Amidst Shadows and Corpses: A Tale of Survival?

The sight of human corpses greeted me as I entered the prison cells.

"Urg…."

There were no guards; it seemed like they had killed all the prisoners before heading to battle. I felt the urge to vomit, but I held it back.

The corpses were in a disastrous state; it was impossible to determine what had been done to them.

I had no time to hesitate, but my hands and feet wouldn't stop trembling.

There's a difference between writing something and experiencing it in person. The unrecognizable, torn corpses were difficult to look at.

Blood and feces were scattered everywhere.

Someone had died right outside an open cell door, perhaps while attempting to escape.

The scene was so disturbing that I couldn't bring myself to look at it.

I was on the verge of cursing myself.

This was what I had been searching for.

"God damn it… damn it...."

I alone was responsible for everything happening; after all, I was the author.

The feeling was terrible.

I didn't know what to do. Did I have to strip the clothes off unrecognizable corpses just to survive?

I removed the rags from a corpse that was barely recognizable as such. I even took off my underwear and rolled around on the dirty floor with the rags.

The sensation of sticky blood on my face was awful.

I hadn't seen myself in a mirror, but I must have looked terrible. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and collapsed.

"Huueewek!"

I gagged, but nothing came out. It was as though I could hear the voices of the dead from the cells. But I couldn't afford to wallow in despair.

I had two options: hide in a corner cell and lock myself in, or pretend I had managed to escape.

From now on, all I could do was hope that my camouflage magic would go unnoticed.

By the way, who was I supposed to pray to?

The prison cell that had once been overcrowded was now filled only with corpses.

Did they have to kill them all?

Is this what demons are like?

And then, I heard sobbing.

There were survivors.

I didn't know who, but someone was still alive. Fear gripped me, but I couldn't resist going to investigate. My body moved faster than I expected.

Before anything else, I should help the living in this horrific place. The thought brought me some relief; it confirmed that I was still human.

"Who... Is anyone there?"

– Urg… Sob, sob....

A quiet, feeble cry echoed.

I passed by several gruesome scenes in cells.

"Sob… uuh… hang…."

Soon, I spotted a little girl, her voice cracked from crying, clutching something that resembled a human form.

I could guess what had happened.

There were other bodies scattered around.

I hated to assume, but based on the remains, there had been five of them there, excluding the crying girl. She clung to a corpse with an uncertain form, seemingly unaware of my presence.

I couldn't fathom how the corpse died or how the child survived.

But one thing was clear: the corpse she held was someone precious to her.

"Hey, calm down…."

".…Urg, sob! Don't!"

I gently knocked on the cage, and the girl raised her head to look at me.

Despite being covered in blood, I could see her blonde hair and golden eyes. She was incredibly thin.

She gazed at me, startled and pulling back.

"Huh! Wh, wh... Who?"

"Ah, don't worry! I… I was trapped here too!"

The girl muttered incoherently, seemingly out of her wits.

"I'll help you escape. Let's get out of here."

Fear and sadness filled her eyes. She seemed to find solace in seeing another person in tattered clothes like hers.

She examined my eyes, arms, and legs.

She observed me, terrified by the horrors I had just experienced. Eventually, she nodded softly.

Did she believe my calmness was due to my exposure to those horrors? Maybe it was because, deep down, I wasn't a true Demon Prince.

"Hey, do you know where the keys are? I'll bring them over."

"Um, maybe... Over there..."

Without a word, the girl pointed to the far end of the prison.

I felt a strong urge to save this child.

But my survival instincts reminded me that having other survivors would testify to my imprisonment.

I didn't know which key was the right one, so I gathered all the key rings I could find in the warden's office at the end of the cells. While I tried each key, the girl continued to cry.

She cried, perhaps out of sorrow or hunger. What did the food taste like after enduring such dreadful hunger?

Eventually, the correct key was found. The iron door creaked open.

The cage was unlocked, but the girl remained inside, holding onto the body she had clung to.

It might still be dangerous outside, so instead of letting her out, I walked into the cell.

"Can the Demon King be killed?"

"Absolutely."

I believed he was already dead.

The death of my unknown biological father didn't affect me much. After all, I had only recently entered this world. The girl trembled and murmured, tears streaming down her face, her head buried in her knees.

"Arto said he would come to rescue us...."

Unfortunately, the Demon King likely took Arto down with him. While he wouldn't save us, the human forces might still come. I felt overly cautious, but as time passed, anxiety gnawed at me for no reason.

Maybe it was just nerves?

"Yeah. Someone will come to save us."

It wasn't mere speculation; it was the truth. Still, the critical factor was whether the army would save me, as I wasn't truly the Demon King.

"I can't hear them anymore."

The girl quivered. The cacophony suddenly ceased. Thinking the human forces were defeated, she grew even more afraid.

I reached out and held her shoulders.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine."

"Really?"

She seemed surprised by my reassurance.

I mean, what else could I say?

"You... You're so calm... and cool."

The words were somewhat eerie, causing me to freeze momentarily.

"Oh, no. I'm... also really scared." And far from cool.

It might be due to being beside a child that I exaggerated a bit, but I was indeed terrified. She would probably be fine, but I might lose my head.

Yet, the girl didn't question my apparent composure.

"What's your name?"

She asked for my name.

Here, I was called Kali Jr. With the Demon King Kali gone, I was likely just Kali. But I couldn't tell her that; naming myself after the Demon King would be asking for trouble. Furthermore, even a normal human could be attacked for being associated with the Demon King.

"That... I can't remember."

In the end, I offered the first excuse that came to mind.

"I don't know... I can't remember anything. Who I am, why I'm here... It's all a blur."

It was the most convenient explanation.

Amnesia.

I decided to adopt the story of having lost my memory after enduring relentless torture.

"So...What should we do..." The girl hugged me as if she felt sorry for me. I felt a little guilty because she believed it so quickly.

The girl held me in her slender arms, but she gave me a bit of strength as well. "I, if I could get out of here... If I get out... I'll get your memories back... I promise and pay you back for everything."

Hmm? How though? -Clack, clack Before I could finish thinking, I heard someone running from a distance. It wasn't the only thing I could hear

. -This seems to be the prison! -

-They're all dead!

Those were human voices.

People who I couldn't tell if they were knights or soldiers rushed to check the prison cells and finally met our eyes. "Holy, survivors! We have survivors!" The emotional exclamation from the one who found us rang through the prison.

Tears welled up in the girl's eyes, and my heart started racing like crazy in a weird mix of fear, excitement and relief.

Then a middle-aged knight followed the shouts and finally stepped before us.

As soon as he saw the girl, his face contorted. "Oh, oooh... Oh, woe, Her Majesty the Princess…."

No….. Now, what the fuck?