"HOW. DO. YOU. KNOW. MY. NAME?" I asked, fury evident in my voice. The elf in my hand just smiled. She wasn't resisting, nor squirming to get free.
"What are you doing to mis Luna? Unhand her at once!" One of the elves protecting the girl shouted.
I turned to them. "Scram." They attacked, their swords and spears bouncing off of me.
"What is this? What kind of defensive magic is this?" One of them asked. One of the others conjured up a fireball and released it at me. "No, you fool! What if it hits mis Luna!"
I snapped my fingers and the fireball disappeared. "You ignorant fools, dare to use your insignificant fire against me?" I created a giant sphere of fire, bigger than the village itself, above my head. "This is how you use fire, now bow or be consumed by it."
"You… Release her right now!" One of the elves shouted.
"Or what? What can you do, what can you offer in exchange for her life? How will you make up for fouling my mood?"
"You want to go back home, don't you?" The elf in my hand asked with a smile. "I can tell you how to achieve your goal."
The fireball above my head disappeared, I dropped the elf down on the ground. "Speak." I ordered. "But know that my eyes have the ability to discern lies, so pick your words carefully…"
The elven girl stood up, brushed her clothes of dust and made an elegant bow. "Welcome, Isaac Sygrim, the one that has the authority over destruction, my name is Luna Greenwood - the third princess of the Greenwood kingdom and the oracle. I've been waiting for your arrival." She smiled and gestured at one of the homes. "Would you fancy a cup of tea while we talk?"
This golden haired girl, that looked no older than 20, exuded the aura of complete calm. We were in a battle field, surrounded by the bodies of her comrades and presumably friends and yet here she was offering me tea with a smile as if she had witnessed these kinds of sights her whole life, as if this all was natural to her.
I followed the strange elf into the house, where a pot of tea and two cups were already waiting for us, and took a seat adjacent to her at the tea table. Luna poured me a cup, then poured one for herself. I took a sip. The tea was hot, as if it had been brewed moments ago.
"How is it? Is it to your taste?" Luna asked after taking a sip herself. "I know that you aren't really a tea person, so I had a really hard time picking a perfect tea for you."
I threw the cup at the wall. "You'd better start explaining how you know so much about me, or I won't ask so gently the next time."
The elf smiled. "I know that you won't do anything to me. You value the information that I can give you far too much to risk killing me."
"Kill - no, torture - yes. It just so happens that I have a very capable healer on my side, meaning that no matter what I do to you, you won't die without my permission."
"Ah, yes, the 'Dragon of the beginning and the end', Alpha Omega was her name, if I recall correctly." Luna laughed. "Do your worst, I've experienced far too much to care about some trivial torture. In fact, I'm quite curious about your skills, I've heard so much about how ruthless you are. The more I heard, the more I waited for this day to come. The human from another world, summoned by the goddess as a complete waste with no potential, overcoming various challenges and acquiring enormous power, having everyone that he cares about taken away, driven to live for the singular obligation of completing his best friend's final wish and will."
She smiled and took another sip of her tea. "You wish to know how I know all that, don't you? Very well, I'll tell you, for a price of course…"
"... Fine, what do you want?"
"It's simple for a playboy such as yourself, what I want is a kiss from the one that I waited for all this time. I want a kiss from you. Do that and I'll tell you everything that you want to hear."
"Is this some kind of trick, or are you just that frustrated for male attention? The guys outside seem like they would do anything that you asked of them, so why me, princess? No offence, but I'd rather not risk becoming a part of a royal family."
Luna chuckled. "Because of what I am and because of how many times they tried to get me assassinated in my 178 years in this world, I never had the chance to make a single friend, not to mention a lover. They all would just be used by the assassins to get to me or die, but if it's you… Someone with your strength could surely stand by my side."
"Keep dreaming, I stand by no one and, besides…"
"I know, you like someone else… If only you weren't cursed, you could actually be with her, am I right? Well, I can help with that as well, but the price stays the same. What do you say, lover boy, one measly kiss for someone that had so many partners in his life should be a negligible price for happiness, am I right?"
I thought for a second, then sighed and took off my mask. "Fine… But you know what happens if you break your part of the bargain, right?"
"You don't have to worry about any of that, but…" She frowned. "I said that I want a kiss from you and not Alex. Be a dear and change your face for me."
"Huh… Fine." I released my seal, releasing a strong wave of mana and changing my face, then leaned in and gave the lusty elf a kiss. "You satisfied now?" I asked, wiping my mouth and changing my face once more.
Luna gave me a smile. "indeed. Now then, as agreed, I'll tell you everything that you want…"
"Start with what you are and how you know so much about me."
"I am an oracle - someone chosen by the goddess to make her will public. Currently there are 5 oracles in this world - one for each race and our role is to guide the races as to the instructions of the goddess. The goddess first noticed you and your unfortunate friend when you became demons by mixing your blood with that of the monsters."
"How can someone change races so easily?"
"The demon race is the most recent of the five races. All demons were once members of the other four races, but during the era of formation, humans, trying to gain the advantage over the rest in the war, started experimenting with their captured enemies and their own criminals."
"As you might have guessed, the catalyst for the transformation was monster blood, but their process was unrefined - 90 percent of test subjects didn't make it and none of the surviving ones had the main ability of monsters - evolving through consuming."
"The ones that survived were used in the war as soldiers, but just as the humans were on the verge of total victory, these new demons rebelled and joined the fight as a new party. It wasn't surprising - humans treated them like expendable pawns. The demons retreated to the south-western part of the continent - to the great desert, created their own nation and crowned their king - the strongest demon of them all. While the battle between the other races dwindled down, the battle between the demons and humans still rages on until this day."
"So the goddess wants me to go kill all the demons, right? I know that already and I was on my way." I said.
"No, the goddess loves and adores all of her subjects. Her desire is to stop the war and bring peace to the world. That will be your job - your way of returning home." She contradicted.
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Simple really, become the new demon king. The demon king isn't chosen by lineage, but by strength alone, defeat the existing demon king and take the crown, stop the war and go home. Simple for someone with your strength."
"This all seems too easy, what's the catch?"
Luna smiled. "Stopping a war is easy, preventing another one from happening is a different matter. The humans despise demons, the demons live in a desert where almost nothing grows and have to attack the humans - their only neighbors to survive. Your job would be to solve all of these problems."
"In other words, I'd have to stay in this shitty world until I could guarantee eternal peace? Am I understanding you correctly? Besides, me, a good king? Do you know just how stupid I am? Look for someone else."
"Naturally you would be going in between worlds for the rest of your life, spending one month here and one month there. As for becoming a king - the goddess had her eye on your smart friend, she even tried to warn him not to go to the 101st floor, but since he wasn't an oracle, he only had a bad feeling about going. Now that he's dead, you're the only choice, the only demon powerful enough to take the crown and stop the war."
"Okay, that's a part of the problem, how am I supposed to rule an entire nation?"
"Simple, the current demon king is a capable leader. Defeat him, but keep him alive and make him your aid. He's the one that will keep the kingdom running when you're on the other side."
I smiled. "It seems that the goddess has everything planned out. Now then, the curse…"
"There is no curse, but don't freak out on me yet, there is no curse, but the goddess still has enough power to bless the ones around you to keep them safe. If you do what's required of you, that is…"
"Why do you talk as if the goddess was some weakling? Speaking of which, why can't the goddess stop the war and keep the piece herself?"
"The goddess is dead, she sacrificed her life to seal the 'Flame dragon' in the 'Great Labyrinth'. I know what you're thinking - how can she speak with me and summon you to this world, right? Well, the goddess is life itself - meaning that she can never die. Her physical form was shattered and she lost most of her power, that's the reason that she requires your help."
"You said that all the races have an oracle, then why hasn't the war ended until now?"
"The oracle is never the ruler, but someone the ruler is close to. I don't know why, but that's how it has been for ages. The current king of the Chelyian kingdom and the ones before him choose to ignore the oracle. Oh, the oracle of the demons is already informed of your arrival, she'll contact you after you take the crown. She has to be careful because, to stop the truth behind the creation of demons spreading, humans hunt the oracles of other races. We, the oracles, are subject to a life of hiding because of that." Luna lowered her eyes. "Is there still something that you want to ask of me?"
"No, this is all." I stood up. "I'm leaving."
"Very well, let's go."
"There seems to be a misunderstanding…" I said. "You're not coming with me."
"Finding you and coming with you was the reward promised to me by the goddess. I'm part of the package, you can't refuse." Luna smiled.
I sighed. "Fine, whatever, let's go."
We walked out of the house towards the rest of my group. I received a mental message from a stupidly grinning 'Dragon'. "Waifu acquired." I swear, I'll kill this 'Dragon' in the very near future…
Join me on patreon at patreon.com/BonsaiCat for early access to new chapters or buy my book 'How to rule a fantasy world' on Amazon. It's the same stuff that you read here, but I fucked up with the naming and the book is already out, so fuck it, let's go with this name for the book. I appreciate all of your support and your forgiveness for my utter incompetence. Best regards, BonsaiCat.