The Runic Alchemist

He used Sigil Replication and quickly copied it, then pulled out a steel ingot—melted it with heat, shaped it with mana hands to look like a pointy crown, and inscribed the spell on it. It all happened in a couple of minutes. Lucian and Sam had started chanting, but they couldn’t even finish once before he was done. Damian could do the spell, but it was specially for them.

Damian was not eager to find out his real name. He had become a Transcendent after killing a literal god—it couldn’t be good. So he handed it to Lucian beside him.

She eyed him but took the crown anyway and used her mana to activate it. It was in her hands. The golden letters appeared: FROSTMOTHER.

Wow. She was indeed mommy material. Lucian eyed him as if she could see what he was thinking. Damian gracefully looked away.

“Frostmother,” the Land-breaker read it aloud. Then he and Mindseer exchanged looks and spoke together,

“We welcome you as our sister.”

It was surprising, but not a bad feeling. Must be some Highsword ritual. Lucian muttered her own name and then gave the crown to Sam. He eyed the thing for a second, then channeled his mana into it.

STORMCALLER.

That was good too. A real name could partially reveal a person’s true nature—like Shadecaster. It wasn’t a definitive thing, though. Voidshaper was also an ominous name, but the guy was good—well, he was outside the dungeon, so it was hard to say if he was good or not. Mindseer and Runefather believed in him, though.

“Stormcaller, mighty name,” Land-breaker said, and added, “We welcome you as our brother.”

The pointy steel crown returned to Damian’s hands. He did not activate it. Everyone awaited, but he just stared at the cold metal. A second later, he felt a hand on his shoulder—it was Lucian. Sam too had a face that could be translated as You can do it, buddy. They knew who he was. Who he really was. They understood his doubt.

Damian had had enough of hiding, though. Whatever his true nature was, it would not change his choices in life. He channeled mana into the crown. Golden letters revealed themselves. But they did not stop. It was indeed a long one.

RUNEBREAKER. DEMONLORD.

Damian stared at the second word with no emotion on his face.

“That’s.. never happened before. He has real names,” the Land-breaker said, looking at Damian with a black face.

They all knew who the Demon Lord was. He was a demon by race—that much he knew. Could it be that he was the real Demon Lord? No. That was absurd.

“Is it because he killed the last Demon Lord?” Sam asked when silence remained for a whole minute.

“Could be,” Mindseer agreed.

“No—that’s not how it works,” the Land-breaker said. “His name wasn’t Demon Lord. It’s a title from the demon’s land. A myth about a supreme demon that comes once every thousand years. It’s their savior. Almost a godlike figure—they worship him. The God of Chaos was said to be the first Demon Lord—he had freed the demons from human discrimination. Then came another, and advanced demon civilization forward. This third man, with such evil esper powers, was not the real Demon Lord. The land of demons just named him as one because of his overwhelming strength.”

“Is this land of demons the island where they all live? Why was it kept a secret?” Damian asked. The dual names were still floating in the air. He was Runebreaker. And he was also a Demonlord. Damian had long since made up his mind to fly to this island once he was back in his new world and learn more about these demons. Was the name influenced by what his plans were? It indeed was an odd thing. Damian didn’t pay it much mind—he was what he was. He was more interested in the root of the problem that had played a part in sending all of them to such a faraway land.

The Land-breaker looked away from him. His eyes returned to the blue ocean as he replied,

“When this esper, with the Chaos God’s support, rose to power—we waged a war against him. The demon country believed him to be their savior and chose the wrong side. It wasn’t an island back then. We did that. Seeing the immortal powers of the Demon Lord, we separated the land with all his followers on one side.”

Broke a whole hundreds-of-kilometers-wide landmass to make an island? It sounded like the plot of some movie. But then Damian remembered the name of the person in front of him.

The Land-breaker.

Who was this man before the Demon Lord took control of him?

He continued, “The hero’s party stayed on that side and sacrificed themselves. When one of them came back, he claimed he had sealed the Demon Lord in a book, but it was hard to believe. The others agreed to kill him, in case he was infected by that evil esper power. The Highswords took the responsibility for watching over his body—I buried him under the ancient ruins present on Edgeheaven.”

The Path Taken.

That had to be Asher. Damian knew he had not told the full truth to him.

Damian was also looking out of the open door mindlessly while thinking these things when he heard from the side—

“Runebreaker and Demonlord.”

It was the Land-breaker.

It broke his chain of thought, and he looked at the Fourth Ranker. Seconds later, the other three smiled and said together with the Land-breaker,

“We welcome you as our brother.”

It made him smile. It was more than just traditions this time—he was a true demon, and they had accepted him, knowing that.

Damian whispered,

“Thank you.”

Lucian and Sam even came to hug him. It was a very cheesy thing to do in his opinion, but he didn’t stop them. Damian soon opened the waygate, and they were back in their London base.

It was time to go back home.