Black String of Fate

"Hmm... He's late."

Seraphina was back to the place where her conversation with Xavier had ended the previous time. It was just like he told her, same place, same time. To her surprise, it turned out Xavier was not that good at being punctual. He was about an hour late.

'Should I just leave?'

As she was about to turn around, she saw a tiny silhouette madly waving its hands at her. She sighed and sat down at the nearby rubble of bricks lying around the unfinished, abandoned buildings.

"Sorry about that. I had some unfinished business to attend to."

Xavier said with a casual tone as he approached Seraphina. She wondered what exactly it was that it delayed such an important meeting.

"Did you finish that unfinished business?" She asked with curiosity.

"Oh yeah, it was damn hard, but I eventually found it."

"Found what?"

'What exactly is it that can make a demon king troubled?' She thought, her curiosity blazing. If it was something important, perhaps it could help with her plans.

"Pork chops."

"...Pork chops?"

"Yeah, today Luke, my little brother, wanted to make meat stew with fried pork chops, but all the shops I visited were out of them. My quest for pork chops led me to bizarre corners of the market, and eventually, I had to buy them from the next town over. How strange that something so common was somehow sold out the moment we wanted them..."

"..."

Seraphina could not believe her ears. She waited for a whole hour just because...

"You delayed such an extremely important meeting just because of pork chops? Do you hear yourself?!"

Xavier scratched his head as he said,

"I mean... they were delicious."

"Ugh..."

Seraphina held her head in exasperation. It was at that moment that she realized she might need to carry headache medicines whenever she talked to him. She hadn't met a person harder to deal with than him.

Xavier just confusedly looked at Seraphina who had suddenly started acting like she was in pain.

'Maybe she's ill or something...'

"Anyway, let's discuss what we should do moving forward." Seraphina said as she regained her focus, and Xavier nodded his head.

"First, we should know a bit about each other's capabilities. Xavier, I remember you were a Crafted Archon at your prime?"

"You remember correctly. And you were an Initiate Archon, right?"

"Yes, but I reached the realm of Crafted Archon before regressing, so we are pretty much on the same level."

Xavier looked at her with utter surprise as he digested the news. Going up two minor realms might seem like a small achievement, but at the level of Archons, it was world-changing. The difference between an Advanced and a Crafted Archon was what distinguished Xavier from being the strongest of an era to being the strongest to ever exist in history.

"After my death, you, of all people, reached Crafted Archon?"

"Hearing it like that somehow makes it sound like an insult. And yes, I did reach that realm. After touching that height, I realized why you treated us, the hero party, as nothing more than just an annoyance. The difference is massive."

"What about the hero? If someone like you reached that realm, surely he must've too."

Xavier asked, unable to contain his curiosity. He was regarded as the one with the most power in his prime, but the hero had always had more potential than him.

'Since he also used magic alongside his swordsmanship, it might even be possible that he touched the realm of the paragon...'

Seraphina looked at Xavier with a complicated emotion. She still remembered his last words, which were to take care of the world, otherwise another demon king might rise. After reading his history, she knew that although he went about his goal the wrong way, he had noble intentions at the start.

But, despite his last words and their efforts, the world did not have a happy ending.

"Archon Xavier, the Demon King who represented the world's wrath, do you wish to hear what happened after your death?"

Xavier was taken aback by the sudden serious, heavy question. He went quiet for a second as he looked into Seraphina's eyes. They were dark, complicated, and filled with unresolved grievances.

'They remind me of the time when I made the decision to accept and uphold my title as the demon king. The resolve to accept the world's hatred for my goal.'

Xavier took a deep breath before making a serious face. He knows that whatever is said next will impact his life heavily since he doesn't plan on dying anytime soon.

"Speak, Archon Seraphina. I must know the aftermath of my actions."

Seraphina sighed and looked up at the sky. She took a trip to the memory lane, recalling everything with vivid detail. It wasn't hard, since she couldn't forget those horrors.

"After defeating you, the world regained a sense of peace we hadn't seen in the last few decades. Nothing special happened for a while, and the world was growing and healing for the better.

The hero, Kaldian Zener, as well as the whole hero's party, looked into your biography extensively. There we discovered your mindset, your intentions for the world. We got to know the fearsome Demon King's backstory."

"Well, it was written by a strange person who kept pestering me with questions about my life. I suppose he got many facts correct."

Xavier smiled as he remembered the times when at least a few people stood by his side. Seraphina noticed the nostalgia and fondness in his eyes as he thought about them.

"Well, Kaldian decided that your story should be spread to the masses. He said that while your actions were wrong, your reasons were valid and justified. Soon, the whole world was in upheaval when they heard your side of the story. It spread so rapidly that no one could even see it coming.

The tension within kingdoms and empires had reached a peak when the books were causing a wave of emotion and change of mindset among the common populace."

"Hahaha! As expected of that bastard! People didn't realize that the hero was also capable of causing chaos!"

"I agree. His radical decision to spread a forbidden book led to society's change. The nobles lost most of the power they held, and while still a monarchy, many existing kingdoms and empires became a lot more meritocratic. They did not have anyone to paint as a common enemy now, after all. Education was becoming much more commonplace, with small schools opening in a lot of cities.

The world was growing in a positive direction, showing signs of ending the darkest era of humanity."

Xavier, after a long time, was happy with all of his heart. It wasn't just because the world was becoming a better place after his death, but,

'My life, my purpose, was not in vain... I lived a meaningful life. All that blood, all that pain, I don't know if it was worth it, but it at least resulted in something. In the end, the Demon King finally achieved his true purpose. What more can I ask?'

Seraphina had complicated emotions seeing Xavier's happiness. She steeled herself because it was Xavier himself who agreed to hear the whole story.

"It looked like the world was healing, that is, until they invaded.'

[P.S, please read Author's Notes, thanks]