I pushed the massive doors open.

  The crash echoed through the main hall, and a wave surged toward me.

  Boars, lizardfolk, a pair of snarling goblins — they rushed me, gripping swords and axes in their claws. There was no reason in their eyes, only scorched emptiness and imposed rage. I felt it instantly: their minds had been broken long before I arrived. They were no longer living beings — just obedient, maddened meat.

  “Too late,” I said quietly.

  I simply stomped my foot.

  The floor trembled.

  From the stone slabs beneath the charging bodies, jagged stone spears erupted — sharp, merciless, infused with my mana. Silence fell, broken only by the sound of dripping blood.

  They fell dead without even understanding what killed them.

  I moved on.

  Up staircases. Through corridors.

  I killed everyone who stood in my path, feeling neither pity nor anger.

  On the top floor, children blocked my way — the recent recruits who had only just been taken. There was still living fear trembling in their eyes. They hadn’t yet become monsters.

  I did not raise my hand against them.

  With a sharp gesture I summoned a gust of wind that hurled them against the walls, stunning them but leaving them alive.

  And then — the final door.

  Inside, it was lavish. A tall window overlooking the dead wasteland.

  A man stood with his back to me.

  Those same leathery wings. A face twisted by power.

  “Surrender,” I said.

  Laughter exploded inside my head.

  You idiot, Zen. Surrender? To whom are you saying that? Kill him. He doesn’t deserve even air. Look at how much terror he’s sown.

  The man turned.

  He gripped a long sword, and a contemptuous smirk curved his lips.

  “Ohhh… a human whelp?” He laughed, the sound like grinding rust. “You killed all my dogs? Those mongrels? Let’s be honest, they were pathetic. If you think I’ll surrender — you’re mistaken. I can’t. Even if I flee, they will find me. The High do not forgive weakness.”

  He lunged.

  His speed was impressive — for something so insignificant.

  To me, he moved as if through thick syrup.

  I simply raised my hand.

  A series of short, precise discharges tore through his body. Smoking holes opened instantly in his chest and shoulders. He collapsed, his sword clattering across the floor.

  He coughed blood, trying to speak.

  I stepped closer.

  “You… are strong…” he rasped, looking up at me. “I have a daughter. I tried… to protect her. To give her a world I never had. Yes, I’m a monster. I even enjoyed it. But I never wished that for her. Her time is near. Soon they will come and take her, make her like me… or worse.”

  He drew a shuddering breath.

  “I cannot protect her. But you… you are strong. And you are kind. Ahahaha… You won’t refuse. You’re too soft for this world. Please… protect her.”

  It was his last wish.

  I didn’t want to listen to his dying rattles.

  A short impulse.

  His head exploded.

  Quick. Efficient.

  I activated magical sight.

  The structure of the room revealed a hollow behind one of the walls. A hidden chamber.

  I shattered the partition with a single blow.

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  Inside, in the cramped space, stood a little girl.

  She looked almost human — except for the tiny, barely visible horns on her head and the dark wings trembling behind her back. She was crying, her face buried in her hands.

  I stepped toward her, but the words caught in my throat.

  What do you say to a child whose father has just died beyond the wall?

  “What’s your name?” I asked in the demonic tongue.

  She kept crying, not lifting her head.

  I didn’t want her to see his body when we left.

  “Hold on,” I said shortly.

  Teleportation.

  Space folded and unfolded.

  We appeared at the foot of the fortress. The girl immediately vomited — teleportation at that age is harsh.

  Soon the children I had spared came out. They were crying, huddled together.

  One of the adult boars stumbled toward me.

  “We’re free? But… we don’t know the way. The Wasteland is dangerous. We’ll die on the road!”

  I had no desire to babysit them.

  I stomped the ground, pouring mana into it.

  From rock and sand rose two massive golems.

  “Follow them,” I ordered. “They will take you to the borders.”

  The girl had stood apart the entire time.

  Keeping distance.

  Looking at me with endless fear and distrust.

  I turned and began walking toward the boar village.

  After a pause, she followed like a shadow.

  Three hours later, I noticed her steps had grown heavy.

  She was exhausted.

  I stopped and, with gestures, raised a stone shelter from the earth — simple protection against the wind.

  “Go inside,” I told her.

  She stood frozen at the entrance for a full minute.

  Wild eyes. Cornered.

  I remembered the apple still in my pocket.

  I pulled it out and showed it to her.

  “Want it? Go in — and it’s yours.”

  It worked.

  Hunger overcame fear.

  She slipped inside quietly.

  I handed her the fruit.

  She sniffed it for a long time, as if unsure it was truly food.

  Then she began eating greedily.

  Something like pleasure flickered across her face.

  Apples here were worth more than gold.

  When she reached the middle, I said,

  “Leave the seeds.”

  She looked at me, confused.

  I repeated in demonic, firmer:

  “Give me the core.”

  She nodded, finished the flesh, and handed me the remains.

  I stepped outside, buried the seeds in the dry soil, and pressed my palm down.

  Life-force surged through my fingers.

  Before her eyes, from dead dust, a young apple tree rose — instantly blooming, then fruiting.

  I picked several apples, placed them in my bag, and returned.

  She was staring at the tree through the shelter’s opening.

  Her face had transformed.

  A stunned, radiant wow lived in her eyes.

  I found myself smiling.

  “It’s time,” I said once she had rested.

  We continued on.

  The silence between us remained, but the heavy tension had lifted.

  Now, from time to time, I handed her another apple.

  She took them more boldly.

  Chapter: “The Choice of Pride”

  At last, the crooked walls of the village appeared ahead.

  But it had changed.

  Now, approaching, I heard not only the rasping cough of elders — but the bright laughter of children.

  The ones I had freed ran between the huts.

  Life itself seemed to pulse in this forgotten place.

  The boars no longer looked at me with disgust.

  In their gazes was something between reverence and superstitious dread.

  What are you happy about, Zen?

  The voice returned.

  Look how these ants have grown fond of you. You don’t need their love. You’re not a hero from children’s tales. You’re a predator wearing sheep’s skin. You should be above this.

  I ignored it.

  The leader — the old boar with the white eye — came toward me at once.

  To my surprise, he did not stop a step away.

  He fell to his knees in the dust.

  “We renounce the Demon King,” he declared solemnly, head bowed. “From this day, you are our King.”

  I grimaced.

  The idea of ruling this pen made me nauseous.

  “I am not your king,” I cut him off. “And I never will be. Stand.”

  He rose, but pleading remained in his eye.

  “As you wish… but we need protection. Soon the High will learn what happened at the fortress. They will come. We cannot defend ourselves. Please — I beg you — do not abandon us.”

  I looked east, where the sky seemed darker.

  “In which direction are the High?” I asked.

  He pointed toward a distant mountain ridge swallowed by crimson mist.

  “Very far. But another rules over our territory. His name is feared. A being of terrible level… long, dark body. A frozen mask for a face. A spear that never misses. He kills faster than you can blink. Five days to his residence.”

  “I will destroy him,” I said simply. Not a boast. A fact.

  “Inform the other villages of my terms. Peace. Refusal of the ‘Call.’”

  I swept my hand through the air.

  Seeds flew from my bag.

  I scattered them along the road, pouring colossal amounts of mana into the earth.

  Before stunned eyes, trees burst from dry ground, instantly clothed in leaves.

  Then I stomped.

  The earth trembled.

  In five places, clear fountains erupted, forming deep wells.

  I turned to leave—

  And the girl timidly stepped out from behind me.

  The moment the old leader saw her wings and face, everything changed.

  Submission turned to primal rage.

  Tusks bared.

  “That… her?! She is one of them! One of those who took our sons! Death to her! Burn the creature!”

  Others joined the shouting.

  Curses flew.

  She shrank nearly to the ground, wings trembling.

  I did not hesitate.

  Thousands of lightning bolts exploded around me, flooding the village with blinding blue light. Thunder roared so violently that everyone clutched their ears.

  “This girl is under my protection,” my voice echoed across the wasteland. “You will look after her.”

  The old boar, despite his fear, shook his head stubbornly.

  His hatred was stronger than self-preservation.

  “No. We will never forgive her kind. Kill us all if you must — but we will not keep this filth among us—”

  I was in front of him before he finished the word.

  My eyes burned.

  The air grew so heavy he began to choke.

  “Which matters more to you — your pride, or your life?” I whispered in his face.

  The boar met my gaze with his single eye.

  “Pride,” he spat.

  “Then you are a fool,” I said, stepping back. “You chose pride. But your people will pay for it.”

  I turned to the girl.

  In her eyes, there was nothing but me.

  I was her only anchor in a world that wanted her dead.

  “Follow me,” I ordered.

  She immediately ran to my side.

  We walked away from the village.

  Behind us — silence full of hatred.

  But no one dared move.

  “Where now?” the voice mocked. “Back on the road? Saving those who hate you? You realize the boar is right? For them she will always be a monster. Just like you.”

  I said nothing.

  We walked east.

  Toward the masked bearer of the spear.

  The girl hurried beside me, trying not to fall behind.

  And now I knew for certain:

  I cannot leave her here.

  In this world of demons, kindness is the rarest commodity.

  And it seems

  I just bought out its entire remaining supply.