Vaw's Demon Kingdom, Iron Palace Territory
The sky was dark red, the air trembling with the sound of bat wings and echoing demon laughter. At the main gate, two figures sneaked in wearing tattered traveler's clothes.
Reiji (alias Zarabis) walked slowly, while his younger sister Mijarun stared at the massive gate with a tense yet… comically panicked face.
Mijarun: "Brother… are we really sneaking in through the front? The guards are all so huge…"
Reiji: "Calm down. I have a foolproof strategy."
Mijarun: "Your 'foolproof' strategies usually almost get us killed, you know."
Before she could protest further CRASH! Reiji accidentally bumped into a huge statue of Demon King Vaw. The statue tilted, groaned, then… SMASH! It toppled over and split in two.
Mijarun: (hysterical whisper) "BROTHER!!! That's the DEMON KING's sta-"
Reiji: "Shhh!! I know! Stay calm!! I have an idea!"
With a panicked yet somehow cool expression (no one knew how), Reiji focused his energy and suddenly transformed into an exact replica of Vaw's statue.
Reiji (now a statue): "Hurry, Mijarun! Turn into a statue too so we don't get caught!"
Mijarun: "Huh!? What kind of statue?! I don't know what to turn into!!"
Reiji: "Umm… just a cat statue on my back! Hurry!!"
Mijarun: "A cat?? Are you serious, Brother?! Fine then-MEOW!"
The next moment, Mijarun transformed into a small cat statue on Reiji's back. Just in time because the guards came running!
Guard 1: "Hey, what was that noise?"
Guard 2: "Just Lord Vaw's statue… weird, I don't remember there being a cat on its back before."
Guard 1: "Ah, must be a new design. Lord Vaw is like that."
The guards left. As soon as their footsteps faded, Reiji transformed back with a long sigh, and Mijarun tumbled onto the grass.
Mijarun: "Brother! Next time use a normal detector, not some crazy idea like that!"
Reiji: "But aren't we supposed to be super-powered humans living simply?"
Mijarun: "Yeah yeah… but 'simple' doesn't mean turning into a statue, Brother…"
They continued on their way and looked for a way into the kingdom. When they spotted a long tunnel under the palace, they went right in.
Mijarun tried to think logically, pretending to be smart.
Mijarun: "Mathematically, this tunnel leads to the kingdom's zero-gravity point, so there's a high chance the underground base is locat-"
Reiji: "Enough, just go in."
Mijarun: "Brother!! I was just about to explain the logic!"
But Reiji had already walked ahead, and… THUD! He bumped into a stone wall because it was dark.
Mijarun immediately covered her mouth, struggling to hold back laughter.
Reiji (softly): "I heard that, Mijarun."
Mijarun: (holding back laughter, cute voice) "No you didn't, Brother… hehehe…"
Finally, Reiji created a flashlight from the palm of his hand.
When they turned it on, they saw something on the ground: a broken demon horn.
Reiji: "This… is Swurta's horn."
Mijarun: "Brother… that means she was brought here."
But before they could think further, heavy footsteps echoed from behind.
Reiji immediately turned off the light and pulled Mijarun against the wall.
Reiji: "Don't make a sound."
Mijarun: (whispering, trembling) "Brother… there are two people."
From the shadows emerged Demon General Fuklon, along with a chained purple-horned demon. Reiji narrowed his eyes this was no ordinary prisoner.
The demoness's face was covered in scars, but her aura felt powerful.
Mijarun: (angry whisper) "They're discarding someone that strong? So cruel!"
Reiji: "Mijarun, hold yourself back…"
However, Mijarun's soft voice of anger was slightly audible.
Fuklon turned slowly, narrowed his eyes, and began to lift a purple-glowing lantern…
Episode Ends on a Cliffhanger:
The lantern's light slowly moved toward the shadow where Reiji and Mijarun were hiding…
TO BE CONTINUED...
CONTINUATION!
The underground tunnel was so silent that even their own breathing sounded like a roar. Its walls were damp, absorbing light from Reiji's dim energy flashlight.
The heavy footsteps of Demon General Fuklon echoed slowly, accompanied by the sound of chains dragging across the stone floor.
Reiji stared from behind the shadows, his pupils glowing dark blue.
Mijarun held her breath, while Reiji's hand was already clenched, ready to fight at any moment.
Fuklon: (with a rough, hoarse voice)
"Come out… I can smell your aura. Whoever you are, you're not part of King Vaw's forces."
Reiji smiled slightly from the shadows.
Reiji: "Hm, your nose is sharp too. Too bad you're barking up the wrong tree."
(stepping forward, his shadow stretching across the wall like a crowned demon)
"My name is Reiji."
(cold smile)
"Or… Super Human, if you prefer a name that makes nightmares feel real."
Fuklon narrowed his eyes, then charged forward without warning.
His massive fist slammed through the air and shattered the floor. Reiji leaped back with nearly invisible speed, landing lightly with a somersault.
Mijarun: (small shout) "Brother! I'll get this demon out of here first!"
Reiji: (without looking back) "Hurry. I'll handle this bastard."
Mijarun immediately dragged the still-dazed two-horned demoness away. The demon's eyes were blank, only staring blankly as she was pulled to safety.
The tunnel echoed with sounds of battle behind them metal clashing against stone, and air being split apart.
Battle in the Darkness
Reiji leaped between stone pillars, dodging Fuklon's explosive attacks. Each punch from the demon left craters in the floor.
Fuklon: "You're… no ordinary human…"
Reiji: "I'm a super human… simple version."
Fuklon roared, his body swelling, and spiked demon arms oozing purple-smoking poison emerged from his back.
One arm swept at Reiji from the left, but Reiji vanished. In a split second, he appeared behind Fuklon and struck his neck with his elbow BAM! sending the demon staggering.
Reiji then spun quickly, somersaulting into the air and kicking at Fuklon's face but the spiked arm blocked it, the thorns slicing through the air with a sharp sssshhh!
Reiji landed lightly, his breathing still calm as if he were training, not fighting.
Reiji: "You know, those arms are really loud."
Fuklon: "Hmph, arrogant!"
Fuklon attacked again this time his hands dug quickly through the ground and emerged from beneath Reiji.
But Reiji was already prepared. He struck downward with a straight punch THUD!
A sound like cracking metal rang out.
Fuklon stared at his hand… broken, shattered from within, black blood dripping from the tips of his thorny fingers.
His body crashed into the wall.
Fuklon: "What… what are you…?"
Reiji: (cold smile) "A light version of big trouble."
Reiji walked slowly, picking up Swurta's broken horn from the floor.
His hand glowed, connecting his mind to Mijarun.
Reiji (telepathy): "Mijarun, where are you?"
Mijarun (in his mind): "I'm in the forest, Brother! By the big tree near the kingdom!"
Reiji nodded and leaped out of the rubble. But as he exited the underground tunnel
hundreds of demon guards surrounded him from all directions.
"A Smile That Touches Hell"
The air grew heavy. The guards prepared energy spears and sealing magic.
Reiji only stood still, his eyes dark and… smiling.
It wasn't a laugh it was the kind of smile that shouldn't exist on something capable of smiling.
And the world stopped instantly.
The guards who had been shouting turned pale.
One by one, they trembled, cried, even screamed hysterically without knowing why.
Guard 1: "P-please… stop that smile…"
Guard 2: "I… I see hell in his eyes!!"
Guard 3: (crying loudly) "Forgive me, Lord of Hell!!!"
Reiji's aura spread in all directions, warping the air.
His shadow stretched wide like massive wings, and for a moment, the faint form of Zarabis the Hell Demon King was visible: flame-filled eyes, dark nihilistic horns, and a silhouette of darkness that devoured light.
All the guards fainted simultaneously.
The only sound left was the whisper of wind.
Reiji stopped smiling and sighed.
Reiji: "Hm. A bit over the top."
He then teleported away, leaving only a completely silent demon kingdom behind.
In the Great Forest
Mijarun was sitting under the big tree, panicking as she watched the two-horned demoness faint.
Mijarun: "Brother! Why did she faint?! I just don't tell me it's because of your aura earlier?!"
Reiji: (scratching his head) "Maybe… yes."
Mijarun: "Maybe?! Brother! Your aura is like a hell storm, you know?! Now everyone in the kingdom is unconscious!"
Reiji: (blank-faced) "Oh… right. They'll wake up in five days, don't worry."
Mijarun: (sighing in frustration) "You're so careless, I swear."
Reiji: (silent for a moment) "…Looks like I failed at being a simple super human again." 🗿
Mijarun could only look at her brother with a face half-resigned, half-amused.
Reiji then lay down under the tree.
Reiji (to himself): "But… if everyone's unconscious, isn't this the perfect chance to rescue Ashia without any trouble?"
(pauses, then small smile)
"But if there's no fight… it's not fun either."
He closed his eyes, pretending to sleep.
Soft snoring sounds could be heard, but Mijarun knew it was fake.
Mijarun: (softly, looking at her brother) "Brother… sometimes I forget that what you call 'simple' means 'crazy but cool'."
The night wind blew gently.
And in the star-filled sky, the shadow of Reiji alias Zarabis looked as if he were sleeping soundly… even though his mind had already pierced through to the next battlefield.