A few minutes after Morio's encounter, the four, plus one, on Atomu's back, set into the dimmed hallways hearing faint sounds coming from the other end. Following that hint, they trod, with Jyuzou leading the line, holding the crystal.

He was quick to point out though, that this wasn't the best idea, by yelling out at Chyuuichi, who stuck to his back like a fly to a rotting juni. Bancho took the light from his hand and vowed to carve the path, while the others went along.

At many points, Chyuuichi suggested taking different routes, describing what he called a 'Mirillian instinct', but after a few words, they concluded that heading forward and up, if possible, was the best solution, roughly judging by the layout of the earlier caves.

Atomu stayed in the back, obviously a bit slower. He muttered at one point that the Mirillian should be the one carrying Zuimu since his strength is the greatest, but Chyuuichi argued that she was too tall and would slip off his back. Somehow, this argument seemed valid to the others, and it wasn't that Zuimu weighed much, Atomu was just tired.

Despite the heavy atmosphere, it seemed that the things between them suggested a strange calmness, perhaps from all the chaos caused by one single member. Even though, after a while of obvious talks, it went quiet, and the Mirillian felt a bit stressed.

"Do you know this song?" Chyuuichi stopped, turning to Atomu's tired face. "Through, through, through, to the woods, woods, woods. Into dark, dark, dark, out to spark, spark, spark!" Chyuuichi swung his fist back and forth, feeling the rhythm, and Atomu raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," he replied.

"Awww! What?!" Chyuuichi pushed his arms to his sides. "It's a Paladian classic! It was invented in those forests shmackadookadoo! Ora... mood?"

"Orawood." Bancho raised a finger, correcting his mistake, with a tough smirk.

"How, Atomu?!"

"I'm sorry...? How do you even know Paladian songs, to begin with?" Atomu stopped, straightening up, while Bancho and Jyuzou wandered off. "You claim to remember nothing, yet, here you are."

"Songs are different, Atomu!" Chyuuichi said. "They stay through thick and thin, and never let go."

"What?!" Atomu seemed slightly offended. "I-I forget all the lyrics after a d-day!"

"Well." Chyuuichi grinned, looking at his chipped fingernails. He used a small rock to shorten them earlier. "I can see all those words ya spouted coming back!"

"That's stupid." Atomu pointed out, playing with his hair.

"Exactly what I'm talking about!" Chyuuichi yelled out, before turning on his foot, while Atomu's expression shifted. "Through, through, through, to the woods, woods, woods. Into dark, dark, dark, out to spark, spark, spark!"

The Mirillian continued his ballad.

"Oi, Chyuuichi," Atomu said, and he stopped, with a loud sigh.

"Yes?"

"Back then. When..." he played with a strand of hair. "When that demon was close to killing us. Were you really scared?"

"Huh?" Chyuuichi tilted his head, leaning closer.

"Like... did you think we were going to die?"

Chyuuichi pursed his lips and looked to the side.

"Or were you just playing along and waiting for me to admit that I'm stupid?" Atomu gazed up. "Was this your plan all along?"

"Hehe." Chyuuichi laughed. "If you put it that way!"

Atomu gulped. "Really?"

"If it makes you sleep at night, then so be it, Atomu. But do you think someone as stupid as me would come up with something like that?" he asked.

"Oh, my." Atomu covered his face. "If I thought of that in the first place, then I'm not stupid!"

"Never mind that!" Chyuuichi uttered, before turning around again. "Where are Jyuzou and Bancho?"

The Morians reached a great, open hall, which Morio once trod through. Only now, was it covered in gloom, and they had to use the crystal to analyse their surroundings. They turned to the tall ceiling, and then back to the depictions on the wall behind them.

"It's a demon's home," Bancho muttered, while Jyuzou put his backpack down and took out his journal. "The plate the demon stands on represents its desire, to crush humans underneath with its power. Demons are aware of their strength, sometimes, I'd say, even cocky about them." Bancho put his hand on the wound on his knee, created by the Los-Los Hammer. He rolled his eyes, before turning to Jyuzou, who had his head and hand in the book, noting down.

He looked up, oddly shocked.

Bancho chuckled. "It's not a flower, plant, or animal."

"M-Morio isn't here to note interesting things on paper or make the map of the place he found himself in." he went through the pages. "He'd want me to do this," he uttered, showing Bancho the book, and the map of Jyuzou's travels, with ascending levels marked with numbers in the darkness and fades near corridors he avoided.

"Wow," Bancho muttered. "I'm sure he'd love it. Although..." Bancho started walking over towards the unlit torches hanging from the pillars. "He'd use colours instead of numbers."

"Well." Jyuzou closed the book, and Bancho put his hand over the torch's tip, feeling bits of warmth. "I don't have the colours."

"Hoo..." Bancho breathed out. "Topia Torches. They burn a dimmer light, but the topia wood below smoulders for days, and darkens when pushed at the top. Topias are, quite common in Malikan." The Morian stepped to the side. "Which means we're in the orange quarter of Mount Aria." he smiled.

Each quarter of the mountain was named after the surrounding formations. For Shimori, it was the lot quarter, for Morta, the harm quarter, and for Lignoria, the ora quarter.

"Y-Yeah. Wonder Flora talks all about topias." Jyuzou replied. "Their leaves can be crushed into small herbs."

"...and its wood can be changed into a brown dye. Perfect for colouring," he noted, pointing to that book. "The more you learn." Bancho nodded, and Jyuzou did the same, sighing as if relieved.

Suddenly, a loud, whistling wind went through the open door on the other end of the hallway, travelling from the top of the small stairs and towards their shoes, then through their hair.

"It's-" Jyuzou spoke, but was quickly shushed by Bancho's gloved hand. The Wise moved forward, taking sure steps towards the darkness. He slowly put his hand on Saxyo, eventually taking it out of the sheath, and when he was close to the entrance, the whistling grew louder and louder. For a moment, too, Bancho heard whispers of a familiar voice.

His eyes shrunk.

Through one word, he was suddenly cut off by a scream coming from the hallways behind them.

***

Morio's eyes widened, upon hearing the words he thought would never grace his ears. Shi Hon took a step back, turning around and revealing his long, great horns. He moved a part of his hair, revealing one, small white eye, shining atop a black void.

Morio didn't budge, but his entire body was shaking. He couldn't utter a word, and he wasn't to do a single thing.

"Interesting." Shi Hon admitted. "Did fear paralyze you so badly?" his voice was unchanged, soft, warm and deep, but something deep inside the phrases he uttered made Morio's heart beat faster and faster.

Shi Hon moved behind Morio, before putting his hand with long sharp nails on Morio's shoulder. The boy yelled out, flinching and immediately jumping back, sweating. He almost tripped but remained steady, and balanced.

Shi Hon kept eyeing the Morian, with a rather bold expression. Morio started turning around, pale, and met the demon, face to face.

Shi Hon looked at his ruined clothes, the closed and fading wounds. He took notice of the emblem hanging off Morio's neck, and the two swords in their respective sheaths.

His eyes widened.

"Take your weapon out."

Morio blinked, grinding his teeth.

"You're a Demonear. Don't you want to fight me? Come on, take it out." Shi Hon took a step forward and Morio's reaction was of lightning speed.

Gloria was now in both of his hands, and his furrowed eyebrows pointed to his pointy nose, which, much like his eyes, focused on Shi Hon.

His hands were still shaky, but his grip was tight and steady.

Shi Hon smirked, analysing the blade's sharp edge, and then glimpsed at Morio.

"Come on." Shi Hon signalled with his hands. "Strike. Hit me," he muttered.

Morio moved forward, still a trembling mess, and swung his weapon, already out of Shi Hon's reach.

"Oi." Shi Hon muttered, walking up to Morio. "Closer, like this." he put his hand on the weapon and pushed its tip against his finger. "Fight."

"AAAGH!" Morio struck, but Shi Hon moved back, with an annoying grin. The Morian kept waving Gloria back and forth, all while making small zips around the room, but all it took for Shi Hon to avoid his attacks was to just step or jump back, right when the blade would connect.

Morio wept out, still holding onto Gloria as it almost fell out of his hand.

"What's the matter, fella?" Shi Hon asked, extending his arms to the side. "Too fast for you?"

Morio breathed in and out, heavily, gazing at the demon.

"I'll be nice and slow now." Shi Hon added. "Make sure to hit real good this time."

Morio kept pushing, but it seemed that even if the demon halted all his moves, he would still be out of reach. There was a pressuring and a sinking feeling in Morio's head like all the happiness in the world was sucked out and placed right where Shi Hon's smirk stood.

He wasn't going to give up, though.

His eye moved to an angle where he thought he'd be at an advantage, but, unfortunately, when he took the next step, Shi Hon swayed to the side.

"Ah." Morio gasped, but before he could turn around, Shi Hon kicked him in the stomach, twisting his leg and the sharp nails on his bare feet pierced through Morio's skin.

The Morian fell to the ground, coughing out blood. He put one arm up, trying to stand, but Shi Hon's leg pushed his head down.

Morio hit the rocks below, shaking.

"I thought you would at least be strong enough to land one hit on me. To even... get close." Shi Hon signalled with his fingers and then pushed Morio's body forth. His eyes focused on the emblem, which almost tumbled to the ground, now once again in the Morian's grasp.

The white-haired boy felt an insane pressure on his back. It was burning, but no blood came out, and no bones were broken. Shi Hon's words passed through one ear and left with the second.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting you here, Morio." Shi Hon smiled. "I guess Daress just couldn't do the job and scoop some off the ground. Then again, when all came crashing down, he just went in for the kill. I told everyone that was now what I wanted." Shi Hon bit his lip, and his eyes widened. "A fight. A chance to strike. Struggle through so the prize feels fair, but you're pathetic. A complete disaster. I didn't expect you to be this weak." he uttered. "It'd be like taking candy from a child."

With another kick, he pushed the Morian towards the entrance.

"Pick it up." Shi Hon pointed to the weapon on the ground, with a serious expression. "Come on."

Morio crouched, still eyeing Shi Hon while reaching for the sword that lay before him. His small fingers wrapped around the handle, and once again, he stood with a weapon, facing humanity's greatest enemy. A smile visited the demon's face, from ear to ear.

"One last chance."

***

Atomu held Chyuuichi's hand, trusting his judgement and his greater eyesight to spot things in the darkness.

The Mirillian kept mumbling about the stones that made the walls and ceilings of the corridors they passed through, even pointing out the different angles certain stones bent. Atomu was quick to remind him, though, that there would be no way in hell that the Paladian would make any shape out in this gloom, so naturally, they looked for a way to create some light.

This wasn't Chyuuichi's problem, so he sat down for a moment and looked up, in awe, while Atomu blindly dug through his own, red bag. Earlier, The Paladian was already set on searching but was tasked with carrying Zuimu instead. Only now did it seem the viable time to act, so he put her body down behind a rock he felt by hand and finally found a small box of matches.

"Aha!" he sounded, while Chyuuichi tried his best not to laugh, for whatever reason.

The first match was a dud, as Atomu failed to locate the sharp line on the circular box used to start the fire, but succeded on the second one. The caves lit up, barely, but Atomu could finally make out the Mirillian sitting on the ground and some of the surroundings. Squinting his eyes, he trod forward.

"Carry Zuimu for me, please." Atomu nodded.

"Nuh-uh."