The darkness created by the demon magister reached the king’s castle. Abzer, a third class demon went on his way to seize the king of the Kingdom of Ucar. He was intercepted by two royal guards, protecting the king’s chamber from him.

“Demon! Submit yourself to us!”, a royal guard said. His commanding voice called forth more royal guards. It didn’t take a minute for Abzer to be surrounded.

Abzer looked around him, and showed his evil smile. “Gather more human soldiers to surround me. Maybe by then, one of you could bruise me”, Abzer said. He looked at the royal guard who tried commanding him, and his red eyes made the pitiful royal guard fearful, unable to move and speak.

Some of the royal guards that surrounded Abzer were insulted by his words. They threw themselves to the demon, not knowing that all of them will die.

Abzer took his time killing all of them. The demon savored the dread and hopelessness of the royal guards. He mutilated some of them to show those that were still alive the fate that he brings to humans. It was his way to heighten the royal guards’ despair, strengthening himself in the process. After a moment, all of it passed, leaving corpses outside the king’s room.

Abzer opened the door, and he saw the king sitting, his eyes devoid of autonomy. Because of his demon eyes, he was able to see a cursed knife stabbed through the king’s chest. It was the object that allowed Magister Zahe to have control over the king. It responded to the darkness that the demon magister created.

“Your majesty, order your people to gather in one place”, Abzer said. He changed his appearance to that of a human, and said those words.

“As you wish, Abzer”

The king stood quickly and walked outside his room. There were royal guards who were panicking, asking if he’s not hurt. The king didn’t give any answer. Instead, he commanded the royal guards to follow him and he ordered them to inform the other royal guards that he was calling for a gathering. The royal guards did follow, but they were confused because the king was unfazed by the corpses laying around. They didn’t dare ask the king about it, and followed like obedient servants. They reached the courtyard, and waited for the others.

The courtyard was filled with royal guards that were mostly corpses. Those that were alive fought against Abzer’s subordinates, losing their life one by one. The king remained silent seeing the slaughter that was happening.

Other royal guards arrived and were forced to battle against the demons. The fight was hopeless. Only a handful of the royal guards were capable enough to last for half a minute. Eventually, the royal guards were all dead, unable to protect the castle.

Abzer thought it was finished, but then he remembered something. There are other servants hiding from the slaughter that the royal guards suffered. It would be meaningless for him to kill them, but it would also be meaningless if he didn’t. He commanded his subordinates to hunt all the remaining humans inside the castle, and with such command, he ordered the total fall of the king’s castle.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Abzer was satisfied. He fulfilled his great lord, Magister Zahe’s order. Conquering a human kingdom was easier than he thought, but something bothered him. He felt that he was forgetting something. He was right. He forgot about Elalios.

When Abzer remembered Elalios, he began to wonder. How did Elalios knew that demons were present in town? It was a rather easy question for the demon. Elalios must be connected to their enemy, Kael, the human that even Magister Zahe was afraid of.

Abzer assumed that Elalios must be strong enough to be associated with Kael. It worried him that Elalios was heading back. He thought that if he could defeat Elalios, he would nip the bud of another threat to Magister Zahe’s reign. And so, with that kind of thinking, he decided to deviate from Magister Zahe’s order. He must go outside the castle to hunt down Elalios.

But, even if Abzer mustered his courage to fight Elalios, the cowardice of a demon reigned over him. He didn’t want to fight against Elalios without knowing Elalios’s strength. So he commanded one of his subordinates to chase after Elalios.

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Elalios rushed to the town boosted by magic. He wasn’t aware that something was going on inside the castle that he just left. He didn’t look back, aiming to go to the academy, and meet Kael, Cadell, and Seqina. But, before he had the chance to enter the town, he heard a sudden explosion.

Elalios saw the destruction made by the demons. Within several minutes, the demons managed to destroy many buildings, putting people into harm. He saw the flow of people running from their houses before the buildings collapse on them. Some people tried saving their valuables, but such decision resulted in their deaths. Children were crying, and the scream of people who lost their loved ones were rampant. Not even his occasional nightmares could compare to what he was seeing.

Perhaps the worst thing that Elalios saw was the vile demons, killing innocent people without regard to life. He was appalled, but he was more frustrated because of what he was doing. He was not moving in his place, as he knew that he was safe from the dangers that he was witnessing. He wanted to help the people, but he had neither the courage, nor the strength to go against the malevolent beings. He just stood from afar, hoping that Kael and the others could do something about the horrible situation.

At some point Elalios took a step forward, but afterwards he stepped back. He was leaning more on escaping, returning back to the castle. He looked back, then he looked at the town. He stepped forward once again, but he quickly changed his mind. He spent some minutes battling his hesitation. Unfortunately, he concluded that he could not help, and he will die if he tried.

‘I’m sorry Kael, I can’t do this after all’

Elalios decided to return to the castle. This time he was determined to inform the king that the town was in ruins. The royal guards will not stop him. If that’s the only thing he could do, he would do it without fail. However, fate had a different plan for him.

As Elalios turned around, a dark figure was coming towards him. He quickly realized what it was. It was a demon. At the sight of the demon, Elalios realized that even the castle was not a safe place. He turned to town to run for it, but the demon jumped to block his way to the town. He knew that the demon will not let him escape. He could only do the thing that he was afraid to do. If he wanted to live, he must fight the demon.