Rupture: Rise of the Demon King Read Online Free Page A

moon?”
    “Never mind.”
    Kazuma fiddled with his pack and eventually handed Seeko a blanket. “Here ya go, kid. Get some sleep. We have a long way to go.”
    Seeko nodded and looked around for a place to sleep. “Uh, where?”
    Kazuma laughed. “Pick a spot and put the blanket down. Anyway, I’m part of the first shift. Think ya can get along without me?”
    Seeko didn’t want to separate from Kazuma, but also didn’t want to admit it to him. So he watched Kazuma leave, feeling the shaking return. Around the edges of the fire, Seeko could see shadows dancing. Were there demons out there, just out of reach, waiting for him to fall asleep? Yet, part of him wished for the darkness to come, to reach out, grab him, and funnel him back to Earth.
    He found it difficult to sleep. His eyes closed, but his mind wandered. In fact, Seeko was still awake when Kazuma’s shift was over. The shadow of the planet cast a black void on the east side of the ring by the time Kazuma returned.
    “You’re still awake, aren’t ya?”
    Seeko sat up. “I can’t sleep.”
    “What’s on your mind?”
    Seeko didn’t know where to begin. The reality of his decision was being made brutally apparent in everything he saw. He had come here searching for answers to his strange vision.
    When it became clear that Seeko wasn’t going to say anything, Kazuma smiled and spoke: “Ya know, ya remind me of Prophet Mithuna, daughter of the destructive Yedra. It was Yedra who banished Mithuna to Endetia after she disobeyed him. She was scared at first, but eventually she grew into a hero and united Endetia peacefully into the Halcyon Empire. That was over a thousand years ago.” He looked at Seeko. “I think you’ll unite us too.”
    A cool gust of wind rushed by and Seeko drew his knees close. “I doubt it. I just want to go home.”
    “If you’re the hero everyone says ya are, then ya are home. So quit moping and start fresh from where you’re at right now.”
    Seeko closed his eyes and tears came to them. It hurt to hear someone else tell him he was stranded here. His heart fluttered and he slumped back to the ground. “I’m going to try to get some sleep.”
    Kazuma nodded and set his blanket down. Soon his snores joined the other soldiers and helped with Seeko’s insomnia. Eventually, exhaustion overtook fear and sent him to the land of dreams, but not before one final, fleeting thought: What if this is home?
    / / / / /
    The company continued walking northeast, eventually reaching Fort Zan. Once there, Seeko received new clothes. He received an Irenic tunic of white and blue—so that he blended in, they told him. They also gave him gray breeches and brown boots.
    He looked at his old Earth clothes. His worn jeans, his baggy sweater, his broken headphones … His old life was gone now. He would never see his parents, or Winona, or anyone again. He would never drive a car, use a phone, or use anything even remotely similar to electricity again—at least from what he’d seen thus far on this planet.
    No. Kazuma was right. His mopey attitude was going to kill him far faster than any monster would. He had to make the best of this new world. This was his life now. He rubbed the scratchy Irenic tunic. This backward, war-torn world was all he had now.
    This was what he had wanted when he came though that portal. He was a hero-in-training to Kazuma, and maybe that was why he was here.
    Kazuma entered the changing room with a short-sword to hang on Seeko’s hip. Seeko was still looking at his old clothes when he entered.
    “I bet your family misses ya,” Kazuma said.
    Seeko hung his head. “They’re probably dead by now,” he said, a tear coming to his eye.
    “Don’t think that. They’re fine, I’m sure.”
    “When I left, Earth—my planet—was being destroyed by demons. That was almost two weeks ago. At least you have magic here.”
    Kazuma closed his eyes and began a prayer. “Ava will protect them,” he said once he was