On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

"So... Is being buried here a kind of humiliation to a Demon King?"

"Why do you think so?" Valeria quirks her eyebrow.

"Well, the Demon Kings that are buried here were killed by the Heroes, after all. Doesn\'t it make them a failure as a Demon King? I mean, to make a special grave just for those who were slain by Heroes ... That is a form of humiliation, in my opinion."

"There is nothing wrong with the way you think. However, you forgot one thing."

Valeria gestures at the seven gigantic statues surrounding the grave. "A Demon King is the strongest Demon that no one can look down upon; to be able to kill a Demon King, these individuals were exceptional."

"\'It\'s not that they were a failure, but their opponents were just too strong,\' is what you want to say, right?" I nod my head in understanding. "Man, to think that you—"

"I\'m not sugarcoating things." Valeria frowns lightly. "The Demon Kings that are buried here were mostly stronger than the others that are buried in the Throne of Eternity. When I say the Heroes were exceptional, I mean it wholeheartedly."

"Could they split a mountain with a swing of their sword?"

Valeria stares at me silently, and I wait for her answer patiently. The more I wait however, the more anxious I become. How can I not? The thought of fighting with individuals who possess that power honestly frightens me.

Luckily, Valeria shakes her head in the next moment. "No, not with a swing. They could split a mountain with a swat of their hand." Sadly, the information she gives me is not something to rejoice about.

"..."

"Are you afraid?"

I look at Valeria\'s taunting gaze, and ponder. \'I am afraid, but I honestly don\'t care about it anymore. The power level in this world is so fucked up, it throws me into a state of hopelessness long ago.\' Funnily enough, this very thought is the reason why I don\'t care.

In the very first place, I don\'t think that I am afraid of the incoming future; I am a little bit anxious, but never do I have any thought of running away from my future opponents. The heroes are, after all, my "friends" that I almost managed to kill.

\'Tsk. Just thinking about those bastards...\' My blood boils everytime I remind myself that my tormentors are still alive out there. \'So, what if they are stronger? I just need to be stronger.\' It wasn\'t possible on Earth, but in this new world, everything is possible.

"That\'s how you should look as a man, Laylow."

I don\'t know how frowning makes me look like a man, but I still look up, and meet Valeria\'s face that is decorated with a pleasant smile. "Thanks, but my name is Layland."

"You have to earn the privilege first to be called correctly." Valeria wipes the smile off her face, then turns her gaze back at the grave. "Now that you understand a tiny bit of power that these Heroes possessed, I presume you can imagine the power the fallen Demon Kings possessed."

I merely nod my head, and say nothing.

"Do you think they were weak?"

"No."

"Aside from being a reminder, the fallen Demon Kings are buried here as a form of respect—to tell Demons that they were an outstanding Demon King, and a hero to their people ... Still, an alive weak Demon King is better than a dead strong Demon King."

Badump. Badump.

As Valeria turns to me, my heart beats strongly. I don\'t know what causes the phenomenon or what I am currently feeling, but her gaze—the strong emotion it\'s conveying—evokes something within me ... Something that I never thought I had.

"Of course, I want YOU to be the strongest Demon King who carries Verniculos behind his name, and still manages to remain alive even after slaying the Heroes. Can you do it?"

\'Can I do it?\' Considering the advantage that I don\'t have but my bastard friends have, it will be a very hard task. \'But with magic... Nothing is impossible.\' I am hesitating, but I know I already have the answer since the beginning.

"I can do it—no, I am going to do it."

"A man shall take responsibility over what he says. Let us see whether you can take responsibility over what you said, Layland."

Graciously, Valeria walks away to the door that is slightly away from the grave. I am still overwhelmed with the unfamiliar feeling inside me, but I still have the mind to follow closely behind her, all the while keeping my posture.

...

While walking through another corridor that I don\'t know where it leads to, I am frowning to myself. I am still pondering about what Valeria said earlier, and what I said to her in response. \'Gah! That was so cringey! I want to bury myself deeply in a hole!\'

Luckily though, this is a Magic world. I think such a display is not something unusual here. \'After all, it\'s not that I did something stupid, right? I was merely stating my resolve, right?\'

Even though my mind is occupied with these thoughts, I am still paying attention to my surrounding. That\'s why, I can see that Valeria is glancing at me from the corner of her eyes. Knowing that she can read my mind, I quickly clear the thoughts off my head.

"You can never hide your thought before you learn how to use Magic, and it also applies to your Demon King\'s Mark. Mind the time and place when you are about to think something."

"Tsk! I knew it! Damn, you have been violating my privacy since the beginning!"

"Weaklings have no rights. Get stronger, and you will slowly earn that right. Still, you don\'t have to feel that down. It is not that I intentionally peek at your thoughts; most of them are useless anyway."

"Well, thank you for being honest."

I expected Valeria to return my sarcastic remark, but she keeps her silent, and abruptly stops in her track. My heart quickly sinks as I expect her to spank the shit out of me, but luckily she doesn\'t do any of that.

"This will be your first and last tour around the castle, so I hope you remember the way well. You will be roaming around the castle by yourself starting from tomorrow, and make sure you don\'t make a wrong turn."

"What if I made a wrong turn?"

Instead of answering my question however, Valeria turns to the left, and opens the black door in front of her. Unlike the door connecting us to the garden that she opened earlier, this door connects us to a dimly lit room that is filled with cells—gigantic cells.

Valeria turns to me, and motions me to step inside with her head. I, being a good man, put my hand on my chest, and humbly refuse the chance she is giving me.

"As the word goes, \'Ladies first,\' I shall be after you, ma\'am."

"You are more of a lady than I am. What are you talking about?"

\'Oh boy, this is not good!\' To my horror, Valeria lifts me by my collar, and throws me inside the room without any remorse. \'You hold grudge, don\'t you!\'

Although it happens so fast, I can vividly feel the oppressive aura the room has slowly crawls on my skin as if wanting to swallow me whole. I am petrified for a moment, and am only awaken when my body hits the ground.

Thud!

Bewilderment hits me first, before the terror kicks in. I haven\'t seen the entire room yet, but I can somehow guess what is in the gigantic cells on my left and right side—horrifying creatures!

Slowly turning my head to Valeria, I beg at her. "Take me out of here."

"This is the stable. We care for our pets here." Instead of responding to my request however, Valeria is talking about something else. "You will come here often, so get used to it."

"What kind of scary pets are you keeping here? Dragons?!"

"Hoh? You can tell?"

"What?!"

Valeria slightly waves her hand, and says, "We don\'t actually have Dragons here. They are too prideful to be kept as a pet." Although that is a rather welcomed information, I don\'t feel like celebrating. "We only have Wyverns."

"Aren\'t they essentially the same?!"

"Keep your voice down, Laylow. None of these Wyverns have their cage locked; you might be eaten if—what are you doing?" Even without looking at her face, I can tell she is looking down on me from her tone.

"Ensuring my life." I don\'t know how I did it, but I crawled so fast, by the time I realized it I am already hugging Valeria\'s thigh.

I hear Valeria sighs, as she lifts my by the back of my shirt afterwards. Being stared at her while being lifted that way makes me feel like a helpless kitten. \'Fuck, it\'s embarrassing!\'

"Being afraid is one thing, but shying away is not what a man shall do. When you have a fear, you shall face it. As long as you let your fear controls you, you can never move forward. From now on, throw your fear away."

I don\'t think it is an encouragement from how disdainful the look she is giving me, but I feel slightly braver upon hearing her word. Still though, I wonder when she will stop lifting me like a disgusting garbage.