"Hey hey, calm down. I didn't mean to scare you..", I raised my hands up, "I'm merely an arrogant commoner who lost their way in a cave. Please spare me, it is only my mistake that I dared to cross paths with you...oh powerful demon."
It left a bad taste in my mouth to beg like this--but I don't have any other choice, and I was simply too exhausted to fight back.
Drip...
A slight shiver ran down my spine as rainwater dripped from my clothing, as did blood.
"And how do I know you're not lying? You're not even pretending to be injured!", the pink-haired demon spat at me, referring to Cael's naturally shady smile, and readied to cast his spell--but stopped at the last second upon the surfacing of an idea.
I mentally cried out in injustice. But- But I am! I am injured..
Smirking, the demon boy squinted his eyes at me, "On second thought, I might spare you. But you have to give me a reason to. What can you give me?"
I fell in slight thought, but was unwillingly pulled out of it by my growing fatigue. Ah, what a sick fate. Do I have anything to bribe this guy?
I had human money on hand, but demon currency had a distinctly different look, so I couldn't use it. I don't have any weapons to give... My clothes are also quite drenched too. And my body is already pushed to the limit--once night falls, I'm not even sure I'd be able to stand the temperature.
Plus, what is he even aiming for? I'm not even armed and he could easily rob me.
I grasped at straws, and stalled for time, "Uh, hm... What do you desire?"
"Me?", the demon seemed unsure, "Uhm... Ack! You're wasting my time! Just give me everything you have!"
No, is he just impulsive?...
Then, a little idea sprouted in my head. Although I was teetering on the edge of passing out, I spotted a little something on that boy's shoulder.
Ping! A glistening logo with 2 demon horns on it. Specifically, it's white color. It was a famous symbol in the Demonic Realm, it was a badge given out to demons who would be taking the entrance exam to the Demon Academy soon.
I was utterly obsessed with my novel in the past, and had meticulously designed every character in it. Given that I don't recognize his features: pink hair, little demon wings...he must not have survived the entrance exams.
I grinned. I can utilize this.
Exhausted, I leaned on the entrance of the cave, "You must be quite desperate to get into the Demon Academy. Is it really worth it to train...here?"
Dungeons and caves were far more dangerous in the Demonic Realm compared to the Human Realm, any demon venturing too far would certainly die at the hands of the monsters residing in them. Attempting to train in one without proper skills would be a death sentence--one that a mere aspiring cadet wouldn't have.
"What are you planning?!", the mana circulating around the demon's staff turned red, getting ready to combust at any moment.
"Well, not much. Just giving you a suggestion.", I recalled any bit of information I could use at my disposal, "I am certain you must have noticed I was not an ordinary commoner. After all, there is no commoner that can explore the depths of a dungeon, and even more so, make it out alive, regardless of how injured they were."
"Get to the point.", the demon growled.
"Ah, what I'm saying is,", I widened my smile, "Let's make a deal."
"You see, I'm quite tired from battling monsters these past few days. What about you help me get back to town, and I'll help you pass the entrance exam?"
I held out my hand, "Sound good?"
I winced in embarrassment. I wish I could make such deals a little more sophisticatedly instead of being in my bloody state...
"Tch. Who even are you?", the demon scoffed, "Do you really think I'd accept such an offer-"
"Do you really think you'd be able to pass the entrance exam?"
The demon's eyes went wide.
"Don't overestimate yourself.", I glared at him. Killing intent from all directions manifested as I looked down on him.
"Gulp. I-I..", startled, the demon's spell was interrupted and the mana gathering at his staff dispersed abruptly.
"That's why,", I waved my held out hand, "How about it?"
The pink-haired demon gripped their staff tightly, their gaze running down to the ground. A deep darkness surfaced in the demon's eyes, an all-encompassing sense of inferiority. After all, I was not just telling lies. I'm making a very well-educated guess as an author.
"...", after some time, the demon sighed, "Fine. I'll take you to the nearest town, but you'll have to help me pass the test! You promised, can't take it back!"
I inwardly sighed in relief, "Ah. Alright. I'll head out then. Wake me up when we're there."
Giving a peace sign, I then promptly succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed on the spot.
Thud
"...?", taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, the pink-haired demon stared at my limp body in bewilderment.
"We're here. Wake up redhead.", a pair of arms shook me violently.
"Ugh, ugh, what?", I opened my eyes disoriented, but immediately got shaken off my inertia when I saw where I was.
Chatter chatter-
Around me was a bustling street, people with demon horns and appendages roaming and going about their day. The buildings were all made of either stone or wood, and the ground below me a pebble road. Certainly, any historian would have killed to be in my place right now.
"This is Yura Town.", the pink-haired demon looked at me, "I skipped the town before that because this is closer to the Demon Academy."
"Yeah, I know.", I could recognize this town very well. It's the very first town to be decimated when the protagonist's party invaded after all.
However, now that I have some breathing room, I looked down at my body. Thankfully, I seemed to have recovered quite a bit from my nap travelling over here. Most of the job was done by the physical regenerative abilities of demons as well. Although, it seems I didn't completely inherit it, as the wound on my arm had not completely closed.
I'm not a half-demon for nothing.
"Anyway, you better not forget your promise.", the demon frowned and pointed at me, "You're supposed to help me pass the entrance exam!"
I tilted my head, "Yes, that is what we agreed to."
"Hmph. Then, I'll be going now. I'm busy.", the demon turned to walk away, "Call me Lully, let's meet again at the academy when the exam starts."
I nodded, "It's Cael."
Lully then headed further into the town, disappearing among the many backs of the civilians.
...I sighed.
"Haaaa..."
It hasn't even been a day, yet so many things has happened... Moreover, now there's that demon...who was it again? Lully? Yeah, I've never seen him appear in my novel before. It's probably a nickname.
Regardless, I pondered my options now that I was here.
I have to face it. I've now become Cael Seryth, the greatest villain in my novel.
Inevitably, the protagonist, Lucen Sullivan, would hunt me down in the future as the last of my bloodline. In just a few short months, he would take on a mercenary mission to find and eliminate me. It was also the first encounter the protagonist had with the villain.
Now, in the original story, Lucen found Cael in the human realm quite easily because of plot armor, not much else. And because I'm in the Demonic Realm and this is no longer the plot of a fictional world, Lucen should be unable to find me, so I have nothing to worry about, right?
Wrong! Unfortunately, as the author, I had to make his plot armor make sense and justifiable, so what did I do? I made it his ability.
[Destiny's First Child] - Destiny sways in favor of its first child.
And that means for me...even in reality, I'll still have to face his plot armor!! That means it's a plausible...no, guaranteed chance that Lucen would end up finding me in the Demonic Realm.
"This is ridiculous...", I whispered under my breath.
However, luckily, what I wrote was also an underdog story, so Lucen is still pretty weak at the moment. I also gave him little talent to compensate for his overpowered ability, in comparison to Cael's monstrous talent.
But still, if I don't improve my abilities from now on, it's easy to imagine what would happen to me a few months from now. There's no use trying to hide, either.
Moreover, since the novel was mainly set in the Human Realm, there's not much 'secrets' hiding in the Demonic Realm to speed up my growth. So if I wanted to grow as fast as possible...
I clicked my tongue underneath my calm expression. I was thinking of not going to the Demon Academy to avoid that Lully brat, but it looks like I have no choice now.
I grasped at my hair strands, "Argh! No choice, no choice! I haven't had a choice ever since coming here!"
"Haiz, whatever, I need to find a way to enroll. There should be enough time before the entrance exam..", scanning the surroundings, I spotted a building with a sign that said:
Demon Academy Registration Office
Thanking my half-demon linguistic ability, I scurried on over.
Bang! A table crashed onto the wall.
"What are you looking at, huh?!", a one-horned demon boomed.
Another demon shouted back, "Just at your skinny twink build!"
The one-horned demon paused, looked down at their indeed skinny body, and exploded with anger.
"You must be courting death!!!"
The demon who shouted then looked at themselves, their body donned everywhere with outdated fashion trends, and bellowed at the one-horned demon.
"No, you!!!"
Meanwhile, at a different table in a corner of the bar, an uninvolved demon sat, sipping silently from their drink. A white logo of two demon horns on their shoulder glistened in the dark.
Sprouting from their scalp were short, luscious black locks, and on their face stood out eyes reminiscent of bloodstones.
However, despite their unique appearance, no one seemed to notice his presence at all.
"Hm...", humming, he glanced at the two demons that were recklessly fighting at the front of the bar, malice barely contained in his expression. He touched the badge on his shoulder, and gently sat his drink down on the table.
"So, it starts soon."