Published: March 21, 2026
“Um, where was I? …Oh, right! I was raised by my uncle. He was an odd man. He always said that for the Demon Clan to develop, we needed to join forces with other races. He was especially moved whenever he learned that Humans had uncovered parts of magic that even the Demon Clan hadn’t figured out. He taught me lots of things too.”
Reytisnail smiled, eyes narrowing in nostalgia, and I chuckled that it sounded just like commander saran.
When she had been teaching me various things at Reytis Castle, I’d thought she seemed practiced at explaining things — that must be because she’d taught the young Reytisnail the same way.
“Let’s see… it was when the previous demon king — my grandfather — died, and either my uncle or my father was supposed to inherit the throne.”
So the demon king was hereditary. But if the first generation hero had blasted away the capital where the Demon King’s line prospered, then how could the current demon king’s family still carry that blood? If they did, how had they managed to escape?
“I heard it wasn’t always like that. My father grew to hate other races, while my uncle liked Humans and other races, and they’d fight all the time. It spread to those around them until it turned into a succession dispute before anyone realized.”
Well, sure — if you keep preaching multi-race praise to a brother whose wife was killed by another race, you’d get fights. Was commander saran really that oblivious or lacking in tact?
“You’d think commander saran would have given the succession to his brother…,” Mr. Zeal said, tilting his head as if that image didn’t match the saran he knew.
If Mr. Zeal, who’d spent the most time with commander saran besides Reytisnail, said that, there must be truth to it.
“I was kept away by my uncle back then, so I only heard rumors, but it seems the uncle’s faction of Demons went berserk. They panicked when the person they’d pushed forward didn’t want to be king.”
So commander saran had been dragged into an unwanted succession dispute by Demons who wanted him for demon king. Poor guy.
Maybe commander saran’s thermographic Demon Eye came from that brotherly fight. If I remember right, Demon Eyes can sometimes appear after being hit by magical attacks from a demon king or someone of similar power. Saran said it was a wound from the demon king; it was probably caused by his brother when the brother became the demon king. Either way, it’s not a dignified origin story.
“In the end, my father won the succession. My uncle and his faction were expelled from the castle. So the current Demon King’s Castle is full of exclusivist Demons who want Demon dominance. Be careful — Humans like the hero are top priority for elimination.”
Reytisnail said that while glancing at the hero, but unfortunately we had already been attacked by Demons.
“They already attacked this ship. He called himself Darion Synk — a Demon with deep green hair and honey-colored eyes. Do you know him?”
Reytisnail’s eyes widened at my words.
It seemed she had snuck onto this ship after Darion was gone.
“What? He already came!? And if it’s Darion, that probably means the ten demon lords’ council already decided to kill the hero sooner rather than later.”
The ten demon lords’ council is a meeting of the top ten Demons including the demon king. They decide not only what to do about the hero but also the future direction of the Demon Clan.
I’d fought some of the members before — Mahiro, Aurum, Darion among them. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine Aurum taking the meetings seriously.
“The Demons who get to attend the council are given names by the demon king. Uno, Trace, Synk and so on.”
I vaguely recalled similar numbering from foreign languages, but it wasn’t part of standard schooling so my memory was fuzzy.
“I’ll make a chart of the Demons who sit on the council and give it to you later. They’ll probably try to obstruct you when you reach Demon Clan territory.”