The Seat of My Heart

11 Signs of Decay

At this time, Susha Unhuor had already entered the palace. He couldn't be said to know every part of the map by heart but he had at least remembered the general gist of the layout. Considering why Shaun Reng had summoned the demon, he felt that the most likely places for the demon to dwell were places that were connected to Jusha Lale. So it should be something like the throne room, his study, or even his private chambers.

Thankfully, all these rooms were directly next to each other so he wouldn't have to search too long to find them. Unfortunately, all of them were deep inside the palace, meaning that he would need quite some time to get there and also some time to get out again. If the demon didn't just stay in one place and was wandering through the palace, that would really make things difficult. It would leave the demon with a lot of opportunities to attack him. Still, there was no other way.

Holding his weapon tightly and making his steps as light as he could, Susha Unhuor slowly made his way through the palace. At this time, this wasn't about hurrying anymore so the demon wouldn't get any stronger. No, now, everything was about keeping as safe as he could until the moment of the final confrontation. If he got injured before that, his chances of winning would drop. He couldn't let that happen.

Susha Unhuor didn't see anything out of the ordinary when he walked down the corridor behind the front gate. Only when he got slightly deeper into the palace did he finally see some traces of decay. Some paintings and vases had turned gray at the edges or even black in a few spots.

This was the effect the dark energy of the demons had: It could corrode anything with time. Usually, it would start from objects that had to do with the summoner's goal and then slowly spread out to unrelated pieces, then to the lower lifeforms, and finally to humans as well.

The dark energy would enter their bodies and suck out the traces of the gods' blessings, leaving them vulnerable. When this protection was gone, the dark energy would attack the vitality of their targets. It would show in patches of skin that turned dry and rough and slowly darkened over time. A person whose life was wholly consumed by a demon would turn into a blackened, shriveled corpse.

Susha Unhuor had seen too many of these in his time as a zhireng. Just thinking about it, he felt a hint of anger. He quickly suppressed it though and forced himself to focus on the current predicament.

Most likely, the objects in front of him had been touched by Jusha Lale at least once. Maybe he had even done so when his uncle had been there, meaning that there were some memories attached to them. It should be the very same for the ribbon that Jusha Lale had mentioned as the object that made them aware of the demon's presence.

While he couldn't verify it, it was likely that the dan had reviewed everything for the festival and had held the ribbon in his own hands while Shaun Reng observed him from the shadows.

Susha Unhuor gritted his teeth when he thought about it. He had always hated the personal component of his task the most. Eliminating demons was one thing. It was dangerous even to the point where he might lose his life at any given time but it was something that could be dealt with. As long as he prepared well, made sure that his weapon and armor were up to par, and maintained his physical capabilities, the danger could be kept below a certain degree. He would never be safe doing this job but he didn't have to be close to death either.

On the other hand, slowly uncovering the story behind a demon's summoning felt much more difficult to him. When he had received the blessing of the gods, he had originally thought that the task of a zhireng was just to eradicate evil and thus do good. It was what so many children dreamed of and he had felt honored to be one of the chosen ones. But after he had gone through his training period, sworn allegiance to his chosen god, received his weapon that incorporated the blessing he had been given, and went on his first mission, he realized that he had been wrong.