"Your highness...." Morgana's voice cut through the air, as she swung past the doors. She stopped in her tracks, panting, her eyes staring at the different faces that were pale, eye widened. She bit her lower lip, staring at Quinn for a moment, who seemed to be calm.
Cal, on the other hand, was holding up his fists as if he was trying to fight something off. After a short moment of silence, she cleared her throat, attracting attention from everyone. "Apologies for coming late..." She said, her eyes gentle as they could. "...as you can see, I was supposed to escort our king....but there has been some minor changes."
Cal slammed his hands on the table. "What the fuck's going on? You can't expect us to bow to that little thing and call it king?"
Morgana smiled, her eyes staring firmly at all of them. "As you can see, this little thing is our demon king...he broke the seal, and walked right out of the king's tomb."
"So? There has to be some sort of mistake....weird shit always happens in Idris." The young demon said, his tone a bit rough at the edges. "This little guy's human, and yet his presence reminds me of the demon king."
Quinn cleared his throat, attracting their attention. There's no way he was going to pretend to be something that he wasn't. If he wanted to make this work, he had to do it his own way. "My name is Quinn.... Quinn Winter, and I'm a high school from Tokyo."
The room fell silent, with all eyes fixed on Quinn. The demons exchanged skeptical glances, their faces pale and confused.
"What's Tokyo?" the young demon asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Quinn brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "I don't even know how I got here...but the least I can remember is that I was summoned by the real demon king.....And I saw him.....He said there was some sort of mistake in the summoning."
Cal's eyes narrowed, his voice laced with disdain. "And you expect us to believe you? Why would the Demon King, with all his might, summon a nothing from the Outside world?"
Quinn's face broke into a smile, and he said, "Your king chose me to replace him....Because he's afraid to admit that he failed all of you."
The room erupted into a loud gasp, followed by an oppressive silence. The demons stared at Quinn, their faces a mix of shock, anger, and confusion.
Quinn noticed the anger in some of their eyes, but he just smiled, saying, "But I made a promise to him that I'd bring down Gran'le....And I'll make it my priority to defeat it."
Morgana spoke up, her voice laced with concern. "B-but sire....You and what army!?"
Quinn remained silent for a moment, his eyes scanning the room. The bold demon interrupted the silence, saying, "If you're truly the one the demon king has chosen to lead us into victory, then you have my full support."
The young demon cocked his eyebrows, "Zerg, why do you always trust anything that comes from the mouth of strangers?"
Zerg broke into a light smile, his eyes staring at Cal, before they went to the young demon. "The Demon King has made his mistakes, but if he has chosen a mundane to become his substitute, then who am I to condemn his ways? My house has served the Demon King for as long as I can remember. Why go against him now? And besides, using my own common sense....why would a mortal march straight into the centre of the demon kingdom just to claim he was king, unless he was?"
"This is bizarre." Cal gritted his teeth. "Even if you were sent from on high, what makes you think I'll easily believe you? What if you end up betraying us? And joining forces with the humans!?"
Quinn was silent for a moment, his eyes narrowed a little. He hadn't thought of that possibility yet. But maybe it could happen in the future. Morgana cleared her throat, her tone heavy like lid. "Instead of trying to antagonize each other, why don't we hold the coronation? Our people need to know that the Demon King has returned...."
The demon girl, with bright hair, who had been silent for all this time, finally broke the silence, speaking up with a gentle tone. Her violet eyes were staring at Quinn, as if she was analyzing something. "We are not going to hold any coronation. It'll only spike the interest of our enemies once they learn that the demon king is actually human. It's a sign of weakness and we can't risk going to war..." Her glance sharpened. "..... especially when we can't trust this allerged demon king yet. We don't want to bring our people fear or false hope. Imagine what their faces would be, when they learn that their demon king is human? They'll all think we've fallen and we can't have that, can we."
Quinn felt like a hot slap had been thrown to her face. But he also knew she was right. Considering the politics that were governing this entire — world of Pandora, there was no objecting. And besides, he was still weak.
"You've laid out a good point, Yua." Zerg aid, his tone tingling with excitement. "...I didn't think you'd think this far into the future."
Morgana smirked. "I see you always take every chance you get to glorify yourself, huh Yua?"
Yua bit her lower lip, her eyes sparkling with blush. "oh please ..this is nothing."
"Finn...." Morgana said, staring at the young single horned demon. "...you haven't said anything yet. What do you think should be done?"
Finn took a deep breath. "...well, this might sound a little stupid, but the real reason why I was silent is because I saw a glimpse of the future."
The room fell silent, with all eyes fixed on Finn. Quinn's eyes widened in surprise, and he felt a shiver run down his spine.
Morgana, Yua, Cal, and Zerg all spoke at once, their voices overlapping in a cacophony of curiosity. "What did you see? Was it a good fortune? Was it bad!?"
Finn gulped, his eyes sparkling as if with tears. He looked back up at them, his voice barely above a whisper. "We all died.....there was blood everywhere....no survivors."
The room erupted into a collective gasp, with Quinn feeling terrified. Cal slammed his hand against the stone table, his face twisted in anger. "How can something like that happen!?"
Finn sighed, his eyes cast downward. "These mortals had a weapon with them, something they received from God."
Quinn's eyes widened at the mention of God. He wondered if there truly was a God in this world. But why wouldn't there be? If demons were real, and he was one of them...or at least, crowned to be King.
Morgana's face twisted in bitter anger. "That old bastard! He's always doing things to make sure he wipes us out of the face of Pandora!"
Cal's eyes blazed with determination. "There has to be a way.....a way to stop this!"
Finn looked up, his eyes locking onto Quinn. "There is a way.... We're gonna have to send him straight past the Gate, into Gran'le....that way, he'll act as a spy whilst also keeping tabs on what's going on....that's way we can be one step ahead."
Why does it have to be me?
Yua chuckled, a mischievous glint in her eye. "I know something much better.... We'll have the demon king candidate bring down the Reaper. Since he's carrying the essence of our own King, why don't we let him bring down Gran'le as he promised....but from within it!?"
The room fell silent once more, before erupting into a chorus of approval. "That's a smart idea!" they exclaimed, their faces set with determination.
But Quinn wasn't going to be buying that. Or maybe he could. But that'd feel like he was betraying them, wouldn't it? He gritted his teeth, caught between thoughts. At the same time, it wouldn't hurt for him to enter into Gran'le....into a place filled with normal humans.... He wore a sigh, unable to comprehend what was best. Quinn's eyes widened as the System's notification flashed before him.
«[ New Mission: Gran'le]»
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A new mission? Already? But....? He hadn't even agreed to go to Gran'le.
«[ Analyzing Data ]»
The System's voice rang in his mind, and Quinn felt a shiver run down his spine. Fear slowly began to crawl inside him, as he realized the enormity of what was happening. This wasn't what he wanted, and why did the System act as if it owned him.
He tried to speak, to ask what was going on, but his voice caught in his throat. The room around him began to blur, and he felt himself being pulled away.
«[ Analysis Done ]»
Quinn felt a jolt of electricity run through his body.
«[ Preparing to transport host.... ]»
The System's voice counted down, and Quinn felt his heart racing with fear.
«[ Transporting Host.....6...5...4...3...2...1 ]»
The world around Quinn dissolved into darkness, and he felt himself being pulled through space. Not again....
Everything went black.