The year was 8862, and the weather was a pleasant mid-summer warmth.
Today was like any other. I kissed my wife and my two kids, goodbye and headed off to work, the sun casting a golden glow over the quiet streets.
I am a demon, serving under the Demon King. I respect him, he is clever, disciplined, and unyieldingly hardworking.
But today, he planned to start a war against the humans.
I didn't understand why. The humans had done nothing to us; they were just minding their own business.
The war had begun. Smoke and fire clawed at the sky, and the cries of the dying filled the air like a twisted symphony. I charged into the fray, my claws sinking into armor and flesh alike.
Humans poured in from all sides, their swords clashing against my own with sparks that danced like angry fireflies. But they were not alone, reinforcements from the other three continents had joined them, turning the battlefield into a tide of chaos and blood.
I dodged a spear, feeling its tip scrape against my side. Around me, elves, dwarves, beastmen, all of them fighting for the humans.
I didn't understand why we were doing this. These humans had harmed no one, yet here we were, tearing through their lives. Still, the Demon King had commanded it, and demons like me obeyed.
Then I, along with a few others, was summoned by the Demon King.
"Listen, demons, I have a special mission for you," the Demon King said, sitting on his throne.
He laid out the plan, and I watched as every other demon's lips curled into smirks. But not me.
"Why are we doing this, my King?" one of the demons asked.
"The humans did something to anger me," the Demon King said, his voice low and rumbling, vibrating with an unseen weight. "Why do you feel bad for the humans?"
The demon shrugged his shoulders, grinning. "No… I'm just curious. And honestly? It's fun killing those humans. Why would I feel bad.?"
walls like thunder, even the Demon King joining in, his booming laughter shaking the very stones beneath us.
And now here i was at a human village, my comrades killing everyone they saw, that was the demon kings plan, senck and kill everyone in a village.
I spotted a hut and cautiously pushed the door open. It was empty. Stepping inside, I scanned the room, my eyes catching on a large, out-of-place closet.
I moved it aside, and my heart stopped. A trapdoor lay hidden beneath.
I opened it slowly and found two human children huddled together. The older boy tried to shield the smaller girl, but both trembled, eyes wide with fear. They looked so familiar… like my own children at home.
I raised my sword, every instinct screaming at me, but I couldn't. The weight of what I almost did pressed down on me. Shaking, I closed the door and slid the closet back into place.
It didn't matter whether they were demons, humans, or something else, I couldn't bring myself to kill a child. I'm a father. The thought of laying a hand on those two little ones felt exactly like laying a hand on my own
I had lied about killing the children… but somehow, the Demon King found out.
"You dare side with the humans," he growled, his voice cutting through the hall like a blade.
"But—" I started, but before I could say another word, the guards seized me. Hands pinned, blindfolded over my eyes, I was dragged mercilessly through dark corridors.
After what felt like an eternity, they dumped me in a cold, unfamiliar place. My hands were untied. I yanked off the blindfold, blinking against the dim light, and rubbed my wrists, feeling the blood rush back into my numb fingers. Finally, I was free.
And there was a pice of paper next to me i picked it up and there was writing on so I read it.
———————————————————
As you have betrayed us
Have fun in this forest, on the human. continent.
A forest you may or may not know.
Welcome to the Reaper's Playground.
Enjoy yourself
———————————————————
"NO, NO, NO… THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" I shouted, panic clawing at my chest.
This forest or prison was meant to hold humans. But, they'd trapped me here instead. There was no escape, the key to unlock the barrier was in the Demon King's hands, and without it, I was completely at his mercy.
All the loyalty I gave him, years of service, blood spilled in his name and this is how he repays me? Why? What will become of my family without me?
"I SWEAR I'LL HAVE MY FUCKING REVENGE!" I roared, my throat burning, the words echoing through the trees like a beast's cry.
After that day, I trained relentlessly, every single day, pushing my body to its limits. I honed my swordsmanship until it felt like an extension of myself, and slowly, I began learning magic using a grimoire I found in an abandoned village deep within the forest.
I hadn't even known life existed here, everything was silent, untouched, and strangely alive in its own way.
Time passed, and from the grimoire, I learned how to temporary body astral projection.
When I finally did, I drifted through the world like a ghost, free from my prison. Everything was… peaceful. No war. No screams. Just quiet.
I traveled to Noxmir, it too, was calm, untouched by chaos. Then, drawn by something deep within me, I went to my old home.
There she was. my wife kneeling in the garden, tending to the flowers we once planted together. For the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled.
But then… a man appeared. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, and she smiled.
a smile I'd never seen when we were together.
"I love you," he said softly.
"I love you too," she replied, her voice warm and full of life.
They went inside.
I followed, silent and unseen. I watched as they laughed and talked together, her face glowing with joy. She had never smiled like that with me, never laughed, never shown that kind of warmth.
Then I heard it. Their voices turned quiet, honest. She said she had never loved me. That she waited for me to die, just to be with him.
So… all that time, she'd been cheating on me, after our 2nd child was born, while I was still by her side, loving her.
While I was trapped in that cursed forest, worrying myself sick about her… she was UNFAITHFUL TO ME.
Then I saw my two children walking by. When my wif— No… when that bitch called out to them, they ignored her completely.
After went outside again, and she burst out inside tears.
Apparently after she brought that man after I went missing, they hated her, they told her to die and ever since then they haven't talked to her.
I hovered closer, my hands passing through the cold air that separated us. A bitter smile curved my lips.
"So they wished you dead, huh?" I murmured. "Then maybe I can make their wish come true…"
My eyes glowed faintly in the dark. "After all… I'm their father."
"Astral Magic: Physic Body." I whispered.
A faint light wrapped around my spirit form, shaping flesh from nothing but will. This spell granted me a temporary body, solid enough to touch, to walk, to kill if I had to.
But it wasn't real. My true body still lay deep within that cursed forest, motionless, waiting.
"AHHHHHHHHH." The both of them screamed in fear.
My mouth stayed shut; confrontation felt useless. I only wanted to give my children what they wished for.
Without hesitation, my blade sang through the air. First their hands fell, fingers twitching in the dirt. Their screams cut short as I severed their legs next, blood pooling at my feet. A final stroke silenced everything, one clean sweep, and their heads rolled away.
When I looked at her lifeless body, something inside me cracked. I loved her — I once loved her.
Now I couldn't bear to face my children after what I'd done to their mother, nor could I let them see the man who had vanished and turned them into orphans.
Afterward, I searched the house for anything useful before disappearing. Once I had what I needed, my body began to crumble into dust.
When I opened my eyes, I was back in my own body.
I soon learned that a thousand years had passed. The Demon King had fallen, the humans had triumphed, and a new calendar had begun.
This is the year 1000.
After wandering and searching for a long time, all I finally discovered was what year it was.
I drag a hand down my face, fingers trembling against my forehead. "Sigh… I'm such an idiot," I whisper to no one, the sound swallowed by the trees.
.....
The years blur together. Moss creeps higher up the trunks. Roots twist over my old footprints. It's the year 1612 now, at least, that's what I count on my scratched bark marks.
My limbs feel like damp wood, heavier each day. The strength drains from me; even my breath rattles like dead leaves. The one thing that kept me sane, astral projection slips further from my grasp.
This forest is keeping me from dying. The barrier slows my aging, but it also makes my death unbearably slow.
Last night, sleep dragged me into a vision. In it, a figure stepped through the darkness, hands covered with blood. Golden eyes that was brighter than the sun. He smiled, soft, almost tender but the look in his eyes was more terrifying than the Demon King himself.
I reached out, trembling. "Whoever you are… please, save me. Save this broken demon who has suffered too long."