"Clang,"
A swordsman knight parried a sweeping spear attack from the Demon King. He immediately stepped forward and grabbed the Demon King's face. "Blam," a white beam shot out from his hand, striking the Demon King's face.
"Graaaaaa,"
The Demon King staggered backward, clutching his face in pain from the laser-like white beam from the knight's hand.
"You bastard! Die!" the Demon King yelled, spinning his spear and thrusting it at the knight.
The knight easily dodged the Demon King's thrust, but the Demon King immediately released a binding shadow magic from his hand to snare the knight's feet. The knight fell but instantly rolled as the Demon King tried to stab him with the spear. After that, the knight quickly got back up and lunged forward, attacking fiercely again. A close-quarters battle between sword and spear was unavoidable.
Three people stood behind them, watching the fierce battle in front of them with blank, expressionless faces. As the knight and the Demon King separated to maintain distance, both were seen panting heavily and covered in wounds all over their bodies. But they still stared at each other intensely. The Demon King, who had a terrifying appearance with a huge body, black wings, curved horns on his head, and red eyes, readied his stance again.
Meanwhile, the knight, who had taken off his helmet and revealed his handsome face, also took his stance. He raised his sword to the side, holding it with two hands, ready to attack.
"Let's settle this with our final attack," the knight said.
"Yes, today we end everything," the Demon King replied.
Both their bodies immediately erupted with tremendous energy auras and dazzling light. The three people behind them covered their faces with their arms. The knight was enveloped in a multicolored white aura, signifying every element joining with the Holy element, while the Demon King was shrouded in a red and black aura, indicating the hellish evil energy. The blades of both their weapons also glowed, emitting light like their respective auras.
"Yaaaaaaaah,"
They both yelled and charged forward simultaneously. The clash of the sword slash and the spear strike resulted in a devastating explosion that destroyed the surrounding area. The three people in the back immediately released their own auras so they wouldn't be thrown back by the massive energy wave, even as they screamed loudly. Finally, after the clash, "Brugh," both immediately collapsed, kneeling helplessly on the ground and severely wounded. The knight propped himself up using his sword, and fresh blood poured out of his mouth, staining his armor. The Demon King supported himself with his broken spear, his face a mess, and blood dripping from his mouth.
Both were gasping, showing that they were equal in strength. Suddenly, the three people, dressed like a greatswordsman, a sorceress, and a nun, darted forward and attacked the helpless Demon King, killing him. The knight who saw this was thankful, watching his three friends finish off his opponent. "Clang," he finally slumped over, face down on the ground, dropping his sword. He saw the swordsman pull his greatsword out of the lifeless Demon King's body.
Then the three people approached the knight. Of course, the knight immediately lifted his head to welcome his friends, but suddenly, the smile on the knight's face vanished because he saw his three friends looking at him with cold expressions. Suddenly, the swordsman gave a cynical smile and raised his sword. "Blesss," he immediately plunged his large sword into the body of the helpless knight.
"Ahak... wh-what are you doing, Jared?" the knight asked, vomiting fresh blood.
The swordsman didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and fiercely stomped on the knight's body right next to the sword.
"Ugh…aaaaaa," the knight screamed in pain.
"Hahaha, thank you for defeating the Demon King for the three of us," the swordsman said, continuing to press his foot onto the knight's back.
"Arghhh…..why….what did I do wrong?" the knight cried out in agony.
A very beautiful princess dressed like a healing nun, with blonde hair and a sexy appearance, also approached him. She crouched down and looked at the knight's face, which was contorted in pain. Her face looked sad, which made the knight gaze at her tenderly. But just as the knight was about to say something, the princess plunged a knife right next to his eye and gouged out his eyeball.
"Aaaaaah," the knight shrieked in pain.
"Well, who told you to look at me like that? I know you love me, and I love you too, but too bad, I love him more. Besides, I'm carrying out the King—my Papa's—orders. If you win, I have to kill you, hehehe," the princess stood up and wrapped her arm around the swordsman, who was still pressing his foot onto the knight's back.
The two immediately kissed, playing with the eyeball still stuck on the knife. The knight cried, watching them. His heart ached so much from the betrayal that the pain in his body was no longer felt, and the princess he had considered his lover actually had a mission to finish him off once he had killed the Demon King who was terrorizing her kingdom. A female sorceress stepped forward and immediately burned the knight's two arms, who could no longer scream.
The knight just lay there silently. He could only watch everything happen with a sharp gaze, despite having only one eye. The sorceress laughed and spun around excitedly, looking at the hero's expression.
"Feel that! I've wanted to do this for a long time. If you're asking why I'm doing it, it's because I want massive treasure to restore my noble status, hahahaha. Come on, he's about to die. Let's take all the treasure in this demon palace," the sorceress shouted, walking away.
"Wait a minute, I need to make sure he's dead first," the swordsman immediately pulled the sword out of the knight's back, then plunged it into the back of the knight's neck, then pulled it out again after striking.
The knight immediately vomited blood. He could no longer move or speak, only his ears could hear the words of the people he had previously considered friends. In his heart, he cursed all his friends and wanted to take revenge for their actions, but alas, he could no longer move. After that, the three people simply left, abandoning the knight alone. The knight could only seethe and weep, awaiting the end of his life. The pain in his body was no longer felt, and everything became cold.
But before he could close his eyes, he saw the Demon King in front of him move, lifting his head. Then, with great difficulty, the Demon King raised his hand, and a striking black and red sphere of lightning was shot at the knight. After that, the Demon King smiled, and then his head fell back to the ground along with his hand. After seeing that, the knight closed his eyes, and without realizing it, he smiled. His body was enveloped by the black and red sphere of light. But suddenly, "Bwooong," a holographic screen appeared, giving him three options.
[1. Return to the past and repeat everything.]
[2. Live again as a Demon Lord and destroy the world.]
[3. Game over.]
Well, if you think the events above are the cruelest and most evil betrayal, you're clearly wrong. All of this is just a game, and the tutorial has just finished. If we choose the first option, we'll return to the past and take revenge on the people who betrayed us, but the ending is that the world is destroyed because without those three people, you would definitely lose against the Demon King.
If we choose the second option, the world will also be destroyed because the knight will destroy the world after turning into a Demon Lord, and if we choose the third option, well, it's obvious, game over, we will restart everything from the beginning with totally reset stats.
So, no matter which option, the result is the same: the world is destroyed. The annoying thing is that I have currently transmigrated into the knight named Drake Tharthell, the ill-fated protagonist lying on the floor in this trashy RPG game called Aetheria Records. Just from the game title, it's obvious this world named Aetheria will only be a memory, a historical record, haha, how annoying.
Now I have to choose: end the world in one of two ways, or die. The three options give me one choice: death, just different in the method and the timeline. Alright, before I choose my death in this world, I'll first tell you how I got here and who I really am.