The first thing Caleb did was to run up the unconscious demon rats so that he was now standing on Keith's nose. There was no reaction from Keith, which was expected, but he still had to try to wake him up. Pressing his paws on Keith's eyelids, he lifted them up and stared into Keith's eyes. Again, there was no reaction, which meant he was completely on his own.Dropping Keith's eyelids with a huff, Caleb scanned his surroundings. There had been no notifications from the system about being regarded as suspicious, and none of the other demons passing by seemed to notice his presence. He must have really looked like nothing to them if they didn't even bat an eye at the sight of a small demon rat standing on another demon rat's nose.Caleb shook his head and stared at Keith. Keith wasn't going to be any help in this situation, which meant the simplest method for getting out of this mess wasn't an option. If Caleb could have just woken him up, then Keith could just walk on his own, and tha

Caleb dove for cover as he cursed everything under the sun. Demons screamed as they were struck by fire. Why were the heroes already here? They couldn't have already reached the city, and there would be no reason for them to suddenly throw themselves in the middle of an invading demon army. That was practically asking to be killed, but here they were."System, why didn't you say anything?" he demanded.[The user should have considered the possibility based on past experience.]He gave the system a blank look. "This never happened in the game."Demon invasions were normal, but when the heroes received the quest, they always went to the city to defend it instead of charging at the demon army. In fact, he couldn't even recall there being an option to perform a preemptive strike. It would have definitely changed things in the game. However, that wasn't important at the moment. Right now, he needed to survive.Trying to remain calm amid the chaos, Caleb checked his map to see if he could s

Seeing their blank expressions, Caleb thought it was a good sign. It was better than them taking the news poorly, but it was hard to say for sure what they were feeling or thinking. They might not even be thinking at all. Well, it was time to see what his human form looked like. He hoped it would be more impressive than his original one.If he had to remain a demon rat until he returned home, his human form had to make up for it. After giving the system his approval, he waited. At first, nothing happened. Tapping his foot away, he ignored the itching sensation at the back of his neck. As the sensation got stronger, he realized this couldn't be a normal itch. It had to be the start of the change.Caleb wasn't sure why it was like that, but he didn't have time to think about anything else as he started to scratch his neck. The sensation rapidly spread to the rest of his body, almost like wildfire. He probably looked like an idiot in front of everyone, scratching like a maniac. However,

"Can you repeat that?" Caleb asked after several minutes.[The demon king is dead.]"That's what I thought you said," he muttered to himself as he tried to process what he was hearing.Caleb couldn't believe that the demon king was dead. It wasn't that he never considered it happening. Since he played the game, he obviously knew it could happen. It was the whole objective of the game. It would be weirder if it never occurred to him. However, after so many years in this place, he didn't think the summoned heroes could do it.With most of them dead, having a small party of heroes kill him seemed unrealistic. He knew very well how powerful the demon was after meeting him, so it blew his mind that they could do it. The demon king had been the one to help him jump so many levels and boost his stats to get closer to his goal of getting home. If it weren't for him, it would still be a distant dream.His stats were in the Rare or Epic range, which was more than he could expect for himself as

Caleb took his words back. Even though she was a hero and he was a demon rat, they hadn't really been enemies. She hadn't raised a hand against him, nor had they said anything that could be remotely considered hostile. They had only been enemies in name. He was certain that Gloria and the others would mourn over her death. They had been quite attached to her.He probably shouldn't bring it up with them since it wouldn't change anything. She wouldn't miraculously come back to life if they all knew. It was best to bury her quietly, which meant doing this alone. His demon rat form wasn't going to cut it since it never grew in size. That was another detail he hadn't been happy about. It made no sense for him to still be tiny.However, the system refused to touch the subject whenever Caleb brought it up. Instead, it would either remain silent or act like he hadn't said anything. Caleb had no doubt that it was a glitch preventing him from growing bigger. With a huff, he transformed into his