A few demon knights walked down and collected Sagran’s body and guts. None of them said a word. All the demons and imps silently walked away into darkness. One demon knight with a black sash over his red armor took a final look at everyone. He was a very tall and slender build hidden behind harsh, bright red armor. His thin, glowing green eyes peered out of his helmet visor like a distant campfire in the pitch black. He punched his chest and bowed his head at everyone. He walked over to Shoyo and towered over him by a solid four feet. He knelt down and shook Shoyo’s hand. Shoyo was beyond confused, but felt a sense of respect between him and the towering demon knight.

  The demon knight stood tall and looked at all of Naga Squad. There was a faint chuckle from underneath the helmet. His right hand glowed yellow and a violet portal opened behind him. He turned around and began to walk into it. He stopped one last time to look at Shoyo.

  A surprisingly soft voice said, “Best of luck, champion. You know the price of it's full power. May she guide you.”

  The demon knight walked into the portal and disappeared.

  Soon, the coliseum everyone was in disappeared and the ruins of the mountain city of Zin reappeared. The mountain wind, the cold, the frost, and the view of the land sprung forth once again causing everyone in the squad to rub their eyes to adjust to how bright the scenery was.

  Clara looked at her pocket watch and noted, “We arrived here at about midday. Fought about ninety demon taints for thirty and the fight with that demon lord only netted us… Ten seconds of Earth time… What the hell?”

  “Portal dimension and temporary dimensional spaces tend screw with time a lot,” Gil said after he finished bandaging Remi and himself.

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  Clara walked over to Gil looking at Remi with concern. Gil nodded his head reassuring her that Remi was okay. Shoyo stared at the sword and was flabbergasted. Ren calmly put her katana back in its sheath and sauntered over to Shoyo curiously.

  “What the… What was that feeling,” Shoyo asked himself. “Was it me? Or was it…”

  “You okay,” Ren asked Shoyo startling him.

  “I guess.”

  “No,” Ren said with more authority with a hint of caring warmth in her violet eyes. “Are you okay, Sho?”

  “I… I’m,” Shoyo stammered as he noticed the look on Ren’s face. It was a look that he was all too familiar with. It was the look his stepfather always gave him. It was a look Ren naturally picked up from Argos and her late mother. It was a look of caring concern.

  Shoyo smiled and said, “I’m fine, Ren. I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine… Just thankful that… Good job, sir,” Ren said as she turned her head with a faint blush.

  For a brief moment, Shoyo could have sworn he saw a tear well up only for Ren to immediately suppress it back into her through sheer will power and spite. He put the sword of Zin away on his back scabbard. He gave quick side hug to Ren who in turn shoved him away whilst hiding a grin.

  He asked aloud to Clara and Gil, “How bad is he?”

  “Couple of slashes, concussion, broken nose and tooth, and few cracked ribs with a sprained ankle,” Gil replied. “Honestly, not bad all things considered. Internal bleeding most likely, but we need to seek a cleric for that.”

  “Can anything be done?”

  “Have one healing potion, but that’s a temporary fix. I used one on Gil,” Clara said looking through her bag. “We should’ve bought more form the merchant.”

  “Okay,” Shoyo replied with a sigh. “Give Remi the potion and patch our wounds best we can. We move out to the nearest village before night. We need to heal.”