Pinnacle Of Sword

The demon lord engaged the hordes in combat. Demons had a lot of magic, but due to the nature of their realm, they mostly used fire magic. Many of them employed fire magic to fight against the demon lord, who relied solely on his sword. The demon lord didn't cower; he kept cutting down their fire and any demon that blocked his way. The swing of his sword was so powerful that it would cut several demons in half. This continued as he fought his way through. The leader of the attack noticed that they might not succeed if it continued like this. While looking for an opening, he noticed how the demon lord was trying to protect the human.

"Attack the human," he ordered, and they all concentrated their attack on the human. The demon lord knew this would happen, but he was prepared to do anything to protect the human. He used his body to shield Lucian from the fireballs shot at him. For the first time in his life, Lucian rooted for the demon lord. It became harder to protect Lucian from the multiple attacks. He had to use his body as a shield sometimes.

"We are almost there," Lucian said as he saw the portal from afar.

Seeing that the demon lord was getting weak, the highborns started stepping out to challenge him. "I am Torro, from the Habak clan. I challenge the demon lord," a highborn demon with the upper body of a warthog announced. He used an axe and wind magic.

A swing from his axe unleashed a deadly wind blade that could cut through a boulder. 

"The demon lord accepts your challenge," he moved Lucian aside but didn't take his complete attention off him.

"Ah!" Torro yelled as he attacked the demon lord by swinging his axe in an X form and sending a powerful wind blade towards the lord. He didn't stop there; he also ran towards the demon lord, not giving him a chance to react. The demon lord scoffed as he brought his hand forward with his palm wide open.

"Fool," Torro muttered as he saw what the demon lord was about to do. "Don't underestimate my wind blade." He yelled as he jumped off the ground, aiming to attack the demon lord from the air. Everyone was certain the wind blade would cut off the demon lord's hand, but to their greatest surprise, it only managed to leave a little X cut on his palm.

"You're the one who has greatly underestimated me," the demon lord said before swinging his sword and cutting Torro in half. Everyone gasped, as they never expected the fight to end so quickly.

"Anyone else?" the demon lord taunted. Just like that, they kept challenging him one after the other, but no one could bring him down. Though he kept winning, he had become tired, and the leader of the attack noticed this.

"I will challenge him. Before we exchange blades, attack the human," he ordered one of his men before stepping out.

"I am Mikhail, from the Kwara clan. I have come to challenge you," Mikhail, the strongest among the demons, stepped forward. His blade ignited with fire instantly. The fire was so strong that Lucian felt he would melt just by being close. Mikhail was a fire user like most of the demons, but his fire was the strongest. Being a great fire user and a great swordsman made Mikhail a formidable foe.

"I have no quarrel with you, I respect you, in fact, but you have ruled for such a long time."

"Stop with your excuses and fight," the demon lord struggled to keep himself from passing out.

"That is why you are here today. You are not flexible. No one stays at the top alone. If you had people around you, you wouldn't be here fighting alone." Mikhail took a fighting position, but he had no intention of moving yet. Just when the demon lord thought his opponent was ready to fight, someone from the crowd sent a fireball toward the human he promised to protect. The demon lord dashed towards Lucian and protected him with his body. Just as the fireball hit his chest, Mikhail dashed forward and swung his sword at the demon lord. The demon lord was only able to move his head aside, sacrificing his right arm. It was a gamble between his head and his arm, and of course, he would choose his head. Just like that, Mikhail succeeded in cutting off the demon lord's arm. Everyone cheered, as this was the first true harm the demon lord had suffered since they started attacking him.

"All hail Lord Mikhail!" They cheered. Before Mikhail could revel in his achievement, the demon lord delivered a powerful punch that sent Mikhail skidding several meters away.

"I was a fool for thinking you would keep to the rules of combat," the demon lord said before grabbing Lucian and took off. The portal was no longer far, and since he had abandoned all intention to fight, he arrived quicker than expected.

"You should come with me," Lucian suggested, but the demon lord shook his head.

"Someone like me is not needed in such a world."

"It is not as peaceful as you think. Even if we didn't suffer from demon and monster invasions, we still fight amongst ourselves."

The demon lord scoffed. "Like us?"

Lucian looked past the demon lord and saw the angry hordes of demons coming their way. "No, but we still do."

The demon lord smiled before he went ahead to open the portal. The demon lord didn't have magic, but his mana and lifeforce were strong, so he used it to forcefully open the portal.

"I can only open the portal for a few seconds. You have to pass through immediately because after that, I will destroy the portal." The demon realm only had one portal that led to the human realm. So destroying it would make it impossible for the demons to visit the human realm.

"So they will no longer be able to visit our realm?" Lucian asked.

"They will, but it will take them at least a hundred years." He placed his palm on the portal key as the portal started to drain his lifeforce and mana. Lucian couldn't believe that the demon lord himself was going to give the human realm a century of peace.

"What is your name?" He had never heard anyone call the demon lord by his name.

"I..." He coughed out blood as he felt a spear pierce his back. The demons were getting closer.

"I have no name." He replied before pushing Lucian inside the portal. He noticed that Lucian was telling him something, but he couldn't hear it. It didn't matter since he would soon be drawing his last breath. The portal closed immediately, and it made the demon lord happy.

He wished he could have seen the beautiful realm Lucian always spoke of. Because he had only been interested in strength, he never once followed an invasion to the human realm. He had always been training and challenging the demons until he became the strongest.

"Demon lord." Mikhail called as they all arrived at the portal. The demon lord could barely stand. His lifeforce had been drained, his mana was almost nonexistent, a spear was embedded in his back, his right arm was gone.

"Give up and die with dignity." Mikhail let out a wicked grin. "And so you know, after you die, we would attack the human realm and kill the precious human you love so much." Mikhail smirked.

"Do you know the pinnacle of swordsmanship?" The demon lord's question came as a surprise. "Of course none of you will know. You all are already blessed by birth, unlike a lowborn like me who doesn't even know his parents." The demon lord scoffed. The blood from his body had already formed a little pool around him. "I don't even have a name." He had never bothered about it, but having Lucian ask him about his name made him realize how low it was of him to have none.

He looked at the hordes and smiled before stretching forth his left arm.

"The pinnacle of swordsmanship is to have your sword obey your call." To everyone's greatest surprise, the sword he dropped when Mikhail cut off his arm flew back to him after cutting through the demons that blocked its way. Mikhail and the others were forced to accept the supremacy of the demon lord, even as he stood at death's door. He raised his sword up to the sky, and his dominance was brilliant.

"I am the demon lord." He yelled as he swung his sword down diagonally and sliced the portal in half. Immediately, the portal was cut in half, it imploded.

"Nooo!" Mikhail yelled as he watched the portal get destroyed.

"Kill him."

They all hurled their weapons and magic attacks toward the demon lord. He didn't bother to defend himself. Just before their attacks would reach him, he stabbed his sword into the ground.

"If there is a second chance for me, I would love to live an ordinary life." The demon lord muttered before breathing his last.

Mikhail, not wanting to take chances, burned the dead body to oblivion.

"What are we going to do about the portal?" one of the demons asked. 

"What else, we have to rebuild it." Mikhail knew it would take at least a hundred years to rebuild, but for a demon, a hundred years was only but a blink of an eye. Mikhail looked at the fine sword that obeyed his master's call.

Mikhail had no idea how such a fine sword got in the hands of a lowborn. He grabbed the hilt and tried to pull it out of the ground, but the sword didn't budge. He tried and tried, but nothing happened.

"I will just destroy you then." He used his strongest fire magic to destroy the sword, but nothing happened.

Even though dead, they couldn't shake away the supremacy of the demon lord. After his death, the demon lord's soul, which had developed stronger than others, couldn't accept his death. So he started a journey to find a body that could contain his powerful soul. A journey that would last more than a century.