Leila soon arrived at a rough outline for how she would like to play this out, however, this case was on a much grander scale than usual, so she decided to contact the irresponsible Guildmaster. Also, there was the matter of the poison. Although Leila was confident she could find someone in the country strong enough to cure the poison, she was not certain she could do so in the brief timeframe.

Compared to her conventional methods of searching, Leila was certain that the unreasonable Kashi would somehow find a miracle to solve the situation. A light smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she recalled the sight of a red-haired warrior staring at a Lich's domain packed with dozens of undead dragons and thousands of undead nights, and unreasonably declaring, "It'll work out somehow," as he rushed at the horde.

What was worse was that it actually did work out somehow. At the time, Razznik's unreasonable damage managed to accidentally destroy a mountain which secretly contained the Lich King's phylactery. With the Lich's soul exposed, the then-named Aileera only needed a thunderbolt spell to destroy it, bringing an end to the Lich and in turn, the army under its control.

Leila, or rather Adachi Ayumi inwardly smiled as she realized just how much she had changed since she first met Suzuki, and then Razznik and finally Kashi. Each man had added some color to her black and white world. As someone who had been raised with endless responsibilities, she initially had a drab outlook on the world, one consisting solely of what would be profitable and what wasn't. Her interactions with people were solely measured on how much impact they would potentially have in her future.

That was until she met Suzuki.

Leila recalled the panic when the famed 'Club Destroyer' first visited the Archery Training Center, claiming he was there to learn. Some rowdy boys had gone up to 'teach him a lesson,' but within seconds it was the boys who had their heads planted in the ground.

That unruly young man then approached her and said, "I heard you are the best here. I am only interested in learning from the best. What do I have to do to get you to teach me?"

At the time, Ayumi had assumed this youth was here to show off his strength in front of her, and nonchalantly stated, "Clean the dojo for a month."

"A month is too long," Suzuki complained. Just when Ayumi was about to sneer, he added, "I will be everyone's gopher for a week. Cleaning, fetching drink, wiping sweat, whatever. If I do this for a week, it should be enough right?"

"Do what you want," Ayumi dismissively replied. She knew there were a lot of nutcase fans in this dojo who wanted to get close to her. This unruly youth who thought he could solve everything with strength would soon face a rude awakening. All she had to do was wait until he lashed out at someone and she would kick him out.

As expected, only thirty minutes later, there were shouts and the dojo's trainees quickly gathered around Suzuki who was squatting on the floor, his hair sopping wet. Apparently, someone had spilled something on the floor. When he went to clean it up, someone else 'accidentally' poured water all over him.

That was also the first moment, Ayumi truly got interested in Suzuki as a person. That was because while he had his head down, the young woman felt her skin crawl from the dense killing intent billowing out of him. These children who had never faced anything dangerous were not sensitive to this pressure, but her father as an ex-military man, had ensured she was exposed to killing intent from a young age so she would be able to tell if someone was targeting her.

However, what Ayumi found truly horrendous was the fact that Suzuki's killing intent was on par with those ex-military bodyguards and mercenaries who had taken countless lives. Her father had said that only two people were able to cultivate such dense killing intent. Those who had forged a river of blood with their hands, and the mentally, most likely, criminally insane.

While Ayumi was in the process of trying to determine which of the two the youth was, Suzuki's killing intent slowly, but surely receded, and he finally raised his head. Ayumi looked into the indifferent eyes that held no trace of the anger he should be holding and shivered.

The young lady was sure that if this youth went berserk, he was perfectly capable of slaughtering everyone in this room, and it would not result in the slightest wrinkle in his face.

Normally, Ayumi would have reported such a dangerous existence to her father right away. What happened afterward depended on the investigation of her dad's people.

But maybe it was because Ayumi was at the height of her teenage years, and beginning to feel a bit rebellious. Or maybe it was the inevitable allure of danger toward young teens. For whatever reason, she decided not to report this case, and see how it turned out.

Over the following week, just as she expected, Suzuki was forced to endure all sorts of humiliation and ridicule over his role as a gopher. Countless times, she thought he had finally lost it and would retaliate, but he endured all the way, up until the last day.

Standing before the stoic Ayumi, Suzuki had nonchalantly asked, "I fulfilled your condition. You will not go back on your word will you?"

"An Adachi never goes back on her words," Ayumi flatly replied, irritated that this youth dared to question her integrity.

"That's good then," Suzuki stated. "Let's start right now."

Before Ayumi could get another word in, a group of boys came over and 'accidentally' poured their bottles of water over Suzuki. One of them smirked as the droplets fell to the floor and mocked Suzuki, "Clean that up, brat."

However, unlike their previous encounters, Suzuki suddenly turned to glare at them and said in a low, almost growl-like tone, "Fuck off!"

"This shit. Know your place!" A youth yelled, and forgetting Suzuki's reputation, threw a punch at him. Contrary to expectations, Suzuki did not dodge and got a solid hit on his cheek, causing him to crumple to the floor. The child was surprised, but then excitedly yelled, "The legends are only so-so." His friends immediately joined him to kick the downed Suzuki.

However, after about ten seconds of beatdown, Suzuki suddenly rolled away and got to his feet. His body was littered in bruises, but the nonchalant expression in his eyes made everyone feel cold. Did this guy not feel pain.

"Four kicks from you. Seven from you. A punch and ten kicks from you," Suzuki coldly narrated and then inspected his body. "One cracked rib, a broken finger, and multiple swelling on my arms and face." The young man said as if speaking about someone else's body. The coldness deepened as a pressure cold enough that even the normal teenagers could feel it emanated from the young man. The teenagers' hearts leaped to their throats as they felt a deep sense of fear like they had been locked onto by a Shura. "This counts as assault right? Whatever I do from now on is in self-defense."

What followed was a brutal scene so intense, Ayumi had mentally blocked it from her memory. The only thing she recalled was the indifference in Suzuki's bloodstained face as he stood among the 'corpses.'

The situation had nearly caused a major scandal, but because the school wanted to sweep the issue under the rug, Suzuki only got community service for a month as his punishment. The people Suzuki beat up were children of some powerful figures, and if the story came out that their children were bullying a child and got beat up in return, their reputations would take a huge hit.

Of course, the main reason the parents backed off was that Suzuki had the bruises to prove he had taken a beating. No court would back them if the situation went public.

Ayumi, seeing how things turned out, could not help but hold some admiration for Suzuki. He was not a reckless fool but was smart enough to ensure the blowback was manageable. However, she had never met someone with that much strength who could sit back and take so much humiliation. Furthermore, she recalled the callous manner in which he counted out his injuries. No normal person treat their bodies that way.

It was almost like Suzuki did not care about himself as much as he did not care about others.

This was why the first thing Ayumi said to him after meeting him for training the next day was, "Do you want to die?"

At that time, Suzuki's answer, it would take close to a year before she finally understood what he meant.

"Leila-chan?" Chu Ling's voice broke through the Rink, pulling Leila out of her thoughts.

The wisben shook her head and let out a wry smile. Was she having flashbacks because she was close to seeing that unruly youth again? Leila sighed and then said, "Give me a moment, Ling-san. I need to consult our Guildmaster. If anyone can help, it'll be him."

"Oh? The elusive Guildmaster," Chu Ling praised. "I really want to meet him. He should be enough for me to have a satisfying fight right?"

"Of course," Leila replied, not wishing to break this feisty princess' heart. Kashi could do that on his own whenever they met. "Please excuse me a moment."

"Sure. Let me know the result."

Leila nodded and then cut the call. She then once again injected her mana into the Rink and mentally chose the target she wished to call. Seconds later, a Rink buzzed in a forest several kilometers away.

Lymar Village,

Kirkcour Woods, Rosendun.

11:00 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

Kashi sighed as he gazed at the blood cocoon at the center of the formation. Even though he could sense the frankly frightening waves of mana flowing into that cocoon, and was expectant of the final result, he felt bored just watching. Nearly an hour had passed since the ritual started, and except for some slight pulsating every now and then, nothing much had changed.

The daeben was reminded of the other cocoon in his world and a slight panic grew in his heart. He looked at Drixali, who obediently stood next to him like a powerful bodyguard. "How much longer do you think this is going to take?"

Sensing Kashi's fears, Drixali replied, "Do not worry, master. This child's evolution is different from that of the one inside you. Her bloodline is... It is on a level even I do not dare to dream of. That is why her transformation is taking so long. This child's transformation should be complete in at most an hour. However, you will need to connect your bloodline with his before then, so please prepare yourself."

Kashi was about to scold Drixali for once again calling him 'master,' but at that time, his Rink suddenly buzzed.

"You have people who call you?" A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind him.

"Hmph, I knew you would pop out at this timing," Kashi victoriously snorted as he turned to look over his shoulder. However, to his surprise, there was nobody there.

Suddenly, a voice whispered in his ear, "I'm over here."

Kashi nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around again and saw Shadow standing in front of him with a smug smile. With a resentful glare, he asked, "What was that?"

"Ventriloquism," Shadow replied. "It's a pretty useful skill, don't you think?"

"Stop learning useless things," Kashi shot back, but even he felt admiration for the skill. He had been completely fooled. Hmm, maybe he should look into learning that skill sometime.

Shadow sighed when he saw the greed in the daeben's eyes. This freak would probably really go learn this skill, and what's worse, he might even get better at it than Shadow himself. Choosing to change the topic, the assassin looked at the orb in the daeben's hand and asked, "Who's calling?"

"Oh, yeah, almost forgot," Kahsi murmured as he injected his mana into the rink and tapped on it. "Oh? Looks like its Leila."

"Leila-san?" Shadow asked with surprise on his face. "Why would she be calling you of all people?"

"What do you mean why?" Kashi rebuked with a snort. "I'm the Guildmaster remember? Of course she'll consult with me when something happens," Kashi boasted and waited for Shadow's response so he could fire back his prepared defenses.

However, the assassin did not respond, and only looked at Kashi with equal parts disdain, contempt and ridicule. Consult him? Shadow would probably give Kashi a prize if he could even remember all the divisions working under him and had a idea of their current status. After suffering under that withering silence for five seconds, Kashi finally bowed his head and apologized, "I'm sorry. I won't do that again."

"Answer the call," Shadow said, feeling a bit better after his initial despondence over Kashi's unfair levels of talent.

Kashi answered the call and under Shadow's judgmental gaze, greeted his Vice-Guildmaster with solemn respect. "Leila, thank you for your hard work. It must have been hard on you handling everything on your own. How are things on your end?"

There was a brief silence, and then Kashi's famous Vice-Guildmaster responded in an incredulous tone, "What drugs are you on?"

Shadow could not take it, and immediately buried his face in his hands, but his shaking shoulders betrayed the laughter bubbling up his throat. What's worse, Kashi looked at Drixali, and despite the demon's straight face, he could see the centaur's hands shaking as he struggled to hold in his amusement.

Kashi could not bear it any longer and immediately complained, "Hey can't you treat your Guildmaster with more respect? I'm your superior you know? How can you ask me if I'm on drugs?"

"Oh?" Kashi could almost see the mischievous glint appear in Leila's usually cold eyes. "Great, Superior Guildmaster, would you like to hear this week's report? In fact, I can even have some documents sent over so you can personally peruse them all. I promise, you'll really feel like a Guildmaster by the time you're done."

For the second time that day, Kashi bowed his head and apologized. "Please spare me. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Hmph, that's better," Leila chuckled, feeling good about herself. It always felt good to get one over Kashi, this cheat-like existence that made the hard work of others feel like a waste of time. Leila had no illusions that if it was based on strength alone, Kashi's quest to unite the continent would have gone much faster, but because the daeben was focused on Unification and not Conquest, the guild was forced to take a long, roundabout route which required the help of experts like herself and Miote and a lot of paperwork which Kashi greatly resented.

"So, what's up?" Kashi asked, losing the formal speech.

Leila found it much easier to deal with this careless Kashi and carefully reported everything Chu Ling told her.

Kashi's brow rose. "Did you say poison?"

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing," Kashi replied. "I should be able to cure it with Yggdrasil's power."

"Yggdrasil?"

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you yet." Kashi quickly gave a brief summary of his inner world, Yggdrasil and its healing prowess. After accepting the centaurs into his inner world, Kashi knew there was no longer a point to keeping it secret. Besides, this was not something the Adjudicators could take from him.

"While that could work," Kashi said, "I have a better idea." The daeben looked at Shadow and said, "Hey, laugh time's over. Please help me get that druid."

Shadow immediately stopped laughing and peered into Kashi's eyes. "You. You're planning on doing something crazy again, aren't you?"

"What? No," Kashi denied as he nonchalantly took out several easels and canvases from his inventory. As he set them up as if about to open a painting gallery, he said, "I plan on taking it easy for the next month. No more fighting I promise."

Shadow looked at the canvasses and murmured, "You're the craziest when you're not fighting."

"What?"

"Nothing," Shadow replied with a shrug. "You said I should get the druid right? I'm going," he said as he turned to leave.

"Ah, tell Larsial's with him right now, I believe," Kashi called out to the retreating assassin. "Tell her to come too. She won't want to miss this next part if it works out."

Shadow hesitated, but then nodded and disappeared down the path, muttering under his breath, "And he still dares to claim he's not going to do something crazy."

Leila, who had been listening, asked, "What are you planning?"

Kashi said, "You said he only has about a month or two to live, right? Which means by the time he gets here, he could be on his last breaths, if he even makes it. What if we could make it so he could have arrived here in mere seconds rather than a month?"

"Are you talking about your dimension creation skill?" Leila asked. "I indeed factored that into my calculations. I was going to ask you to create a dimension which we could use as a relay station between Rosendun and Serisis. Only problem is your limited gate keys."

"Rosendun and Serisis? You're thinking too small, Lei-kun," Kashi teased.

"Did you just shorten my name!? I told Suzuki and Razznik not to do that. Also, don't call me kun!" Then as if recalling the meaning of Kashi's sentence, Leila added, "Wait, what do you mean I'm thinking too small. If it were not for your limited keys, I would dream bigger too." The the lightbulb finally went off. "Wait, could it be... did you increase the number of keys in this short period?"

Kashi snorted. "How can that be possible. I'm not god. I haven't even had time to paint new dimensions recently."

"Then what's your plan!?" Leila nearly roared, unable to handle the suspense any longer. This bastard was definitely enjoying teasing her.

Kashi pictured Leila's frustrated frown and inwardly laughed, content with his payback for her earlier humiliation. "The reason I can only create a few keys is because those dimensions are not stable. If there are too many gates, the dimension might fall apart."

"How do you know that?"

"Instinct," Kashi replied. "During Razznik's days, he visited many unstable dimensions. These dimensions usually could not handle too many people at once and usually had a very limited number of entries compared to Destia and the Netherworld. It just goes to show that my strength as a Dimension Painter is still too weak to create dimensions strong enough to handle multiple gates."

Kashi took out a small painting of a street in Riven. "Compared to that, I can draw an unlimited number of portals to other locations in Destia. Why is that? Because Destia is stable. Going by that assumption, if I were to perhaps own a dimension as stable as Destia, wouldn't I be able to create just as many numbers of keys?"

Leila's eyes went wide as she began to connect the dots. "Are you talking about?"

"Yes, my inner world," Kashi replied with a glint in his eyes as he took out Rosario's brush and twirled it around his fingers. "Care to see how many keys I can create?"

CRACKLE!
At that moment, the heavens suddenly rumbled and divine lightning shattered the heavens apart, as if some godly being was expressing its displeasure... or was it excitement?

Whatever the case, Kashi looked up at the skies and let out a defiant grin. "Kami-samas, welcome to the show." With that, the daeben slashed Rosario across a canvas.

Shadow and Larsial happened to come to the square at that moment with a bound Rayatha in tow. As they stared at the lightning rumbling above, and the maniacal daeben surrounded by torrents of overbearing mana, Shadow shook his head and muttered, "Indeed, he's scariest when he's not fighting..."

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the beautiful and respectful debate conducted by facemaker123 and IanGhiro0909 in the previous chapter. As a policy, I don't like interfering in debates or providing direct answers to plot-related questions in comments, partly because I honestly feel like one of the best parts of literature is the reader's theories and meaning he/she draws out from it. 

Which is why this debate was so fascinating to read. Both of these people had read the same book but came to vastly opposing conclusions. I thoroughly enjoyed following the debate and I can categorically say that both parties had very valid points. For the sake of neutrality, I shall not state which parts I agree with, but I'm presently surprised that despite having limited screen time, there is enough out there for a 44 reply chain worth of debate. It hsows that you guys really connect with the characters in this novel in a way I never thought possible. It's really humbling to be honest.

Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff. 

Kashi's doing something crazy again. What will be the final effects of his plan?  Why is there suddenly lightning? Will Shadow ever stop scaring people? Find out in the next Episode of DragonBa- *cough*... Parallel...

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