"Meow!"

As I was following the guide to meet the Dragon Clan Leader, Light let out a soft voice as he emerged from my upper armor, staring at the sun in appreciation. It was obvious that he was happy to be finally out of that gloomy space.

'He was in a hurry for a reason…'

As soon as he confirmed that there was no more danger after I had managed to gain total control of the demon's mental space through our mental link, he couldn't even wait in the comfy bag any longer as he ran over and dived into my armor, which he defined as his alternative lair. Which was why I directly left after being done with my 'investigation'.

'Well, I couldn't agree less.'

Although I took my time to search the demon's memory for its importance, I was more than relieved to see colors again along with some warm and bright sunlight. I even intentionally took my time walking to my destination to enjoy the change.

At this point, I didn't feel like I would ever choose to go back there even if to just take advantage of the time difference, it simply didn't feel like it was worth it.

Having finally made our way into the building under the still recovering gazes of the lesser humanoid dragons, the guide stood frozen in place in front of the Dragon Clan Leader before getting flustered once more.

"Clan Leader! Great Elder!"

He almost forgot to bow thanks to the disorienting event that was my return…

"Alright, leave us alone."

Despite the little episode taking place, The Great Clan Leader didn't really seem to mind or even notice it, he was too busy staring at me with cautious eyes that he didn't spare the guide a single glance since our entry.

'It's obvious that he is wary of me…'

"Understood."

The guide hesitated like he had something to say, but he still left quickly after another bow, allowing silence to prevail in the hall.

Ignoring the burning stare of the Dragon Clan Leader, I inspected the Great Elder instead, whose eyes were on me as well.

However, unlike the Dragon Clan Leader, his eyes seemed to be more gentle in comparison. Moreover, his eyes strayed from me soon enough.

Though I didn't know why there was such a disparity in their 'actions', I was at least half sure that the Dragon Clan Leader must know something about the nature of the Corruption Space. As for how he came to know about it...

'Is it the Fortune Teller again…?'

Since I couldn't exactly confirm what happened while I was away, I couldn't tell if he already knew about it or simply received a hint from the mysterious 'Fortune Teller' during the last week.

Nonetheless, what confused me the most was just how they seemed to be completely ignoring the demon that I dragged in with my left hand. He probably deserved more stares, especially considering their supposedly limited knowledge when it came to demons.

"ِAzure! I'm glad you are back safely! We could do nothing but watch you disappear, I was personally greatly worried…"

Seemingly getting a nudge from the standing Great Elder, the gaze of the Dragon Clan Leader cooled down a bit as he spoke in mixed formalities.

Despite what he said, there was still a hint of doubt in his eyes, he was probably trying to lure me into a trap in the case I was what he expected me to be.

'Understandable… but annoying.'

"I'm also glad to be back, but let us keep the formalities up to that. Are you really sure you knew nothing about this?"

Just like how the demon let his guard down due to the 100% success rate of the Corruption Space, the same situation was occurring but in reverse. Even though I appeared in perfect shape, dragging along a demon, the Dragon Clan Leader almost certainly expected me to be a 'puppet' from his manners.

Regardless, I still felt somewhat annoyed by this blatant behavior. After all, I had practically taken a shot for this 'Dragon Clan', a little expectation would have felt better.

"What do you mean to say?"

The Dragon Clan Leader raised his eyebrow in response to my equally blatant accusation, appearing to be quite confused in my change of manners.

"It's not that hard to understand. Your friendly neighbor 'Fortune Teller' advised you to escort me here for a reason, didn't he?"

I wasn't planning to go on a rage or something like that. Despite this being unfortunate on my part, me being the one to get transported to the Corruption Space was undeniably the safest course of events. The 'Fortune Teller' himself was probably just playing like a 'commander' of sorts who knew the 'lore' and had to play around it to 'win'.

However, since I was met with this annoying welcome, I decided not to hold back when stating facts.

Thud!

"I may not know who the exact target maybe, but I had to take his place as this guy's target. Don't simply tell me that was just a coincidence?"

As I threw the half-dead demon to the Dragon Clan Leader's front and spoke with a deep tone, I felt slightly better as my calmness was restored…

'This is...'

Cool-headedly looking back at the conversation, I found myself to have been overly agitated. Some of the agitation was legit thanks to the stress caused by being locked in the Corruption Space, but most of it wasn't even part of my nature.

'Another abnormal situation…'

Moreover, looking at the faces of the two in front of me, I completely confirmed the abnormality of the situation.

The hints of suspicion that I observed in the Dragon Clan Leader's face seemed to be nothing but an illusion, he was simply focused on the demon that I just threw away.

'Could this be…'

Turning my gaze to follow theirs, I felt a moment of epiphany as I examined my own mental space, reaching a quick conclusion.

'Another hidden danger…'