Duty

Drake sat till the nebulae was all gone. He felt nothing but a surge of strength he had never had before. He stood as a portal opened for him to return to his body. "One last thing" the World said, making him stop in his tracks. The World stood and walked over to him. "You are not merely a guard Drake. So I say this to you cause you must hold onto your oath. Should the Kingslayer ever sway the path set before him. I want you to execute him that will stay between us agreed?" The World was very serious. "I do not mean to question you master, but I do owe the man a blood debt. He saved my life now twice" the World nodded. "I do respect that. But I must have a fail safe if he should ever betray me. He wouldn't be the first. But I can't have spent this time investing in someone without a reassurance that if that investment should turn my direction? Swear in your oath!" The World commanded. Drake with reluctance bowed, "Yes. On my oath I will kill the Red Demon if he's a traitor" he said. The World nodded and extended a hand. From light formed a giant broadsword with a rectangle hilt and a circle head pommel with two horns. "Then I give you the executioner's blade as your new soul weapon till death. This blade was made in the forges that use a star for forging weapons. It is indestructible and sharp after mean uses. This will be the blade you protect. And or eliminate the Kingslayer. It has a name, Devil Horn '' they said. Drake took the blade and felt the weight of it. In more ways than one. The blade disappeared into his Soul Core. He then turned and left, returning to his body.

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Red Demon sat with his head laying back on the chair. He was asleep, the bed table had stacked bowls of stew upon them all eaten. Some time had passed as he waited for Drake to awake. When the sleeping man woke up his eyes blinkly rapidly. His body felt sore, but the bandages all over him were unneeded anymore. He could feel all wounds were gone. Except for the pain on his left palm as he looked at the brand that was still fresh on his skin. 'So not a dream' he thought slowly sitting up. He looked around, 'Medical building in Rabbit Hole?' Thought taking the bandages off. The wounds were now scars and were slowly healing. He also saw that on his wrists were a red dot with a line up his forearm to another dot. 'Must be the blood art he spoke of' he thought. As he focused chi only the spot bubbles of blood flowed out. He concentrated and began to make them swirl into a small ball. It then solidified into gray and red. When his head started throb he absorbed the blood ball. He shook off the throbbing.

'Interesting' he turned to look at the Red Demon that was awake and watching him. "Oh sorry if I woke you" Drake said, scratching the back of his head. "Seems you went through an evolution?" He asked, standing up from his chair. "Yeah…and also this" he showed him his left hand brandishing the brand. Red Demon looked surprised as his eyebrows arched. "You spoke to the World?" He asked. Drake nodded, "Seems they wish me to be your guard. From what they reported you will be set upon by warriors sent by the kings'' Drake explained. 'Can't tell him about the execution part' Drake thought.

The Red Demon looked deep in thought. "Well this duty wasn't supposed to be easy. Guess it'll be nice to travel with someone" Red Demon exclaimed. "To be clear I'm not supposed to assist in killing any kings. Merely protect you" Drake stated. "I didn't think so," Red Demon said. "Well here" he handed him a scroll with the Iron element symbol on it.

"What's this?" Drake asked. "It's a spell I found in your temple. I'm sorry to say your leader is dead. I found them," the Red Demon said with a sympathetic tone. Drake looked saddened by this news as he sat on the bed holding the scroll. "I was hoping he survived. He's called the Allfather. He was my master" Drake said, staring at the scroll. He unfurled it and read the runes. 'Iron Needles: Creating needles of iron. Rank four spell' Drake nodded. 'Not a big spell, but it'll do,' Drake said.

"I need to bury him and then we can leave when you want" Drake said standing up. "I'm going to go get dressed" he then walked towards the exit of the medical building. 'Well now that he's awake I can go train for a while' Red Demon said.

Drake buried Allfather and spoke to the cultivators that survived. "Please forgive us Drake," one begged. Drake shook his head, "Nothing to forgive what happened wasn't the people of Rabbit Hole's fault. You need not apologize to me" Drake patted his shoulder.

"You guys must carry on here and see about rebuilding. Cultivation techniques, spells, and elixirs are at the temple. Look for the secret switch" Drake told them. "You're not rebuilding with us?" One asked. Drake looked solemn. "No. I'll be leaving with the King Slayer. I've been called for something else from here. And I took an oath that can not be broken" Drake met their eyes with a serious glare. "You seem different Drake?" One female cultivator said. Drake nodded and then smiled, "Some ways yes. But I'm still mad and the demon of this town always" he said winking. "Well at least come check on us when you get a free moment at least" one girl said with a smile. The others all nodded, "one day we'll hear stories of the Smiling Demon" one shouted with enthusiasm. They held up a cup of wine. Drake downed the drink and said his goodbyes. He headed to old quarters to collect his things.

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Red Demon was in the practice area and his arms were in a demonic state. He sliced through a dummy with his claws. And punched another to splinters. The arms then became coated in shadow. It formed a giant claw and shouted out ahead of him elongated. It tore through three dummies before retracting. Red Demon kept this state up for thirty minutes before he had to turn it off.

'Shadow Claw 'was a nice spell pick up. Can't wait to try the others' he thought. From the spells he procured the two shadow spells weee 'Shadow Claw and Dark Territory' and the three flame spells were 'Flame Spear, Ash Touch, and Flaming Familiar' the last one he found intriguing. From the description he was able to summon a live being of flame element. The possibilities were endless with this spell. But even he could tell with the amount of chi needed it would have a backlash from hell. 'I'll need to use the Spell Index of the Witch King's mask. With the Thorn Mask I'll master all magical abilities' he made a plan to practice with it sometime when no one could see.

He created a spear of fire and threw at a target with a reinforced wall. It exploded creating a ripple on the magic circle shield. He the focused on Ash Touch as sparks of flame danced on his hands and ash began flowing off his hands. He then swiped at a dummy that immediately burst into flames till there was nothing but ash. The very air carried some ash igniting another dummy and then another till there was a chain reaction. Red Demon controlled the flames to dissipate before there was a fire. The Dark Territory spell was a spell that created another dimension. When he activated the spell his surroundings changed and he stood in pure darkness. The very depth of black made a chill run up his spine. He could feel unseen eyes around him. He quickly deactivated the spell and was back in the training ground. 'From the description the Dark Territory is also a place. It transport all in close proximity to me to be thrown into that dimension. Almost pity them' he sat down and began meditating in the light to help elevate his flame element. After awhile he wasn't alone anymore Drake returned, "Thought that was you when I heard explosions earlier. You take some spells?" He asked with a sly smile. Red Demon shrugged, "Only the interesting ones" he said back.

"Say your good-byes?" He asked. "Yes. Also packed up my stuff as well" he said patting his vest. "Dimension item?" Drake shook his head. "No my ability to enlarge and shrink things. So I'm always packin" he said with a wink. He had his mask on his belt. "Maybe we make you a new one of those?" Red Demon suggested. Drake looked down at his mask. "I'll find some good wood on our travels and make a new one. This one is sentimental" he said proud. "Well you'll need it for our mission. So best get on that" Red Demon told him. "How so?" Drake asked as they walked towards the exit. "We use fear and mystery to our job. So no one can see our faces without a mask. Your no longer Drake" he told him. "Smiling Demon must be the identity you take or another name of your choosing of course up to you" Red Demon told him. "I am the Smiling Demon. Drake is no more" he said proudly, smiling. "Good," Red Demon said with a serious tone. They exited Rabbit Hole and made west to the Gate.