The Great Demon System

"Hey! Artorias! Wait up! What's with the rush!" Kai tried to follow his leader as he suddenly stormed out of the room in a clear fit of rage.

"Stay out of my way! I know what must be done!" His hands were clasped firmly into a fist to the point that his hands began bleeding and his keen, glowing eyes were fixated solely on the path ahead where it was said that this mountain — Lord's Peak — lied.

The rest of the team were still lost for words, but suddenly snapped to reality and followed. Hikari had been given extra layers of clothing from the elder so the cold was not as much of a hindrance, but what did hinder her was the voice of the little girl calling her from behind as she walked by her and the half-eaten dead corpse she was dragging.

<< Hey! Little alien girl! Want to come and play with us on the slide? It's really really really fun! >>

They all had different emotions, but shock and surprise was something they all had in common.

In the end, Moby was the only man left standing in the house, seemingly more perplexed than all of them as he came to many realizations, but no evidence to prove them. He now had other priorities as he too left the room in haste, not batting an eye.

<< Ho ho! Young travellers! I hope you good luck on your journey! >>

Moby slammed the door behind him as he entered back into the frozen world, looking all around him with an odd sense of nostalgia brewing in his guts, walking around and observing the locals.

<< Can I please buy 2 slabs of meat? >>

<< Why certainly! That will be 5 Flora, >>

<< I don't have enough money, can I have it for free? >>

<< Of course! Of course! Here! >>

He looked around and saw an exchange between the villagers, turning around only to see something not too dissimilar, but now it was a group of children instead.

<< Oo! You ran into me! Can I hit you back? Mommy always told me! An eye for an eye! >>

<< Okay! >>

<< Oo! Now you hit me! So do I hit you back? Can I take your eye like your mommy said? >>

<< Mhm! I think so! Go ahead! >>

The more he looked around, the more his suspicions were being cleared… And as he walked, he eventually reached that same cathedral he witnessed when first arriving, and moving further in the back the garden was seen, that along with the source of that revolting smell.

There he witnessed a mountain unlike any other, piles and piles of dead corpses, limbs, and skeletons stacked on top of each other, adults and children alike, the smell of decay hovering over it like a plague. The contrast between the top and the bottom was more than evident, the bottom was were lied all of the decay, while as one went up the fresh corpses began to appear. Still, what was truly odd and disturbing was that with every visible face that had not decayed possessed a visible smile, one bright filled with no regret.

Indeed, the elder's words were correct… Of course, they were… It was a mountain of corpses...

However, in the eyes of these children playing on top of it, it was nothing but a simple slide that they enjoyed, cheered, and laughed all over.

This had all but confirmed what Moby was thinking, he had not much time to further analyze. Thus, to quickly put his theory to the test, he walked up to one of the locals with a beaming smile.

"Hello there! How has your day been going?"

<< Oh! Very well! I like to enjoy my day sitting here looking at all the children having fun! I sometimes go to play with them too… They never say no… They always let me in… >>

"Oh! I'm glad to see you're having fun! What's your name?"

<< Oh! My name is Ingvar! How about you? >>

"I'm Moby, it's nice to meet you! But, your name is not Ingvar… It's actually BallsDeep69!"

<< Oh! Oh really! I must have forgotten! Thank you for telling me my real name is BallsDeep69 kind alien stranger! >>

"Hey, how much money you got?"

<< I currently have 100 flora in my pockets! >> He smiled.

"Okay, give them all to me. I need to go buy food,"

<< Why certainly! >> His smile grew larger as he emptied his pockets and dumped them all in Moby's open hands.

"Good! Now drop on the ground!" Moby ordered, still smiling, and the man did as he was told.

<< Will do! >>

"Roll over!"

<< Mhm! >>

"Lick my boots!"

<< Like this? >>

"Yes! That's it!" Moby laughed at the sorry display before lifting his leg and kicking the man once known as Ingvar in the nose, making him skit on the cold hard ground, dying parts of it blue with his own blood.

<< Oh! Nice kick! Can I have my turn now? >> He slowly lifted his head and continued his same beaming expression.

"Sure… Sure you can… You can have your turn by punching yourself in the face as hard as you can…" Moby gestured him to try with an open hand.

<< Sounds great! >> He nodded and stretched his arm out wide, as though charging his attack before all at once, with no hesitation, punching himself straight in the jaw, knocking himself out cold.

And with that, concluded Moby's experiment, and he now knew more than enough to deduce his final answer… One that was rather frightening to think about…

These people were not simply cannibals as he and most likely his team first assumed. No, they were arguably much worse… Smiling was all they knew… The notion of evil or ill intent was not even something that would register in their minds… Even if the thing they perceived as good was in fact evil... They were beings of pure positivity…

Yet, even still, he could not be 100% certain of his own deduction, it could have very well been something else or what he had in mind was not even possible. So, he first tried to confirm it with the only person he could trust, the all mightly demon lord residing in his mind.

'Hey… Avilia… This is really important… Can you answer me?'

'...'

'Avilia? You there? … … Do you think someone is behind all of this? If so do you think I'm right?'

'...'

Avilia? Avilia Answer me! … Avilia?'

'AVILIAAAAA!!!'

His eyes suddenly grew wide, and the beating of his lurched heart immediately accelerated. No matter how much he called, she would not answer. If he thought about it now, she had not made contact with him ever since he had gotten on this planet…

For as long as he could remember, she had always been there to watch him. It was his first-ever time that he could remember ever truly being alone…