Reject Human. Become Demon. [Curse Mage Berserker]

The next months passed in a blur of harrowing violence. Except I was not harrowed. I’d gotten way too used to the bloodshed of war.

I conquered for the south, and killed the ‘right’ targets in the north. The former had mixed results, as Southern New Grandera did actually begin to experience less rebellions from their newly conquered territories, but the full-on coups they did face became a lot more successful. I had to be called in a few times to just wipe out the entire enemy army, before my allied nation could retake control.

Still, the council stubbornly stuck to their more merciful plans, and they did get better at it. They replaced the existing leadership even more thoroughly. They learned through their failures, how to better track brewing rebellions. Through the movements of the troops, the citizenry, and supplies, they became able to predict just when and where an attack might happen. Southern New Grandera struck first, and they learned how to infiltrate these groups in advance, even with the looming mind-control threat of the shepherds.

The Blur was essential in coming up with these countermeasures. New Grandera began to employ more shepherds to check for any direct mental tampering. Granuel supplied them with ample enchantments, making it so that there were enough amulets for every shepherd to block the influence of their sympathy heart. Even more loyal shepherds were employed, to make sure that no one was subtly leaking out their passive influence.

Meanwhile, in Northern New Grandera: They were naturally mad at me for killing their little hitlers, even after I'd been so kind as to leave alone the big ones. For now. But, no matter how angry they may be, rationality finally won out and they softened their policies a lot. The shadow I cast began to be present even when I wasn’t there. A symbol of death.

I didn’t think it would be enough. I would be there once our uneasy and unwritten treaty breaks. I was ready to see a new monarch atop their throne.

~~~

“Guys, guys!” Granuel shouted as he ran into Pandemonium. I continued to shove my lamb chop into my mouth as we all stared at him. “It’s over! It’s finally over! We won!!!”

“YES!! WOOOOOOO!!! FUCK YEAHHHH!!!!!” I pumped my fists and bit through bone! “What did we win?”

Arx and Berry hacked a laugh, as did my parents and Granuel’s. Moonwash put down her food, and waited patiently for the news of whatever it was we won. We were just having a fun picnic!

“Ah… Well, I mean. We won. We beat Edengar.”

“Oh. Nice! Didn’t… that happen last last year?” Fiya the fountan Piss Hunter asked her son. Her and Baston had finally decided to move here… after Luine’s death. They just wanted to spend more time with their child… before they eventually and inevitably met the same fate, if by less violent means.

“Well, yeah. But there was still so much warring left to do. Edengar left a lot of cities for us to take over. But now that’s finally actually done.” My good friend sagged, in both relief and fatigue. “We’ve done all we could, and there are no more living Edengarian cities left to conquer.”

A beat of silence passed, as we all digested what that meant. Possibly half of them had fallen to the Angel’s Demise, long before we could come to help. Or, well, not really ‘help.’ We were only helping ourselves, from start to finish.

“Hear, hear!” I raised my mug of beer. Despite all the sacrifices we made–precisely because of those sacrifices–this victory was still worth celebrating! The war was finally truly over. We’d done our best, and the deed was done. History set in stone.

We had yet another impromptu party that involved us marching through the city like we owned the place–which I did. It was very fun, like always. Granuel informed me in the middle of it that I was invited to yet another party, one that would involve both New Granderas and its allies.

Somehow, that didn’t sound like nearly as good a time as today’s sudden and unplanned festivities.

~~~

Granuel, Arx, Moonwash, and I traveled along the road towards the newly rebuilt City of Edonis. Situated along the shrublands that eventually led towards the north-western shore, it was commonly accepted to be the late Edengar’s second most prominent city. Now it was under Northern New Granderan rule, and agreed upon to be the location for the grand party following our complete victory. Southern New Grandera would be walking away with significantly more gains than the north because they made better choices, hence this was a sort of freebie for the Northern Kingdom to soothe their pathetic egos. What are they, children? Ridiculous.

I was less and less sure each day that it was worth maintaining an alliance with those fools.

“Ah, the Demon Queen,” someone recognized us from a carriage we just sped past. I waved at the crustecar woman as we left her ride in the dust. She was only the first of many, as random strangers continued to act like we were the best of friends along the way.

“A pleasant morning to all of you.”

“Are you headed to the party as well?”

“My, my. This is the most frightening group I’ve ever seen together.”

“In a good way, I would hope. You are all free to come to me at any time, in order to discuss how we may all better cooperate for the prosperity of all.”

Granuel remained a master at handling these conversations with the wealthiest people on the continent, and we deliberately foisted most of those interactions to him. He sat atop Arx as we traveled, and we slowed whenever he gestured that this was actually an important enough conversation to delay for.

“I greet the Hero Arx.”

“It’s the Hero Arx! Wow!”

“ARX I LOVE YOU!”

“U-uh. Yes. I love you all too. Platonically.”

I snickered at the very positive reception Arx had also begun to get. I was glad people were taking notice of all the efforts he’d given for them. Arx appreciated it too, but I did intervene to pull people off once they got too touchy and my friend was getting uncomfortable.

“Should I not have? I wasn’t sure. Maybe you like it. But you did tell them to stop, so…”

“Oh! Yes, that was good. Thank you.”

“Just making sure.” I knocked him on the carapace and grinned. “Go enjoy your fame.”

The large inhex man snorted. “It’s not like that…”

“Bah! You’re totally famous. I’ve heard so many bards singing your praises.”

“I’ve heard more songs about you!”

“Naturally. I’ve been in this industry for far longer than you have, kid. But you’re getting there. I believe in you.”

“What industry are we even talking about…?”

War.

I posed and flexed and summoned licks of hellfire across my frame. “Being super hot.”

I was happy that got a laugh.

~~~

“The Demon Queen Haell Zharignan, The Hero Arx, The Founder of The Angelslayers Conglomerate Granuel, and The Master of All Creation Moonwash!”

A loud dwarven woman announced us as we entered the truly massive venue. I snickered at how Moonwash’s title was the most over-the-top thing ever. But of course, she totally and completely deserved it.

“Greetings, Demon Queen and friends.”

Predictably, in a repeat of how often we were recognized along the road earlier, our group was immediately swarmed the moment this continent’s elite knew we were here.

“Hello, hello!” I greeted them back, a broad smile on my face. My hooves tapped to the rhythm as music played in the background, and dancers of different species frolicked across the canopy. This was meant to be a celebration, and I would act like it!

“That’s a really nice dress armor,” a councillor complimented. “Our enemies must’ve shivered in fright and awe upon your visage.”

“It is nice. Moonwash did a good job. Though this isn’t what I usually wear in battle.”

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard a lot about her.”

“I saw how you made those sculptures in Arisen,” another councillor complimented my girlfriend. “Marvelous work.”

“Thank you.”

“Would you be open for a commission?”

“You should talk to Granuel for that.”

“Ah, but can’t you take a look before that? The President Mayor’s schedule can be dreadfully busy. I promise that it’ll be a very fun project.”

“No. That’s for friends only. I agreed to let Granuel handle everything else.”

“But aren’t we friends Miss Moonwash?”

“No.”

“Oh…”

Heh. The Granuel in question was very busy entertaining the many guests who wanted a piece of his time right now. My friend might be the most popular out of all of us. Even the northern nobles who now hated our guts still had a few of their number break away to come talk to the most prolific merchant this side of the world!

“Will you invest in new trade routes for the massive territories we got?”

“Those Edengarians are now benefitting from your companies. I’m sure they understand now, what they’ve been missing out on!”

“The name Angelslayer does make them hesitate a lot, though…”

“But they really did kill angels! Haell and her party used gear from the company to kill Evel and Adamo!”

“Is that true…?”

“Please! Do you have any comments about the Demon Queen Haell Zharignan’s actions?”

“Will you go back to doing business in the north again?”

“Bah! You guys were the ones who drove him out.”

“We did no such thing! It was a diplomatic issue with his current home nation.”

“That can be rectified. We’re willing to offer him a dukedom if he ever wishes to move.”

“There’s plenty of new territory too!”

“Did you know this would happen when you name your company the Angelslayers?”

Granuel juggled all these competing conversations with practiced grace, his words precise and measured. He maintained all these threads of conversation, without letting it become a confusing and jumbled mess.

“We’re doing our best to expand our operations right now.”

“Of course, I would love to have new partners.”

“I think the Angelslayer name is important to truly usher in a new era. I might lose some sales now, but I’m happy to do my part.”

“Unfortunately, I’m still banned from the north.”

“I will not betray Haell for you, no matter how you ask. I suggest you fix your conduct, on all fronts.”

“I had faith that my best friend Haell would succeed from the very start.”

~~~

The event was about to start in earnest and we were beginning to pick out our seats, when someone from Arx’s hanger-ons asked one particular question.

“How did you kill the angels? I would love to hear all about it.”

“Well…” Arx pondered for a moment, before he decided to lock in and recount our heroic battle with Evel to the best of his ability.

“It started with a perfectly executed strike, for anything less might not have worked at all. We needed to take away her wings, else she would just fly away like the rest of her pathetic kind...”

“...She still tried to run, even with all her power. But we threw ourselves in her way and bound her thorns with our flesh.”

“...Evel screamed and cried. She healed herself so that we may punish her longer for her crimes…”

He’d become… a surprisingly good story-teller. And a great singer too, because he somehow turned it into a song midway through for some reason?????

I’m so confused.

I like it!

I teared up a little once he got to the part about how Grandpa had valiantly sacrificed him for our victory. He broke the spikes of Evel with his body. He survived just long enough, to pass on his hopes to us.

Everyone clapped for Arx’s impromptu performance, but I made sure to clap the hardest.

People might have been covering their ears by the end…

~~~

“Friends, allies, family,” the Council Speaker Orin spoke, his voice magically carried across the massive park. This place was truly large, because most of it had been overrun by the time Northern New Grandera took over, so they took the liberty to rebuild this historic city to their hearts’ content. “It is with great joy that I greet you here today, at the dawn of our long victory parade. It is a victory that has long been ours, ever since the fall of Gardine, courtesy of our greatest of friends, the Demon Queen Haell Zharignan.”

I kept a deliberately neutral look my face. I crossed my eyes and glared at him from the front-row. It’s not something to celebrate. It’s a genocide that I did, you fucking buffoon.

“I know, of course, that the past years have by no means been easy. We fought, we bled, we negotiated, and we united this half of the continent. From a seed planted a century ago, to the nations that we now are. It has truly been the experience of a lifetime.” The colorful belfegor man stared off into space for a moment, to achieve his intended effect. “I was not yet alive back when Angelore first came to settle these lands. The history of so many of our predecessors have been lost, due to their callous pillaging and conquest. I was born well after those events, from the first seedlings that would form New Grandera.” He paced along the stage, telling a grand “It started from Edengar’s own hubris, for their greed knew no bounds. They tried to overtake and crush even the Duarchies of the dwarves and harpies, and for that they suffered. A truly massive number of their territories were lost to a war that they started. Sound familiar?” People gave a polite chuckle, and Orin smiled back. “It was from the ashes of what they lost, that we rose. From poor and humble rebels, to the statesmen of a nation. By the folly of our enemies, we were given a chance to finally form our own paths, and show that our grit and spirit for nation-building was truly superior to theirs!”

“YEAH!”

“That’s right!”

“Woo!”

The council speaker nodded in satisfaction. “We proved that and more, as reflected by the beautiful park we stand in today. In the sovereign nations Edengar scorned, we found a lifelong friend. In the many people they oppressed, we found our greatest allies.” He gestured to me and the crustecars. “Our love triumphed over their hate. May our alliance stand united forevermore!”

I raised a brow, but clapped with all of the others. It was a good speech, and I liked it.

The next person walked onto the stage. It was Queen Efin Granola of the New Grandera Kingdom, and she spent most of her time talking about how terrible Edengar was, and how they were now civilizing them and teaching them how to be proper people or some shit. She spoke of her people’s virtues and their noble sacrifice, ‘selflessly’ devoting their time and energy to making a better place out of what Edengar left behind.

“Let us give a moment of silence, to those that we lost. The many soldiers, my countrymen, nobles, dukes, duchesses, and even royals.” She recited a long list of names, including one I was familiar with. “Duke Zander.”

She glared at me, and I did not flinch away from her stare. “They were so tragically stripped of life, by the evil forces in this world, this continent; some of whom still walk among us today.”

That earned a very awkward reception. A smattering of claps rang out, which quickly grew louder as most of the northerners present gave support to their queen.

Needless to say, I was not among them. I did not clap. I did not break eye contact until Queen Efin Granola got off the stage, and it was finally my turn to say a few things.

I walked gravely to the stage.

“Hello, everyone,” my voice carried a hint of something dark, so I forcibly pulled myself out of that funk to at least present a more positive front. This was a once-in-a-lifetime celebration that may never happen again. I smiled. “It’s a truly all-star line-up we have here today, isn’t it? It has truly been a harrowing war that we endured. That we all endured.”

I paused and scanned the crowd. Some of them were bureaucrats who’d been largely isolated from the horrors of war, but I could tell that many were at least combatants of some sort, if for no other reason than their level. Being strong helped a lot in maintaining authority.

“Bad things were done to us, to our friends. We too did terrible things, like the Burning of Gardine that I enacted. That was fucked up. But I won’t speak much more about that today, nor our own brewing conflicts, because today is a time for celebration!”

My elements danced around me as I gave them the biggest grin I could.

“So let us all eat, drink, fuck, and make merry for we may never be able to party with each other like this again! Remember the many times we helped one another, and for just a moment, forget all the conflicts and the plots. Let nothing detract from what we accomplished. Rejoice for the great war that we won together! This continent will never be the same again, and it was us who made that history!”

I opened my wings and spread my arms as if to embrace the world.

“For all that we lost, all that we sacrificed. We’ve taken on their sorrow, so now let’s carry on that joy!”

The smirk froze on my face. I felt a sudden sense of grave and unavoidable danger. An attack incoming. Space deformed in the face of world-shattering momentum. I was about to die.

WHAT IS IT!? My minds wailed, before promptly abandoning all thought. There could only be action. There was no time for the slightest hesitation. Even the single instant required to send signals to my body felt like several eternities.

Move, MOVE, MOVE!!!

My muscles burned from the magic. Blood unraveled in my veins as I scrambled to convert it all into power. My wings and hooves strained as they seemed to move so slowly in this one frozen moment. I threw my body forward and bent the space in front of me—!

The moment passed, and I was obliterated.