Death... and me

*Crack...*

*Shatter!*

Another crimson sphere soon fell on the ground, which weakened the red-eyed being even further. However, it didn't care anymore since it knew its subordinates would be arriving where Rean's group was pretty soon. 'Hmph! Let's see how you deal with your own friends. Well, that's whether you notice anything different at all. Hahaha! Also, they won't be the only ones participating in the party.'

Duran retreated once again, arriving beside Rean and the others. He then passed a shard of the destroyed sphere to Roan before asking, "How is it, Roan? How many more crimson spheres can you feel?"

Roan concentrated on the shard's energy before responding, "There are at least another 70 or so. I might be able to find more once we gather more different sphere shards."

Frin and Rean were satisfied with that. "That's fine, then. We only took three days to destroy 31 of them, so it won't be long before we get rid of all of those spheres."

Suddenly, Duran and Frin noticed a few shadows approaching them from a distance. Because they were in open land, it wasn't hard to spot possible enemies. Not to mention that with the destruction of the last crimson sphere, all the demon beasts under its control had disappeared already.

However, Duran and Frin's expressions changed completely differently when they saw the new group ahead. "Phex, Darian, Xaon!"

Duran immediately distanced himself from Frin. Although he was confident in combat, it would be hard to deal with four Divine Demon Beasts at once. Not to mention that each one of them would already be complicated to defeat one on one.

Frin, on the other hand, just laughed out loud as he understood what Duran was thinking. However, he quickly ignored Duran and began to approach Phex's group. "Hey, what took you so long?"

Phex laughed as well before answering, "Hahaha! That's my question. I've been looking for you guys everywhere. However, this damn land is just too big, so it took me some time to find Darian and Xaon. You're the only one left if we don't consider the common Stage Nine Demon Beasts that came with us."

Frin nodded and was just about to join Phex's group when all of a sudden, Frin accelerated at the very last fraction of a second. At the same time, Rean and Roan jumped off of Frin's back, not intending to get in his way at all. Yes, Frin attacked Phex without thinking twice!

'Silver Streak!'

*Puchi!*

Frin's attack pierced right through Phex's body, taking a huge chunk of Phex's right side in a single strike. As for Phex, he looked at Frin with an expression of disbelief. He wasn't the only one. Darian and Xaon had the same expression. Let alone the red-eyed being observing everything with its senses. Because it took control of the souls of Phex's group, it could use them to see what they saw. "Wh-why...?" Phex could only ask as his body fell on the ground.

There was one more person shocked by that development, which was Duran. He was ready to fight the four Divine Demon Beasts or maybe flee if necessary. Frin's actions had definitely come out of left field for him. 'Could it be...?'

Frin then snorted in Darian and Xaon's direction as he said, "You truly are out of luck. I would have totally fallen for your pretense if it was any other circumstance, let's say...when I was alone. Unfortunately for you, we have Roan here."

Roan, who used the time Darian and Xaon were distracted by Frin to run far away with Rean, confirmed using a voice infused with Spiritual Energy, "I don't know if you guys are the real Darian, Phex, and Xaon. However, one thing is absolutely certain. Your souls are fully corrupted by the energy from the crimson spheres. Your bodies and expressions seem fine, but your minds were already gone a long time ago."

Duran immediately rushed to Frin's side after hearing Roan's words. "So it was actually like that. To think that I thought they looked like the real deal to me."

Rean agreed with Duran, saying, "They most likely are since the life force in their bodies are the same as I felt before. Unfortunately, their sentience is already gone."

Frin couldn't help but show an angry expression as he looked at Darian and Xaon, saying, "Who are you? I know you're controlling their bodies. Are you that afraid to come out?"

Darian and Xaon's shocked expression then changed instantly. Their eyes suddenly became crimson red as their faces showed no emotion whatsoever. "So, it was because of that black-haired boy again, huh? Whatever! It's a pity that the Phoenix is already dead, but these two here should be enough to hold you in place. You'll pay for everything you did to me."

Duran and Frin narrowed their eyes after hearing that. If it was only Darian and Xaon, they were very confident in their fighting chances. After all, Darian was already very old even though he was a Divine Demon Beast, an aquatic type at that. This terrain was terrible for his abilities. Xaon was the only real threat at the moment. Nevertheless, all the Stage Nine Demon Beasts they fought so far were way weaker than when they were alive.

However, Darian and Xaon didn't waste time talking anymore. They quickly reverted to their Black Tortoise and Basilisk forms as they attacked Frin and Duran.

'Undersea Domain!'

'Toxic Domain!'

Their domains spread out, quickly reaching Frin and Duran's position.

'Silver Moon Domain!'

'Soul Severing Domain!'

Of course, Duran and Frin didn't wait for them to prepare and spread their own domains as well.

In that instant, a huge battle started between the controlled Black Tortoise and Basilisk against the Zasfin and Silver Fenrir.

Surprisingly, Roan ignored the fight. He felt that things weren't that simple. 'Rean, activate the Light bending skill. We need to hide and get as far away as possible.' Rean nodded and did as Roan said. Soon after, Roan shouted at Frin and Darian, "You two, be ready to flee. I don't think we're alone. We will meet again in the agreed location." With that, Rean and Roan disappeared from everyone's vision completely.

As for Frin and Duran, they understood what Roan was talking about straight away. "Shit!"