Path of Glory

3

The demon, who had assumed a human form, was wearing a wide-brimmed hat that hid half of his face. Only a single, glimmering scarlet eye could be seen. In his hands, he held a bleeding, crimson sphere, and black blobs — people’s nightmares — swarmed around his legs. They currently looked angry, and even somewhat upset.

“Hello, my old enemy,” The demon bowed slightly. “You chose an unpleasant way to call me here.”

Despite the freezing cold and the blizzard, the wizard was wearing simple clothes and a straw hat. His patched cape fluttered behind him, and a small canvas bag was attached to his belt.

“This night is awful even without your nightmares, Helmer.” There wasn’t even a hint of fear in the wizard’s voice, despite the fact that he was speaking to the Lord of Nightmares, an ancient demon who served as the Emissary of the Prince of Demons himself. “I took it upon myself to help that poor child.”

“No one has the right to interfere with my nightmares, Ash,” the demon said, slightly perturbed. The crimson sphere in his hands flashed with a red light, and the slits in his cloak snarled, “That’s my right alone!”

Shadows reached for the wizard’s feet. The cold and darkness thickened, turning into something frightening and deadly. The wizard remained calm and simply struck the snow with his staff. Immediately, the clouds that covered the sky burst into soap bubbles.

The clouds quite literally turned into iridescent bubbles with a pop, and were then carried away by the wind. The night sky shone, full of what appeared to be haphazardly scattered gems. The stars didn’t just twinkle coldly and listlessly. They danced. Their light stretched out, moving toward the two of them.

Helmer looked up and, wrapping his cloak more tightly around him, walked to the only shadow that had survived the onslaught of starlight, the circle of darkness created by his own crimson sphere.

“I beg your pardon, Sage,” Helmer bowed reluctantly. “I forgot my place.”

The wizard slammed his staff down again, and everything was gone. The stars froze, their light drawn back into the bottomless night sky, which was now once again hidden by heavy clouds.

“Why did you summon me, Ash, Master of almost all the Words?” The demon asked in an official tone.

The wizard raised his head to the sky.

“Do you remember how you came to me once, near that river that dried up long ago?”

“It dried up because you killed its Spirit,” Helmer interrupted him, “To save that boy… I have to say, Ash, you always did seem to have a soft spot for boys… If I didn’t know that you truly love Reika, that fact would’ve raised some concerns about you.”

Ash said nothing. Helmer sighed and shook his head, then he sat down on a throne that the nightmares formed for him.

“I don’t understand you, Sage. Back then, dozens of eons ago, when I first met you, you were young and weak. A disciple of Hu-Chun, the Blue Flame, the Master of a thousand Words... The first killer of Ana’Bree... You were haunted by the sins of your past as the Bloody General… You defeated Recker, saved the Princess, stole her first kiss, and went with Reika across the Great Sea to find that you’d sailed to the area where Lascan is today.”

“I know what happened in my own life, Helmer,” Ash whispered. “Just as I know what happened in yours.”

“So what?” The demon spread his arms out, the crimson sphere still hovering in front of him. “You know a lot, Ash. You’ve outlived everyone who remembers your time... You even defeated the mage who could turn illusions into reality... You are the strongest and the oldest of the Immortals… You could easily become a god and ascend to the Seventh Heaven if you wanted to, but... you still live in the mortal world. Why?”

The wizard shrugged, “I like it when the stars are above my head, not under my feet. Besides, mortal girls are more compliant than goddesses.”

“Come on! That’s no excuse! You managed to get with the Goddess of Love, and her daughter…. at the same time!”

“In my defense, I didn’t know they were related.”

They both laughed. Then there was silence again.

“How many eons have we fought each other, Helmer?”

“Many eons, my old enemy. Perhaps too many... Sometimes, I don’t know if we’re friends or enemies anymore.”

“Not everyone…”

“What?” Helmer twitched in confusion.

“You said I’ve outlived everyone, but I haven’t… Maybe I’m here, in the mortal world, because the only one left from my past is you, Helmer. You’re the only one who remembers the time when I traveled with the Wandering Stumps, and when we stopped the Demon Parade.”

“I liked Mary,” Helmer said. “Mary the Birch… She was hot. I wish I could’ve seduced her.”

“You killed her.”

“Well, not with my own two hands, but… yeah, I did. The blood of every single one of the Wandering Stumps is somehow on my hands... except yours, halfbreed. You weren’t a match for me. Old Gwell hid you well when you were little, and then…”

There was silence again. A heavy silence. The wind howled, carrying the snow and showering the pair’s shoulders with sharp chips of ice. There they stood: the human who was so ancient that the Dragon Emperor was like a mewling infant to him, and the demon who’d existed even before the old Sage had been born.

“Let’s fight, Helmer,” Ash said suddenly. “Let’s fight one last time. Without tricks. Without deception. Let’s fight as we would’ve fought dozens of eons ago, on that riverbank, the night I killed its Spirit.”

Helmer pondered this offer for a while.

“Why would I do that? I know that you’d defeat me, Sage. Damn it all, you could beat anyone but my Master, the Fae Queen, and the Jasper Emperor. So why would I agree to willingly lose and die here?”

“Because if you don’t, I’ll stop the Demon Parade again, as I’ve done hundreds of times before. And you’ll be left with nothing again.”

“Do as you wish, Sage,” Helmer shrugged. “Look at yourself, Ash. You’re getting old. You refuse to become a god, and so your mortal shell is gradually dying, even while your soul is still growing stronger. You grow mightier with each passing day. However, even if an Immortal isn’t subject to Time, we all obey Death. Your body is dying, and I’m eternal. One day, you’ll either become a god and no longer be able to interfere with my plans, or you’ll simply die.”