"For what?" Chyuuichi asked.

"C-Calling you all those things. They were awful."

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry! I've been called way worse, I think!" Chyuuichi patted Jyuzou's hair.

"Huh?" The Morian moved back a little. "You're not mad at me?"

"Of course not! I don't even remember most of the things you said!" Chyuuichi smiled. "At the same time, I don't think I get it either. Why would you want to be angry?"

Jyuzou put his hands together.

"We're all future Demonears, eh? Without a solid group, what are we, just some little humans wandering around this huge world, asking more questions than receiving answers? That especially applies to me!" Chyuuichi stated. "Ya wouldn't want to be alone, would ya, Jyuso? It'd get boring!"

"I guess so?" Jyuzou scratched his face. "...and it's Jyuzou."

"Alright, Jyuso, and I'm serious here! Those plants will never satisfy yer hunger. Of course, except the ones that you can eat. DIFFERENT HUNGER!" Chyuuichi signalled. "Ya can't find substitutes for loneliness. Ya need people." he smiled.

"Huh." Jyuzou opened his mouth, shocked a bit. Of course, the best thing to counter his argument was mentioning the fact that, unlike the others, he wasn't going to take part in the exam. However, the Morian seemed to hesitate, at that very moment. As if, there really was nothing to go against in Chyuuichi's simple and effective words.

"Listen to all that wisdom from your mature friend, Chyuuichi, fifteen or sixteen years old, not sure." his arms were crossed. "I always surround myself with people, and I don't even realize it! Maybe it comes down to whether I remember how I found myself there in the first place, but whatever, ya know? Who cares about all that? We're not demons, that's what it is!"

From time to time, the Morian glanced at the water, then back at the Mirillian. "What would-" he spoke "-never mind."

"No, no, tell me, Jyuso." Chyuuichi signalled him to keep going.

"It's nothing." Jyuzou turned around.

The boat started shaking.

"Steady control, Morio," Atomu explained, signalling with his hand.

"You're the one swinging the oars around like a horse's tail!" Morio added.

On rare occasions, Metho seeds would fall into the animals' tails and get stuck in the hair. When Morians stepped down from their horses, they shook their tails around, expecting some sort of reward.

"What?" Atomu squinted his eyes. "I'm not doing anything."

Morio turned around, holding the oars in one place. His eyes widened. "Firstly, why aren't you rowing?"

"There is a small current. Can't you feel it?" Atomu pointed.

"It's taking us backwards!" Morio replied. "Jyuzou!" he yelled into the mist.

"YEAH?" Jyuzou raised his voice.

"Is your boat shaking?!" Morio asked.

"NO!" Jyuzou added.

"Hmm." Morio stopped rowing, putting the oars up, so they wouldn't touch the water. The boat trembled, with each swing causing it to move a little faster,

"Whoa. WHOA." Atomu held onto the sides of the boat, panicking.

"Hm!" Morio immediately stood up, glancing around.

"Get down, Morio!" he shouted.

"Shh! Shh!!" he shushed him, looking down. The boat stopped moving, and small bubbles appeared in the water, but after a small while, they faded with the fog. Morio gulped, sitting down.

Atomu blinked twice, expecting answers.

"I think a few fish swam below the boat," Morio replied.

"Really?" Atomu raised an eyebrow.

Jyuzou's boat approached theirs. "That's weird," he announced. "Fish aren't usually this high up in the waters unless it's icy. They're very wary of anyone swimming through."

"Unless they're running from something!" Morio raised a finger.

"Guys, I don't like this," Atomu announced. "Please stop assuming the worst things, every single time, because they usually end up happening." he put his hands together.

"Well, If something is trying to attack us, it's better to know earlier!" Jyuzou stated.

"Why would denying the inevitable make it any better?" Atomu looked terrified.

"No, stupid!" Jyuzou raised his voice. "We'll know if there's a way to prevent that!"

"S-Stupid? Then why are we just standing in the water, huh?" Atomu asked, pointing. "Start rowing, we can get away from this monster!"

"Who told you there is a monster?" Morio looked at him, snickering

Chyuuichi curiously peeked out from the boat and put his head into the water, seeing a dense navy fog below.

"Start rowing! Gh! Gh!" Atomu put both oars into his hands and started flapping against the water.

"Oh, Shin!" Jyuzou put his hand on his nose. "You call yourself a leader?"

"No one here's the leader, damn it! It's he who made all that up!" he pointed to Chyuuichi. "C-Chyuuichi?"

Chyuuichi took his head out of the lake and turned to the others. Water dripped down from his lips and wet hair, and with an awkward smile, he announced. "There's a big whale below us."

All of a sudden, Morio and Atomu's boat was sent flying into the air, with a massive spear-like attack from below. When the liquids shifted, a massive grey body was revealed, gargantuan in size, with a shining red eye, clearing the mist around the lake. It bellowed sharply, before locking eyes with Jyuzou.

"M-MORIO! ATOMU!" The Morian yelled out, fearfully. When the creature finally fell onto the water's edge, it bounced off Jyuzou's and Chyuuichi's boat, flipping it upside down and sending the two into the waters.

"Gah!" Morio fell onto the whale's body and grabbed a massive fin growing on its back.

"No, no, no, no!" Atomu fell down its slippery body, before grabbing onto Morio's leg and grinding his teeth.

"Th!" Morio closed one eye, trying to climb further.

"DON'T MOVE, I'LL FALL!" Atomu screamed in fear. Morio forcefully put his foot up, further, in a mild panic, yet, he tried to think of any coherent solution. He breathed in and out, heavily. "MORIO! MORIO!!!" Atomu screamed, before letting go of his foot. He landed on a dent in the whale's body, as it shot out into the sky again. Morio's body turned around at an angle, but he still kept holding on. Atomu's eyes shrank, in awe.

"You bastard!" Chyuuichi yelled, taking out a rope from his pants, and throwing it towards the whale. It wrapped around a sharp spike on its head, and he smiled, before flying up and letting go. He punched the whale in its face, joyously.

"Aah! Ah. A." Chyuuichi fell into the water.

The whale groaned, angered, as the spike grew in size and extended into the air, changing into something resembling a tentacle. It reached down, trying to grab Morio, as it hit its own body, piercing through an open hole, reaching out from the other side, and heading straight towards the Paladian. With a tight grasp, it strangled Atomu, who screamed in fear, while Morio managed to take a stand on the fin, shocked. The whale looked up, opening its mouth.

"MORIO! DO SOMETHING!" Atomu kept screaming at the top of his lungs.

"I... I don't..." Morio thought, shaking his head, before reaching into his sheath. With a clenched jaw and Victis in both hands, he stabbed the whale's body, much to no avail. Little drops of blood splattered on his cloak, and he looked up. Yet another long tentacle appeared, reaching into the water and grabbing Chyuuichi's body. He screamed, matching Atomu's yells. Morio desperately held onto the fin, sinking his feet into the whale's body.

Morio quickly looked around, breathing in. He tried to spot Jyuzou around the waters but was unable to find anything. He looked up at the Paladian and Mirillian, trapped in the whale's tight grasp. He gulped.

"Dark deformities." Bancho pointed to a small knife he held in his hands. "They're normal animals, unfortunately, corrupted by a demon's touch. They lose all their beneficial characteristics, and much like demons, turn into something controlled by a primal desire to kill anything on sight. They won't go back to how they once were, and need to be slaughtered."

The tentacles started retracting into the whale's spiky body, and Atomu struggled, shaking around.

"Oh," Chyuuichi announced. "We're about to be eaten!"

"Morio! " Atomu continued yelling. "Do something, please!"

"All dark deformities have a weak spot after all." he inched closer, raising a curious finger. "The jest is, search for a dark red, pulsating spot somewhere in its body. The owl has one on its back."

Morio eyed the same point inside the whale's jaw, attached to the ceiling of its mouth. He breathed heavily, grinding his teeth, and then yelled out in a fit of vigour.

"Morio!" Shouts came again.

He closed his eyes, and without further hesitation, jumped in.

Atomu's eyes widened, and with a loud sound, the tentacles let go of both bodies, which started falling right into the same open mouth Morio was in. When they were about to meet its sharp, big rows of teeth or a tongue that seemed to venture towards swallowing them whole, something happened.

Before Atomu and Chyuuichi could unfortunately follow through, the whale closed its mouth.

The two bounced off its teeth, quickly holding onto any fin at the side.

"M-Morio?" Atomu asked, weakly.

"Sh-shuckles...?" Chyuuichi put his hands together, gulping.

Out of the blue, the whale's body flipped to the side, sending the two flying into the air.

A fountain of blood streamed out of the top of its body, and when the two squinted their eyes, they made out the shape of a stone sword, dancing against the blood.

Crashing into the boat, Atomu turned to the body instantly. Chyuuichi quickly swam out, which was followed by the whale's groan, and a figure proudly lifting a sword inside its massive mouth. A proud smile could be seen on the Morian's face, and when the red eye of the creature met his determined glance, the colour seemed to fade away.

Before the jaws could close, the Morian leapt into the water and peeked his head out after a while, only to be met with the same creature flipping onto its back, with another groan, signifying its defeat.

Morio breathed in and out, heavily. "I killed it! I KILLED THE MONSTER!" he yelled joyously, turning to Atomu.

"Oh, my!" Atomu put his hand on his face. "Morio, don't ever do something as stupid as that again!"

Morio chuckled, before swimming up to the boat and climbing right on.

"Where's Jyuso?" Chyuuichi quickly asked, before turning to the whale's body.

Atomu took out a few dry clothes, which somehow, much like the other bags and equipment, didn't sink with the other boat. He stuffed some of it in Morio's hands, as the Morian it over his head.

"I thought you were a goner for a moment there." Atomu shook his head.

"Sorry, sorry!" Morio grinned. "There was no other way around it, though!"

"Oi, team!" Chyuuichi raised his voice. "Where the hell is Jyuso?" he asked, and the two glanced, right as a few bubbles appeared out from below the water's thin surface. The two's eyes widened, and the Mirillian immediately jumped.

Jyuzou struggled underwater, moving his arms and legs around quickly, trying to make his way up to the surface. The moon's light grew distant and with each second that passed, his body headed into the lake's depths. He tried screaming out, but his voice was drowned by all the surrounding liquid. His vision quickly got blurry, and he closed his eyes, almost giving up.

...and when all hope was seemingly lost, something touched his hand. In a snap and opened eyes, he drifted out from the depths, following suit,

The Mirillian quickly put the Morian's body atop the flipped boat, who coughed some of the water out. Chyuuichi breathed heavily, holding onto the boat's edge, and glanced at Jyuzou, who turned his head.

"Man, did ya give me a fright!" Chyuuichi yelled out. "I'm not a good swimmer either but ya ought to tell the others you can't do that at all!" he climbed the boat as well, sitting atop, as some of it slowly sank. "Guess ya could say that seals the deal!"

"What d-deal?" Jyuzou asked.

"Ya've got debt in me now! Next time I need to be saved, ya better haul yer right over and swim, even if ya can't!" he laughed.

Jyuzou clenched his fists, wanting to add something. In a snap, though, he quickly gave up. Morio and Atomu swam over to the two, and Jyuzou breathed out, turning to the night lights. They were still there. "The boat's flipped over," he muttered.

"Our bags are all here!" Morio added, raising both in his hands. One almost tumbled into the water, before the tired Paladian caught its end, shaking his head.

"Yeah, but what about your armour?" he turned to Chyuuichi, scratching his head.

"Oh, damn it!" Chyuuichi slapped his knee. "I'll be cold now."

"You're already wet." Jyuzou pointed.

"I'll be even colder!" Chyuuichi raised his voice, before glancing down. Jyuzou grabbed his hand.

"D-Don't, okay?" he smiled. "We'll find new armour in Magna."

Chyuuichi sighed. "Okay. Right after we get you new boots as well!"

Both Morian and Mirillian chuckled, followed by Morio's smile.

Then, the white-haired turned back to Atomu, who also beamed, seemingly fighting the earlier exhaustion. All was well were a few ways to describe the current situation, even though there still was quite the road ahead of them. That being said, Morio spotted a wound going right across Atomu's face.

"You're bleeding right here." he pointed.

"Ah, it's nothing." Atomu shook his head, wiping the blood into the boat's side. "I'll get that checked out in Magna."

"Pff. You went on all shocked on me when I jumped into that whale's mouth and your own wounds don't seem to matter that much now, do they?"

"Well, it was a much bigger sacrifice! Don't do something as reckless as that again, Morio!"

"I'm just saying!" he put both hands up. "I'll keep getting back up, and that extends to everyone here. A small wound could be the start of something bad if not cured fast enough. Jyuzou, you got more of those rossas herbs?"

"I think so?" Jyuzou turned, blinking a few times. "How's your palm as well, Atomu?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore." he quickly answered, stuffing his hand into a pocket. "...and as I said, we've got bigger fish to fry here."

"We're gonna eat the whale?" Chyuuichi asked, and Morio's eyes lit up.

"That was..." Atomu sighed, and Jyuzou chuckled. "I meant, your life isn't worth sacrificing, Morio. You still have so much to see and live for." Atomu shook his head. "Coming back to those other words, you can always count on us."

"I'm strong, aren't I?" he asked.

"Yes, obviously," Atomu added, and Chyuuichi raised his fist.

"You lot won't be there forever, though." he shook his head.

"For now, don't be afraid to ask for help," Atomu explained. "That's what I mean."

The four glanced at each other before at least a lukewarm smile appeared on each face.

Morio breathed out, before staring forwards, with furrowed brows. "The fog's cleared!"