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But it all came down one day, after their almost two weeks of travels together… When they were caught and surrounded by mercenaries and soldiers from the enemy nations.
They wanted Hellanova dead not only because he was just a member of royalty of that family, but because of the power his Demon Core carried.
His family were named the Blue Asura and were a mystical and strong family of Demons capable of channeling the power of the Element of Chaos.
However, because in the past they destroyed too much, one Ancient Demon King sealed their whole bloodlines' powers, and made them weak and frail instead.
A curse that lasted until the very last one of them, Hellanova, the star of hell, as his parents called him.
But it was a different story if their bodies were opened, and their cores taken away. With magic, it was possible to unseal their cores and bring forth chaotic magic.
They were hunted because of this reason, over their own resources in their small country… It was all a small conspiracy to take away their cores and turn them into powerful artifacts.
That would be later gifted to the Demon King to appease his anger by these countries.
And this is why they relentlessly chased them, until the very last child…
Punished by the sins of his ancestors, which he never committed, Hellanova was born in a crippled and weak body, incapable of conjuring the element that once made his family feared.
Helpless, this was the day he would have died…
Except that Pyuku had other plans for him and changed his fate forever.
"I took his place."
"So that's why…?!" Ninhursag muttered.
"Yeah…" Pyuku giggled a bit. "It was… rather hard to do that but it worked, I think."
He explained that it was something they planned to do. They used the blood of monsters he hunted to pain Hellanova's skin red instead of blue and hid his tail and additional arms by wrapping them on clothes around his body, while giving him a big black cloak to cover himself up completely.
When the mercenaries and the soldiers arrived, three guard stayed with Pyuku, while Hellanova was no longer with them, he had stealthily left them behind in a small town they visited, with two other guards.
"Are you sure about this?" He had asked him. "Why? Why are you going so far for me? We only meet for like two weeks…"
"You're the first friend I ever made." Pyuku answered plainly. "Take care, Hellanova. I hope you can live a long life, so you can meet new friends, and travel the world."
And he handled him something, a small blue jewel, shinier than anything the little demon boy had ever collected, it contained mana within, a strong amount of it.
Pyuku made it into a small wristband, and gifted it to the little boy, who was in tears…
"W-Wha is this?" He asked.
"This is… a piece of my heart, please, bring it with you. I don't know what it might do, but I want it to protect you, friend!" Pyuku smiled back.
"Friend…" Hellanova continued crying, as he gave Pyuku one last hug, before they departed forever.
He said he could still remember his shiny silver eyes glancing at him one last time, before they never meet ever again, for dozens of years.
Pyuku resulted to be much older than us if he was born in the middle of the war… Yet it seemed his mind only matured when he interacted with others and made new friends.
And little Hellanova was the first ever friend, that gave him a slight sense of what friendship was.
This, was then used to befriend us, and when we named him, we gave him a better sense of self, of who he was, and what he was…
He confronted the mercenaries with the last three guards that decided to sacrifice themselves to make it seem like they were protecting the prince.
"They're here… you cannot run anymore, little prince."
The mercenaries and the greedy soldiers kept walking closer, weapons in hand and magic being conjured. The three guards gave a smile to Pyuku.
"Thank you for your noble sacrifice."
"With this… the prince will be able to live on."
"Maybe one day… he might awaken back that power that once beloved to his glorious bloodline."
As they spoke, Pyuku felt sorrow and anguish, but nodded, nonetheless.
"We are eternally grateful for your benevolent soul, friend."
They said that in unison, confronting the armies of foes together.
He said they fought bravely but perished by the weapons and magic of their overwhelming foes.
Pyuku too, was captured, he faked his death, and let them carve out a black crystal from his chest, a sphere-shaped demon king fragment he had saved since he escaped his destroyed home.
Which he shaped into a sphere. These fragments can also channel the energy of chaos to a limited extent, so it was a perfect replacement.
It somehow worked, and they left him in the middle of the desolate landscape, he cried for many nights, without moving.
He was too tired because they gave him a beating he had never experienced before…
But above all, he was also sad for the lives that were sacrificed, and also happy that his friend made it out…
"However, once they left, and I escaped away, some found me out due to me imitating my friend's appearance. And kept chasing me around. Quickly, the rumor that I was still alive spread out, and then, many demons were looking for me." Said Pyuku. "I escaped into the Human Continent by infiltrating in the boats going there, but somehow the rumors spread even there, and I was chased. The Blue Demon that you talked about most likely heard the rumor and chased me. Even after all these years, the rumor is still ongoing, and I'm worried that my friend is still being chased…"
"So that's why he called you Demon Prince…" Ninhursag nodded. "It makes sense now… I suppose. What a noble act, Pyuku. You're truly a warrior."
"A warrior…? Me?" Pyuku wondered, feeling embarrassed. "I just… did what a friend would had done."
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