Reasons of Evil

by Dennis Jode

  After a few hours of traveling, Arthur, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped.

  “We have to take a detour.” Arthur told the rest of the group.

  “Why? Can’t we go straight ahead?”, Jason asked.

  Arthur shook his head.

  “If we continue going straight, we’ll pass by Gallohall.” Arthur responded.

  The other soldiers did not hesitate in agreeing with Arthur’s commands, but Jason had other thoughts.

  “Are you still scared of the Harbinger of Death?”, Jason asked Arthur, as if to mock him.

  “I’d rather not have our group suffer damages before we fight the Demon Lord.” Arthur replied and started making his way towards the detour, gesturing everyone to follow him.

  Jason remained silent and followed Arthur.

  The trip took longer due to the detour. They rarely encountered monsters, which they dealt with swiftly. After traveling for a few days, they finally met with the smog that signified that they were close to the Demon Lord’s castle.

  Jason drew a sword from thin air. The light that permeated from the sword cleared the parts of the smog that it hit.

  “Let’s go.” Jason signaled to the rest of the group. They cautiously entered the smog.

  They were all on edge. They knew that monsters could attack at any time. As they continued traversing through the smog, they couldn’t help but be more and more wary.

  Every now and then, a small group of monsters would attack, but Jason swiftly dealt with them.

  Before they knew it, they were already in front of the Demon Lord’s castle.

  Everyone felt that something was off. The area around the Demon Lord’s castle should have more monsters than what they had just fought.

  They opened the door and entered the castle. The area was dusty and filled with cobwebs. They continued moving until they saw a large iron door which was wide open.

  There was nothing in the room, except for a flight of stairs that seemed to go up endlessly.

  Jason looked at the rest of the group. They all knew what they needed to do.

  Jason led the way, and the rest of the group followed, while maintaining a distance from Jason.

  Jason was wary of traps. He slowly made his way up.

  It took them a few hours before they finally managed to reach the next floor, but it was still empty. The area looked like there should have been something that stayed in the area.

  They continued going up, searching every nook and cranny of the castle, but there really was nothing.

  “All that traveling, and not a single sign of the Demon Lord.” Jason complained.

  Arthur found it strange that the Demon Lord was missing. If the Demon Lord moved, then there should be other areas filled with smog, but there was none.

  “Perhaps the Demon Lord already died?”, one of the soldiers asked.

  “If he did, there should at least be a body.” Jason responded.

  After hearing this, Arthur finally thought of something. The Demon Lord couldn’t have died so suddenly, unless he was defeated, but who could be powerful enough to defeat the Demon Lord?

  It was then that he realized what had happened.

  No traces of anything, as if everything was completely devoured by something. It was the same thing that happened when they attacked Gallohall.

  “The Harbinger of Death. He already killed the Demon Lord.” Arthur told everyone.

  Everyone in the group had a face of realization. All the dots connected. The fact that there are no bodies and any traces of life left was a trademark of how the Harbinger of Death operated.

  “But why would he do that?”, Jason asked.

  “I don’t know either. All I know is that the Harbinger of Death didn’t like to be disturbed. Perhaps the Demon Lord angered him.” Arthur told everyone his hypothesis, which everyone believed. It didn’t sound far-fetched, in fact, it even sounded logical.

  “We should report back to the king.” Arthur said as he started making his way back down.

  As they left the area, Jason suddenly blurted out an absurd idea.

  “We should pass by Gallohall on the way back.”

  Everyone looked at him as if he was crazy. They believed that the man who lived in Gallohall defeated the Demon Lord, who was known to have plagued the world for centuries. And it hasn’t even been long since the Harbinger of Death made his appearance. The man’s power was unfathomable.

  “Don’t worry, if things go bad, we can just retreat.” Jason told the others.

  “When the darkness comes for us, there is no retreat, Jason.” Arthur angrily told Jason.

  Arthur glared at Jason, but Jason didn’t want to back down.

  “Look, I trained my ass off for so long, yet I couldn’t even have my fight. If you don’t want to come with me, then I will go alone.” Jason angrily responded.

  Arthur couldn’t believe the words that Jason just said. After all the warnings that he gave him, he still wouldn’t listen. Arthur couldn’t hold his temper and threw a punch at Jason, but Jason easily caught his fist.

  “I am far more powerful than you now.” Jason glared at Arthur.

  Arthur was angry, but he could not do anything. He put down his fist and made his way back.

  “If you die, it’s your own damn fault.” Arthur said as he rode his horse and made his way back first.

  CHAPTER 8

  The group started making their way to Gallohall, but even though they traveled as fast as they could, they couldn’t catch up to Arthur.

  The soldiers looked disheartened, but Jason lifted up their spirits.

  “Don’t worry, I’m still here.” Jason told them.

  Everyone was afraid, but since the proclaimed hero was leading them, their fears were slightly alleviated.

  It didn’t take long before they finally reached the area around Gallohall.

  The trees were all withered and the area looked like a desolate wasteland despite the sun still shining over them.

  “Are you sure about this?”, one of the soldiers asked Jason.

  Jason ignored him and continued riding towards Gallohall. The rest of the soldiers had no other option but to follow.

  Jason was on full alert. He listened to all of Arthur’s stories, while thinking about how he would have to face the Harbinger of Death on day. He looked at the surroundings and saw multiple shadows moving towards Gallohall with incredible speed.

  The Harbinger of Death knew that they were coming.

  Jason fearlessly rode as fast as he could towards Gallohall, which forced the rest of the group to follow suit.

  Jason already knew what he was about to see, but that still wasn’t enough to suppress his surprise.

  The entirety of Gallohall was covered in darkness. It no longer looked like black smoke. It was a dome of pure darkness.

  Jason got off his horse and wielded his sword. The light that came from the sword outshined the sun which was at its peak.

  Jason slowly approached the dome of darkness. As he moved closer, he realized that there were figures that were swirling around in the darkness. The figures looked human.

  The moment that Jason took the next step towards the dome, all of the figures that were moving around the dome looked at him. The dome emitted a black smoke which moved towards Jason with incredible speed.

  Jason, who already knew about the black smoke, moved back to as fast as he could in order to avoid it. He couldn’t let a single part of his body touch that smoke.

  Jason continued moving backwards, trying his best to avoid the black smoke, but more and more of it continued oozing out from the dome.

  Jason was slowly being surrounded. Out of desperation, he started swinging his sword. As his sword moved towards the black smoke, the light that it permeated became even brighter. The smoke moved back, as if it could sense danger.

  Jason was confused as to what had just happened, but he had to quickly get out. The dome continued pouring out more black smoke. The people th
at were with Jason were already completely surrounded.

  Jason rushed towards them and started swinging his sword, trying to make a path for the others to escape.

  The soldiers ran for their lives, through the path that Jason carved for them. They were still on their horses, so they were able to escape quickly.

  Jason ran for his horse, but he was too late. The horse was already eaten by the darkness. He turned back towards Gallohall and swung his sword, making the darkness back off little by little.

  He continued swinging, which was quickly depleting his stamina. The black smoke would try to surround him, but he would quickly cut off every attempt.

  It was then that he finally felt regret.

  “I should’ve listened to that bastard.” Jason mumbled while swinging.

  As he continued swinging, his fatigue built up. His movements became slower and slower. The amount of black smoke that attacked him seemed endless.

  He thought that everything was over for him, but suddenly, the sound of a horse galloping could be heard from behind him.

  He looked at where the sound was coming from and saw Arthur making his way towards him.

  Jason glared at him, as if to tell him to turn back, but Arthur ignored his warning and continued charging towards him.

  It didn’t take long before Arthur shortened the distance between them. He grabbed Jason and started riding away from Gallohall. Jason barely got on the horse. He looked back and saw that the black smoke was still chasing after them. Its speed was slowly getting faster.

  “We won’t make it like this.” Arthur told Jason while trying his best to make the horse go as fast as it could.

  “The horse can’t go faster. The two of us are too heavy.” Jason responded. “Leave me here and escape! I will try to hold it off.” he continued.

  Arthur smiled back at him, which made Jason feel that something was wrong.

  Arthur cut off the luggage that was tied to the side of the horse. He looked at Jason with eyes full of determination.

  “I can’t have you die here. You still have to save the world.”

  Those were Arthur’s final words.

  As soon as he said that, he jumped off and slapped the horse to make it go faster.

  “Arthur!”, Jason turned around and looked at his comrade rolling on the ground, slowly being surrounded by black smoke.

  Arthur’s skin started decaying, and it didn’t take long before the darkness completely covered him.

  “That bastard!”, Jason was filled with regret. With tears in his eyes, he continued riding away until the darkness was far behind him.

  He looked back and saw that the darkness was moving back to Gallohall. Jason stopped and looked at the area that the darkness engulfed. The area was devoid of life.

  He lost the life of a comrade. His teacher… no… his friend.

  Jason held back his tears. He slowly made his way towards Ravengard. His mind was filled with the thought of avenging his dear friend. The sword in his hand glowed the brightest that it has been, as if powered by his thoughts of revenge.

  ...

  The people cheered for Jason as the kingdom celebrated his return.

  Once again, a parade was held on the streets of Ravengard. In the carriage, the king sat beside Jason, who had a sullen look on his face.

  “It’s not your fault, Jason.” the king tried to lift his spirits.

  “Look at the people around you, they’re all cheering for you.” he continued.

  Jason looked at the crowd with the same sullen expression.

  “They’re celebrating for something that I didn't do. We didn’t even get the chance to see the Demon Lord.” Jason told the king.

  After Jason reported back to the king, the king decided to announce to the people that Jason was the one who defeated the Demon Lord.

  “I’d rather have the people celebrate than tremble in fear.” the king told Jason.

  “I do not feel like celebrating. I’ve just lost my comrades due to my own carelessness.” Jason replied.

  “Don’t worry. They gave up their lives for all of humanity. Their sacrifices will not be in vain. They believed that you could defeat all of the threats that endanger humanity.” the king told Jason.

  Jason simply sat there in silence. The expectations that everyone had for him were too heavy for him to handle. He remembered Arthur’s decaying body while looking straight at him as he ran away. Even though he told him that it was voluntary, he still couldn’t get over the fact that Arthur sacrificed himself for him.

  He could feel his heart burning with passion for revenge.

  The Harbinger of Death had taken away his glory, and as if that wasn’t enough, he took away his friend.

  As those thoughts lingered around in his heart, small ripples of light started appearing around Jason. He could feel an enormous amount of power flowing through him. The king looked in surprise. He had no idea what was going on.

  The sword suddenly materialized in Jason’s hand. He wanted to avenge his friend as soon as he could. The sword in his hand was shining brighter than anything that anyone has ever seen.

  “I have to go.” Jason told the king.

  “Go? Where?”, the king asked Jason.

  “I have to avenge my comrade.” Jason said as he got out of the carriage. The people around him were all blinded by the brightness of the light permeating from his sword. He walked towards the gates of Ravengard. He didn’t bother wearing the armor that he used in his fight.

  “Are you trying to kill yourself?! After they sacrificed their lives for you, you would easily throw away your life?!”, the king angrily exclaimed.

  “You’re getting something wrong. I’m not the one who’s dying.”, Jason looked at the king, who was still shielding his eyes from the bright light.

  As Jason continued walking towards the gates, the king couldn’t do anything but stare at his back.

  The conceited hero had turned into a completely different person.

  The townsfolk could only stare in awe at the way that Jason made his exit. Every step he took reeked of confidence.

  The hero has evolved. The doubt that the people had of Jason beating the Harbinger of Death was completely erased as Jason slowly disappeared into the horizon.

  …

  Jason slowly walked towards Gallohall. He was biding his time, thinking of how he should approach the upcoming battle.

  The sword in his hand continued to radiate blinding light, and so he decided to hide it. He dropped the sword, and once again, the sword simply disappeared into thin air.

  The travel to Gallohall would take quite a while. The journey from Ravengard to Gallohall took a few days at the very least on a horse. On foot, it could very well take a week.

  During the daytime, Jason would go out and hunt for food. In the evening, he would set up a fire and rest. He was a former mercenary, so he knew that setting a fire during the night could lure monsters, but that was what he wanted to happen. He wanted to be able to train more before his fated encounter.

  There are also days where he would test out multiple tactics. His weapon was strong, but it didn’t make him invincible. If his sword could not reach his opponent, then it was futile. He was also unable to use magic, so that puts him at an even greater disadvantage.

  As he continued practicing, he noticed that the speed of his growth during his combat training was absurdly quick. He mastered multiple tactics that he could use against his opponent quickly.

  “The gods must have blessed me.” Jason mumbled to himself as he looked at the sword in his hand. The sword was still shining brightly, as if raring to take its master to victory.

  He continued repeating those activities for the following days. It took him more than a week to arrive at the desolate wasteland around Gallohall, as he was biding his time during the journey, but he was now completely ready to face the opponent.

  As he stepped into the infertile soil, the opponent didn’t even bother to wait.

&n
bsp; Black smoke started oozing out from the ground, forming multiple human-like figures.

  They all wielded weapons and were fully equipped with armor, as if they were about to engage in war.

  In the very front of the army, Jason spotted a very familiar face.