Reject Human. Become Demon. [Curse Mage Berserker]

People looked at me strangely–even more so than normal–as I walked across the morning streets of my city. They were confused because the space around me was just a little distorted, as if they’d never seen space magic before. They probably hadn’t. But this was necessary so that I may be able to react to any attack that may come!

My gaze suddenly snapped back and I looked to the far horizon for any trace of an arrow-bolt rapidly flying my way… but there was none. I found no sign of the archangels. They were too afraid of me to dare attack again.

I shook my head and kept on walking.

I arrived at the town hall without incident, and headed for the meeting room. The doors opened, and Pandora immediately exclaimed, “WELCOME BACK!”

“So, how’d it go?” Exaber (The Blur) was here too, and he asked for an update in a much more subdued manner.

I took my seat and handed them a stack of documents. Among them was a copy of the same kill-list Elindraza got, along with many other interesting files that I got for Exaber along the way.

“This will be useful. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. You’re the one who found out where they’re located.” We had another few copies of everything at home that Moonwash very unenthusiastically made. Where can I find a trustworthy scribe willing and able to do this kind of work?

“What about the fights?” Pandora asked, her eyes glittering. “The epic battles! The demon’s might!”

I thought about it for a second, then shrugged. “There’s really not much to say. It was an extermination, not a battle. I killed their armies with a glare, busted through offices to slaughter the officials, and crawled across tunnels to crush the ants that they were. The latter were the most troublesome actually, because why are those tunnels just so damn brittle!? They keep collapsing on me!”

“Stupid tunnels!” Pandora agreed. “But at least they knew to just hurry up and die the moment you showed up.”

“Eh. They fought their best.”

“As if it would ever be enough! Those fucking Royalist scum!!!”

…Fuck. Is this what I sound like when talking about myself?

“You know my title is Demon Queen, right?”

“Oh, well, you can be royalty. It’s fine if you do it! But it’s different when they do!”

I blinked, shook my head, and just changed the subject. “So, how’s the city doing?”

Pandora was the one de-facto in charge right now as the City Manager, with some major oversight from my parents. I just didn’t have anyone who I could trust and was also willing to become the next President Mayor, so the position was left vacant. Granuel can carry that title to his grave.

“Well, that… It’s stabilizing, and I’ve managed to slow down the number of people leaving… but the city is still declining, profits are down, and its citizens are still trickling out! I’m sorry!”

“I see.” I accepted her reports calmly and without blame, before looking to Exaber for confirmation.

He nodded. “What she said sounds about right. And it will continue to be the case, as Pandemonium continues to expand into the already-built city.”

“Yeah… I figured.” I looked out the window with quiet melancholy. “Maybe it’s for the best.”

“What do you mean?” Pandora questioned. “We can just build houses and surround Pandemonium forever as it expands! It’ll be fine!”

“No, Pandora. This has always been a city I built not for myself, but for my loved ones. But even they have started to die out.” I smiled sadly. “I never really wanted to lead people. That’s clear with how I did a damn poor job of it. Maybe I should’ve never called myself the Demon Queen, it’s just a cool title. I never actually acted like it.” I chuckled. “I think my rule would’ve been even worse if I did.”

“That not–” she began to protest, but I cut her off.

“It’s true. Just… try to make sure that the Arisen City dies elegantly. Let it fade away slowly, peacefully. Make sure the people can rebuild their homes elsewhere. Okay?”

“...Okay.” Pandora cried. I supposed it was sad. But to me, it was only a burden lifted that I never wanted.

~~~

The ground shook. Pandemonium expanded. One layer of old abandoned homes were swallowed by the ground, as my manor’s walls swallowed up its lands.

So too did the structures within my walls expand. Every wing, every mansion, underwent some serious renovations. Mortar broke apart, bones grew like shoots in spring, and organs stitched together stone. Dirt cracked and fissured, and was then remade. Black grass and trees were rearranged, to be fixed up later, and then added onto several times over, for we had so much more courtyard now to fill.

The central mansion formed, more imposing than ever before, with a stronger gothic feel for its architecture. I, and my family, and friends watched this all happen from a tower that leaned every which way during the entire process, but never fell.

“Weeeee!” my mom cheered.

“Woaaaahhh!!” Berry tried to keep her balance, before being swiftly caught by Elfrafim when she lost it.

“Ahahhahaha!” Elfernando laughed from below, as he experienced this change in the most direct way he could. The elven man even jumped into forming chasms, only to be spat back out by Pandemonium like an annoyance later, none the worse for wear.

“Is it done?” Moonwash asked directly once the shaking stopped.

“I think so,” I agreed, and so did the tower.

Moonwash jumped off the ledge, and I followed her off the cliff. We landed on our hooves and feet, before immediately dashing for the central wing. A massive maw large enough to swallow entire houses whole greeted us at the front, and we went through the new door without hesitation. It swallowed us whole, and we found ourselves in one massive grand hall, essentially a ballroom.

“Too much black. Add some bone whites. Bring out the deep reds and blues,” Moonwash asked of Pandemonium, and parts of the black stone structure morphed into white bone. Rugs, planks, paint, furniture, and more began to be delivered from below. Moonwash set about decorating the place, and I helped her, soon joined by the rest as they caught up and gawked.

The work proceeded quickly. My fiance was somehow able to make the clashing colors work together into one coherent and beautiful whole.

We also decorated a bunch of Pandemonium’s other rooms after that, from a massive bounce house, to a new underground lab for Elfernando’s use.

We didn’t come close to filling even half of the manor’s available space.

Pandemonium too was growing up.

~~~

I bobbed my head as music roared through the massive hall. The many friends we made along the way mingled on the dance floor. From a lot of elves, dwarves, and a smattering of many others. They played the games we prepared, admired the artworks on display, and ate and talked amongst each other. It was a heartwarming sight.

“Let’s go join them?” I asked Moonwash as I held her hand. She looked absolutely dazzling in her bejeweled black dress.

“Okay.” She jumped into my arms, and I carried her down. I was pretty happy with my own outfit too, a white gown with only minimal armor pieces that truly accentuated my Mark of The Beast.

Naturally both of our outfits were made by Moonwash herself.

“Hi Haell!” one of my harpy acquaintances immediately shouted once I landed with a resounding impact.

“Moonwash! Hey!”

“Congratz on getting married!”

“Hello.”

“WOOOOOOOOO!!!”

We received many congratulations and well-wishes for this was a day to celebrate mine and Moonwash’s love. I waved back at them, my hands faster than the propeller of a plane. I then went over to Arx and gave him a hug.

My inhex friend had only just returned yesterday to attend my wedding, after a long time spent in a dangerous sabbatical across the wonderzones of Geonesis and the Folded Planes. He too was on a journey to improve himself.

“You gotta tell me all about your adventures later, alright?” We didn’t get to chat all that much yesterday when I went to pick him up.

“I’m sure you have a lot of stories yourself to tell.”

I gestured around me, at the massive ballroom of soothing gothic designs, and the people who filled it. “What do you think you’re all here for? Now you gotta listen to what I have to say!”

I laughed and then separated from him as I and Moonwash went around the whole massive room to greet all our guests.

"You guys finally did it!” Berry called from a stage out front. She waved at us with all three of her hands, along with her one big claw. “I thought my carapace would fall off before you guys finally get married!”

“There’s still a few hours. Who knows what might happen!”

“There’s a fish that has that kind of poison,” Moonwash helpfully added.

“GAH! Don’t even put that possibility out there! My shiny shiny shell…”

We exchanged a few more quips, but soon separated. Berry literally lived here. We were always hanging out.

“So, how’ve you guys been?”

Instead I approached the Demon Aspires. They were the party that once traveled to this place, because they wanted to become like me in the most literal sense.

“Ready and willing to become a demon now!” Larah announced.

I flicked her forehead. “You would’ve passed the test, and I would’ve told you if you were ready.”

She pouted.

“I’m fine,” Ragnar, the ogre-turned-imp, gave a curt summary of how he’d been. He was back to being Level 20 now, having elected to skip the evolution of an imp to a demon. Good choice. Hellfire is particularly painful to your veins. And so is its predecessor in the infernal fire.

“People are coming to me now about becoming demons!” Marcus the human complained. He’d given up on the dreams of demonhood they once shared, but he’d done very well for himself anyway, now being Arisen City’s guard captain.

I winced a little upon his reminder, but put the issue of new aspiring demons out of my mind.

“Today’s my wedding, Marcus! Where all other worries can go fuck themselves.”

“R-right. Later then?”

“I know no later.”

I left them with one dirty glare, before mingling with the elves playing rowling balls.

Basically, there was a room-sized model of some very complicated and unnatural terrain. Around it, some elves and others were rolling balled up monster figures down slopes and mountains to topple miniature buildings and towns.

“STRIKE!”

“HAHAHAHA!”

“Ggggrrrr…!”

“I’ll get you next time!”

“Hah! As if!”

“Kiss my ass if you lose– Oh, hi Haell!”

“Congratulations on the wedding!”

“Can we join the orgy lat–”

“They’re not doing that Elfoodie! Dumbass! We keep telling you!”

“I thought that was a joke! A prank! You guys are gonna do it without me, and I’ll be sad.”

“What? No! That’s not it at all!”

“It does sound like the kind of shit you'll pull, Elfrankie.”

"No it's not!"

"It kinda is," I admitted.

“Not you too! This is about the orgy you’re not holding on your wedding day, you know!?”

I nodded. “Yeah. The one Elfoodie isn’t invited to.”

“There’s nothing to invite them to! GAH!”

“This is a truly fun game,” the harpy oracle Jascara interjected while we kept messing with each other. “Can our Jilders Duarchy bother you for a hmm… city-sized set? I think it could be a very good relaxing spot for my people, a place to just fly slow.”

“That can all be arranged later!" I waved my hands wildly in front of my face. "Find Pandora, can’t miss her, the one with all the merch… that has my face on it, and then you can discuss the price!”

“We like the game too!” Elford interupted, a bit forcefully, and while pouting.

“Can I have this!?” Elfoodie just asked directly, pointing at the whole set.

I thought about it for only a second. “Sure. But after today! It’s still being used here.”

“YAY!”

“Okay!”

“Thank you, Haell!”

“Not a problem.”

I left their table and then came across a very stiff Pandora who was sitting still and unmoving, but simultaneously just vibrating in her seat.

Ah. Right. I told her she can come, but only if she sits still and doesn’t say anything.

I started to feel a little bad. I didn’t think she’d take it so literally! But it’s true that she’d cause trouble if let loose…

Eh, who cares? She’s helped me out enough that I still invited her, even if I definitely wouldn’t call us friends.

“Hey Pandora.”

Her gaze snapped towards me, eager.

“You don’t have to be so quiet and stay in that chair forever–”

“WOWOWOWOWOW! IS THIS HAELL WHEN SHE FOUGHT THE GOBLINS NEAR HERE!?!?!?!?!?”

She immediately rushed off to the many paintings and sculptures we’d prepared for today. Some of them were really old, made all the way back in our first and now-destroyed Secret Base, when Moonwash and I were still kids.

There were many paintings and sculptures of me in active battle. A great number of raw materials were displayed right next to those pieces. Plenty of artwork featured both me and Moonwash as well, given that this was our actual wedding. It showed our history, from the adventures we had, to the gear left broken by our rise.

The particularly bad pieces of artwork were the ones made by us together over the years, just for fun.

They weren’t even terrible. They’re just right next to everything else Moonwash made by herself!

"This is Haell as the ruler of Hell. No, not outright nothingness, but something else. A punishment for sinners, but she took it over and remade it into her image. That's why there are those cute hearts in the background. You wouldn't think of it when you think of demons, according to her interpretation..." Moonwash was explaining to the dwarves and others when I went over to rejoin her.

“OOooooh.”

“I see.”

“I didn’t think of it that way.”

Her captive audience nodded their heads in understanding. I took the time to appreciate everything here again. Moonwash worked hard in making all these, to make today as good as it could be.

I… did something too! I ferried people over here. The elves I teleported over, because fuck it, they helped me revive Moonwash and Arx. They deserved to mess with that power as much as they wanted. Everyone thought they were crazy weirdos anyway.

‘Oooohhh, Haell teleported us from one end of the continent to the other!’ As if anyone would believe them.

But, I was still trying not to flaunt my long-range teleportation elsewhere, so I just traveled with the convoys or carried them here for most of our other guests. The roads could be quite dangerous, since this entire half of the continent was in upheaval, given how many of its highest leaders died last year.

It’s nice to have everyone together like this. I mused as I once again watched how everyone just got along. I wouldn’t call all of them my or Moonwash’s friends–not even half–but it was good enough that the massive venue we prepared was even filled to this extent. I at least knew the names of everyone here. I was happy that we chose to have something more personal like this, for our precious wedding day.

A part of me did wish for the public spectacle Grandera loved to make of its weddings. It just seemed so fun, and I could be a bit of a showboat sometimes. But it was still too dangerous. Even if I was confident I could save myself, I’d still be putting everyone else in my city at risk.

That’s also the reason why I refrained from holding our wedding in the Grandest Forest of the elves instead. It just… felt like it would be such a betrayal of the Arisen City that I ruled. It was a weird thing to feel, when it’s not like most of my own citizens even knew that this event was happening here today… but it would still feel like a betrayal to hold my wedding in such a foreign place when I wasn’t willing to celebrate it with the city I actually ruled, no matter my reasons.

If for that feeling alone, I decided to at least have our wedding in Pandemonium, deep in the center of my rule. We could have our proper Granderan wedding later, once all the angels were dead.

~~~

“WHOOOOOAAAAA!!!” The crowd cheered loudly once I fused 10 dragon cards to summon my void-eyes apocalypse hydra dragon!

“AHAHAHAHAHHAHA!”

“WHAT THE HELL!?”

They then started laughing when it was swallowed by Moonwash’s fat clown from the other side of the table!

“Voidy!!!! You can’t do this to me, Moonwash! It’s my wedding today!”

“It’s my wedding too,” she retorted.

“Oh yeah. You’re right,” I nodded sagely in agreement, and accepted my loss.

What we had just played was our newly released Un-Ho-Ly card game. Specifically, its greatest and most insane version. The card game itself had actually been out for a few years now, but this stupidly expensive setup that projected our cards and their effects was something new and unique, because no one else would waste such valuable illusion materials for something as stupid and pointless as a card game.

“Haell, it’s time,” my dad then approached me, once the excitement died down.

“Everyone, the wedding is actually starting, so please return to your tables!” Berry announced from out front, her words accentuated by a small shake of the building we were in. My crustecar friend had actually agreed to be the one hosting for today.

“Okay. Let’s go.” I gave a smile to Moonwash, which she did return. We then separated as I went with my parents, while Moonwash came with her remaining parent in Salaire.

Our guests took their time shuffling across the venue, while Mom and Dad fussed over my dress and my hair. It had naturally gotten a bit messed up throughout the day.

Dad finished combing my locks, and then held a mirror up to me. “We’re so proud of you, Haell.”

“Yeah. Our little girl, now a big demon.” Mom shed one happy tear.

My own tears came, and I hugged them both real tight.

“Yeah. I couldn’t have made it this far without you guys. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Haell!”

“We love you.”

The music began playing as we hugged each other for a few seconds longer. Finally, I separated from my parents, and wiped the tears off my face. Good thing my make-up was made of sturdier stuff; it wouldn’t run off just from a couple of tears.

“Let’s go?” Dad held my hand, and Mom held the other.

“Yes!” I smiled brightly as Berry’s koto reached a new crescendo. She was really pulling double-triple duty for mine and Moonwash's wedding.

I began to walk a circuit around all the tables that’d been set up. My hooves clinked unnaturally loud with every step. My dress danced like a thousand dark figures battling across a white void. Everyone’s eyes became glued to me as the orchestra of instruments suddenly thrummed with life and vigor in time with every move I made.

I stared back at them in turn as my mind cleared, just a little. I felt happier than I had in ages. The ocean of despair and curses that I forever held reached a calm that hadn’t happened in decades, and probably never would again.

I chose to be grateful for this one moment of peace. I smiled at all the friends I made along the way. I gave one firm nod to Exaber who only stood in one shaded corner. I smiled sadly at Granuel’s parents. I gave a small bow once I reached Elfernando’s table, for I may never have gotten another chance to have this wedding, were it not for his help.

Finally, I reached the central stage, and it was Moonwash’s turn to ascend. I watched her with all the love and care my rotten hearts could muster as she held Salaire’s hand and made her way across all the circles we operated in. My fiance stared right at me the entire time as the ethereal music played across the hall, unflinching and unshakable. Her dress danced like an inviting darkness that held great dangers. She was the rock of my sanity, a love scarily unconditional, and one that I endeavored to return every single day.

For the last time, my girlfriend arrived in front me, and we looked so deep into each other’s eyes. I wanted to kiss her right there and then, and I just knew that she felt the same way, but we both managed to hold ourselves back long enough to actually say our vows.

“Moonwash. You are amazing. From the moment I met you, you were already sprinting ahead towards your dreams. And that was when we were like five! You just knew what you wanted, and you never stopped creating your art. Now, the entire world finally knows how amazing you are. But no one knows that more than me. I love helping you with your work, I love watching you create. I love understanding you, in all your simplicity, and your complexity. You are a creator without peer, without limits. I'm sure you'll keep on going forever, and I am eternally happy to be by your side as we grow far too large for even this whole world! I love you Moonwash, my wife.”

“Haell. I love you. I'm always happy when I'm with you. You've always been a very fun person to be around. But you're also brave and strong. You're willing to risk everything for what you want and who you love. You make mistakes sometimes, but you're able to admit that, and then move forward. Forward and forward, you're able to do that no matter what happens, no matter how difficult it may be. And I’m here with you. I’ll always be here with you. I love moving forward with you. I love all the different journeys we’ve been to together. I love discovering new things beside you. I love it when you help me with my forging. I love how you get all the Materials that I want for me. I love it when you’re just there to offer morale support. I love it when we play games. I love it when we have sex. I love it when you make your jokes and act crazy on your own. I love talking to you and coming up with the craziest theories that couldn’t possibly be true. I love you, Haell. So, I want to marry you, and I'm very happy that we're finally doing that now.”

I chuckled at the totality of what she said. I grew even redder in my demonic red face.

I grabbed Moonwash’s cheeks as she did mine, and then we gave each other a deep and nigh unending kiss.

…

“Umm, how long it this gonna…?”

“...Should we…?”

“No! Shhhh.”

“But I’m hungry–”

“Shush up! It’s beautiful.”