Rise of the Demon King: Luke Hellwalker's Revenge

Chapter 1: Meeting an Angel After Death

"Hello, young hero, your journey has reached its end." Luke stared silently at the angel floating in front of him. "It has been a long time since we last met—"

"Ha."

The angel fell silent. She watched as he stood up from the floor. His left hand combed through his short black hair revealing piercing black eyes. Said eyes glared daggers into the angel who felt nothing at the burning gaze.

"What a joke. A long time? It's been less than four years since you dumped us in this hellhole," he said with a sneer.

Four long years trapped in another world. He had spent four birthdays away from his friends and family while trying to survive in this place. Thinking about them made his deceased heart clench with longing. His only companions were a bunch of strangers he had never seen in his entire life. In return for all his efforts, he was killed by the people he was supposed to protect in order to return home. It was a complete and utter joke.

"I don't care what you have to say. Just send me home. I did everything you asked." When the angel remained silent, he clenched his fist and repeated his demand, "Hey, I said send me back. You promised that as long as we defeat the demon kings, we can return home."

The angel finally said, "You died."

"Way to state the obvious." It wasn't like he had been stabbed in the back before a hail of arrows rain down on him, leaving him completely defenseless as a storm of magic engulfed him, finishing him off because he foolishly listened to the princess's request and arrived to the specified location unarmed. The very memory of the princess's twisted smile as he died sent shivers down his spine. "Stop avoiding the subject. Send me home. You should be able to do that since you're the one who brought us here."

The angel's expression didn't waver in the slightest. "I'm afraid that isn't possible. You're dead."

He slammed his fist against the stone column beside him. A dent formed as cracks branched out from the spot he struck, but the pillar remained firm and did not fall. His eyes glared hatefully at the one who denied him his greatest wish.

The angel Judith.

With long, flowing, blonde hair that curved around the porcelain skin of her face and blue eyes that shined like sapphires, she was undoubtedly the personification of the beautiful perfect angel stereotype that people had fantasized about.

Luke, on the other hand, thought she looked snobbish. He had seen plenty of beautiful women on his journey to defeat one of the thirteen demon kings. Some of them he had thought their looks didn't match their appearance. Others were definitely his type, and he would have dated them if he hadn't been so concerned about getting home to his family and friends.

One said person was Grace Hill. She had been his party member since the beginning when she decided to trail after him like a lost puppy after they had been told they couldn't go home until they defeated the thirteen demon kings.

Originally, he had wanted nothing to do with her. With a small figure and glasses, she would undoubtedly have difficulty surviving in this new place. That wasn't even considering her personality. He thought she would only slow him down with her meekness.

When it was revealed her class was Healer, he definitely wanted to dump her ass elsewhere. Her class was literally called Healer, meaning she had no offensive capabilities whatsoever. That meant he would have to protect her while fighting the hordes of demons, surely protecting the demon kings.

It would have been different if her healing abilities were powerful, but the best she could do was heal a paper cut. Then she would need a whole day to recover before she could heal again. She was basically worthless.

In the end, it was him that was worthless. If it weren't for him, he was certain she could have survived the final battle against the 12th demon king. That was just how amazing she had proved herself to be by suddenly obtaining the Saintess class during the battle. The moment it had happened, she had proceeded to fight the demon king on her own. She had even fatally injured the demon king before succumbing to her own injuries she had received from protecting him. He had only landed the final blow because of her.

"Will you like to repeat that?" he demanded as he removed his hand from the pillar. "Are you telling me that an angel can't possibly resurrect a dead person?"

"It just isn't possible. I'm afraid you'll have to accept it," she said with a patient smile.

His veins bulged from anger as he said, "I suggest you rethink your answer."

He refused to accept this. How could he possibly look Grace in the eye knowing it was his fault she died. He hadn't even fulfilled her final requests. He had reassured her that he would let her family know what happened to her once he returned home and swore to live a long and happy life.

No, he wasn't going to calmly accept this. The angel was going to send him back alive whether or not she liked it. If he had to use force, then so be it. He had some pent up anger he wanted to vent.

Launching himself at the angel, he was unprepared to be suddenly thrown to the ground. He pushed against the ground to no avail. It was as if his body's weight had increased several times over.

He glared at the angel who floated closer to him. "You should have just accepted your fate and allowed yourself to fade away peacefully."

The smile on her face seemed to take on a sinister edge. He could feel shivers run down his spine. Instead of allowing himself to be intimidated, he focused on the later part of her sentence.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded as he continued to struggle.

"Did you think we were going to let you go home?" She cackled behind her hand. "No, I'm afraid for the sake of defeating the demons, not a single trace of you must exist. This is goodbye, 'hero'."