(Memento Mori) Chapter 79: The Demon Prince

When I raised my head, I found myself in the inner court once more with a pair of eyes locked onto me. 

“Uh… what the fuck are you doing?” Alexandra asked bluntly.

The demonic rapier had found itself at my feet. With a thought, the penumbra emerged and wrapped its shadowy fingers around the weapon before slowly recoiling back into my body.

“Would you mind?” I asked, gesturing to the canteen on her hip.

“...Sure.” She tossed it over, obviously a little disturbed by the appearance of a strange limb.

I removed my ivory mask and inhaled deeply before gulping down the restorative. It cooled my body and washed away all traces of fatigue. I slowed my heart rate, steadied my breathing, and gathered my thoughts. The memories I gained from Lythas’ soul were fragmented flashes of fire that I failed to make sense of. Maybe my strictly human perception limited my ability to process the information I received– if there was any information at all. For all I know, her memories were automatically sealed or completely erased upon death. I wouldn’t find anything other than a recollection of fire if that was the case.

Choosing to worry about it some other time, I left deciphering Lythas’ memories for another day.

I took stock of the room, noting the only other person here was Alexandra, so I assumed Lythas had transported everyone simultaneously and we would return once we finished our battles. I waited in comfortable silence before the next member of the group arrived.

He hadn’t appeared from thin air, but instead, broke through one of the walls near us. The limp body of a demon knight served as Andreas’ battering ram. Dislocated and twisted limbs, ruined armor– the general lack of any signs of life– the demon was dead. Or– close to dying, since I could make out a few faint groans from inside of the armor that had been warped around the pitiful demon who, as an aside, seemed to have grown to stand 3 meters tall since last I saw it. 

“Aaaah! Auf Geht's Deutschland!” For good measure, Andreas stomped the already battered demon further into the ground, putting an end to its life and leaving for anyone to doubt its fate. 

“Haaaa!” Andreas beat his chest, only noticing us a moment later. 

He coughed, clearing his throat before speaking, “Na?” 

“We’re still waiting,” she said, gesturing the very empty room.

I tried searching for the others with my Spirit Vision, but it had its limits and I couldn’t find a single trace throughout the castle. So, we could only wait. While doing just that, Alexandra talked about her fight which ended unceremoniously, noting that had several lesser demons appeared with the demon she fought. Her fight only ended a few minutes before mine. 

Andreas was different, by his account, the demon he fought was alone, but was strengthened by the room itself and went berserk. Of course, ‘it wasn’t a problem for the Panzer Knight,’ were the exact words he used. He recounted the fight that had just occurred as if it were an ancient epic, likening himself to Beowulf slaying Grendel. With lots of showy gestures and exaggerations, I could see that Andreas was only messing around to lighten us up.  

I waited for him to finish and told them about my experience with the baroness, keeping details about my apparent falling out with the princes of hell to myself. Alexandra was curious as to the moment I appeared to understand the demon before we were transported to separate rooms, but I avoided going into details. I was a little unsure of it myself, but it seemed the demonic brand I had used months ago was the likely culprit of Lythas’ appearance this time. Besides that, my story wasn’t a flashy one like Andreas’ and was more succinct than Alexandra’s. I didn’t have the ability to put what I felt during my fight into words.

Our waiting rewarded us with several familiar faces all appearing at once. Unlike the three of us who were already here, the others seemed to be completely exhausted. It took them a minute to collect their breath before they all spoke at the same time, telling the same story. Instead of facing one of the three demons, they had to face a nearly endless amount of hell knights and magma golems who, while relatively weak alone, continued to appear in growing numbers. To add, they were forced to fight in a narrow hallway that didn’t end. 

It seemed like the monsters stopped appearing once I killed baroness, at least, the time seemed to add up.

“So we’re done?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve never gone into this ruin before,” Alexandra responded while her draconic eyes scanned the surroundings in search of any sign of trouble.

It never came, instead, the floor split open and a stony pedestal was forced upward, propping itself in the center of our group. 

A bright orange marble-like gem sat levitating above the display. The marble’s glossy surface failed to hide an interior that featured a roaring fire raging on inside of it, creating brief images of demonic faces. The air became hotter and the marble itself seemed to gradually create auditory hallucinations made up of distant roaring followed by entrancing whispers.

“That’s enough of that.” Alexandra produced a small wooden box from her hip and placed, what seemed to be the Hell Stone, inside of it all while making sure not to touch it. 

Another reaction occurred once the stone was removed, a flame erupted around the pedestal and the vague shape of a demon wearing nightmarish armor was created before us. Its face was hidden beneath its darkened helm, but I could feel its gaze pass over me.

It mutely observed us before affixing its head in my direction. It carefully studied my face, clearly committing it to memory, before it nodded.. 

“Mhmm… yes, Casper Clay, is it?” Everyone winced at the powerful voice that carried an ancient and unshakable pride. It was a demon prince and more than likely the one the baroness served, Eligos.

Hearing him say my name made my body freeze, not out of fear, but something different. My soul trembled as it defended itself against a formless assault. The few words he said were like arrows being fired at me. If I didn’t have the Phantom Heart, how would I have ended up? 

“Enjoy your meager prize now but take heed and protect your life for when the time comes, I will be the one to take it. Hear me– I, Eligos, swear on my honor and my throne amongst the lords of the infernal princedom, that I will see you dead. Even King Solomon himself could not protect you from my retribution... If there is a divine force you believe in, pray to it, and hope that when I find you I feel merciful enough to grant you a quick death,” Eligos’ spoke slowly with regal composure, his cold and detached declaration ended as suddenly as it began, leaving us with only silence. 

I grew weary, collapsing onto a knee as Alexandra moved to help me. Just his presence alone left my body drained, my head aching, and my mind in searing disarray of broken thoughts.

“Easy, I have you, friend,” I heard Andreas speak before I was hoisted up and over his shoulder.

I hung like a wet cloth, too limp and too tired to pretend I could walk. 

My mind was interspersed with blinding flares of heat and light. The ground shook, but it wasn’t from Andreas walking. I heard the muffled panic of the group as bits of stone and dust fell onto me from above.

Andreas moved faster. 

I strained my eyes open and saw a growing tide of magma flowing toward us. My eyelids became heavier, urging me to shut them, but in the moments before that, I saw a glimpse of a figure riding atop a horse. A faint, illusory figure, who wielded a monstrous lance while sitting atop a winged horse.

My eyes closed, but a sense of urgency forced me to open them. When I did, the figure was no longer visible and I no longer had the strength to keep myself conscious.