It was a lively night in the City of Hope, now that the last of the Demonic Army had now been defeated, humans were now able to celebrate and grow once more. For nearly ten thousand years, humans struggled to push back the demons who invaded their world and many great empires and countless experts perished through this seemingly never ending war.

However, thirty years ago, there was a strong but young expert that stood out and slowly with his assistance, the humans saw a turn and had begun winning each large scale battle. This hero was now a legendary figure named Timothy and due to the efforts of the squad of soldiers he personally led, the war had finally been won by the humans. This was mainly due to the fact that Timothy was able to slay each Demon General during these battles but would also personally hunt down other high ranking demons.

Now that the remainder of the demons retreated into the portals back to the underworld where they had originally come out from, it was time to count the merits of everyone involved and to celebrate. Due to his achievements, Timothy was given the title "Protector of the World" and this was the day that he had finally arrived back to his hometown where the rulers of the seven nations all came to celebrate on his behalf.

This was completely unexpected, because Timothy had not been in his peak condition for over five years and during each battle, at least a single expert he personally groomed fell in combat. It was unfortunate, but because Timothy was getting older, his strength was decreasing and it was assumed that soon, the Demon Army would be able to push back and finally end the war in their favor.

Outside of the gates which led into where the feast was being held, a mysterious looking old man in dark robes and a cane was spotted walking up towards it. The guards present were rather confused since every guest was accounted for, and there should have been not a single soul willing to make things difficult for anyone.

"Hello gentlemen, can one of you direct me towards where the big celebration is being held?" the old man asked the two guards who were highly decorated soldiers before retiring and becoming guards which was a more comfortable job.

"We are sorry to ask, but would you be kind enough to tell us your name so that we can check to see if you are on the guest list?" one of the guards replied as the other pulled out his big list where it was clear that every name was already checked off. Since there was no reason to be outright mean to the old man, the guards wanted to still be respectful.

"Oh?" the old man replied as he flipped the palm of his hand. A dim light could be seen and before the two guards were able to respond, their eyes lost all of their color before blinking and looking normal once again. If anyone else was present, they would realize that this old man used a form of illusion magic on the guards.

"Our apologies, great one, we will personally escort you to the feast, please follow closely behind us." Both guards told the old man at the exact same time while leading the way inside the palace.

Inside, Timothy was giving a toast to all of his fallen comrades during the war as well as everyone else present who played a role in leading their own forces against the demons. This seemed somewhat political due to his words, but now that he was considered the most influential man in the world, all those present did not mind one bit.

"Ah, your tongue seems to be in good health, but is it true that you are already no longer in your prime? I wonder what your plans moving forward will now be since it seems that your role in this world has come to an exciting close?" walking into the room with several hundred people, an old man was spotted asking such a strange question.

"It is true that I've maybe lost my touch since time does that to us all, but it does not mean that I am now considered useless." with a smile and a nod, Timothy kept his composure as a legendary figure while responding to the old man. No one in the room recognized the old man, but they all saw both guards next to him who were highly decorated which meant that this old man was not so simple.

"I believe for us immortals, time does not actually affect us at all, other than seeing our loved ones die one by one who were not as fortunate. May I ask the Protector of the World, what would you do if you were given the chance to become immortal?" after pondering over some thoughts, the old man asked this follow up question which brought shock to everyone's faces who were present including all seven of the rulers of the human nations.

"If there was a way to become an immortal, I would absolutely take it, besides there are old stories passed down that spoke about such circumstances where a mortal hero would be visited by an immortal and due to the hero's achievements, they would also be offered a pathway to becoming an immortal." Timothy, visually becoming confused and somewhat nervous, replied to the old man.

"Is that so? Then I suppose it is your lucky day Protector of the World, because I can offer you such an arrangement. Unfortunately, it would require you to go through some hardships because in this world, it is impossible for a human to become immortal. If you are willing to shake on it, we can begin immediately."

The old man's words echoed throughout the palace, proving to everyone that this old man was indeed not so simple and truly was immortal. Everyone who was standing immediately sat back down while Timothy walked towards the old man with his hand out looking to shake on this deal.

"Very good, as a Demon King like myself, it is impossible for me to not keep my word, but between me and you, there was no reason why you should have taken this offer. It's too bad, reading the minds of those two guards, I found out that you have a wife and several children, and it is a shame but you will not have the chance to say goodbye to them."

Before anyone could react, the old man and Timothy disappeared instantly while several loud explosions sounded from every direction of the city. Floating above the world itself, Timothy could visually see that there were countless explosions going off in every major area of the seven human nations and many large armies of demons were launching attacks simultaneously.

"You see, the retreat was only temporary so that you humans would let your guards down, but never did I expect all the major figures in every nation to all decide to be in the same place at the same time to celebrate. The last piece of the puzzle was how to also make sure that not a single person would be able to rally even the smallest of remaining humans to fight back, which was in fact your role."

Hearing the old man's words, Timothy's face became extremely sour but as much as he tried, his body was simply unable to move and it was clear that there would be no one able to help him out of this.

"Now then, our deal was to put you in a place where you could achieve immortality, which is great because such an open ended offer means that I could place you in the body of even a cripple as long as in that world, there is a chance for anyone to become an immortal depending on their luck and other important factors."

The old man changed into its normal appearance as a very large demon with purely black eyes and a head full of black flames instead of hair. Before doing anything else, the Demon King made a seal with its hands and placed it on Timothy's stomach after ripping off his shirt. "Good luck on your next life, because with this seal, not even your good karma will help you survive for long!"

Laughing uncontrollably, Timothy felt his surroundings shake as if he was in the middle of a massive earthquake until he felt all of his energy leaving his body. "I'm sorry everyone." was his last thought before losing his consciousness. There was no telling if this was due to the big mental blow he took, or because the Demon King zapped out all of Timothy's energy from his body.