The humans looked up at the demon rat with a mixture of terror and confusion. Now that one side was defeated and dead, they were at the mercy of the remaining demons. Seeing how eagerly they ate their own kind, they knew that they would face a worse fate. However, the demon rats didn't immediately attack them, even when they finished eating the demon wolves.
Actually, as they stared at the demon rats, they realized they were quite small for demons. None of them had ever seen such small demons before. Most had always been several feet tall, or at least be able to reach the height of a small child. The demons in front of them could easily fit in the palms of their hands if they wanted to hold them, which none of them did.
As time passed and they saw the demon rats still not doing anything to them, they slowly let their guard down. They were still wary of the demon rats, but it was hard to stay vigilant after the exhausting and emotionally draining ordeal and with the dem
Caleb frowned as he received the report from Karen. After some time, he had finally decided to allow them to move independently. If he wanted to use his army efficiently, he couldn't always be watching over them, which was why he had been testing them over the past few weeks. He had assigned them a bunch of different roles and left them to their own devices to see how they did.Right off the bat, it was a bit of a disaster, and it was partly his fault. Many of the demon rats still had problems understanding complex orders or thinking the way he wanted them to. When he ordered a group of demon rats to patrol and report back what they saw, their reports were inadequate. They either didn't match or couldn't remember what they had seen or heard.It took a lot of screaming, fighting, and explaining before he could set up patrols that fit his requirements. The system had kindly reminded him that he should have only picked demon rats with a certain amount of intelligence to make it effective
Caleb watched anxiously as the red dots got closer and closer to their position. His army was already working tirelessly to fortify their base. While he did have his army make some changes to their base beforehand, it hadn't been with a focus on the defenses. Most of it had been cosmetic or to make the base run more efficiently. Now he regretted not setting up traps or barriers to get enemies out. "Karen, how long before they finish setting everything up?" he asked. "Things are going smoothly. We should be able to finish in an hour," she said, looking away from the demon rats digging a hole in the ground. He grimaced. An hour might not be enough time, as the red dots weren't slowing down. They weren't quite fast either, but they were crossing the ground at a decent pace. It would be cutting it close, and that was only if they didn't suddenly speed up. Caleb didn't like it. There had to be a way to speed up the process and get everything ready for their enemies. "Tell them to go fas
"I found one!" the human screamed, causing Caleb to jump out of his hiding spot.Immediately, everything devolved into chaos as the humans attacked him with their wooden sticks and farming tools. Fortunately, they didn't appear to be very good at aiming, as none of them were anywhere near close to hitting him. That didn't stop him from running and heading down the cave towards where the traps had been set out. He could hear the humans following closely behind him.His army also didn't stand idly by. The moment he jumped out into the open, the ones nearest him attacked the closest humans. People screamed and cursed as the demon rats sank their teeth and claws into their skin. However, despite Caleb's orders not to stick around after the initial attack, they continued to attack the humans.Caleb flinched when he heard the crunching and splattering noises behind him. He didn't look back to confirm what he already knew. The demon rats hadn't been as lucky as he was and had been killed by
Karen observed the scene in front of her and knew all was lost. She might not be as smart as their leader, but she could tell that there was no way they could win. Perhaps if they had been a little bit stronger, they would have stood a chance. However, with the way things were, it was unlikely the army would make it out intact. She had to report to Caleb as soon as possible.Going against her instincts to fight the humans, she scurried away to hopefully find him. She dodged the swinging hoes and rakes as she went down one of the winding paths. Relying solely on luck to lead her to him, she ran nonstop. Around her, demon rats were dropping like flies at the hands of the weak. It riled her up, but she couldn't afford to ignore her mission.After what seemed like eternity, she finally caught Caleb's trail and raced down the path to see him working with Andrew. However, there were several humans standing between her and her goal. Without stopping, she jumped onto one of the humans and scu
It didn't take Caleb long to reach his intended destination, and he took a moment to examine his surroundings. There was no damage along the walls or humans nearby, which meant their retreat would be unhindered. All he needed to do was wait for Karen and Andrew to grab the other demon rats and lead them to where he was. Checking the map, he grew uneasy as time passed.Even though it had only been a short while since they separated, it seemed like hours had passed in the time it took him to reach the exit. As the number of green dots dwindled, Caleb kept glancing back the way he came. He considered rushing back to help with the evacuation, and the only reason he didn't make a move was because he was afraid to be killed by the humans. He had been lucky so far.However, he was afraid to push it when the exit was so close. Besides, he was sure Karen and Andrew could handle it themselves. All he had to do was wait for them, but with each passing second, that confidence wavered. None of the
It took some time before Caleb could finally bring himself to get up. His mind was still reeling from what happened. Everything that he had done and accomplished had been swept away in an instant. The worst part was that it wasn't because of heroes. It had been because of the people he had saved and allowed to leave with their lives. If he hadn't done that, none of this would have happened.A burst of anger erupted inside him as he slammed his head against the ground. He had been so stupid. Even though he had known it would probably bite him later, he still had done it anyway. Now he was paying for it. The army he had worked so hard to build was gone, leaving him completely alone. He didn't even have a place to stay. All he could do now was run and hide."What do I do?" Caleb muttered to himself as he stared off.[The system suggests that the user leave the area and find a place to rest.]"What's the point? I lost everything," he said as he sat back down. "It's pointless."[The user i
Caleb studied the town where the humans had come from as his mind cooked up several different plans. He had woken up feeling refreshed thanks to the skill the system had given him. Unfortunately, it meant he had to miss out on picking a new skill once he reached level 8, but if it meant sleeping well, he would take it. It also helped him deal with what happened back in the cave.He was still haunted by what happened, but the skill muted the memory. It probably wasn't healthy to rely on a skill. However, he didn't have the luxury of time or the resources to get through it. This was just another reason for him to level up as soon as possible so he could get out of this messed up place. He couldn't wait to be back home."System, do you think the humans have returned?" he asked as he looked at the map.There were a decent number of red dots on the map. It was reasonable to assume that the humans had returned before he got there since they could travel longer and he had gone to sleep, but
When Caleb said they had a lot of work to do, he underestimated just how hard it would be to plan and start his revenge. It wasn't that he didn't know how difficult it would be. He had already accounted for the possibility of being found out before he could carry through with his plans, but he couldn't even properly come up with a plan until he got information about the town.He could plan all he wanted. It wouldn't mean anything if he got the wrong impression from the people. If he thought they got their water from one place when they got it from another, then he would have wasted time and effort. That was why he was trying to scope out the town and listen in on their conversations. His size was actually a benefit, as he could slip into places he couldn't before as a human.Unfortunately, he was a rat, and they had precautions against rats. The number of times he nearly got caught in a trap meant to kill regular rats. It was quite humiliating. His tail even got stuck at one point, an
Hello, I just wanted to inform everyone here who had been following Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race that I'm going to be rewriting/editing it for eBook, paperback, etc.I figured that since this work was never marked complete when it was supposd to back in January, I might as well post another author's note here.I will try to keep everyone up to date on when the first book will be released here on my currently updating stories and on F******k.If anyone's interested in beta reading for me, please contact me through F******k since I have no idea how to contact anyone on here.I'm also thinking about redoing the covers again.
Hello everyone. I just want to thank all my readers who have been following along for so long. Caleb's story has ended, which means I currently don't have any stories being written on the platform at this moment.I feel like my writing style has changed since I first started writing on Meganovel, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. We shall see how much more it changes.Anyway, there are several things that I want to let you know.I'm a bit sad that Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race didn't get as much love as my other stories, but there could be many factors that could have contributed to it. Maybe in the future I'll do a rewrite or remake of it since I still like the idea.If I do go through with this idea, then I'll just immediately go to eBook and paperback, and it would be very different from the one here. We will have to see, and I'll let everyone know.As for a new story, I'm still debating on what story I want to do. My plan is to have at least one ex
"Have you heard? They say a new demon king has appeared," someone whispered in the streets."How can that be? Wasn't the demon king killed before they could become the demon king?" another whispered."Well, the demons are acting differently compared to after the previous demon kings died," a person said.Caleb pulled down his hood even more as he passed by the gossiping crowd. He had only stepped away from the castle to catch his breath. It had been months since he had returned to this world, and he had so much work to catch up on that it wasn't even a joke. So much had happened that it felt surreal. There were still plenty of demons defying him.They still couldn't believe he was the new demon king. Caleb could understand why. He hadn't become the demon king the proper way, so it was natural that they were suspicious of his claims despite all the support he received. Even with support, there were some who simply didn't care. Bringing the demons together was a difficult job.He didn't
Caleb didn't like the sound of that. Why was the fake laughing? It was obviously at the end of its rope. There was no way it could stand a chance against all of them. Something wasn't right. As the smoke cleared, his face curled in disgust at the sight, and he wasn't the only one. He could feel Grace lean towards him as if trying to hide from the sight.The fake could barely be called alive. Its body was fraying at the seams, and the skin was peeling off. The fact that it was still standing was unreal. It was really a gruesome sight that would have made him sick if it had been the him from before he showed up in this world. He was a bit unnerved and worried about what the fake would do next."It looks like it's my loss. I had really hoped to get rid of you, but it looks like I'll just have to wait for another opportunity to arise. You got lucky," the fake said.Just as those words left the fake's deformed mouth, bats swarmed around it. None of them could see what was happening, but th
"Do you think the human will really return with our new demon king?" Lisa asked as she leaned back against the wall. "He wasn't exactly enthusiastic about it before.""Who can say?" Takisha said as she brushed her hair back. "We can only wait for the results.""It's not like he would make a good demon king anyway," Ruth said with a huff."Are you going to try to kill him if he returns?" Mildred asked."Of course not," she snapped before she muttered the next part to herself. "It's not like you'll let me.""Shouldn't you be more honest with yourself? He actually grew on you," Lisa said with a smirk.Ruth hissed. "You're one to talk. You think the same."Lisa scowled, but she didn't argue against it. She wasn't the only one feeling some attachment. Well, it wasn't exactly an attachment. Takisha and Mildred barely knew much about him. They had only known each other briefly. However, that didn't diminish their interest in him. It was the only reason why they weren't eager to kill him off
Caleb's body moved to shield her. He grunted as he felt the bullet strike his side. Fortunately, it didn't hit anything vital, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Grace was screaming his name and rushing to his side as the fake waved the gun around with a bored expression on its face. Caleb pressed a hand to the injury and felt blood coat his hand."I guess that didn't work out. Let's try again," the fake said as they raised their gun again.Suddenly, the duo found themselves falling through the air before hitting the ground hard. Caleb wheezed as he landed on his injured side. He rolled onto his back to relieve the pressure and catch his breath. Grace was quickly at his side, casting her healing magic on him again. He could feel the telltale signs of her magic working before it stopped."What? Oh, no," Grace muttered as she cast again.This time, the effect was even shorter. Caleb could still feel his injury bleeding out. For some reason, her healing magic wasn't working properly
It was silent as Caleb and the fake Grace stared at each other. The real Grace glanced between the two of them, wondering what she was supposed to do. This was beyond anything she had expected when the system assigned the quest. She had thought it was a strangely easy task at first, but she quickly realized it wasn't as simple as she first thought.At first, she couldn't go herself. When she saw the restriction, she had thought she had misread it. However, the words didn't change, no matter how much she looked at them. The system had really told her that she couldn't go personally, even though it said she had to find him and convince him to come back. Luckily, she was able to convince the four demon women to go.Grace had been worried that they wouldn't listen, but they strangely went along with her request. When she had asked why, they all gave a different response. In the end, they all wanted the same thing, which was to have him back. That was good enough for her. With their help,
Caleb grunted as they reappeared in a different location and crashed into the ground. Apparently, Grace had teleported them away from the danger. Unfortunately, she hadn't done a good job at it, which was why he was currently in pain. Ignoring the pain and getting to his feet, he took a look at their surroundings. He didn't recognize where they were.Looking back at Grace, he said, "I have so many questions that I have no idea where to begin.""You asked how I got here, well, I got a little help from the system," she said.He frowned. "The system helped you?""It assigned me a quest to find you and convince you to return," Grace said."I see," he said.Even though the system did say it would help him return home, it didn't say it wouldn't get someone
As they sat in the car, Caleb couldn't stop feeling uneasy about the whole thing. This was probably the first time he had ever gotten in the car without someone who wasn't family. It felt odd, and he didn't know what to do about the atmosphere. Caleb wanted to break the silence, but he didn't know what to talk about. He obviously couldn't bring up the other world.There were several reasons why that simply wouldn't work. One was that this fake Grace wouldn't know about it. At least he didn't think she did. She would just think he was crazy, which led to the second reason. Even if she did know about it, they weren't alone in the car. Talking about the other world in front of others was just not the smart thing to do.Caleb kept glancing at Grace out of the corner of his eye, but she didn't even look in his direction. Her eyes were focused straight ahead, with a blank expression on her fac