How is a villain born?

Throughout my life, I always thought both evil and good were absolute forces and that living beings were born aligned to one or the other of these forces.

A very simple and somewhat optimistic way of thinking.

However, if one takes into account that I was born carrying a 'Heroic Skill' and that therefore my destiny was supposed to become a hero of good, it is easy to understand where that naivete in my way of seeing the world came from.

Having grown up on the streets during a bad time to be an orphan and after losing my little brother, having the Temple discover that I possessed a heroic skill was practically salvation for me.

It was dark times, and those who had been blessed by the gods were very necessary, the heroes.

For over two hundred years, the one seen as the most fearsome of the demon kings in all of history, the Demon King Ipheria, he had been relentlessly attacking the human kingdoms in the central part of the continent.

In such circumstances, the Temple of Light tirelessly sought those who wielded heroic skills. Only those blessed by the gods could face the fearsome Demon King Ipheria.

From the early age of seven, I was harshly trained alongside other children and adolescents by the priests and knights of the temple.

It was in such circumstances I met who I would come to regard as a brother, Ketkar.

After several years of hard training, at thirteen age, both me and Ketkar were finally deployed for battle.

Our first battles against Demon King Ipheria's minions were bitter and hopeless, we lost several of our comrades and were seriously injured several times. However, thanks to that strong bond of friendship that practically made us brothers, we both kept going.

After multiple more battles, slowly but perceptibly, a power gap developed between us.

Heroic skills do not give everyone the same opportunities and in my case, my high-level heroic skill "Achilles" gave me a huge advantage in hand-to-hand combat and with that, my growth was higher than Ketkar.

It was when that gap between us was easily noticeable that she appeared in our lives, Neria.

Like us, Neria had also been trained by the Temple. we both fell in love with her at first sight.

Because of our brotherhood, and the guilt I felt for leaving him behind regarding the difference in power between us, I stepped aside in favor of Ketkar regarding Neria.

The constant battles barely gave us time to worry about other issues, but Ketkar always found time to wooed Neria.

By the time the conflict escalate, Ketkar and I had already found a group of trustworthy companions among the various Temple-trained heroes with whom to form a balanced party.

Livian the magician, Rhuj the explorer, Tiban the archer, Vigam the priest, Ketkar the warrior and I as the knight, Nocht. With this colorful group, the "good" finally begun triumphed over evil.

Our first major achievement, killing Ikar the Necromancer, one of the four generals of the Demon King Ipheria.

The next thing was to kill Lusk the Illusory Demon, another of Ipheria's four generals.

With our victories, the war finally tilted in favor of humans, and with this our names resonated strongly.

Under these circumstances, Ketkar's courtships finally born fruit. He and Neria became engaged.

Taking courage from our fame and the desire to give Ketkar a chance to marry Neria, our group gained momentum, and we defeated the other two generals of Ipheria.

Ketkar and I were already nineteen years old when we finally stood in front of him, in front of the Demon King Ipheria.

It was the longest and hardest battle in our lives. On over one occasion, Ipheria almost killed one of our group members.

It is precisely at the climax of the final battle when my limited worldview was destroyed.

After three days of continuous battle, my sword finally found its way to Ipheria's chest. It was a lethal blow.

Ipheria's blood trickled from the edge of my sword to my hand.

Upon direct contact with Demon King Ipheria's blood, my body showed an unheard-of reaction.

Above my head, the glowing crest of the Invidia Demon God appeared, an eye with an obsessive gaze.

The Demon King Ipheria laughed wildly as the eyes of Ketkar and the rest of my companions widened.

What was the meaning of that?

Unlike humans who may not develop even an ordinary skill, all demons without exception are born carrying an innate skill. This reaches a point where, even the Mazoku, beings who are the product of the union between a human and a demon, they born carrying a demon skill.

As for the Invidia crest that appeared above my head, this signaled the awakening in me of a demon skill.

"Your demonic blood is so weak that it has only achieved wake up after coming into contact with the blood of a demon king" —as he fell to the ground and continued laughing, Ipheria exclaimed those words.

As the Demon King Ipheria was dying, I turned to my companions only to discover them taking a fighting stance towards me.

Without saying a word, Ketkar moved to my side, and I felt sure that at least I could trust the one I considered as a brother.

"After all we've been through, do you really think I'm on the side of the demons?" —I directed those words with disappointment at the rest of my companions.

Even if there was a bit of demonic blood running through my veins, how was I guilty of it? I had practically killed Demon King Ipheria and his four generals, wasn't that enough to make clear my loyalty to humanity?

"There are no exceptions, the God of Light wants to free the world from all demonic traces" —that answer did not surprise me, the Temple of the Light had well indoctrinated all of us from childhood.

I tightened my grip on my sword as I thought of a few words that might open my companion's eyes.

Why did this have to happen when we should celebrate our triumph?

Seeing some hesitation in his eyes, I slightly relaxed my posture. They had their doubts, how could they not have them after all we had experienced?

Confident that only a few words could be enough, I opened my lips to continue speaking. However, it was at that moment that reality shattered my naivety.

A throbbing pain shot through my chest.

Looking down, I saw the edge of a sword that I could easily recognize piercing my chest from behind. It was the sword I had given Ketkar as an ahead wedding gift.

"As your brother, it is my duty to send you to face the God of Light to judge you for your sins" —those were the words I received from Ketkar as I turned to him.

Send me to face the God of the Light to be judged for something I had not done. Was that his responsibility as my brother?

I would have fought the rest of humanity and the gods to protect him, and, he did not hesitate to stab me in the back.

I laughed, laughed at the absurdity of the situation as I collapsed to the ground right next to Ipheria.

"Don't worry, the world never know that you were actually a demon, the people will think you died bravely fighting the Demon King Ipheria"" —Ketkar added those words while raising his sword to give me the final blow. There was no remorse or regret in his voice, only the coldness, and impatience of someone who would soon claim great glory.

When I looked into the faces of my other companions, I quickly understood their thoughts. They weren't regretting the tragic fate that had brought me to bear demonic blood, no, in their expressions I could see them imagining all the glory they claim for themselves.

How did things get to this point?

It was not a sudden betrayal, I had been too naïve to see reality. With each of the Ipheria generals we killed, with me being the main participant in this, most of the glory always fell on me.

My naivete never allowed me to realize the dark feelings that had been born among my peers and that was growing day by day in their hearts.

They were not suddenly betraying me, they were just taking advantage of the right moment that luck offered them to claim the greatest of glories, the death of Ipheria.

"Even if I must escape from the deepest abyss of hell to do so, I will make you all pay for this…" —were my last words as Ketkar's sword pierced my heart.

I was supposed to be a hero of good, chosen by the gods, and I had been trained for much of my life for this, while the rest of my days, I had spent fighting demons for humanity.

I had killed the fearsome Demon King Ipheria and his four generals.

I had stepped aside in favor of the one whom I regarded as a brother so that he could woo the woman we both loved.

Then why?

Why was it that one of my ancestors had been a demon, I deserved to be betrayed like that?

How come villains are born?

At least, in this case, this is the way this villain was born.