The Great Demon System

"..."

"Cheating you say… Bold of you to assume that is the case…" She dimly spoke.

"Yes! He had to be! I may be in control of this space, but there may have been forces from the shadows! The Fatebringer family is one of the most powerful in the entire world after all! A useless brat like Kai Fatebringer should have been nothing but fodder! He and that Moby Kane!" He proclaimed, adamant and aggressive in his approach.

"He was not cheating, not at all…"

"... E— Excuse m— "

"You dare make me speak again!?"

"Ah—" He gulped, his gray hair jumping numb.

"Kai Fatebringer is a loyal servant of mine… A greater demon! It's only natural he would be far more powerful than that puny grandson of yours! You are the only cheater here! The only reason Moby Kane managed to triumph was because he bided his time and waited for the precise moment to finish it off while you were unaware and could not further boost his power!"

'He— HE KNEW!?' He inwardly screamed. "AHH—"

His eyes widened in horror, and in the next moment, his head came crashing down to earth like a meteorite in prostration. "Please forgive me oh great demon lord! That possibility never occurred! I had no idea! Believe me! Had I known such a thing I would have never—"

"Of course you wouldn't have!!" She roared from above. "You only regret it now due to consequences!! Spineless! You had absolutely no intentions of a fair match, but a guaranteed victory! … That is somewhat admirable… Doing something for your own devices under the public eye… Yes, a very demonic thing to do indeed..."

"Mm—" He gulped trembling in confusion.

"Speak not, for that is the only compliment you shall receive from me! I will not come here to claim to be some kind of saint who would never do such a thing! I am a demon! Yet I am no hypocrite claiming to be a saint even at a time like this!"

"Y— Yes! I understand my mistake! It must be habit to try to make myself look good at every passing second. Please forgive me! Yes!! I truly am a corrupt, despicable human being and a disgrace of a leader! I've known that for long! I cannot count how many times I've deceived and oppressed for my own benefit!"

"..."

The space was deadly silent, existing in a state of unease within the mind of Cade Walker. Time slowed waiting for any response, and he dared not lift his head. All he could hear was a ghastly voice whispering in his mind and the shaking and clattering of every bone in his entire body. The pain of waiting almost outweighed the pain of the burn— He could not take it any longer, so he forced his mouth to open and break the silence.

"Oh— OOoOh great demon lord… Is there any more questions you want to be answered?"

"Why yes!" She gleamed.

"Whatever question your gracious majesty would pose to a lowly human like me, I'd be honoured to—"

"Yeah yeah— enough with the formalities," She scoffed, and the supreme general stiffend once more to her own amusement.

"Firstly, I will ask you one simple question… Serena and Horace Kane… What happened to them?"

"WHA— How—" He suddenly lifted his head.

"Do you want me to repeat myself!?"

"AHHH— No no no no! I heard!" He quivered, like a hand gripped his very heart.

"Then what is the problem?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I— I just can't"

"And why is that!?" She stepped on his back, grinding the tip of her boot on his spine.

"I can't say that either!" He shook his head vigorously on his knees.

"..."

"Ha… hahahaha… hahahah… HAHAHAHAH…" Out of nowhere, laughter exited his mouth, yet it was no normal laughter, it was heavy, dark, and reeked of abnormality.

I won't tell you! What am I even doing! This world is fucking VR! I can't die in here! And this tournament won't last forever!" He shook himself off her feet and looked up, gazing eagerly into her royal eyes of amethyst with a wide grin from ear to ear.

"When I don't show up to the award ceremony, they will send people to find me! Then you will be finished! I can assure you of that! I've wasted enough time here! Losing my secrets, my power! That is not something I will be willing to sacrifice! Whatever pain you want to inflict, go ahead! I, SUPREME GENERAL CADE WALKER WILL MORE THAN WITHSTAND!!"

"..." There was a stunned look on the demon lord's face, and that stunned look only worked to further fuel the laughing grin on the supreme general's own.

However, that did not last for long. Her face suddenly changed, a mixture of awe and amusement returning to her once baffled visage as she scoffed and spoke the final words that he would hear in this world...

"So be it…"

*Snap…*

Abruptly, the darkness surrounding him grew darker. The demon lord once stood to his side suddenly faded into the background, his pounding heart softened, his body relaxed as he sat silently in a place even more unknown. There was an odd serenity that he had yet to experience before in his life, there was no stress, no fear, no worry... Like a baby born new to this world... He was at peace…

However, the peace did not last for long, as light entered his once secluded dimension, blinding him, accompanied by an overly obnoxious sound that he would never forget in a million years.

*HUUUHHH*

His eyelids woke, and his hands lifted to shield his eyes from the light. His gaze opened, quickly gaping all around him, and his eyes flung touching all parts of his body like he was trying to sense if all was intact before it returned to his heavily pounding heart.

There was a familiar warmth wrapping his body, and an equally refreshing cool breeze. The walls around him were pure white, decorations and golden awards for as far as he could glance. The crack on the wall where he had angrily thrown a picture was there, the coffee mug, steaming hot that his servant always left him when he woke, the sweet smell of cherry blossoms entering his nose. There was no mistake...

'This room… This… This is my room!'

*RING* *RING* *RING*

'This sound…' He peered over to his left. 'That's my alarm…"

He sat silently in his king-sized bed, his head slowly turning to every corner. For several minutes, he continued, all the while his expression subtly shifted, for only now did it begin to fully set in.

'He… he… hehe…' With a smile on his face, he sprung out of bed like a child on Christmas Day, and the first thing he did was grab his phone sat atop his counter, checking the date on the calendar.'

'8:00 am June 31st… That's… The day of the big tournament…'

'...'

'Huh hf…'

"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!"