8 King Malcolm

The castle of Vargas was not as big as it would seem, but it would never shy away from being tempting. A single footstep into the castle could lead anyone to an instant time to their demise. Lagertha embraced all kinds of danger and did not fear the outcome of what might happen if she walks near a giant obstacle. She may have been afraid of walking into the castle, only if she did not have the blood of the wolf inside her body. Lagertha walked straight ahead into the castle and had nothing or anyone to stop her.

The king of this castle may have sent all the demons into their ultimate demise. King Malcolm knew nothing about Lagertha, but he only knew what Mephiles told him before the night came. What he did not know is that he would need more than just his legion to kill the Wolf Queen. Lagertha checked all of her surroundings to make sure no demon came through the walls and gave her a surprise attack. She has met more serious demon leaders and demon kings before, but none of them sent out their legion to hunt her down.

Luckily, it would be an easy trail to get to the throne room, yet the path Lagertha walked was something a mere human would find impossible. Not every demon king waited patiently for the heads of their enemies to be offered on a spear. Lagertha looked around the main hall in search of the demon king to put him to death before he could do the same thing to her. The only thing she needed to do was walk to the throne room and abandon all kinds of misfortune. A certain power she might as well have in herself is of the one given to her by Rollo, the elder wolf.

Finally, she came across the throne room and opened the two doors that stood in front of her. She walked inside and saw the demon king sit on his throne and wondered where the rest of his servants went. King Malcolm had his demonic greatsword stand beside him as he stared at the Wolf Queen. He gave an honest look at the huntress who might fight him before the night is over. Instead of freaking out over his commander and servants dead at Lagertha's hands, he became intrigued by what she offered.

"Ah, the Wolf Queen has come. Well, I thought you would be bigger. But you are the one they spoke of," Malcolm said.

"I've come for you, Demon King. The demons you sent to me could not take me down. Even your commander was not lucky enough to take my head," Lagertha said.

"Indeed, I must have not known they would fight a worthy challenger. Any other mortal who hunts the night would not see the light of day. King Mephiles warned many of your coming and how strong you are against my servants," he said.

"You need better fighters, Demon King. You will need more than just swords and spears to take me down. Nothing I slice ever gets back up again. But alas, a true king does not hide. A true king would stand with his servants and leaders to fight their enemies to death. You just wasted your great opportunity to achieve your victory. Where are the rest of your minions, King Malcolm?"

"I need neither my commander nor my strongest men to kill you. Battling you in the forest would all be for naught. But fighting against you in a place where a king rules will justify the wasted opportunity. My general and his warriors could not take you down, but we have the power to rise from the dead. You can never truly kill every creature of oblivion. Now you face a king who was given this power from the king of this world."

"That's where you're wrong. Without them, you are nothing. You can't expect to leave this place without controlling it. I speak from experience in such a matter at hand. But tell me, do you speak for your kingdom or Mephiles? How much is he paying you to kill me?"

Lagertha held her sword and feared nothing of what would happen if she backed down and accepted her defeat at the hands of Malcolm. The king truly expected himself to be the victor in this next duel, but only a fool is competent in victory. Lagertha's long brown hair breezed with the wind that blew inside the throne room, and the wind was cool. Malcolm's hand scratched the handle of the throne, and his mind was bent on defeating the one who killed all of his servants. Lagertha walks to the demon king and becomes prepared for the duel that might end the long night.

"You know nothing, Wolf Queen. King Mephiles will just give me another legion to command. I will burn you and your inheritance. Your people will beg me to save them!" Malcolm shouted.

"I want nothing to do with your game. You don't save these people, you make slaves of them. You force them to do your bidding and send their souls to your masters," Lagertha said.

"Beware, lest you fight against your inner nature. You angered your true king, your only savior. Your days of sending people to their maker end here," he said.

"I stand ready. I will not flee as I did before. The king of Hell could not keep me, the king of Midland could not stop me from coming to him, and you will not see the end of this night!"

The Wolf Queen and the demon king had enough boasting, and they knew they could not be waiting forever. The simple truth of a matter is that only the victor in a duel can walk away and live to fight another day. It has always been the purpose of any duel in this dark world; the earth itself is riddled with so many battles and onslaughts that it will always be a mystery why some demons demand trial by combat. Lagertha believed fighting a common beast to the death is not a trial but execution by her powerful blade. And so, Malcolm gets up from his throne, and he raises his greatsword and points it at Lagertha's face.

Normally, some demon kings will make such dramatic introductions to get their point across and make their enemies take them seriously. Lagertha walks closer to Malcolm to find out what else he has up his sleeve before the duel begins. But to her surprise, the demon king uses sorcery to fly forward to the Wolf Queen and begin their battle. And so, a duel between Lagertha against the demon king begins before another unknown force comes to interrupt them. Malcolm uses his dark magic and casts a fireball at Lagertha to see if he can burn her alive.

Lagertha easily swung the fireball away from her face with her longsword, but that was just the beginning of a long duel. Malcolm flies to the Wolf Queen with his greatsword and becomes more than prepared to destroy his long-awaited foe. Lagertha's sword clashed with Malcolm's giant blade easily, and she kept her eyes straight at his blade to make sure it did not take her life. The demon king knew how to take her life, yet he could not easily find her greatest weakness. As their blades clashed with each other, the ground seemed to shake and the wind blew much harder.

Like all demon kings, Malcolm did not seem prepared to taste death at the most perfect night to make him twice more powerful. But Lagertha was no longer completely human; she may be human in the flesh, but her inner nature is that of a fearsome creature of darkness. She lost no battle or onslaught to anyone she has ever come across as she walks the road. Any human would have lost a duel to a demon king in seconds because of how limited their skills were to their weapons. Any man would dare walk in the darkness with nothing to guide him along the way.

Lagertha and Malcolm swung their swords at each other and stared at one another as the night continued. None of their swords appeared as if they were about to shatter into many pieces, and they both had vile anger lashed out at each other. Lagertha swung her sword in a way to make it seem as if all of that anger and contempt were going towards her father. Malcolm swung his blade to prove to the Wolf Queen that Mephiles will conquer all, and none shall stand in his way. Little did he know she would take that chance and maybe sacrifice herself to save what is left of the earth.