The tattoos that had looked odd and freaky were somewhat fashionable, adorning his skin, and the black fingers looked like dipped into ink. The horns on his head were like a crown and – he had tried – felt nice and cool to touch.
Xi Yang leaned on the windowsill.
Why did a demon king need to be so attractive? That should be forbidden. Look, he was attractive enough to even make a man turn his head!
Eh, fine, other men already did that. But considering that such a thing was abnormal- …Wait, was it more abnormal to be attracted to another man or a demon? Things were getting complicated.
Xi Yang could understand that people did not like seeing men together. Children were important, after all. But it wasn’t like he was hurting anyone, right?
On that account, being interested in a demon was probably worse.
(Even a harmless demon.)
“What is the matter?”
Jian Lin stepped up to the windowsill, tilting his head back to glance up at Xi Yang. The voice that Xi Yang previously had thought was monotone was in truth hiding a lot of emotions. If you listened closely enough, you could tell the other’s mood just from his words.
It was a nice voice, for sure.
What had he been worrying about again? Ah, it didn’t matter! Too attractive! The demon king was too attractive for this poor little hero!
“I’m thinking of when I have to leave”, Xi Yang sighed. “I can’t stay here forever. Are you sure you don’t want to try coming along?”
Jian Lin pursed his lips. He lowered his eves for a moment, hesitating. “Well, maybe I can come along for a while and see what it’s like. But if it’s too uncomfortable-”
“I’ll accompany you back! You won’t be in danger at aaaaall!” Xi Yang jumped at the chance. He pulled his sword, holding it up for Jian Lin to see. “My sword has a special attribute of light! Demons hate it! It burns their skin! It’s not hard to keep them away at all, I promise!”
Jian Lin eyed the sword, then poked it with a finger.
…Nothing happened.
……….Even the Goddess of Light can’t call this guy evil and hurt him.
“I’d love finding out how you fare with Light and Dark spells”, Xi Yang mumbled curiously. This was definitely not a common royal demon trait.
Around the sword, a white aura formed. It hovered around the edges like a fire, flickering around. The flames licked at Jian Lin’s fingers, then retreated without interest and vanished again. The demon stared at his finger, rubbing over it.
“Do all demons get hurt by Light spells?”
“So far, yes.”
“But I am a demon”, Jian Lin mumbled thoughtfully.
Xi Yang remembered all the words you’d associate with “demon” – monster, cruel, blood-thirsty, violent, abominable – and couldn’t help but chuckle dryly. “Another type, I guess.”
The hero put his sword back into his sheath.
“By the way… I kinda can’t return without having slain the demon king. Do you have a skull or something lying around? One I could take along?”
“There are a few lying around, I believe. YOu can take one you like.”
“That’d be perfect.”
Interestingly, the royal demon bloodline had something like inborn memories. It was why Jian Lin knew what happened to his parents, why he could read and write, why he could use magic – all without being taught. It included knowing where the previous kings’ remains were after the common demons had carried them off whenever they could.
Jian Lin returned inside, handing both fruits to Xi Yang for him to decide on their meal.
“You’ll have to try the restaurants in the human cities”, Xi Yang said. “We’ll go together. If you don’t mind, I mean.”
“Why would I mind?” Jian Lin tilted his head, making Xi Yang feel a bit flustered.
“O-Oh. Yeah, of course you wouldn’t. It’s nothing.” Poking around in his meal, Xi Yang lowered his head between his shoulders. “Actually… I wonder… If the king heard that you’d be on our side, he’d probably be happy to have you around.”
“Would he be?”
“Yeah. I mean, the demons listen to you, don’t they? You’d be a strong ally.”
(What? It wouldn’t be that easy? Of course it would be! This is an extra, after all! No time for politics!)
“I see… Should we visit the king then?”
Xi Yang nodded. Awkward, he started mumbling something under his breath. “If there’s an alliance, he will probably want you to marry one of his daughters or something…”
“I wouldn’t want to marry someone I don’t know.” Jian Lin put his fork away, frowning slightly. The scrunch of his eyebrows only enhanced his handsome looks.
“Well, many human alliances are built on marriages.” Xi Yang started fiddling with his fingers. “So you… wouldn’t want that? Marry a human, I mean. If you don’t mind me asking.”
Frustrated, Jian Lin tilted his head. “It’s not about human or not. It’s that I don’t know the other party.”
Good Lord.
Xi Yang laughed uncomfortably. What was he even trying to ask here? And what was he expecting as an answer? He was acting stupid.
“Is a marriage really that important?”
“I can’t decide for the king, but I’d guess it is…”
“…” Jian Lin sighed. He stared at his own, half-finished food in a daze. “…You’re a hero, right?”
“Me? Yes.”
Despite everything, Xi Yang was well known! He was officially acknowledged as a hero!
…An unlucky one, but a hero!!!
“Then, if I marry you, as a hero, would they be content?”
Xi Yang felt himself flushing. Dumbfounded, he stared at the demon sitting opposite of him. “Marry? Me?”
“Yes.” Jian Lin nodded. “I know you, at least. And we are already living together, so there is no difference at all.”
There was a huge difference.
“…Just a question.”
“Yes?”
“Do you know what being married means?”
“Living together, no?”
“…….Yes! That’s it exactly!” Xi Yang smiled again.
Ah, why did he have a feeling of corrupting a demon? Was he acting evil?
Nah. He was a hero.
Corrupting a demon king, what nonsense.
He was going to teach the demon king.
…All kinds of things.
Outside, a flash of lightning rumbled dangerously close. Jian Lin twisted his body, looking around. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“It sounded like a woman cursing.”
“I didn’t hear anything.” Xi Yang left his chair, walking around the table to sit down right next to Jian Lin. He nuzzled himself against the other’s shoulder. “By the way, marriage partners are very close, so we should practise that.”
“Okay.”
Jian Lin blinked as he looked down at the hero. The hero was like a puppy, sometimes. It was rather cute.
Out of instinct, Jian Lin raised a hand and gingerly stroked the soft, dark hair of the hero. Where Xi Yang rubbed against his fingers, his skin was warm and ticklish. Very comfortable.
Xi Yang smiled at the unexpected skinship. He tilted his head up, tugging at Jian Lin’s sleeve. “Hey, lean down a bit.”
Jian Lin did as he was asked, obedient to a fault.
Xi Yang bridged the last little gap. Gently, so as to not scare the one in front of him, he brushed their lips against each other. Heart thumping in his chest, he watched confusion flicker through the pair of brown eyes.
“Uncomfortable?”
“No. I don’t mind it.” Jian Lin shook his head. He didn’t move away at all, holding still as Xi Yang leaned their foreheads against each other. His eyes were lowered, eyelashes fluttering.
“That’s good”, Xi Yang purred. “When I do something you don’t like, you have to tell me.”
“Okay. …But what is this for?”
“It’s, uh, just an interaction between spou- …potential spouses.”
“I see.”
Three days later, hero and demon king left the castle together. They moved through the forbidden zones, Jian Lin keeping the demons away from them, and made their way to the kingdom’s capital.
Wherever they passed, villages were freed and people gaped at the sight of a way-too-handsome “common demon” commanding the monsters with soft-spoken words.
As humanity is and has always been, people are easily convinced by a pretty face. Would you know, even the crown prince himself got attached to the demon!
After some discussion, the expected marriage talk appeared. Originally the king had wanted to wed the demon king to his oldest daughter, but as it turned out, the demon was rather attached to the hero… who had freed him from the clutches of the demon king or something. Complicated story. The hero had told them on an evening with a lot of wine and the king hardly remembered, but he wasn’t going to admit that.
Long story short, after the human king noticed the demon often involuntarily brushing the hero’s cheek, or reaching for his hand, or placing his hand on the hero’s shoulder…
Alright; after the human king noticed the incredibly obvious and constant throwing of dog food, he agreed to the odd marriage of two men.
Even the Goddess gave them their blessing.
When they married – not in a church, cause that’d have been weird – the Goddess’ statue began to light up. A message of light was written in the sky, wishing them a happy life.
It also mentioned something about “watching the hero and his actions closely”, which was absolutely because the hero was so amazing!
Right?
Riiiiiight.
Author’s Note
Alright, this was fun to write. Bloody, stop trying to corrupt little Ice!
SOooooo the king of demons is scared of other demons? XD HAHAHAH
He was going to teach the demon king.
…All kinds of things.
OMGGGGGG XI YANGGGGGG
Cuteee!!
Demon king has yet to find out he’s king at all xD
Ahhhhhh xd
Lmaoo Bloody out here corrupting our lil bb demon king 🥺
Thank you for the extra <3
Hahahaha, there were so many little parts that made me laugh, I can’t list them all xD
JL hearing a woman cursing, I guess it was his mother’s spirit lololol
Thx for this sweet and funny little extra (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)
It’s the Goddess of Light (me, lol) worrying about poor little bb Jian Lin getting corrupted by a pervert xD
Then I wasn’t that wrong with it being his mother xDD
This was cute xD
Thank you for the extra 💜
too cute ah!!!
thanks for the chapter <3
Hahaha, this is good I love it.,. How I wish there was a such complete story about demons and humans
Thanks for the chapter ♥️♥️