However they were extremely low on resources. Repeated wars invading the human realm Saforia was the only way they could sustain themselves. Unfortunately that led to the stagnation of the realms.

More importantly, Demon lord Diablo knew that he had very little time left.

Ever since his spies had brought news that the hero had been summoned, he knew that his days were counted.

There was no other way. The world had to emerge out of the vicious cycle, and his death was the best way out. He knew that a huge war was coming, and if they weren"t united to face it, n.o.body would survive.

He looked at the murals that Diablo the First had left them.

Humans weren"t the only race that had been converted to angels. The elves and beastmen were too.

The one who killed G.o.d might have been Diablo, but he was just the scapegoat of the entire movement. Those who had intended to stay angels even after G.o.d"s death were the real culprits.

Ironically after his death, they also lost all their powers forming a new race of fallen angels.

They had never been seen since then.

"How is the boy?" Diablo asked.

"He has just recovered his consciousness, my lord. He seems to be looking around blankly."

"Take me to him."

It had been almost two days since that boy had arrived, and now he had finally regained consciousness. Diablo hoped that the algorithm had picked the right candidate.

Diablo entered the room and found the boy sitting up on the bed staring out of the window, into the distance.

Taking a seat, he kindly smiled at the young man.

"My name is Diablo the seventh. I am the ruler of this little castle. May I know your name Sir?"

The boy slowly turned to face him. He had messy black hair, and newly grown horns. A side effect of the healing ritual used to save his life.

His eyes seemed to regain clarity. He then smiled brightly.

A tinge of madness that anyone would have missed briefly flashed through them.

He opened his mouth and replied-

"Lucas"

"My name is Lucas Nothstein. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance Demon Lord Diablo."

---------

"You seem to know of my ident.i.ty?"

Lucas grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, not really."

"However this race seems to call themselves demons, and I heard them refer to the lord of this Castle as Lord Diablo."

"Is there another ident.i.ty a.s.sociated with your name, Sir?"

"Yes, I am also the lord of my entire race stationed here in this realm."

"However lets talk about you for now. We had attempted to summon a being from a parallel world, and we found you half dead and drowning."

"Oh. So you are the ones who saved me. Please accept my grat.i.tude."

"It seems I had little gas leak in my house that caused a bit of an explosion" replied the boy while pouting.

"Little explosion my a.s.s! There was a f.u.c.king hole in the barrier between worlds."

Unfazed by the lie, Diablo leaned forward and grinned dangerously.

"Quite interesting. You see, My race is currently facing a big peril and my retirement is looming here. My offspring may inherit the throne but none can hold the t.i.tle of Demon lord for the moment.

I was hoping to look for a like-minded individual to be my successor, and even achieve contact with another world in the process."

"How do you know whether I can be trusted?" shot back Lucas with a mischievous look on his face.

"I do not, but you have the benefit of doubt, moreover I have trust in the oracle"s summoning algorithm. I hope that we will be able to prove your capabilities, and from a cooperative trustful relationship"

"It sounds very beautiful, but why do you think I would be interested in becoming a Demon lord of a race that has nothing to do with me. Of course I will repay the debt for saving my life but aren"t you asking too much of me."

"Isn"t it obvious. Its for the power, you have the means to possibly have an entire race at your beck and call. Moreover, I am only asking you to give us a change, I am sure once you have a taste of what it means to be a demon you will never want to go back."

"Is that why you gave me these horns"

Lucas asked while holding his newly grown horns in a quite a cute fashion eyes gleaming with curiosity. But that was what made it look so much more eerie.

"I am sorry, but that was a side-effect of the healing ritual. It was designed for us demons after all." replied Diablo not looking apologetic in the least.

"Don"t worry. It is quite a fitting accessory for me. You see I was once known as The Prince of Shadows.

I will take you up on the offer. Its just."

"What?"

Lucas raised his head looked right into the demon lord"s eyes.

Smiling darkly and abandoning his cheerful facade he said,

"Tempting me with power. That wasn"t fair of you."

-------

"So my lord, what was the candidate like. Can he really lead the demons. Would it be wise to leave the fate of our race in the hands of an outsider?" a figure in the dark could be seen asking Diablo that question.

"He is extremely dangerous. He is either extremely insane or inanely cunning.

Either way he is capable all right."

"So, the question is whether he can be trusted?"

"Yes, but that"s what we have you for Lilith. I am sure you will be able to determine that in time."

"Yes Father, of course. You can count on me." smiling darkly a young girl walked out of the shadows. She looked like a pretty eastern beauty with long black hair streaming down, and two cute horns popping out from her head.

"He might be the Prince of Shadows, but I am the Lady of Darkness."