Rupture: Rise of the Demon King

by Milo Woods

  The servant took a deep breath and placed a hand to her mouth.

  Lady Peria rose from her throne. “Demon portal? You are mistaken …” She stared at Seeko with cold eyes. “You! You’re the Irenic hero, aren’t you?”

  Seeko nodded. “Where is it? We’re here to close it!”

  “No!” Lady Peria said. “I will not allow you to! It is our only hope to defeat the wicked Irenic Empire!”

  Mori took a step forward. “Resorting to demons to defeat your foes? Are you any better than the wicked Irenic Empire?”

  Peria pointed at Mori. “You know as well as I do that the Halcyon did not start this war! You know exactly who is to blame!”

  Mori looked confused, but Seeko shook his head. “The demons have to be stopped, regardless of the war! They are only here to breed chaos!” he said.

  “And how do you know that, hero?” the lady asked.

  “Because I am part of the chaos! This is so much bigger than just a war between two nations! This is the beginning of anarchy!”

  Peria sat back down.

  The servant moved forward, looking at Seeko. She spoke, her voice low and bitter: “You can’t stop his dream. No one can.”

  Only then did Seeko realize who the small servant was, for the Voice had already told him: “Serkima. She is a master of dark magic, able to see in the darkest night. She is the true ruler of Vornal; Lady Peria is her puppet.”

  “She’s the guardian! The servant!” Seeko yelled to his companions.

  Quickly, they readied themselves, spreading out to surround the servant. As they did so, Seeko shouted to Peria, “Where is the portal?”

  Peria began to speak, but suddenly a rock slammed into her temple and she hit the ground. The servant, Serkima, spoke again. “I grow tired of hiding behind the lady. It was no fun.” She frowned. “The last lord was so much more fun. He was so … sensitive.”

  Bianca fired an arrow at the demon, but she knocked it away with a gust of wind.

  “You’ll never close the portal, Seeko,” Serkima said, then smiled and slammed her foot against the floor.

  The room shook, a fissure appearing in the flooring. The crack expanded rapidly—too fast for Seeko and his friends to do anything—and the company fell downward into a room of darkness.

  “This pit will be your death!” Serkima said.

  Seeko lit a green fireball. “Is everyone okay?”

  Acknowledgements rang through the dark room as Serkima began to shut the fissure above them.

  “Not so fast!” Seeko shouted.

  He summoned a dark claw from the ground. It plowed through the closing fissure above them and grabbed Serkima. She struggled and escaped after a moment, but not before being dragged down into the room with them.

  “Bianca, shut the crack!” Seeko shouted.

  He heard the ceiling above them closing, and soon shadows engulfed the light from above.

  “So you’d rather have me kill you than starve in a pit?” Serkima’s cold voice said as she rushed past Seeko, putting out his light source. “I can accommodate this.”

  Seeko listened in the darkness for any movement. There! He fired a green fireball toward the disturbance …

  … and almost hit Bianca.

  “Watch where you’re aiming!” Bianca yelled.

  The demon laughed from wherever she hid.

  Seeko approached Bianca and grabbed her arm. “Stick close,” he whispered. Then he heard a rumbling noise—and Mori scream. Mori!

  “One down,” the demon whispered, almost from behind Seeko’s ear. Seeko turned quickly, lighting the area above him with orange fire. Serkima hissed. “No lights!”

  Water put out the light above Seeko. Then, from out of nowhere, Bianca was lifted high into the air and Seeko lost his grip on her. She shouted until her voice cut off abruptly.

  “Two down, two to go,” Serkima said.

  “Coward!” Seeko heard Keith shout. “Come face me!”

  A laugh, then, “Gladly.”

  Seeko heard the sound of scuffling, then a thud, as if something heavy had hit the ground.

  “Three down. Just the hero and me, now.” More laughter.

  Seeko stood still, listening. Well, he tried to, but the muttering madness of the Voice was so loud. Still, he did his best.

  “A demon that hides in the darkness! How pathetic!” Kerodesis roared. “Light up the room! Ignite the corpses of your friends!”

  “Shut up! I’m trying to—There!”

  He launched a green-and-orange torrent at the sound, connecting squarely with the demon crawling on the floor. She went flying and Seeko used the momentary light to find his friends. He glanced quickly around, seeing Bianca and Keith, both knocked out.

  The attack ended and he was swallowed by darkness once more.

  The demon laughed. “Powerful!”

  Seeko didn’t feel powerful. The darkness reminded him of when he had been trapped in his own body.

  Serkima laughed. “Using sound to find me in the dark … No one’s done that before.” Then she screamed a high-pitched, blood-curdling scream. The agonizing ringing echoed long after the demon stopped yelling, forcing him to cover his ears. He could no longer discern the demon’s location because of the sound, and instead focused on the ringing—the awful ringing.

  “Jump!”

  Seeko instinctively listened to Kerodesis, which was for the better, for at that moment a sheet of rock flew toward him at ankle level. He landed on the sheet and was flung into a far wall.

  “You saved me … Why?” Seeko asked Kerodesis as he got up.

  “Demons are so predictable. Plus, we’re in the same body.”

  Seeko sent a weak fireball above him and discovered Serkima crawling along the floor toward him again. Disoriented and still hearing the ringing, Seeko placed a palm to the ground and dark hands rose from below Serkima, grabbing her. He launched several dozen tiny fireballs in the air, casting them throughout the room. He smiled, watching Serkima struggle in the light. He fired a stream of dark energy into the demon, but she teleported away and clung to a far corner, dazed in the glare.

  Seeko teleported to Keith, waking him with a kick. While he did this, Serkima rushed around, putting out fireballs, which Seeko would replace as she extinguished them.

  Keith rose to his feet. “What happened?”

  “Don’t worry about it! Just attack; I have to keep her distracted!”

  Keith obliged him, using his magic to launch himself at the demon. He swung his sword at Serkima, who barely dodged it by leaping to the side. Keith landed and so did Serkima. They stared at each other while Seeko moved to Bianca.

  Keith was about to rush the strangely twitching demon girl when an earth pillar flung her into the air. Another came from the ceiling while she was in midair, slamming her back down to the ground. Serkima landed on the ground, dazed.

  Keith dashed toward her but froze when Bianca shouted, “Stop! She’s mine!” She grinned, pulled out an arrow, and fired.

  Serkima shifted into dark smoke right before the arrow hit her and appeared behind Keith. Again she screamed, disorienting Keith, then rose a clawed hand and raked him across the back. He yelled and fell to his hands and knees.

  “No!” Bianca yelled. She fired two arrows at the demon, but Serkima gestured and a wave of air knocked them off course.

  Meanwhile, Seeko found Mori under a rockslide. “Bianca! Help! I can’t free Mori!”

  “I’m busy!”

  Seeko teleported in front of her and pointed to where Mori was. “Switch places! I can take the demon!”

  Bianca looked to Keith, making her decision. She sunk into the ground, reappearing near Mori.

  Seeko turned quickly and saw Keith bleeding out. Mori needed to heal him. He transformed into a fiery being and rushed toward the demon, tackling her. Serkima’s clothes caught fire and she teleported away, batting out the horrible light. Seeko pressed on, reverting to himself and hurling more fire at her.

  Se
rkima was soon put on the defensive, teleporting around and dodging Seeko’s fireballs. “She’s lost control and it annoys her!” Kerodesis laughed. “She underestimated us!”

  While Seeko and Serkima hopped around the room, Bianca cleared out the landslide. She moved her hand and the landslide moved with it, shifting away from Mori. Then Bianca slapped her, perhaps a little too hard.

  “Get up, Princess,” Bianca said.

  Mori opened her eyes and found brown eyes staring back at her. “Seeko? Your eyes are back to normal?” Her eyes opened more and she realized who was holding her. “Let go of me.”

  “Calm down. Keith needs your help.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “He was cut across the back. You’re water, right? Heal him.”

  Mori nodded, turning to water and reappearing near Keith.

  Seeko flung another fireball at Serkima, but she dodged again. This time, Serkima appeared next to him, grabbing his hand in an iron grip. He ignited his other fist and sent it into the demon’s stomach. She flinched and used wind to put out the fire as she grabbed his other hand. They struggled for a moment, but the demon was stronger and she overpowered him. Seeko teleported several feet back, shaking his aching hands.

  Bianca lined up her shot while the two were struggling. As soon as Seeko teleported, she let loose her arrow, which found its mark in the demon’s chest. Serkima screamed and sent a rolling wave of earth throughout the room, sending Seeko, Mori, and a revived Keith to the wall. Bianca summoned a pillar to shield herself at the last moment, then fired a piece of the column at the demon.

  Serkima went flying from the rock, which drove the arrow deeper into her chest. Bianca sent another chuck of column at her, but this time she stopped it and sent it back toward her. Bianca ducked and the rock flew by, and then sent a surge of rock back at the demon.

  By now, the others had risen and had teleported to Bianca. Together, they unleashed a swirling elemental beam right into the demon, slamming her into the wall.

  Seeko teleported to Serkima, his blade drawn and afire. Blood oozed from the defeated demon’s chest wound. Serkima looked up to him with sadness in her eyes. Seeko returned a cold, almost lifeless stare, then beheaded the demon with his short-sword. He retrieved the onyx necklace from the corpse as her head rolled to the ground.

  Seeko squeezed the last necklace, knowing he had actually stopped the demon invasion. Now I only have one demon left to stop.

  Light flooded into the room from above. Bianca had shifted the ground above them back open, revealing countless guards above them. “Stop where you are!” one yelled. “Your attack against Lady Peria is punishable by death.”

  Some of the guards drew bows and others readied their magic.

  “This wasn’t really part of the plan,” Bianca noted.

  “Just get out of the castle and make a run for it,” Seeko said. “I’ll distract them.”

  “Wait,” Mori said, but Seeko had already teleported away.

  He appeared behind the guards. “Hey, you haven’t caught me yet!” He summoned dark hands beneath all the guards and flung them into the room below.

  As he did this, Bianca lifted the three still trapped inside on pillars of stone. They jumped off their pillars onto the solid ground before them.

  “That wasn’t so hard,” Seeko said, looking down at the scrambling guards.

  They ran out of the castle and were soon away from the red- and gray-bricked buildings that made up Vornal. They crossed the river before stopping to rest. Both Mori and Seeko keeled over, gasping for breath. Keith looked back at the town and Bianca laughed.

  “Was that exciting or what?” she asked, happier than the rest.

  “It’s not a laughing matter, Bianca,” Keith said. “We could have been killed.”

  “But we weren’t,” she retorted. “That demon didn’t stand a chance.”

  Seeko knelt on the ground to help balance his tired body. Mori managed to catch her breath and said, “We could barely find her! She certainly had more than a chance!”

  Bianca held up her bow. “My arrow didn’t have a hard time finding her.”

  “One lucky hit isn’t enough to go about underestimating the opponent,” Keith said.

  Seeko rose and took a deep breath. “She hit the demon good, twice. I would gloat too, especially since she’s new to this.” He pointed at her. “She did better than any of us.”

  “Yeah, because I’m the best,” Bianca said.

  Keith grabbed his face and rubbed his temples. “Okay, but now that we know where to go and we closed all the portals, we really don’t need your assistance.”

  “It’s okay, I’ll head with you guys anyways,” she said, trying not to look offended.

  “What about whatever’s left of Greg’s rebellion?” Mori asked. “Doesn’t he need your help?”

  Bianca shrugged. “He won’t take me back after I left him for you.”

  “But we are going back to Asilis to see Emperor Physis,” Mori said.

  “Keith isn’t Irenic and he’s going,” Bianca said. “The Halcyon have already lost.”

  Seeko pulled out all five necklaces and held the different colored gems in his hand. The war was over. He had stopped the demons.

  “So it looks like you could use my help anyway,” Bianca said. “If you’re going back, you have to go through the Renthdra Gorge again.”

  Both Keith and Mori sighed in defeat and began walking along the path toward Rhemos.

  / / / / /

  Cool autumn days passed and the road split from the river. The grass became drier and turned back into yellow brush. Keith led the pack while Seeko stayed behind with Mori. Bianca was last.

  “Hey, Seeko,” Bianca called to him.

  He slouched his shoulders and fell back to walk alongside her.

  “I don’t think you should give the necklaces to the Irenic,” she said.

  “I have to,” Seeko answered.

  Bianca looked to the horizon. “Couldn’t you just destroy them or bury them or something?”

  “No,” Seeko said. “Emperor Physis knows what to do with them.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple. Physis isn’t one to play fair. He’ll probably just turn around and use the portals against what remains of the Halcyon.”

  “If he tries to use the portals, I’ll stop him too.” Besides, Seeko had to find out if Physis was his father.

  Bianca walked past him. “How did you manage to fight for the stupid Irenic?”

  / / / / /

  The sound of clashing metal greeted them as they neared Rhemos. An army fought its way into the town as the other defended it with barricades and fortified buildings.

  “Is that General Todd’s army?” Mori asked.

  Seeko ran forward but Keith held him back. “I don’t think he wants our help,” Keith said, “and you don’t enter a fight exhausted.”

  Seeko dropped his arms and fell back behind Keith. They camped and watched as the Halcyon eventually retreated to the north.

  Later, they arrived to find the remains of the battle. Bodies littered the ground, and the outer clay buildings were just as broken. Seeko stepped over a dead Halcyon soldier and found General Todd standing before his army in his full suit of armor.

  Some of the soldiers stepped away in fear as Seeko caught their attention. Todd noticed the intrusion and faced him and his friends.

  “So the fated hero has turned against the Irenic Empire?” Todd said, pointing at their dark clothing. “You’re too late to help the Halcyon here, hero.”

  Seeko didn’t really want to deal with Todd’s aggression. “No, we just had to blend in,” he replied.

  As he spoke, a man in ridiculous-looking white and blue robes walked out alongside General Todd. “Emperor Physis!” Mori said. She bowed before him and Seeko followed suit. The other two did not follow Mori’s example.

  The emperor allowed them to rise. Seeko fumbled through his pockets and pulled out the necklaces. “I clos
ed all the portals,” he said, holding them out ahead of him.

  “Very good,” Physis responded. “But this war isn’t over. I need you to go to Gemini.”

  Seeko lowered the necklaces. Had he not done enough? Had he not pleased the emperor? He thought he’d be somewhat proud of him, this boy turned hero. “Why? Now that we stopped more demons from arriving, shouldn’t you be able to stop the Halcyon without my help?”

  “We need to take out their leader, Emperor Cerris,” Physis said. “Then the remaining towns will surrender without further damage.”

  Seeko looked through Physis. “And you want me to kill their emperor.”

  “Yes. He brought demons into this world. He needs to be punished for all the lives he’s taken.”

  “But the Irenic Empire started the war,” Bianca interrupted. “You ended more lives than he ever did!”

  Todd took a step toward her. “Watch your tongue.”

  “I may have started this, but I never fought dirty,” Physis answered.

  Bianca scowled and walked away.

  “If you could get to Emperor Cerris and end his reign,” Physis said, “countless lives will be spared.” He cleared his throat. “The army will be several hours behind you. We will capture Gemini right as the emperor falls, if all goes according to plan.”

  Seeko looked around at all the dead bodies scattered along the ground, thinking of the death brought on by Emperor Cerris.

  “Thanks to Yoshino, Kazuma and Lorissa are both dead,” Kerodesis mentioned.

  Mori curiously looked into Seeko’s eyes and reminded him of all the demons that attacked them.

  “Okay, fine,” Seeko said. “I’ll kill Emperor Cerris.”

  Mori was taken aback. “Don’t you want to at least think about this before you do this?”

  Seeko ignored her.

  Physis spoke again. “Tomorrow should be a fine day for you to start toward Gemini.”

  Seeko agreed and they walked away to join Bianca.

  “You’re fine with killing an emperor, Seeko?” Mori asked.

  Seeko faced her with his cold red eyes. “He asked this of himself. No one would have died if he had just left it all alone. Kazuma, Lorissa, Hannet … None would be dead right now if he hadn’t used demons! Yoshino wouldn’t be here!” Seeko smiled. Or was it Kerodesis? “And after I kill the Halcyon emperor, I will kill Yoshino.”