"..."

Step by step, Alaric followed the path out of the castle.

The King didn't know how he got out of that room.

And he didn't care.

At this moment, his mind was filled with many thoughts and emotions.

But, among them, one was the clearest.

"I… am no longer afraid of demons."

After reading that letter, Alaric had completely transformed.

As Kaelus said, The King wasn't afraid of demons, but he didn't want anyone else to die.

But, just like his friend said, it wasn't his fault.

It was their choice.

And they didn't regret it.

At this moment, The King was completely freed from the shackles.

There was nothing that could bind him anymore.

"I can now give Kael an answer."

Alaric's lips curled up slightly.

But before that, he had to rescue Rudeus first.

The boy was definitely scared right now.

"Hmm… Probably not. It's Rudeus after all."

But, no matter what, The King had to hurry.

"Let's go, Jeff."

With his own steed, Alaric walked out of the castle.

But, he was stopped.

By none other than the demons.

"…What is this? Are you guys having a welcoming party for me?"

With just a glance, Alaric could see that there were over 100 demons gathered around.

And they all had one thing in common.

They were all staring at The King with murderous eyes.

As if they were looking at a delicious prey.

Glancing at all the demons, he smirked.

"Thank you."

Then, from the palm of his hand, a sword forged from aura slowly formed.

"Thank you for being the first to witness my change, my transformation."

It was time to bathe in blood.

***

"...!"

Rudeus suddenly opened his eyes, then sat up.

The hellish pain from just now had disappeared.

But most importantly…

The boy touched his own body, deliberately avoiding the places where the wounds were.

"...I'm still alive?"

An indescribable feeling of joy exploded in the boy's chest.

"That's great… That's great…"

Now, all Rudeus had to do was try to stall for time, surviving until Alaric showed up.

But… would he come?

"…What a silly question."

That person was Alaric!

So of course he would come!

Rudeus had to put his faith in him

"Hey, have you found that brat yet?"

"…!"

But at that moment, the familiar voice of the demon suddenly rang out, causing Rudeus' pupils to shrink in horror.

The boy immediately covered his mouth, even holding his breath.

Trying to erase his presence as much as possible.

At the same time, he strained his ears to hear the conversation between them clearly.

"No, sir."

"Damn it! Are you guys useless? There's only one kid and you haven't found him yet?"

"…How about we try looking in this pharmacy. That kid was injured anyway, so it's normal to go to the pharmacy to get his wounds bandaged, right?"

"That makes sense."

This wasn't good at all!

They were about to enter.

Then, without allowing himself any time to rest, Rudeus instantly got up, not forgetting to grab his dagger.

He looked around, then decided to head to the place near the entrance.

Hiding from the demons was difficult.

So, why didn't Rudeus kill them instead?

Blending into the darkness, he tremblingly gripped the dagger, pushing all of his senses and reflexes to the maximum.

Rudeus only had one chance.

And he had to seize it.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The boy could feel the two demons getting closer and closer to the pharmacy.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Rudeus's heart was pounding in panic.

Every second that passed felt like a century to him.

"..."

And then, the first demon entered the pharmacy.

And that was also when Rudeus jumped out of the darkness, charging straight at the demon.

With all his might, the boy raised his dagger, and stabbed the demon in the neck.

"What the hell?!"

The stabbed demon could only curse and could do nothing else.

"Next!"

Not allowing himself a chance to rest, not allowing the remaining demon to regain his senses, Rudeus charged towards it.

"Die, you son of a bitch!"

Just like before, the boy gave the demon a powerful stab in the neck.

"Fuck!"

Those were his last words before dying.

"…"

After successfully dispatching the two demons, Rudeus stood completely still on the spot.

Like a person who had lost his soul.

"I just killed a demon… I just killed a demon… I just killed a demon…"

The boy repeated that sentence over and over again.

The blood of demons was hot.

And it smelled quite bad too.

However, the boy didn't feel that way at all.

Right now, there was only one emotion that appeared in his chest.

A smile involuntarily appeared on Rudeus's blood-stained face.

Looking a little petrifying.

That was joy.

"I just killed a demon! Not one, but two!"

The boy returned inside, then jumped up and down in joy.

Rudeus really wanted to throw a party right here, right now if the circumstances allowed.

Neighhhhh!!!

At that moment, the sound of a horse neighing rang out.

And Rudeus didn't even have to look to know what its source was.

There was only one horse in this place right now.

It was Jeff.

And Jeff was Alaric's steed.

So…

"You're back, Alaric?"

Smiling brightly, the boy turned towards The King.

"Yes, I'm done."

Currently, Rudeus was beaming.

And Alaric was smiling happily.

It seemed like the two of them had overcome their fear at the same time.

"You look cheerful. Did something happen?"

"Of course! I succeeded in killing two demons with my own strength!"

As he spoke, the boy pointed at the two corpses.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

"That was quite an accomplishment."

"Hehe…"

Rudeus rubbed his head, smiling shyly as he received Alaric's shower of compliments.

"What about you? You seem to have changed too."

Only then did Rudeus notice that The King's clothes were covered in blood.

A lot.

Following the boy's gaze, Alaric looked down at his own clothes, then smiled gently.

"This is proof that I have successfully stepped out of the shadows."

On this journey, the two of them had gained more than they had lost.

It was quite a hardship, especially for Rudeus, but it was worth the reward they received.

Their purpose had been accomplished.

There was nothing that could stop them from leaving this place anymore.

Rudeus jumped onto the horse's back, sitting behind The King, his usual spot.

"So where are we going now?"

"Back home. To the Voidveil Kingdom."

And that was how the journey back began.

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