Author's Preface
Blue closed the system window. As he looked forward, at the end of the hall sat a door the size of a temple gate. Black. Veins of red pulsing light flowed through it. Blue set his hands on it. The door moved under his push. The door finished swinging inward on its own. As the door opened, black and red smoke billowed out consuming Blue, So-Yeon and what remained of her Crimson Veil warriors.
Through the smoke, a large shadow of a throne emerged. It was laced with black stone, a large figure leaned forward into the smoke. One hand wrapped around the hilt of a massive broadsword. Its eyes glowed a deep red. As the smoke dissipated around everyone a voice echoed through the chamber. "Welcome, Champion. Mal’kareth said. "I've been expecting you." The demon's laugh made the torches in room quake.
Blue crossed the threshold into the throne room. Rows of vice commanders and demons lined both sides. Silent, their eyes glowed faintly with a red haze. So-Yeon and the Crimson Veil followed behind him. Everyone scanned the room, watching the movement of the demons.
"So you're the Demon King huh?" Blue looked at Mal’kareth up and down. The armor he wore, the sword, the helm that sat in the arm of his throne. His fists clenched. "It's him." He said to himself. "Tell me, why do you call me champion? And why were you expecting me?" Blue rested his hand on his hilt.
Silence filled the chamber. As Blue stared at the demon the air grew dense. Red lines appeared behind Mal’kareth and floated around the crystal behind him. Then a laugh rolled out from the crystal. Its light pulsed, waves of red covered the floor with each pulse. The energy emitted crawled up Blue's spine with each wave.
Then a voice filled the air. Mal’kareth stayed seated and smiled at Blue, as he pointed to the crystal.
"Follow me, child... and i will answer all of your questions. I can make you strong enough to claim every desire your heart dares not to speak of."
Blue froze. The energy emanating from the crystal was suffocating. It clawed at his thoughts, whispering promises into his mind. "This isn’t some normal monster, or boss of a gate." He thought to himself. Blue took a step forward and gathered himself. "Who... who are you?" He managed.
"I am Hatred." Every demon kneeled the moment the word hit the air. Blue scanned the room. "I am anger. I am vengeance. I am a god of old, brother to the ones who have chosen you as their champion. They have no power here though, boy. But I do."
The light from the crystal pulsed faster. "You carry their will, yet they hide their truth from you." Hatred hissed. "I can show you what they fear you'll learn. Kneel, and whatever you wish shall be yours. I am benevolent, but my patience has limits. Do not think too long. Just simply kneel."
Blue balled his fist, he kicked the whispers out of his mind and he took a step forward "With a name like Hatred, I'm not sure your hand is the one I should take." Blue gripped the hilt of his sheathed sword. "I don't know whose god you are. But you aren't my god... neither are these golden ones you speak of."
"Foolish human." Hatred roared loud enough to shake the walls and make even the demons tremble. "We are beings beyond your comprehension! Twenty-four of us existed before creation, to bring balance to all that live. But balance is a dull concept. I will take it all for myself. Either join me... or suffer as every other feeble world as."
Blue turned his head back, and glanced at So-Yeon. He mouthed, sorry. She gave a faint nod. Blue turned back to the throne. His hand trembled. "I'd rather die fighting," he said voice calm. "than live kneeling to you. I'll kindly refuse."
The words barely left his lips before the air detonated. A wave of pressure slammed through the room, crushing every being down to one knee. The roar that followed reverberated throughout. "Drown them all in despair!"
Mal’kareth rose, he reached for his helm and locked it into place, only the red glow of his eyes could be seen. So-Yeon looked at Blue. "That is him, the one who."
"I know." Blue interrupted her. "The one who cut off my head."
The demons who lined the throne room finally came to life. Mal’kareth stood leaned against his massive broadsword as the battle begun. Blue's blade met the demons without thinking. Silver qi lined his blade as the demons heads rolled across the floor. Another demon came from his side, claws swiping. Blue ducked under the blow and sliced the demon in half. The chamber filled with the sound if steel meeting flesh as the demon and Crimson Veil clashed.
To his left, So-Yeon moved, her blade danced in arcs, leaving trails of purple smoke where her poison qi leaked from cuts on the demons bodies. Demons collapsed into heaps on the floor, their veins turning black before they hit the floor. "They are coming from behind as well! Do not falter!"
Half of the Crimson Veil warriors turned toward the door, the other half focused on the ones in between them and Mal’kareth. They warriors pushed, they met the claws with steel. Each warrior slicing as another blocked and parried an attack. The floor quickly turned slick with blood. Human and demon alike.
Blue vaulted over a demon's blade, twisting mid air, the blade left a cut on his arm. He landed behind and drove his heel into another ones chest. Then he spun back and sliced a demons head clean in half. As he did a giant demon slammed down, a halberd cleaving the air. Blue met the swing head on. The impact hurled him backward knocking demons away as he slammed into a stone column, blood sprayed from Blue's mouth. So-Yeon was there in an instant, her blade cutting across the demon's chest. Purple and green smoke poured out of the wound. So-Yeon reached a hand to lift Blue up. The halberd came flying as Blue pulled her down. The blade cut a few strands of her hair as it stuck into the wall behind her. She turned, reached into her sleeves and sent dozens of needles flying toward the vice commander. As they pierced the demon, he paused. His eyes began to turn black, blood ran from its mouth and nose. It crashed down on top of smaller demons crushing them as it died.
Minutes bled together, as more vice commanders joined the fight. Crimson Veil’s numbers began to thin, men screamed and vanished beneath a pile of demons. Swords shattered, discipline gave way to pure survival. Still they fought, still they bled.
Blue and So-Yeon raced to helped the Crimson Veil warriors. Another vice commander landed, its whip lashed through the line of warriors, taking three men out at once. So-Yeon disappeared. She reappeared above the vice commander, she came down and severed the demons arm. The whip hit the ground, so did So-Yeon. She stumbled over the bodies of her own men, caught her footing and sent two dagger toward the one armed demon. One dagger landed in its throat, the other into his forehead. The demon dropped to its knees as Blue appeared behind and sliced its head clean from the neck.
Another commander swung its hammer and connected with Blue. It charged toward the Crimson Veil warriors, it swung again. So-Yeon blocked the blow with her blade, the hammer connected against her left arm, fracturing bones. So-Yeon screamed. The remaining warriors jumped the vice commander, stabbing and slashing wildly. The hammer tore through as many warriors as it could before it fell.
Blue and So-Yeons eyes met. Blue looked back at the demons that remained. He clenched his hand around his hilt and pushed forward. His footwork was no longer textbook, it was instinct. As he sliced through the remaining vice commanders, daggers and needles flew past him, missing him by inches and burying into eyes, chests, and heads of demons. Another commander had slipped through, his sword slicing through the Crimson Veil before So-Yeon could move to intercept him.
When the last of the demons had fallen, Blue stood panting, cut, bleeding. Demons lay piled in heaps. The chamber filled with the dying gasps of men and demons alike. His blade dripped, his body screamed from wounds he hadn't felt until now. So-Yeon walked behind him, one arm limp. Her once clean cloak now soaked in blood and tattered. Around them, no one else stood.
Crimson Veil had fallen. All of them. For a long moment only silence remained. Then a slow clap echoed through the room. Mal’kareth stepped forward. "You're much stronger than I'd thought you'd be." He laughed. "I almost regret having to kill you here, you both would make excellent generals in his army."
Blue raised his sword again, his hand trembled. So-Yeon didnt move. "I barely have any qi left Brother." Her breath was shallow. The systems chime interrupted.
[System Notification]
[Second Fragment Detected: 10 meters]
[Retrieve it, Champion. It is your only chance to survive]
Blue's eyes widened. "Ten meters..." He thought. His eyes drifted to the throne behind Mal’kareth. There it was, dangling from the armrest of the throne. The second pendant piece. "So that's where you've been hiding." Blue whispered.
Mal’kareth titled his head slightly, curious. "Oh, you still have strength to want something?" He followed Blue's eyes to the pendant. He drew his blade, a massive black broadsword, nearly as tall as a man and set it one his shoulder. "Then come and take it, Champion... if you can."