"The king is dead, long live the king," my six companions shouted in unison as they presented me with the crown.

Our coup d'état had been a bloody but necessary one. After all, the continent had suffered long enough under the rule of the king who had just been beheaded. He had also been a demon – a fact that cannot be overlooked.

Demons existed since time immemorial. They settled down in societies masterfully and usually lived to the chagrin of their fellow human beings. Their demonic presence was only noticed by a few, if any. Experienced demons were also able to completely hide their presence from humanity when they thought, felt, and acted like humans. They were recognisable only by their own kind then. Especially such skilled demons could pose a great danger. But, of course, their less talented brothers and sisters were already to be taken seriously. And thus, a small part of the people who had special abilities set themselves the task of locating and killing demons.

I was also such a demon hunter. When I had still been a little boy, one of the strongest demon hunters had taken me under his wing. Now, I was one of the strongest. In addition, I had brought together the last living demon hunters under my banner to combat the demonic threat in a better way. And I had been extremely successful with my project so far.

My former master had met his final fate during one of our demon hunts. If he were still alive, he would certainly be filled with enormous pride if he could see me like that now. With my troop of demon hunters, I had been able to wipe out almost all the demons on the continent. And now I had also been appointed its king. The continent was in the hands of demon hunters, the protectors of humanity, for the first time in history. A glorious time approached, as it seemed.

The only thing I had not succeeded with was love. Once upon a time, in my youth, there had been a girl I truly loved. She had also been the reason why I wanted to change myself fundamentally. But fate had not wanted to allow our love apparently. Shortly thereafter, she had also met her death.

A lot of bad things had happened in my past. Be that as it may, I probably would not have the opportunity to think about it in the future. After all, I had just been given the task of directing the fortunes of a huge kingdom. Furthermore, I planned to leave my old life behind once and for all. It was about time to face my true destiny.

***

As then, they rushed into the throne room. Only that I was the one to be overthrown this time.

"Lower your weapons and retreat," I ordered my personal bodyguards immediately, considering that they posed no challenge to the invaders. They knew that too.

"Milord, you have always taken good care of us and the Kingdom. Now, let us fight for you, even if it means our death," one of my most loyal guards replied. The others nodded at his words and were also ready to go so far for my life.

"I deeply appreciate your commitment. But I prefer to deny you this honour and let you return to your families in safety. Now, go."

They clenched their teeth and were split over my words. The invaders walked towards the throne calmly in the meantime, ready for battle like their weapons. And they would not hesitate to use them against my men if necessary. "Go! That's an order," I finally chased them away.

As they left the throne room, I spoke to my personal advisor, "It's up to you to decide whether you want to leave or not. But be aware that they came for my head, not for yours."

"I will stay by the king's side," he replied straightforwardly.

A certain joy filled me when I heard this. "Well then."

After my men had been allowed to leave, and since we were alone now, I turned to the intruders, "Thank you for sparing them."

"Certainly," the archer among them replied snappishly. "As you said, we just came for your head."

There were five of them in total. On the one hand, there was the master and the eldest of all of us, called Fadir. On the other hand, Aries, the only female member of our troop of demon hunters and a bloody talented archer as well. The other three were also appropriately gifted demon hunters. What I did not like about them, however, was their cowardly distrust of me, which had recently taken root in them.

Admittedly, I always had a bad feeling about these three. As far as I know, they were only too happy to listen to Svikull's silly ideas, which he had successfully put into their heads as it appeared now. Thus, I was not surprised that they were here today. But a betrayal was the last thing I expected from Aries and Fadir. I had to thank them that this group of traitors had even assembled here.

"And why do you want the king's head?" my advisor asked in my place.

"Because he's a demon, just like the one before."

I stood up and took position next to my advisor. "You certainly have reason enough for your betrayal. But it pains me very much that my closest companions suddenly think that I am a demon. What is the reason for that?"

The cool steel of a blade suddenly touched my neck. And then, my advisor answered the question I just asked, "I am the reason for it." My questioning pair of eyes moved over to him. Then, he continued, "After you've chosen me as your advisor, I had the opportunity to see things that others couldn't. And as it turned out, you're nothing more than a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Inside, I had to smile. Outwardly, however, I did not show any signs of it and spoke in a neutral tone, "So it is true: Building trust is the first step in the perfect betrayal."

He gave me a mischievous smile and did not know what was in store for him. I smiled back, which discomposed him a bit.

"So Blendin was right with his words," Aries said, paralyzing Svikull. While being inattentive, I pushed him away from me in a careful manner, whereupon he looked first at me and then at the others in disbelief. "Yes, Svikull, you are the demon among us in reality. Blendin foresaw that you would show your true colours in this staged betrayal."

He could not disagree, also since the most insightful of the three suspicious of me, intervened now, "Aries, you said that the truth will be revealed, and that the demon in our ranks will be eliminated if we follow you and Fadir. Indeed, we now get to see an interesting image. But it doesn't prove anything. If we kill him now, we will only violate our codex."

"You are definitely right," Fadir threw in calmly. "But keep in mind that Svikull was ready to kill Blendin in an instance, even though he did not know about our plan nor had any solid proof of his alleged demonic existence. Thus, there is a good chance that he is a demon, even if we cannot feel his presence."

"S- So that was nothing more than a farce?" Svikull stuttered.

No one gave him an answer, and I had my own thoughts on the matter.

[Yes, it was. Initiated by me to kill you without any problems. But that was just the beginning.]

Before he could say any more, a sword pierced through his torso from behind and came forth again at the height of his heart with a gush of blood. He groaned, and collapsed immediately thereafter, when I pulled my blade out of his flesh after a few moments.

[What a joy to see you exhaling the last vital spirits of your miserable existence in a pool of your own blood.]

A grin almost came to my lips as I watched him stepping out of life like that. That was when his dying body turned into glowing ashes, the ultimate proof that he had been a demon.

[It's finally done. I finally killed the last demon on the continent. Now, it's time for the next step.]

Exuding a cold aura, I looked at the rest of my companions with an empty expression then. Only Aries was able to react to my actions with something else than peculiar paralysis.

She cocked the string of her bow instantly and aimed one of her demon-killing special arrows at me. "What are you doing?!" she shouted at the others, hoping they would see what she had just realised. "He is a demon, too."

"B- But ... That does not make any sense, Aries," Fadir raised his voice, standing up for me.

"It also makes no sense that Blendin of all people would suddenly violate the codex, which he himself had praised so highly. Please believe me, master. Right after he killed Svikull, I could perceive an immensely strong demonic presence. Why can't you?"

"Is that true, Blendin?" he turned to me and stopped the others from attacking me right away.

I chuckled. "Even if you are the strongest fighter in our troop, age and your care for all of us has truly clouded your senses." I spoke the following words to the rest of the group, "She's right, I'm a demon. The last one you'll get to see."

"Felachim raised you, trained you until his death. Why? And why everything that happened afterwards? Never could a demon have lived such a life. And ..." Tears were noticeable in his eyes, which already were surrounded by several wrinkles. "After his death, I grew fond of you like a son. Why?"

They met him with sympathetic looks. I, on the other hand, replied coldly, "He may have been your best friend, but he still had secrets from you, old man. Just like me." He widely opened his eyes, and I could feel that he recognised the truth now. "Exactly. Your friend Felachim was killed by my hand."

A world collapsed for him. Meanwhile, several questions and self-doubt pelted down on him like cold rain, which he was unable to answer just now. The people around him seemed to be captivated by his plight. A moment that I had eagerly awaited.

A fleshy smacking broke the silence. Fresh blood gushed out of Fadir's mouth. Shortly thereafter, he fell to the ground with my sword in his throat, which I had hurled at him with my demonic powers at his weakest moment.

"H- How could you?! I trusted you!" Aries roared in response, and immediately unleashed her arrow on me, which I turned away from me with a serene wave of my hand. When she nocked the next one, she called the others to fight with all her might, whereupon they rushed at me in an instant.

As they were approaching me like that, the next few moments passed in slow motion for me. And I realized that I could not answer some things clearly either. Why, for example, had I walked this path, the path of a human being? And would everything have turned out differently if I had not been betrayed by the woman I loved?

The only thing I was certain of was the fact that this fight would determine the future of the continent. And now that my plan had succeeded, and I had eliminated the two strongest members of the demon hunters, I had a chance to win it.