Death... and me

Because they had to pick out the crimson spheres at random and make sure they weren't being tracked, Rean's group took over twice as much time for each sphere. However, none of them cared about it. They had to keep themselves alive first before heading to the area Kentucky and Celis were keeping an eye on.

In any case, the method was effective. There were two instances where the demon beasts noticed their presence and tried to trap them. However, Frin howled from far away, using his Spiritual Energy to amplify his voice. With that, Roan and Duran immediately retreated before getting any closer to the crimson sphere. Rean and Frin, of course, left the area straight away as well. They didn't even try to come back to the sphere and instead chose another one.

They also found which sphere Darian and Xaon were protecting. After all, those two stayed very close to the spheres. To prevent any issues, they didn't try to force their way and destroy their sphere. Instead, they also ignored those spheres and switched straight away.

The red-eyed being almost cried, seeing each of his Soul Submission Orbs be destroyed. Of course, only it knew the spheres' name. However, it was as mentioned before. Rean's group didn't know of it, so they simply called it crimson spheres or red-eyed spheres. In any case, the creature could only see what the demon beasts in his control could or the area around the orbs. The realm was not his, and he wasn't in full control of it either. Because of that, Spiritual Sense was impossible for him as well. What really made him mad was Rean's Light bending skill. Because of that, he could never tell whether the twins' group was close or not.

One might think that with fewer crimson spheres, the creature could increase the defenses on the others since the demon beasts in those places were free. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. For each crimson sphere destroyed, all the demon beasts linked to it would disappear. In the end, he couldn't increase the defenses at all! Of course, those at the Stage Nine level would have their soul taken away by the red claws when that happened.

In the end, the creature could only think of another solution, which was to take more of the demon beasts protecting his dwelling to help defend the spheres. 'These are the only ones not attached to any Soul Submission Orb, so they won't disappear even if all spheres get destroyed,' he thought.

Kentucky and Celis, who were still flying at the border of the illusion formation covering the lake, immediately noticed their departure as well. "More demon beasts are leaving..."

Celis nodded in response. "It seems like everything is going as planned. However, could it be that the enemy in there isn't considering that he might become vulnerable?"

Kentucky pondered over it for a bit before saying, "From what Roan said, each destroyed crimson sphere would probably weaken the other party. It's more like he has no choice. He can't let all of the spheres be destroyed."

Celis had to admit Kentucky's words made sense. "Well, that's considering Roan is right on that part. Don't forget that the enemy might be doing that to attract us here."

Of course, Roan, Duran, Frin, and Rean also understood that possibility. Nonetheless, one thing was certain. The crimson spheres were absolutely important for the red-eyed being. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent Phex, Xaon, and Darian to try and stop Rean's group.

However, Kentucky suddenly noticed something different near the border of the island, in a position where there weren't any demon beasts. "This..."

While all of that happened, there were two demon beasts who still hadn't fallen for the crimson spheres' soul-controlling properties. At the moment, these two demon beasts were very close to the Blood Lake as well. It's just that no one could notice their presence, Kentucky and Celis included.

Those two demon beasts were Red, obviously...and surprisingly, Gulan! As for how they got together, that's because Gulan was lucky. Back then, Red was making his way to the region below the centermost star when suddenly, he noticed the sounds of battle coming from the distance. He was very confident in his concealment skills, even more than Rean was on his own. Because of that, he approached the area without any worries.

It was there that he saw Gulan fighting the realm's demon beasts. Gulan seemed to be in pretty bad shape as well. Red then pondered over whether he should help Gulan or not and decided to do so. After all, this was an expedition with both the Zasfins and the Demon Beast Alliance doing their part. Any extra help for their side would be helpful. Besides, Red was also at the Stage Six level, just like Gulan.

Red delivered a fatal injury to one of the demon beasts attacking Gulan with his concealing ability, quickly tipping the scales. Gulan was delighted to see Red there and was also lucky that no other stronger demon beast had appeared so far. With both working in tandem, they were able to defeat the demon beasts before Red activated his concealment ability to hide him and Gulan together. It was basically the same thing as he did back with Rean when they entered the Zasfin city to talk with Sevinia.

However, it wasn't like Red and Gulan hadn't found the crimson sphere. In fact, they even got very close to one of those. But it was at that moment that Red's golden horn shone with golden lightning, destroying the soul-controlling power that assaulted him and Gulan at the same time.

Gulan was frightened by that power and immediately flew far away, carrying Red on his back. When Gulan asked how Red nullified that power with his golden lightning, Red shook his head in response as he told him, "I don't know. My horn's power activated on its own. I'm as surprised as you. If not for that, I would have fallen victim to that power as well."

However, both Red and Gulan understood one thing. Red had no recollections of his past before the Blood Lake. However, Rean and Roan mentioned the possibility that Red might have come from the Realm of Gods. After all, Phex guaranteed that no one other than him or the other Stage Nine Demon Beasts should be able to enter that place. That theory seemed far-fetched in the past, but Red and Gulan started to think that it might actually be true.

However, they didn't dwell on that possibility for long and continued their journey. Eventually, they arrived at the real Blood Lake that Kentucky and Celis were watching. It's just that they got there way earlier than Kentucky and Celis did.