Arrival

Finally, they got close to the castle. The building was easy to spot, as it towered over the landscape. The dark stone glittered with mana crystals, and from a few chimneys, dark smoke rose. It could have been beautiful, but by now, it was not only stuffed with guards all around, but demons that patrolled it by foot and in the air.

The villages around the castle were worse off than the ones they had traveled through before. Here, there were not a few demons that kept watch, but almost as many as there were humans. No one even dared to lift their head, and what they saw could only be described as broken.

“We have to help them,” Iuria whispered. “This is horrible.”

They had enough foresight to hide in the sparse forest around the castle, where no human or demons entered. It was barely enough to hide Berus, but for the moment, he felt lucky they had anything to hide them.

Something about the castle reminded him of the game, even though he had a hard time putting his finger on it. Was it a location in the game? No, he didn’t really recognize it. Or did he? It was difficult to tell. Everything about this world was so familiar yet so different that if something overlapped with his knowledge, he had a hard time to recognize it.

“We have to get rid of them all,” Mikkah hissed.

“But not now,” Berus hissed back. “We’re outnumbered, clearly.”

“But…”

“Mikkah. We can’t fulfill the prophecy if we’re dead.”

He was serious. This was much worse than anything they had encountered before.

“So, what do we do instead?” Iuria asked.

“We’re getting into the castle. We have to see first what is going on with your father. And then… well, we’ll see then.”

“Getting rid of the remaining demons,” Mikkah added.

“Right. That should be easy, then. We only need to get the human warriors on our side. They have to be strong if they’re guards here. Then we can drive the demons out.”

“And teach them a lesson so they never come back.”

Berus turned around. “Exactly.”

He didn’t want to use violence, but he saw no other way. Maybe inside of the castle, there would be a demon with a high enough ranking to actually know Vrixus, so he could ask them some questions. But before that…

“Can you change my legs back now? I doubt I’ll be able to sneak into the castle while on two wheels.”
“Ah, right.”

On the inside, Berus was of course mourning the loss of his bike part, but at least he knew that he had one cool modification always ready for him.

The procedure of changing was just as uncomfortable as when Mikkah had joined him with the bike for the first time. Having the sensation of his lower body simply vanish was strange, and the phantom sensation was even stranger as he stretched his legs. But they were again good to go, since Mikkah had repaired them during their travels. He walked around, sprinted, and jumped. Finally, he gave his verdict: “I’m good to go.”

“Wonderful. Then, let’s go.”

But he shook his head. “I know you really want to drive off these demons, but we have to be cautious. If we get caught, this can only end badly for us all.”

She glared at him. “Says the dragon-slayer.”

“That’s… not true. But even if it were, I wouldn’t be able to fend off all the demons. They’re like flies.”

“Hmmmh.” She didn’t seem fully convinced yet. “So, what’s the plan, then?”

“Right.”
That was the problem. How could they find a way to the king? He tilted his head. He still wasn’t sure if he remembered something about this place or not. It felt familiar, but at the same time not.

“Um… I think there is some sort of escape route that leads outside,” Iuria added. “I don’t know where it is, though. But it was the route that we took when my father brought me and Phorok to… the farm.”

“An escape route, hm?” Berus echoed. “Like a hidden path?”

“Exactly. It was long and dark. And I think there was a winding stairway? It lead to the outside, I think.”

“Not much to go on, then,” Mikkah huffed. “How about we help the villagers instead?”

“We would draw too much attention. I’m sorry, Mikkah.”

“You’re not. But I get it. I just… I don’t want to feel so helpless. So angry.”

“Right. That’s why we’re making a plan now. Let me think for a moment.”

Something was scratching at the back of his mind. What could it be? He looked at the castle again, and suddenly, the image in front of him finally clicked in place with his memory.

“This is the Radiant Palace!”

“The what?” Mikkah stared at him.

“I’ve also never heard that name,” Iuria added.

“No, I mean… that’s what it was called in my old world. Remember? I told you what I know from there is slightly different from how it is here. But I do know that shortcut to the inside of the palace!”

“You do?” Mikkah narrowed her eyes. “How do you know it’s not different, just like the name of the castle?”

“I don’t.” He stared back at her. “But we can at least look. If it’s not where I think it is, we can think about other ideas.”

“Fine.”

“And you, Iuria? Are you also alright with that?”

She nodded her head.

None of them seemed perfectly happy with their plan, but they also didn’t have a better idea.

“Let’s wait for the night to set in, then,” Berus said. “We will be less visible if we move in the dark.”

“We have to wait even longer?”

“Just a little longer. It’s already evening, so what matters a few more hours? Get some sleep, eat some food, and then we’ll be as best prepared as we can be.”

Iuria and Mikkah exchanged a glance.

“I don’t like it,” Mikkah said. “But you’re right. Then let’s set up camp here.”

With that, they got ready to save their energy. Berus, too, sat down, and watched Ki-Rai appear on his screen.

“Did you hear everything?” he asked her.

“Ehehe, of course!” She floated around. “I still think you should just fight your way through the demons. And humans. And everything else!”

“I thought you would say that,” he sighed.

Then, a moment of silence passed. He didn’t know how to say it, but he felt it was important to get it out now that they had a moment of peace.

“Ki-Rai… I’m sorry I treated you badly in the past,” he finally said. “I realize I was an idiot. I’ll try to keep you up as much as I can.”

“Urgh.” She rolled her eyes. “Just fight as best as you can. You know I’ve already forgiven you.”

“Thank you. I mean… you’re a good friend.”

“Ehe, I am? Now that is the first time someone has called me a friend.” She let out a loud laugh.
“But… thank you.” Now, her words were softer, quieter, more sincere. “You’re a surprisingly good friend for a human as well.”

“Well, we have to work together to keep this metal body running, don’t we?”

“Yeah, so better rest up. I don’t have that much mana accumulated to get you out of every bad situation.”

He wanted to smile at her. “Hey, if everything goes well, we won’t need a drop of it. But thanks.”

“Sure thing, you dummy.”

She floated around.

“Man, I miss driving already.”

He laughed at that. “We’ll drive again once we’re done. I promise.”
She grinned at him. “Good.”

***

It was in the middle of the night, and silence had settled over the castle and the surrounding villages. Only a few sounds tore through the shadows. The humans were asleep, as were most of the demons. Only a few circled the sky like bats. It was finally time for the heroes of prophecy to make their move.

They moved as silently as they could, keeping to the shadows to keep their forms hidden. Berus was thankful for his night vision, as now he could still make out the part of the castle where he assumed the hidden exit would be. It was overgrown with plants, but even then, he could make out the odd-shaped stones set into the wall.

“Here we are,” he said, and couldn’t keep the relief out of his voice. “This is it.”

“Really? I can’t see anything,” Mikkah said.

“Don’t worry. I think you have to just push the right stones and… yes.”

With a low rumble, the door sank into the ground. Iuria and Mikkah coughed as the dust got blown into the air. Berus turned around to them.

“See? Iuria, does this bring back memories?”

“I… don’t know,” she got out between two coughs. “But good job, Berus.”

“Then, let’s go. I’ll lead the way.”
The inside of the tunnel was even darker than outside, where at least the twin moons shone their light on everything. In here, there was nothing. Not even a few mana crystals that would give light. And so, Berus spent a little of his own mana to make the crystal in his head glow, just so that Mikkah and Iuria weren’t fully in the dark.

They went down the long hallway, and then up the winding staircase he remembered from the game. From the other side of the walls they could hear low murmurs, but it wasn’t clear enough to understand anything. They themselves kept quiet. They were too tense now for friendly banter.

Ki-Rai floated in the corner of his vision. She was the only one with a smile on her face, but even she knew better than to distract him.

“I can sense something up ahead,” she said. “Better be careful.”

“Thank you,” he whispered back.

Finally, they arrived at a thin, wooden door. Berus glanced back at the girls.
“Are you ready?” he whispered.

They nodded, even though they didn’t look ready. He didn’t feel ready, either. But slowly, he opened the door.

It was the back of a closet. Heavy robes made of velvet hung from hangers made of bone, and the whole thing reeked of old meat.

“Wh-what’s–”

“Shh.” He hushed Mikkah.

Someone on the other side opened the closet. It was a high-ranking demon. Not only wore it a golden mask in a facsimile of a human face, but its entire body was made of limbs, crawling over each other. It wore one of those velvet robes, held together by more hands than anything should have.

“Hm-hmmh-hm,” it sung in a low, feminine voice.

Every limb was ghostly pale, and the claw-tipped fingers were dipped in crimson. The body writhed in every direction, as if the limbs each had a mind of their own. The whole demon looked more like a human with a tacked-on giant, fleshy millipede tail than anything else.

It took out a robe and let the other fall to the floor. Maggots crawled out from under it. The demon looked at herself in the mirror, before she put on the new robe. Three hands held golden swords. While everything in her posture looked relaxed, it was clear she was ready to strike at any moment.

The demon sniffed the air, and turned to the closet. For a moment, Berus feared she had sensed them. But finally, the demon turned around again, and left the room.

Only when they couldn’t hear her any more, the three dared to walk into the room.

“D-do you think that thing is keeping my father hostage?” Iuria said.

“Seems likely.”

Berus hadn’t been afraid like this before. This was different from any boss he had fought in the game.

“I, uh… not sure how to win against her,” Ki-Rai commented, unhelpfully. “I think she might just send us to the scrap heap.”

“Yeah. We have to be… careful.”

A shudder ran down Berus’ spine. This was much worse than he had thought.