Harbringer of Death

Demon Attack

He woke up from his dream, covered in sweat. Washing his face with water from the river, he think about his dream. It has been happening very often that he feels like that dream is haunting him every night. And every time he tried to do something different, the ending is always the same. He would be stabbed, and Ara will be taken away. Then again, its stupid for him to try to change it. Its a dream, after all.

Packing up all his stuff in his backpack, he continue his journey. The warhorse he bought has proven to be very useful. What should have taken him some days turns into one or two. Wind breeze past him as he ride through the forest. How long has it been? A week? A month? He can't really remember. It felt so long for him since the last he sees her, her smile...

He must get there faster.

Without any break or rest, he manage to reach the lord's territory when the sun set. While he has some kind of vision in the dark, his horse doesn't. Riding in the dark would risk him losing his horse, either to raid or accident. Lucky for him, he could see a small town at the bottom of a mountain. With the help of faint sunlight, he manage to reach the town right on time. The sun fully disappear and the gate are closed.

Most settlement with wall does that. The night is filled with dangerous creature, and some settlement that were too laid-back, were destroyed by these creatures. Now, everyone is wary about anyone entering the town after sunset. At least for around here. He heard that some places doesn't have such threat.

He doesn't really know what to do now. He is not feeling tired, hungry or thirsty right now. If night hasn't fallen, he would have preferred to continue his journey. He sighed. Maybe he should check the blacksmith, after some battle his halberd has gotten a bit crack on the axe part

It doesn't take long until he find the blacksmith, a small building with the usual anvil sign hanged above the door. Weirdly enough, it is built in the middle of a empty field. If he own so much land, why only build a small building in the middle?

"I need you to repair this" he summon his halberd and put it in front of the old man with thick white beard. He seems pretty old to run a blacksmith. His face is already wrinkled and he seem to be having trouble lifting his halberd. But in the end he manage to brought it to his anvil and start on working

"So, you're a traveler?"

PANG!

Great, small talk.

"Yea. Just arrived earlier" Grim decide to sit down. Even if he prefer exploring around, it would be rude if he just left after the old man strike up a conversation with him.

PANG!

"Where are you from?"

"A village in the Jurho Kingdom"

PANG!

"Jurho? You're quiet far away from home, aren't you? Are you an adventurer?"

Adventurer? Well, technically he is more of a mercenary than adventurer. But in the end, they are practically the same. Doing job for money, or fame. The main difference is one need registration, and one is not.

"You could say that"

PANG!

"I see. Are you also interested in the Demon King?"

Wait. What ?

"Demon King?"

"Wha? you haven't heard of it" the blacksmith stop

"Sadly no. I was riding non-stop form morning, so i haven't catch up to local rumor"

"That's risky kid. You could have run into the Demon's minion. They are getting more active lately"

PANG!

"The Demon King was a major problem, you know. He was strong, no to mention he had a lot of strong minion as well. At one point it almost conquer half of the land. But the nine hero manage to stop him before it happen. With a sacrifice. Ever since the battle, only seven hero were left. And for some reason, the number never risen back to nine. Its like the two champion Gods died with them"

PANG!

Gods, huh? He never really care about them. His small village is pretty secluded from nearby city or town. There was a priest that live there once, but he died because of sickness. And no other priest was ever sent after that. He only know more about them after reading it from some books he stolen. He might need to read them again later.

Before he could response, the ground shake beneath them. Rushing out, Grim find the city is under attack by winged minions. And beyond the wall, he could see a giant. A. Goddamn. Giant. Really? Is he hated by the Gods or something?

"Now that's quiet troubling" the blacksmith approach him with a halberd

"I think you will find the upgrades to be... interesting. Just pay me with critic about it when we meet again" the old man stab his halberd to the ground, then walk back. When Grim turns around to thank him, he is gone, along with the building.

"Did i..." dream? Well the fact that his halberd is completely different dismiss that idea. It's completely black now, and it's way heavier than it used to. How the hell that old man manage to stab it to the ground? He barely manage to pick it up when its lighter.

The earth shook once more as the giant brought the wall down. At first, he was thinking of running away. Sure, he can't die, but being squished by the giant's foot is not on his wish list. But he could get paid handsomely for helping. Who knows, maybe the kingdom would even help him find the one who attack his village.

One kingdom is usually consist of the royal family, ruling over some area and the capital city, and lords of lands who serve them. Attacking a lord without provocation could end with the royal family ordering his head cut off. But if he could get the support of the royal family, or a lord, he could avoid such problem.

Use the fire

A voice? And it sounds familiar...

Point, and unleash your fury

For some reason, he follow the voice command. He lift his halberd, then point it at one of the minion. His halberd then starting to heat up. And in mere second, a fireball is created at the tip and launch itself toward the minion. It manage to hit it. The minion manage to avoid it twice, but the fireball would just turn back around and head straight back to the minion.

That is interesting. He need to thank the blacksmith, or whatever he is, when he meets him again. Though the faint dark mist surrounding his weapon is pretty worrying.

Now, let's test its sharpness.

He rush toward nearby troll and swing his halberd. Usually his weapon would only pierce the skin of a troll. But now, he manage to cut it in half with minimal effort. Just what did the old man did with his halberd?!

But its matter for later. More of the demon minion are coming. Smirking, he charge at the battlefield. He swing around the battlefield, chopping troll head off or hooking an imp to the ground before stabbing it. In mere minute, the street is filled with the corpse of monster. The more he kill, the more he feel stronger. Its like the halberd absorb its victim life force and giving it to him. He become faster, his usual fast attack become lightning speed. The wind breeze past as he rush toward nearby troll and stab its head until it stopped moving.

He wants MORE. AND HE WILL GET IT!

He disregard being burned by a wyvern , or get smashed right on the stomach by an ogre. Its just a small disturbance, he can't feel it all anyway. He would just kill them before rushing to the next nearby monster. He has lost control of himself

The people around him, however, doesn't know what to feel. On one hand, there is a man- no, a beast, killing monster and doesn't care about human. But on the other hand, they are horrified with what he is. Sometime his hand would bend backward, his head twist, yet he will just straighten it back, or twist it back around, and fight again.

When all of the monster was finished, including the flying eye-ball that command the minions, Grim jump onto his horse, who also receive some effect form the halberd, and run off

While the old man who upgrade the halberd, watch from on top of nearby hill, taking note on how the fight is.

"Boy, he sure is high spirited. No wonder You chose him. I wonder what he has in his future..." the blacksmith talk to himself as he takes more note.

That night was remembered as Bloody Night. They would celebrate it every year, to thank the beast, and to appease him so he wont attack the city.