‘This was a base of Pishak Priests, the very same ones who attacked my clan’s territory and massacred nearly everyone within it. They are the ones who killed my kin… I should have been here to take my revenge, not stand here at the aftermath!’

Looking at the leader of Karatengu clan, Kizilkoz could only scowl in hate.

‘Damn you, Ren Karatengu! You took away my family, my freedom, and now you even took away my chance at avenging my clan! Now I understand why Nar Kas feared you and why Korkau Jou surrendered to you, you broke them, body and mind until there was nearly nothing left. And now, you are doing the same to me and my sister, and everyone you are manipulating….but it will not work! I have seen through your schemes, I shall not despair, nay; I shall bid my time, use you to reach the final trial. At that point, the contract will be fulfilled, and I can finally slay you, for good’

She drew a caricature of Ren smiling with a silly face on the ground before stabbing it with her sword.

Looking up, she saw Ren using one of the burning pieces of wood to cook, scrambling food in a wok.

‘He is using what was left of a human village in order to cook food? They may be humans, but really? He turned their entire base into ashes and dust, and now he is using the leftover parts of their village in order to cook food? Just how cruel and merciless can you get?’

Seeing all his clansmen around him rejoice made Kizilkoz sick to her stomach.

‘Not only he, but his entire clan crazy, celebrating the destruction of an entire village….wait, are they eating his cooking?!’

“Stop!” but it was too late, several Oni, who were unfamiliar with Ren’s cooking abilities, took a bite of whatever horror he concocted.

“Uhm so delicious!”

“It’s amazing!”

“Thank you so much!”

Apparently Oni liked his cooking.

After hearing that, the members of Tengu clan joined in, and Ren began to cook like he never had before, swinging the wok around as he mixed the contents with extreme vigor.

Reluctantly, Kizilkoz ended up eating his dread as well, but much to her surprise, it was not so bad…

‘It’s actually very good…He actually made something decent for a change…’

“Let’s call this dish Burn-Burn Stir Fry, named in honor of this burned down place where it was made”

Everyone shouted out.

“YEAH! BURN BURN-STIR FRY!”

‘Oh goodness, they are completely crazy. Even if they were enemies, did anyone hear of respect for the dead? Naming food after the village he destroyed, that’s just wrong…’

Kizilkoz put her hand on her face, watching her enemy use the remains of the human village as a cooking stove was a new low, even for him.

‘What the hell is he doing?!’

As Kizilkoz watched Ren start juggling empty woks, her right eye started to involuntarily twitch.

‘I feel sick. Being near that demon is not good for my health…’

Then, she heard a sound of a wok hitting someone very hard, causing the said someone to yelp in pain. Apparently, Ren ended up hitting someone while swinging woks with his hands.

But the strange thing was that a second ago, there was none there.

Yet, out of nowhere, a form of an injured Sun Lion demon emerged, holding on to her head in pain.

Approaching her, Ren met face to face with the now visible demon.

“Huh, you look familiar….Ah! I remember you, Noi, Aris Noi, right?”

As soon as she heard Ren’s voice, Noi cringed in fear.

She was on the ground, trembling, trying to stay as far away from Ren as possible.

It was obvious that had she not been surrounded by enemies, she would have fled within a moment’s notice.

“Please kill me swiftly”

“What?” Ren’s confusion was rather strange. She expected him to strike her down once he ended up dispelling her invisibility once again.

“Young Master! Please wait! Please, hear me out!”

Succubus demon’s voice rang out as she rushed in to defend Noi, coming in between her and Ren.

“Young Master, please have mercy on her. She might not be an ally, but she is not an enemy either. She helped us, and for that, we cannot return her kindness with cruelty. I beg you, Young Master, please let her live”

“Uhm, ok. It’s not like I was going to hurt her or anything, besides, she still owes me a bowl of soup”

Shrugging his shoulders, Ren joined the other Tengu clan members as they were dancing over fire.

Looking up at Shaula, with tears in her eyes as she faced her savior, Noi whispered.

“Thank you”

“You are very welcome”

“I thought I had repaid my debt to you, but now I am indebted to you once again, Lady Shaula”

“I sincerely doubt that. Had Young Master truly wanted you dead, he would have killed you on the spot, but it seems like he decided that letting you live would be a wiser choice.”

Then, she had an idea.

“Maybe he is thinking of having your clan join ours? What do you think about that?”

Noi frowned slightly before answering.

“My pride tells me to refuse, but I know if I do so, my clan will be finished. Even if Ren Karatengu will not destroy us for refusing his offer, the other clans, especially the Altyn clan will hunt as down, and kills us. We have lost many of our strongest warriors, we will not survive with the forces that we have left. At this point, if we wish to survive, it seems like my clan has no other option but join you. But I must speak to my clan once the Second Trial is over”

“I understand. If Aris clan chooses to join the Tengu clan, then we will do our best to support you”

“If that does happen, can I pledge to serve not Ren Karatengu, but you, Lady Shaula?”

“I suppose that would should be ok, but you will still be indirectly serving the Young Master”

“As long as the one I answer to is you, I can bear any hardship for the sake of my clan. I just can’t imagine myself serving him; I ….just thinking of him makes me afraid…”

Noi had to admit, just seeing Ren Karatengu again after he almost killed her once again nearly made her faint on the spot.

He was one scary demon, more fearsome than any other. But unlike the Altyn clan, he was capable of mercy, while the Phoenix demons thought of her clan as nothing but food.

Phoenix demons were a terrifying bunch not only due to their sky high pride, but also due to their belief that every other demon was prey for them to rule or consume.

The more demons they consumed, the stronger the Phoenix demon would become.

That was one of the reasons that Phoenix demons who wanted to be supreme while enslaving every other demon, clashed so much with the Crow demons, who lived to protect their loved ones.

Of course, Phoenix demons kept the fact that they consumed other demons a secret, but Noi knew due to the tales of one of the Aris clan members who escaped enslavement by Altyn clan, that the Phoenix demons saw them as nothing more than lowly servants at best and at worst, food.

The one member of her clan was missing an arm and large portion of his shoulder after the Phoenix demons had their way with him.

He told her that they performed a ritual where they consumed the hearts of the still-living demons, and those that were left alive were maimed, to be used as snacks.

But of course, as one of the powerful clans that were within the Kalkan kingdom, they kept the matter of consuming other demons a secret.

What Noi did not know was the fact that the ritual was what the Phoenix demons learned from Pishak Priests, but since they were demons themselves, they could perform the ritual without any repercussions.

Due to this, many of the Phoenix clan members grew unnaturally strong after consuming the hearts of the other demons.

Phoenix clan was desperate to have one of their members become the Demon King, which was why; many of them used any means necessary to achieve their goal, even if it meant consuming their own kind.

Of course, only some members chose to do this kind of ritual, those that were desperate for power such as Kin Altyn eagerly did the deed.

But some, like the first son of Altyn clan, Zirc Altyn, who were disgusted with the practice, chose to become strong with their own strength.

Yet the fact remained, if the Altyn clan member was to become the Demon King, many clans will meet their demise, and those that surrender will be reduced to nothing more than slaves.

Noi was clearly aware of that fact.

Ren Karatengu may be a demon who severely traumatized her, twice, yet, compared to the Altyn clan, he was a safer choice.

“I understand, but if your clan submits to us, we shall make sure you will be safe and be able to prosper”

“I couldn’t ask for anything more, Lady Shaula”

* * *

Soaking wet from head to toe, Altyn clan members were not having the best of days.

First, they were caught off guard by the Holy Water that came out of nowhere, hitting them with an overwhelming impact.

The Holy Water caused severe injuries to even the strongest of them.

Fifth son of Altyn clan, Raku Altyn, ended up perishing in Holy Water, and so did many of their servants.

When they managed to emerge out of Holy Water, they soon ended up encountering the Pishak Priests.

Despite them being allies in the past, the Pishak Priests were especially angry, screaming that the demons have destroyed their village, wanting revenge on every demon they encountered.

Armed with Holy Spells and silver weapons, Pishak Priests had an enormous advantage over injured phoenix demons, resulting in Phoenix demons having to flee after a humiliating defeat.

Weakened by Holy Water, Altyn clan suffered heavy losses here as well, resulting in the death of the fourth son, Lang Altyn, and several of their subordinates.

Now, only three sons of Altyn clan remained, along with four of their servants.

Zirc cringed in pain as his burnt up features were steadily healing.

As a Phoenix demon, he could heal from most damages, but the Holy Water weakened him, resulting in his regeneration being far slower than normal.

‘How did this happen? We came here to win, but we lost so many soldiers and even pure bloods….’

Zirc could not possibly know that his clan’s entire ordeal was caused at the hands of a single drunk crow demon.

Now only the first, second, and third sons of Altyn clan’s patriarch remained.

The only reason the three of them managed to survive the Holy Water despite taking near fatal damage to their bodies was due to the Phoenix demon’s innate power to regenerate. Plus, they managed to shield themselves using their mana, but even then, the damage was nearly fatal.

Unlike the three of the pure blooded Phoenix demons, the servants had much weaker self-regeneration, the fact that only four out of fifty survived was a testament of their inferiority.

But while three of the elite Phoenix demons would be healed of most of their injuries within a couple days, the servants did not have such luxury.

Concentrating his mana upon his body, Zirc Altyn managed to accelerate his healing process, regrowing large amount of feather and skin tissue within minutes.

After the process was complete, he proudly unfurled his wings, assuming his True Demon Form, he proceeded to fly up.

Soon, the other Phoenix demons followed his suit, even at great pain to their bodies; after all, the servants knew that if they disappoint their master, he will not hesitate to end them in an instant.

* * *

“Congratulation for destroying the Human base, Young Master!”

“Boss, we never thought you would find us here, of all places, you have my gratitude!”

“Pishak Priests will know better than to mess with our clan ever again!”

“Yeah, you have totally annihilated them!”

As Ren listened to them with a nervous smile, he thought.

‘So this was a Pishak Priest base, huh, and I took it down, wow. I did not mean to do that. It feels just wrong to be congratulated for destroying another village….Oh well, as long as my clan is happy’

Looking at his clansmen dancing with sheer happiness along with the Onis, Ren smiled.

‘This may have been a fiasco, but at the very least, all of us are alive, somehow. I just hope I did not screw up the Second Trial by burning down this village….I guess there is no use crying over spilled milk’

Looking at what was left of the human village, Ren sighed.

‘Here burns a twig, then a branch, and everything else that follows….’

Ren put his palm on his face.

‘They think I did it on purpose…this is messed up….but I guess none needs to know that I was fooling around completely drunk, not knowing what I was doing. Come to think of it, what was I doing this entire trial? Don’t tell me I was drunk during nearly the entire Second Trial!? Oh…I really hope none is mad at me for ditching them just to go on a drunk jaywalk…’

But then, he felt Akjan squeeze his hand.

Seeing her next to him put Ren’s heart at ease.

He could not tell what her smile could mean, but he smiled back anyways. Now, hand in hand, they were staring at the sky, with three beautiful moons illuminating the darkness of the night.

“Ren?”

“Yes?”

“Can I please hold your hand like this for a little bit longer?”

“Sure thing, watching the night sky with someone sure is nice…”

“Yes”

Especially if she is next to demon she fell in love with….

Without Ren noticing, Akjan leaned her head against his shoulder, not even noticing that after they sat down, she ended up falling asleep.

Knowing her beloved was safe and right next to her warmed her heart, making her feel at peace. Soon afterwards, Ren ended up falling asleep as well, with Tengu clan members seeing the two of them snuggling together. By now, every member of Tengu clan knew of Akjan’s obvious affection for Ren, and since Ren did not reject it, many in the Tengu clan thought of them as a couple.

Funnily enough, the only one who did not know of Akjan’s true feelings was Ren himself, unaware that the demon he thought of as his best friend harbored much deeper affections for him.