Death's Door

Somehow, the knights, led by their leaders, the heroes, were able to dispel their disguises and kill many of them. Those that they took prisoner were placed in chains and taken into carts, straight towards the prison which was the last ending point for most of them.

Their horns were cut off their heads, taking away their ident.i.ty as demons with them. Camilla"s horns were hacked off after the knights placed Camilla"s head and hands into pillory, the human by the name of Rashid personally cut off Camilla"s horns with saw as Camilla couldn"t help but scream.

One by one, the members of Camilla"s clan were taken to a soundless room, the place where Rashid controlled everything. Not one of them came back. Those who waited for their clanners to come back to them were struck with despair at what awaited them.

One of the clan members screamed before being dragged to his demise, one walked calmly, the others simply accepted their upcoming demise.

For some reason or another, Rashid left Camilla for last. Maybe it was to make Camilla suffer the most, seeing that everyone Camilla cared for gone. But Camilla was not scared of death. No, if there was one thing Camilla wanted it was to kill that man, the human who took so much away from him, Hardo Rashid. Even if Camilla were to die, Camilla would take Hardo Rashid to the grave alongside him.

But on the day that Rashid put restraints on Camilla, Camilla realized that restraints were inescapable. Without horns, Camilla did not have enough strength to escape. It was over. Camilla closed his eyes preparing for a slow and painful death.

But the death never came.

Instead, Hardo Rashid was squirming on the floor, with his legs cut off underneath him. Camilla could not see who did this. This person was using some method of concealment.

Then, he took off his cloak, revealing a man with red and brown eyes underneath it. His smile sent chills in Camilla"s spine, but somehow that psychotic look made Camilla relieved at the same time.

Scary man proceeded to squash Rashid"s body multiple times before stopping.

Now, he proceeded to address Camilla.

"Hey you! You there! Are you still alive?" He took off the gag on Camilla"s mouth, but from reflex or fear, Camilla simply stared without reply. One look was enough to tell, Camilla was terrified, he may have accepted fate Rashid had in store for him, but this man, he was an enigma that was too frightening for Camilla to comprehend.

"I will free you, but from now on, I shall be your lord and master, you shall serve and obey me and only me, comply and I will let you live. It"s your choice."

In other words, if Camilla gives up Camilla"s soul to him, then Camilla can be freed from this h.e.l.l. He wants Camilla to make contract with him, binding Camilla"s soul to his in the process, Camilla understands. Camilla already lost everything else…Camilla"s soul is a low price to pay.

"If it means escaping this h.e.l.l, I shall gladly serve you, milord." Camilla refrained from putting his name instead of I, which was one of his habits. If Camilla is talking to someone close to him, he ends up unconsciously talking in second person. Now he was forcing himself not to address himself in second person.

Then, Camilla"s master gave his first order. An order to execute Hardo Rashid.

It was almost as if this was the chance Camilla was waiting for all this time. Camilla couldn"t believe it, Camilla couldn"t shake off the thought that he might be dreaming. This kind of chance…maybe Camilla was still dreaming inside that cell. No, everything felt so real.

If this is a dream, Camilla doesn"t want to wake up; if this is reality Camilla shall accept this without looking back.

Thus, the life of the one who tormented Camilla and k.u.mis clan was finally over.

Camilla avenged his clan. But now he had nowhere else to go.

The only one who could guide Camilla was in front of him.

"From this day to my last, I shall serve you until my death." The absolute master-servant contract was created, binding Camilla"s soul to this stranger"s soul. He was now Camilla"s master, from this day till his last.

From the link to master"s soul, Camilla could tell two things for sure.

Master is a demon, and he is also contracted to a witch.

That much was obvious. As to what kind of demon Camilla"s new master was, Camilla had no clue.

Then, after killing everyone in the prison, Camilla"s master told him it was safe to come out.

Camilla overheard his master introduce himself with the t.i.tle of Dark Lord; at least Camilla thought it was a t.i.tle.

It couldn"t have been his real name, right? Camilla is so confused.

As Camilla entered the cell in which the other surviving demon occupied, Camilla couldn"t help but gasp, Dark Lord however seemed not to hear it. The demon in front of him was a dragon type demon, and not just any dragon type demon, from her aura, Camilla could tell she was at least Demon Lord Level, even if she was weakened. At top condition, her power would be unimaginable.

But then, Camilla senses a large energy signature coming towards them. It was a hero level aura; there was no doubt about it.

Camilla was not specialized towards combat but for stealth and disguise, but if he could buy time for his master, Camilla would gladly lay down his worthless life.

Yet, Master rejected that suggestion. He told Camilla to flee with this Arin Draco on Camilla"s back. What is master thinking?! As strong as he is, he does not stand a chance against the hero. Is this how Camilla repays debts? By letting master get killed?!! Camilla needs to make sure he is safe…

As Camilla finally stopped moving, with Arin Draco still on his back, Camilla could clearly hear familiar footsteps. Both of them were invisible to naked eye, but they still could see everyone else.

The one who was coming towards them, there was no mistaking it.

It was the Dark Lord.

Camilla was never so happy in his life to see someone else.

* * *

Dark Lord kept walking forward.

Here comes the nutcracker?! What was I thinking? I should have just lopped his head off while he was squirming like a banshee. For some reason he started to lose it, so I thought that it would be too dangerous to fight him when he was in that crazy mode. Maybe it was because I prioritized getting away rather than killing him…But still…Maybe I shouldn"t have left loose ends. Well… It"s too late for take backs. If I go back there, he will definitely have some backup. Besides, the concealment Camilla gave me already wore off. Speaking of whom where the h.e.l.l are Camilla and Arin?

Almost as if to answer his question, he heard a whisper.

"Milord, Camilla is here, in the corner."

Hiding in s.p.a.ce between buildings, Camilla took off the concealment spell off himself and Arin. Arin was on the ground.

"Didn"t I tell you to head out of barrier? Never mind, I am grateful you didn"t go too far, it would have been a nightmare trying to find you."

"Camilla tried to milord, but she really is too heavy…"

"I am not!" Arin Draco sounded more hurt than offended.

"…and Camilla was worried that something might have happened to you. You servant asks for forgiveness."

"No worries, we need to catch our breath anyways. Can you cast that spell again?"

"That will not be a problem. Conceal!" Now all three became invisible again, visible only to each other.

They heard many footsteps of panicked knights going from one place to another, not realizing the ones they are looking for are right under their noses.

"Well, we might as well wait here until morning. The commotion is not going to die down any time soon. So why don"t we have a chat?"

Dark Lord was being strangely nice, but under current circ.u.mstances, it was the most logical choice.

Camilla just nodded.

"That would be delightful." Arin replied with a sincere smile.

* * *

"Dark Lord, I know you are a demon. Your body is tainted with Supremacy, the only ones with Supremacy are witches, and your soul is bound to one with contract. Only demons can make such contracts with Supremacy users for only demons are compatible with witches. You are a demon, that much of I am certain."

"Your point?" Dark Lord stated bluntly.

"What type of demon are you? You look awful lot like human, but from your aura you are of demon kin. I can find out for certain, but only with your permission."

"Go ahead. Suit yourself." He said it without any hesitation.

"I apologize beforehand for awkwardness." Arin Draco now proceeded to put her forehead against his, her horns softly touching his head. It was a rather embarra.s.sing position to be in.

Even if I can use this to tell the type of demon he is for certain, this is too much. Why does he seem so ok with this? Can"t he tell how nervous this makes me? Stop it Arin, keep it together. Must concentrate….Oooh….this looks too much like kissing….Concentrate me!

With her horns activated, she managed to scan him with her power. The answer was rather shocking.

"Tengu type, a crow demon…Same as Kazan." She whispered.

Dark Lord paid it no heed and just shrugged.

"Dark Lord, may I ask…Were you sent by the Demon Lords?"

"Not exactly. Coerced is more like it."

"Coerced…What do you…but as a Tengu type demon aren"t you on their side?"

"Me? On their side? Not a chance."

"Oh." Arin couldn"t help but express disappointment. If the Demon Lords managed to recruit someone this strong and resourceful, then there might be hope for demon kind yet, but to her dismay, he was not their permanent ally.

"Master, were your horns cut off too?" Camilla now began speaking to Dark Lord.

"No, they just never sprouted."

No, he has horns in his skull, they are just sealed away. As I examined his body, aside from the witch"s leftover energy and his demon type signature, I managed to find a few things wrong with his body. His horns are sealed away with a seal. I probably can break that seal, but why does he have it in the first place? A handicap? Or was he trying that hard to blend in with humans that he sealed his own horns away? But the strangest part is his soul, I can barely feel it, his energy signature is too dim, almost as a level of a plant or insect. I might know what type of demon he is, but I know next to nothing else about him. Dark Lord, who are you?