" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

Your POV:

*Fshhhhhhhhhh*

"... That's three artifacts consumed. The Crusader, Archpriest, and Archwizard. Now, get up and face me like the Demon King you are. Or will you truly turn tail and disgrace yourself ?"

King: ......I see. I don't know where you got this information from, but it seems like you did do your research on Demon Kings. It is true, if I were to run away from such a challenge, I would not be able to call myself the king of the demons any longer... However, you are a weakling who got done in easily by some of my underlings. A person of your measly strength is no worthy match for me. But i'll admit, these artifacts of yours caught me by surprise. I nearly exhausted my mana and still suffered severe wounds, and for that, you have my respect.

"Are you running away now ? After being challenged to a one-on-one fight ? Your generals showed much more of that 'respect' than you. Beldia, Vanir, Hans, Sylvia, Wolback and Serena. Not to mention your spy in the Elroad country, Ragcraft, was it ?"

King: ... Hiw did they fare ? Did they give you a battle they wouldn't be ashamed of, like what a General should do ? Did they at least give you trouble ?

"... Beldia was purified as I was planning to finish him off after he was weakened. Come to think of it, that was the reason why we first landed into debt. Vanir was blasted to pieces with Explosion, but he turned up the next day happily working at Wiz's store as her assistant. And now he's the vice-founder of the Windings corporation, maybe you've heard of it."

"Hans nearly destroyed Arcanletia from the inside-out, which I would've gladly helped with if not for Aqua... Sylvia gave Kazuma long-lasting trauma, Wolbach passed away with no regrets or sadness in her eyes, and as for Serena... She almost turned the whole town of Axel into her puppets before I vaporized her."

King: ... Seems like you've had your fair share of troubles too...

"You have no idea. Though if I had to choose, I'd say my own party causes way more problems on a regular basis than-

King: Create Earth !!

"Crafty old man, you don't know when to quit !"

King: Runing away would be quite the shame indeed, but so would be laying down and awaiting death ! Create Earth Golem !

"... Oh my..."

King: ...Phew. Oh no, that took up more magic than I expected... Still, you've done quite well. Against a swordsman, use a sword. Against a spellcaster, use spells. And against an adventurer, use whatever specialty they have demonstrated to crush them... But still, you're the first one that forced me to resort to such a strange fighting style. In all my years as a Demon King, I don't recall meeting anyone who has took upon the Summoner class, let alone mastered it; So, what will you do now ?

"... Isn't it obvious ? Respond in kind ! GIANT SKELETAL WARRIOR, GASHADOKURO !! GUNDAM FIGHT !!"

King: is that it... That feeling deep within... yes, that's it, the thrill of battle !

"Don't think you can outdo me at what I do best. These artifacts were but a taste, the real fight starts now ! I've witnessed kazuma's way of fighting, don't think you can surprise me no matter how twisted you are, Leader of the Demon Generals !"

King: Wha... W- wait ! Those guys gave me a ton of trouble too! Beldia wouldn't stop rolling his head into the baths, Vanir would constantly prey on my soldiers to harvest their dark emotions, and Wiz would take money and precious items from the treasury without asking and start selling them as practice for opening a real shop... ! Hans should properly ask if he wants to eat something, and not sneak into the granary and rub his poisonous body all over the food store there ! Sylvia, stop saying you want to 'become one' to anyone who catches your eye ! And Serena constantly runs around the castle asking people for money in the name of donations ! Wolbach is the only decent one of the bunch... ! So don't talk as if I'm the worst one of them all !

"... Starting to feel like we did you a favor in taking out most of them. Tel me, out of sympathy... I told you my name, but I don't recall being told yours."

King: ... very well. As the first person to have ever drove me to such a corner, I will tell you. It's Yasaka.

"... Really ? Demon King Yasaka ? That's... I was expecting something much more... Terrifying, if i'm being honest."

Yasaka: My name is Yasaka Kyouichi. Demon King Yasaka Kyouichi.

"That sounds... Almost familiar... Are you from Japan as well ? Were you originally human ?"

Yasaka: No, I'm a simple Demon. I've never been to the place known as Japan, though I've heard rumors of that country. Come to think of it, that other guy in your party has the same name as a famous hero.

"I heard that one already before. And just so you know, trying to buy yourself time will only tighten the grasp I already have on you."

Yasaka: Who is going to finish off whom, I wonder? Heheh, you know, I always get plenty of interesting reactions from adventurers like you whenever I name myself... Do you want to know the origin of my name ? And do you want to know why the Demon King's army is attacking humanity ? It should be the greatest unsolved mystery of the Demon King's army.

"That wasn't on my list, far from it. I may don't know why or how it started, but I'll be able to tell you when and how it ends."

Yasaka: Those are the questions the people with strange names like yours would ask upon meeting me. There is a popular fairy tale amongst your kind about the hero that became a Demon King... So, do you want to hear the truth of the matter that no one else knows ?

"... Okay, I'll bite. What is the origin of your name ? And why is the Demon King's army attacking humanity-"

Yasaka: if you want to know that, you'll have to defeat me first !

"... ... ..."

Yasaka: Wahahaha ! Did that get on your nerves ? It did, didn't it ? Ah, it feels nice to finally get you back after suffering so much at your hands ! ...Still, it's been some time since I named myself like this. So far, I've only ever given my name to those who are about to die. But I shall allow you to take this knowledge of my name home with you. Call it a gift in recognition of the fact that you pushed me this far in a fight all by yourself-

*F-TWOOOOOOOOM*

Yasaka: M- My golem ?!

"I'll admit, I'm quite ticked off right now. But do you really think i'll let you get away so easily ? And even if you do, there's no one left at the castle, so you'll be jumped the second you teleport back."

Yasaka: Well, yes, against those guys, I suppose I'll take a little break after I kill you or you run away. Then I'll make my way through some dungeon and recruit a few powerful monsters to my side. By the time I return after my rest, my daughter should be coming back to the castle with the main army.

"... Then do I have great news for you. The army you sent to take on the Capital is on the midst of getting utterly exterminated by my own forces stationed there. But I don't blame you after all, your only mistake, was giving a Summoner time to prepare for a grand battle. I told you, didn't I ? Every second that pass only brings you closer to your doom. Or maybe ou would rather call it a draw ?"

Yasaka: ... Heh... Hahahaha. A tie ? What are you saying ? It seems like you have some kind of misunderstanding. Your artifacts ran out, you fired your weapon, and you just admitted most of your power is at the Capital, what do you have left ?

"... Ain't I glad you asked."

Yasaka: ... What ? H- hey... What's that light in the sky... ?

"Oh, you know..."

"Just what you get when a billionaire has months to prepare himself~"

Yasaka: ... ... I- I see, a draw, huh ? Very well. i'll send you back to the castle first, would that be acceptable ?

"I don't think so. I've been saving up weeks of powers into that thing, and I can't take it anymore. I've been so close for so long, I can't take it anymore... It's coming~"

Yasaka: ... if you fire off something of that caliber, you'll get caught in it too.

"You sure that's a good argument against someone who died five minutes ago ? Preparations complete, countdown started ! 5 !"

Yasaka: Kh... i'm still a Demon King, you know. Even something of that magnitude might not be enough to kill me.

"An interesting theory, that i'm more than happy to put to the test. 4 !"

Yasaka: A- Aren't you afraid of dying ?!

"Yes, I am. But isn't true courage not to run away from what you fear ? 3 !"

Yasaka: ... If I die here, many things that are unknown to humanity would vanish forever with me... Don't you want to know the origin of my name , And why the Demon King's army is-

"Don't worry, the Axis cult is next on my list. 2 !"

Yasaka: You... You... ! CURSED- !

"... 1."

Rayleigh: And... So ?

"Beating the brakes off the Demon King made Aqua go back to Heaven immediately, so without even ashes of a body, I couldn't exactly get revived either way. But thankfully, there was something they could give the hero that saved the world. An official chance."

Law: And so, that "wish" that was promised to you...

"Turns out that was just another stupid joke from Aqua to try and motivate the so-called heroes she was recruiting, so... Even so, since it was a promise from a Goddess, they did accommodate. Of course, that idiot decided not to think and wished for us all to get eternal youth, so... There's that. I wonder if they found a way to get rid of it yet..."

Rayleigh: ... Eternal youth...

"Not immortality. let's say you were to stab my through the throat, I'd die just like anyone else."

Jinbe: And so, your wish was...

"... I had seen everything. All that this world had to offer, all that there was to experience there... just like a game I had entirely completed, there was nothing new left for me... But I found a way."

Rayleigh: You realize this is completely unbelievable, right ?

"You don't have to trust me. I know how stupid all of that sounds. But if you don't want to believe me, then you'll have to find another explanation for everything that happened so far. Good luck with that."

Rayleigh: ... Hold on, hold on... if I count correctly, you were around 20 when all of that happened.

"That I was, yes."

Rayleigh: And you got here 20 years ago, leaving you at 60 now...

"More or less, I stopped counting that a while back already."

Rayleigh: Then... Doesn't that leave a gap of about 20 years between these ? What happened there ?

"That... is none of your concern. Nor does it concern anything that happened here. I made sure to wish for it. But I feel like I spent a bit too much time telling all of this..."

Luffy: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH !!

"We should probably take care of that now."

Jinbe: ... Did you ever regret leaving them ?

"I'd be lying if I said I never looked back on everything we went through together. No matter what will ever happen... yes, my life with them was definitely..."

"... A blessing."