THE ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS - THE HEART BREAKING NEWS

everybody in the room fell silent. Solomon and all the other demon kings were looking down on the floor and gripping their fists out of frustration and the servants were crying and some are even biting their lips. as they were looking like that Solomon started talking breaking the silence.

"The gods are to look over and help the living beings on the surface while the demons are to punish them but as the celestials had continued their expansion over time the balance broke and the living beings started to corrupt from inside which is one of the reasons you had suffered all this time,"

he said that and the silence returned to the room again. I could hear sniffs and heavy breaths in the silences and after some moments were passed in silence–

"I–"

I talked. when I started to talk everyone looked at me. I felt a little tense when they looked at me in silence since I am not good at socializing with people. I mustered up the courage and said.

"I think that the problems that I faced are less when they are compared to yours. I cannot help but feel sad. but, how can I help you, people."

when I said that everybody for some reason started to look with a confused face.

"What is that look for? I, mean I am weak arent I? so it is natural to ask that kind of question"

when I asked that they looked a little gloomy and made a face that 'you are the last person that I wanna hear that from'

then Solomon stepped forward and came near me and put his both hands on my shoulders

"as I said, you are not weak. you have the power of a red dragon inside of you."

"red dragon? is it the dragon that always comes in my dream?"

"huh? dream?"

when I said that Solomon's eyes twitched as if he couldn't believe me. I answered his question

"every day during my sleep a red dragon covered in red aura comes into my dream and talks to me"

when I said that Solomon and everybody in the back was shocked and looked as if I were lying. then Solomon asked me.

"every time you sleep?"

"yes, every time I sleep, and even now before I woke up I spoke to it directly. but I could not see its real body due to its red aura. all I could see is a silhouette of the dragon inside….. the…. aura. what happened?"

as I was explaining Solomon was clearly shaken and everybody in the back was also trembling. they were looking at me as they could not believe what I said. they all had cold sweat running down through their cheeks. Solomon turned back while trembling and asked the other demon kings

"g-guys, have you…. ever heard about….. something like…. this?"

as he was asking them while pointing that at me they shook their heads with a serious expression and started talking.

"I have… never"

Alphonse said that and Aoi followed

"not.. me either, have you… Dante?"

then Dante replied by shaking his head sideways

"me too"

as everybody was looking at each other with trembling expressions Dante broke the silence

"say-"

when he said that everybody looked at him. as he continues

"no matter… how you… look at it…. it is 'that'.... right?"

as he said that the all demon king's expression changed from confused and taken aback to that very happy face that they are now trembling with the happiness and Aoi even had tears flowing from her eyes even Solomon's back was shaking. as Solomon answered Dante.

"y-yeah, it really is 'that'. I told you guys didn't I?"

as he said that Alphonse continued while looking at me

"he really is the hope of the mythological world."

"Yeah I agree"

"mhm, mhm"

as Alphonse said that Dante agreed to him as Doi nodded while wiping her tears.

everybody including the servants was happy about it. what is it really that big of a deal?

"um–"

as I said that everybody started to look at me without losing their happiness as I continued

"is it really that big of a deal? I mean it is just a normal dream right?"

as I said that all the 4 demon kings rushed to me and came close and answered to me with huge enthusiasm in a unison

"""it is not just a big deal it is a huuuuuge deal"""

as everybody said that Solomon continued after them.

"the one you see is not just a mere dream. the red dragon is using the dream as a medium to contact you. which shows that it has taken an interest or even a liking to you. which can also make you be the first person to control a heavenly dragon."

interest?

-{just as I thought you are interesting}

he really did sound interested at that time though.

"Anyway, what is the deal with this red dragon? you guys are so excited about it talking to me and what is this me being the first person to control the heavenly or whatever dragon it is?... come to think of it you guys were afraid of me when I woke up was it because of this?"

as I asked them all these questions the four of them started to answer all my questions. first was Solomon

"yes, that was the reason we were all afraid of you at the moment you woke up because when you were brought back to life, your body unconsciously released a huge amount of the dragon aura which made us put on a high alert. dragons are the strongest creatures among all the creatures that live on the surface and mythological world. and among them, the red dragon, white dragon, and black dragon are also known as the three heavenly dragons are said to be the strongest dragons that ever existed in the history of the entire dragon species."

then Dante continued

"it is said that the strongest person on the entire mythological world other than zodiac guardians, the god himself have feared them"

after Aoi talked.

"according to history,200 million years ago, the heavenly dragons attacked the mythological world in the era where the strongest demon kings were ruling over hell. when they attacked the strongest person among the strongest demon kings fought the red dragon and the other three fought the black dragon in hell and the god himself fought the white dragon in heaven. the fight continued for almost a millennia."

then Alphonse continued

"in the end, the god and the strongest demon king were the only ones that survived. the heavenly dragons killed many people during their attack so to make them atone for they did the god cursed the heavenly dragons that their souls will never enter a reincarnate cycle and always be sent inside the species which has more intelligence among all the beings living on the surface and that they will become their hosts at first they were just some random beings but as the time flew over they became exclusively for the human beings since they are the most intelligent species on the surface. the god was injured quite a bit by his fight with the white dragon but not that much of an injury that could affect his power. as for the strongest demon king she became permanently injured during that fight and became weak and as for the other 3 demon kings,.... they sacrificed their lives for taking down the black dragon. the strongest demon king got her title after this very fight but since she lost her strength and her other fellow demon kings she resigned as the demon king and focused on training the newer generation demon kings and she passed when she was fighting the celestial creatures"

I completely fell into silence. I mean don't even know what to speak. there is a being that is equal to the strongest demon king inside me and what's more it took so many lives of innocent people. I don't know whether I should feel happy for having a being inside of me that is equal to the strongest demon king or should feel guilty for having a being inside me that took lives of the innocent people.

as I was pondering over that Alphonse continued

"to make it simple for you to understand their power, the islands that exist right now in both the heaven and hell are the aftermath of that battle"

huh!?, w-w-what did he say? when I looked towards him after hearing that I asked instinctively

"d-does that… mean–"

as I was about to say what I understood he intervened and answered with a serious face as if he had understood what I was about to say.

"yes, all these islands used to be a single land combined together. their battle was strong enough that had even changed the entire geographical map of the mythological world"

I widened my eyes and replied to that

"n-no way, I cannot believe that I have created inside of me whose power can even change the landscapes themselves."

when I said that Solomon continued.

"and that is the power that we need to you to use and save the mythological world because as the situation is right now I doubt that we can fight those and win the only ones that can defeat those are the strongest demon king, the god, the zodiac guardians and —"

he points towards me and continues

"the heavenly dragons."

when he said that I instinctively stepped back out of fear. and said

"wait, wait, wait you are saying me to control a being that even changed the landscapes!!? there is no way that is possible. Do you really think that I can control that!!?"

Solomon answered to me

"yes you can, the proof that the dragon is talking to you is the proof that you have a chance to control it."

"even if you say that…."

it is not like I don't wanna help but just thinking about controlling that being is scary enough but the thinking about the celestial creature the only thing that I can remember is that blood lust eyes that are sending me shivers. when I was hesitation he said.

"Please, you are the only one that can help right now. we can give you whatever you want money, women or anything."

when he said that I replied

"why not ask the help of the zodiac guardians there must've been some people in the past 100 million years that were capable of inheriting the powers right?"

when I said that Solomon replied

"zodiac guardians cannot help. it is true there were some until the past 100 million years since the celestial creatures invaded and the zodiacs dies on the very day. but before they were inherited and grown they were killed by the celestial creatures when they are just newborn babies."

"what cruel thing to do killing just a newborn baby"

as I said that Solomon replied

"so in order to make mature after born, we are taking them away before the celestial creatures could even find them and hide some of them in another dimension and some of them on the surface."

"wait, I can understand the part of the other dimension but why the earth's surface? I mean one had already invaded there and killed me. so what is the guarantee that there won't be more cases like that?"

as I asked that Solomon answered with a smile

"ah, don't worry about that the one that attacked you is a low-class one they generally travel in hordes but one must have sensed your red dragon power that might have leaked when you were emotionally broken. it might have killed you but generally, they would be taken care of by the in-charge of hell and heaven that exist on the surface for these very abnormal cases. you were just unlucky that is all"

he says that in a playful sound. somehow I feel like this guy is making fun of me.

"then what if there was a higher level celestial invaded?"

"you actually catch on to stuff pretty fast. well, a higher level one never make their move due to the existence of the earth guardians."

"earth guardians?"

when I asked that he replied in a confident manner

"the guardians that protect the surface."

"the surface also has guardians?"

"yes, the creator liked the surface so much but when it is compared to hell and heaven it is pretty weak that even a low-level celestial could wipe out a mountain in half with a single punch. so he worried and created 2 guardians other than the zodiac guardians. it is said that they are way stronger than zodiacs guardians. due to the power difference and to identify them they were called earth guardians "

a mountain? erase in half? that is exactly what I faced. wait?

"if they are stronger than the zodiac guardians. the why not ask them for help instead of me?"

"that is not possible, since they are bound to creator's orders and cannot leave their guardian duty of surface. which means they are just bound to earth."

"....."

I could not help but feel helpless

"see now all the ways are blocked only you can–"

when he was about to continue I intervened and said

"then why not help god?"

when I said that the smile on his face was gone but I did not stop with that I just continued

"you said he is the strongest person in the mythological world right?"

until then were answering me enthusiastically but all of a sudden they fell silent. so that means there is still this way right? so I continued

"you know, he can help you. even when I wished in the shrine the other day he gave me two best friends. so if you ask–"

"katsu…."

when I was saying that Solomon intervened and after I stopped and looked towards him he had a painful expression and the others on the back were also with the same expression some were even crying. why?

as I was thinking that he continued

"the god…..died."

"eh!?"

w-what did he just say?

"you must be joking right?. I even had proof that my wish came true—"

"that was just a coincidence, he died 20 years ago"

"20… years!?"

"yes, he died while protecting a zodiac and more importantly demons like us. even though we were enemies."

I was not sure what I was hearing. he said that the god died? but it is impossible. the god is an immortal right? he cannot die right. my brain just went blank.

I only thought of the days I went to the shrine every day whether it was rainy or sunny or snowy or anything and wished for giving me, friends.

The first time I went there was almost 7 years ago and wished for friends and that I was the same day that Miyamoto and Tsubasa came to me and extended their hands. I thought it was God's doing so I went every day for giving my gratitude and wish for more friends. and he saying that it was all just a coincidence

as I was thinking that I suddenly screamed

"you are lying, God cannot die. he is an immortal. I asked him to give me friends he even gave me two friends and now you are saying that it was all just a coincidence!!!?"

-__________________________________________-

as katsu yelled and started to cry as fell onto his knees. the servants took the guard position infront of the demon kings. every servant was vigilant but the demon kings just looked at katsu who was crying on his knees. the demon kings just looked at their childhood individually one was crying, one was sitting in a dark corner with a sad expression and one was just thinking that they were not supposed to be happy with friends and one was just covering his sadness with a laugh.

the demon kings have experienced the same thing known as loneliness. due to their exceptional power from their childhood, the demon kings could not make any friends. there were only people that consider them enemies due to jealousy and some became just devotees and did not stand beside them as their friends. they were just in katsu's situation as he is now b ut just due to a different reason.

as they were all feeling lonely and sad one day a hand had reached them individually by feeling their pain and asking them to his friend and they accepted that with happiness and that person was the reason they all met each other and befriended with each other.

until now they saw katsu as someone who could save their world with his powers and tried to tempt him with various things but after seeing him like that they only recognized that he was no different from them. they looked at each other and nodded and—

"master!!!"

they went past their servants who were guardians of them and did not care about their calls. they went near katsu and looked towards him and Solomon said.

"There is no such thing as an immortal being. every being has an end. it is just that the time they live is that long that's it. as for making friends with you…. we will fulfill that request. we used to live in the same loneliness that you are experiencing now. but a certain friend understood our pain and made friends with us. so now it is our turn to help someone who is feeling the same pain."

katsu stopped crying and looked towards them as there were still tears from his eyes as Solomon extended his hand and followed by the other demon kings. and all of them asked him in unison

"""will you be our friend?"""

they asked him with the feeling of befriending him just as the same people who felt the same loneliness not to tempt him to save their world.

-__________________________________________-

"""will you be our friend?"""

everybody said that in unison while smiling. my heart ached so much that held it and started to cry. but this aching is not something that when I felt lonely. it was a warm and pleasant feeling. the same feeling I felt when I first met Miyamoto and Tsubasa who asked me in a similar way as these guys

–"" will you be our friend""

after remembering that I remembered something that Miyamoto said to me yesterday.

–"it is not like wishing God would help you make friends you know."

what he said had turned out to be true, huh

as I thought that I smiled and accepted their hands and replied

"yes"

they took my hand and lifted me up. I was so happy. the servants in the back were looking at me with anger, some were looking envious, some were looking surprised. they look like what is the meaning of having a friendship with the demon king. I don't care because I got four new friends after 7 years.

as we all calmed down we went back to the main topic

I asked them with a serious expression.

"the god, how did he die!?"

when I asked that Solomon looked seriously and said.