Baalgran, the former Demon King

The roar of battle echoed throughout the prison.

The first level, which until a few minutes ago had been silent and perfectly organized, had turned into a battlefield. Guards and knights clashed with the creatures that had burst in from outside, while dust and fire began to seep into the corridors.

Cornwald, still on the third floor with the princess’s guard, barely paid any attention to the fighting.

“Well?”

“The way is blocked, sir,” replied a knight, covered in dust up to his eyebrows. “The fourth level has been completely buried.”

The old man clenched his teeth.

“Clear away the rubble. The princess might be injured.”

“We’re trying.”

“Then try harder.”

Krennek appeared shortly afterward, panting heavily. Part of his enormous mustache was singed, and he was sweating profusely.

“We’ve held the demons back to the second level, but more keep coming in,” said the director. Then he looked at the collapse with a grim expression. “At this rate, it’ll take us at least an hour to break through. The prison’s stone is strong and thick.”

Cornwald closed his eyes for a moment. He couldn’t afford to think about dire possibilities.

“Bring ropes. Ladders. Pickaxes. Whatever you can find,” replied the steward, his plea disguised as an order.

“Wait a moment while we hold off the enemy horde, and then…”

“I’m not going to leave the princess there alone for another second.”

Several soldiers began moving stone blocks aside while others formed a perimeter around the collapsed entrance. Every rock they removed revealed an even larger one. Cornwald joined in with determination and desperation, moving rock after rock.

Suddenly, a sharp thud was heard from the other side of the collapse. Everyone looked up and stopped.

“What?” a warrior blurted out.

“Back up! It could be the aberrations from the fourth level!” Krennek shouted, heading toward the stairs.

The soldiers retreated in fear and raised their swords and shields in front of Cornwald and the director. A second tremor shook the mountain of rubble.

“No,” the butler muttered. “If it’s the prisoners, then the princess has…”

Cracks began to spread among the rocks, and an explosion of dust and rubble tore open a huge hole from the inside.

“Get ready!” Krennek screamed, his face red with nerves.

A tall, barefoot figure emerged from the smoke. His upper body was bare, covered in scars. For a moment, no one breathed until they saw, in disuelve, that he was carrying Princess Kaari in his arms.

He moved slowly through the rubble until his steps ended in front of the line of soldiers. He let the girl set her feet on the ground, and she walked, disoriented, toward Cornwald.

The old man could not contain his relief and ran toward her.

“Your Highness!”

It took her a few seconds to recognize the collapsed ceiling of the prison, her guards, and the butler himself. She let him hold her hand. Then she looked for the man who had just set her down on the ground. He was still there, waiting.

As if he were completely oblivious to the dozens of swords that had just been pointed at him.

“It’s the Demon King!”

A guard’s voice broke the spell.

“Surround him!”

The soldiers finally reacted, and in just a few seconds they formed a circle around him. Krennek climbed a few more steps up the staircase, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was about to leap out of his mouth.

“Stop him at all costs! Your Highness, we have to leave! We might have about ten seconds to escape!”

The strange young man didn’t even seem to hear him. His gaze remained fixed on Kaari.

The princess took a small step forward.

“Wait, he… saved me.”

The silence that followed was even heavier than the one before. Cornwald looked first at the woman and then at the Demon King.

“Why?” he managed to ask, without anger or hatred in his voice. Just curiosity.

It took the prisoner a few seconds to answer, and his only reaction was to lower his head slightly.

“Because she asked me for help.”

No one said a single word, and another uncomfortable silence reigned.

Hundreds of demonic screams erupted a few meters above them. There were too many for Meredis’s defenses to handle. The prison had been built to withstand any known siege, but never an army of such vast numbers coming from the air.

Krennek cursed under his breath, no longer knowing what to do in the face of such threats on both sides. The princess stepped forward despite the terror she felt at the situation.

“You helped me before; I need you to help me again.”

The Demon King looked up.

“What do you want?”

“The prison will collapse if this continues. If Meredis falls, hundreds of criminals will escape and reach the nearby villages, just like the demons.”

He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, listening to the thuds and roars coming from above.

“I can drive them out.”

Hope briefly lit up the faces of several soldiers, who could hardly believe what they were hearing.

“If you could defeat them…” Kaari suggested, her hands trembling.

“No. I’ll make them flee.” The words came out like a bullet, leaving no room for reply, “but this prison won’t come out unscathed.”

“No!” Krennek roared.

Everyone turned toward him.

“You don’t know what you’re doing. I was there fifteen years ago. I saw fortresses vanish. I saw entire armies unable even to get close to him.” He clenched his fists tightly. “No prison can hold the Demon King if he decides to leave.”

Kaari remained silent for a few seconds, then replied with a serenity that surprised even Cornwald.

“Then I will take on that responsibility.”

Krennek opened his mouth to reply, but the princess continued.

“I am Kaari Aethelgard Rosea, heir to the kingdom of Aethelgard, and this is my request.”

The butler watched her in silence with a slight smile. For the first time, she spoke like a future queen. She looked back at her savior.

“Please.”

He nodded slowly.

“Understood.”

He bent his knees slightly, and a second later, the floor exploded beneath his feet, followed by a deafening roar. The shockwave forced everyone to cover their faces as a column of rock and dust pierced through the ceiling of the third level. He moved forward like a comet, pausing for a fraction of a second on each floor to strike all the criminals in rapid bursts. The shockwaves weren’t lethal, but they swept away some guards as well.

The roar continued to rise until it faded away on the surface. Everyone present stood motionless. They could only follow its path through the tremors shaking the prison.

When he reached the battlements, more than five hundred demons lunged at him, identifying him as a threat. Not a single one touched him. What followed could hardly be called a battle or a fight. The young man unleashed an absurd number of blows and bursts that completely demoralized the army.

Ah… I’m terribly out of practice.

He thought as he realized he’d had to throw more strikes than expected.

Those who tried to confront him lost their strength before they even understood what had happened. The demons began to retreat and fled in terror.

One of them, covered in wounds, turned around as he escaped.

“Our Lord will hear of this!”

The all-powerful prisoner frowned.

Lord?

There was no other demon lord when he was imprisoned. Before he could dwell on it—and after he’d finished driving them all away—a gentle breeze ruffled his long, dark hair. The sunlight caressed his skin once more. He closed his eyes, levitating in the air.

Fifteen years.

Fifteen years had passed since the last time he’d felt the warmth and the breeze.

He took a deep breath. The air smelled of grass, of damp earth. Of freedom.

For a few moments, he forgot the battle and the prison. He even forgot the chains that had marked his wrists. He simply remained there, suspended above Meredis’s rooftop, letting the wind envelop him for a time he did not wish to measure.

Below, the princess and her entourage emerged through the main gate, exhausted. Cornwald looked up and observed that figure silhouetted against the sky.

“It seems…” he began to murmur, “that His Majesty was correct in his assumption.”

Kaari turned her head.

“What assumption?”

The old man took a few seconds to answer.

“That the only person capable of defeating the new Demon King…” His eyes never left the man. “…was Baalgran, the former Demon King.”