Chapter Text
Deon was sitting in his room, working on paperwork that he detested with his soul. Of course, he was doing paperwork with Ed since he refused to do a mountain of paperwork alone. And besides, Ed was more suited for this task than he was.
"Sir Arut this should be the- S-sir Arut?!"
Ed stammered, he looked at Deon who had his head face-planted on the table.
"Ed... I'm going to sleep. don't. disturb. me."
Deon said in a low tone, reciting each word slowly, in hopes that Ed would understand and let him sleep. However, his tone led Ben to misunderstand, and he assumed that Deon thought that Ben was challenging his authority. Which was not true.
"Y-yes!"
Ed quickly mustered up enough courage to reply. He grabbed each document on the table and bowed dozens of times before hurrying out of Deon's room.
"Haah... I want to retire."
Deon exhaustingly sighed. He wanted to run away so badly. But the security in the Demon King's castle was too tight!
Exhausted, Deon decided to lay on his bed. He thought about the resignation letter he was going to give to the Demon King.
***
"Where... Where the hell am I...?"
When he woke up, Deon was in an unfamiliar space, yet it also felt familiar. The place made him feel more relaxed and less on guard than his own house. It was as if he had been here multiple times before...
It was a pitch-black room, as if the curtains were shut tightly; not leaving any hint of sunshine in. No color or light was shone in the room, but he could clearly see his feet and hands.
"My child, you're finally here."
A man with white hair akin to his, and bronze skin appeared in Deon's vision. His appearance was truly handsome, like a god appearing in the mortal realm. However, when Deon saw this man for the first time, he seemed familiar, but he wasn't able to pinpoint why. And instead of being in awe of the godly appearance before him, he felt a strange urge to punch him even.
"Who- Ugh?"
Deon was about to ask who the man was but clutched his head in agony. He felt a splitting pain, even more painful so than the blood he coughed and the feeling of being burnt in the sun. If possible, he would've rather die than experience this pain..
As soon as the pain subsided, memories flowed into his head. A red-haired man who was similar to him appeared in them. The two of them wanted a peaceful life, but life decided to fuck them over. It was like fate was playing a cruel joke on a poor and tired man after giving him a prize for all of his hard work, seemingly sweet yet cruel.
Cale Henituse was the name of the man, and that man was also him...
"God of Death.."
Deon finally spat out the name of the deity in front of him through gritted teeth. His smile was strained as he curled his lips and hands simultaneously. Another question appeared in his head as he stared at the detestable god in front of him.
How come every single one of his lives absolutely sucked?!
"Haha, my dear Cale, you finally remember me!"
God of Death practically squealed in a jovial tone. He seemed to be glowing in the dark room all of a sudden because of Deon's acknowledgment. The once serious and busy god was nowhere to be found as soon as his favorite human was involved.
"I don't go by Cale anymore. Besides the last memories I had when I was Cale were not pleasant at all."
Cale- no, Deon said, his voice getting more strained by the second in anger. He held his hands out and a jar of cookies magically appeared in them. His hand subconsciously reached into the jar before absentmindedly putting it in his mouth and chewing on it.
"Now that you have your memories, you should know what world you're in, right?"
The God of Death rested his chin on his palm while looking at Deon, who was now daydreaming of his rich retired, and slacker life. He inwardly chuckled at the sight of this. In every life he watched Deon go through, whether it was Kim Rok-Soo or Cale, the man before him seemed to have never changed; always wanting a slacker life.
Despite this, his life as both Kim Rok Soo and Cale Henituse was by far one of the most depressing ones yet. They were both lives where he should've lived a happier life, yet he lost all of his loved ones, and even when he gained a new family, he was betrayed.
Deon Hardt wasn't exempted from this either, he was neglected by his family and was soon drafted to war; thinking his family hated him, only for it to all be a misunderstanding. And in the end? He found this out all too late.
Now after living for twenty-four years without memories of his past life, Deon Hardt was able to regain them.
"Aiya...Yeah, I do know about this world, I know it very well. Just how did you reincarnate me as the main character, and out of everyone else? Seriously?"
A sigh of disappointment escaped from Deon's lips. If only he reincarnated as a nobody, then he wouldn't need to worry about the impending doom that was heading straight towards him.
"..."
That was a lie, and they both knew that.
Cale Henituse would end up as a main character no matter what, even if he was reborn as a villain. His temperament and ideals were a part of the reason, but the gods also played a role. Specifically, the God of Hope and God of Death were the culprits behind this. Not only that but he was favored among the majority of gods, making him the beloved child of the gods.
"You remember our deal right, C- Deon?"
"Yes, yes. I need to prevent the destruction of the world and the main character himself. It doesn't matter how I did it as long as I can prevent it."
Deon absentmindedly back.
However, another question arose, when did he make that deal? Ah, well, being the God of Death, perhaps he made the deal with him while on the brink of death? It was strange since he didn't recall a thing about the deal, yet he was able to answer back confidently.
"But I didn't expect that main character to be me..."
Deon wanted to bury himself in his own grave right now.
It was too late to even avoid the plot since he regained his memories two years after killing his parents. Had he regained them just before the act, things might've turned out differently.
The worst part was that before becoming Cale Henituse, he read a novel about this world. Besides Deon killing his parents, his own brother died in front of him which eventually led him to despair. All of that was because of Stave Illuster, the only Duke of the Empire.
However, he did not anticipate that he would become that main character destined for doom.
He suddenly realized why the God of Death was so confident.. That was because he reincarnated as Deon!
"Ahem... As for the award for preventing the destruction of the Nameless One, or well Roan Kingdom, we Gods decided to let you keep your ancient powers; abilities; and memories."
"That's it? Don't you think I deserve more than just that? Keeping my abilities and memories is a given, I worked hard for those. At least help me with my current condition."
"...That's true.."
"So?"
"Alright, I can lessen them. But since you were born with albinism, a full cure is not possible. Unless you were cursed. Neither can I change your appearance back."
"That's fine by me, it would be more suspicious if I looked like Cale anyway."
"Oh and one last thing before you go. Choi Jung-Soo and Lee Soo-Hyuk wanted to tell you to live happily and that they'll always be on your side no matter what."
"...Is that so."
Deon mumbled, his vision was slowly obscuring, a signal that meant it was time to go.
***
Plop!
Deon stared at his hand, a teardrop landed on top of it. He reached for his face, feeling a few more tears rolling down.
Bang!
"Sir Arut! His Majesty- S-sir Arut?!"
Ed stood there in a daze, surprised at the scene in front of him. Deon gave him a glare, which was actually a confused look.
"Ed, it's not what it looks like. You better not tell anyone."
Deon wanted to curse himself at the moment, this was a bit embarrassing. What if the other commanders saw him crying like a pathetic kid? He'd be humiliated to death and his facade as the second strongest would crumble to pieces, eventually leading to his death.
He knew full well as to why he had tears streaming down. It happened before when he met Lee Soo-Hyuk when he was unconscious. The affirmation that his two friends were on his side no matter what choices he made touched him, if he had to tell the truth. But there was no way he'd admit this in front of them.
"Actually Ed, pretend you also never saw that."
Deon said in a monotone voice. His eerily gentle smile made Ed tremble, it didn't look gentle in the eyes of the poor Zeroth Corps Vice Commander. However, what scared him the most besides that was the immediate change in emotions.
"Y..yes sir."
"So what was it that you had to barge into my room like that?"
Deon rested his head on his hand, the tears on his face were long gone by then. Ed who was across from him finally regained his composure after a moment.
"His Majesty has called for you."
"I see... I'll go see him right now."
Deon rose from his seat, pushing Ed out before wearing his commander uniform. Once he got out, he could see Ed waiting for him diligently.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
***
Thud.
Deon threw a white piece of paper on the Demon King's desk and stood across, placing his hands behind his back while looking at the Demon King without a hint of emotion.
The Demon King watched Deon's hand withdraw after placing the paper on his desk. He looked down at the paper on top of the desk and saw the words 'resignation Letter' written on it. His eyes widened, and his face turned ashen before he could even lift his head.
Deon looked at the Demon King's shocked expression and spoke in a firm voice, without a hint of emotion.
"I want to resign."
If the Empire has 'Heroes', the Demon Kingdom has
'Corps Commanders'. Just as the Empire puts forward its capable generals, the Demon Kingdom also puts forward its 'Commanders'.
Therefore, the Corps Commanders serve as both the sword and shield of the Demon Kingdom, as well as a symbol of strength.
Officially, there were a total of twelve Corps Commanders in the Demon Kingdom, numbering from one to twelve; but in fact, there is one more hidden in secret, the unmentioned Zeroth Corps Commander.
The people of the Demon Kingdom, and even the enemy Empire's army, know of the open secret Zeroth Corps Commander.
The person in charge of the Zero Corps was none other than the one who had killed the last 'Hero,' virtually the strongest commander in the Demon Kingdom. Having such a powerful Commander suddenly say he will resign was unimaginable.
"No! Never! You can't abandon me!"
With great determination, the Demon King grabbed his subordinate's legs and kneeled on the ground.
Usually, the Zeroth Commander hardly speaks and moves around, so when he came here personally, the Demon King wondered why and was even a little happy at the sudden visit.
But to say something like this.. Maybe he wasn't being sincere. As always, it was just a test. It must be a test. There's no way his Arut would just resign like this, right? He gave him everything a human needs since the human diet and needs are different from demons.
He raised his head while still holding onto Deon's legs tightly. Yellow eyes met red eyes, and silence flowed through the air.
Deon could tell from his eyes what he was trying to say.
'If I go this far, you can't tell me that you're really going to quit, right?'
His eyes, which had been stiff all along, trembled slightly at the sudden action. At first glance, it was not obvious, but the Demon King, who was concentrating on him, was able to catch it quickly.
It was shaking.
Deon's eyes, in fact, were trembling while convincing himself not to laugh at the pitiful sight of the Demon King. It was a sight that nobody would believe even if he was the Zeroth Corps Commander.
The Demon King felt more shameless than Alberu at times. It wasn't like he wanted to bring up that crazy bastard, just thinking about him gave Deon goosebumps. However, he couldn't deny the fact that this devil indeed had thicker skin than expected.
The Demon King let go of the legs he was holding on to and stood up abruptly. Instead, this time he grabbed onto both of Deon's shoulders.
"Why? Is there something not to your liking? Do your subordinates treat you badly? Are they discriminating against you just because you're human? Which bastard is it? Tell me, I'll make them regret being alive!"
Contrary to his harsh tone, the Demon King was convinced that no one would do such a thing. The power of this human was so strong that everyone had no choice but to acknowledge it.
What is 'acknowledge?' To the demons, he possessed overwhelming strength that couldn't be obtained even with hard work. He was far from being friendly, everyone was in awe and respect, who would be brave enough to mess with him? Mess with him once and your whole body would be sent to the grave in pieces!
Nevertheless, there was a reason for doing this.
Deon Hardt, known as "Demon Arut" in the Demon Castle, was the only human in command after the Demon King.
He was the only human in the entire castle, so he didn't know what other humans were like. However, unlike other demons, he was extremely reluctant to see someone's blood unless when it came to his enemy. So when it came to this, there was no choice but to react somehow.
As expected.
Just as he was about to leave the office, his wrist was grabbed.
Turning around, he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him with quite a menacing gaze. The Demon King forced on a smile as he stopped in his tracks
Looks like you're finally willing to talk?
The other party was his treasured person and the one who had just handed in his resignation letter. Instead of shaking him off, he let out a deep sigh and sat down with a tired expression.
"I'll ask you again. What is the reason?"
"Are you going to discard me and then kill me off?"
It was a genuine question coming from Deon despite knowing the answer. He knew full well that he was just entertainment for the bored Demon King and the despaired Emperor.
The Demon King, with an ominous gaze, looked at Deon.
What did his gaze say? Is it a gaze that says, 'What ludicrous things are you spewing now?' or was it 'Are you that desperate for death to ask me that?' Or perhaps it was a gaze that said, 'Maybe after I'm done playing with you when you no longer have any worth.'
Deon was conflicted on whether or not to apologize. It was a weird question to ask, it made him look more stupid now that he thought about it.
Neither could he avoid the intense gaze that was directed at him, he could only stand still emotionlessly while watching the Demon King who clung to him a while ago in utter horror.
While that happened, the Dominating Aura activated to keep Deon standing. Of course, the Demon King was able to sense it; but did not pry any further. There was no malicious intent spotted, so the topic itself was ignored.
"..."
As if the Demon King was trying to read Deon's mind, the Demon King finally lowered his head.
"There is no way I could kill you, and neither would I discard you. What's the reason? Talk to me."
Though Deon hesitated, it was only for a moment.
He wanted to escape from the castle, and procedures like this were technically necessary. But, would the Demon King really listen to him? Besides, even if he escaped, his white hair made it easy to spot him. That's why, this plan was already excluded. It wasn't like this place was like Roan Kingdom, the Demon King could easily track him if he chose to do so.
So hesitantly, Deon opened his mouth.
"...It's-"
Suddenly, the familiar metallic smell and taste of blood spread from Deon's nose to his mouth.
"Cough!! Cough!"
Deon was finally able to grasp the situation. This body of his! Of all places, to vomit blood here?! And he wasn't even feeling stressed, why did his nose start bleeding?
His eyes glossed over at the blood-stained papers. Even the Demon King was drenched in his blood.
'What a shitty life.'
Deon quickly covered his mouth and backed away. The papers were already stained, and the Demon King's hands were covered in his blood. Deon saw him clench his teeth as if he was angry and shivered. The feeling of oppression was heavily felt, making him unconsciously back away.
He swallowed back the screams that wanted to erupt out of his throat as killing intent pierced throughout his entire body. Thankfully, the Dominating Aura helped him ease the feeling of danger.
However, this also left him with no other choice but to apologize for the mess he created, so Deon slowly opened his mouth to talk.
"I apologize. I dirtied the papers..."
"That doesn't matter right now! Doctor! Call the Zeroth Corps Commander's doctor!! What is he doing when the patient is so sick?!"
Deon was no longer bothered by the action. These events frequently occurred even when he was Kim Rok-Soo or Cale Henituse. Back then, he always had a nosebleed or ended up vomiting blood from excessive use of his powers, and that didn't change even as Deon.
A wave of exhaustion swept through Deon, this all happened just because he had a nosebleed and ended up coughing blood. However, with Record and Vitality of the Heart, he freshened up in an instant as if nothing ever happened, if you ignored the bloodstains.
'So instead of blaming me, he'll blame the doctor, does that make any sense at all?'
As Deon stood still, a question appeared in his head.
Why did no one find out he had an illness and that it wasn't because of a side effect?
Ben was also a demon since this was the Demon King's castle. Every demon in the Demon Realm was made up by magic from the Demon King, in a sense, he was technically their creator or father. It didn't make sense that Ben couldn't sense his illness, or was he keeping quiet in the Demon King's favor?
'Just a bit more and maybe I can be free from this awkward situation..'
Resigning to his fate for now, Deon slumped down in his seat with a bitter expression. His mind wandered about, thinking about his regrets and the torture he went through.
He'll surely get his slacker life soon, right..? It might take a bit but he will get it!
***
"What is he doing when the patient is so sick?!"
The overwhelming magic power swept through the entire castle. Demons nearby and afar could barely breathe under the influence of the tremendous power, some even fainted.
It was obvious who the source of this dense and heavy magic power was. Ben, the Zeroth Corps Commander's doctor, hurriedly packed his medical bag for remote visits and was prepared to die today by the angry Demon King's hands.
Of course, the Demon King's only concern was the patient Ben was in charge of, the Commander of the Zeroth Corps, Demon Arut.