Chapter Text
The sounds of nature decorating this quiet forest were soon joined by those of boots stepping on fallen branches and leaves. The source of those sounds, a young knight with golden hair, amber eyes, and a blue cloak covering his white garments, was walking through the forest with his head high, his sword hanging from his belt, and his steps confident. It was not his first time in the forest, for he knew exactly where he was headed and how to reach it.
As he was walking towards his objective, a small and green light, the size of a firefly, started floating to his side. Upon closer look, the light was actually a small girl in a green dress. A fairy of the forest who had come to greet the knight.
"You still haven't given up? It's been over a month. I don't know if you knights are determined or just plain stupid."
Sounding nothing like the gentle fairies guiding our heroes in fairy tales, the green haired girl kept floating next to the knight, eventually stopping to rest on his shoulder.
"I could never! Not after managing to learn his name yesterday!"
"I know. You said that yesterday too when you came out of the cave as excited as a fledgling who just learned how to fly."
"That's no way to refer to a knight of the royal guards! I am over the years of training for that title!!"
"Yet you can't beat a guy who spends his days locked up in a cave."
"He's a demon lord! The scale is completely different."
And so the knight and fairy would converse while he walked through the forest. As sharp as her words were, this fairy had been checking on the knight every day, and the two had grown close enough for the fairy to know that her words didn't really hurt the knight.
Our knight, also known as Tsukasa, would come to this forest every day with one objective in mind. Said objective was to convince the demon lord living there to join Tsukasa in his journey through the world. However, the demon lord proved harder to convince. The first time Tsukasa visited his cave, the demon lord said that he would only join if Tsukasa managed to defeat him in a match. He was not only hard to convince, but hard to defeat too, as proven by the fact that Tsukasa had been visiting this forest for over a month now.
When they finally reached the cave where the demon lord resided, the fairy got up from the knight's shoulder and started flying away.
"Well, good luck. See you tomorrow."
"Don't talk like I will fail this time again!!"
"My apologies, o great knight. May this be a victory for you and a farewell for us.", the fairy said with the most nonchalant tone she could use and quickly disappeared between the woods.
With one magical creature gone, it was time to deal with the other one. Tsukasa walked towards the cave and once he reached the entrance, which was only slightly bigger than him, he unsheathed his sword and announced his visit.
"Rui! I have come to challenge you again!"
A black dot appeared in front of him, and it grew bigger until it engulfed him in neverending darkness. When Tsukasa could see again, he found himself inside a closed cave, where the only source of light were the shining stalactites decorating the tall ceiling in multiple colors, though the warm colors prevailed over the cold ones and gave the cave a reddish lighting. They looked like stars in the night sky, except much more colorful and bright. The stalagmites spread around the floor, on the other hand, were pitch black and could be mistaken for shadows instead. They ranged between the size of a foot and the size of a grown person of medium height. These special stalagmites, if touched, would make your limb appear outside another stalagmite in the cave. Since the cave was the size of a small football field, that made for curious cases where you would have one foot at the beginning of the cave and the other foot on the other side of the cave. Tsukasa had grown accustomed to this cave after a month of coming there, he could even remember where each stalagmite was positioned. However, he had no time to admire this place. The only thing on his mind now was meeting, fighting, and hopefully defeating the owner of this cave.
"You learned my name just yesterday, yet you already use it as if we were friends. I guess that shouldn't surprise me though, considering our first meeting."
The source of the voice slowly showed up from one of the stalagmites where he was hiding at the end of the cave. It was a young man, with purple hair, yellow eyes, and a black tattoo depicting a waning crescent moon and a little star under his right eye. His clothes, which could only be described as the galaxy made into an outfit, were doing a great job at hiding him between the black stalagmites. Tsukasa waved at him from the other end of the cave.
"I fought hard to learn that name! I deserve to use it!"
"Indeed. How many times did you lose before I told you my name? Twenty five?"
"I lost twenty eight times!"
The man, whom Tsukasa called by the name Rui, tried his best not to ask why Tsukasa sounded proud at having said a higher number than him. Was he proud at having gotten the number right, or that the number showcased the stubbornness he has been displaying to this day. Rui did not bother thinking too hard about it and instead opted to switch topics.
"You did well coming, though. I have a new toy to show you today!"
When Rui said that, Tsukasa heard a familiar and terrifying sound coming from behind him. It sounded like the buzzing of an insect's wings, but louder and with something artificial to it. When he slowly turned to check what the source of the sound was, his fears were proven true. A black hole was floating mid air and from there were coming out a dozen metallic wasps, the size of Tsukasa's fist. Tsukasa turned to look at Rui once again with a face that could be only described as a mixture of rage and fear.
"Of all the monsters! Of all the horrors beyond human comprehension that you could have summoned from the depths of hell! And you decide to go for the giant wasps!!!"
Tsukasa's exasperated screams were so loud that they echoed through the cave and even confused the wasps for a short second, though Tsukasa had his face turned towards Rui, so he didn't notice.
"You hurt my feelings, sir knight. I could have gone for the human sized centipedes too."
"Thank you for not doing that!!"
Rui simply chuckled at Tsukasa and made a step behind to enjoy the show that was about to unfold. Tsukasa turned to face the wasps who were just floating and waiting for Rui's order.
"Why are their eyes unnaturally large?"
"Larger eyes give an atmosphere of infantility and make it harder for the opponent to strike them."
"Well it is not working."
Rui did not answer back and just snapped his fingers. The wasps received the command and flew at full speed towards Tsukasa, who took a deep breath and also ran at full speed. Away from the wasps, that is. Rui was watching the scene with wonder in his eyes. Tsukasa had fought head on all the creations Rui had shown him until now, so he was expecting Tsukasa to point his sword at the wasps with his usual confidence and determination. Yet there he was now, running around the cave in circles in what was more a race than a battle. Rui decided to keep watching and see how Tsukasa was going to get out of this situation. Not too long after, he saw Tsukasa spring headfirst into a wall of the cave. Then, as he was only a step away from hitting the wall, he jumped towards it. His feet hit the wall and, just like a spring, pushed him towards the opposite direction. He passed right under the wasps. The wasps, on the other hand, couldn't turn back because of their inertia and successfully hit the wall at full speed. Rui crossed his arms and gave an understanding nod.
"So that is the strategy you decided to pick."
The wasps that hit the wall still weren't done though. They could still fly, despite their wings stopping from time to time and barely getting them above Tsukasa's head. Tsukasa stared at them with empty eyes and gave them the finishing blows with his sword.
"Heavens, these are the worst ones you have summoned yet."
"I never would've thought a knight of your caliber was so bad with insects that you would refuse to fight them directly."
"Look at them!!" Tsukasa said while pointing his sword towards a wasp with its back on the floor and its little metallic legs moving in the air. He made a step behind to move further away from them. "Disgusting."
"Well, it seems they were not to your liking, so it's time to move to the old methods."
Having said that, Rui gestured at Tsukasa to look towards the area in front of them. When running away from the wasps, Tsukasa had managed to go all the way to the other half of the cave, so there was plenty of space in front of him. In that empty space, a black hole slowly formed on the floor and from there a demi-cannon emerged. Tsukasa turned to look at Rui for the nth time that day.
"You really like testing my speed today, don't you?"
"I found the design sheet inside the book you gave me yesterday and tried my hand at making one. Looks pretty well made, doesn't it?"
Upon hearing the word book, the events from the previous day flashed into Tsukasa's mind. He had brought a book to Rui in hopes of earning his favors and having an easier time convincing him to join Tsukasa. He did not think it would lead to Rui building one of the cannons in the book the next day. Why was there a cannon design sheet in the book anyway? Tsukasa let out a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Rui gave him a look of surprise.
"Oh? Not to your liking?"
"No, I am just thinking of how to tell a small fairy that I dug my own grave without having her rightfully call me an idiot."
"Well, you won't have to tell her that if you manage to win."
"Wait, you're right!! It would be like I brought my own victory upon myself!"
Tsukasa sheathed his sword again. As much as that weapon had accompanied him ever since he became a knight, it helped him little against a cannon.
"Knowing you, that cannon knows where I am and shoots in my direction, right?"
"Exactly! I look forward to seeing how you will overcome this challenge. If you will."
"And what happens if the bullet hits me?"
"Worry not, I have made it so that a black hole will appear in your body to absorb the bullet, so you won't die. It will count as your loss if the black hole activates though, so make sure not to get hit."
"And what counts as my victory?"
"I didn't think of it actually."
"Rui!!"
Tsukasa's quick answer earned a laugh from Rui, something that almost never happened at the beginning, but which became more and more seen as Tsukasa kept coming every day. Tsukasa considered it a win on his side every time he would get a laugh or a smile from Rui. Every smile and every laugh were proof that his hard work and defeats weren't for nothing.
"Then, if you manage to not get hit until the projectiles are over, or manage to get close to me in the meantime, the win is yours."
"Deal!"
The two shook hands in agreement. Rui then gracefully disappeared inside a large stalagmite and appeared again in an area away from Tsukasa. Our knight was standing between the cannon and the demon lord in a field with black stalagmites spread around. Needless to say, he planned to make full use of them. He placed himself in front of one, and waited for the cannon to shoot its first projectile. The cannon raised its barrel, aimed at Tsukasa, and shot its first projectile. Tsukasa's quick reflexes made him avoid the projectile, and the knight watched as the round ball got absorbed by the stalagmite. In the next instant, the ball came out of another stalagmite and hit the wall close to it.
On the other side, Rui was curiously watching Tsukasa's fight. It had now become a hobby of his to try and guess what strategy Tsukasa was thinking of, and since the knight proved full of surprises, the game never bore Rui. This time, it seemed Tsukasa was testing the stalagmites to see where each of them would lead the projectiles. When one of the projectiles got dangerously close to the cannon, Rui got up from his seat of stones and walked closer, but enough to still be far away from the human and mechanic challengers.
"So you are aiming to destroy the cannon with its own projectiles! A just strategy indeed!"
Tsukasa waved at Rui upon hearing the words of praise. He was a simple guy, a praise from Rui was enough to get his heart fluttering and his motivation skyrocket.
"Though, will you be able to dodge all bullets until you can find the right portal? They are fast, and you are getting quickly tired."
"I have to! Or else I'm not worthy of having the demon lord join my cause, right!"
Tsukasa had to dodge another bullet after saying that, so he failed to see the faint smile that formed on Rui's face.
After Tsukasa dodged some more bullets, Rui was sure that Tsukasa was at his limit, so he let his guard down. A wrong decision, as the last bullet Tsukasa dodged appeared from a stalagmite that was right in front of Rui. The demon lord quickly made a black hole appear in front of him, but he miscalculated the size and the hole covered his sight.
"The cannon is on the other side, sir kni-"
Rui couldn't finish his sentence, for what appeared in front of him when the black hole disappeared wasn't the cave, but the color blue. It took Rui a moment to understand that the blue was Tsukasa's cloak, which had been thrown at him. In the moment it took Rui to understand the situation, Tsukasa was already close enough to take advantage of Rui's confusion and trip him over. Rui fell with his back on the floor and felt Tsukasa's sword pierce the floor right next to Rui's face. He opened his eyes to see Tsukasa looking at him, sweaty and breathing heavily from all the exercise and bullet dodging, but still flashing a triumphant smile at Rui.
"I told you to call me Tsukasa!"