Narrator's POV
The soft breeze blows in the middle of the day, the sun shines brightly on the sky, and a few birds sing in harmony, normally, it would be a peaceful day where nothing could go wrong.
If it weren't for the fact that a village was currently getting attacked.
"Everyone! Go look for refugee while the guards deal with these demons!"
The voice of the village leader echoed in between the few screams and mixed growls, a group of dark monsters ran around attacking the villagers while some people tried to fight back with makeshift weapons accompanying the armed gusrds, but the monsters, seemingly made of shadows regenerated from most attacks that the guards did to them.
"Tch! These things are not dying"
A guard raised his head to see the Demon raise its claw, ready to swipe down at him with full force but just as the guard was ready to raise his own spar and block the attack...
A black blur slammed right against the Shadow Demon, the echo and booming sound of a strong punch made the air tremble for a second, the guard gave a few steps back and fell on the ground after witnessing the Shadow Demon basically burst into nothingness, and laying on the ground he managed to see the person who had just saved him.
It was a man apparently in his early 20s, short crimson hair that barely reahed his nape, a few shorter strands framing his face, the man turned around to look at the guard on the floor, his single right golden eye staring down at him while the left one remained covered by an eye patch, he was wearing dark clothes, composed of simple black pants, black boots and a black jacket with long sleeves and a high neck that hid a white shirt underneath, a pair of black gloves hugged both of his hands and a simple iron sword remained strapped around the left side of his waist hidden inside of its scabbard.
But what immediately caught the attention of the village's guard, was the big and square metal box that the Red-Haired man carried on his back with the help of two leather straps over his shoulders....something that immediately filled the guard's eyes with a spark of recognition.
"H-Hero!"
"The leader, where is it?" He immediately asked with a dry toke of voice. "These things aren't really demons, the actual Demon is the one summoning them, once I kill that one, all of these will dissapear"
And without wasting a single second, the guard answered. "O-on the entrance of the village! There's a Demon different from these ones in there!"
"Got it"
And just like how he arrived, The Hero moved too fast for his eyes to properly catch up with his speed, a single black blur moved across and through the roads of the village, completely destroying any shadow in its path.
On the entrance of the village, a Demon laughed and grinned staring at the terrified group of villagers he had apparently taken hostage, the tall and bulky body let out a disgusting laugh with a mouth full of saliva-drenched teeth, the tail lashing behind him.
"Everyone witness! The fall of your village will be my first achievement! Once I've gained the strength and followers, I'll raise as the new Demon Ki—"
A mix of sonic booms and echoes of bursting made the Demon stop his speech, he turned around, fully expecting to see something approaching, but he didn't even have time for that.
A gloved right hand hit his chin just as he finished turning around, the strong impact from below forcing his lower jaw to press and crush against the upper one, his various teeth and fangs breaking and burying on the insides of his mouth before his body was launched upwards into the air from the attack.
"W-who—guh—dares?!"
His bulky body flew upwards for a few seconds briefly stopping after reaching a distance high enough for him to see the entire village from the sky, he expected to start falling soon enough but a silhouette covered the sun from his eyes and in the middle of the air right in front of the Demon, The Hero made his next move.
The Hero's right hand moved to the left side of his waist, his palm and fingers closed around the handle of his sword, but he didn't unsheathe it, he just raised the weapon still hidden in the scabbed above his head, a simple turn made the blunt side aim down and with a quick but clearly strong motion, he drove it down directly on the demon's head.
The weapon didn't cut, it wouldn't be able to while it remained inside of the scabbard, but that didn't matter at all, the strength behind the strike was enough, the scabbed smashed the head of the Demon, his skull broke instantly, his head was completely flattened against his own torso...but that didn't stop it from burying itself deeper and deeper into his body, the crushed and flattened head went right through the torso, piercing its own insides before it came out from below.
The first piece of the Demon that arrived back on the ground at the village's main entrance was the head, it crashed against the dirt road and immediately splashed across it, the mix of blood, skin, broken bone and gray matter of his brain created a disgusting puddle on the entrance of tbe village, then rest of the body fell down alongside it, the corpse didn't burst on impact like the demon's head, but that didn't make the burst of blood and intestines less dirty.
The Hero arrived at the end, the soles of his boots landing on the floor making the road crack a little due to his own weight mixed with the one from the metal box and whatever he carried inside of it.
With the death of the main Demon that had attacked the village, the Shadow monsters dissapeared soon enough, letting the villages roam free from their homes and hideouts and allowing the guards and fighters to breath freely and relax after the attack stopped.
But they still joined in the village's entrance to see the Red-Haired Hero.
"I assume everyone is okay?" His question was directly aimed the village's leader, who had already started to approach him.
"Yes, thank you so much Hero, we don't know what we would've done if you hadn't arrived..." The older man bowed his head with clear respect.
"These Demons are weak, I'm sure all of you would've been able to defeat it eventually" his voice remained rather dry as he turned around. "I'll be leaving now"
"Oh yes! Of course, we wouldn't want to take away more of your time" The village lesser immediately gave a step back to give him some more space. "Even if you already defeated the Demon King 3 months ago...you must have business to attend to"
"Hero Hero!"
The Red-Haired man gave a step forward to leave the village behind him, but the excited and joy filled voice of a young kid made him stop and turn his head, looking how a small boy, no older than 10 approached with a wide smile and sparks I'm his eyes.
"If I train VERY hard, will I be as strong as you?"
After hearing his question, The Hero's plain expression didn't change in a noticeable way, but his eyes did narrow a little, though he soon turned his back on the young boy and started to walk to leave the village.
"Not a chance, Kid"
.....
Leaving behind a safe village and the broken dreams of a young innocent boy...hours and hours passed and the day was slowly ending with the sun setting on the distance, The Hero walked across a long and empty dirt road but he soon stopped and looked at the sunset with his single golden eye.
"It's that time of the day already...."
A little exhausted sigh came out of his mouth, he wandered away from the road to not stay in the middle of it, with a careful but clearly practiced motion he unstrapped the leather straps of the metal box from his shoulders, letting the heavy thing fall from his back onto the ground.
"Hey! It's that time of the day"
His right hand held the simple lock of the metal box and easily unlocked it, he didn't open the lid of the metal box, instead he gave a single step back and kicked the side of it allowing it to fall down to the ground, the lid completely opening letting a...rather angry torso slide out of it.
"Wakey wakey, Blondie" The Hero looked down at what had just come out of the box.
A person let out an angry growl come out through the gag on his mouth, he long and wavy blonde hair that reached below his shoulders, a pair of red eyes immediately locked onto The Hero as soon as he was able to, he wore what seemed to be simple and common aristocrat clothes, looking way too noble for the state he was in, no arms and no legs, instead, the stumps of the missing limbs were covered in bandages that were tightly wrapped around the dismembered sections of his limbs.
If it weren't for the pair of dark horns coming out of the sides of his head...
People wouldn't believe that the annoyed and angry torso was actually the Demon King.
The Hero approached the torso and got down to one knee, his hand removing the gag from the Demon King's mouth which immediately prompted him to try and bite his hand.
"Hey! Careful with your teeth" The Hero frowned lightly.
"Careful with the box! Do you know how many times I hit my head with the insides?!" The blonde Demon barked back at him.
"You don't get to complain, this is all your fault" The Hero's eye started to move around until he found a somewhat thick branch. "Here, bite on this"
"I hate you" The Demon King growled.
"I know, I don't care, I hate you too"
He reached out and grabbed the branch, basically forcing it in between the Demon King's jaws even though he properly started to bite on it, The Hero grabbed his sheathed sword and set it down on the grass, grabbing the handle and very so slowly pulling the blade out of the scabbard.
He finished unsheathing the weapon letting the blade shine a little with the light of the sunset, and then his free hand started to remove the bandages that covered the dismembered and cut off limbs of the Demon King, but just as he finished removing them, his golden eye narrowed seeing how the severed skin started to expand and regenerate.
"Now....remember to bite hard"
And under the light of the setting sun, and in between the choked growls and whines of pain that the Demon King let out into the branch he was biting on.
The Hero started to cut off his limbs yet again.
.....
The gentle and warm flames of the makeshift fireplace crackled a little as The Hero poked it with a stick, letting the flames raise a little more to continue cooking the fish on sticks that had been laid over the fire.
"How long until the food is ready?"
His golden eye twitched as he looked to his right, seeing the Demon King resting his back against the outside of the metal box the bandages had been put on his severed limbs again after The Hero cut them off again, and apparently, they were both waiting for dinner to be done.
"Shut up, just a few more minutes" The Hero answered with some annoyance on his voice.
"Tch! Can you be a little more gentle tomorrow?" The Demon King asked with a frown on his face.
"I cut off your limbs every sunset, I don't know how gentle you want me to be" The Red-Haired man groaned at his question.
"...any leads on the Real Hero?" He asked after a second of silence.
"Not yet, we're heading to Rune City, we might be able to get some leads there" His golden eye stared at the fire for a few seconds before he sighed and brushed his hair. "This is all your fault you know? Who the hell enchants his own body to only be killed by the Fate Chosen Hero?"
"Someone who didn't expect a monster like YOU to barge into his castle and beat him in seconds!" The Demon King immediately defended himself.
"The Real Hero would've done the same to you, stop crying about that already...once we find them, they'll kill you permanently and I'll be able to go back home"
He saw the fish already completely cooked and a little, the back and forth with the Demon King had distracted him a little so he quickly pulled the fish away from the fire, holding both sticks on his hands he gave a bite out of one, while he got the other one close to the Demon King's mouth, letting him take a bite of the other one.
Chewing, The Demon King swallowed and spoke. "Remember to look for my son and daughter as well, if any of those tell try and take my throne, there's a chance you'll just go and tear them in half in seconds..." His red eyes softened a little before speaking again. "with a monster like you around, it'd be for the better if they just lay low and live peacefully..."
"Yeah I know, don't get emotional" with an annoyed voice he gave a bite of the fish and swallowed. "I have to look for the Real Hero and those 2 brats you have...and you get to rest all the way inside the box while I walk, how is that fair?"
"I could always walk alongside you, I wouldn't be able to escape anyways, you wouldn't let me"
At the Demon King's words he shook his head. "No, I don't trust you enough for that, you'll just make a mess as soon as possible, even if I won't let you get away, it'll be a bother"
After the denial, a few seconds of pure silence passed, the only sound in the area being that of the crackling fire, though eventually, both The Hero and The Demon King finished their food, and the blonde Demon decided to speak again.
"Why did you come for me anyways?" This time he asked with curiosity. "I hadn't even started to attack any big cities or finished making my army...but you looked really desperate while beating me to a pulp"
"....because of my mother I guess" His voice turned noticably softer after mentioning her. "She's the whole reason why I went for you"
"His mother? I attacked some small villages and aimed at supply shipments on roads and waters, did his mother die in one of those attacks? And his revenge fueled his entire journ—"
"She gave me an ultimatum a few days before I went to fight you..." He sat straighter, his face forming an expression of seriousness as he stared at the fire. "She told me...that I should choose between getting married with a woman of her choosing, or fight and defeat the Demon King"
"....what?"
"So I took the easiest option and went to defeat you" he then turned to look at the Demon King.
"W-What..." The Blonde demon seemed to be processing the short and quick explanation behind The Hero's journey and his own quick defeat... "WHAT KIND OF REASON IS THAT?! YOU BASTARD SON OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND BITC—" His immediately outrage was quickly muffled by The Hero putting the gag back on his mouth.
"I think that's enough talking for tonight, I want to sleep"
The Demon King flailed as much as possible, but that didn't stop The Hero from picking him up like if he were a small log and throwing him back into the metal box.
"Stay silent while I sleep, if someone were to come around here and hear you trash inside of the box, we'll be in trouble" he slowly dryly.
The Demon King just continued having a choked and muffled meltdown fueled by pure disrespect and rage, but in response, The Hero closed the lid of the box and put on the lock yet again.
"This guy will give me a hundred headaches..."
Stepping on the fireplace he put it down, letting the warm light of the flames dissapear as he sat down alongside the metal box, making sure to slip the leather straps around his shoulders to keep the box anchored to him, and completely ignoring the thumping and low trashing that came from inside the box...
The Hero fell asleep.
★ ★ ★
A/N: I genuinely can't believe it took me longer to find a cover for this story that satisfied me enough than actually writing this first chapter.
Anyways, this will be more chill and not as taxing as the HSR story, I should be able to actually upload these chapters more often, but anyways.
Hope you all enjoyed.