Crawling out of mud, blood stained the grass which grew below, leaving a thick trail heading out of the Taigase.

Katha stared forward, breathing heavily, before putting her mask back on. Ronpi clenched his fist, with a tired expression.

"Run," she muttered.

***

After stepping off the ship, Jyuzou and Koyote arrived a few hours after the sun had set.

Naturally, they made their way to Oldenklow, and through following Willia's winding passages, they only stumbled into a few guards informing the two that business was closed for the day and no more rooms were available in either of the central districts.

Naturally, Koyote begged to differ. She was sure they'd find something, but the guard kept groaning in such an annoying way, so Koyote took Jyuzou's hand and informed them they'd be searching elsewhere.

Treading the bridges leading outside the marbled districts, the first signs of a new landscape became evident after a few minutes. It didn't resemble anything the centre was made of, and that was something that most Saphrithians knew; ninety per cent of the city was unlike the central districts.

The Eggre district was certainly something no one should've looked over, but it'd be wise to assume that all sixteen have one thing that makes them unique. There was a lot to unpack, especially concerning the fact that the area it covered was bigger than both Willia and Oldenklow combined.

The heftiest structure, sticking above all the subtly white houses, was the renowned Saphrithian Glam Opera, with its outside being composed of many buildings, eventually moving into one big and overgrown square in the middle, with its roofs in pillar-like shapes forming triangles at the top. Lots could be said about its monumental presence, but its insides were much more of a sight to behold.

The entirety was coated in generous browns, and lamps that added a golden hue to everything present. Spare the two colours, they went alongside a very brooding red, which nestled most curtains or carpets in its fierce shades. There was lots more to explore, presumably.

The two saw a sign that a play was soon going to take place, and there were lots of people chit-chatting about. This, in turn, made the Eggre district very quiet, compared to all the buzz of Oldenklow. As in, they could still hear every bar and every restaurant even when they already crossed the bridge.

Eggre had a simple reason for its modest presence, most of the actual district was made out of park areas, and if that nature wasn't turned into pathways or sights for the tourists to see, it'd be a natural landscape stretching into the biggest lake in Saphrith. Jyuzou was charmed by everything present.

You couldn't skip talking about the biggest park, after all. The Eggre Soma Area was formed from one unnatural Herbes that brought thousands of different seeds from all across the world and spread them right across. Next came generous rains, and even though they hindered everything else present, a massive field, seldom interrupted by a tree or two wouldn't exist otherwise.

As for the rest of the history, the Glam Opera came to be somewhere after the First War, but was ruined, then rebuilt, courtesy to the Second. Paladians were always kind of dramatic, be it, simple, menial things or overdoing certain stuff just for the sake of it. You'd say the theatre was a call, but the Glam was something about dancing and singing out your emotions to a wide audience. They'd feel your pain, probably.

Finding an inn was quite challenging. After searching through open areas with fenced white buildings leading into small cobbled squares, Koyote eventually found out who to ask. However, it was Jyuzou who found a better and cheaper option.

Oldenklow and whatnot was still an hour-long walk from here, but they weren't willing to try and scour through different districts when it was already this late. Having stepped into a room rented atop a three-story house, Koyote immediately crashed onto the bed in the middle.

She stared at the ceiling lamp for a few, before she sat up, eyeing Jyuzou, unsurely walking around.

"They have bathrooms downstairs."

"Huh?" Jyuzou turned.

"Paladian custom. They say you don't need more than one in the same building, but I digress." she raised a finger.

He chuckled, putting down his bags. "I wasn't looking for one anyways."

"Just a heads up, then." she pointed, before laying down again.

Jyuzou nodded, taking a few steps towards the window and looking out to Oldenklow. Eggre wasn't unlit at this time of day, but the central districts spectacularly outshined the one they were in. "Things are surely different around here."

"Is that a bad thing? Galliath was different too, but we already had a conversation about that." Koyote continued.

"N-No, I'm not mad or anything. Just a little surprised." he nodded, sitting next to a table. Even if he didn't want to, his eyes were drawn to the landscape stretching beyond the visible eye. "Magna was much smaller than this."

Jyuzou put a hand on the table, and it shook a bit. It was silent, as one tired eye found itself staring at the Morian, who, in turn, continued gazing out of the window.

The earlier smile disappeared, now replaced with some signs of worry.

What was there for him to find?

He breathed out.

"You don't have to convince me or yourself that you're happy, Jyuzou," she said, crossing her legs and fixing her hat. "...and I get it. Change is kind of scary. Well, really scary."

The Morian turned.

"When I was younger things happened without me saying a word. Then again, I'm just going to be repeating things if I said we lived different lives." she put her hands together. "With that in mind, I should've known."

Jyuzou opened his mouth lightly.

"I probably should've done a better job at easing you into all of this," she muttered.

He turned to the table again, looking at his hand.

"I get it," Jyuzou spoke, clenching his fist. Koyote stared at him, for a second. "Sometimes you have to tough it out, right?" he uttered. "That goes along the lines of what you told us in Galliath."

"Not every allegory applies to the real world," she scratched her neck. "I see where you're coming from, though." she blinked. "Growing out of your shell and stepping back onto bigger ones. A lot happened, and it seems to me that you're already a different Jyuzou."

Or maybe Jyuzou wanted to convince himself to think that way. She thought about that but never said anything.

"T-The more I try to run away the worse it will get. I'll have to face whatever may happen, even if I'm scared." Jyuzou looked down.

"...and I know you're not saying that to impress me. It's what you set out to do, in the very end." she raised an eyebrow, and he nodded, breathing air in through his nose.

"Just a few days, then it's back to Mistwick with Morio." he smiled. "I can't... possibly deny whatever might happen, and that's okay." he looked up. "Tough it out."

A ghost wandered in the far distance, but Jyuzou dismissed its presence.

***

"I don't regret anything that happened back then," Koyote explained. "You know, it'd be stupid to do so. I can't wrestle with fate or whoever controls it, so I guess one thing I naturally adapted into was making the best out of the complete worst." she accented the last words. "A younger me would never think that way, and that's what I envy in those Morians."

"Weren't you the one who instilled that thought process into their brains?"

"Maybe, subconsciously. It's nothing to do with being a Demonear but rather, someone who thinks more than acts. No one is the same, after all, Olala. Your father and I greatly differed, but can you blame a child for acting like one?"

Olala frowned.

"Dakarai's idea of repaying debt, even if there wasn't one to begin with was rather strange. After he miraculously saved my life that night, I watched as he became increasingly more and more interested in that place he saw back then. A few weeks passed, Dear settled in and I saw him stepping out of the village and returning the next day. I'm always too late to catch the man himself, but Dad told me something of a canyon he wanted to see."

Koyote put her hand on the cast.

"I didn't remember that night so well." she stopped, momentarily. "A lot of things blurred into one, and I had to trust Dakarai's explanation. But that place was something that I vividly recalled seeing. A few blurred shapes but the moon shone down on my skin, unlike any other night. Dakarai kept coming back, without any time to explain. Everyone assumed he had gone to the canyon a few hours away and returned empty-handed for no apparent reason."

Olala's eyes widened.

"Until one day, he brought a book back into the village. There I heard it again, and an image flashed right into my mind. Swannes." she said, staring right into Olala's curious, tired eyes.

"Swannes," she repeated, pressing her hand on the wooden floorboards.

"He always had a thing for books, after all, and just another one in his collection after he went out days presumably searching for it was nothing strange. Better yet, an easy way out to answer that earlier question. When I stumbled into him one night, he asked me if I recognised the name and reminded me that they were the ones who supposedly saved my life, but didn't mention anything directly. His words turned loud and prominent, and as if it was some amazing story he wanted us to read, he kept talking about everything that made Swannes."

Koyote looked up.

"I still can recall some details. They were a sister to something meant to fight it, but eventually adapted its ways, only focusing on the positives. You know how with certain medicine around Reggio you have the kinds that inject bacteria into your organism to see how you'll fight it? Something along those lines. It was complicated, courtesy to me barely understanding half of his words. I felt obligated to be interested, and he was keen on selling me that idea. My parents even argued with him once, my family was supposedly more on the Pasto side when it came to belief, but now I don't believe in anything anymore."

Olala nodded.

"Although, there were things that Dakarai wanted me to trust."

***

The hall was, otherwise, filled with silence. However, hush wasn't something that Atomu heard, when the only thing which appeared in his mind upon his eyes glancing at the two figures before him, was an ear-piercing buzz.

Things weren't necessarily a blur, but it felt like everything tried coming back at once. Those bad memories, that pain, juxtaposed with the scars he didn't receive while imprisoned in Saphrith.

He clenched his fist.

"P-Please!" Ronpi added, with an unsure expression. "We're going to be-"

The Paladian took a heavy step forward, with his fist immediately striking Ronpi's stomach. Afterwards, his other hand landed on his shoulder and pushed him against the wall, with his helmet sloppily falling off and tumbling to the ground.

Katha moved back out, shocked.

Ronpi made a few strange noises, struggling to breathe. "What are you, ah!" he breathed, sharply.

Katha shook her head but didn't do anything. Chyuuichi observed everything unfold, his brows raised and mouth wide open.

"P-Please!" Ronpi pleaded.

"It's them!" Katha uttered, covering her already masked face.

It came back to Atomu on a whim. The things Chyuuichi went through back then, that bow, now nowhere to be found, piercing through his hand and almost killing him. Once again, the pain of all the demons which attacked and how much it stung to carry Knrhum's Blade stormed in.

He wished he could have it, right now. Maybe he wouldn't kill the two but hurt them as much as they hurt Chyuuichi.

"I won't forgive you," Atomu whispered, pushing Ronpi into the wall. "You hear me? I won't forgive you!"

"A-Atomu, stop!" Katha added, putting her hands on his back, only for his elbow to push her to the ground.

Chyuuichi followed her movement and indirectly made eye contact for a few seconds. They didn't want to fight.

Atomu ground his teeth. "How dare you?" he mouthed, shaking his head. "How dare you cause all this and come running for help?!"

"We won't harm you!" Ronpi closed one eye. "P-Please, just help us out!"

"Maybe you deserve whatever's coming to you, then?" Atomu cracked an unpleasant smile. "Like I pained all of your mishaps back then as Chyuuichi did as well," he spoke through his teeth.

Katha covered her head with her hands, and Chyuuichi stepped forward. His determined glance landed on Atomu's face, and he furrowed his brows, angrily.

The Paladian pushed Ronpi's throat into the wall again, before subtly letting go. The other fist was still clenched around his shoulder, but the other was raised, shaky, and directly pointing at Ronpi's face.

Ronpi breathed out.

One swift move, and it advanced at tremendous, fury-filled speeds. All up until something else echoed.

"ATOMU, STOP!" Chyuuichi screamed out.

Ronpi closed his eyes, following the sound of a strike. He breathed in and out, a few times, before daring to lift one eyelid, which met Atomu's hand striking the nearby pillar.

He slowly moved his fist back into place, shrunken eyes still staring Ronpi down. He let go of his hardened knuckle, and the other hand left the demon's shoulder. In turn, Ronpi slid against the wall and sat on the ground, breathing as heavily as Atomu.

Quickly enough, Chyuuichi almost pushed him out of the way and offered Ronpi a hand. The demon was surprised, glancing at Katha. With another gulp, he put his knees up to his chin, slowly shaking his head.

"Where can we hide that he won't know?" Katha muttered.

"Hide?" Chyuuichi asked, blinking a few times, turning to her. "Who is chasing ya?"

"Some psycho!" she pointed down the hallway. "He said he wants our seed!"

"Yer... seed?" Chyuuichi tilted his head.

Ronpi's breath was shaky, as he made eye contact with Atomu, who stood still.

He didn't understand. What was the point of having all questions answered when the closest to you does something you never expected in the first place? He furrowed his eyebrows lightly at the thought, but Ronpi took it as some warning sign. Immediately, the demon got on all fours and crawled towards the Paladian.