Beneath a merciless crimson sky, the last bastion of the Demon Lord Ish'thar trembled. Cedric of Auriell—once the church's brightest champion—stood alone upon the shattered ramparts, chest heaving, sword alight with sanctified fire. Around him lay the twisted remains of Ish'thar's infernal breed: horns cracked, scales smoldering, eyes extinguished.
The final blow had been struck. The Demon Lord, a being of darkness and ruin, had fallen. Cedric stood victorious.
But no cheers rose.
Behind him, his seven companions approached—clad in brilliant armor, their weapons clean, their faces unreadable. Sir Marcellus stepped forward, his blade gleaming under the broken sky. At his side moved Sister Anara, quiet and pale. Selwyn the Archer, always watching; Sister Helia with her radiant staff; the twins Loren and Lysa, moving like mirrored shadows; and Brother Torm, silent behind his mountain-breaking hammer.
"For the Light," Marcellus said flatly.
Cedric turned to them, confused. "It's over. We've won."
Marcellus didn't blink. "No. You've fulfilled your purpose."
Cedric frowned—then steel bit through flesh. A blade pierced between his ribs. Another followed through his shoulder. He staggered, betrayed breath leaving his lungs in a stunned gasp.
He collapsed to his knees, blood soaking the stones. Around him, they stood without remorse.
"You were always the strongest among us," said Helia quietly. "The System will choose you."
"You'll rise again," added Lysa. "But not as yourself."
"You'll be the new Demon Lord," Marcellus finished, "and the world will believe you were always one of them."
As his vision blurred, Cedric tried to scream, to curse, to beg. But the light fled his eyes—
And something else opened in its place.
---
A floating screen, translucent and filled with shifting red glyphs, blinked into existence before him. It pulsed like a heartbeat, casting faint light on the cold stone beneath him.
> DEMON LORD SYSTEM v9.3 BOOTING…
TARGET IDENTIFIED: CANDIDATE CEDRIC OF AURIELL
COMMENCING RESURRECTION PROTOCOL…
MEMORY PURGE INITIATED…
Cedric fought the pull toward nothingness—something was wrong. The system expected a corpse, not a man still clinging to life. His heartbeat, though fading, persisted. The panel flickered in alarm:
> ERROR: VITAL SIGNS DETECTED.
UNAUTHORIZED ANOMALY: PRESERVING HOST.
INTEGRATION SEQUENCE: 30-YEAR STASIS.
Darkness took him. But it was not death. It was waiting. Watching.
---
Thirty years later.
The stasis chamber cracked open with a hiss of frost and shadow. Deep beneath forgotten ruins, Cedric's eyes opened. His body, preserved in perfect stillness, stirred at last. The floating screen reappeared before him, its glyphs calm, its tone mechanical.
> INTEGRATION COMPLETE.
DEMON LORD SYSTEM ONLINE.
HOST: CEDRIC OF AURIELL.
STATUS: SYSTEM FUNCTIONAL.
He stood, his breath slow and even. His hands flexed—stronger than before. He could feel it, inside his very soul: the power of the system fused into every fiber of his being. The false memories meant to overwrite his mind lingered at the edges—images of terror, madness, dominion. But they did not control him.
He remembered. Everything.
The betrayal.
The blades.
The lies of the Church.
The death of the real Ish'thar.
And he remembered what they tried to make him forget.
"I was the hero," he murmured, stepping into the gloom of the outer chamber. "I bled for them. I saved them."
He raised his hand—and saw the magic. Not as the old world taught, through chants and rigid poses, but as pure, living energy. Threads of power spiraled through the air, visible now in their raw form. With a thought, he seized them, shaped them, and bent them into fire.
The screen shifted.
> MAGIC THREAD ACCESS GRANTED.
ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATION ENABLED.
The stone gate exploded in a burst of unfiltered arcana. Cedric walked into the night, the ruins behind him burning with his first act of will.
The world had forgotten him.
The Church had buried the truth.
But now, the cursed system they tried to bind to a puppet had become something else.
The true Demon Lord had risen. And this time, the world would burn not because of evil—but because of justice, vengeance, and wrath long denied.
Thus began the Advent of the Cursed Demon Lord System.