Spare her

“No.”

Fornax looks up at you shocked, her yellow eyes pleading. “But…”

“No more blood shed… I refuse. I don’t care if you go into exile, clean the floors, or stick around as an advisor. But I am done. You are defeated, the demons are MINE to protect now.”

A part of you knew this was the right call. How could mercy be wrong. But the balanced power you had just obtained did not agree. The swirling powers around you were anything but stable and with this decision magic began to pour out of the three relics. The golden light all but died as dark purple blackness enveloped you as well as the red demoness kneeling on the ground.

You could not see or hear anything, but you felt pain at various points on your body. Your temples, three points on your back, and most of all your eyes. When you could see again your gaze fell on Fornax first. She seemed smaller, less imposing somehow and you quickly saw a spiky red appendage that had not been there before. She now had a very demonic looking penis almost as big as Cassiopeia's. The dark red shaft stood tall and hard.

As you turned to look at your lovers, your weight seemed off and you caught movement in the corner of your eye. It was then as you thought about it that you could feel three new appendages of your own. You could feel your new wings flexing behind you while your tail swished in agitation. Reaching up to your head, you felt the horns that now crowned it.

“The slut queen reborn...” You heard Fornax whisper.

Looking around, all four demons in the room were now kneeling before you.

“Fuck…”

Eventually you got Cass to stand up and dragged her aside to explain.

“Well… I think I already mentioned my theory that Parsa became the Slut Queen to save our people… I think when you declared that we were your people to protect like that… you finished becoming what you were before you left this world."

“I see… But...” You were a normal human before but she didn't know that.

“Fornax has lost the body of a ruler... So you are the Demon King now…” She was doing her best to restrain her excitement but you could see the grin twitching at the edges of her mouth. Her tail was wagging happily behind her and her eyes were sparkling. The only reason she wasn’t cheering was your own transparent distress with the situation.

“Look let’s have Cygnus examine you, you just changed forms… and the relics are gone… used up I guess… so if we need to do something about it we will need to find another way.”

You accompanied the blue skinned demon back to the others who started bowing again immediately.

“Stop that!” You snap. “Stand up.”

They quickly obey, but you aren't sure if that was because they were following your command or if they actually understood that it annoyed you.

“Cygnus… what do your eyes see?”

“Strangely… she still seems in balance like during the fight… equal parts human, celestial, and demon.”

“Despite having the physical form of a demon?”

“Yup, a demon monarch to be precise... she looks exactly like the Slut Queen.”

Cetus comes up to you then with a full length mirror. You see your new form for the first time and it is… surprisingly just like your previous one. No skin color change… same curves… you just have extra bits now. The only odd thing would be the color. Wings, tail, horns all pure white. Well that and the black sclera around your now white irises, a white that seem to glow.

“Could have been worse I guess…”

“You look gorgeous my love.”

“Glad you like it.” You laugh before embracing Cass. “But this is going to make it harder to declare peace as the hero.”

“Glamour.” she says before casting a spell to make her body appear like a completely normal human.

“You could have done that the whole time we traveled together and you didn’t?”

“I wanted you to fall in love with me au naturale… also how would you see demons as normal people if I pretended to be human… lying is no way to build a relationship.”

“Yet you want me to lie to the humans?”

“Yes.” All four demons say at once startling you.

You sigh heavily… but agree to their plan.

The lie was way more elaborate than expected as it turns out. Cygnus had recorded most of the battle using a magical crystal of some sort and had spliced that together with your declaration of peace from the Demon King’s throne. This recording was then sent to every adventurer’s guild office who played it for huge crowds in every city in the kingdom.

The will to fight waned from the human armies after that. Those few who were dedicated demon haters rallied around Cepheus and the capital. The church claimed that this was demon trickery and that you were a demon in disguise… no one believed them even though they were telling the truth.

You hadn't killed the Demon King and you were a Demon in disguise... still the majority of people believed you for some reason.

With all of the demons on your side and most of the humans it was easy to **** a talk with the king. Getting him to the table to end conflicts had to be a win. Maybe you could negotiate peace and finish this. Unfortunately you had underestimated the hateful old man.

"Did you think we would accept this? Kill them." In a flippant arrogant tone the king showed there was no reasoning with his kind. It was all a trap... but how could he think killing the hero would be that easy? Unless he bought his own lies and thought you were some random demon impersonating the hero.

What should have been a peaceful meeting became a fight to the ****. Arrows flew, spells were cast and soldiers poured into the meeting room while you had no weapon. No one at the table was armed... it was a peace talk. However, your Heroic powers had not waned since becoming a demon and these soldiers were no match for you. It took but a moment to relieve one of their sword and you began disabling them one by one.

But then a scream... one that turned your blood cold.

A frantic glance behind you revealed all the demons that had come with you on the ground... and falling, as if in slow motion was Cassiopeia, blood spraying from a fresh sword wound. Much like your first encounter with demons so long ago... you had assumed since they were easy for you, they would also be easy for your companions. A fatal mistake both times...

You stopped holding back, you slaughtered every last human in the room as Cepheus escaped. The boiling rage inside you wanted to give chase but there was something much more important to do. You kept the humans away from your downed companions. The moment you were free of attackers you knelt down and healed Cass. You were her equal in healing magic at this point. You let out a sigh of relief when you saw color return to her pale face. Weakly she sat up and with her help you saved all of the downed demons. But you stopped her from aiding the humans on the ground.

"No, I forbid it." You said letting the anger take over as you shoved your sword into a dying man's chest. "Let them die."

A switch had flipped inside you and you commanded them to stay in this room until you returned. Dropping the glamour, you left the room and began to hunt.

It was easy.

So easy.

You killed every soldier and every guard with ease. Your morals had been tested to their limit and you had nothing left for these creatures who started a war for no reason… for these... 'humans' who would hurt the one you loved.

It was easy… easy to kill the spiteful old king.

Easy to kill every last person in the castle.

When you left that blood soaked building, Cassiopeia by your side, you wondered how you could have ever found it hard to turn your back on humanity. The decision to condemn them felt so easy at that moment.

Eventually, after calming down you sat and discussed what happened with the one person whose opinion mattered. Up until this point you had avoided looking into Cassiopeia's eyes, afraid of what you might see there. Worried how she would react to your losing control, but Cass just nodded and smiled giving silent approval to your ****. She doesn't say it out loud but her expression seems to say "Serves those backstabbers right."

Instead, her first question takes you by surprise.

"Are you okay?"

It takes you a long time to answer. Not because you are upset or sickened by what you just did... but because you think you should be. You should feel something other than satisfaction but you don't.

“Yeah… I thought it would be harder to kill my own people... but I don't feel anything.”

“They aren’t really your people anymore… “

Shaking your head, you tell Cassiopeia the truth, the whole story about earth and having lived as a human before coming to this world. To her credit, she listens intently, never doubting a single word and only interrupting to ask clarifying questions. Finally you catch up to your first meeting… how her beauty led you on this path.

“I don’t want to discount your feelings… but have you considered that humans here may look the same as ones from your earth but not be the same creatures at all?”

“What do you mean?”

"Killing an animal or a bug isn't really the same as killing a person right?"

"Maybe..."

“You can still feel bad... especially if you grow attached... but it isn't the same. Physical appearances, humans and celestials look the same. Your world could be filled with nothing but celestials, it could be the afterlife the goddess went to after she left this world. My point though is that your humans may not be the same on the inside as our humans.”

“So… I was always closer to you then to them?”

“That’s what I think. But either way I don't think you should hate yourself for not hating yourself.”

“And you are ok… with me killing those people.”

“We all have killed… you forgave me for the soldiers I killed outside the first temple.”

“That’s not…”

“It is the same… and let’s agree it was wrong and move on. All we can do is try to do better going forward… together.”

“Together.”

It seemed a little too easy... but you took the throne after that. Thoughts about what to do next occupied your mind, dark thoughts. But Cassiopeia kept you grounded and tempered your anger. Together you manged to weed out those determined to keep the war going and start to heal the rift between peoples. You could tell that she her self didn't care about the lives of those humans but she knew you cared and so acted as your conscious when needed.

Because of all of your hard work, your half-demon daughters grew up in a world where they didn’t have to fight. Where their inherited powers could be used to build and create. They took your stories of earth to heart and with your inherited ability to learn skills and Cass's immense magic aiding them, technology advanced quickly. A magic powered train is still a train. A magic powered washing machine still cleans clothes. And slowly the quality of life for all the peoples in your kingdom increased as your family introduced labor saving devices and concepts to this world.

You and Cass shared the royal bed with not only Cygnus and Cetus, but with many of the demons you met on your adventure. Cass had gathered the women who you met on your journey in the castle. She had handed out her card to each one, giving them good jobs and making sure they were available for nightly activities.

Even Fornax, who had become one of your most trusted advisors shared your bed from time to time. On paper she was dead, the red demoness never left the castle and only showed herself to those you all could trust. She held no grudge against you as you did what she could not and instead was grateful for the prosperity you helped give to her people.

The end.