The offer of the king

After Sasori conveyed his message to those involved, he immediately made his way back to the castle to his king. "T....Th....The....demon.....demonenking! Why does the king want to gather all the adventurers who were involved in defeating the Desuboringa? He has an army! We adventurers would hardly be able to do anything! What does the king think of himself!" Cyril was frightened after Sasori was out of sight. "This is not a thing! I feel honored when the king asked for us, because we are so strong! This demonking will still regret wanting to attack this country!" Said Icarus haughtily. All of a sudden, Taiki stepped out of the hut with the old master. Taiki obviously looked exhausted. "Taiki! We need to talk! A few moments ago a man came here called......", Rya wanted to tell the young boy, interrupting her and replying: "I know." "You know? But from who? You were in the hut and we didn't speak out loud?" Wondered Cyril. "I was able to experience it through an already deceased." "So you finally managed to talk to the dead?" Asked Rya. 

But Taiki shook his head and replied: "I could talk to a dead person, but I didn't expect to talk to him, who told me that the demonking would invade this country and we couldn't do anything about it." "Who was it?", Icarus now wanted to know curiously. "It was Shin, the Desuboringa, whom we were able to defeat." Taiki replied. "What?! But then you can talk to a dead man henceforth! Then you did it, didn't you?" Asked Cyril. "I couldn't talk to him because I wanted to or because I came to terms with myself, but the monster itself established contact with me when shortly before the burden in me was a little lighter. Moreover, he has not become a pure spirit. He is an angry dead man who cannot cope with his demise, which is why he is not a pure spirit and why I have not finished my training yet. He became a weak variant of the spirit of revenge. Nevertheless, I have to train more until I have finally managed to talk to pure spirits. But first, perhaps we should follow the king's request and take care of the problem. We can also continue the training in the castle." Said Taiki.

"I will stay here and then try to communicate with you when you arrive by connecting my soul with your." Then the old master objected. "You can do something like that?" Wondered Taiki. "Yes...I will see everything you see." said the old master. All of a sudden, the young boy felt somehow uncomfortable. He felt that something was invading him. "Don't worry. There will be no side effects. Just let it happen." Reassured the old master Taiki. So their souls connected. "Then let's go and fulfill the king's request!" Cyril said with zest for action. As a result, the group marched towards the capital of this country. They managed this without any difficulties. They reached the castle in the evening. The sun disappeared on the horizon. The night sky appeared. Birds slept. Crickets awoke. They chirped. The stars and the moon gave their light to the land. Night returned. The group stood in front of the open city gates. Some people went their own way. Some celebrated in the inn and still others tried to sell their goods. They entered the city. In front of them stretched a long chain of houses, which apparently had no end. The city was colorful at night. The most diverse sounds and lights could be heard. They continued to walk, causing the adventurers to notice that while every citizen pretended to be relaxed and happy, the truth was something way different.

"Something is wrong here." Taiki said as he took a closer look at the city's citizens. "It may be that they are too restless due to the imminent danger of the demonking." That can be, yes," agreed the young boy. Tsuyoshi also grumbled approvingly. As they continued along the chain of houses, at some point they stood in front of a building that was shining with pomp and gold. "It's pretty obvious that the king lives there." Icarus said. He sighed at the pomp, because the king apparently liked to show off. At the entrance they were already expected by two people. They already knew one of them. It was Sasori and another who looked like he was also a nobleman. The person next to Sasori had a broad face with bulging lips and narrow, bright yellow eyes. His slightly brown and straight hair was combed upwards. He wore a smile all the time. "I knew you were coming. Who would ever embezzled a request from the king!", Was the first thing the group heard from Sasori. "We wanted to at least listen to the exact order and also what they would get for this request." Taiki replied.

"Before you enter, let me introduce me now. I'm Sir Rodrigue Klemmdorf from Arsenic! I'm looking forward to meeting you!", Now the second person next to Sasori said, who leaned slightly after his greeting. "If you would please follow us.", Sasori pointed the way to the group, whereupon the entrance of the magnificent building, which was made of pure gold, opened. In front of them stretched a long corridor, which was crossed in the middle by a red carpet. To the left and right of the walls hang pictures of past rulers and busts were also placed under these pictures, which also showed the respective rulers. Many doors leading to the various rooms were also located to the left and right of the corridor. At the end of the hallway was a large marble door that led the way to the throne room. Cyril, Rya and Taiki were fascinated by the royal family. Meanwhile, however, Icarus was slightly angry as he continued to see the many ornaments and splendor of the royal family. The two were descended from poor backgrounds, which is why for them this house is nothing more than an insult to all those who have not been so lucky in life and therefore live in poverty. The group continued to trot through the corridor until they arrived in the throne room.

The first thing they saw was how the red carpet reached to the throne, on which a middle-aged man sat. He wore a grim expression on his face and already had some wrinkles. On his diamond-shaped head, the king wore a golden crown studded with jewels. The man had a tuber nose and ears, which were hidden by his now gray hair. On his fingers he wore a gold ring, which had a jewel in the frame. Next to the king were another man and a woman who was probably the queen, as she also wore a crown. The queen wore black hair tied into two braids. Her after-blue eyes radiated her authority, as did her posture. The man next to the king looked a lot younger. He was probably the son of the king. He had orange short hair that sprouted like flames from his head. His eye color also carried the mighty orange of the fire. Grindol and Luvin's group were already in the throne room, as were the elven twins Leiko and Leika with their bodyguards. "It took a long time!" Leiko was the first to blaspheme about the appearance of the last group. "When I heard that there should still be a group that went to the castle, we thought of someone with a slightly higher status, but we were significantly disappointed." Leika further provoked.

"That's enough now!" Raised another person his voice, who until now had been hiding in the shadow of the pillars of the throne room. "If I hear again that you insult others only because of their status, then you can experience something!" Threatened the man who now turned out to be the elven king when he stepped out. Taiki was happy to see him here, especially since he is pretty much the only one besides Grindol who could do anything against the twins. "Listen to your Father! Because both of you also burn me up!", Complained Grindol now. "Keep everyone silent now! You are in the presence of King Ge'za August of Alborchen the 3rd and the enchanting majesty, Queen Estelle August of Alborchen. Besides, you are in front of crown Prince Rudolph Blair August the 2nd!", Said a soldier who was on the left just before the stairs of the throne. He seemed to be the main commander of the army. "And now you should kneel down!", Ordered the chief commander. "This will not be necessary, Bertinoff. I thank you for your faithfulness, but do not forget that it was I who called them. That's why they don't have to kneel down," The king withdrew the order. 

"Yes, my king," Saluted the chief commander. "But now we should slowly devote ourselves to the important things. I called you here because it was you who could defeat the demonking's pet! I would ask you to help us in the destruction of the demonking and also in the conquest of his land!", The King now explained his request. "And what do we get for this quest?" Icarus wanted to know, whereupon he received an evil eye from Bertinoff. When the chief commander wanted to say something, he was interrupted by Ge'za: "Of course you will receive a sum of money justified for your mission. I will even prepay you a small amount if you accept the order. In addition, the realm would be in a deep debt to you, as this demon king could mean an end for everyone." "I'm in. Tell us what to do!" Taiki said confidently. "Hey! Who said you were the boss here!", Icarus wanted to complain when Cyril, Rya and Tsuyoshi also cheered.

"If even the little one is so sure of victory, then we will also participate," Explained Grindol. "Then were are also in. I don't let a dwarf stole the show from me." Luvin said. "Then we have no other choice,  have we, sister?" Asked Leiko his sister. "No, brother. We probably also have to go to show them what the nobility can do." Replied the elf. Then her father looked at her slightly grimly, as the twins again let out their arrogance, which was more than just loathed by the elven king. "Then this is now agreed! Your first mission will be to go to the northern border mountains and attack a camp of the Demon King. According to my information, there should be three of the demon king's five commanders. Your goal will be to destroy the camp and also destroy the commanders. However, I warn you! Every single one of these commanders should not be underestimated! Each of them is extremely strong. If you manage to kill these three, then the demon king could withdraw immediately, as he will suffer a great loss. In this way, we could put an end to the war tentative. If you fail, the first battle will begin the following week at the latest! I trust in you and your abilities! If you were able to defeat the Desoboringa together, then you will also be able to cope with the commanders! The kingdom trusts you!" The king explained enthusiastically.

"I would suggest that we leave tomorrow morning," Grindol said. "Who appointed you as the leader?" Luvin asked. "To start tomorrow morning in all freshness makes more sense than to go now, where some fighters are still a bit exhausted by the journey to the castle." Argued the dwarf. "All right!" abdicated Luvin. "We have provided each group of adventurers with a room with the appropriate number of beds! I would ask each of you to follow Rodrigue to take you to the rooms." The crown prince said to the adventurers who immediately followed the nobleman. As they left the room, another person stepped out of the darkness who was able to disguise his presence. An old man wearing a long beard and long hair appeared behind the king. He carried a large wooden stick in one of his hands. His gray eyes only saw everything in  a blurr way. His mouth was completely covered by his beard. He was a hunchback man who used his staff as a support to stay. "And? Is it him? Is he the spirit of revenge, Eliphas?" Wondered Ge'za. The old man answered simply: "Yes, he is the one who could destroy the demon king or us!" 

Simultaneously Rodrigue led the adventurers to their rooms. Taiki and his friends were given a particularly large room, which was inspected by the elven twins, when they noticed this, only with a nasty face, since they themselves received a rather smaller room in comparison. Taiki and Tsuyoshi immediately threw themselves on a bed. They felt the coldness of the new duvet cover and also its freshness. They have never been in such a great and cuddly bed. Cyril and Icarus also enjoyed the bed. Meanwhile, Rya enjoyed the sight of her four friends enjoying their beds.  She hadn't seen Cyril and Icarus so cheerfully for a long time. She was especially pleased with Cyril's joy as she was able to see her brother smile for the last time before their mother's death.

Chizu now made herself comfortable floating above a bed. "Wake me up when we leave." The half-demon yawned, after which she fell asleep. Slowly the whole group fell asleep and they ended up in the land of dreams. While everyone had quiet dreams, terror and fear poured into Taiki. The old master, who had banished his soul in Taiki, could also recognize and feel the pain. "Stop! I don't want to see these pictures! I want it to stop!", Lamented Taiki. The young boy got down on his knees. He kept his ears and eyes closed so as not to see or hear anything. But it didn't help. He saw again and again how his friends and three other innocents, who had apparently meant a lot to him, were killed by Orax. The priest only laughed at the torment he was spreading. Taiki approached more and more the darkness with each passing second, of which some people already wanted to warn him. Suddenly, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder that calmed him down. It was the old master who kept him from approaching into the darkness. Taiki came to his senses again and when he looked into the darkness, he only recognized himself.

"What does that mean?" Taiki wanted to know, to which the old master replied: "That's you. That force has always been you. By being able to connect with your soul, I could now see everything. Two Taikis live in you. One has already been distorted by the shadows and hatred and the second, that is you, is still in the light! Nevertheless, someone is still trying to increase your hatred! Someone wants to use your power. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why you were summoned to this world, but I can explain the reason for your memory loss. When you were summoned to this world, a second, almost identical soul was created. So you were only recently born. This happened because the actual soul of Taiki never existed here and therefore had to make your copy so that you could wake up here again. You were killed in your actual world and the suffering people you see next to your old group of adventurers were once your family killed by the same priest. Their pain still stabs in your soul again and again. You can't talk to good spirits because the second taiki is full of resentment and anger that overwrites everything, even if you would come to terms with yourself. However, unfortunately you can not influence this Taiki. This Taiki is already lost. The only thing you can do is to keep him locked up in you and never let him to take control your body. That's why you must not feel anger, otherwise it will gain more and more streangth! Someone has planned this for a long time! I do not who but you have to watch out! You have to restrain yourself! Otherwise, exactly what happened a long time ago will come true. You will either save or destroy this world! It all depends on you whether you let this Taiki through to you or not! If we can foil his or her plan he or she might actually show up and try to awake the bad Taiki inside you on her own."

 "I understand.....That's why I can probably use shadow magic......Nevertheless, this will not stop me! I will get stronger and never again allow a disaster like the one with Ronin, Aimi and Gloin to happen. After we have fulfilled this quest, I will visit Rosalie and Aimi's sister to fulfill my promise to my old friends!" Said the young boy with a gigantic determination. The shadow of Taiki disappeared for a short time, pushing him deeper into it. For the moment, the spirit of revenge was imprisoned.