Transcending Realms With My Leveling System As A Demon-Chapter 91: A King’s Thought

The words lingered in the air long after Chris spoke them.

"I’ll order you, ruler of this realm, if you tell me the truth."

For a brief moment, things had begun to change into something unprecedented. The candles along the hospital walls flickered. Zylus lay still on the bed, his chest rising slowly, eyes half-lidded but sharp. Even weakened, his presence pressed against the room harshly, understanding the mere moments of what this situation had brought with it.

Ruler of this realm.

To any other demon, it would have sounded like madness. A dream too grand to even entertain. To Zylus, it sounded like the norm, something he had been expecting this entire time.

He exhaled softly and turned his gaze toward the ceiling. Kings had come and gone beneath that same roof. This is how most of them had done it, become king, from their sheer strength and hard work. But to Zylus, given that he used other methods, he might’ve been the first to do so.

"I’ll tell you," Zylus said quietly. "But you talk as if I’ll do bad to this realm. I can assure you, I’ll save it."

Chris stiffened. The others watched closely. Moovrin stood with his arms crossed, unreadable. Sebastian leaned against the wall, eyes narrowed. Reynold remained rigid, hands clasped behind his back, his great-sword absent but never far. Rasper hovered closest to Zylus, jaw tight, as if any wrong word would send him over the edge again.

"It’s not about that," Chris replied. "I understand I haven’t been the best ruler, and I’m probably the weakest to come out in the past decade, but Medrus’s death was so sudden, so I had to act tough, and that can only be me."

Zylus laughed under his breath. "Of course you thought that," he rolled an elastic band around his index finger, "guess you forgot I exist."

Rasper clicked his tongue. "Careful."

Zylus finally looked at him. Their eyes met, and for a second, Rasper felt something twist in his chest. Not fear. Recognition.

"Weird," Zylus said. "You’ve lost to me, and you saw me finish off a friend of yours, yet you still feel the need to talk? Shut up."

"Damn you!"

"Stop it!" Reynolds jumped in, "Calm down, I know how you feel, but the people’s safety means more than our anger, listen to what Chris has to say for crying out loud."

Rasper stopped; he didn’t answer.

Chris took another step forward. "Answer the question. How did you get this strong?"

Silence stretched again, heavier this time as Zylus closed his eyes.

Images surfaced unbidden. Blood soaking into dirt. A blade of light burning through flesh. The sensation of something tearing and reforming inside him again and again. He felt the [Connection] stir faintly, not awakening, just reminding him it was there.

He had remembered it all after all, it felt connected now, something he would have to carry on to continue having the title of the ’strongest’ if need be.

"If I tell you," Zylus said, "Actually, fuck that. Why would you want to know? I can become king whenever I want. I can just kill you here and become ruler."

Another long silence stretched, and Zylus backed away, sneering.

"I mean," he leaned forward, looking directly at Chris, "who’s gonna stop me?"

"Damn brat-!"

Chris raised his hand, stopping Reynolds or Rasper from taking any severe action.

"Please, Zylus", Chris begged, losing his integrity in the process, "It’s for our people’s sake, let me fulfil my king’s duty for my final moments.

Zylus smiled faintly. "Fine, fine." He waved his handino each direction, "I got strong training."

Chris giggled, "Sounds like something you’d say, that works for me."

He didn’t pry any further, even when the others seemed slightly mad at the way he was treating the king, or soon-to-be, ’former king’ of the Demon Realm.

Moovrin shifted. "You do understand, we are all far weaker than the Spirits; the only individual who had saved us from being attacked was Medurs." He paused, exhaling, "Now that he’s gone, we have no one. It was a surprise to all of us that the Spirits still haven’t invaded, but we know they’re going to soon. The Gods can’t do anything but watch when there’s a valid reason."

"What was that?" Zylus asked.

"Medrus entered their territories first, and they used that as an excuse, taking into account the number of Spirits he had murdered." He finished as Zylus nodded.

"Chris, what I’m hearing is that you’re too weak to protect us." Zylus declared, "You ended up being a weakling, didn’t know that would ever happen."

"I know," Chris replied without looking away from Zylus.

Zenos watched from his wheelchair near the doorway, fingers tapping against the armrest. His expression was neutral, but his eyes gleamed with something restless. He had already crossed the line long ago. He was simply watching to see who would follow.

Zylus turned his head toward Zenos. "You already know."

Zenos’s lips twitched. "Enough."

"Then you know why I can’t just say it out loud," Zylus continued. "Some truths don’t just change the board. They burn it."

They were now talking about something completely different, something only the two of them could understand.

Reynold finally spoke. "If this is about the Natural Order," he said slowly, "then we are already at war with it."

Zylus looked surprised, genuinely this time. "You’ve read more than I thought."

"I’ve buried enough bodies to learn patterns," Reynold replied.

Zylus didn’t know if Reynolds knew he was Half-Spirit, but what he most definitely acknowledged was the fact that he understood the weight of what was happening. Somehow, or someway, Medrus also interfered with this so-called ’Natural Order’ from Reynold’s perspective. After his death, the severity of consequences began to change, turning into more bloodshed and guilt, followed by paranoia, and then ending with the obvious downfall.

Chris clenched his fist. "Enough fooling around, Zylus, please. You survived light. You healed when you shouldn’t have. You killed Mordain. Whatever you are, it’s beyond our doctrine. That makes you dangerous."

"And useful," Zenos added smoothly.

Rasper scoffed. "Don’t."

Zenos ignored him. "You all keep pretending this is about justice. It’s not. It’s about survival. The Spirits won’t wait for us to sort out our morals. The Gods won’t either. You’ve all felt it, haven’t you? The pressure. The tightening of the world."