How To Be A Demon lord: The Former Hero's Journey As A Demon Lord!

"Tight formation. Sophen, take lead. Henri, you take the rear and protect Selphy. Make sure you don't leave the group. If we're under attack, then move to formation two and regroup once the enemy is dispatched,"

Gloria spoke up quickly to her team and they all immediately followed her orders. They were also wondering what the sound was and they realized that it would be best to be as cautious as possible. Sophen moved in front of Gloria with his shield held high and Henri moved behind Selphy to protect them all from behind.

Rarggggghhhhhhh!!

Boom!

Another great sound echoed through the town and Sophen tightened his hand around his shield and sword as he started to move toward it. Thankfully, there were a lot of houses around the town so Sophen was able to use the houses as a shield to prevent any demon from seeing them as they moved.

When they finally got to the other end of the town, Sophen hid behind a house and glanced out. He immediately activated the skill [Far Sight - C] that allowed him to see objects and people from a far distance and he narrowed his eyes at what he saw.

There were hundreds of demons! It was almost as though every single demon in the entire forest gathered in this one place! No wonder the entire town was killed! With these many demons, there is no way they wouldn't have survived!

But then why did the message say that there were only a small number of demons?

Did all these demons come around after they sent out the message? It's possible that the first demons to arrive were only small goblins, but after the town send out the message, more and more demons just kept coming, and they couldn't send out another message before they were all slaughtered.

Gloria spoke up from behind Sophen.

"What do you see?"

"Demons, hundreds of them. I think every low-level demon from the forest is here. Goblins, imps, giants, and even lizard men. It's like a fucking demon party,"

Gloria could easily sense the nervousness in Sophen's voice but she urged him to go on. What else can he see? There is no way they would all be gathered here for nothing. Sophen narrowed his eyes further at Gloria's command and he tried to look past the angry demons so he could see what they were trying to attack.

This area was at the very edge of the barrier and the demons were all gathered in front of the barrier and they were roaring and trying to hit something that was on the other side. Two men were standing on the other side. The men were wearing large black coats with their hoods pulled down. Their skins were pale white like ash and their eyes were blood red, but none of these things caught Sophen's attention! The first thing that caught his attention was the giant horns that curved backward from the top of their head! What the hell are those things!?

Rarggggghhhhhhh!!!

Boom!

A demon-giant roared in anger again and sent a blow to the barrier between him and the two men and the barrier shimmered and rippled like water. But that was all it did before it stood strong again.

One of the two men stretched his hand out and touched the barrier curiously. The barrier rippled under his hands and he rose a brow. He was surprised by the amount of power he could feel coming from the barrier. It was almost EPIC-class in strength!

The two men were very handsome and they both had smooth angular faces that made them look slightly effeminate. The one that touched the barrier had long black hair while the other one had red hair tied in a ponytail behind his head. The cloaks they wore covered both their bodies from view but Sophen could tell that they were both muscular under those cloaks.

They looked like people who were used to seeing action on the battlefield.

"Are you sure the hybrid is in here? I wouldn't want to disobey our orders for no reason."

The red-haired man spoke up calmly while looking down at a book that was in his hand. The other man nodded his head in confirmation. The man with red hair was called Arex and the one with black hair was called Flugel, and they were both devils that came to Aradite from the continent on the other side of Rivalle - Mogul.

Arex tilted his head to one side once Flugel confirmed that there was a hybrid beyond these walls and he pressed his hand to the barrier as well. This was a very strong barrier, he couldn't deny that. It was so strong that it would take at least two of his high-level skills before he could break it down. Arex was shocked that some mere humans were able to create something so great. It seems that the human race has advanced quite far in the last few hundred years since I was here. Seven hundred years ago, those fools couldn't even use a sword properly, and now look how they're creating complex magic barriers.

"But it isn't worth it to break through. This isn't our mission, Flugel. We are here to make sure that the deal we struck goes through without incident. We can always come back for the hybrid if we have time, but for now, we have to leave,"

Arex spoke to Flugel while looking back down at his book and Flugel hummed in annoyance. He crossed his hand across his chest and stared at the barrier with a glare. He really wanted to see who that hybrid was. It has been a long time since he felt such a complicated signature from anyone! The mana signature of the hybrid was very faint and if not for the fact that his magic resonance was tuned to recognize magic signatures, he would not have been able to notice it at all. If Arex wouldn't allow him to go and see who that was, then he will just come back for it some other time. Arex was right, they have a job to do.

But that doesn't mean that we can't have fun with the ones that are here. Do you mind, Arex?"

Flugel asked Arex this question and Arex shrugged nonchalantly while still reading his book. He didn't care what Fluguel did, so long as it doesn't disturb their mission. Flugel gained a wicked look in his eyes as he turned back towards the barrier and the people behind it. He looked past the demons that were still trying to attack them through the barrier. The demons were all stupid and they weren't worth Flugels time.

Demons and devils were opposites and lower-level demons and devils would always attack each other if they ever meet. Fliguel was sure that any lesser devil would have also tried to attack the demons through the barrier like idiots. But Fluguel wasn't a lesser devil. He is an SSS-class that is capable of leveling all these demons without even trying. IT would be an insult to his strength for him to entertain them.

Instead, he turned his attention toward Gloria and her crew who were still standing behind the building

Sophen was staring at the two devils to see what they would do. Sophen had no idea what Arex or Flugel was. He was still trying to figure out what sort of demons these were because he has never seen any species like these before.

Most humans do not know about the existence of devils, so sophen could only think that Arex and Flugel were a demon species that he has never heard of before.

Sophen's eyes when he saw Arex look away before Fluguel turned and looked directly into Sophen's eyes.

Flugel disappeared!

Sophen felt a lurching sensation inside his body as he was suddenly torn through space and he found himself on the other side of the barrier! In the exact spot where Fliguel had been standing! Sophen blinked. And then Sophen blinked again. What... The...

"I wouldn't move if I were you. Just stay right where you are and this will all be over soon,"

Sophen's hand immediately blurred into action and he tried to use his sword to attack the person that spoke beside him! He didn't recognize that voice so that could only mean it was an enemy!

Clink!

Arex rose a finger and stopped the blade dead in its tracks without removing his eyes from the book he was reading. He grabbed the blade between two fingers and he bent the sword to the side!

Crack!

The blade cracked in half and Sophen could only stare in shock as Arex threw the sword to the side. Fuck. That was his best fucking sword.

Slam!

Arex's hand landed on Sophen's shoulder and Sophen immediately felt all the air leave his lungs as he almost fell to his knees! But Arex held him up and prevented him from falling! He was still looking at his book, but Sophen could still feel Arex's eyes on him! Who is this man!?

"I told you not to move, didn't I? I really don't have time to kill you for my partner. So just stay where you are until he's done with the others and then you can run all you want,"

Wait... His partner! Where the hell is the other one!? Sophen immediately turned his head to look back inside the barrier and his eyes widened as he saw Fluguel standing over the body of a decapacitated Gloria. One of his legs was on top of her chest while he held her head in his hand. He had a bored look in his eyes as he stared at Henri and Selphy.

Sophen's eyes widened as he stared at the dead body. There was no way this was real. Gloria was dead?

Sophen started to breathe in short pants as closed his eyes and grit his teeth in anger! When he opened his eyes again, they were bloodshot!

"You fucking -!!!!!!"

Slap!

A slap that was faster and stronger than being hit by a baseball bat slammed into Sophen's cheek and some of his teeth fell out as he was thrown to the ground roughly with a shout! He held his cheek in pain and stared at all the blood and falling teeth! More than ten teeth came loose from that one slap! Sophen looked up to see Arex looking at him with annoyance.

"Didn't I tell you not to say a fucking word? Is it a communication issue or do you simply enjoy being beaten? Because it doesn't really matter to me, I am more than happy to keep hitting you until you learn to shut up,"

Sophen immediately cowered under Arex's glare and he looked to the side again to see how the rest of his team was faring.

Henri was standing in front of Selphy with a determined look on his face. His shield was held in front of him and he was glaring at Flugel with intense hatred! Flugel brought up Gloria's head and stared at it for a moment. He couldn't help but be... Disappointed. Was this it? Were these really the same humans that made the barrier? Or maybe these are some of the weaker ones in the human race?

But they are carrying weapons and they also look like fighters. They are probably in the human army. Do humans allow such weaklings into their army?

On the demon continent of Mogul, only the strongest devils are allowed to live, the weaker ones are either killed at birth or made into workers in the mines. The devil race preferred quality over quantity.

So it was very strange for Flugel to be seeing a weakling holding a weapon and trying to fight. When Flugel saw that the humans were carrying weapons, he thought that they would be at least S-class, but this was just pathetic! Their lives should have been ended when they were born if they are this weak.

Flugel turned towards Henri and he saw great hatred inside of Henri's eyes. Maybe this human will be less of a disappointment. Flugel threw Gloria's head towards Henri and he stepped over her body and started to move forward. Henri watched Gloria's head roll to a stop at his feet and he immediately shouted out to Selphy!

"I'll hold him off for as long as possible! Run back and warn the others!"

Selphy gave Henri a look of shock! he wants her to leave him here alone!? She won't do that! There is no way she will leave him to fight this monster alone!

"No! I won't go! I want to help - !!"

"You can't do anything against someone like this! Just Run!!"

Selphy tried to argue with Henri, but Henri didn't even allow her to finish before he shouted at her even louder than before and told her to get the hell out of there now!!! If she stays here then there is no way they will both survive! Henri couldn't keep her safe while also fighting this type of opponent at the same time!

Henri didn't wait for an answer from Selphy! He just roared as he immediately charged for Flugel with his shield held high and Selphy used that opportunity to start running! She didn't want to leave Henri behind but she didn't have a choice! She could only hope that Henri would make it out of this and they can go back home! But even if they get back home, Gloria would never be there again. Selphy felt a choked sob coming up her throat as she increased her pace! She can't cry now! She needs to get out of here!

Swoosh!!!

Slam!!!!

Henri finally reached Flugel and he shouted as he slammed his shield into a solid body! A loud 'Crunch!!' echoed through the clearing and Henri's face passed through many emotions at the same time as he stared at the person he just hit. Confusion, disbelief, realization, and then finally, shock!

"Selphy!!!!"

Flugel looked towards the both of them from the spot where Selphy had been standing and he sighed silently. Flugel had a Magic Resonance called [Anti-Lock] that allowed him to switch positions with any target that was within his sight. No matter what the target was, Flugel could easily reach out and switch his position with the position of his target.

Flugel switched his positions with Selphy just before Henri hit him with his shield because Flugel wanted to see if Selphy or Henri were worth his trouble. Flugel was sure that anyone above S-class would be able to dodge an attack like that easily! But as he watched the woman's broken body flying through the air, he couldn't even hide his disappointment! Trash! They were all trash!