As Carmine droned on about all of her perceived injustices, I was reminded once again just what it meant to have a high-maintenance girlfriend. By the time I was brought into the throne room, I was seriously considering just abandoning her in this dungeon. I was quite happy for the distraction, that was until I remembered the distraction was the most dangerous and feared man in the land.
“I have brought the general of the humans.” The commander said to the guards blocking the entrance into the throne room.
I gulped, concentrating on my deception. I hoped that the Mimic job I had worked so hard on since I had entered this dungeon would be enough to fool the Demon King. There were a lot of things that could go wrong. If the Demon Prince was there, he could figure me out. If the Demon King could see through it he could cause a lot of issues. Suddenly, I wasn’t sure if this was so good of an idea after all.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have much choice in the matter. The door opened and I was shoved inside. I ended up in a room that resembled the boss rooms of previous dungeons. The size was immense, and I wondered if this castle made sense given the dimensions of this room. There was a row of bowls with fires in them, and at the very end was a man.
As the guards, with the commander by our side, dragged me down the long carpet, I could make out more and more of the Demon King. I had to say, that despite what I knew about demons, I was expecting a Demon King that looked like the devil himself. I was expecting a large and intimidating man that was more muscles than man. I was expecting red skin. I was expecting long, curly horns, sharp teeth, and a threatening demeanor.
The man I saw instead was shockingly ordinary looking. His horns were incredibly modest. He was just a bit handsome. His features were very normal. Even Aberis looked much more intimidating than this man. If he had to remind me of anything, he sort of reminded me of Shao. That was when a thought jumped into my head.
As I was dragged down the path and dumped at his feet, that thought began to take hold more and more. My mind wanted to dismiss it because it was far too ridiculous, but I couldn’t shake the realization.
“So, you’re the general who has sought to overthrow my people?” The man asked calmly. “My people are here to stay. It is the survival of the fittest. Do you understand? That is the nature of this world. Natural selection at its finest.”
“You’re from another world!” I cried out in surprise.
He blinked. “Yes… of course. That is the nature of dungeons. They are connections between worlds. Weaknesses in your own story leads to the invasion of others.”
“No…” I shook my head, now almost certain. “You’re from Earth.”
The expression on his face was one of pure shock. He stood up so quickly that he nearly knocked the throne back. His eyes were locked on me, and all of his previous regal demeanor was gone.”
“How could you know that?”
As he incidentally confirmed it, the expression on my face started to whiten. Like Shao… the Demon King was from Earth?