Death... and me

Roan's mouth twitched in response to Rean's words. "Then what? Is Ariel there too? Ursula perhaps? Go to hell!"

Rean laughed as he replied, "Hahaha! You say that, but you do know your things, don't you?"

"Hmph!" Roan snorted in response but didn't answer.

As for Kentucky and Red, they had no idea what Rean and Roan were talking about. Well, Rean and Roan didn't answer their questions anyway.

Soon after, Rean's group made their way into the Demon Beast Underwater City. Sure enough, the city was full of high-level Sea Demon Beasts. With Rean's Spiritual Sense bending skill active, there was no lack of Stage Six and Seven Demon Beasts there. Those at Stage Eight were also present.

However, above all that, Rean could feel the Spiritual Sense coming from a Stage Nine Demon Beast, a stage which was no weaker than what Phex or Xaon had achieved.

Eventually, they arrived in front of the palace, which seemed to be responsible for the huge maelstrom above. Now that they were close, it was possible to tell that the whirlpool wasn't only made with water but also Spiritual Energy. Or, to be more precise, Spiritual Energy was what allowed the vortex to form.

There were a few demon beasts guarding the giant doors of the palace. Fortunately, Rean's group didn't even need to talk with them. That's because they came forward themselves to do the honors. One of them asked, "Are you Kentucky and his humans?"

Sure enough, compared to Kentucky, Rean and Roan were not seen with good eyes.

"That's me," Kentucky replied. "We came here for the Spiritual Energy Field mission passed by the Demon Beast Alliance." Kentucky then showed the token from which they received the mission.

The demon beast in front nodded before looking at one of its subordinates, a shark-type demon beast. "Bring them to Master Darian's place. He's already expecting them to come."

The shark nodded in response. "Yes, sir." Following that, he turned around while glancing at Rean's group, telling them, "Come with me. Master Darian has everything ready for you."

Rean's group didn't know what the shark was talking about, but they still made their way there nevertheless. They passed by several giant rooms, halls, and other various locations in the palace. Along the way, the demon beasts all looked at them but didn't say anything. From the looks, receiving anything other than Sea Demon Beasts inside was a very rare occasion.

Eventually, Rean's group reached the center of the underwater palace, where they saw a few demon beasts waiting for them. Immediately, they recognized one of them. "Senior Phex."

Yes, the Stage Nine Phoenix was there as well. "Oh! So you've come. That's good, that's good." Phex then came forward and patted Kentucky's head...completely ignoring the twins and Red's existence. "How has your life been so far? Is everything okay? I've given you quite a few hard missions in this war, but that's because I wanted you to improve."

Kentucky nodded in response, replying with a tone of satisfaction, "I'm doing well. Thanks to the battle experience and the rewards from the merit points, I've already reached the Middle Stage Five level."

"Hahaha! Yes, yes. I can see that." Phex's smile disappeared as he looked at the twins with a stern face. "At least it seems like you're feeding him with the Heaven-level materials. That's good. Minokawas need a lot of them, or their defensive capabilities will drop in the long term. For your own good, you better keep treating him well."

Rean bitterly smiled, saying, "Ahem...I've always fed him with Heaven-level materials ever since he was born. Senior Phex has no need to worry about it."

Phex's expression relaxed a bit after hearing that. Right after, a man with a huge black shell on his back approached their group, saying, "So, you're the Minokawa Phex talked about, huh? It's good to see another Divine Demon Beast appearing on our planet."

The man seemed extremely old and frail. However, Kentucky could tell that he was terrifying. At the very least, he knew that he wasn't his match at all. Not to mention that he didn't lose in terms of bloodline either. With that said, Kentucky couldn't help but ask, "And you are?"

"Oh! You can call me Darian. I'm a Divine Demon Beast, just like you. To be more precise, I'm a Black Tortoise," the frail old man answered. Obviously, just like Phex, he was using his human form at the moment.

Rean and Roan already guessed that, though. After all, Darian's Spiritual Sense was slamming on their Spiritual Sense bending skill. "I'm sorry to interrupt you guys. However, we came here for the mission. We're quite curious. What is this Spiritual Energy Field repair thing? We heard it has something to do with a forbidden zone at the center of the continent, but that's about it."

Kentucky nodded, continuing, "Indeed. I also heard that my blood would be necessary. Is that true?"

Phex and Darian looked at each other before looking back at Kentucky. "It's true." Following that, Darian waved his hand while looking at the other Sea Demon Beasts in the room. Those demon beasts understood the signal and quickly made their way out of the hall, leaving only Phex, Darin, and Rean's group inside.

However, Darian looked at Rean's shoulder. Or better yet, he looked at the small Blood Rabbit. With their difference in cultivation, it was very obvious that Red was a Stage Six Demon Beast in Darian's eyes. "I haven't heard about you. What are you doing here?"

Red, who had kept silent until now, had some difficulty explaining, "I...I came here to he-help the twins and Kentucky." Kentucky was a Divine Demon beast, but his aura was only at Stage Five. That didn't put any pressure on Red at all. However, Darian and Phex were different. They were both Stage Nine Demon Beasts. Their pressure was so suffocating that it was even hard to breathe. "I've b-been getting well-acquainted with them, s-so I decided to pay it b-back with this mission. I d-didn't expect to find e-esteemed seniors in this place."

Rean almost laughed right there and then. Red always used 'this lord this and this lord that.' But in front of Phex and Darian, he didn't dare try to appear mighty.

Phex then shook his head in response, saying, "You can go and wait outside as well. We can't discuss the next topic with you in here."

Red didn't dare to complain as he quickly made his way out after that. Rean's group didn't mind since Red came because he wanted to. Whether he was here or not made no difference for them. At the very least, not while Phex and Darian were here.

Finally, Darian looked back at them and explained, "The Spiritual Energy Fields were built with the help of Divine Demon Beasts' blood. They are what feed the Forbidden Zone at the center of the continent."

Kentucky immediately asked, "And what is it that you have in the Forbidden Zone?"

Phex continued, "There, you will find the Bestial Sacred Ground. It's a holy land for us demon beasts. That place has been there for as long as any of us can remember. It goes even further back than any records we have. It wouldn't be wrong to say that it's at least tens of thousands of years old."

Rean's group was taken aback as Rean muttered, "Now, that's what I call old."

Darian continued to explain, "You would find about it sooner or later as long as Kentucky continued to live in this world. The Forbidden Zone, or the Bestial Sacred Ground, is the reason why our Demon Beast Alliance doesn't lose out to the Zasfins and their Soul Marks. It provides us with the strength necessary to challenge the Zasfins back."

It was then that Rean understood. "I see...so that's what's happening here." Rean then looked at Roan before saying, "Ever since we started to fight demon beasts on this planet, they've always been much stronger than the demon beasts back in Sunkan. We thought it was because of the harsh environment, but it seems like that wasn't the only reason."

Roan agreed with Rean, replying, "Indeed. That makes a lot of sense now. After all, there was a huge lack of Spiritual Energy, so it was weird that they were stronger instead."

Darian nodded in response to their words before saying, "It's good that you understand. As for how the Bestial Sacred Ground operates and things like that, I'm afraid we can't tell you about that for now."

Roan then asked something else. "That's good and all. But what does it have to do with the Spiritual Energy Fields? Also, why does it need to be fixed?" Sure enough, Roan was more interested in how their mission was related to it.

Phex explained that part, saying, "The Spiritual Energy Fields have always been able to provide enough Spiritual Energy to the Sacred Ground. However, due to a sudden change in there, the Spiritual Energy Fields are not enough anymore. Because of that, they're breaking apart. Your mission now is to help us fix these same fields. Naturally, we need Divine Demon Beasts' blood to do that."

"Sudden change?" Kentucky asked.

Darian shook his head in response, saying, "You will know in due time, but not now."

"Okay...but what about my blood? Why can't it be you two?" Kentucky was obviously curious about that.

Phex then shrugged his shoulders, answering, "Simple. That's because it takes a very long time for demon beasts at our level to replenish our blood. We're in the middle of a war, so we can't allow ourselves to grow weak. However, for a Stage Five Minokawa, and a very young one at that, a couple of days will be enough for you to return to your peak condition."

He then smiled soon after as he continued, "Just so you know, Gulan's doing the same thing in another Spiritual Energy Field, so don't think that we're using only you."