Poli was flying back on his sword, constantly scanning the area, still cautious of an ambush, when he felt a new presence closing in. He didn't think for long before kicking his sword from below his feet and sshing at the coming aura with all of his power, expecting another ambush. As the blue electricity from it fshed between the trees, an intense, orange fme burst out, meeting it, and the two powers cshed in the air, causing a loud bst that tore down multiple rows of trees before dissipating.

  "It's me, you idiot!" Emi's voice came as she arrived, shaking her hand, brushing off embers with his lightning fshing between them.

  "Oh… S-sorry, I thought it was that bastard." Poli lowered his sword with a wry smile. "What are you doing here?"

  "I was sent here to help you all; what do you think?" She rolled her eyes, waving her hand to extinguish the fire around them before it became an actual forest fire.

  "Oh. I see." He nodded, looking her up and down.

  "Are you injured?" Emi asked calmly, doing the same with him.

  "Mm? Me? No. He was hurt, and I was pursuing him to finish him off, but he escaped."

  "At least you are fine..." She muttered, pursing her lips, "He is a strong opponent, and you are still not as experienced as he is."

  "Yeah, yeah, sure." He rolled his eyes, "I could've cut his head off if he stayed and fought."

  "I doubt that. Mongooses usually fight with caution." Emi added, looking around, "They tire you out before striking you down. If it were one-on-one, he would py with you until you are exhausted and then deal a finishing blow. Come, let's go back!" She shook her head. "If he escaped, we won't find him."

  "Is the vilge fine?" Poli asked as he followed her.

  "Yes. The scorpions stood no chance; they had great teamwork, I mean, the vilgers. I am amazed by how seamlessly they can work together."

  "Why is it surprising?"

  "Because usually, demons don't get along with someone from a different tribe. Our animalistic instincts are still strong in us and must be suppressed to work together... Anyway, it is promising; I was sent to help you and deliver a message from my Queen that she wants to meet with you, humans."

  "Really? Awesome!" Poli's eyes fshed with exciting light at once.

  "Dream on." She warned him, "I'll bring someone who is in a position to make deals if necessary."

  "I am an Elder in the Sect!"

  "Pft." escaped a small ugh between her lips, covering it with her hand. "Sure."

  "What's so funny about it?" Poli snorted with a sulking expression, "I am!"

  "Elder? You?" She chuckled, "Please."

  "Hmf!" He sped up quickly, leaving her behind, then Emi just caught up the next moment, and a small race developed between them back to the vilge, ending in an apparent tie...

  …….…..

  "Ouch… careful." Matu moaned while sitting in an underground cave, while a female mongoose, in a young, human form, bandaged his broken arm.

  "That's why you should've waited for us," she grumbled.

  "You are too slow." Matu chuckled while three others were with them in their small base, munching on roasted scorpion bits.

  "We would have succeeded at first if you had waited for us, brother." Another male mongoose demon shook his head, gulping down the meat he was munching on.

  "Yes, I screwed up." Matu sighed, nodding guiltily. "But I know their strengths now. A few of them are dangerous... the rest will be easy pickings if we can separate the two and finish the strong ones off first."

  "But first, we need to wait until you recover," the female scolded him before finishing patching him up. "This is why you don't go without your family, brother! You always get yourself into trouble."

  "And by that, the tribe too. Be more careful," another male nodded, but his voice wasn't condemning.

  "Sorry." Matu smiled, catching the meat his brother threw at him.

  "Rest now." The girl said in a kind, caring tone, "After you return to peak strength, we will finish the mission. If we report back without success, our tribe will be in danger... The tigers are really not in a great mood nowadays."

  "They stretch themselves too far, too thin." Matu rolled his eyes. "Going against the north and now the south? Without help from the foxes from the west, they are going to be screwed... And we all know that the foxes are closer to the wolves than to us. Haah... Anyway… this is not our problem. Yet. Let's do our mission and let the higher-ups worry about this!" he gulped down the roasted meat with a happy, carefree smile.

  …..A few days ago...…..

  "Pretty neat pace they have here," Isha said, sitting in a conference room at a big, round table, sipping her tea while they waited for the Rorik family to appear.

  As she talked, Ren stood before the giant window, watching the garden being tended by maids and gardeners, keeping the big, green bushes clean and forming intricate patterns to marvel at. Behind Isha stood Feyn, now wearing the Sect's outer-disciple clothes, his bald head already partially covered by a short white patch of hair, while his purple eyes were dim and subservient. Next to him stood another of his comrades with the same expression and clothing... The second and st survivor of the Naulin delegation.

  "01, 02, did you feel anything when we arrived?" Ren asked, making them shiver.

  "No… Master. Nothing." Feyn answered, now named 01, shaking his head.

  "We can look again." 02 said hurriedly.

  "Rex, it's fine." Ren giggled while Isha just shook her head. "You made the smart choice; the rest of your comrades, with my Uncle, were more stubborn. Well, they can benefit the Sect and LeiLei while you two get to atone."

  Atone... 01 and 02 had no idea if that was even possible. The continuous experiments and the scrambling of their brains and memories, using them as puppets, were worse than death, and soon they were begging to be killed just to let it all end. When Ren gave the offer to take them in as servants, they accepted without a second thought, finally being freed from the nightmares. It was how now they were following her around, being her complete servants, without the chance to say no.

  It was that moment when the double doors to the room opened, and a middle-aged male walked in. He was about as tall as 01, with a primly trimmed bck beard and short bck hair, wearing a copper crown. He donned a bck and white vest with bck trousers, giving off the feeling of a noble back in the Capital, but nowhere as majestic as anything Ren felt coming from the Aerthus family. He was closely followed by a butler, some other old ministers, and the captain of the guards, dressed in silver armor with a sword at his side.

  Watching them, Ren just smiled and greeted him with cupped hands as the King signaled to his guard to calm down; not everyone needed to kneel before him, and he knew his guests would refuse to do so anyway.

  “My name is Rorik Isvar. Forgive my bluntness, but can I ask why a Naulin descendant is here, in my Kingdom?" He asked sternly, looking at Ren, then at her servants, as everyone took their seats.

  "Oh? No, no, you misunderstood." Ren giggled. "I am not from the bloodline, not officially, at least. Originally, I am from the Empire, now the Head Disciple of the Immortal Wonders Sect. My name is Ren."

  "Hm? Then you are the daughter of Lady Anya?" Rorik leaned back, thinking about it, now a bit calmer than before. "But what is this Sect thing? Is it about the buildings appearing overnight? Help me out here, Miss Ren; how should I take this?"

  "Yes, it is about that." She nodded, "I am here on behalf of the Sect Head to inform you that we have decided to build our headquarters on the isnd within the Shert River. As for how you take it, that entirely depends on how you want to take it."

  "Please, enlighten me."

  "You can take it as you don't need to worry about the isnd anymore," Ren said with a smile, "It won't be a cause of another war, ever again. We are not here to gobble your Kingdom up either, and we don't represent the Empire. We are only representing ourselves, the Sect." She expined calmly, taking a sip from her tea. "We don't need anything from you and don't want anything. Of course, if you think we are here to occupy you, that's also fine by us."

  "Is that a threat?" The minister, responsible for the Kingdom's military, and the guard captain also stood up, grabbing onto the hilt of his sword.

  "As I said," Ren said without looking at them, "Take it as you wish. But let me say this: Our Sect Head is someone you should not provoke." She leaned back after setting down her cup, then fixed her outfit, only looking at the King.

  "Oh, really? Then why isn't he here?" he asked, showing power; at least he tried.

  "Ahaha~" Isha ughed suddenly, shaking his head, "Sorry… It's funny to think someone at the third level of Harmony Realm should come and expin himself to someone like you."

  Her words immediately silenced them, and Rorik's eyes calmed down completely, because after hearing the level of strength she mentioned, he already knew who had returned to the living.

  "I see. So the legend himself came back!" he sighed, smiling. "I can't imagine anyone other than him reaching that level. I understand... We are happy to host him on the isnd," he said with a smile, while his ministers wanted to speak up. Still, as the King had made his decision, they held back their thoughts, especially after the bombshell of information about who was at the helm of this newly emerging power.

  "Our main objective is cultivation." Ren continued, "We are going to accept disciples. You are welcome to send in talented young people if you wish."

  "Oh? You take in outsiders?" Rorik asked as he raised his eyebrows.

  "We are a Sect. We welcome talented people from all genders, races, and backgrounds. Our only criterion is talent. He wouldn't get in if you have no talent, even if it's your son."

  "My son…" Rorik sighed, making Ren and Isha look at each other, clearly feeling something was happening behind the scenes.

  "My King…" whispered the guard captain.

  "It's alright. They may be able to help."

  "We are open to it," Ren leaned closer, suddenly interested, "If there is anything you need help with, our Sect is ready to receive you and work out a deal. But we are not tools for war, so if it were something like go and kill XYZ or simir nonsense, we are sorry, but we are not mercenaries nor assassins."

  "It's about my son." Rorik said, without holding it back, "A secret of my Kingdom, only those here now, my closest confidants, know about it."

  "I'm listening." Ren nodded, but Isha had already seen the growing excitement in how she shifted her body. Secret? That word alone had captured Ren's attention, and the King knew it too, exploiting Ren's apparent eagerness.

  "He is… how should I say it…" Rorik hesitated for a moment, "He is... of... a mixed blood."

  "Her mother was a demon?" 01 blurted out in a surprised voice.

  "01…" Ren looked at him, and he immediately bowed.

  "I'm sorry; please punish me!"

  "Do. Not. Interrupt. Us." Ren whispered, making him tremble before turning back to Rorik. "Sorry about that. There is nothing wrong with being a mixed kid; my disciple is pursuing a fox demon to marry. Soooo... Why keep it a secret?"

  "You ask why?" Rorik looked at the others, befuddled by her question, trying to understand what she was trying to say. Wait... disciple? Huh?

  "Ren here is pretty… open-minded. Just like our Sect." Isha expined before Ren confused him even more, "She already made many friends from the demonfolk's side, and our Sect is ready to accept disciples from their kind. She never took the masses' views into consideration.

  "Why would I?" Ren snorted, but Isha just ignored her.

  "They would shun someone with mixed blood, as being afraid of demons is still how the majority looks at them, but not her."

  "Oh... I see," Ren snapped her finger, realizing what Isha was saying. "So others would be outraged, huh? Idiots. Well… what about his mother? Can you tell us more?" She sat up entirely, focusing her eyes on Rorik.

  "Her mother was a fish demon. To be precise, from a kind of demon folk from the river we call… a mermaid." Rorik began telling them something that he never really dared to utter. Now speaking about it... he felt himself getting a strange relief wash over him, "They usually travel up and down the river once every ten years and avoid most contact with humans. I met her when she was injured and washed up on the shore a few decades ago..." He muttered, falling silent for a moment, getting lost in the memories, "I nursed her back to health and then let her go back to her people, but... Then we kept meeting frequently."

  "Oh? Cute!" Ren said with a giggle, making the King smile and nod his head.

  "We were... young. Then... There was a time when I did not meet her for two years. I thought... She regretted being with me. That was when she brought back a little baby, with human features but with fish scales on his back and chest… and also… he had a gill on his neck." Rorik sighed, recalling that day. "She was badly injured, said her kind wanted to kill the… abomination she brought to life, so she escaped. She told me he was our son... I... I couldn't save her… She… She passed away, her injuries were too serious, and I could not help her." He recounted with tears in his eyes, "As for our child... I raised him to the best of my abilities, and he showed remarkable talent in water manipution." He continued, wiping his eyes, "By the time he was eight, he could cast spells! Clearly, he was different."

  "Fascinating…" Ren murmured, already rubbing his palms together, "Where is he now?"

  "That's the thing… he should be seventeen by now."

  "Should be?" Both Isha and Ren flinched.

  "I don't know where he is or if he is even alive!" The King moaned, covering his face, "Since he was a teenager, he has been troubled by what happened to his mother and by not finding his pce amongst us. We had a lot of arguments... Especially because I couldn't acknowledge him before the masses…."

  "So he left." Ren sighed, rubbing her temple.

  "Yes." Rorik nodded, "He should've headed east, towards the Kingdom, as he heard that some demon folk were being kept there. I don't know what he was thinking, honestly…."

  "Probably, he knew you couldn't go after him, as you are, going by the big picture, still enemies with the Kingdom." Isha added with a thoughtful expression, "You are in luck! Because we are going to the Kingdom too, to tour a little. We can help you look for him."

  "Really?" He snapped his head to the two, "I just want to know if he is fine. His name is Yanda; he is around my height, a little skinny, and his skin has a faint blue hue when you look closely. His eyes are golden, with shoulder-length, bck, wavy hair. If you can see his scales, which are blue and faintly golden colored, he should be easily recognizable!"

  "I can't guarantee anything, but we will keep a lookout!" Ren promised at once, standing up, "I'll also send a report to the Sect Head; we will contact you if we find something."

  "Thank you!" Rorik said, and his face showed hope, maybe for the first time in a long time.

  .............

  As they left the pace, walking through streets filled with merchants selling their wares and people going about their daily routines, Ren couldn't help but keep stretching, humming to himself, and being in a good mood.

  "Now we just need to wait for Lacuss, and we can be on our way!" She moaned with another breath, looking around the streets.

  "Where should we meet up with him?" Isha asked while buying a grilled fish on a stick from one of the vendors, munching it, and feeling just as rexed.

  "Dunno. I was told he would meet up with us."

  It was that moment when a commotion broke out not that far from them. In the middle of it, multiple mercenaries suddenly surrounded one young man. Looking at him, he wore a regur, everyday shirt and trousers, with his blond hair worn in a topknot. He showed a complete disinterest in being surrounded, keeping a calm expression, and wearing a rusty saber on his back that was chipped at multiple pces along its bde. It belonged to a trash pile rather than to a warrior.

  "We already told you this road has a toll on it. You must pay to go through, kid!" The leading thug said, trying to intimidate him.

  "Ah… they are at it again…" the shopkeeper sighed after selling the fish to Isha. "Be careful; those bastards target merchants and travelers with this nonsense…."

  "Well… they are fucked." Ren shook her head. "Huh… his face pretty much looks like my LeiLei's! How weird," she giggled.

  "They are brothers, no surprises here! Should we help him out?" Isha asked back, who had just bought another fish, munching on it, while the shopkeeper blinked, surprised they had ignored his warnings.

  "Nah. I want to see how he handles it." Ren answered, also buying one to munch on while watching the show.

  "Don't you hear me?" The thug drew his weapon, pointing it at Lacuss, but as soon as he did, the second prince had made his move.

  Drawing his saber and striking out was done quickly, and as his enemies were only in the lower levels of the body refinement realm, they couldn't react to the speed of someone at a much higher stage. The chipped bde of his easily cut off the thug's arm, and when his friends reacted, any of them who drew their weapons got their hands chopped off just the same. Their screams and spshing fountains of blood quickly cleared the area around them, while Lacuss just flicked his bde, getting rid of the pieces stuck in the chipped edge, pcing the saber back on his back, and walking up to Ren.

  "Hello." He said only one word before falling silent.

  "Nice work. But that's all?" Ren leaned sideways to see behind him, looking at the screaming people on the ground, rolling in pain, while she was taking another bite from her fish.

  "They pose no threat anymore." He answered calmly, with an almost monotone voice, like a ghost.

  "True. Well, I was told you are weirder than Reignar." She sighed, but Lacuss said nothing more. "Okay, we are ready! Let's get going!" She cpped, ignoring the commotion, and the most interesting thing was that no guard came to question them at all.

  When they left the scene, one shadow also walked away within the crowd, arriving at a tavern and going down the celr where multiple people were keeping inventory of numerous stacked shelves filled with different boxes, clearly wearing various merchants' insignias.

  "Boss, I have something to report," came in the shrouded figure, meeting a bald, middle-aged man who was counting gold coins at one of the tables.

  "Speak."

  As he recounted what happened, their boss's face twitched, then went into deep thought.

  "So no one came and stopped them? Then they have either connections to the royal family or someone high in the guards. Not someone we should mess with. But…”

  "But?"

  "The idiots in the forest don't know about this!" He snorted, "Send someone out and inform them that they have a juicy target they can kidnap and demand ransom from. Just make up something and let them kick an iron board."

  "Won't that…"

  "Enough! They are getting reckless, robbing too many merchants, drawing too much attention; it gets bad for business!" His boss snorted, "Let these dangerous people wipe out our competition... Easy-peasy!"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Also, send out someone to monitor how it goes."

  "It will be done." He retreated, leaving him there, pying with a cold coin

  "I need to thank them ter; they came at the best time to help me out with those idiots~!"