Chapter 122: Chapter 120: Of Spirits

“What are you so afraid of, boy? You dare come all the way to me and then still dare to feel terror?” asks the distorted shadow, sitting on a throne of bones.

He lifts his sword, pointing it at the monster. “I’m not afraid of you.”

The Demon-Queen laughs. “You say so, but I hear your boots rattling from atop my throne, wretch. I hear your heart striking like a witch clawing against a crib. I can hear the churning of your gut.”

He shakes his head, the glimmering sword reflecting away the putrid green aura that is released by the true demon. “I am afraid, but not of you, beast.”

Her claws dig into the throne, breaking off chunks of it in anger as she rises to her feet, towering above us all. “All men fear me. Deceiver.”

The man steps forward. “No,” he remarks, readying himself for the final encounter. “I only fear what will come after you,” replies the hero, before stepping forward to reach the shrieking Demon-Queen in the middle of the throne-room of the Demon-Queen’s Castle, marking the start of his final victory over her and also the final fight of his rein – fully ending his career as a true hero, with nothing left to challenge against after the completion of his mission.

Months later, his party-members having moved on, he would last be seen with an empty bag on his shoulders, walking off into the wilderness by himself just before sunset.

He was never seen again by any sources of recorded history.