The time seemed to stand still. Phantom with a cautious yet interested gleam in eyes studied Zhurong. Samukai froze in place with Izanagi pointing at the fire god, who with an unamused eyes simply stared at the two "guests". The townspeople ceased their activities and too observed the visitors albeit without seemingly any care at all. The only thing that was breaking the unbearable silence was the cracking of the fire.

- So you really are a deity huh? Can't remember when was that last time I saw any- demon said, focusing Zhurong's attention on himself.

- And likewise, you demon- fire god replied, taking a bite from the roasted lamb that he still held- But since you can talk, I assume that you are smarter than the lot that's roaming our lands. And I hope that you understand that taking a fight with me would be very unwise, especially now- his ember like eyes gazed at the snake with such ferocity that the demon could feel a burning on his skin.

- I am not your ordinary demon, that much you got right- Phantom smirked- As for the second part I will let you know that I did fight a bunch of gods back in the days. But if you are so confident in yourself, why don't we test it?

- Well, who would I be to let a demon go away alive?

- Wait, wait, wait!- Samukai stepped before the demon. Zhurong looked at him with an interest in eyes and Phantom seemed mad that samurai stopped the battle before it could even start for good- Great Zhurong, I am terribly sorry for my demon's attitude, but I truly promise that neither of us mean harm to you or your village- samurai tried to plead them away, much to the scoffing of Phantom. Zhurong laughed.

- You are a weird pair. So samurai, an intrusion into my village, bringing a demon who then plans to take my head is a rather heavy insult to me, what can you give in exchange for letting you go away? I'm in good mood today so take that for granted

- You can take an abbadon to your stupid fa- demon couldn't finish as Samukai stepped with full force on the tip of his tail. Zhurong laughed once again.

- Maybe I'll take that demon, he would make a good jester- Phantom clenched his teeth with such force that samurai heard a crack. He saw that the demon was shaking with anger, probably trying his hardest to not attack the fire god here and now- But what is your offer?

Samukai was thinking for a while. Crystals were out of question and so was Izanagi. Phantom, while being a funny thought and a somewhat interesting option, was also out of question. Perhaps gold? They had a bunch of it. He reached to his hip to get the pouch of gold and froze. Right, Noktum had the pouch inside the bag. Shadow in question noticed that something was bothering the warrior and the magician finally emerged from the shadows.

- And who you might be? Another demon? Perhaps you will somehow help your companions- Zhurong rook a bite out of the lamb, leaving only bone.

- I am Noktum, the magician apprentice of the great spellcaster Phantasm- the anger that has overflowed the demon had vanished for a moment, its place being taken by pride. Fire god eyed the magician. Samurai came closer to him and said something about some pouch. Shadow then took one bag and from it another which made a jingling sound. Zhurong's eyes have now focused on the pouch.

- Great Zhurong, we offer you this handful of gold- Samukai stepped before his companions, showing the pouch to the Zhurong, shaking it slightly to show that it indeed had some gold inside. Fire god closed his eyes and scratched his chin.

- Let it be then. For I am a benevolent god, I shall accept your offer- samurai then threw the bag right at the god, who without an effort caught it. It quickly burned to ash and the gold melted, going down his hand. He quickly put it over his mouth and drank the golden liquid.

- Now scatter off before I change my mind

- Of course great Zhurong, but we are strangers to this land. We don't really know in which direction we should go and we would love to travel to Suzaku- Samukai bowed, showing his respect. Noktum quickly followed him, and Phantom was still eyeing the god. Though the mention of Suzaku made him curious.

- Go south from here, once you see old ruins head west. Shortly after you should arrive to the Southern Land. But hear me out demon- Zhurong's sharp gaze once again focused on Phantom- If I hear that even a mere blade of grass has been burned by you, I will personally throw into the very depths of Diyu. Are we clear?

- Clear as the sky, great Zhurong. I promise that I will keep an eye on him- Samukai answered before the demon even had a chance to think of some snarky remark to throw at the fire god's face. Bowing once again, samurai ordered Chaos to leave the village. Him and Noktum were leading while Phantom was on the back.

- Oh and demon- Zhurong said as Phantom was at the very entrance- I don't know what is wrong with your aura, but whatever are the forces that you are playing with, will lead you to ruin

- Maybe if you were a god of fortune I would believe you. But why even warn me about that?

- I just don't want my lands to be endangered by beings like you- demon scoffed and left the village for good. Fenfir finally came out from the shadows. Noktum already climbed on top of the wolf, with Samukai following soon after. Warrior quickly took out a map and was trying to see if any ruins had been located on the southern part of it. To his surprise, there was something, like a dark brown rectangle right at the border between Kohryu and Suzaku. Warrior took a glance at the demon who was oddly quiet after their meeting with a god. If he was being honest, he expected him to curse Zhurong left and right, especially now since they were a good distance away from the village. Noktum too noticed his master's odd behavior or rather lack thereof, but dismissed it as simple tiredness or perhaps boredom. After all, the spellcaster seemed to be ready to fight the fire god, despite his body not being fully regenerated yet.

Phantom had not noticed the occasional stares that came from his teammates, as he was purely focused on the words of Zhurong. At first he paid no mind to them, but with every step that Fenfir took he thought more and more about their meaning. Just what was wrong with his aura? He expected it to be weaker than usual considering he didn't really have any proper rest since his fight with Iscariot and the scorpion. Perhaps that’s what he meant? Despite hoping for it to be true, there was a quiet voice in the back of his head that couldn't help but wonder if that was somewhat related to the Pharaoh and chaos energy. Speaking of Pharaoh, after their meeting with the scorpion he was awfully quiet. Phantom expected him to tell him a little bit more about that scorpion or even about those In-Between, perhaps even pester him about spreading the chaos. Maybe he should contact him via the Necronomicon? The problem was that the Pharaoh didn't really explain how he was supposed to do so. Simply open the book, recite an incantation or something more?

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Aww, have you been missing me already? The sarcastic voice of the crowd was back. At least the demon knew that Pharaoh was still with him.

Listen, the eyes, overloading and the gaze have been useful, but when will you finally teach me some spell or anything of that sort

As much as I would love to give you some truly powerful spells, it isn't so easy. You see, spells are much harder to teach with such limited amount of chaos energy

The hell you mean limited? I've been casting eighth tiers left and right, even two black comets in a rather short time span. Now that I think about it, shouldn't there be a shitload of chaos since every spell generates some? I swear if you lied to me I will tear off that dumbass smirk of yours together with the head!

I am no liar snake For the brief second the crowd seemed to unite into one harsher voice. Phantom felt chills going down his back.

It's just that for someone like, such an amount would barely let me manifest the tip of my finger. As for spells, don't worry I have something really special for you and even your team. Though I can't say what it is. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, would we? Any other questions?

Yes, about the Great light or Beast of light or however did you call that spell. Even without my sight I was able to tell that it was full of chaos, hell even straight up made only of it. It couldn't be a simple superior tier, right? It had to be overloaded

Maybe, maybe not. Why do you even care? Envious that a simple angel managed to cast such a powerful spell while an elite couldn't?

You know what? Forget that I asked and fuck off

The displeased grimace on the demon's face showcasing his sharp teeth became even bigger. Noktum tried to ask what exactly was bothering his master, but Phantom quickly dismissed that as nothing they should worry about. Fenfir continued going downhill, towards the vast plains resting upon the hill foot as Samukai turned around to face the demon.

- Look, I somewhat get it that you are mad about the fact that you couldn't fight with Zhurong, but seriously I don't think that picking up a fight with a god is a smart idea

- What? This time it doesn't have anything to do with that!

- It doesn't? Well then, paint me surprised. It seems like our company does change you little by little. Or perhaps domesticate would be more precise- samurai pretended to think hard about the subject, by taking a more hunch over posture, with his chin or rather lack thereof resting on his dorsum. Noktum snickered at that and even the demon couldn't help but smirk as he shook his head.

- I mean no offense- warrior continued- Although I am more than sure that if this encounter would have happened right after we stepped out of Hell, you would rush blindly at him and probably get us killed

Demon opened his mouth and wanted to protest but quickly closed it and now he was the one lost in thoughts. Samukai was right to a certain degree. Before he wouldn't think twice before taking on a deity. So now why didn't he do so? Even taking down one god would grant him great privilege once he would successfully fulfill his mission. Could they really affect him in such a way? Or maybe just a simple presence of them was more than enough for him to stop? No, and even if then why? They would probably get hurt, there was that... huh? Why of all things that was the first that came to him?

- Hey, Socrates- Phantom's thoughts were interrupted by samurai calling out to him- If you plan to think for so long they maybe become a philosopher. I'm sure that as a demon you would have some interesting thoughts

- Yeah, like would a world peace be achieved if all of the angels died?

- Ahh, some things don't change, do they?

- Now here you are wrong. At first I only slightly hated them, and now I think that we should throw them all into the most furious flames of Hell- the demon finished his sentence with a proud look on his face, but noticed that Samukai was no longer looking at him. Instead his gaze was focused on something in the distance. As Fenfir left the plains which had been turned into various farmlands and stepped into plains which still belonged to wilderness, Chaos finally got a better look at whatever had intrigued the samurai.

A good distance from them all too familiar yellow ruins were proudly standing in the middle of the vast grassland. Although they couldn't really be ruins, or perhaps Zhurong had a whole different meaning of what a ruin is. A great yellowish cube with an entrance guarded by a highly decorated golden bow, with various inscriptions, probably warning anyone who would dare to go into the impenetrable darkness which was all that was after the entrance, couldn't be called a ruin. And especially not as there were no cracks in the walls or any of the pillars covered in head to toe with symbols, who were with ease holding the entrance's roof that was built like those from roman temples.

- You know, I haven't missed those- Samukai said, hopping off the wolf to check the symbols on pillars. While he doubted that they were some kind of a trap, it was better to check it out. After carefully studying each of the four pillars, the samurai could say with a joy in his voice that none of them seemed to be dangerous. At least for now.

- Hey, as long as abbadon can pierce through their walls, I don't really mind them

- Don't be surprised when the walls here will be casting barricades left and right

- I'm sure I will think of something. Would the black comet suffice?- demon asked, slithering into the maze, but stopping abruptly after passing the first step- Noktum, light- the curiosity mixed with a slight distress in Phantom's voice made the magician act quickly with Samukai following right after the spellcaster, trying to see through the darkness just what the demon had noticed. When Noktum casted flame, the samurai quickly backed off.

Right at the end of the staircase were mutilated corpses, impaled on something that could only be called thorns made of shadows, which were coming from the floor and walls, pretty much nearly blocking the path with any spare space being taken by the corpses. The staircase itself was from the middle resembling a waterfall of blood. The crimson liquid that touched the thorns was being absorbed, making them grow slightly.

- What the hell happened here?!- Samukai said, still not turning to the entrance.

- I...I don't really know. An umbramancy of some sort, at least that is what I would like to say. But I really doubt that it is that. I have yet to see Thorns of the night that consumes bodies

- Perhaps a sign to warn anyone who dares to go in?

- If so then it is working

- Look, I know it doesn't look too promising, but we have to go in- Phantom said- Although I must say that I do feel something off in the air- demon once again felt the weird aura. Almost identical to the Necronomicon, but much more vivid. Just what could that be?

- See? That's more than enough to not go in

- Come one, the faster we go through there, the less you will have to stare at the corpses

- I swear that we will anger some ancient god or something- Samukai lamented as he further followed the Chaos, passing the first few thorns on the way. His non-existent guts were telling him that's a bad idea. Just like all of the guts lying around. He took a deep sight and looked at the ground, slowly moving on further and further into the maze.