Death... and me

The last member of their group, Red, was doing a lot better. He did appear in a dangerous situation, just like everyone else. However, he quickly found a place to hide and activated his concealment skill. If even Transition Realm and Stage Nine Demon Beasts couldn't detect him before, the enemies around him were obviously even more helpless.

'Everything's so different...' thought Red as he moved around while trying to not attract attention. He could conceal his presence, but he couldn't disappear from someone's sight. 'Nevertheless, the Blood Pond was located in the middle of the Bestial Sacred Ground. Even if everything has transformed to look like this, that much should still be the same.'

Red then pondered where the center of this realm would be. Fortunately, he wasn't underground, underwater, or high in the skies. He was simply on the surface... although many demon beasts rampaged around. Red then looked at the skies, trying to find some clue when suddenly, he remembered something. 'Wait, the stars!'

Back when he was inside the Bestial Sacred Ground, it was nothing more than a gigantic cave with the Blood Pond at its center and the deactivated portal behind it. However, Red still remembered the stalactites on the ceiling. They dripped with the blood of demon beasts all the time, filling up the pond. Red could tell that the red stars in the sky that was neither night nor day seemed to be in similar positions. 'If that's the case, the centermost star should be above the center of the pound, or at least close to it.'

Of course, Red thought that he might be wrong. It's just that he didn't have any better idea of how to guide himself at the moment. 'If Rean and Roan heard my explanation about the Bestial Sacred Ground carefully, they'll probably notice that as well.' With that in mind, Red began to make his way through the field as he followed the center star in the skies.

A day quickly passed...or so the Zasfins, demon beasts, and humans inside the Bestial Sacred Ground believe. The crimson sky never became darker or brighter, so it was hard to tell how much time had passed, especially for Roan, who was underground. Fortunately for him, that wouldn't last long. 'I've been taking the paths that lead to the surface until now. I don't know how deep I was sent, but I refuse to believe one entire day of travel isn't enough to come out.'

*Boom!*

*Roar!*

With a deafening sound, another body fell on the ground. This time, it wasn't a golem but a demon beast that died at Roan's hands. Well, that's not considering whether they were alive or not to start with. Just like the previous time, Roan saw the demon beast turn into specks of red light before disappearing completely.

Roan then turned a corner before seeing light at the end of one of the tunnels. That light was red, just like the glow on the walls of the cave he was in. Nevertheless, it was different from everything Roan saw so far. 'Is that the exit?'

Roan didn't get ahead of himself and activated Rean's Spiritual and Light bending skills to disappear completely. He knew he couldn't use Spiritual Sense in this place, but he wasn't sure if it was the same for the other forms of life. First of all, he didn't know if there were any intelligent lifeforms in this place to start with.

Roan trudged carefully, getting closer to the exit. However, once he finally arrived there, he didn't find the path to the surface as he had hoped. Instead, Roan ended up inside another enormous cave. It's just that there was something there completely different from the things he had noticed so far. 'What is this?'

At the center, there was something that looked like a sphere. It's just that the thing was enormous even if compared to Roan's own body. It was also this sphere that was the one responsible for the different red lights. The orb seemed to be filled with a red cloud, which made it impossible to see any deeper into it. Roan looked around, and couldn't see any demon beasts protecting it, so he began to approach it. After all, it wasn't like he had any better idea at the moment.

Roan then stopped right in front of the sphere as nothing happened. He walked around it a few times, trying to see if there were any traps or protection formations around it, but the lack of Spiritual Sense really made things difficult to judge. 'I guess I can only try.'

Roan touched the sphere, which immediately elicited a reaction. The red cloud inside started to dissipate, leaving behind what seemed to be a red symbol that glowed redder than anything Roan saw in this place so far. Its shape was similar to the letter Y, but with its aperture on the middle top part much wider. Last but not least, there was a small mark between that Y aperture. Seeing that, Roan thought to himself, 'It looks like an...eye?'

Roan only had the time to think of that when suddenly, the 'eye' started to shine even more. Roan felt some kind of energy quickly assaulting his body, or more exactly, his soul, trying to take control of it. In any case, Roan didn't panic. 'Hmph!'

Dark Element quickly gathered and attacked that energy mercilessly. Dark Element could corrode and destroy everything. That foreign energy was definitely not an exception.

The process of destruction and invasion continued for a few more minutes until finally, the eye inside the giant sphere started to lose its brightness. The energy assaulting Roan's body had also subsided little by little. In the end, the energy was gone.

Roan narrowed his eyes as an idea appeared on his mind. 'Is this eye the one responsible for the demon beasts' souls?' Sure enough, just like Rean, Roan also understood that the demon beasts had souls. 'I need more information.'

Somewhere else, in a place where no one could reach, a pair of crimson red eyes suddenly opened. If one looked closely, those eyes had the same shape as the one Roan saw in the sphere. At first, the eyes seemed to be devoid of any emotions. Who knows how long had it been since this pair of eyes last opened. However, clarity soon filled them, as the being behind it looked in the direction Roan was located, thinking to itself, 'Dark Element?'