“I appreciate your grace in this matter, Lucivar. It is not so often that one encounters a demon with such… humility,” Calenvir said with a hint of hesitation, smiling in such a way that it was clear he was slightly confused by the whole ordeal.

  After defeating Lirien and being surprised by Luminarch, and subsequently losing one of his relics in the process, the elven king sent his soldiers away in order to have a proper discussion with me and my most trusted advisors, Viressa and Lioren. Lirien had also stayed; however, his father had bound him with some sort of skill, and the elven prince was completely unable to speak or move, tied to a heartwood tree with a string that glowed with a faint silver light.

  “Of course, in exchange for allowing the prince to live, I only ask that we be friends from here on out,” I replied earnestly, smiling widely.

  [You’re such a bitch, Carter. A perfect chance to kill that bastard, and you let him walk free?] Joshua complained.

  I gain nothing from asking for Lirien’s life; besides, even though Calenvir is offering up his own son, it would be a bad look to start our relationship with the elves by murdering the crown prince.

  [Lame.]

  Even Viressa shot me a quizzical look, although she elected not to protest my decision. Along with the justification I had given to Joshua, I had also come to the conclusion that revenge was not exactly a priority for me. After all, Lirien’s actions in the first place came from a place of vengeance for the fate of his partner.

  I would not follow in his footsteps.

  “Well then, Lucivar, I will see to it that within the week one of my diplomats will come to discuss matters of trade and such with you and your people, until then, I hope that you see peace in the wake of this… war,” Calenvir stated, lifting himself to his feet and regarding me with an apologetic gaze. “Reparations will be a long and arduous journey, and I hope you know that despite you sparing this one,” Calenvir paused, smacking his son behind the head in a slightly humorous manner. “He will suffer greatly for his actions.”

  “Of course, thank you, Calenvir,” I replied, bowing my head respectfully.

  With that, the elven king turned, untying his son and dragging him unceremoniously by his one good arm. I waved, drawing a vicious scowl from the elf prince, but his mouth was still bound, so the poor guy was unable to impart a final goodbye.

  “You think he will truly keep his word?” Viressa asked, eyebrow raised suspiciously.

  “He is an honorable man, I am sure of it. We should expect only cooperation from the king of the elves,” Lioren mused.

  “Agreed. I have a good feeling about him!” I exclaimed, marching outwards from the warg den at the heart of Mount Boom. “However, I am not so sure if I have a good feeling about a certain Primordial Demon…”

  The thought hardly had time to marinate before I was interrupted by a system message.

  I equipped the item, a black belt with golden accents, along with a single green gem inserted into the buckle. I now possessed two parts of the set, and I was extremely interested in what the special effect would end up being, considering how impactful the ruler’s set I already possessed was. I also needed to start accruing more gear in general, as I still had to think about what gear to outfit Joshua with.

  [Just make sure whatever you find doesn’t fucking talk to me.]

  I laughed aloud, thinking about how Finnlen must be bugging the parasite at every waking moment.

  Hold on, do you sleep?

  [No.]

  So, when I’m sleeping, what happens to you?

  [You don’t wanna know.]

  I shrugged, then sighed, rubbing my head in contemplation. It felt as if I had lived a thousand lifetimes just in the past few weeks, and I was especially confused about everything to do with the myriad of immortal beings I had come to know in my time in this new world. Lunarius and his schemes, along with Isarion’s and his somehow even more worrying ones, as well as Luminarch and his interesting final decision.

  What did he see when he put on his crown? He could’ve killed all of us without even lifting a finger.

  [Maybe he saw a future where he’s entertained by your dumbassery?] Joshua offered unhelpfully.

  Shut up.

  I would’ve gone to Lunarius for insight, but I was not entirely sure if I could trust that particular Primordial either, considering he had somehow teleported Etztara away in a desperate situation, while also electing to cancel the Shadow Mark skill when I had tried to summon him.

  “Ugh, why can’t these guys just be more obvious?” I muttered to myself.

  I glanced around, then realized that I had been so focused on my thoughts that I had completely ignored something.

  The Exp reward from Joshua’s quest had resulted in me leveling up to twenty, which also meant…

  Then I should focus on getting any two of Hell Chains, Accelerating Hemorrhage, or Command Demon Duke up to mythic tier.

  Scanning through my skills, I had managed to complete the evolution quest for Accelerating Hemorrhage, so I decided to utilize my level up on upgrading it.

  [Accelerating Hemorrhage has evolved into Accelerated Rupture]

  So cognitive!

  [What is wrong with you?]

  I tore my gaze away from the blue screens, taking in the calm atmosphere of the once-empty field of grass. A soft wind tugged at my hair, sweeping it to the right as I turned my head, taking in the soft glow of the nature spirits hovering just above the edge of the perfectly still water. Multiple wooden houses were slowly being worked on, and I spotted Cedric and Zorrack having what seemed to be a heated discussion about cooking in the distance, standing around a smoldering campfire. Atea and the Dryad Sylva were laughing together as they observed the duo, while my two adoptive brothers, Kril and Azazel, sparred on the other side of the lake, drawing a disapproving tut from Viressa as she stomped over to them.

  “Peaceful, isn’t it?” Lioren said, slowly making his way beside me.

  “It is,” I responded, leaning my head against the massive beast's side. “This is how it should be.”

  “Agreed.”

  We stood like that for a while, taking it all in. Despite everything I, no, we, had been through, the violence, death, destruction, and mysteries above it all…

  I felt a sense of calm.

  A sense of belonging.

  This is my home.

  Then, a voice called out.

  “Lucivar!” Sylva ran towards me, and in her arms appeared to be a tiny bundle of twigs. However, as she drew closer, I realized instantly what it was.

  A newborn dryad, born from the sacrifice of the centaur who had once welcomed me into her home.

  “Thank you, Ossara,” I said softly, smiling as I observed the statue of the former ruler of the forest. “Thank you.”

  The Demon King's Fate. I appreciate every single one of you who has come along for the journey, and for all future readers who make it this far, I'm sad to say that I will be going on Hiatus for the time being. As this is my first ever work, there are definitely improvements to be made! If I do come back to this project, it will not be until I complete a full rewrite of volume 1 and am well into volume 2! If you appreciated the story thus far, I would love to see a comment or any sort of acknowledgment that this silly story of mine at the very least managed to entertain some of you!