Second Chance in the Demon Kingdom
Chapter 9

Back in reality, the Demon King sat on a stool while the kushtaka paced around in the room. Both were waiting for Caro to be done with her trial.

The girl in question was lying on the floor, hand gripped on the hilt that placed her in the trial, seemingly asleep. When the girl suddenly stopped moving, it worried the pair at first, until they heard some light breathing, and saw her chest rise and fall somewhat peacefully.

Minutes later, the hilt started to glow, grabbing the demons’ attention, as they turned to Caro. From there, they saw the hilt extending, forming itself into a sword.

Seeing this, followed by Caro pushing herself up to a sitting position, brought smiles to their faces.

“You did it! You passed the trial!” the kushtaka cheered.

The Demon King was just as happy, but something didn’t feel right. After many years of being in battle, years of facing dangers and monsters of all kinds, he could feel that something was wrong with the human. He used his Demo-Appraisal skill and looked at Caro’s status… only to see something else that put him on guard.

“Stay back!” he called the kushtaka.

The shapeshifting otter demon was too close to Caro, who swung her new sword at him in an attempt to behead the man. The kushtaka was fortunate enough to see it coming and quickly shrink to his otter form, avoiding the strike.

“Whoa! What was that for?!” he asked the human.

Either she didn’t hear him or she didn’t care, for Caro went for another slash at the demon, who quickly scuttled away from her.

“What happened to her?!” he asked his king, reverting back to his human form.

This may be the first time he was seeing this, but the Demon King knew what was going on. “The trial’s not over yet…” he breathed out, as ‘Caro’ slowly stood up.

“What?”

“This never happened to the previous candidates, but the fact that this is happening to her could only mean that there are multiple trials to that weapon’s test. And she only passed the first part…”

“So what do we do?!” the kushtaka asked, as the sword in ‘Caro’s’ hand glowed.

“What else, boy? We fight. But not here!” The Demon King grabbed the kushtaka and rushed to the doors.

As if on cue, ‘Caro’ shot herself towards the retreating king. His majesty was aware of the Blade Burst she was using and leaned to the side, managing to avoid the attack, as the human was launched out of the room.

The king let out a whistle, summoning his minokawa to his side.

“Is something amiss, my king?” he asked.

“Stop that human or distract her! But don’t kill her or hurt her too much!” the royal demon ordered.

“As you command, my liege.” The minokawa turned its attention to ‘Caro’, who turned to her new opponent, and unfurled its bladed wings.

The human girl let out a battle cry and charged at the monster. The dragon-bird flapped its wings with great force, it shot out its feathers at ‘Caro’. The possessed human swung her blade, knocking each and every bladed feather away, not at all slowing down her charge at the monster. Once she was close enough, the bird swiped its clawed leg at her, in which she blocked again with her sword.

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed, as both adversaries gave everything they had to overpower the other. Taking advantage of the stalemate, the minokawa jabbed its beak at ‘Caro’. The girl noticed this and leapt up between its claws, avoiding the beak, as it pierced through the floor and left quite a deep hole within.

Before it could get its beak out, ‘Caro’ raised her sword, having it glow a red color. The blade extended longer than it was before, and she swung her weapon down, cutting off one of the gatekeeper’s wings. The monster let out a cry in pain, as it rolled around the floor, feeling nothing but burning pain from where ‘Caro’ cut it.

The Demon King and the kushtaka, both whom already made it past the fight, were shocked at the sight before them, especially the king himself. Never, had he ever, seen anyone even injure a minokawa the way Caro did. And yet, his gatekeeper was at the mercy of a human. Seeing this made him wonder…

’How strong is she? No… Rather, how strong is it?’

******

In her trial/dreamscape, Caro, now back to her reincarnated age and appearance, a metal pipe in hand, had been doing nothing… Nothing but kill.

She killed off many people of her past. The people who bullied her, tortured her, abused her, turned a blind eye to her suffering— she killed them all. There were many who fought back, but against her? Now that she remembered who she really was, they didn’t stand a chance.

The girl murdered practically everyone in town. Only a few remained. Caro arrived at her home, where a certain pair of those remaining few were to be.

With a hardened glare, she opened the door and walked in.

“Mother! Father!” she shouted at the top of her lungs. “I demand you to come at the front, now!”

It took a few moments, but footsteps were heard deep inside.

“You have some nerves, brat, to raise your voice at your own parents,” her father spoke, as he and his wife walked out the living room.

“You’re not my parents. Not anymore,” Caro declared. “In fact, you never acted anything like a parent from the start. Don’t bother acting like one now!”

The mere fact that she raised her voice without even a hint of fear disgusted the pair of adults. The looks of disgust were replaced with smirks on their faces.

“Well… it seems we’ve underestimated you,” her mother said. “Dear. Shall we perhaps teach our daughter some discipline?”

“Perhaps we shall, honey. And while we’re at it, she’s right; we never did what a parent should do to a child. Let’s give her some more permanent lessons,” her father said.

Next thing Caro knew, both her parents grew and changed. Bones were heard cracking, as they undergone their change, joints bent in ways they shouldn’t be, and fur, fangs, horns, and/or claws emerged from their bodies.

Caro was shocked at the transformation. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew killing her parents, the one pair who made her life hell, wouldn’t be easy. But to see them change into monsters she always saw them to be? This was different.

Completely aware that she couldn’t beat them, especially not in a place as small as her home, Caro ran back out. Unfortunately, the moment she stepped foot past the front door, she found herself falling.

The girl looked around and saw nothing but black. Everywhere around her, black, and void.

As she looked up, she was relieved to see that her ‘parents’ didn’t follow her out of the house. Suddenly, she felt herself break through something and was engulfed in blue. It didn’t take Caro long to realize that she fell in a large body of water and swam back up to the surface.

Caro gasped for air when she got out of the water. Keeping her head above the surface, she took note of her new surroundings and was shocked to replace herself in a lake in what seemed to be a cavern. She swam to shore and got herself out of the water.

Caro stood, looking around the area. ′How the hell did I end up in a cave?′ she wondered.

Caro knew she wouldn’t get any answer if she were to stay in one spot and walked deeper in. She looked around, trying to replace either an exit or a weapon.

The girl heard something approaching her and stopped, putting her guard up. Coming her way was an army of skeletons, all equipped with armors and swords, axes, or lances.

If Caro was a normal girl, she’d be trembling, frightened, maybe begging to have her life spared. But she wasn’t. Instead, Caro charged at the closest skeleton wielding a sword and landed a punch right at its face. Not only was the punch strong enough to break the skull, it forced the monster to lose its grip on its sword.

Caro quickly snatched the blade before it dropped to the ground and swiped at the remains of the skeleton, breaking it and the armor to pieces.

This action seemed to have ticked the rest of the group of undead, as they raised their weapons and charged at Caro. The human girl stared at them all, determined to take down each and every one of them if it meant getting out of this cave.

******

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Demon King and the kushtaka both managed to retreat to the armory and grabbed some weapons. Well, the kushtaka did, for a couple of daggers. His majesty, on the other hand, was undoing a complicated lock on a chest. One that held his greatest weapon.

“Explain to me again, your majesty, why we cannot let the prince know about what’s going on in the dungeon? Or at least alert the guards?” the kushtaka asked.

“As you know, no one knows the truth about our history. Because of the curse, their memories has been altered. If I say anything about the truth, how do you think they will all react? Even if I am king, they will not believe in my seemingly-outrageous words. They would think I have been possessed or that I am not the same king they had respected all these years,” he reasoned.

“You haven’t even tried to tell them. If it were me, before I saw the truth, I would’ve believed you, your majesty.”

“Maybe you would. You who we have found just a couple of years ago without a hint of memory about yourself. You who did not even know of the false history we, demons, have against other races. But what of those that know of the history they were fed? They may have respected me all these years, but they are not ready for the truth. Especially not my son.”

“Then how about you try to tell me?” came the Demon Prince’s voice.

The king and the kushtaka turned to the door and saw, not only the prince, but also several armed men by the door.

“My son…” the king breathed out.

“It was questionable enough you ordered the human to be spared, claiming it was because our pet wanted her to be spared. In all my life of placing judgement and seeing judgement be placed on criminals, you’ve never given them mercy, no matter what the reason. Whether they’d be strong or they had a sort of history with our family, you did not at all back down from their sentence. Some criminals you placed judgement onto yourself. You may call this a rebellion, but I demand an answer, father. What are you not telling us that you have told that weakling of a demon with you?” the prince demanded, pointing his broadsword at his own father.

The Demon King winced at the situation he was in. Not only was Caro possessed by the hilt and slowly killing the life out of the minokawa in the deepest part of the dungeon, but now his son had overheard his conversation with the otter demon, and was growing even more doubtful by the second with him. And after witnessing the possessed human’s strength, if he doesn’t return to the dungeon soon and distract her long enough for her to either return or die by the remaining trial, his people will be in danger.

Before the king could say a word, however, faint sound of screams were heard. This got the attention of the group of demons, as the soldiers outside the armory turned to the source.

“Was that a scream?” asked a goblin.

“What’s going on? An intruder?” an orc asked.

Suddenly, a cyclops came running towards the group. “Re-report!” he shouted with a stutter.

The prince walked out and saw the kneeling demon. “What’s wrong?”

“I-It’s horrible! That human the king had spared… That human! She-she’s on a rampage!”

The Demon Prince was not amused with the report. “Then why are you here reporting and not immobilizing her? Where are our mages?”

“About that… Some of the mages already tried to apprehend her, but that human easily broke through the binds and killed them!”

Now that surprised him and many other demons. “What did you say?!”

“Not just them; several other soldiers tried to stop her, but she’s easily killing them all! Them, and the prisoners in the dungeon!”

“The dungeon?! What is she doing there?!” the prince questioned.

By this time, the king finally got the lock undone and grabbed his weapon from within. In it was a pure black, akrafena with a purple gem embedded in the hilt, near the blade.

“We must go,” the king said, referring to himself and the kushtaka as he walked past the other demons.

“Hold it, father!” the prince called out.

“I do not have the time to explain! If you truly wish to know the truth, if you truly think you are ready to know, then come along. Help us fight against the human within our castle. However, anyone who acts out and kills her will answer to me!”

It was silent when he said that, as each men looked at each other questionably, especially with their king’s words.

“If we stop that human and spare her life, you better explain everything,” the prince said without hesitation.

His answer brought some courage to the rest of the soldiers, as they made up their mind and decided to follow their king.

His majesty was silent at the response, and simply sighed. “Very well.”