Death... and me

The Kibin answered the question with another question, telling them, "Hmm? Weren't you the ones who wanted me to appear? I usually wouldn't do such a thing, but since this little boy could see me, I made an exception."

Rean was surprised to hear that. "That was quite a simple reason... well, you're right. We truly wanted to talk to you. Say... can you traverse any of the continental barriers?"

The Kibin nodded in response. "Not all continental barrier spirits can do it. In fact, only a few have the right conditions to traverse anywhere in the barriers. Fortunately, my Kibin Race just so happens to be one of them." He then snorted as he said, "Of course, if you think you can capture me and use my powers for that, you can give it a shot. Hahaha!"

Everyone immediately shook their heads. After the display of power that the Kiwi- ahem, the Kibin showed earlier, it would be suicidal to try anything against this guy. Surprisingly, Rean decided to not lie about it, telling the Kibin, "We did have the intention of capturing the small yous to see if we could use your power to pass the barriers. However, I had no intention of causing you any harm."

Kibin then looked at Rean, saying, "That's quite honest of you. Usually, after seeing how much stronger someone is, they would deny everything. You know I could have you all die right here and then, right? Aren't you afraid that I'll do exactly that after what you said?"

Rean nodded in response. "Of course! However, I don't think escaping is an option for us at the moment. With that said, I believe it's better to just come clean and see how everything goes after that."

Kibin surprisingly seemed quite satisfied. "Not too bad. However, there's no need to worry. I can see from your Minokawa that you aren't forcing it into a master-subordinate relationship, so you shouldn't be that bad."

Kentucky didn't deny that. "Indeed. They asked me many times if I wanted to leave their group to go live on my own. We've never had any sort of forced connection. However, I do follow them on my own since I'm getting many, many benefits that I wouldn't get anywhere else."

Rean was more interested in what Kibin mentioned, though. "So you know Kentucky is a Divine Demon Bird. A Minokawa at that."

Kibin nodded in response. "For someone of my age, it's to be expected. However, I admit I haven't seen many of them in the past, and he's a little different from the other Minokawas with that feather crown on his head. In any case, the power of his bloodline is undeniable."

Rean couldn't help but ask after that, "If you can live in any of the continental barriers, why would you be in this one? The power of this continental barrier is weakened by the Under Desert Sea, so it shouldn't feel that good for you, no?"

"Weakened by the Under Desert Sea?" Kibin shook his head. "The Under Desert Sea has nothing to do with the weakening of the Continental Barrier. The real culprit is found inside the chasm your two friends entered a week earlier. As for why I'm here, it's exactly because it is weakened. I can relax in this continental barrier."

Everyone was taken aback. "Briget and Carion? Are they after the thing that disrupts this barrier?"

The Kibin shrugged its shoulders in response. "Who knows? I do find it too good to be a coincidence that they entered that, though. Anyways, it has nothing to do with me, so I won't intervene. At most, the continental barrier's weakening will cease to exist."

The twins couldn't help but think about what could be so powerful in that chasm that it weakened the continental barrier to such an extent. As far as they knew, it has been like that forever. "Is it really okay to tell us about that?"

Kibin nodded in response. "It's not any secret, so who cares? No one could do anything about it. Just forget it."

The twins' group could only nod before they talked for a while longer. Seeing that Kibin wouldn't kill anyone here, everyone was relieved. Eventually, a few minutes later, Rean decided to ask, "So... can we keep going? We're almost at Pol Continent."

In the end, neither he nor Roan wanted to see what Carion and Briget were up to. The Kibin already said that it wasn't a secret, but no one could do anything about it, so how could they? They already had their own objective, which was to get out of the continental barrier and head to Jhiod.

Kibin shook his head, though. "Just wait a moment."

Suddenly, part of the Kibin's body separated into many small Kibins before they shot into the distance. This time, everyone could see them as the Kibin allowed it.

And just like that, several hours went by. Since they had nothing to do, they conversed even more with the Kibin. Unfortunately, the Kibin knew nothing about the Pol Continent. All continental barriers were interconnected like a web, and the continents were separated by it. With that said, the Kibin could simply travel through the barriers to reach this place without ever passing through any continent. However, there was one thing he didn't answer, and that was why it was making them wait for his parts to come back.

Eventually, seven hours and a few minutes later, Kibin's parts that had separated from him returned, making him whole again. However, that wasn't all.

"There is another Kibin by his side," Luan said as he looked at a much smaller Kibin. The Kibin they talked to until now was really big, much bigger than Kentucky. However, the new one was more or less around Kentucky's size.

The first Kibin then looked at his side, saying, "Stop hiding already and show yourself. That boy has the Sacred Eye bloodline."

With that, the much smaller Kibin showed itself. Other than the size, he was pretty much identical to the first Kibin. "Dad... do I really have to?"

The big Kibin nodded, saying, "You do. I've already checked their souls with our race's abilities. They're the real deal, which is very rare to find. Just go with them and don't come back before you reach that level."