~11 years ago~

The Hero Guilford Pendragon. A young man that has long blond hair that is held back in a ponytail with bangs hanging on the left side of his forehead and bright emerald eyes. He has a pure white paladin style armor decorated with various gems, leather gloves and chainmail underneath. He also had a tiara like headgear with an emerald stone attached to it.

"This ends today!"

"Come, Hero."

"[Arte]!"

"[Iblis]!"

Arte and Iblis were polar opposite spells. Arte draws energy from all living things and grants power to the caster. Normally Iblis multiplies and sends power from the caster and strengthens all his allies. But since I am facing him alone right now, I can use a slight trick and bounce the power back to me, increasing my own power.

Without wasting a second Guilford stepped forward and instantly appeared in front of me.

“…..Haaa….!!” 

The sacred sword Einehal shined so brightly it even dazzled my demon eyes. His figure disappeared as if melting into the light but I felt bloodlust coming from my blindspot.

In a flash of light, the blade of the holy sword swings down so quick my eyes can’t follow it.

“There!"

I condensed the demon barrier Fuka, overlapping layer after layer on my left hand like a shield and block the attack coming from my blindspot. The sound of a magical explosion roared in my ears and the Fuka on my left hand was destroyed.

“Hmph. You sensed that one."

“My instincts are sharp, you know. You're still young. You can't beat me."

"This sword was made with the purpose of slaying the Maou. Which means, it will also slay you, miss Warlord!"

“Let’s see shall we.” 

Looking at Guilford's armor, it isn't something my claws can damage. So I coated my hands in the demon magic Tormentor. This way I have a shot at piercing his body. Let's kick this up a notch. 

“[Burning Meteor]!"

A huge magic circle is drawn in the sky and equally huge jet black demon fireballs appear in it before pouring endlessly down. It was as if countless falling stars were heading towards Guilford.

“…….Haa…….!!” 

Using Einhal, he cuts away all the rocks coming towards him with a tremendous speed. Still, at least it kept him busy.

"[Hydra]!"

This time a huge formation covers the grasslands and many big snake heads emerge and were all ready to swallow the Hero.

"OOOO!!” 

The Hero stabs Einhal into the ground with all his strength causing the ground to split and the magic formation fades away. But because of the large debris I managed to get close.

"You're mine!"

I thrust my hand into his stomach. Although I pierced his armor and my claws did sink into his flesh, but it didn't sink deep enough for a lethal wound.

"Guaaah!"

Normally you wouldn’t be able to stand up from this much pain but Guilford swings Einehal down at my shoulder.

“Haaaaa!!” 

Fast.

I didn't have time to condense Fuka onto my shoulder so I used my Ruin Eyes to dispell the holy magic constantly emitted by Einehal. But even my powers can't completely counter that sword.

"Aaargh!!"

Einehal still pierced into my right shoulder scattering fresh blood, however my hand also started to dig deeper into his stomach.

He ignores the wound and continues to push Einehal deeper into my body. He left me no choice. I had to pull my hand out and suppress the sword.

With our two powers colliding the grass is blown away and even the trees are knocked down. The landscape was changing with each blow. The Hero was a worthy opponent. Probably the only one who can match my power. Even so...

The blade I grasped stopped moving.

“Did you think you’d win in a competition of strength against me?"

No matter how much power Guilford puts in his sword, it doesn’t move. At close range my Ruin Eyes and my hands wrapped in Tormentor have completely suppressed Einehal.

"I must defeat you. In order to bring peace, I must defeat you!"

Peace. That word made tremble for a second. I moved my tails and slapped the Hero away, taking some distance. I started using my Cure All to heal my shoulder and the Hero quickly drunk some kind of potion.

"Tell me, Hero Guilford Pendragon, you say you desire peace? Funny, because that's the same thing I want."

"Huh? Don't mock me you bitch! To achieve peace, the demon race must perish. How many men, women and children have you killed?"

"I could say the same about you guys."

This is quite interesting. The story I was told said that the humans started the war. But if what they want is peace. Hmm… maybe I can come to an understanding with them.

"Hero Guilford, I shall withdraw for now. I hope that the next time we meet face to face, we won't need to bear our fangs at each other."

"You think you can just walk away?"

No. I'll simply teleport away. I need to discuss this meeting with my party. Maybe… we can come to an understanding. And so, in the blink of an eye, I left the battlefield.

------

The fact that I told my former companions about the Hero's words… the fact that he wanted peace… it was the setup they eventually used for the trap. 

But that wasn't important right now. That man fought me as an equal. And now Sylvia is telling me that he is dead? I just can't see that happening. The Hero was loved by everyone. Without him, how did the humans survive so long? 

"Sylvia, give me more details! How did he die? And those words you said… 'which one'... What did you mean?"

"History says that a year after the Hero supposedly killed you, he was sucked into one of the dimensional cracks and has vanished ever since. And nobody came back from the other side. Only his weapon remained. But nobody else was able to wield Einehal. So the 7 human kingdoms… dismantled it."

"How the fuck did they manage to do that to begin with?"

"I don't know. All I know that what remained was used to forge 7 new sacred weapons. And so 7 new heroes were born, each having their own powerful weapon. A very small shard was also used for my weapon. Some say that the new weapons are stronger than Einehal, but I didn't want to believe that."

Still… there's no guarantee the hero died. I mean I survived too. And 7 new heroes? For now I hope I don't have to deal with them. I guess that's enough for now. Overthinking it ain't gonna solve my problems. For now, I need to focus on acquiring more slaves. All this bullshit is giving me a headache.