‘What the hell is this idiot doing? Why is he laughing along with that ox demon? Why did he not kill him when he had the chance? Instead, he is playing buddy-buddy game with him. Could it be…He actually does not have a plan?’

Kizilkoz felt as though her gut fell off on the floor with a dull thud.

‘I heard from father that some leaders are more brawn than brains, is he something similar to that? Strong enough to kill a Demon King, but with the mental capacity of a simpleton? No, with everything he has done so far, he could not be just mindlessly doing everything at random.’

Unfortunately, that was exactly what he was doing.

But looking at everything that Ren accomplished so far, none could blame Kizilkoz for her misunderstanding. As far as she knew:

Jou clan had strong members, which is why Ren crushed them and had their leaders submit to him as loyal servants.

Kas clan was a threat, which is why Ren pretended to be captured, only to bring down their leader with a single swing of a frying pan.

Human beings were potentially dangerous, so Ren burned down their entire settlement during the Second Trial.

Even the Yaks were for the sake of supplying the Tengu clan with food supplies.

Every time he does something, it is sharp, decisive, and effective.

‘If this is following the same train of thought, then Ren being in this clan’s territory and not killing them outright could only mean one thing. He wants to use them!’

Bukka clan only respects the strong. So demonstrating his overwhelming power in a coliseum against countless ox demons and the leader of the Bukka clan himself was a perfect way to show that he was being serious.

Now, the leader of Bukka clan was treating him as an honorable guest. More than that, Robos was now terrified, with his pride shattered after his humiliating defeat.

Strangely, Robos Bukka’s behavior eerily reminded Kizilkoz of Korkau, a former leader of a Jou clan that suffered a rather similar fate to him.

After what Ren did to him (Accidentally), Korkau developed a rather obvious trauma because of it.

More often than not, Kizilkoz would see Korkau’s hands trembling when he was in Ren’s presence. It truly was that bad.

‘Come to think of it, when I saw Nar Kas exiled, after Ren talked to him, he looked like he met the Devil himself’

Nar Kas’s expression of pure terror was rather memorable sight to see, back then Kizilkoz thought it was funny, but now she could only gulp at what must have transpired between Nar Kas and Ren Karatengu.

Initially, Lotus looked at Ren with the same look of fear that Korkau Jou and Nar Kas developed, but over time, it had somewhat faded away. As far as Kizilkoz knew, Ren was a good actor; he only showed his scary side when needed.

Robos now ended up joining a list of demons Ren traumatized with his actions.

While Ren is not the most powerful member of his clan by far, he is without a doubt the most dangerous.

The scars he leaves are not physical but are of mental kind. Unless they were his allies, he somehow ended up toppling over nearly every demon that got in his way.

‘Maybe that is his way of showing his authority and power. A carrot and stick approach.’

He beat Robos up so badly that the ox demon was visible shaking in front of his guest. Not that Ren even noticed. Evidently, that was the stick.

And then, Ren took a softer approach by taking mercy on Robos, which was a carrot, in a sense.

‘Even in such a seemingly simple situation as sharing wine with each other, there are so many layers upon layers of schemes…he could be planning any one if not all of them. How can I predict this guy?’

The more she tried to see through Ren’s thoughts, the more Kizilkoz grew terrified at schemes Ren could possibly be planning.

In reality, there were no schemes. Not even one.

Just a cowardly crow demon with a severe sleeping disorder.

“You know, I am something of a cook myself, do you wanna have a taste of my dishes?”

“That would be delightful”

Hearing that, Doran and Kizilkoz exclaimed at the same time.

“NO!”

Doran put Ren in a firm choke hold from behind by slipping his arms beneath Ren’s armpits and locking his hands behind Ren’s neck, while Kizilkoz ended up stuffing an apple that was on the table into Ren’s mouth.

Both of them knew how much of disaster of a cook Ren was, and they were not about to have him make the situation worse by poisoning the leader of another clan while they were in that clan’s territory.

“Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no, Lord Robos. Lord Ren was just saying things because he was hungry, right, Lord Ren?” Kizilkoz was saying this through clenched teeth; it was obvious she was struggling not to lose it.

Reluctantly Ren nodded and Doran let go of his choke hold.

“If it is not a secret, Ren, could you tell me…are you the strongest one in your clan?”

Robos asked, intending to gauge the ability of the once declining Tengu clan.

Bukka clan was strong, in terms of raw power; they could even rival the Altyn clan, and with the power of Land Kraken, potentially exceed it.

But Ren somehow managed to make a contract with a summoned beast that was far more powerful, a Chaos Hydra that made a short work of the Land Kraken.

With his strength alone, Ren was able to defeat Robos in a single combat, though Robos was weakened after fighting Doran.

It would be realistic if Ren was actually at the pinnacle of his clan, at the very least then it would make sense.

Robos essentially wanted a way to mend his wounded pride.

“Oh no, by far not. I am actually one of the weak ones”

A moment of silence passed.

One could hear the wind pass by them with its gentle breeze.

“Eh?” Robos was not sure he heard it right.

“Yeah, I am not really proud of it, but that’s the truth”

“WHAT!!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?”

“I wish I was” Ren nervously scratched his cheek.

‘This is bad, really, really bad. If he is considered weak, then how strong are the rest of his clan members? I need to make sure they are appeased or it will be the death of my clan!’

Robos took off the medallion hanging off the chain on his neck.

With a small bow, he offered it to Ren.

“Lord Tengu, please accept this small token as a gesture of goodwill”

“Uhm, thanks, Robos” Ren was not even aware of how his honest words ended up scaring Robos half to death.

Technically it was true, without Demon Lord Mode, Ren was practically the weakest one in his clan.

But because he had a fine tuned mana control, Ren managed to master such difficult skill.

Even with Demon Lord Mode at full power, Ren was still weaker than Akjan, Lotus, Korkau, Sento, and Master Korgan.

Now Ren ended up with Robos’s medallion on his neck.

‘If I don’t find a way to resolve this, this demon will be a greater threat than the Altyn clan! What can I do…I know!’ Robos arrived at a seemingly perfect solution.

“Lord Tengu, I mean, Ren, Let’s become sworn brothers!”

“Ehm, okay” Ren was obviously not following Robos’s frantic train of thought.

They proceeded to exchange cups of wine.

“Henceforth, we shall be sworn brothers, Ren.”

“Yeah, sure thing, Robos” Ren was not sure what he was doing.

“If one of us is to emerge victorious in the Trials and become the king, then the other one shall submit to the authority of the victor. But until then, our clans shall be allies and not harm one another. Do you accept?”

Robos wanted to seal it with a contract, so he extended his right hand.

Without a hint of hesitation, mostly because he did not think it through, Ren shook Robos’s hand.

“I accept”

“Intruders! Master Robos, be careful! They managed to beat the guards stationed outside and teleported!”

“What?” Both Robos and Ren looked to the side to see what the commotion was about. Their hands were still locked in a handshake.

At that moment, a circular circle of darkness manifested on the ground near the arena, and from it emerged many familiar figures.

Akjan, Lotus, Orin, Shaula, Lumina, Korkau, Karli, Aijasyl, Sirinke, Sukesir, and Sento teleported through that mass of darkness.

“Ren! We have come to save you! What the…?” Aijasyl’s voice fell silent as she saw Robos and Ren shaking hands. “What the heck is going on here?!”

“Are they yours?”

“Yep, sorry about the commotion, Robos”

“No worries, Ren. It is the least weird thing that has happened today.”