Reincarnated Into A Hell Hound - Chapter 149

‘I was born in one of the fiercest and scorching places inside demon territory. Rotherhithe, the edge part of the island, surrounded by water, southwest from the main continent, and, as the place is already tropical and hot as is, beyond that the Demon’s territory seems to have been blessed with even more heat, volcanoes and Fire Dungeons commonly found across the land, rivers of lava here and there.

In the heart of such blazing place is where I came to be, inside one of the many labyrinths underneath the earth, lava pools and rivers crisscrossing the rock stones of the dungeon, a mere monster upon millions born from the thick magic present in such places, another creature to feed the cycle of energy exchange upon death.’

As the explanation goes on the Demon King’s voice sounds in my head describing, wistfully, his past, our eyes open as one to reveal the place he just told us about, our eyes glancing at the burning heat and closed in walls surrounding the place, truly seeing thought his eyes as his memories seemly play in front of us.

‘And as you may know, felt yourself, the most dangerous and difficult part of our lives as… non-human creatures, wild beings, is always the beginning, when we don’t know, when we are left alone to fend for ourselves, when we fear the most and are… met with our weak state time and time again.’

As he says it, like a speeding up movie, flashes of his life pass in front of our eyes, creatures far stronger than him crawling over the walls, chasing him down, hurting him, not carrying about his age nor his inexperience, in fact, taking advantage over it, focusing on the easy meal laying in front of them.

I can understand that, can relate, I had the same situation happen to me, being hunted by humans, lions, all sorts of creatures for all sorts of reasons, the only difference being that I was not alone through that journey, and for better or for worse had my dumb brother in my side, always.

And yet, worst of it all, from the very start Cain was alone, scared, and locked inside this maze dungeon with creatures far stronger than him. He had only two options left for him; run away, or die under the paws of the stronger creatures.

Still… there may be many injustices in this world, especially in such barbaric way the wildlife has, but none of it excuses him to act the way the Demon King has! He has no moral to say and complain if, in the end, when he is at the top and has the power however ends up doing just the same as the strong creatures from his past! That is just repeating the cycle!

With our minds bounded like this none of my thoughts escape his grasp, and neither does his from me as I can hear his voice echoing with the words: ‘such grand words coming from the Terror hound who decimated a race out of anger. You have grown weak, a mere shadow of your true former self. We are here to fix that.’

Are we? I think back. Or are we here just to feed your ego? You want to prove your point, you want to make yourself the victim here, but I’m not buying it.

I can feel the annoyance through our link, but as always he swallows his emotions down before they can flourish.

‘Let’s see about that’ is the last of his thoughts when I’m swallowed by his memories again, almost like he pushed me towards the front seat, and gave me no time to adjust as emotions that are not mine threatened to sweep me away.

The Demon King continues: ‘I learned from a young age how the world works, the weak are to bow at the will of the strong, and yet I survived, day after day after day in such dangerous place made to kill its residents, even the walls were predators at that point, however I soon realize that there was another choice for me to make, that I did not have to run or die, because I could become the one chasing, I could be strong, I had to to survive.’

‘It took me years of hard work, such as you have too, battles to the death, all at stake always, the flip of a coin where I could as easily take a life or have mine taken until, there is, I found it.’

‘The exit.’

When he says it stone stairs leading towards the bright outside appear in front of us, hurting the eyes with how bright that small sunshine is for the eyes adjusted to the darkness of the caves for their entire lives.

‘I made it out, out of that shifting maze, out of that death trap, and lived for a few years above ground, and there were not as strong creatures up above, something to do with the thick magic dungeons have, and yet, when I found peace as I stood on top of the food chain none of that satisfaction I eagerly wanted came, instead only a sense of… emptiness, of not knowing what to expect now, of being done with everything, of reaching the end, somehow.’

‘I remember thinking, is that it? This is all my life came to be? Like a wild beast I only here to hunt and be hunted? Like the trees my only reason for existing is to one day go back to the earth that made me? To feed the cycle once more?’

‘I don’t want that, never did.’

As his words sink in my own mind starts to wonder, my resistance feeble against the avalanche of emotions, but my eyes widen once his memory goes to him in the forest, looking down at a pool of water, at himself, for what is reflected there is not the Demon King I know, but a… monster.

I try to free my mind for that line of thought, but I realize soon that these are not my thoughts, but the Demon Lord himself as he stares at his own reflection, the hundreds of pairs of eyes staring back at the monster.

‘…You understand now, don’t you? Like this… I’m but a mere beast in the eyes of all… I did not have what you have, a disguise, a human body, I’ve always been… this.’

‘And yet…’

‘And yet, to my surprise, even after years of solitude, even after years of emptiness, someone accepted me, someone saw me for who I truly was… only to be taken away from me.’

At that our eyes focus on the scene at hand, of our presence at the lack, on how a bush moves to the side catching our attention and making us stand in guard for the upcoming attack that surely was about to unfold like it has many times before, only to meet the eyes of a scared boy wide openly staring at us, but as silence sets and none attack his surprise is substituted by a smile as the boy puts the basket down to the side and tries to approach, bare feet digging in the earth.

However the same cannot say about me, for as closer the boy gets, the more shocked and surprised I get with what I’m seeing, because I recognize that kind bright smile, that blond hair moving with the air, the only different part being the not blue but dark pair of eyes curving up at us.

And how could I now recognize him? After so many encounters, so many fights, after staring at such smile with boiling anger burning inside, for this strange boy that approaches simply has the same appearance Cain has!