I prepared a mixture of salt and iron. Since the polster was destroyed, the demon's grasp on the king's body had started to grow weaker. I made a circle of iron and salt around the demon and drew six lines from the circle to the centre, where the demon was chained. I took out an iron stock pot. Filled one-fourth of it with the iron salt mixture and placed it in front of me. Meanwhile, one of the guards gave me a small iron chain and a lock to bind the pot. I had written a talisman to completely seal the demon.
"I need everyone to go outside. Lock the door on your way out and no matter what happens, do not come in. You do, and it will you whom I would be exorcising next." I said.
One of the guards gulped. Sharina looked sad but she trusted me and left. Meanwhile, I laid down my sword and crossbow and sat on the ground. I started reading the mantra that my master had taught me to exorcise the demon out of the body of the king. The demon growled, twisted and roared. Trying its best to resist but it was powerless. It kept struggling for about half an hour but finally submitted. A huge black cloud came out of the king's mouth and went inside the iron pot. I immediately put a lid on it, wrapped the chain around it. I locked the chain and put the talisman on the lock. The King fell on the ground and was unconscious.
The exorcism was finished. I picked the pot and as soon as I got up to leave the room, I sensed a surge of dark energy. The pot started shaking violently. The king's body rose. The eyes were pitch black. The body convulsed into a horrid figure, making strange sounds. Meanwhile, the pot kept shaking and suddenly the chain got loose, the talisman ripped to pieces and the pot exploded.
The demon was free. A huge dark cloud rose and it immediately possessed the king again. The demon was powerful than before. It broke through the chains that restrained the king's body. The demon came at me. Before I could move or do anything, it punched me in the chest lifting me off the ground and throwing me across the room. The immense force crashed me through the huge door of the room, across the balcony. I fell from the second floor, flat on the ground. The demon howled in anger. He attacked the guards and escaped. I could barely move a muscle, I tried to get up but my body gave in. Suddenly the shock started to fade away and immense pain strangled my body. Seconds later, I fainted.
I woke up after a while. Sharina was sleeping at the bedside. I was covered in bandages. I had broken my right arm and leg, dislocated my left shoulder, broke six ribs and had a major head injury. However, I was feeling better. My body's accelerated healing had kicked in. I immediately got up. I tore away the bandages on my body and wore a shirt. Sharina woke up from the noise.
"Case, thank God you are awake. I was so worried." She said.
"Where is the king? How long was I out?" I asked.
"You were asleep for a whole day." She said.
I was shocked to hear that. A whole twenty-four hours had been wasted. But all was not lost yet. There was still a way to save the king.
"I am going after him. He can still be saved." I said.
Sharina's eyes widened.
"You can save him? But the exorcism failed." Sharina said.
"It did not fail. Somebody caused it to fail." I said. "As I suspected, somebody is behind this. A high-level mage. The demon is their familiar. Familiars cannot be exorcised. As soon as the mage sensed that I had trapped the demon, he supplied him with immense dark energy. So it broke free. He must have returned to his master."
I grabbed my sword and my crossbow. Wore my cloak.
"So how will you find him now?" Sharina asked.
"I need one of the king's belongings. A cloth, a piece of jewellery anything." I said.
Sharina ran outside and brought back a coat.
"I would need some more things," I said.
Sharina ordered the guards and they brought me all the material that I required.
"The crowd is asking questions. Luckily, fath... I mean the demon did not go in public. Instead, it went to the forest. " Sharina said.
"Only you can keep them under control," I said. "Make sure the news doesn't go outside. If it does, the crowd will lose control and it won't be long before our enemies will know it too. They won't waste time to plot and attack."
"But I can't," Sharina said.
I held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"You can. Only you can." I said.
She cried.
"Just bring him back to me Case." She said.
"I promise on my life, I will bring him back," I said.
I then went to the stable where Schneider was kept. I placed the cloth in front of its nose. Schneider had found him.
"Not too far Aye. Good work old friend. Now let's get him." I said.
I mounted Schneider and we were off chasing the demon on the loose.