The Demon King’s Equal: A Search for Orobas
The village bells began to toll without pause, their deep, resonant clang echoing through the air like a frantic heartbeat.
Soldiers and adventurers who first heard the alarm gathered in clusters, soon filling the square in front of the inn with a growing crowd.
At that moment, I tensed, certain the commotion had detected my presence. Yet the familiar scent carried on the breeze slipping through the inn’s open window dispelled any illusion that the source was me.
“Demons have appeared!!”
The cry of a single soldier fleeing from the village entrance ignited the square, and the gathered crowd stirred with panic.
Some shouted insults toward the newcomers.
“What the hell is this?! Demons?! Here?!”
“Impossible… this is the rear lines!”
As they claimed, Moncrito Kingdom lay far behind the frontlines where the Demon King’s forces and the Human Alliance had clashed for ages. An unexpected incursion of demons here made no sense.
But reality struck the moment a horde of orcs surged through the village gates, turning the settlement into a battlefield of chaos in the blink of an eye.
Soldiers and adventurers hastily formed a defensive line to block the charge, yet their preparation proved woefully inadequate against the clustered, battle-hardened orcs.
The greatest flaw, however, was that no true powerhouses remained in the village to meet them.
“Kyaaaaaaa!!! Save us!!!”
Most of the soldiers and adventurers who had filled the village for the bounty on me fled without hesitation. What remained were the innocent villagers screaming as orcs hunted them through the streets, their cries carrying straight to my room at the inn.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Orcs had even breached the first floor. Shattered wood and the innkeeper’s agonized screams reverberated through the corridors.
“Haaah…”
With a heavy sigh, I shrugged off the hood of my cloak, set the rapier on the table, and slowly drew it.
The Four Heavenly Kings—Orobas.
Only days earlier, he had commanded legions from the Demon King’s vanguard in the deepest reaches of the Demon Realm, not these peaceful human villages.
The Demon King’s army had always enjoyed overwhelming superiority because the hero party’s strength lagged behind. They had won every battle and swept the frontlines without defeat.
Until that unexpected rival appeared.
The elf member of the hero party—Lowell.
According to reports filed with the Demon King’s Intelligence Division, she was merely a plain high elf assigned to ranged support and scouting duties within the party.
But in actual combat, far different accounts emerged.
A being equal to the Demon King.
Strong enough to surpass the hero.
One report even claimed that while observers had witnessed her attacks, no one had ever seen her blade.
This was why the Demon King’s forces had halted all frontline operations and poured every resource into gathering information on her.
Who was she?
How strong was she truly?
Could she truly match the Demon King?
And then a peculiar report reached the human world.
“The hero party’s elf Lowell has been expelled by the hero.”
For the Demon King’s forces, this was more than a chance to uncover her identity… no, it was a precious opportunity to recruit her into their ranks.
“Search every corner! She must be in this village!”
Meanwhile, Kai, Orobas’s adjutant and commander of the special orc assault unit, had driven his forces through the abandoned village in a frenzy to hunt Lowell.
The competition among the Four Heavenly Kings to absorb her had already begun. He had to be first.
“First platoon, flank right. Second platoon, flank left. The rest, sweep the front!”
Following his orders, the orcs scattered in every direction, raiding every house. With the human army and adventurers long gone, the village had become a slaughterhouse.
“Kueeeeeek!!!”
Moments later, the orcs’ savage roars echoed from the inn they had entered.
Orobas’s gaze and those of Kai and the remaining orc warriors turned toward the slightly ajar door of the inn.
“Lord Orobas, it appears to be that inn.”
“Attack only after I give the signal.”
“Yes.”
Kai relayed the order to his warriors and turned to watch the woman emerging from the darkness.
Despite walking from within the dim building, she radiated light like the only beacon in the village. Her long golden hair and the sharp, pointed ears peeking through it marked her as the high elf Lowell, the very one they had scoured the realm to find.
In her hand swung a rapier stained dark with the blood of orcs she had slain. With every step, the blood on the blade dripped to the floor in heavy splatters.
“Kyuaaaack!!”
Orcs, driven by bloodthirsty loyalty, found the sight unbearable.
The orcs who had received the order ground their teeth in rage. Those still too far to obey charged forward instead.
Slice!
The first orc to reach her was halved in an instant, collapsing to the ground. The next fell with arms and head severed by the rapier, erasing the reputation of the Demon King’s special unit.
In the end, even their savage loyalty could not withstand the killing intent radiating from Lowell, and the orcs froze.
“You are the elf Lowell from the hero party?”
Orobas’s question drew Lowell’s gaze. She swung the rapier in a wide arc to wipe the last traces of orc blood from the blade and spoke.
“Not anymore… but until recently, yes.”
In answer, she deliberately brandished the rapier in a threatening arc, eyes flashing defiance.
A faint smile curved Orobas’s lips in response.
“More beautiful than I imagined… how does such a face conceal such power?”
“Enough idle chatter. Draw your sword already.”
“Woah. I’m not here to fight. Let’s talk first.”
Lowell’s provocation only made Orobas sheathe his rapier and raise both hands in placation.
“Not here to fight? What kind of mess have you stirred up?”
“That was done by the stupid orcs here. I only came to find you in this distant place.”
“Huuu… I see. Then what brings you here?”
To show his lack of hostility, Orobas sat comfortably on the steps of the neighboring building and lowered his guard completely.
Lowell sensed no killing intent from him and returned her rapier to its scabbard.
“I heard you were expelled from the hero party. Do you have any intention of joining our Demon King’s forces?”
“What does my leaving the hero party have to do with joining the Demon King’s army?”
“Haha… if you cooperate like that, the Demon King will grant you a pact of non-aggression with the Elf Kingdom. He even offered to place you on the queen’s throne.”
Orobas laid out the Demon King’s proposals, beginning his persuasion.
“The queen’s throne…”
At first, curiosity brightened Lowell’s expression, making Orobas believe success was within reach.
Yet as he continued, that curiosity was replaced by a mocking smile that lifted one corner of her mouth, hiding the unease she could no longer conceal.
Although he had never fought her, Orobas knew that a being rumored to rival the Demon King posed a threat to his own life. He swallowed dryly and presented the final offers he had prepared.
“And… if you join our Demon King’s forces alone, the Demon King has promised to grant you the rank of Four Heavenly King along with all corresponding titles.”
In contrast, the proposals he had made to the other Heavenly Kings had been far harsher.
Orobas himself had endured countless bitter years, leaving home to fight on the frontlines for hundreds of years just to attain the position.
Compared to him, the easy promotion to Four Heavenly King without proof or effort left him only envious.
“Among the Four Heavenly Kings, there are superiors and inferiors, they say… Does that mean I would be the highest?”
The stunned Orobas could only open his mouth in shock and stare in disbelief.
Instead, Kai, who had remained silent until now, suddenly drew his sword and shouted at Lowell.
“You insolent wretch!! How dare you speak that way to Lord Orobas!!”
“Oh? You intend to attack me with that blade?”
Kai’s frustration at Lowell’s arrogant words toward their master made the sword tip point at her throat, killing intent blazing.
“Kai! Sheathe your sword!”
“Hah… but, Lord Orobas! The Demon King has no business with a traitor like that! Just a single cut…!”
Slice!
It happened in an instant.
Orobas, who had dueled countless strong warriors in both the Demon Realm and the human world, and who had even sparred with the Demon King himself, had never witnessed the blade that took his adjutant’s head.
Only a flash of golden light.
The rapier remained sheathed in its scabbard exactly as before.
The attack had been seen, but the blade unseen—the scene unfolding before him was identical to the reports.
Kai, strong and ruthless enough to be called the next Four Heavenly King, had died instantly at Lowell’s hand.
With no resistance, Orobas’s gaze fixed on the empty scabbard, his mind reeling in disbelief. The village fell into an eerie silence once more, broken only by the distant screams of the fleeing villagers.
Orobas’s voice emerged steady yet heavy with solemn resolve.
“Lowell… you will be the first to fall.”
The air grew thick with bloodlust. Lowell’s eyes narrowed, her grip on the rapier tightening.
Orobas drew his own blade slowly, the edge gleaming coldly.
“Prove it.”