One day, a noble came to the hero with an important mission. The Demon King was up to something. Nobody knew what. A group was being sent into the demon lands to find out, and stop it. The hero was one of those members.
So, he went. Along the way, they fought with a number of magical beasts. Their party was rather small, but everyone was skilled. Thus, magical beasts thought they might be easy prey. They were wrong. A large number of magical beasts were defeated, many of them being beheaded by the young hero. Some of those with more than one head lost all of them. Beasts in the air found themselves pierced by spears- or destroyed by the magic of some of the hero’s companions.
The group continued on. There was a reason there weren’t travelling in large numbers. When they came across demons, if it was a small group, they could defeat them. If it was a large group, they could avoid them, and avoid notice. They continued on, toward their destination.
—–
The fact that they had a destination was somewhat bothersome, both to the hero and his companions. Had the spies managed to reach the fortress they were heading to, only to barely escape with their lives? They weren’t sure. It seemed strange, but they were already well into demon lands when they had considered it fully. It was easier to press forward than to go back.
Thus, they snuck and fought their way forward. Eventually, they reached a fortress. The gates were open, as if they weren’t expecting to need to prevent any entrances. However, it was not completely unguarded. They fought their way through its hallways, growing ever more tired and wounded. Finally, they found it. In one of the underground chambers, a dark ritual of some sort was being performed. The demons in the bloody ritual chamber were trained in magic, and they were a hard fight. In addition, their progress through the fortress had not exactly been subtle, but the hero and his companions didn’t have any skills that would have allowed careful infiltration anyway. Thus, they had to deal with attacks from behind.
Around the hero, his companions fell, though many demons did as well. A demon fell. A wizard. Another few demons. One knight who had been with the hero through many battles. Some of the trained wizards among the demons were slain. Exceptional warriors from the human countries died. Then… it was just the biggest, meanest demon and the hero.
They fought, and the hero dodged magic and weapons, and swung his sword. Then a mace that was within reach when his sword failed. His armor was starting to fall to pieces, yet some of it was still attached to him through various wounds deforming the metal. Then, he picked up a spear. The spear stabbed through the demon’s heart… while at the same time he took a sword to his belly.
The hero looked around, surveying the room. There were only corpses. Demons, humans… and those that were indistinguishable, except for occasional glimpses of skin colors or horns. Nobody was left standing. Thus, the hero collapsed to the ground.
—–
After this happened, another demon who was watching the scene grinned. He went into the room, and found that that the hero was still alive. Perfect. This was just what he needed. He sealed the door behind him, activating the spell it had, then sat down among the pile of corpses, and started channeling a swirl of energy. At first, it seemed as if a gentle breeze blew throughout the room, then it escalated into a violent tornado. However, more than just spinning things about the room, everything was dissolving. Tiny pieces of everything came apart and started to form something in front of the demon. The process was long and arduous, but finally the process was done. The Demon King smiled and reached out to take his prize.