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Six months had passed since Seif became king and the kingdom couldn't have been doing any better. The new king of Asadia more than had exceeded expectations, as the country's shape was doing better than ever. It was all thanks to Seif's keen and perceptive decision making, raising the kingdom's economy and decreasing the malevolence with the neighboring countries. Seif was gradually making his way to his goals to become the greatest ruler this nation had seen. They had even given him an honorable title as the Flameheart King, whose fire burn fiercely to keep away all of those who oppose to harm his kingdom. Everything was going smoothly for the Flameheart King and his kingdom until one fateful day that would drastically change his life from top to bottom.

That day, Seif wanted to visit one of the kingdom's towns named Toranton. It was a newly built village not too far away from the capital, and being the great and caring king that he was, he had to personally go to it himself and see what the town and its people needed.

As he was heading out, one of the castle's councilors came across him in the main hall.

"Ah, your majesty! Good timing! I want to show you something," the red furred fox councilor said keenly as he met up with the king.

"What is it, Lars? My convey is waiting for me," Seif replied in a hurry.

"Well! The artist that we have commissioned to paint your portrait three weeks ago has finally finished it and brought it here for you to see! I want you to see it and tell us what you think of it!" the fox said in an excited tone, more so than Seif himself, who wasn't really interested.

"Can we postpone this until I come back? I really don't have the time."

" Ah, it will take but a minute from your precious time, your majesty! Bring the painting!" Lars clapped his paws together as a couple of feline servants showed up, carrying a large portrait between the two of them. "Well? What do you think? I think it looks marvelous!" the councilor expressed giddily as Seif took a look at his own painted picture. Admittedly it was pretty well executed and captured much of his likeness, with it showing a majestic looking lion standing with pride of being a Lowefang with a sword planted on the ground in front of him with the scenery of his castle standing tall in the background.

"It's... good," was the only thing Seif could muster up.

"Excellent! So where do you want us to place it, your majesty?"

"I'll leave that up to you, Lars. I need to go now," Seif said dismissingly as he carried off on his way, not really interested in these kind of ordeals.

"B-But! Oh, alright, if you insist! Come on, boys! To the throne room!" the fox ordered his lackeys as they followed him gruntingly.

When Seif arrived at the castles gates, he saw Ardal waiting for him there with the rest of his men.

"Are the men ready, Ardal?" Seif asked his lieutenant general, who answered him with a firm positive salute.

"Yes, your majesty. But..." Ardal hesitated.

"But what?"

"But your majesty, why not let me go inspect the process of Toranton? You shouldn't always have to go through every little detail. Don't forget that you're the king now and you need to stay at your castle," Ardal said, trying to reason one more time with his Master Seif as the lion was preparing to leave outside of the castle walls.

"That's exactly why I need to go myself, Ardal. I'm the king, I need to know and see everything with my own eyes. What good would I do if I just sit down on my throne all day? A good ruler has to understand about his people's needs and act upon it the best way he can," Seif replied, turning around to face his lieutenant general.

"Forgive my ignorance, your majesty. I just worry whenever you go outside of the capital. I don't want to think about what we would do if anything bad would ever happen to you," the bear said in concern for his king's wellbeing.

Seif smiled amiably and patted Ardal's shoulder. "I appreciate your concern, Ardal. But you got to remember, I'm no weakling. Isn't that why you proposed for me to be the king? No harm would become of me. Plus, I have some of your most capable men to accompany me, right?" the lion reassured him, making the bear feel better about it.

"Yes, your majesty! All of you! Protect the king with your own lives!" Ardal retorted and ordered the troop of soldiers that were conveying with Seif.

"Yes, sir!" they all saluted at the same time.

"Well, I'll be off now. I'll leave everything here to you, Ardal," Seif entrusted him as he mounted his scaly steed.

"Certainly, your majesty! You can always count on me," Ardal replied dutifully and then watched his king depart with his convey, wishing them the best and a safe trip in his heart.

Teranton wasn't that far away from the capital and was located just beyond a wide forest outside of the capital city. They traveled for about three days and in the morning of the fourth day, they arrived at Ternaton. The first thing they wanted to do upon arrival was to rest and recover from the long journey, so the king and his men went to the newly built inn there.

"Ah, what a great honor to have you in our humble inn, your majesty!" a rooster innkeeper graciously greeted his royal guests as they entered the inn.

"It seems like the town is a good shape from what I've seen so far," Seif said.

"Oh very much! All thanks to the king and his efforts!" the innkeeper agreed. "The inn is all yours to do as you wish, my lord!" he then offered benevolently

"You are most kind, but my men and I just need a few rooms to rest for a couple of hours," Seif replied appreciatively.

"Most certainly! HaiFA: Haifa, my dear!" the rooster than called out for someone from inside the inn's kitchen, as a female wolverine came out.

"Yes, Mr. Kerogs? Oh! Oh dear... Um, I'm sorry! It's an honor to have you here, your majesty," Haifa muttered and paled as she saw who the guests were and bowed demurely, not having the guts to look the king in the eyes. Seif himself was completely surprised when he saw her here, and not because he immediately recognized her. It was because of the apparently big bump in her belly. Haifa was obviously pregnant.

"Please prepare some rooms for our king's noble men. And prepare our special room for the king!" the innkeeper told her and she nodded and carried herself away to prepare the rooms. "It'll only take a little while, your majesty. Could I interest you and your men in some fine refreshment in the meantime?" the rooster kindly suggested and the soldiers certainly didn't mind that. Seif in the other hand had something else occupying his mind, but he waited until he and his men settled down in the comfort of their rooms before he acted on it.

The day went by without any hitches, as Seif took a round around the town to hear and attend to its people's needs and concerns. Teranton was doing thankfully well now so there weren't many complaints or requests, and by the dusk, Seif returned to the inn with his men to eat and rest in preparation for the return trip in the next morning.

Something was still bothering Seif all day, though, and as soon as he adjusted himself in his room, he asked one of his men to bring Haifa over. A few minutes later and there was a knock on his room door, with the female wolverine entering right after it and closing the door behind here.

"Y-You asked for me, your majesty?" Haifa timidly asked, her eyes looked down on the floor warily.

"Yes. I got a few question to ask you and I want honest answers," Seif said strictly. "You used to work in the castle. I remember you well," the king stated and made her blush nervously. "When did you leave and why?"

"Umm... w-well, I... I left about a week after your coronation ceremony, your majesty. For... personal reasons," Haifa answered, too afraid to add any further details.

"How long have you been pregnant now?"

"Six... Six months."

Seif didn't want to beat around the bushes anymore and just needed to know. "Tell me the truth, Haifa. Is that child mine?" he asked straightforwardly and put her on the spot, leaving no room for her to talk her way out of it.

"Y...Yes..." Haifa uttered, fighting back the tears, unable to deny it.

Though he wasn't surprised since he suspected it the minute he saw that she was pregnant, it still overtook Seif and made him lost for words.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Seif asked again, as Haifa couldn't hold herself back and started sobbing.

"I couldn't! I was afraid, and I couldn't say anything. I didn't want to put his majesty to any kind of hardships, so I decided to keep it a secret and leave the castle. I'm so sorry, you majesty... please forgive me! I swear I haven't told anyone and won't!" Haifa said between her sobbing, feeling guilty. She didn't want the drama and trouble that would come from giving birth to an illegitimate child with a royalty, and at the same time, she didn't want to put her king in that kind of difficult position that would jeopardize his honor and name. She thought about raising the child on her own and pretending that night never happened.

"That is all. You may leave," Seif simply said, as Haifa bowed her head to him after wiping her tears away and excused herself. As for Seif, he slumped down on a nearby chair and let out a distressed sigh.

"Idiot!" he growled, pounding his fist on a table, almost breaking it. He was angry. Quite angry at himself. How could he have let that happen? So much for the greatest king of Asadia. To think he was going to get away with that night without any consequences. How ignorant of him. He couldn't imagine how Haifa must've felt, treating her like some kind of a prostitute. He wasn't raised that way.

However, what happened had happened and no use beating his head on a wall over it. He made a mistake and now he needed to fix it. But how? Haifa seemed sincere when she said she would keep it a secret and not tell a soul about it, so he may just leave it as if nothing happened and none would be the wiser. But no, that would be wrong. He couldn't fix a mistake with another. That wasn't the right thing to do. Not this time.

His mind was too stressed from the unexpected news and the long day, so he sought to get a good rest and maybe figure out what to do early morning. He laid his weary body on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to put himself to sleep. Two hours later and he was still unable to get any sleep. He got up and sat by the side of the bed, shaking his head in frustration. He always used to fault Panja for these kinds of mishaps, and here he was doing exactly the same. Maybe he wasn't that much different from his white-furred cousin after all. King Rour would quite disappointed in him.

Seif finally decided. He would take responsibility of his actions. He would accept this child and raise him in the castle. No matter what happened, he would own up to it. That was the right thing to do.

After finally making that decision, Seif hoped that he would feel better enough to get some much needed sleep, but just as he was about to lay down, he heard a loud shriek coming from downstairs. The next second, Seif was on his feet and rushed out of his room to investigate the cause of that scream. The first thing he saw were two of his men standing guard outside of his room.

"Your majesty!" they both breathed at the same time, one being brown wolf and the other being an armadillo, saluting to their king.

"What was that scream?" Seif asked them and they both looked at each other once.

"We don't know, your majesty! It came from downstairs!" the lupine guard replied.

"But we didn't move and stood guard here, your majesty!" the armadillo followed.

A bunch of other soldiers came out of their rooms and joined them when they heard the commotion. "What's going on?"

"Come with me," Seif ordered his men as they went on ahead to see what was going on downstairs, his soldiers following him closely with swords in hands.

They climbed down the stairs to the ground floor and when Seif stepped in; he felt a warm liquid feeling under his bare foot. He looked down and, much to his horror, he saw that it was blood. Fresh blood. His shock increased when he looked over the reception room and saw that it was covered in blood, the floor, the walls, the windows, the desk, all wrecked and painted in pure red. All that blood belonged to the innkeeper and some of the inn workers that had their corpses and body parts slaughtered all over the place, mutilated beyond recognition, as if they had been mauled by a ruthless beast.

"Wha... What the hell happened here?!" one of the soldiers cowered in fear, as everybody was horrified by the ungodly scene.

Seif had only one concern in his mind as he rushed across the room, walking over and by the dead bodies.

"Your majesty!" his men called out for him as they saw him scurrying over to the kitchen. Seif barged into the inn kitchen in search of Haifa and as he expected, he found her there. But much to his dismay, not all of her.

"No..." the lion muttered in disbelief as he saw her decapitated head laying right there on the kitchen floor, her eyes wide open and frozen in a horrific stare. Her own body was nowhere to be found and he didn't even want to think what had happened to it, as he gradually crouched down on his knees in despair, reaching out with a shaking hand, as if he didn't believe it yet and wanted to make sure this was real, touching her lifeless face. It felt dry and cold, as he closed his eyes in sadness, and then closed hers. Whoever or whatever did this was going to pay, Seif thought, but this was just the beginning of this nightmare.

"Your majesty!" the armadillo guard barged in and interrupted Seif's mourning.

"What is it?"

"Th-The town! It's... It's being attacked!"

"What?!" Seif quickly stood up and hurried out of the inn. "What in the world...?" his eyes flashed wide open at the shocking sight of Teranton being overran by a horde of demonic monsters, slaughtering and feasting on the innocent townspeople. The whole town was filled with some much screams and killings, with all kinds of otherworldly creatures randomly showing up from out of nowhere and mindlessly attacking anyone in sight, even breaking into houses and assaulting whoever was inside. These must had been the ones that attacked the inn and killed Haifa.

"What's going on?! What the hell are these monsters!?" one of the soldiers exclaimed in fright.

"Stand your ground, men! We are the protectors of Asadia! We have to fight and defend out lands from whoever threatens its peace!" Seif growled out and riled up his men, brandishing his sword. Even though he was terrified about fighting these demonic beasts as much as his men were, they couldn't just do nothing about it. It was their duty as the army of this kingdom.

The king's words gave the soldiers enough courage to hold up their weapons, as Seif lead them on to battle these monsters. However, they were ambushed by one of the demons jumping on them from the top of the inn's roof.

"Watch out, your majesty!" the young wolf guard pushed his king out of harm's way right before the horned and hoofed giant beast came crashing down on top of their heads, getting a good number of them under him as it started to mercilessly gnawing on their flesh.

Seif stumbled onwards and fell down on his face when he was pushed over, the turned around to watch his poor men being eaten alive by the demon, screaming in agony. He was helpless to do anything as he crawled back to gradually stand up on his feet, with only two of his men left standing by his side.

"It's not use! We can't fight them! We got to get out of here, your majesty!" the armadillo guard said pleadingly. Seif hated to admit it, but he was right. They were just too many and they outnumbered them by far, no way were they capable and armed enough to fight them. They have to go back to the castle as soon as possible and bring back reinforcement.

They pressed their way through the ruined town, fending off whatever came their way and making escape their first priority. Seif cursed himself for being so powerless and unable to help any of his people, but he had no choice but to survive this first. They managed to reach edge of the town barely unscathed and were thrilled to see that their steeds ere miraculously still alive and unharmed, as they rushed over to them. But before they were able to get there, they were confronted by sharp-teethed slug monster with many red tentacles coming out of its slimy body.

"Damn it!" Seif growled. The two guards that were with him then stood in front of him and faced the monster.

"Your majesty, we'll hold him back! You go on ahead and escape!" the armadillo said.

"No! I won't leave you to fight on your own!" Seif protested.

"It's the only way! We swore to protect you with out lives! You won't be any good to the kingdom if you died! Please, your majesty, go!" The two guards charged at the slimy monster and battled with it to distract it enough for their king to escape. Seif gritted his fangs angrily, but he didn't want to make their effort in vain and made a run for it, passing by them and rushing over to his steed. He untied it and mounted it fast, but then heard the deathly screams of his men being grabbed by the slug demon tentacles and then pulled in to its sharp maw, getting gruesomely eaten. Seif couldn't watch anymore and just fled the town on his steed, swearing that he'd come back and avenge them.

He rode like the wind all night through the morning, wanting to reach his castle as fast as humanly possible. The hours passed like minutes to him, and his steed simply couldn't take more of the running, as it collapsed from exhaustion. Seif didn't have time for a rest and decided to continue on foot, running nonstop all the way back to the capital. The three days trip that took them to reach Teranton Seif shortened it by half, as he finally reached the outskirts of his city. But something was amiss the moment his eyes laid on the horizon, as he could see smokes arising from inside the capital walls.

"It... can't be..." Seif panted tiredly from all the running, but that didn't stop him from running some more as he finally reached the front gates and much to his horror, he found his city in a much worse state than Teranton. Everything was burned down, people laid dead everywhere, monstrous demons ran amok terrorizing the city. This just couldn't be happening. Why was it happening? Everything was perfect just a couple of days ago, and then without any warning, his great kingdom has turned into hell. This couldn't be real, Seif thought. It must be a nightmare. Sadly, it wasn't. The stench of death was too abhorrently real.

However, Seif didn't lose all hope. There must be someone in the castle, anyone. He had to make his way to his castle, but much to his anguish, a couple of demons stood on his way.

"IT IS HIM! THE KING! WE MUST KILL!" a horned fleshy monster on all four surprisingly spoke in a unearthly voice.

Seif gritted his teeth and raised the sword he was carrying. If only he had his twin-handed broad sword he'd have a better chance fighting them. One of the monsters then lunged at him with its jaws wide open, but the lion dodged to the side and took this chance to counter attack, swinging his sword right at the demon's neck and slicing its head clean off, instantly killing it as its purple blood gushed all over the place.

He didn't see the other one coming at him from the other side, though, as it rammed its head on Seif's back and knocked him over to the ground, causing him to drop his sword away and out of his reach. Seif groaned slightly in pain as he tried to stand up, but the demon stomped on him with its big hoof and pinned him on the ground.

"DIE!" the monster screeched and tried to stab the downed lion with its sharp horn mounted on its snout, but before the tip reached Seif's head, the demon felt a sharp pain coursing through his side and stopped him from killing Seif, as it backed away growling in agony.

Seif leaned up and looked over in surprise, seeing Ardal coming to the rescue, stabbing the beast with Seif's own broad sword.

"Master Seif! Quickly!" Ardal yelled out for Seif to get up and run away, but the lion was having difficulty standing up after the demon stomped on his back hard.

The horned demon roared furiously and flailed about violently, causing Ardal to carelessly lose his grip on the sword and fly off, slamming hard into a wall. The monster didn't stop at that and rammed its head right into Ardal's body, impaling its blade-like horn deeply into the bear's side as Ardal cried out loud.

"Ardal!" Seif yelled and found the strength to finally get up and rush over to his friend's aid, as the lion got a firm hold of his sword's grip that had its blade stick stuck inside the beast's body and drove it inside further, getting the demon to screech out loudly. Seif then ended it by tearing through its flesh then slicing him in the middle, leaving it twitching about in two till it finally stopped moving.

"Ardal! Ardal, are you okay?!" Seif quickly ran over to the injured bear, as Ardal coughed out and smiled back.

"Y-Yes... it's nothing serious... I'm just glad that... you're okay, Master Seif..." Ardal spoke in pain.

"What the hell happened, Ardal? What is going on here?"

"I don't know... the capital was suddenly attacked by these monsters last night. Nobody saw it coming and none knows where they have come from..."

"Damn it! Why? Why now?!" Seif cursed. "What about everyone else? Are they in the castle?"

"I... I'm the only one left... everybody else is gone... I saw you arriving from the top of the castle and... hurried over here with your sword... I knew you would need it, your majesty..." Ardal said, blood start spewing down his chin.

"Thank you, Ardal. We got to get out of here then. Come on, can you walk?" Seif help Ardal up, but he also seemed to have broke his left knee after getting slammed into the wall earlier, so Seif had to carry him over his shoulder. There was no use going to the castle now. That would be suicide. He had no choice but to leave everything behind and escape. Whatever happened, he had to survive this. He can't let everyone sacrifice be in vain.

Going through the woods, Seif made his escape from the horde of demons that had invaded his kingdom. He hated to flee and leave his people behind, but he had no choice. If he stayed there he would die. He had to live. Holding his mighty broad sword in one hand and carrying Ardal, his life-long friend, over the other shoulder, he pressed on the darkened woods, hoping that he would eventually find a safe place.

"Master Seif... You don't have to carry me. I can... walk by myself," Ardal, the brown-furred bear, spoke in a weak rumble.

"Don't be a fool, Ardal. You're injured, you can't even stand up," Seif replied, carrying the large bear over his sturdy shoulders with little effort. Ardal injury wasn't fatal, but he suffered a serious cut on his side and a broken left knee, so he was bleeding badly and couldn't use his left leg.

"Then leave me behind. I'll only... hold you back, Master Seif..."

"I said don't be a fool! I'll never leave you behind," Seif crossly growled back at Ardal, the later merely nodding meekly.

"What... what are those things? Where did they come from?" Ardal muttered between his pants, referring to the army of demons and otherworldly monsters that just invaded their capital town and castle this morning.

"I don't know, Ardal. I don't know..." Seif grievingly said, his heart full of remorse for leaving and failing his people. "What I do know that we have survive this. We'll get help and come back to reclaim our kingdom. Now stay quiet and save your breath. We'll get through this together."

"Yes, Master Seif..." Ardal smiled weakly.

Not long after, they came into a clearing in the middle of the woods. It was getting really dark and the sun has already set. Ardal's condition was getting worse and even Seif was showing signs of fatigue, so he decided to take a little break and catch their breaths. He lowered his sword and placed Ardal against the trunk of a tree. "We'll rest here for a bit," Seif said, letting out a much needed breath of relief.

"I'm so sorry, your highness..." Ardal sadly mumbled, feeling bad for troubling his king. He was coughing out some blood, bleeding badly from his waist.

"It's all right, just rest. And you don't have to call me 'your highness'. I'm not your king. Not anymore..." Seif replied jadedly.

Ardal simply smiled, "You'll always be my king, Master Seif."

Seif smiled back, and then scanned the area around him, "I think we lost them," the lion said, but he thought wrong, as suddenly, a group of demons came out into the clearing from behind the bushes. "Damn it! An ambush!" Seif picked up his broad sword and sprung back to his feet, preparing for the inevitable fight. There was five of them, all looking like a hideous four-legged creatures with reddish burned skins and a single horn sprouting from their foreheads, except for the largest of them which had two horns and apparently was their leader.

"It's the King! We found him! Get him! Kill him" the leader growled and ordered his minions to attack.

"Master Seif! You have to run! Don't worry about me, just please, go!" Ardal pleaded for Seif to escape, but the lion stood his ground, sword in hands.

"No. They'll just keep coming after us and more will come. And I swore I'll never leave you behind," Seif said in determination, arming himself with his sword.

"But... your highness..."

"Sit still and keep your hand on that wound. I'll finish this soon." With that said, Seif rushed head on towards the beasts before him. Two of the monsters charged at him at the same time, sharp front claws extended, eager to shred into the lion flesh, but before they got the chance to reach him, Seif swung his mighty huge sword forward, cleaving both of their heads clean off, dropping into a twitching, decapitated heap of bodies. The rest of the remaining demons were extremely stunned at how easily their brothers fell by that brave lion, realizing how he was able to survive thus far. He was certainly no ordinary swordsman. Some of them started whimpering and backing away in fear, but their leader growled at them furiously.

"What he hell is the matter with you!? He's just one man! If you don't move, I'll crush all of you into a bloody splat!" The demon leader snarled, bounding the ground with his front feet, striking even more fear on his fellow minions, which was enough to make them attack Seif, who was more than ready for them. One them charged head straight for him like a raging bull, then leapt as high as his heavy body could carry him, dropping his point horn at Seif. The lion waited for the right moment to come and dodged out of the monster drop attack, making it crash its head into the ground and get its head stuck deep into the earth. Taking this chance, Seif slashed his sword horizontally at the demon and sliced him in half, leaving a fountain of purple blood gushing from the sliced half that was stuck into the ground.

Seif didn't have time to celebrate though, as another one of them charged at him from behind and aimed his sharp horn at his back. Jumping up high in the air, Seif avoided the sudden back attack, and then dropped down on top of the demon's back, immediately stabbing his sword through it all the way to the other side till the tip of the blade dug into the ground, a loud shriek of agony coming out from the damned creature before collapsing.

"DAMN YOU!!" the leader growled frustratingly, deeply infuriated by how effortlessly Seif was killing off his goons on after the other. The remaining one left knew it didn't stand a chance and thought about escaping, but the leader got a strong hold of its horn and hoisted him up high, hurling him at the lion direction in attempt to kill him. Seif was overtaken a bit, but didn't budge and stood firmly in his place, lifting his broad sword over his head and just as the demon was about to land on him, he swung as strongly as he could, cutting the monster in two as both parts of its body fell down on both side of him, a rain of blood raining down on upon him, his eyes full of vigor as they looked straight at, the only one left, the demon leader. "If you think you're gonna defeat me as easily as those weaklings, think again!" The large demon monster roared and stood up on his hinder feet, doubling his height and appearing much bigger, pounding his chest with his fists. He immediately charged over towards Seif, surprising him by his speed despite his huge size. The lion barely have time to react as the demon slashed him with claws, as Seif blocked the attack with his sword, but it was much stronger than he expected and threw him off guard. The demon used his other fist and punched Seif head on, blowing him away and slamming him against one of the trees hard, Seif groaning in pain.

"Master Seif!" Ardal yelled out as he watched helplessly from afar, but he couldn't even move, let alone help his king.

"I'm... I'm all right, Ardal," Seif stood back up on his feet, crutching on his sword. He really felt that hit. That monster was very strong and fast, so there was not a single reason to hold back for even a bit. "Here I come..." Seif breathed, gathering up his strength, and dashed onward for a swift attack. The demon waited for him to come near with a smug leer on his ugly face, and when Seif was a few feet away, he spun himself around and swayed his tail at the incoming lion. Seif held sword in front of him to block his tail swing, his sword wide enough to guard himself from it, but it wasn't fast enough to counter the fellow up attack the demon threw at him, as he lunged at him with his claws again, slashing him on his right arm and pushing him away a few feet back. "Dammit!" Seif cursed through his teeth as he cringed from the sharp pain while the monster snickered, licking the blood that was dripping from his claws.

The demon leader growled and attacked Seif again, throwing slashes after slashes, as Seif struggled to block and dodge each one. He wouldn't be able to last like this for too long. He just wanted an opening, a single small opening for him to counter and turn the table for his favor. However, lady luck wasn't smiling at the lion this day. As he was busy keeping himself from getting slaughtered by the demon's claws, he stepped back against a log and stumbled backward, falling on his back, leaving him wide open for the kill. "Time to die, king!" The demon didn't waste this chance as lunged down on the fallen Seif with his sharp claws, aiming for his neck.

A second before the claws reached him; Seif moved himself to the side and shirked away from certain death, one of the claws just scraping his cheek as they dug into the ground. Taking this chance, Seif lifted his sword and thrust upward, impaling the demon on his right shoulder. The monster growled in both agony and anger, backing off of the lion and giving him a chance to roll away from danger and regain his poise. Seif didn't stop at that and quickly jump at the demon, pointing his sword at the creature's head. But much to Seif's surprise, the demon opened his jaws and clamped his fangs firmly on the blade, pulling it up along with Seif and lifting him off the ground. The demon then started flailing his head around wildly while Seif was gripping tightly on his sword, trying to knock the lion off, smashing him against the hard ground and the nearby trees repeatedly, until Seif couldn't take much more of the fierce beating and finally let go, dropping down with a loud painful thud and grunt.

The demon leader let out a gurgling snicker and spat out Seif's sword, marching over to where Seif had fallen and clutching him from his head, hanging the beaten up lion up in the air. "Not so strong without your sword now, are you?" the monster sneered and threw a powerful punch into Seif's guts, making him groan out heavily. He then brought him into his chest and wrapped his huge arms around him, locking him into a tight bear-hug and start squeezing forcefully. "Hurrrmmm, I'm gonna crush every single bone in you!" the demon snarled and tightened his muscled arms around Seif mercilessly, as the lion grunted out in sheer pain, feeling his bones starting to crack. Seif did his best to resist and break free, but the demon's grip was just too strong. Another tight few moments of this choking torture and he'd squeeze the life out of him.

"Haha! How do you like that, king!? How much longer can you- Arrrgh!" the demon leader was laughing victoriously, but then suddenly screamed out loud, a shearing pain jolting through his back, enough to force him to let go of Seif as the lion stumbled to the ground. "Arrrgh! What!?" The demon growled and looked over his back, only to see Ardal stabbing him on the back with his own sword.

"Let... go... of his... highness...!" the brave bear panted, pulling his sword out and then delivering another deep thrust into the monster's back. He wasn't doing very well himself, but he mustered whatever strength he had in him to try and save his king. He couldn't just watch him easily die like this.

The demon growled again. "Grraagh! You damned little wretch!" he furiously snarled and violently rammed his tail at Ardal, sending him flying to the back and crashing into a tree, Ardal groaning in deep pain and collapsing to the ground, gasping for dear life.

"Ma... Master... Seif..." Ardal breathed with difficulty before losing his conscious.

"Ardal!" Seif cried out and tried to get up, but his body failed him, still in pain from getting his bone almost crushed.

"Time to finish you off for good!" The demon leader snorted and clutched Seif's from his neck, lifting him up off his feet again. He bared his claws and was ready to shred at the lion any moment. Seif struggled to break free, choking desperately, grabbing the demon's fist that was holding his neck tight and trying to yank it apart, but to no avail. He was losing strength fast, but the rage in him was building just as fast, distressed by seeing his friend badly hurt. Seif's hands suddenly started to emit a reddish glow and were generating an immense surge of heat, and the demon felt them burning his fist as Seif dug his fiery claws deeply into his skin. "Graagh! My hand!" the demon hissed, hurting badly and instantly letting go of Seif. "You burned my hand! You! What the hell are you!?" The demon snarled in shock, holding his scorched hand.

Standing up, Seif faced the damned creature with eyes full of wrath; his hands releasing a dazzling burst of flames, unleashing his latent fire power. It was empowering him with renewed and increased strength. The demon grinded his fangs angrily, imprudently attacking Seif with his sharp claws again, but Seif was one step ahead of him and sprinted straight at him, charging a powerful burning fist and punching his way through the monster's stomach, a fiery blast coming out from the other side of his back, causing the demon to scream out vociferously.

"Buwaaaarrggh!" the demon leader cried out, spurting out blood from his mouth, his eyes bulged out and his face showing signs of extreme agony. "How... how can this little... Urrrgh!" the creature groaned in anguish, knowing that he had been defeated and won't survive this blow. Seif pulled his arm out and took a step back, watching the demon cough and twitch in pain. He wasn't going down this easily, though, as the demon made a desperate last attempt to kill Seif, charging at him with his two pointy horns, but Seif saw it coming, as he braced himself and grabbed both horns with each hand, fending him off as his feet dragged him through the dirt some feet to the back before stopping and pushing back against the demon's attack.

The rage was building up rapidly inside Seif's chest; grinding his fangs and gathering up every ounce of muscular strength in his brawny body; he heaved the giant beast up from his horns and lifted him over his head astoundingly, much to the demon bewilderment. And with a thunderous roar, the lion's muscles bulged and flexed greatly, using all of his strength, he tore the demon apart and split him in half, killing him instantly, the beast's guts and innards drizzling down on him like a bloody shower.

As the brutal brawl came to an end, Seif dropped down on his knees, panting heavily, drenched in demon blood, the battle took a lot of him. "Ardal!" he suddenly gasped and mustered enough strength to rush over to his friend, but his heart sank when he reached him. "Ar... dal?" Seif muttered weakly, seeing Ardal's motionless body lying before him. The distraught lion kneeled down, his shaky hands reaching over to the bear, feeling it cold and lifeless. He couldn't last for too long, loosing so much blood and suffering that fatal blow rendered him dead. "No... Ardal... it can't be..." Seif's voice quivered, carrying his dear friend body in his arms and holding him close, tears of grief rolling down his cheek and dripping down on Ardal's peaceful face. He lost everything - his kingdom, his heritage, his people and now his only and one true friend. Never before in his life had Seif felt so much despair and alone. He didn't have the will to move on. He saw no point in living now. To him, fate couldn't be any crueler and wished for it all to end now.

His wish seemed to be had been granted, as Seif saw that he was now surrounded by more of these endless demons. But he didn't have the will or strength to fight back any more. He didn't have any reason to. He might as well die now. He just sat there quietly as the monsters stepped in closer and was ready to attack him any moment now, accepting his fate.

Then, darkness fell down all of the sudden and Seif saw himself being surrounded by nothing but blackness. He blinked and looked around him nervously. There was nothing, he couldn't see, hear or smell anything. He couldn't even feel Ardal by his side that he was holding just a second ago. Did he just die? Was this death?

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmh... poor, poor Seif. What a nightmare that must have been for you," a voice then started to talk from within the darkness and startled the lion.

"Wh-Who are you?!" Seif fretfully asked.

The voice snickered, "Oh, don't be scared, your majesty. I know what you have been going through. I've been watching you all this time."

"Am I... dead?"

"Hohoho! Oh, no! Far from it! I'm here to give you a chance! You have been wronged, Seif. You need a fighting chance to fight back! To avenge whoever did this to you and your loved ones! To reclaim your kingdom!"

"What do you mean? Who are you?

"Who am I is not important now. What important is what I can do for you. I can give you power! Enough power to fight these demons!"

"Power?"

"Yes! That's what you want, isn't it? Or else you wouldn't be here in this situation. I can give you the power triumph over these damned demons and live forever! Of course... I won't force you. If you want to end it all and just die now, I can just bring you back to reality. Just give me the word," the mysterious voice offered to him and Seif was speechless. The power to give him a chance for revenge. That what he needed. He lost everything now. His kingdom. His people. His best friend. Even his unborn child. If he died now, their deaths would all be for naught. He needed to avenge them. He needed that power. He didn't want to die. He had to live. He still had a lot to do. The promise he made to King Rour. He had to protect his kingdom. He had to find Panja. He needed that power.

"I... I accept," Seif finally said.

"Hmhmhmhmhmhmh... excellent... Now, just reach out with your hand... and touch the light!" the voice chuckled in a rather ominous manner before it disappeared for good. What followed next was a faint light appearing right in front of the battle-worn Seif. There was no turning back now. He lifted up his right hand and reached out for the sparkling light.

Then, he grabbed it.

The End