"--She's late, isn't she late...?"
Luna paced the vast throne room of the Demon King's Castle, far north in the wilds of Rasthvet, her nine tails swishing like anxious flags.
"As expected... she's too late..."
The little fox girl, Demon King Luna Durke Eucaris, looked more like a restless child than a ruler, ruddy cheeks glowing, blonde curls bouncing, squirrel-round eyes wide with worry.
She had sent her subordinate Yuri on a simple errand a week ago, to scout the black-haired hero in Etar, buy sweets, and come back.
Now the deadline was dust, and Luna's patience was fraying.
"--Uh-huh! Please listen to me!!"
The throne room doors slammed open, and Yuri stormed in, still in her tacky skeleton form, nose dripping, tears streaming.
"Oh, why are you crying...?" Luna started, then sighed, "I told you not to come in like that form."
Yuri snapped her fingers, "Oh, right," and dark mist swirled around her.
In a blink, the skeleton vanished, replaced by a porcelain-skinned girl with jade eyes and waist-long jade hair, a skull-mask headpiece perched like a creepy crown.
"It was really, really hard!" Yuri wailed, voice loud enough to rattle the chandeliers, "I almost lost all my life stocks, rebuilding will take forever!"
Luna rubbed her temples, "Calm down. Explain in order, or I won't understand a thing."
Yuri pouted, "Huh? What do you mean?"
Luna glared, fighting the urge to smack her, "Well, fine. Did you at least do what I asked?"
"There were people so strong they shouldn't exist—" Yuri began.
"Wait, what?" Luna blinked.
"You were supposed to scout the black-haired hero and shop for sweets," Luna said slowly, "Where are my sweets?"
"Oh, that!" Yuri beamed, "I thought you'd love it, so I turned all of Etar into an undead city! Best gift for my Demon King!"
Luna froze, mouth open, then clutched her head, "This is the worst... seriously the worst."
"Praise me!" Yuri cheered, pressing her head into Luna's belly like an overeager puppy.
Luna groaned in anguish, "I just wanted candy..."
She had picked Yuri because the other Four Heavenly Kings were busy, and Yuri was... available.
Luna had drilled the instructions a hundred times, even gave her illusion relics and a human-magic sync tool to sneak past Etar's barriers.
"I'm quitting!" Luna cried, collapsing onto the throne, face buried in her hands, "I'm at my limit, I'm going home!"
"Don't worry!" Yuri pumped a fist, eyes sparkling, "I'm with you! We'll kill the other demon kings and heroes together!"
Luna's heart sank deeper, "I don't want to fight anyone..."
She was a pacifist, loved humans, loved demons, just wanted quiet forest days and city candy runs.
Then the Lust seal chose her, dragged her into this mess.
Multiple demon kings, seven sins, only one survives to face the hero, seals stolen through murder.
"I like peace," Luna muttered, "I just want to eat sweets and travel..."
"I'll make all humans livestock for the Demon King!" Yuri declared joyfully.
"No!" Luna snapped, "Stop saying scary things!"
Yuri tilted her head, "But you're the perfect ruler! That's why I became your Four Heavenly King!"
Luna sighed, Yuri followed her because she was "cute" and "fluffy," not for power or charisma.
The other three kings were just as weird, no fascination magic used, just pure adoration.
"--Anyway," Yuri said, pulling a glowing crystal from her skull mask, "look at this Video Crystal! I recorded everything!"
She tossed it to the floor, and light bloomed into a projection.
Skeleton Yuri monologued dramatically, then a black-haired youth appeared, obliterating everything with casual flicks.
"I had over ten thousand life stocks," Yuri whined, "now I have three! Body rebuild pending!"
Luna's blood turned to ice, "Ah... ahhh, no way, it's NO WAY!..."
She knew that face, those abyss-black eyes.
Years ago, foraging in the forest, she had startled and blasted a scrawny black-haired kid with her strongest spell.
""Immortal Erasure Delete Undead"!" she had screamed.
The spell bounced, he copied it instantly, returning it, and chased her for three days straight.
She ran without eating, screaming, and barely survived.
Black hair still gave her nightmares.
That kid, now grown, had restored Etar like it was nothing.
"If we meet again," Luna whispered, trembling, "I'll die..."
Yuri's city-melting magic meant nothing to him.
Luna shook on the throne for thirty minutes; tails puffed in panic.
Finally, she stood, face set, "I've decided."
"I'm going out for a while," she declared, marching for the doors.
"Where?" Yuri asked, trotting after her.
"I can't stay here," Luna said, "If that black-haired monster finds me, I'm dead. Other demon kings too."
"I want to eat the famous sweets I've always dreamed of," she continued, "Travel, taste every city's treat, no regrets."
Yuri grinned, "If Demon King goes, I go too!"
Luna sighed, useless to argue, "Fine."
She turned at the doors, tails bouncing, "Demonic Nation, Magi Kosmire... see you then."