Death... and me

Rean's group had just arrived back from their travel to Darian's underwater palace. Naturally, they were received by Malo and company. Following that, Roan explained that the war between the Zasfins and demon beasts would finally leave its initial stages and enter the stage where high-level experts would enter. With that, the Zasfins would have little time to care about gathering more humans to be used in the Bloodline Trial Control Formations. Well, even if they did gather more of them, the formations would still take several more years to be rebuilt, so it didn't matter much overall.

That being said, Roan offered to participate in the war for everyone above fourteen years old, allowing them to work with the 10% of the Demon Beast Army that he would control. He made sure to clarify the dangers involved so that no one would change their minds later.

That was one of the reasons for Roan's success. In total, over 300 of the Freedom Sect's members decided to follow him. That made it a lot easier to pass orders to specific points in the battlefield since demon beasts at Stage Four and below didn't have sentience. Even though simple orders like attacking or retreating was the limitation of those demon beasts, having humans help coordinate these simple order made everything even simpler.

Malo, the highest level cultivator other than Rean's group, didn't go, though. It was not that he didn't want to, but because he was forced to not go due to his duties as the 'Sect Master,' a position he didn't want by the way.

Kentucky, of course, didn't care about those complicated things. That being said, he spent most of his short time in the sect on his nest on Celis or in the middle of the female cultivators. Sure enough, once a pervert bird, always a pervert bird.

Celis, on the other hand, didn't care about any of that. As long as Kentucky had its nest on him, he would benefit from it. Besides, he didn't need combat experience since he had lots of it. He only needed tons of energy at this point.

While all of that happéned outside, something different was happening inside the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. Here, Rean had awakened from his slumber again and decided to talk with Red.

[Oh, you're up. That's good.] Sister Orb was the first one to notice that. [Can you do something about this rabbit? I've hit him so many times, but he keeps trying to sneak behind me to attack Roan's herb garden.]

Rean's mouth twitched in response as he saw the blood marks on the shiny orb's surface. It looked like Sister Orb had been quite brutal while he was asleep. Soon after, he used his connection with the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm to find Red and check his conditions. "Couldn't you...hold back a little?"

At the moment, Red was crying in a corner as he licked his injuries. However, his fur wasn't colored red anymore, much less white. Instead, he looked a lot more purple. His entire body was swollen all over. Well, there were a few red points, but those were from the area where Sister Orb's attacks opened cuts.

[Hmph! Don't be fooled by his appearance. I bet anything with you that he'll try to get close to Roan's herb garden within the next two hours at most!] Sister Orb obviously didn't seem the least bit concerned.

Rean sighed in response and left Sister Orb behind as he headed to where Red was. Unfortunately for Red, the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm was Sister Orb's and the twins' personal dimension. That being said, they could even block his Spiritual Sense. Red only noticed Rean's presence when he was almost beside him.

Rean scratched the back of his head when Red looked at him, asking, "Ahem...why must you put yourself in such a predicament? Sister Orb obviously wouldn't let you get close to the herb garden."

"Hmph! What's wrong with a Divine Demon Beast like me eating high-level herbs? I'm a Golden Drohare, obviously not a carnivore. For me, those are marvelous snacks." Red didn't look like he regretted his actions either.

Rean still found it strange as he asked in response, "Couldn't you ask for more carrots?"

Red shook his head as he replied, "Carrots are indeed the most delicious food I've eaten in my life. Unfortunately, they can't help in my cultivation. It's truly a pity that they only grow as common food. I need rare herbs to help my power increase faster."

With that, Rean understood why he was so adamant about attacking the herbs...just for Sister Orb to send him flying once more. One must remember that Roan's herb garden was being taken care of by Celis's saplings. Naturally, they reached a new level during the time they were nurtured by the World Swallowing Cedar. In Red's eyes, those herbs were probably more important than any rank of Spirit Stone.

It was then that Rean had an idea. "Hmm... let's do it like this. I can allow you to eat a certain amount of Roan's herbs every month. However, you'll have to help me in my next mission."

Red was taken aback, saying, "Help you with your mission? Did you forget I'm against the demon beasts?"

"Idiot! Do you still believe that it was Phex's group who filled that blood pond? It wasn't them! Didn't you hear when Phex said that all the blood of the demon beasts who die on this planet was dragged there by the Bestial Sacred Grounds? They never had anything to do with that!" Rean felt helpless since he knew it was the truth. It's just that he couldn't explain that it was because of the Soul Gem System that he knew about it.

Red didn't seem to care, though. "Hmph! And why should I believe you instead?"

Rean shook his head, saying, "You don't need to believe me." After that, he said something that made Red think a lot more seriously. "Can't you see it? If there was a chance that one of the sides was lying to you, which one do you think it would be? The Zasfins or the demon beasts?"

"This..." Red had to admit that it made sense. With that, he looked at Rean before asking, "Can you prove it?"

Rean pondered a bit before saying, "I can...however, it'll only be possible once we go see a certain person. Don't worry, it'll be very soon. As for who it is, I can't tell you right now."

Red fell into deep thought after that.