Fortunately, Genni's and Jyuzou's earlier plans came to fruition. With one second passing, the two Morians were suddenly carried by the wind, before painfully landing on two different rocks sticking out from the sides.

With a heavy gasp, Genni looked down. The lava ascended, consuming the items below. She put her hand on her forehead, gulping, and immediately turned to Jyuzou, who ground his teeth, searching for another explanation.

"Do you have any more pebbles?" she yelled from afar, and Jyuzou searched his pockets, only for one shrivelled Metho seed to almost fall towards the heat.

Ingo continued climbing, with a clenched jaw and enough determination to continue. Once again, one leg landed inside the skela, and the other moved towards the tilt. There were only a few meters between him and the exit.

But then, everything happened all at once.

Morio screamed out. With one swift move, he would push Victis out, stand atop and zap just in time to outspeed his opponent. Koyote's eyes shrunk, as the level of lava rose exponentially, the heat reaching the ones further below. A gush of magma splattered beneath Genni's legs, and she stood up, her eyes shrunk into nothing.

"Jyuzou! Jump!" Genni yelled out, sticking both hands out.

"I won't make it"

"You'll die!" she raised her voice, and an echo of her words moved into Ingo's and Morio's minds as well.

No one would save them, after all.

The lava climbed onto Jyuzou's rock, and the mentioned screamed out, leaping without thinking twice.

Ingo's hand reached the outer edges of the volcano, while the three Morians soared to their deaths.

"If it isn't your strength-" Koyote furrowed her brows. "Then it is your fear. Your fear of death."

With one swift spark zooming through the air, something fell out of Jyuzou's sheath and floated by his side. Without hesitation and a clear thought, an attempt to understand or feel the weight of the situation, his hand landed on the ghostly sword's grip, right as it gleamed.

He gasped, and the weapon created a massive blast of wind from below. For a second, he soared through, and as a few more passed, he found himself closer to the edges of the volcano.

"J-Jyuzou!" Genni yelled out, sticking her hand out, but there wasn't enough time for him to help her. He kept staring at the magma, easing in to consume Genni and Morio. He opened his mouth, yelling out.

Genni moved to the side, closing her eyes.

She breathed out, trying to tune out the bubbling liquid from below.

Then, it was rather quiet.

Before her eyes were open, she hung right above the lava, frozen mid-air, standing atop some invisible barrier. With a beating heart and weary breaths, she looked up to Jyuzou signalling something from above.

She gasped, as the translucent floor moved upwards.

...and Morio lifted the other sword.

"M-Morio!" Genni stuck her hand out, but before she could act. "MORIO!" she screamed once again, thrown to the sides.

Olala screamed, Ingo stepped to the side and Jyuzou's eyes were wide open and terrified.

Without a surface to hold onto, without a point to bounce off, without some form of divine intervention coming from above and saving him, Morio plunged to his death.

At the last moments, he could feel the heat consuming his body.

"Two seconds," Koyote muttered. "One second," she uttered again, and closed her eyes, her hands landing on the cross.

Jyuzou covered his eyes.

***

Everything went silent.

Koyote coughed out, pushing one hand onto her face, right as a wound opened beneath a bandage.

Morio's mouth was still wide open, but instead of hurling at inhumane speeds towards his death, he stood at the edge of the volcano, looking forward and around the black rocks forming the open crater.

Jyuzou halted his breath. "You. There?" Jyuzou pointed. "Huh?!"

"Morio!" Genni yelled out, running up to the Morian. "How did you get up here?" she shook her head. "What saved you?"

Morio looked left and right, unable to process the situation. He touched his body, still feeling the warmth deep inside his robes.

Ingo breathed heavily and stood by the side.

"Was this some form of magic ability?!" Morio quickly asked, blinking. "What did I do?!" he smiled, unsurely.

"You did nothing." she shook her head. "I had to save you because otherwise you would've died," she muttered.

"W-What?" Morio's expression immediately shifted. "I almost escaped!" Morio explained, and Koyote stepped to the side, putting one hand in her pocket, while the other held the cross above her shoulder. "I was this close!" he signalled with his fingers.

"Koyote saved him?" Genni stepped back, turning to Jyuzou, who shrugged, unsure.

"Almost isn't good enough." Koyote turned. "This wasn't a test of your wits, rather, how far your body and your Guardian Demon will push you to survive. Fear attacks. I'm sure some of you have seen them once." she explained, rubbing the wound around with her bandage.

Olala shook her head, placing a hand around her lips.

"F-fear attacks?" Genni questioned, taking a step forward.

"The thing that saved you." Koyote blinked. "You were scared, weren't you?"

"D-Deathly afraid." Genni eased out.

"At the very last moment, when your world almost came crashing down, the demon vowed to fight for its survival." she nodded. "It's simple instinct."

"Mrs Koyote, you didn't have to save me!" Morio raised his voice. "I would've-"

"Died," Koyote answered. "You're not strong enough, Morio."

"Ah." he stuck both hands out, perplexed. Blinking to the side, he ground his teeth and furrowed his eyebrows. "I am!" he uttered, clenching both fists. "I am strong enough!"

"Prove it," she uttered.

Morio stomped the rocky ground, moving alongside the edge of the volcano. Barren, with a few dead bushes climbing around the grey and black path forming around the dark boulders of the volcano. From the top, one would see Omer Narrows if it weren't for the clouds covering the city on that day in particular, even covering the distant moon.

Jyuzou shook his head, and Morio ground his teeth wanting to scream, and cry, but didn't do either. He stood there, looking forward without a purpose.

But, was this anger, or sadness?

Through the fog, Morio spotted a hollow oracle floating in the distance. A white tree, with some marks on its bark.

Jyuzou turned to him, gulping.

Koyote strolled past Ingo, who finally stood up, lifting his club from its sheath and above his shoulder.

"You hesitated," Koyote commented, and Ingo halted, turning back to his mentor.

He stared into her one visible eye.

"You wanted to save Genni. I saw it in your eyes." Koyote explained.

Ingo's gaze met Olala's, who stood up, scratching the back of her neck.

"There's only one winner," he answered.

Koyote sighed.

Making their way down to Omer Narrows and through one of the paths leading down into the city, the six crashed in Roses Alley.

Ingo, as usual, didn't seem to want to indulge in his exhaustion, vowing to spend the next few hours and perhaps the following days in training. After all, he could've always done a little bit better, escaped faster, and saved his friend all at once.

Morio peeked out from the windows, watching as Ingo ran through the course effortlessly, grinding his teeth and pushing himself to the maximum, over and over again.

Morio wasn't weak, after all, so why was it that he couldn't have saved his own life? This happened once beforehand. He wasn't strong enough to help someone else.

When nightfall came, he left his room, and sat on the steps leading up towards the entrances, right by the bridges and near the side stream of the canal.

Usually, he'd think, or say something about their simple beauty, perhaps try and sketch them on a piece of paper, but he didn't. Jyuzou wouldn't be there to add a boring fact about such bodies of water, as he sat somewhere else.

He and Genni weren't as far away, up on the formation stretching above the fortress and chatting about today's trial.

"Fear attacks," Jyuzou repeated, tapping his finger against the rock, while Genni stared at him. "I think Mr Bancho mentioned something once."

"Huh?" Genni leaned in. "So this wasn't your first time?"

"N-No, but back then it was a little different." he put his hands together and pushed them into his stomach. "In the darkness..." he stopped for a second, trying not to reveal too much unneeded information. "I was attacked by a demon and a particularly strong one at that. One more swipe and he would've killed me."

Genni continuously scribbled on a separate page in her book, seldom glancing up.

"B-But something else saved me, just like today," he spoke. "A ghost, carrying my Guardian Demon and forcing me to attack. When I couldn't do it, he carried my burdens."

"But there was no ghost, Jyuzou. It was a sword." Genni noted.

"I'm not that well-versed in Demonear stuff and we're supposed to find stuff out ourselves." he shook his head. "There's no Bancho here to tell me, so I guess that was a part of its manifestation. Fear that saves me from death, giving me one more chance to live through."

Morio furrowed his eyebrows, with Jyuzou's words echoing towards the canal.

Loss of power meant loss of life.

"Striking where it hurts," Genni looked to the side, thinking. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth, ever so slightly. "So, are f-fear attacks a manifestation of what we're afraid of?"

"I was scared of ghosts when I was younger," Jyuzou explained. "I kind of still am." he blinked, nervously chuckling. "Even though I convinced myself they don't exist."

"Come on, ghosts don't exist." she teased.

"Not in my little world," Jyuzou added, and Genni giggled, fixing her glasses with her wrists.

"W-We're all afraid of something different, then." Genni looked down, once again, indulging in various notions. A smile quickly turned into a stern expression. "I'm afraid of..." her head buzzed a bit.

"Hm?" Jyuzou unwillingly turned to her.

Genni smiled. "Too long of a story."

Morio stared at the water. Nothing was reflected, except for a white tree that stood beside him.

***

"Are you still mad at me?" Koyote asked, raising her head, and peering at Olala who stood in the corridor. She gasped, looking to the side with raised eyebrows. Taking a few steps in, the two found themselves in all the open and roofed paths splattered around the colourful pond in the middle. Koyote sat on the few steps leading down, and Olala eventually joined her, huffing in and out.

"This could've been done a little differently." Olala signalled with her hands, and Koyote shook her head.

"Both you and I know that otherwise, they wouldn't have learnt anything new. Think, Jyuzou and Genni, I'm pretty sure they're already talking smack about me behind my back, and... discussing whatever happened today." she raised a finger. "Which means that something opened up in those small brains of theirs."

Olala breathed out, pushing her hands on her stomach. "What about the others? Morio, Ingo."

"They learnt that strength isn't the only thing they're to always rely on," she said. "At the same time, power can be defined in various ways. Frankly, I am tired of using those words over and over again." she leaned back.

Olala moved to the side a little, glancing up. "You saved Morio. You paused time and lifted him out of the volcano."

"Well-spotted," Koyote added.

Olala put her legs together, trembling a bit. "If he's weak, why do you put him on the same level as the others?"

"Morio's not weak, but if I'd tell him otherwise there'd be no motivation to continue improving and eliminating your weaknesses." she raised a fist, revealing an open palm. "Although, he lacks something that the other Morians don't."

The other woman leaned in, blinking.

"Not every Guardian Demon and Demonear are created equally. Some weapons greatly differ from what you want to achieve." she fidgeted around in her pocket, before taking out a short bamboo stick, lighting its end from a fire that burnt on a pedestal next to the steps. "Do you believe this fire could spread to the water and turn it into ash?"

"I-It's not physically possible, but-"

"In my case, there's no buts. It won't happen." Koyote moved back. "I don't believe in magic, therefore I can't cast it."

Olala nodded. "Okay."

"I don't think Morio's fearless, though. It's his Guardian Demon acting against him. This or..." Koyote scratched one of her bandages. "Nah." she turned to Olala. "If it's something he can't take control over, then he's forced to find an alternative path to acquiring that strength. Demonears aren't created equally." she closed her eyes. "But they all dance the same, you know? If a snail races a cheetah, both will cross the same distance eventually. Both lava and water will spread to reach the same destination."

Olala blinked a few times, sorting thoughts into different folders. "Mentioning lava," she spoke. "You told me to hold a thought about eruptions."

Koyote raised a finger.

"...and judging by the fact that you always talk about the tribes near this pond-"

"Again, well-spotted," Koyote muttered. "Eruptions happen once each year in Gorro, seemingly impossible to predict. A dud lets out, painting the sky black and red." she closed her eyes. "There is a pattern, however."

"Swannes or Wakon?"

"I'd say a bit of both. They're continuously working against each other but are seemingly two sides of the same coin. All resolve to something otherworldly." she tapped her thigh. "Have you noticed, Olala?"

"That the Swannes-"

"-always disappear a day or two before the volcano erupts. A pattern that repeated itself for the last three years." Koyote finished her sentence. "Everyone in Galliath knows the story of the Holy Grail. A witch flew over and tossed it inside the volcano by accident." Koyote stood up. "...and whatever it can create, it could be answer to their pleas."

"Sab tu ya. Khan khali. Uduiaa." one opened their mouth, looking up at the sky, stretching both hands. The other members reached their fingers towards theirs, and the few next vowels were quieter.

"Two sides of the same coin." Koyote shook her head. "But the coin is damn rusty." she took a step to the left, quickly leaving the area. Olala turned her head to the other woman, before gulping.