Chapter 138: Someone Has to Do It
Time flowed on, and the journey of Rhodes and Serie continued.
One day, they found themselves in the far north, in a region that bordered the territory of the Demon King. And there, they met an old friend.
A man with short, green hair and simple leather armor, a longsword at his hip, looked at them with surprise in his eyes.
"Serie? And... Rhodes?"
It was Kraft.
"Kraft? I didn't expect to see you here," she said with a slight nod.
After acknowledging her, he turned his gaze to Rhodes. He had heard that he had disappeared, that he was likely dead. To see him here now, alive... he was at a loss for words.
"Kraft," Rhodes said with a smile, looking him up and down. "What a pleasant surprise."
"The feeling is mutual. But what are you doing here? And why haven't you aged a day?"
Kraft had seen Norne several times over the past thirty years and had watched the young man he had known grow old. It was the fate of all humans. But Rhodes... he showed no signs of aging.
"It's a long story," he said, and then changed the subject. "But what about you? What brings you here?"
Since he clearly didn't want to talk about it, Kraft didn't press the matter. "I'm here on orders from the Elven King," he explained.
"Investigating again?" Rhodes teased. "The first time we met, you were investigating, and you're still investigating now? Are you sure you're not a scout instead of a warrior?"
A muscle twitched in his jaw, and a look of resignation passed over his face. "I had thought the war was over," he said with a sigh. "But it seems another one is on the horizon. The Demon King is extending his reach. His forces, which had been crippled, are now recovering. We have too little intelligence on them. And as for being a warrior or a scout..." he patted the longsword at his hip, "as long as I can protect this peace, it doesn't matter what I am."
The smile on Rhodes's face faded. He could feel his friend's resolve. Perhaps, even without his own intervention, he would have still walked the path of his destiny.
"Kraft," he said, his voice now serious, "I believe you once told me that you owed me a promise."
"That's right. If you ever have need of me, just say the word."
"As a matter of fact, there is something I need you to do."
"Just name it."
He took a deep breath and looked the elven warrior straight in the eye. "It's about the Demon King, Asmodeus."
Kraft's body tensed, and his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"Kraft, what I'm about to tell you... I need you to keep it to yourself," he continued. "The true identity of the Demon King... is Eirik."
His words were like a stone thrown into a still pond. Kraft's eyes widened in shock.
Eirik.
He lowered his head, and his shoulders began to tremble. No wonder Norne had been so cagey when he had asked about him. No wonder all news of him had ceased fifteen years ago. No wonder the Demon King had appeared fifteen years ago.
Putting it all together, he had already suspected it. But to have the truth so bluntly revealed... it was still a shock. "Eirik... how could he..."
"In the final battle," Rhodes explained, "he was corrupted by the darkness, and he was slowly twisted and broken, until he was made into... what he is now. He is in constant pain. The throne of the Demon King is not a seat of power for him, but a prison of endless torment."
Serie stood to the side, silent, watching them both.
"I want you to walk the world in the name of slaying the 'Demon King', to 'save' the world," Rhodes said, seeing the conflict in his friend's eyes. "And then... I want you to go to him."
"You want me to kill him?"
Eirik... he had cared for the boy, had trained him. And now... to have to kill him. A more emotionally-detached elf might not have minded. But Kraft... he was not such an elf. He had lived longer than Serie, had seen more, and had long since moved beyond the emotional limitations of his people. And that very fact now made him recoil from this task.
"No," Rhodes said. "I will be the one to strike the final blow. But in the eyes of the world, I am already a legend of the past. So the honor... it must be yours."
He looked up, and the shock and confusion in his eyes slowly gave way to a sense of resignation. "Rhodes," he said, his voice a low whisper, as if it had taken all of his strength to speak. "You... you are going to be the one who walks in darkness, the one who brings death?"
"Yes. And the honor... you must be the one to bear it, Kraft."
"What a cruel honor," he said with a long sigh. "But..." his voice was now heavy, but firm, "...someone has to do it. To watch him suffer, to be a prisoner in his own body... that is something I cannot bear."
He looked up, his gaze now fixed on the distant northern land where the Demon King's castle now stood.
"I understand. And I did promise you. So I will do it. Though this is not the way I had imagined I would repay you."
He smiled, a sad, empty smile.
Rhodes looked at him, at the resolve in his eyes, and just nodded.
Someone had to do it.
And he would not gain honor from the death of his old friend.
But Kraft, he, too, was unwilling. But in the end, the elven warrior had agreed.
(End of chapter)
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