Early in the morning, Ikenga, Kana, and Daddara stood outside the cave they'd slept in the previous night. They didn't look happy to be in this place, and if they had a say in it, they wouldn't be here.

Daddara looked at Ikenga and said, "My lord, why don't we send a newsletter to the publishing companies about who Bihanzin is?"

Ikenga replied with a smile, "Don't worry, over the past couple of years we have prepared everything on how to proceed if Bihanzin refuses to accept our deal."

Daddara nodded and stepped back to stand behind Ikenga. About an hour later, a ball of light appeared on a boulder a few meters away from them. The light soon turned into a middle-aged man who was none other than commander Damjinu Djinn. Neither Ikenga nor his men moved from their spots. They were either expecting the commander, or they didn't care about him suddenly appearing out of thin air.

The commander smiled, but for some reason it seemed like he was frowning. He looked at Ikenga, ignoring the two men behind him like they weren't worth his time. He said, "King Bihanzin is waiting for you."

He clapped his hands together in a gesture and internally called out a few incantations, revealing a small portal behind him. Ikenga walked forward and jumped into the portal without any hesitation.

Kana and Daddara walked forward to follow him into the portal but Damjinu stepped in front of them and stopped them. He said, "Only he was asked to come."

Daddara reached for his sword in anger but Kana stopped him with a nod. They watched calmly as Damjinu disappeared into the portal and the portal disappeared with him.

Inside the portal, Ikenga looked at Damjinu suspiciously when he didn't see his men coming through the portal.

"I asked them to stay behind," the commander said, smiling.

Ikenga shrugged. He looked around him and saw a sandy field. It was warm and there was nothing dangerous as far as he could see. Bihanzin sat not far away from him on a huge throne, carrying a black, one-eyed raven on his shoulder like a wizard king.

Bihanzin smiled at him and said, "Now that you are growing up, I can see the similarities with your grandfather Amraikugyu. The last time I saw him he was very old but he still had your eyes."

Ikenga smiled wryly, his heart pounding for the man in front of him. "I'm glad you can see it but I don't have time to indulge you now. Maybe later," Ikenga said proudly. "I came here for my grandfather's sword, Yura-shira. As agreed, I'll give you the complete map of the underground empire and you can even keep the essence board you stole. In return, you'll give the sword back to me.

"But if you try something funny or something happens to me and I do not return to my people in ten minutes, you will soon hear something interesting from the publishing companies in all the seven worlds, something about your retched bloodline, I assume. My people are already stationed in the headquarters of all the newspapers. They are just waiting to present your story to the world."

Bihanzin frowned, and the world turned dark as if Ururu had appeared. The raven on his shoulder released unholy cries and it sounded as if the trumpet of death was being blown. Ikenga started sweating and pulling back subconsciously, his heart pounding.

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Then, suddenly, Bihanzin burst out laughing. The darkness disappeared and the raven stopped screeching and fluttered its tail.

Ikenga slowly released the breath he'd been holding. If someone knew who Bihanzin was, and heard that Ikenga had come to his palace alone, they would say he was crazy. Unfortunately, no one knew this secret except him.

Bihanzin looked at Damjinu and said, "Bring the sword."

The commander disappeared, and in a few seconds, he appeared again. In his hand, he carried a long, naked sword with black steel and a red hilt. It was as tall as Ikenga despite him being almost two meters tall. It was as wide as an adult palm. A true great sword.

Damjinu waited until Bihanzin nodded at him and he offered the sword to Ikenga.

Ikenga reached out and took it. Once he held it in his hands, the black steel began to glow. It gave off a grey light that resembled smoke. Ikenga turned it around in his hands. He didn't need to be told whether it was authentic or not because he felt it in his blood. It was part of him.

He tied it on his back. Then he opened his storage ring and threw his old sword inside. He suddenly looked like a new person: his face and shoulders looked more muscular and his eyes showed signs of power.

"I've fulfilled my part," Bihanzin said.

Ikenga hesitated for a moment before finally opening his ring again and picking up a piece of paper and handing it over to Damjinu, who handed it over to Bihanzin.

Ikenga turned to leave, but he heard Bihanzin again. "The name of this map is KURU. Soon you will know why I gave you the strongest sword in the world to receive a simple map."

Ikenga just ground his teeth and walked out of the place through his portal

***

Kana and Daddara had been standing anxiously for several long minutes when they saw Ikenga approaching them slowly. They ran after him and examined his body. He was fine. The first thing that greeted them was a long sword tied behind his back. Its hilt flashed red like a setting sun.

Ikenga looked at them blankly and said, "Before we go to the island of Pseudo-Ururu, I need to stop in Mikironomada. There's something I must do in the Non-Touch dungeon."

They stared at him in amazement, but having seen his determination, they nodded in agreement and marched to Mikironomada.

***

Meanwhile, somewhere in the seventh world, Armad sat in a boat with Inara, Ilias, and Spoon. Their journey was almost coming to an end as they approached the town of Duka.

They had already passed through three cities in an attempt to reach the city. From their current position, they could see black-clad guards in front of a giant city gate. There were so many of them that it looked like they were out for war.

Inara looked at the handwritten note in his hands. He went through it three times and then looked at Armad and said, "Teacher, I hope I have gotten it right this time. Your father's name is Taidara Wilberforce, your maternal grandfather is Zaikid Wilberforce, and your mother's name is Fatima Wilberforce. Before your parents got married, she was using Fatima Bayajidda. That is, she was using her maternal grandfather to hide her Wilberforce name."

Armad nodded, saying, "Yes, that's right. Are we done?" He sounded genuinely tired and bored.

"I'm never taking a student from Mikironomada," Ilias murmured to himself.

Armad frowned helplessly and he looked like he was going to cry.

Coming to his rescue, Ilias added, "When it comes to inheritance, the blood of the mother isn't very strong, but Armad's maternal blood seems to be. You saw the soul of Bayajidda when fighting with Ikenga in the jinzidal when no one else could see it."

Armad nodded. He'd come to the same conclusion. Especially since there was no other way to see the soul. "Either my Bayajidda line is strong enough to present itself despite my Wilberforce blood, or the soul was wrong about only Bayajidda being able to see him," Armad added thoughtfully.

They continued in silence for a while, and Armad was happy about it. The boy was finally able to keep quiet after being interrupted repeatedly by Ilias. But then the boy knelt in front of him and asked him, "Teacher, how old is your elder sister Hidaya? I mean, she must be several hundreds of years old if she is the firstborn. Right?"

You could see Armad's face almost sinking in frustration. He was not answering any more questions from the overzealous student.