In the dim, damp cave, a young child crouched in the corner, staring at the crackling campfire before him, his eyes filled with an air of despair.
If you were to ask what it feels like to be reincarnated as a beast, this child, Ash, would probably say this is it.
Worse still, this unfamiliar world housed a terrifying race.
They have no familial bonds like parents or children. Once born, they're left to fend for themselves like wild beasts. No, even wild beasts typically nurture their young, but this race completely lacks such behavior.
Their growth patterns and social structure leave them with little emotion or empathy, with only a rare few showing any inclination toward cooperation or social behavior.
They don't survive by eating humans, yet they kill them from time to time, not out of any clear motive, but almost instinctively. They even mercilessly torment weaker members of their own kind without hesitation, their sense of kinship so faint that it's barely held together by the strongest among them.
They don't hate or despise humans, so their reasons for killing them are bizarre, as if they were created by some divinity solely to slaughter.
To humans, this incomprehensible race is undoubtedly the most vicious and cruel, and this race is none other than the demons.
What makes this child even more unfortunate? He is a demon! Worse, he's a rare hornless demon, one without the characteristic horns.
Being born into this savage race's greatest flaw made him realize from the moment of his birth that weakness is the ultimate sin.
If an adult demon takes a disliking to him, a moment's carelessness could mean death. Because of this, at just three years old, they must fend for themselves.
... Yes, they.
"Hey, Ash, what are you thinking about?" A pink-haired girl with two small pairs of horns, sitting close and hugging her slender knees, tossed a broken twig into the fire. Noticing his daze, she frowned. "It's your turn to cook today, right? Hurry up and get to it."
"I'm not saying you're wrong," Ash, who had adopted a new name to blend into this world and avoid standing out, sighed deeply. He reached out, pressing a hand on her head, and said solemnly, "Aura, you shouldn't just call me by my name. You should respectfully call me big brother, right?"
"Big brother? What's that?" The girl, Aura, stared at him with incredulous eyes.
Exhausted, he couldn't be bothered to argue. "Ugh, forget it. Just hurry up and cook."
"No, it's your turn to cook."
"Quit nagging. I'm stronger right now, so you cook!"
"Fine." Aura fell silent for a moment, then stood and walked toward the cave's edge, where jars and pots were scattered, along with half a wild wolf left as their dinner. She muttered under her breath, "Ash is so weird. He said he'd take care of me, but I'm still the one doing all the work?"
Ash, clearly hearing her mumbling, chose to ignore it, closing his eyes to meditate and practice magic.
Yes, magic.
Thanks to the inherited memories of demons, he was born with knowledge of language, writing, and even magical cultivation methods. His name, too, felt like an instinct etched into his heart.
This knowledge ensured that demons, despite being born without parents, could speak and act from birth, preventing them from dying en masse, though their childhood mortality rate remained staggeringly high.
Still, magic had to be learned. It was the pride of demons, the foundation of their survival, an instinctual obsession that drove Ash to study it fervently in his spare time.
Like other demons who fixate on a single pursuit, he had his own goal: gravity magic.
Despite spending his first three years living like a primitive, surviving on raw flesh and blood, a childhood too grim to recall, he had no choice now.
At least today, he had scavenged some fire from a nearby forest blaze, meaning they wouldn't have to eat raw meat for once.
When night fell, and silence enveloped the world, the two sat together at the cave's entrance, leaning against each other.
Before them stretched an endless starry sky, where a magnificent meteor shower unfolded, its radiant trails slicing through the darkness, breathtakingly beautiful. For the first time, Ash felt grateful to be born in these mountains.
"It's really beautiful, isn't it?"
"Beautiful? I don't get it." Aura, wiping her hands with grass, seemed far less impressed.
"That's why you're still a kid."
"We're the same age, aren't we?"
"I mean mentally."
"You've eaten more hearts?"
"Let's just change the topic." Ash, exasperated, ignored her. She glanced over, saying seriously, "Fine, Ash. I want beef tomorrow. That cow head we found last time was delicious!"
"We haven't even finished the wolf from the day before. Don't waste it. And where am I supposed to find beef?"
"I believe you'll figure it out." Seeing his lack of enthusiasm, Aura tried to motivate him.
Her flat tone, however, left him feeling no pride, and he just nodded tiredly. "Sure, sure, I'll try. But for now, just let me watch the meteors in peace."
"That wolf is already starting to stink. It's gross."
"Don't be picky."
"You're so annoying, Ash."
"That's my line."
As he brushed off Aura's complaints, gazing at the increasingly dense meteors, he recalled a vague memory about wishing on shooting stars. Without thinking, he made a wish.
"When I grow up, I definitely don't want to watch meteors with Aura again."
As he swore to himself, unfamiliar yet somehow recognizable text suddenly appeared in his vision.
[Chosen Demon King Candidate, Ash, accept the gift of the ancient Demon God. Become the King of Demons, sacrifice the world to ascend as a new god, slay the Goddess, and forge a new cycle on this planet!]
The text left him dumbfounded. According to his inherited memories, only the legendary Creation Goddess existed. Since when was there a Demon God? And one crazy enough to want to sacrifice the world?
The strange text that appeared before his eyes left Ash's mind buzzing.
He couldn't quite make sense of it, and the suspicious points were oddly numerous. But from the so-called Demon God's gift, a system called the Demon King Growth System, he learned it was far less impressive than he'd imagined.
The Demon God was a self-proclaimed title of a great demon from the Mythical Era, one who had half-stepped into divinity before perishing, apparently the strongest Demon King of that time.
Ash was chosen because his emotions were exceptionally unique, possessing a rare social nature and range of feelings among demons, even surpassing past Demon Kings.
The system seemed to rate his potential highly, though whether it was a misjudgment remained unclear.
After all, it wasn't a true god. The system's abilities were quite limited, offering no earth-shattering powers. Its only function was to collect the souls of a thousand humans or equivalent intelligent beings to exchange for a divine miracle.
More precisely, a miracle replicated from the Goddess by the Demon God. The system, created by stripping this magic from the Demon God himself, could unleash miracles based on the number of souls offered. With enough souls, its power was nearly indistinguishable from a true divine miracle.
It sounded harsh, requiring a minimum of a thousand souls with no upper limit, consuming all accumulated souls per wish. But demons lived long lives, so even working in a slaughterhouse could eventually provide wishing opportunities.
The system was overly simplistic, with this as its sole function. After a brief moment of excitement, Ash returned to fretting over survival.
After all, he was only three years old! Where was he supposed to find a thousand souls to make a wish?
...
Thirteen years after reincarnation, by a forest lake.
A chilling breeze swept across the water, rippling the surface and sapping Ash's warmth.
His still-small frame dragged a tiger-like beast, roughly the size of a small car, in one hand, while the other gripped Aura's horn, heading toward their cave shelter without looking back. "You should give up on mental magic and switch to something practical. Restraining that beast's movements only to collapse from exhaustion yourself? That's just useless."
"Don't tell me what to do, Ash. My magic is my choice. Even if we were born in the same cave, you have no right to interfere," Aura retorted.
"You're so cold, even with such a warm big brother like me." Using gravity magic to lighten Aura and the beast's weight, Ash shrugged.
"If you call dragging me like an object warm, then tomorrow, once I've recovered, you can lie on the ground instead."
The dirt-covered, exhausted pink-haired loli, Aura, let herself be dragged by her horn through the muddy soil, her sharp tongue launching a fierce counterattack.
"Speaking of, can you even get up later? Will you have time to make dinner?"
"Why is it always me doing that?"
"Isn't it perfectly fair and democratic? I drag you home, you cook."
"I did way more work in that fight!"
"We're siblings. Don't sweat the small stuff."
Taking advantage of his current strength, Ash shut down Aura's complaints, leaving the pink-haired loli tsking behind him.
Though reluctant, when they returned to their cave, she lit the campfire, bathing the stone walls in orange light.
Ash sat cross-legged nearby, his gaze lingering on Aura's profile by the firelight, studying her closely.
Despite her odd personality and still being a loli, she was surprisingly good-looking, with delicate features and two pairs of demon-like horns that were, admittedly, quite convenient for dragging.
She was hardworking and capable, even if she talked back. Her only flaw was probably...
"If only you were a bit more docile and cute."
"What are you muttering about?" Aura, busy cooking, turned at his voice, flashing a mischievous grin. "Not thinking weird thoughts again, are you?"
"I'm thinking it's about time we leave this forest."
"To go to a human city and eat people?"
"No, no, no, I'm not interested in human flesh. Look at me." He pointed to his head.
"A bald weirdo. If we hadn't grown up together, I'd think you were a human pretending to be a demon, and not even doing it well. Your demonic aura is so faint that if you're not careful, humans might mistake you for one and kill you."
Though she wasn't saying anything pleasant, Aura tilted her head, closing one eye with a delighted smile.
"Think about it. How would you feel eating someone who looks just like you? How would you feel eating someone like me?"
"Good point. Someone like you is better off just killed."
"Hey."
"Kidding. We've been working together for so long. Once my magic is mastered, I'll make you my servant, handling my meals, cooking, hunting... Oh, and I hate cold foot-washing water at night, so you'll warm my toes with your mouth and lick my feet clean, right?"
Already picturing it, Aura smirked excitedly at him.
Ash ignored her grandiose words, resting his forehead in his hand, wondering why the kid he grew up with turned out so strange.
His reaction sparked another misunderstanding. "What's that? Ash, are you so happy you're too shy to look at me?"
"Your face just makes me mad. I'm worried I'll accidentally kill you, and then no one will cook for me."
"Huh?" Aura blinked in confusion, then grabbed his head, shaking it while laughing happily. "You're so shy, Ash! You're thrilled, aren't you?"
Good grief, she was completely ignoring him now. Was her twisted personality due to a tragic childhood, or was it just her demonic nature? Or maybe, just maybe, his influence? No, it definitely wasn't him. It had to be the other two. Enduring the annoyance of being shaken, Ash couldn't fathom how she thought he was shy.
He even seriously considered whether a hard knock to her head might fix this kid's brain.