DEMON'S VIRTUE

"You... want to kill the Monster King..?" Jess asked in a slightly confused tone, "So you're on the side of people after all?" She asked, forming a light smile, although Eiro immediately shook his head.

"Oh, absolutely not. If possible, I w ould like to kill the Emperor of the Holy Empire as well, but the Monster King is currently a bit of a higher threat, I'd say." The Demon pointed out, and the others looked at Eiro even more confusedly.

"But why would he be a threat to you directly? You aren't directly related to the Monster King, right?" James asked with a frown, and Eiro slightly sighed.

"I guess I should tell you, huh?" He muttered, and finally stepped off of the table. Eiro sat down on one of the chairs. "Before I continue, I need you three to swear to me that you will never, ever reveal what I am about to tell you to anyone. Or else, despite me now acknowledging you three as companions, I will have no choice but to kill you and anyone who found out about this through you." Eiro said in a clear tone, and the three people in front of him looked at each other and then nodded their heads in the end.

"Fine. Just tell us already." Krog said, "We figured that you're hiding far more than we could guess anyway." The Warrior pointed out.

Eiro slightly smiled and nodded his head, "That might be a bit of an understatement, actually. You three, I'm not a regular Imp. I'm a being artificially created by the Monster King just a few weeks before I first encountered James, specifically to be part in that horde. Something went wrong with me, and I became a Variant with higher intelligence but lower physical strength." Eiro said with a light smile on his face, and the three of them stared at the Demon confusedly.

"Wait, what..? You're an artificial being?" James stared at Eiro with pure confusion, and the Demon nodded his head without hesitation, "Yes, I am. I'm the result of a spell, similar to how a spirit can be called a result of a spell cast by the world."

Soon after Eiro said this, Jess stared at the Demon as if she finally understood soemthing, "So that means... When you were infusing yourself with nature magic, you weren't trying to awaken the skill, but rather raise your affinity for nature magic?"

With a slow nod, Eiro replied, "Yes. Exactly. Spirits can raise their affinity with their element by spending time in the right environment and surrounded by the right magic. Personally, I awakened my Fire Magic skill by bathing in boiling water." Eiro explained with a slight laugh, although the others seemed to have a slightly tough time believing him, before James asked, "So... you want to take revenge on the Monster King or something? For messing up while creating you? Or for creating you in the first place?"

"Eh? Why would I do that? Did any of you kill your parents because you're alive? Of course not, no, I want to kill the Monster King because he's a threat to my life and my children. In particular, Avalin." Eiro explained, "You see, back then, after I first used the Ace of Cups, my consciousness nearly faded along with my body. I was directly controlled by the command that the Monster King implanted in every single monster that was part of the Horde. To kidnap <The Fool>."

"<The Fool>? Wait, don't tell me that the Monster King turned the Holy Priestess into <The Fool>..." Jess muttered, with fear in her eyes, and Eiro immediately shook his head, "Of course not. Well, he wanted to, but a certain Lesser Imp got in the way of that plan."

Slowly, it doomed on them. They started to put the hints that Eiro dropped together, and just stared at him in utter disbelief, "Avalin is the Holy Priestess?" James asked as he ground his teeth together angrily, and Eiro just slightly smirked.

"Bullseye. She is. I picked her up, and when the effect of the Ace of Cups wore off, I had an Intermediate Grade Holy Energy resistance skill. And then, I received a notification telling me to bring Avalin to the Monster King. I didn't do it in the end, even if I planned to at first. I just couldn't give her up anymore. But even so, I can still feel that little voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me to bring Avalin to the Monster King. So, if you know me, I'm sure you're aware of what I do to voices like that. I rip their source apart as violently as possible and watch as they slowly and painfully die. That's what." Eiro said with a light grin on his face, seemingly getting a little too excited, although the next moment, James stood in front of him and was close to just punching him in the face.

"Do you even know what you've done? The Holy Priestess is one of the greatest assets of the war against the Monster King! She's on the same level as the hero! Do you not understand what the fuck you did?!" He yelled out, angry beyond what Eiro had seen from him since meeting him again here in the capital, and the Demon slowly stood up and looked at the Light Elf with a deep glare.

"I saved an innocent child from being used as a weapon before she can even walk, that's what I did. If you think that the way you damned people handle the war against the Monster King is right, then who is the real monster here? You're sending innocent ones into a war that they don't have anything to do with. They're being raised into weapons that are doomed to die as chess-pieces even if they fulfill their role. And I'm going to completely obliterate that sentiment, James." Eiro explained, and the Light Elf stared at him with a deep frown, although he seemed to have calmed down a little. He could see that Eiro was serious, and with the way that he worded it, not even James could defend the actions of people that well, "And how do you think of doing that?"

"It's pretty simple, actually." The Demon replied, and pulled out a golden card out of his treasury, one that was larger than the regular cards he had. He held it in front of him toward James, Jess and Krog, before James took a step backward in literal fear. Instinctively, as a being that was naturally talented at sensing things like Magic, he immediately understood what this was, "I'll use this to become strong enough to kill a second Royal and take the Seven of Wands from him, the key that unlocks everything. Then, I'll use that key and my future status as <The World> to become the Hero. And after that..." The Demon said with a light smile, "I'll kill the Monster King myself, and end this idiotic war by becoming the next Monster King. At that point, I should be strong enough so that no Royal can easily oppose me, and since I'll be the Hero, as long as I don't die, a new Hero won't be born."

Eiro just stood there and placed the card of the Major Arcana away again while the others weren't sure what they were supposed to say. James seemed to feel like throwing up after sensing that Major Arcana Card, Jess was scared of thinking about what Eiro just suggested, and Krog simply felt like killing Eiro right now.

"And... And then..?" The Heavy Warrior asked, "What are you gonna do then, huh? Just rule over the world and kill anyone and everyone you don't like?" He asked, and Eiro just stared back for a few moments before shaking his head.

"That sounds like a nice idea, but no. That's not what I plan on doing. Obviously, I won't be able to live a regular life after that anymore. This plan requires leaving my children behind, so that they can live the life I think they deserve to live, which either way will be hard to do with me around. Rudy wants to be a chef, Sammy always dreamt of being a singer. Arc is a free mind that's hard to tie down, so he might be the closest to just becoming an adventurer. And Clementine is surely the kindest little girl I've ever seen. She told me she wanted to become a healer for the people at some point. And I don't know what Leon and Avalin want to do, but I'll do my best to support them in every way I can. But how can that happen if they're the children of the man that opposed the Monster King? I know that I'm a target because of that betrayal, and I'm sure so are the children." Eiro explained with a wry smile as he sat back down on his chair.

"Maybe I'll find a better way to deal with this all in the future, but this plan simply feels right to me. Like I have to kill the Monster King either way." The Demon laughed awkwardly and looked at the people in front of him, "And after I become the Monster King... I want to forever abolish this ridiculous system. Hero, Monster King... That won't be a thing anymore. Sure, the fights between people and Monsters will continue, but they will calm down. That pure hatred may disappear, and either side will see less losses, and my children will be able to live in peace." Eiro explained, and slowly, the three people in front of Eiro calmed down. They understood that Eiro was serious. He wasn't joking or wanted to do any harm to a particular side in this war, which is why he wanted to bring it to an end.

"I don't know what exactly is going to happen. I might find a way, way, way better plan, one that doesn't include me becoming the direct enemy of mankind, but either way, I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that I can live a nice life with my children. I want to see them happy, no matter in what way it is." Eiro explained. Jess, James and Krog were looking at Eiro, once more confused about what exactly they should think. After all, it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you heard everyday, and even if someone told you about this, you would think they were crazy. But weirdly, this plan didn't seem like anything that this demon couldn't achieve.

Eiro looked down a bit, before starting to laugh quietly, "Honestly, this might all just be another side-effect of the <Mark of the Devil> and the <Mark of Wrath>, but nonetheless, it seems like it's what I have to do."