Lymar Village.

8:30 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

Kashi squeezed his hand tight and revealed a mad grin as he examined the prompt. His fists trembled as he struggled to contain his excitement. Haha! Another method for him to get stronger! And this was one the Adjudicators would never be able to mess with!

"What's with the stupid grin?"

"Mother of—" Kashi cursed as he turned around and glared at the silent Shadow. "You really..." The daeben released a sigh and then shook his head in defeat.

"Huh? You are not going to scold me this time?" Shadow questioned with an 'innocent' gaze.

"Whatever. It's not like it'll change a thing," Kashi replied with a heavy snort. "More importantly..." the daeben said as he looked at the party who were waiting for him. Larsial stood between Agamios and Darian, all of whom were staring at him with equal parts awe and fear.

No one could make sense of what they just witnessed. Where did Kashi take those people to? How did he get those blight monsters to listen to his commands? There were thousands of questions, and not enough mouths to ask them.

Larsial finally regained her composure and was about to step forward, when a loud voice interrupted her.

"You! You're alive!" Rayatha Thorn shouted out, forcing everyone to turn their attention to the bound druid. For a chained villain, Rayatha still looked somewhat clean and unperturbed. Apparently, the centaurs had refrained from beating him, even a little bit, despite their hatred of him. The only reason for this was that, according to Larsial, Kashi had suggested a vague interest in this man.

Capture, not Kill, had been the order given by Kashi.

Darian, for his part, only now recalled that he had indeed brought Rayatha with them for Kashi to pass judgment on. The daeben's brilliance had caused his brain to blank out. The centaur angrily clenched his fists and punched the druid's when he heard Rayatha's remark. "Shut up! You dare curse Kashi-dono!?"

The Dimeritium shackles stopped the flow of mana and ki in the body of whoever they bound. This reduced Rayatha's strength to that of a slightly strong average man. As a result, Darian's punch struck harder than intended and smashed a couple of the druid's teeth.

Rayatha, however, nonchalantly spat out blood and teeth, and then turned to Kashi with excitement in his eyes. "You really survived! Haha! That's only possible if you've become immune to the Blight!" The druid crawled toward Kashi, uncaring of his unsightly appearance. "You! Your blood must have a cure. With a few experiments, we can make sure the blight never harms anyone for eternity."

"We?" Kashi's gaze turned cold as a heavy pressure crushed Rayatha's shoulders and pinned him face flat to the ground. "Have you so soon forgotten what you did? As you said, I do have the cure for the blight..." Well, this wasn't entirely true. Although Kashi could remove and command the blight, it wasn't like he would always be alive. He did not have a way of extracting a cure for permanent use. But Rayatha did not know that. "Why do I need you?"

Rayatha's eyes widened in shock as he realized his situation. To Kashi's surprise, rather than beg for his life, Rayatha's body relaxed, and he let out a satisfied sigh, "I suppose that is true. I have always known I would end up like this one way or another. At the very least, the blight has finally been cured. Whatever happens to me from here on out is of no importance."

The druid's behavior greatly intrigued Kashi. From the beginning, Rayatha had only seemed interested in studying the blight. Even now, at the end of his life, it was still the only thing on his mind. Darian and Agamios watched, stunned, as Kashi walked over to Rayatha and sat on the ground.

Kashi took out a bottle of Yarcon Juice from his inventory and poured himself a cup. He looked at the prone Rayatha and said as he raised the cup to his lips. "I have never said I would dedicate my life to finding a cure for the blight." Kashi downed the cup and poured himself another. "Tell me your story. You have until I empty this bottle. I will decide what to do afterward."

Rayatha trembled, but then began to narrate his life's story. It was a basic story anyone would have heard a thousand times. A young boy ran away from home to live in the woods, where he made friends with many creatures with high intelligence. While living among the beasts, Rayatha one day came across a druid who praised his affinity for nature and then taught him the basics of being a druid.

Rayatha's skills blossomed very quickly, and it wasn't long before he could converse with the animals, further deepening his relationship with them. Many years later, the forest was hit with a blight outbreak. At first, only the trees were affected, but then, it seemed this strain was exceptionally potent, as even beasts got infected.

As one would expect, Rayatha's friends fell to the disease, and he was forced to kill them to reduce the blight's spread. Ever since then, he swore to find a way to cure the affliction. He eventually traced the source of this particularly dominant strain to the pit where Kashi met him. He began his experiments, which required the infection of many plants and beasts. Somewhere along the line, he was approached by members of the Chaos Order. After a quick battle to determine his worth, he joined their ranks in return for resources and manpower to hasten his experiments.

Apparently, the Chaos Order was after something they called Chaos Energy. Rayatha was not sure what it was used for or how they harvested it. All he knew for sure was that they needed blighted monsters armies and a method to control them, which Rayatha provided.

"...That is all I know," Rayatha said with a neutral tone.

Kashi looked at the cup in his hand. "The final drop." He said as he arched his head and poured the final drop into his mouth. The daeben placed the cup on the ground and glared at Rayatha. "You made it just in time," Kashi coldly teased as he quickly processed the information to draw his conclusions and decide on his next course of action.

Kashi shook his head and let out a sigh. "You. You do not sound sorry at all. You mourn your friends, sacrificed the friends and families of so many others. Do you not regret your actions, even a little bit?"

"I do not regret my actions," Rayatha stated with a flat tone. "If I had to do it all over again, I would make the same decisions."

"Even if it would result in your death?"

"Even so."

"Why?"

Rayatha raised his head for the first time and gazed into Kashi's eyes. The druid's eyes were intense and prideful as he declared, "Because it was precisely these set of actions that led you here. You, the one man who can actually cure the blight."

Kashi raised a brow. "What?"

Rayatha shook his head. "I know how you Summoned operate. You do not go to an area unless there is a chance of profit or method to increase your strength." The druid's gaze pierced into Kashi's eyes. "Especially someone as strong as you. Would you have come to this forest if the centaurs had not personally sought the help of any passing being in hopes of defeating the big bad guy."

Kashi remained silent. He knew the druid was telling the truth. Because of the nature of his main quest (world conquest), the daeben had considered Rosendun done and dusted. He had already shifted his attention to broader projects and did not have time for leisurely exploration.

If Absalon had not informed Kashi of the centaurs, he might have never found out about them until several months later. By then, maybe some other team or guild would have resolved the issue. However, whether they would have been able to cure the blight itself was another thing altogether.

"You..." Kashi muttered as he looked into Rayatha's steadfast gaze, and then let out a sigh. "Fine, I understand. I know what to do with you."

Darian's eyes trembled and he could not help but ask, "Kashi-dono, could you please let us know your intentions for this man?"

Kashi looked up at the centaur. He could see the fear and hatred in the proud warrior's eyes. Clearly, Darian was worried Kashi would be too lenient on Rayatha. Especially, after this man caused his people so much disaster and pain. The daeben leaked out a small smile and assured the centaur, "Do not worry. I understand your fear."

"But he speaks the truth," Kashi reluctantly stated with a sigh. "A cure for the blight needs to be synthesized to remove any chances of this reoccurring in the future. As the foremost researcher into the Blight, his expertise cannot be wasted through execution." Kashi senses the atmosphere drop several degrees, but continued, "However, I cannot forgive his crimes either, and as such, I have decided I shall exile him to a barren location in my world. He will find the cure that we need, and then live out the rest of his life in solitude."

Kashi raised his head and met Darian's gaze. "So many lives were lost in this battle. The loss of one more will not bring them back, or balance out what has been wronged. But at least, we finally have a chance to bring an end to a disease that has plagued the world for thousands of years. I firmly believe that is a cause worth dying for. Do you not?"

Darian took in a deep breath, and then slowly released it. He glanced at Kashi and then said, "You are correct Kashi-dono. I was short-sighted in my anger and did not consider the bigger picture." He solemnly bowed. "I am sorry. Please forgive me."

"There is no need for apologies," Kashi said with a shake of his head as he rose to his feet. "The world is a nasty place, where greedy people like me use 'the bigger picture' to justify doing immoral things." The daeben walked over and patted Darian's side as he said, "It is essential that pure people like you who see the world differently remain the way you are. People like you ensure we do not lose our humanity. Never change that, no matter how many times people like me talk about the bigger picture, or what's best for the world."

With those words, Kashi patted Darian once more, greeted Agamios, and then began to make his way back to the chiefs with Larsial and Shadow. Forty minutes had passed since he left. By now, the preparations for Drixlia should have been completed.

As Kashi's figure disappeared around a bend, Darian looked at the silent Rayatha with a complicated expression, and then at the retreating daeben.

"He's a strange one, isn't he?" Agamios said as he patted Darian's shoulder.

"Ah, you are correct, Agamios-san," Darian muttered as he leaked a warm smile. "He is indeed quite strange. But perhaps, that is why I want to follow him."

Agamios' brow rose as he looked at Darian. "Follow him..." The general scratched his chin and leaked a smile. "Perhaps that might not be so bad after all..."

A/N: I'll be livestreaming later today, Saturday, 23rd February on my Genaco Gaming Youtube Channel at 12:00 GMT (London)... Come around if you wanna ask me any questions, or just want to chat about anime, novels, manga or any random stuff ...

Love y'all! Hope to see you there!