Kazaroth’s eyes trailed to Raziel’s still clawed hand, locking on it in that way of his which Raziel was used to. Reminding himself that he was trying to follow Teacher Zaceus’ earlier advice, Raziel cast a magic circle, turning the long sharp iron talons back into flesh and bone.

“Well, are you going to answer my question?” Raziel asked.

“This might take some time. First, sit down,” Kazaroth said, moving to sit back in the iron chair he had once been bound to.

Indulging him once more, Raziel sat down in the ice-cold iron chair the now dead human mage had occupied before choosing cowardice. As he made himself comfortable, the only sound which could be heard was the screeching of the chair over cold stone.

Crossing one leg over the other and folding his hands over his black slack-covered knee, Raziel inquired, “Well?”

Rather than answering him straight away, Kazaraoth took a long pause before he finally asked, “What is a good king?”

Confused at the demon’s question, Raziel answered, “The sages say that a good king is one who lives and acts for the sake of his people.”

“Can you say that you are acting in such a manner?”

“Should not this kingdom I rule be the result of such an action?” Raziel shot back, resisting the urge to check his watch again.

“Yes, it is peaceful. The people prosper and the nobles are reigned in, but I have another question for you.” Kazaroth said, his golden eyes meeting Raziel’s crimson ones as he spoke.

Although there was a part of Raziel that wanted to get straight to the point, another part of him was curious as to where Kazaroth was going with these questions. For this reason, Raziel responded, “Very well, what is it?”

“As a king, when is it appropriate to take the lives of another?”

“When others threaten the order, lives, and reign of your kingdom.”

“Then what is order to a demon king?”

“Order is defined as the law being upheld. As the Demon King, I stand above all other demons, as such my word and actions are law itself.”

“So, would you say that you are above the law?” Kazaroth asked, his golden eyes sharpening.

Crinkling his face at these questions, Raziel answered, “No, rather than that, it is because the demon king is so high that he should be judged and criticized more harshly than any other.”

Kazaroth clapped his hands, the sound ricocheting off walls before he exclaimed, “Wonderful response, you know the wisdom of the sages well!”

“Now what does it mean to reign as the Demon King?”

Continuing in this game, Raziel brushed some moisture from his forehead which had accumulated in the moist and damp cell. Next, he slowly responded, “It means that you are to see to it that you are impartial in all things. A demon king does not lose himself in lust or greed, but looks at everyone and every circumstance with the best interests of the kingdom in mind.”

“Then what of love?”

“Love?” Raziel cocked his head in absolute confusion at the question at hand.

“You said a demon king should not lose himself in lust or greed, but a romantic love normally involves lust of some kind. Furthermore, is it not greed when one wishes to monopolize and keep their lover from others?”

Having no experience with this type of love, Raziel paused before he answered, “My mother was a great demon queen. Until her kidnapping she had maintained the dignity and honor of a demon queen while giving all her love to her consort and children. Due to this, if there is ever a time I, too, wish to have such a bond, I do not believe that I would be foolish enough to lose myself in abject lust and greed.”

“That’s right, I had forgotten,” Kazaroth said with a strange look in his eyes, the seal Raziel had burned into his forehead sticking out under the faux magical lighting. Then he shook his head and continued, “And what of lives?”

“Is there something wrong with you? Why are you asking such strange questions?” Raziel instead asked with a complex feeling he couldn’t quite describe.

At this, Kazaroth stood up so quickly that his steel chair fell backwards, the sound creating a loud clang. After, he began pacing in front of Raziel while nervously biting his fingernails and muttering, “Is something wrong with me? No, it should be you that has the problem, not me.”

For the first time since he had arrested Kazaroth, Raziel felt as if he was seeing things with his eyes wide open. Teacher Zaceus had always taught him that to understand a complicated problem, sometimes all that is needed is to look at it from a different perspective. These words made Raziel think that perhaps something had been done or said to Kazaroth. Nodding at his line of thinking, Raziel thought that this would be the most logical conclusion which meant he should take action.

“Kazaroth,” Raziel slowly said.

At the sound of his voice, the silver haired demon stopped and looked at Raziel with near-crazed eyes.

Seeing as he now had Kazaroth’s attention, Raziel asked, “Do you remember the promise we made as children?”

For a moment the Kazaroth he knew returned and the other demon stopped in his tracks as he responded, “That we would create a country where everyone could have the opportunity to strive for their own happiness.”

“And in the years since I have assumed power, have we not created such a country?”

“Compared to how it was under your brother, it would be wrong to say that we aren’t at peace, but-”

Suddenly, Kazaroth gripped his silver hair as he let out a scream which echoed through the walls of the cell. Standing up, Raziel reached out his hand for him and started, “Kazaroth-”

“It hurts! Someone is splitting my head! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!” Kazaroth screamed while clutching his hair and rolling around on the dirty stone floor.

Confused as to what was happening, Raziel cast a circle of protection around himself and reached out his hand to try to help the other demon up. Although Raziel wasn’t fond of physical contact, he reminded himself that Kazaroth was his friend and that the sages said friends were needed to rule. Plus, if his guess was right, the situation regarding Kazaroth’s betrayal might be much more complicated than Raziel had first anticipated.

With that thought, Raziel’s hand reached one of the hands Kazaroth was using to claw into his own skull and tried to pull it off his head before he did something irreversible. Just as Raziel had managed to pry one of Kazaroth’s hands off and was moving onto the next one, a strange bright light overtook the two of them, leaving them knocked out on the cold hard stone floor of the secret dungeon.

When Raziel opened his eyes, he was standing next to Kazaroth, but the sight before him was enough to make even him want to vomit. Looking around, Raziel saw the bodies of servants, courtiers, civilians, friends all lying around them. Their corpses had been mutilated beyond recognition, limbs laying as scattered as the mage’s arm Raziel had personally severed only a short while ago. The difference had been that while Raziel had been quick in ending the mage’s suffering, some of these people were still alive.

From the corner of his eye Raziel saw the body of a woman, her lower half and right arm cut off as she struggled to crawl with her single remaining arm. For a reason he could not explain, Raziel couldn’t tear his eyes away as he saw the blood continue to flow around her until all life left her green eyes, leaving only a face forever locked in pain around soulless glass-like eyes.

Looking around, much of the same sight greeted Raziel. It was only as Raziel looked around and saw passed the blood and carnage that he realized this was the stone castle which had housed him for nearly all of his young life.

Clenching his fists to the point of nearly breaking skin, Raziel tried to keep all emotion from his gaze and voice as he turned to Kazaroth and asked, “What is all this?”

“The future,” Kazaroth deadpanned, golden eyes nearly devoid of life.

At the demon’s response Raziel’s eyes opened wide in shock and a feeling he hadn’t felt since he had ascended the throne took over him. His heart began beating faster, his eyes focused around the surroundings, his muscles tightened in preparation for the slightest inconsistency, and his mind went through several different magical circles he should cast depending on what would happen next.

Kazaroth’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as he asked, “What are you doing? Are you going to do the same to me too?”

“I beg your pardon, but although I can be harsh to my enemies, do you really think I would be capable of this level of destruction and to my own people no less?” Raziel answered, knowing how hard it would be to convince Kazaroth to see reason.

“What are you talking about? You are going to do this, maybe not now, but in the future you definitely will,” Kazaroth all but shouted.

“No, I won’t,” Raziel simply said.

“What do you mean you won’t?”

“Exactly as I said, No. I. Won’t.”

“Then how do you explain all this?” Kazaroth all but yelled while gesturing towards the wreckage.

“It’s quite simple really: This is not real.”