The Great Demon System

Ever since his arrival home, Regrit had been awfully silent. He did not speak a word nor bat an eye to anyone, to those who were mocking him, and to those who were trying to console him, both were treated the same as he strode to his room.

For an important member of the household, his room was very modest. Just a simple bed, and the rest was an empty area which gave him enough space to train and swing his sword.

He was only out for a few moments, yet his slow steps, clenched fists, and darkened eyes did not escape the gaze of those who saw him, and rumours began to spread. None were good for Regrit's already tarnished reputation, yet all that did not matter in Regrit's heart. Only one thing in the world kept his mind occupied, and that was the face of his dear mother.

All he did was close his eyes and take deep breaths in his chamber, on the grounds where he once trained tirelessly day and night. His heart was thumping so loudly that those walking by his room could hear the tremors echoing within the wooden ground.

For hours, he remained in that position. He did not know what to expect, all he knew was that he was scared… He was in a sorry state, one that he could not dare meet his mother in. As such, he prepared, ridding himself of any hesitation, a task that he found nearly insurmountable, but one that he must do for her sake.

All was for his mother.

His entire being existed to serve her every need. As long as his mother was happy, he would be too. Nothing in the world mattered as much as his mother's smile and love... And, that was all he needed... That was all he aimed for with his every action...

He had not felt like this in his whole life... And how could he? For, going to meet her now, seeing her face once more, will be a validation for his entire existence...

"I… I think I'm ready…" He mumbled to himself after taking his final deep breath that seemed to have sucked the air out of the entire room.

With slow, jittery steps, he wiped his aching eyes and forced himself up, opening his sliding door, walking through and ignoring the oddly stiff, nervous guards watching over him as if they were none existent.

As he looked at the hallway forward and took his first step, his field of view widened, and the world began to turn all around him.

The distance between his room and that of his mother was only a few hundred meters, but to him, it felt like the span of a hundred marathons.

He had thought he had finally prepared himself, but the pain became even stronger.

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'How will she be?'

'Did they do anything to her?'

'Did she change… ?'

'Is… Is she proud of what I did… … …?'

Those were the questions that ran through his mind over, and over, and over again until the door to his mother's room finally came into view.

He gulped, yet that gulp reached nowhere in his endlessly sinking stomach. His ribcage rattled, his heart felt like exploding, and he felt weakness in his knees to the point that even a single step made his body shudder and croak.

Slowly as he walked, he began to ask those same questions over again in his head… But only when he brazenly took grasp of the door's handle did the question that truly mattered pop up in his mind… One that he had been trying to suppress the entire time…

"Does she… still even love me?"

"..."

*SLAM*

"I'm back home mom!" His eyes were closed, and despite his pain, he tried his best to speak in the way he normally spoke.

"Ah—"

But when he opened his eyes… He bit his tongue, his sight dissolving around him.

Her room was normally messy, but nothing like this.

The tiny room was in mayhem, tatami mats shred, the lightbulb above cracked and flickering. The bed sheets were torn, hints of red all over them and on the cracked, torn, surrounding walls. The stained, flipped couch had cotton ripped all around it, and most noticeable of all, right in front of it was a TV flickering gray with a remote pierced deep into its screen.

Although delayed, Reality began to sink in…

"What happened… did they… N—no… Aluber Fatebringer… what have you— I WILL—"

But, it seemed like the reality that sunk was an incorrect assumption, for there was something else that sunk even deeper…

*CLANK*

A tingling sensation, and the sound of clanking rung in Regrit's dazed mind…

'An assassin!?'

He clenched his fists in a pure, raging fire and turned around to snuff whatever had tried to wound him.

"Ha… ha… ha… ha… it didn't work…"

As those grim, yet soft-spoken words entered his ears, his flames of unbridled fury vanished, and he froze stiff in place.

He could not believe his ears. It had to be some sort of trick, another means to play with him. He tried to force himself to believe that…

Once more he gulped and turned his head… And as he did, he witnessed a shaky, thin hand holding a knife stab right through his clothes…

And as he looked up, he saw that face… It was undoubtedly, that very same face... that gray, orange gaze peering at him through the shroud of thick, fuzzy, tangled, filthy blonde… And under it, a pair of bleeding, chapped, crusty, lips forming a deranged, twitchy grin that spanned their face from ear to ear.

"Regrit… Why didn't it work… Why are you still here… Regrit why… Regrit why… Regrit why…" Those same hands holding the knife began moving again, ever slowly…

*Clank*

…

*Clank*

…

*Clank*

…

*Clank*

…

*Clank*

"Why is this not working? My dear Regrit… Why won't you… Just… Die?"

♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️

"Save him!?"

"Yes, I would do it myself if I still had power in me, so I'm asking you, who I trust most, to do it instead…"

"Save him from who!? Will his mother be punished for his actions at the tournament!? Is he going to try and protect her!?"

"No boy… That's not at all what I fear… Kail, you must save him…"

"from his own mother…"

♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️

"I— I'm sorry master— I'm too weak… I just can't do it…"