The Great Demon System

His maddening screech filled the air, and a familiar feeling of odd pain and serenity took over him at that moment as all went dark…

…

But then there was light.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!"

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

"Huh— "

His head shot up like a rocket, and there he found himself staring at gold.

"This— This— " He gulped and steadied his jittering eyes… His saliva fell down his throat, yet it could not reach the bottom of his painfilled stomach that had sunken to the deepest pit. Sweat leaked from his every pore, and time stood still as he took in his surroundings…

The beeping sound from his left… The aroma of cherry blossoms… The sight of steam from the fresh coffee brew to his right… The room of golden trophies and memories of many years… There was no doubt, this was his room, yet it did not instill him the comfort and peace of mind it did before.

There were to many questions… How was he here? Mere moments ago he was on the verge of death under the grasp of a pure monster, and now he was sitting in bed completely unscathed like it was all just a nightmare…

Had reinforcements come to save him? If so, what happened to the tournament? How could his lowly servants defeat such a monstrosity, one that even he could not dare topple?

He did not know what to think, nor what to comprehend… All that he knew was that he was not safe... his soul still shook trembling and his heart was full of unease.

"SUPREME GENERAL SIR!!" A voice came bursting through the now open doors. "SIR! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!? What was that shriek!? I came here as soon as I heard!"

"J— Joey…" Seeing that man's face, he felt calmer. He tried to force a smile seeing his butler, yet his mouth could not complete it, shakingly stopping in the middle of the road.

"Yes sir! It's me! What is the matter!"

"Don't mind me boy… It's just I had not fully recovered it would seem… Tell me… Is all taken care of now?"

"P— pardon sir… What is it do you mean… Preparations for the tournament?"

"Hmm? Tournament… Had the tournament not ended yet?"

"Ended!?" His eyes shot wide in confusion. "Heavens no! But yes, preparations are complete! That I can assure you!"

"..." Like a punch to the gut, the supreme general gulped. In that moment, so many questions popped up in his mind, and with one question they could all be answered.

"Joey, time and date… What is it? I need to know…"

"Ah— Sir… It's 8:00 AM right now, the day of the tournament! Your grandson should—"

As he heard those words uttered out of his own servant's mouth, the world began to darken around him… His face grimaced and crumpled into each other… His skin went numb, his hair stood on its own, and his visage turned into the most fearful face imaginable.

"... AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" He shrieked, his voice causing tremors of pure agony in the air.

"SIR!! What is it!? What's going on!! Please an—"

"OUT OF MY WAY NOW!!" in pure panic, he jumped out of bed, shoving his very servant to the ground as he rushed frantically towards a heavily secured door to the back of his room.

'What's going on!? Am I still in that nightmare!? Am I stuck in a time loop!? Am I in hell!? WHAT IS THIS!? T— time-loop! YES! It must be it! If I can just defeat those two monsters and break the cycle I can— "

"Supreme general sir! What is this?! What is the matter!?"

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY BOY!!" He squealed imputing his biometrics on the terminal near the door. "Stay out of my room and only call me when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!! IS THAT CLEAR!!"

"Y— Yes sir! Understood!" He muttered, standing on his two feet and rushing out of his superior's room, not before witnessing him enter a certain room he had never seen open in his entire life.

Despite the nearly impregnable security applied, the room was rather empty, devoid of any life… Yet that was a mere illusion for those who did not know. Within the darkness, the supreme general's ghastly figure darted, activating a secret button that teleported him elsewhere. A small, sombre place of creaking rusty metal, dripping liquid and pitch darkness where lied a single metallic safe.

Despite his panic, even he gulped in the face of this rusty old thing… It was a sight had not seen since the very start of the war…

Still, he did not hesitate, nor waste any time. He shook himself off and approached, teeth clanking and bones rumbling.

Despite all the time, he did not forget the code… And how could he when his very life depended on it?

And within the agonizing seconds that felt like an eternity, the magic safe opened, and inside of it was the most prized possession he owned.

To any man, what lied inside seemed like nothing but an ordinary flute, yet that was anything but true, for this was his very lifeline.

Once again he stood motionless, however, it did not take long for his old wrinkly hands to once again start moving towards it, gently picking it up like some sort of holy relic, fondling it gently within his two fingers.

"Ha… ha haha… After all these years... It has come to this…" smoothly, he raised his hands with the flute in hand, pressing his mouth onto the hole and played…

It was a soothing melody, resounding softly in this dark, unknown space. His face turned natural, his movements softened, and his heart rate relaxed as he played notes unfathomable to the human ears and would bring most men to tears.

With grace, it began and with grace, it ended. He dropped his flute to his hips and sighed heavily with closed eyes. He fell down with his knees crossed in meditation, taking several deep breaths.

His job was now over, and all he needed to do was bide his time and wait…

And wait he did…

And wait…

And wait…

Yet no matter how long he waited, there was no response.

A drop of water dripped on his head, and his heart began to thump.

"Any second now…" He mumbled. "They should be here soon… … … … … … It was mere minutes the last time… … … D— Did I play the melody wrong!? But I practice every day! Have my old breath muddied the song!?!?!"

Slowly the build-up and unease grew. His patience had reached its limit, and chaos began to take its hold.

But that's when he realized…

"NOOO!! THIS FLUTE!! IT'S NOT REAL!! IT'S DAMN FAKE!!" He hurled the instrument at the wall, snapping it in two. "HOW!? THIS PLACE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!! ONLY I KNOW ABOUT THIS!?!? WHY NOW!?!"

He tried his best to wrap his head around what he saw, yet nothing was able to save him from delving deeper into the sense of lost hope. His fears kept up ever so slowly, like the feeling of constant danger, like a tiranchela was forever crawling on his back. Always being watched, hunted from the shadows.

His survival instincts kicked in, they screamed at him to survive… And that's what he attempted to do.

"Kill him… I NEED TO KILL HIM!! IT'S THE ONLY WAY!!"

Swiftly, he teleported back to his room, not bothering to lock any door behind him as he rushed out.

There he saw his servant, Joey, waiting outside restlessly on guard, precisely as ordered of him.

"Sir— You're ba—" His face brightened, quickly dimming soon after.

"What time is it now? I've little time to talk!"

"The tournament begins in thirty minutes sir! Your grand—"

"Perfect…" Those were the last words Joey heard before his master disappeared from sight.

♦️ ♦️ ♦️

It took several minutes of preparations, yet it was finally all finished. Even in such peril, he could not help but chuckle at the work of his own hands, looking down at a certain student VR pad.

From memory, he knew which one Kane would take for the tournament, and he acted accordingly. Disguised as a regular safety check he managed to poison the very pad he would rest at.

Of course, he fully knew a demon's immunity to poison, he was certainly not ignorant, for this very poison was holy in nature, personally gifted to him, said to have properties to even kill the most powerful of demons if they were exposed to it for very long. Kane was no exception.

Normally, a demon would be able to easily react and evade death. However, in VR, things would be different. His connection to his body would be nearly completely severed. And by the time the tournament ended, he should be more than dead. Plus, considering how this was no ordinary poison, it would seem like he died of natural causes and would absolve him of all suspiciouns.

Finally, after all the pain he had found solace, yet it was no time to celebrate… No, even if he died, there was still that other demon he had to worry about… And that one may have been even more dangerous…

And thus, with a grinning smile he kept hidden under his veil of professionalism, he exited and went to his own special VR room to begin the tournament.

Like before, all began standard with the opening ceremony. The only difference was as soon as he witnessed Kane arrive, he activated the poison he had laid.

And so, the tournament progressed as normal, and the entire time. The supreme general kept tabs closely on Moby's condition, yet so far there seemed to be no change. But considering how there was still over half the tournament remaining, he had yet to completely panic.

In that time, he talked to his dear friend pope Rutherford. He explained to him how the flute had somehow been stolen. The response he received was as expected, he lost his casual air and had nearly lost his mind upon hearing what he had heard.

That was but the beginning of the pope's shock...

"What… So you're telling me that Kai Fatebringer, Moby Kane, and some other powerful demon are laying in wait within this very space…" He muttered, intaking all he had heard.

"I am 100% certain!! I know it all too well… They're too powerful to take on alone, so I was aiming to get reinforcements… Especially that other demon girl…" He shivered, only for that shivering to turn into a maddening tremble after what followed.

"Other demon girl, you say? You wound me with such words… You somehow seem to know a lot about me… So at least do the courtesy of mentioning me by name…" A demonic, all too familiar female voice reverberated to all ends of the room.

His spine quaked and his knees grew weak hearing her voice. And before he even had the chance to squeal like a choking pig, the world around him grew dark, and he was once again met with a world of void still fresh in his mind.

There that very demon girl in uniform stood, grinning at him with that same expression. All he could do was watch in horror. He was all alone, and the pope was nowhere to be found… He had once again entered hell, and the doors had shut tight in his face.

"So… You must be Cade Walker supreme general of the military? My name is Avilia Graymore, the first demon lord…" She spoke, yet she received no verbal response, a reaction she seemed to be all too accustomed to.

"You greatly surprised me… How did you know about me? I had fully made sure to mask my presence. How did you know about Moby Kane or Kai Fatebringer as well? Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But more importantly, how did you get your hands on such a powerful divine poison? That thing was made to kill greater demons."

"H— H— How d— do you know ab— about that…" He muttered, managing to find his lost breath.

"Oh! So you do know how to speak! For that, I'll give you the courtesy of getting your question answered! You see, I keep a close eye on Moby Kane; he is a protege of mine in some sorts. The poison certainly activated, and had he been anyone else, he would have been dead. Lucky for him, that poison doesn't work on him!" She burst out laughing.

His mouth fell openly shaking, and he delved even deeper down his abyss of hopeless despair.

"What… what is it do you want from the likes of me? A lowly human… Why should a demon lord of your status want to talk to me in person…"

"Ahh! Getting down to business I see! Smart man! So, I won't waste any more time! I think It's quite obvious what I want! I want answers! How did you get such poison? How did you know about me and the other demons you mentioned, what ticked you off? Oh, and what exactly did you do to the parents of Moby Kane?"

"..."

"..."

"I … …. I can't answer any of those questions…" He mumbled fiently.

"Excuse me…" Her eyes glowed a demonic purple, and he was set ablaze in flames of amethyst forged in absolute anguish. It was a sensation he had now felt many times before yet could never seem get used to as he rolled on the ground screaming in maddening horror.

"I SAID I CAN'T!! WHY ME?! WHY DO I DESERVE THIS?!! EVERYTHING HAD GONE PERFECTLY SO FAR!! SO WHY NOW!? AHHH!! I JUST CAN'T SAY IT!!"

"..."

"I may have given you too much credit for your own good… You are no smart man at all… Very well then… You will suffer…"

"..."

The dark became darker, the quiet grew more sombre, and the pain turned peaceful. And then light broke through the glass of shadows, and he opened his eyes only to be faced with a room of golden trophies, the ringing of bells, the smell of fresh coffee and cherry blossoms mixed with unease and the ever-growing sense of death…

"Why… Why am I back… WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!! AHHHH- I HAVE TO BREAK THIS GOD DAMNED LOOP NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!!"