All Chapters of Cycle Zero : reincarnated as the Demon King, Now What?: Chapter 31
- Chapter 40
95 chapters
The king’s tournament (14)
The recess ended faster than Diablo expected, the crowd's energy climbing steadily as arena staff cleared away the last traces of the previous match, packed dirt smoothed over where Kestric had gone down beneath a burst of ice. By the time the herald's voice rang out announcing the final match of the tournament, the stands had filled to capacity, every tier packed with spectators leaning forward in anticipation, nobles in the raised box murmuring among themselves, and somewhere near the front, Diablo caught a glimpse of the king himself, seated beside Vasryn, both of them watching the arena floor with unmistakable interest.Diablo stepped out from the tunnel into the golden light of early evening, the sun low enough now to cast long shadows across the cracked and hastily repaired dirt. Across the ring, the opposite tunnel darkened, and Isolde Marrow emerged, dark hair still stirred faintly by the same unnatural wind that had followed her through the previous match, her expression calm
The King's Reward
By the time Diablo made it back through the tunnel, the arena staff had already begun preparing for the closing ceremony, banners repositioned near the noble's box, a raised platform wheeled out to the center of the ring where the cracked and half melted dirt had been hastily smoothed over one final time. Natsu's group was waiting for him just past the tunnel entrance, and the moment they spotted him, Mari let out a whoop loud enough to turn a few nearby heads."You did it!" she said, practically bouncing on her heels. "You actually won the whole thing!""That elemental mage nearly had you a few times," Natsu added, grinning. "Ice dome thing looked like it was about to swallow you whole.""It almost did," Diablo admitted.Akeno studied him for a moment, the same measured look she'd carried after his match against Vherrow. "You held back against her too, didn't you? Same as every other match today.""Does it matter now?" Diablo asked. "It's over.""Guess not," she said, though somethin
A Guild Master's Concerns
Diablo arrived at the guild early the next morning, the streets of Velmoor still quiet in the way they only were before the market stalls opened and the day's business began in earnest. The celebration the night before had run late, Natsu insisting on covering the first round of drinks with his own winnings from a side bet, Mari recounting the Vherrow match to anyone who'd listen with increasingly exaggerated detail, and even Leo had loosened up enough to laugh more than once. Diablo had allowed himself to enjoy it, if only for a few hours, before the weight of everything unresolved settled back onto his shoulders on the walk home.Isyrae greeted him at the guild entrance with a knowing look. "He's expecting you. Said to send you straight up the moment you arrived.""Rough night?" Diablo asked, catching the faint shadows under her eyes."Something like that." She didn't elaborate further, gesturing toward the stairs instead. "Go on. He's been in there since before I opened up."Diablo
Find a place to call home
The tavern felt different that morning, quieter somehow, though Diablo suspected the change had more to do with him than the actual atmosphere of the place. He'd lived out of the same small room above the common room since arriving in Velmoor, paying by the week, never quite settling in beyond the bare minimum of furniture the innkeeper provided. It had suited him well enough at the time. An E rank adventurer with nothing to his name didn't need much more than a bed and a door that locked.That excuse no longer applied.He packed the few belongings worth keeping into a single bag, settled his final tab with the innkeeper, who seemed almost disappointed to see him go despite the modest sum Diablo had brought in over the months, and made his way out into the city with the chest of gold secured safely at the guild's vault, a small portion converted to coin he actually carried for the day's errand.Velmoor's property market, as it turned out, wasn't something he'd ever had reason to inves
Settling In
Three weeks passed before Corvin sent word that the manor's renovations were finally complete, longer than Diablo had expected but shorter, apparently, than the broker had feared given the scope of work involved. He made the walk out to the eastern wall on a clear afternoon, the dirt road no longer quite so overgrown, freshly repaired gates swinging smoothly on new hinges as he pushed them open.The transformation was substantial. Where weeds had once choked the training yard, packed earth now stretched clean and level, a low wooden fence marking its boundary. The stone walls of the manor itself had been repointed and scrubbed clean of years of neglect, new shutters hanging straight on every window, and the stables had been rebuilt entirely, sturdy enough to house horses Diablo didn't yet own but might eventually need.Corvin met him at the front entrance, looking considerably more composed than he had during their first meeting, though no less eager to please. "Everything's exactly a
A New Kind of Quest
Diablo settled into a routine over the following days that felt, for the first time since arriving in this world, something close to normal. Mornings spent training alone in the manor's private yard, pushing his forms further than he'd dared in public, followed by afternoons at the guild catching up on quests he'd missed during tournament preparations, and evenings that occasionally found Natsu's group gathered at his new dining hall, insisting the space was far too quiet for a man who'd apparently forgotten how to relax.It was on one such morning, roughly a week after the manor's renovations had finished, that Isyrae sent word requesting his presence at the guild sooner than his usual schedule allowed. Diablo arrived to find the main hall busier than expected for the early hour, a cluster of adventurers gathered near the quest board, murmuring among themselves in tones that carried more concern than the usual idle chatter over posted bounties."There you are," Isyrae said, spotting
Thornfield
The ride north took the better part of two days, the road narrowing steadily the further Diablo traveled from Velmoor's familiar streets, farmland giving way to dense forest that pressed close on either side by the time he crossed into the border territories. He made camp once along the way, sleeping lightly out of old habit rather than any real necessity, and reached the outskirts of Thornfield just as the sun began dipping toward the tree line on the second evening.The village was smaller than he'd expected, a scattered cluster of thatched roof homes surrounding a central well, fields stretching out toward the forest's edge where the last of the day's harvest work was being hurriedly wrapped up. What struck him immediately wasn't the size of the place, but the atmosphere, doors already being bolted despite the sun not yet having fully set, villagers moving through the streets with the tight, hurried posture of people who'd learned recently and painfully that lingering outdoors afte
What Watches Back
Diablo declined Aldric's offer of a room for the night, choosing instead to position himself near the northern edge of the village where the fields gave way to the tree line, close enough to watch both the forest and the scattered homes behind him. He settled onto a low stone wall that marked the boundary of someone's pasture, sword resting across his lap, and let the village slip into its uneasy nighttime silence around him. The moon rose gradually behind thin cloud cover, casting weak, shifting light across the fields, and for the first several hours, nothing disturbed the quiet beyond the occasional rustle of wind through the crops and the distant lowing of livestock secured safely in their pens. Diablo used the time to consider everything Aldric had told him, the carved markings on the trees, the missing body, the pattern of feeding that felt deliberate rather than opportunistic. It was well past midnight when he first noticed the shift. The wind died first, an unnatural stil
Into the Old Forest
Dawn broke gray and overcast, thin light filtering weakly through low clouds that had rolled in sometime before sunrise. Diablo left the low stone wall as the village began stirring, Aldric emerging from his home to find him already waiting near the tree line, dark circles absent from his eyes despite the long night, an unnatural steadiness that the older man clearly noted but chose not to comment on."You made it through the night," Aldric said, relief evident in his voice."Something came to the tree line," Diablo said. "Three of them, including your Tomas."Aldric's face went pale. "He's...""I'm sorry," Diablo said, and meant it. "Whatever's happening out there, it's already claimed him. I don't think there's a way back from what he's become."The older man was quiet for a long moment, grief and grim acceptance warring across his weathered features, before he nodded slowly. "Then find whatever's responsible. Make sure no one else's family goes through the same thing.""That's exac
The Ruins Beneath
The passage beyond the collapsed entrance descended at a shallow angle, worn stone steps carved directly into the earth, old enough that centuries of use had smoothed their edges despite the otherwise untouched wilderness surrounding the ruins above. Diablo moved carefully, sword ready, the low resonant hum growing steadily louder with every step downward, until it settled into something he could finally identify with certainty.A heartbeat, slow and massive, echoing up from somewhere far below.The stairway opened eventually into a wide underground chamber, dim reddish light emanating from veins of some luminescent mineral embedded in the walls, casting everything in a dull, bloodlike glow. The chamber stretched further than he'd expected, ancient pillars supporting a ceiling lost to shadow overhead, and scattered throughout the space were the same carved markings from the forest above, etched now not into wood but directly into stone, glowing faintly in sympathetic rhythm with the p