Chapter 2: An Unexpected Offer From an Unexpected Source

He should have known something was fishy from the very start. Summoning a group of outsiders with no knowledge about how the world worked. Telling them only the essentials for defeating the demon kings. Only a few natives joining them on their quest.

The moment that their group had been summoned, the angels already had an ulterior motive other than defeating the demon kings. Whatever it was eluded him, but that didn't matter right now. If he didn't do something soon, he would meet his permanent end.

Unwilling to let that happen, he struggled harder against the force pinning him down. Veins bulged as muscles rippled from the strain. Blood dripped down his nose, only to turn into dust.

"Why do you keep struggling?" the angel asked as she tilted her head to one side. Her face had reverted back to its default calm expression, but he knew better. In her eyes was hidden glee at his suffering. "It's pointless. Struggling just makes is more painful."

Spitting out blood, he laughed. "What's the matter? Too chicken to face me? You're no angel. You're just a chicken, birdbrain."

She frowned. Suddenly, the pressure increased. His face slammed straight into the ground. If before it was difficult to resist, now it was plain impossible. Gritting his teeth, he could only froth in his righteous fury. With his face pressed to the floor, he could no longer see how her eyes blazed with unfathomable rage.

"Mind your tongue, vermin. The fact you lived longer than you should have is something you should be grateful to us for," she said.

How dare a mere pawn that they summoned bare its teeth at her. If they hadn't needed these things so badly to fight against the demon kings, she wouldn't have to put on a disgusting farce.

She had promised Salvador not to do anything to jeopardize their great cause. Afterwards, she was free to do however she pleased with this batch. At least they had done their job right.

There had been a few close calls. She nearly tore her hair out when it had been down to only the Healer against the 12th demon king. She had thought they would fail this time, but the little slip of a girl somehow changed her class to Saintess. It was something that never happened before. It was a pity she died in the end. She would have been a great tool for them against the remaining demons.

Luke blacked out from the pain. When he came to, he found himself in the void. Staring into the nothingness, he found himself strangely calm. He was about to die at the hands of the angel, yet he couldn't bring himself to care.

He chuckled. So, this was how he would meet his end. He had thought that if he were to die, he would have died heroically fighting against the demons. Instead, he was stabbed in the back by everyone and thrown away like trash. How pathetic.

[Will you truly let things end here?]

At the sudden voice and message, he spun around, looking for the source. There was nothing there. Who was talking to him? It looked like the system prompt that would appear thanks to the system bestowed to him by the angels, but instead of the screen being blue, it was red.

[Who I am isn't important? What's important is that I have an offer for you.]

He was certain he hadn't spoken out loud. Was it reading his mind? The more reason for him to be wary. He already fell for the angels' tricks once. Never again.

[Don't compare me to those featherbrains. I'm way better than them.]

"Who are you? Why are you talking to me?" he demanded.

Whatever this thing was, it was clearly against the angels. As the saying went, the enemy of my enemy was my friend. The question was if it applied to his current situation.

[As I said before, my name isn't important. What's important is that you have a grudge against the angels like I do.]

That made it more suspicious. Why was it appearing now? Why didn't it show itself when he was being beaten down by the angel earlier? The fact it wished to remain nameless made it hard for him to trust it.

[If it bothers you that much, I can tell you what I am. I had hoped to save it for later, but drastic times require drastic measures. I am the 12th demon king.]

"What?!" He floated back and away from the screen, reaching for a sword that was no longer there at his side.

[This is why I didn't want to reveal myself right away. I knew you would react violently.]

He scowled as his hands curled into fists. "How are you still alive? I know I killed you."

[You did. Which is where you're in this mess. Why do you think the angels want to get rid of you?]

He had wondered what their motive was for summoning them and getting rid of them right after they did their job. While he had no clue how the other groups were faring, he suspected that they were going through the exact same situation as him.

"What do you mean?" he asked as he relaxed his stance slightly.

[Demon kings are eternal. They come back no matter how many times they are killed.]

If that was the case, then what was the only point of summoning them? The demon kings would just come back over and over again. It was a never-ending cycle. It was pointless to try.

He couldn't accept this. It would mean that all their sacrifices so far had been all for naught. They had tolled away for no reason. His party members had died fruitlessly. Grace had sacrificed herself for nothing.

[You're rightfully angry. The angels kept this from you because they feared what would happen if you knew.]

Of course, they would have. If they had revealed that the demon kings were essentially immortal, no one would have bothered taking on the quest. They must have had fun laughing at their expense.

His shoulders slumped as he asked, "Why are you telling me this? Are you here to mock me?"

[I told you that I had an important offer for you. Won't you become the demon king?]