Death's Door

While the Holy City was the capital of the grand kingdom of Kizilalem, which roughly translated as "The Red World", due to the amount of blood spilled during the establishment of the kingdom dying the very earth crimson, it was extremely large, larger than any other individual territory within the kingdom.

Holy City was divided into three regions, Merok, Racron and Tracoa.

Of the three, the castle which Rowl was a.s.signed to guard was located within the Merok region of Holy City, the very place where the royal family resigned.

As one of the guards, the amount of information he knew was rather limited, though he did have a knack for finding out information through rumors and other means.

He knew for a fact that few months ago the King had sent a letter to the Holy Maidens, ordering them to immediately come towards the Merok territory to reinforce the barrier.

Crazy events kept happening one after another.

The Demon Lord that the Knight of Light defeated, the one who was scheduled to be publically executed, had escaped.

However, it seems like the imprisoned Demon Lord had outside aid in breaking out of the prison.

But instead of an army of demons, there apparently was only one perpetrator. Only a single intruder was responsible for Demon Lord"s escape.

According to the Knight of Mind, this fiend was a laughing devil who calls himself the "Dark Lord".

Rowl did not know whether to find the t.i.tle to be weird, but based on the fact that he managed to fight and escape the Knight of Mind, one of the Heroes, he was no weakling.

After the incident, Knight of Mind has been seen visiting many places to heal the damage to his nether regions.

He was rumored to have taken some time off for this purpose; apparently the damage he suffered was a very sensitive topic for him.

Before Knight of Mind has been known as "One who never sleeps twice" with the same woman, but now, he has been largely inactive in such endeavors.

Rowl heard the rumor that whenever someone asked of him what was wrong, Knight of Mind would reply "It no longer works…Curse you, Laughing Devil!"

Not only did this "Laughing Devil" end up freeing the Demon Lord and escaped the Knight of Mind, but from the examination of the prison, anyone could tell, there was a ma.s.sacre.

Of all the knights guarding the prison, only one managed to survive, but he too, was injured.

He only confirmed that there was only one attacker, but he was wearing a cloak of concealment and was armed with a weapon that cut through their swords as if they were a b.u.t.ter sliced by a hot knife.

In addition to that, a prominent mage and count"s son have been found dead, each murdered short time before the prison breakout.

As things were currently going, it was clear to see that several powerful demons managed to sneak into the Holy City, somehow avoiding the barrier.

King was worried that the barrier near the Merok territory has grown weak, allowing other Demons to sneak in, which is why he needed it to be reinforced.

If more such powerful demons show up, then the peace they have preserved for so long will be destroyed.

It was the duty of Holy Maidens to maintain the barrier over the entire Holy City, with power that is pa.s.sed down from one Holy Maiden to the next; Five Holy Maidens were responsible for the safety of the kingdom.

Such an enormous barrier was like a dome that covered the entirety of the Holy City, this was why, in the entirety of Kizilalem, the Holy City was considered to be, by far the safest region for humanity.

But for some reason Holy Maidens have yet to show up.

Looking up towards the sky, seeing the sunlight reflecting off of the see-through barrier, Rowl simply noted that this was going to be another ordinary day.

But looking closer, he saw what appeared to be cracks forming in the sky.

"Am I seeing things?" Rowl rubbed his eyes to adjust his vision, but the cracks in the sky did not disappear, instead they spread further and further, slowly stretching across the barrier.

It seems like Rowl was not the only one who noticed this phenomenon, other guards, civilians were now murmuring among themselves, pointing with their hands towards the cracks on the barrier that seemed to grow larger by each second.

And then, like a piece of fine gla.s.s, the sky shattered into countless pieces that now faded away.

Rowl couldn"t believe his eyes.

It was gone.

The barrier that has protected the Holy City for the last five hundred years has disappeared.

No longer was there any slight reflection due to the magical barrier, instead, the sky was clearly visible.

"The barrier, it has disappeared!"

"It can"t be!"

"We need the Holy Maidens!"

"What if the demon forces get into the city?"

Everyone was panicking.

Holy Maidens were too late; the barrier is interconnected to each region it is placed in, if one region is not maintained it will cause a chain reaction, which will completely annihilate the entirety of the barrier.

This was why Holy Maidens moved around so often, it was to maintain each part of the barrier, so no part will grow too weak.

Now there was nothing preventing the demon forces from invading and rescuing their enslaved brethren.

"Where is Knight of Light when he is needed the most?"

Rowl could only say this, Knight of Light, the greatest hero, the man who singlehandedly brought down seven Demon Lords and captured one to be publically executed.

He was the hero among heroes, the mightiest demi-G.o.d who has ever walked the earth.

The man who was offered to be married into the royal family, but refused due to his duties to the kingdom, he was what many aspired to become.

To begin with, there were less than thirty heroes currently active within the kingdom, those who have reached the peak of humanity, but even among them, Knight of Light was on another level.

Many knights grew jealous of him due to his successes, creating a rather tense atmosphere; many even resented him for showing just how weak they were by comparison.

And unlike the other Heroes of Holy Order who led troops of knights, Knight of Light fought alone, telling people that he shall shoulder their burden for them.

But many knights took this as an insult to their honor.

This is why, while everyone respected Knight of Light"s strength, he was not very popular among the knights.

It has gotten to the point that children made songs like "If knights fighting evil can"t slay, Knight of Light shall come to save the day~"

Ever since he took the stage, knights have been reduced to mooks, overshadowed by Knight of Light.

But now, a great tragedy has occurred, and in everyone"s mind was a single question…

…What will happen to the Holy City?

* * *

"I, Aris Rahis, pledge to serve you, in my quest to liberate demon kind, my king"

A lion type demon vowed while sitting on one knee.

Then, the demon he was speaking to, Demon King placed her hand upon his brow.

"Then henceforth, you shall be one of the Demon Lords!"

A wave of energy entered into Aris Rahis"s body, fusing into his core, enhancing him, making him far stronger than he was before.

After the process was complete, his aura was completely different, now he was a Demon Lord level demon, one of the strongest level demons.

"Now there are four Demon Lords at your service, my king" Temur Tang said with a slight bow, her foxlike white tail wiggling a little.

"Yes, but we still have yet to regain our forces after the devastating defeat we have suffered at the hands of Knight of Light." Arin sadly remarked.

"Very true, but steadily we can grow stronger." Rahat answered with a confident expression, his majestic wings made him look like a mascot of inspiration.

"Yet it will take some time, wouldn"t it? Not everyone is suitable to become a Demon Lord, if that was the case, things would have progressed much smoother"

Kazan said with a nonchalant expression, one thing that stood out about him, aside from his jet black wings were his asymmetric horns.

One was shorter than the other; the left horn was about two-thirds of the length of the right horn.

"We have no choice, we will have to bid our time…too bad capable demons like Dark Lord are not common."

"Indeed" Temur could only agree with that statement.

Then, one of their subordinates, reported to them about something strange occurring on the barrier that surrounded the Holy city.

Unfolding their wings, Demon Lords and the Demon King took flight.

All of them now were outside the barrier.

Now they observed the cracks on the barrier steadily growing larger and larger until it finally shattered into nothingness.

"The barrier…I can"t believe it…It is really gone…" Temur couldn"t help but stare in awe.

"Incomprehensible, how could this have happened?" Rahat muttered in confusion.

"Instead of wondering that, let"s just be grateful. It seems like we will be able to liberate the thousands of imprisoned and enslaved demons after all."

Arin Draco bravely looked forward.

"And who knows, we might need your brother"s aid, Kazan."

"That certainly would be nice"

Kazan finally smiled.