“Well, this is unexpected.” Korgan muttered. His grandson was back with his majority of the Tengu group that chose to participate in the trials. There were several demons missing, Korgan could tell that the trials have cost those demons their lives, that was one of the dangers of partaking in the Selection- one never knew if one would come back alive. But the unusual thing was not the fact that several Tengu clan members were dead, no, Korgan expected that. The strange part was that Ren brought a new addition to the Tengu clan with him.

Currently they were sitting near the table, with Ren introducing the new member of the clan.

“His name is Sento, Sento Draco. He is the new member to our clan. Also, he is a Demon Lord, just like you grandpa.”

“A demon Lord?” Korgan asked.

“I served Margau Kanat, the 32nd Demon King of Kalkan Kingdom. But that was a very long time ago.” Sento explained.

“I see, but Margau Kanat has been dead for more than two centuries, then how come you are alive?” Korgan asked.

“Well, I had rather unfortunate circumstances…” Sento told his story of being sealed within a diamond by a goddess and how he was imprisoned for countless years.

“A goddess? I have hard time believing that, there are no human gods in Kalkan kingdom, at least there not supposed to be any right? Where did that goddess go?” Korgan asked with a tinge of skepticism.

“She is right here” Ren took out a fist sized, bluish white, diamond from his pocket and passed it into Korgan’s hand. Korgan stared at the diamond skeptically, but at the moment his hand touched it he heard a shrieking sound. It sounded like some mad woman was wailing at him endlessly. “LET GO OF ME YOU DEMON!”

“Master Ren, why did you bring her with you?” Sento was obviously tipped off.

“Would you rather I left her there? Who knows who could find her then?” Ren acted a little out of pity but letting the goddess out was a no-no. She did threaten to kill all the demons there were so he was cautious with it.

“I see. So it would be better if you had her with you other than risking the alternative of having humans find her. I see your point, master.” Sento’s expression now calmed down.

“Well, this is remarkable.” Korgan put the diamond on the table. “A goddess sealed in a stone, and a demon Lord to boot...” then he looked at Sento. “Sento Draco. As a member of the Draco clan, would you like to return to your own clan? Their current Demon Lord has perished years ago, their clan has been thrown into disarray, and they need someone to lead them.” Korgan did not want to force a member of other clan to work for Tengu clan.

“No, I wish to serve the clan to which Master Ren belongs to. I have made a vow while I was imprisoned- if I were to be freed by a demon then I would pledge my life to serve that demon. I was fortunate to be found by a demon not a human.”

“How can you prove that you shall not betray my grandson?” Korgan inquired. Losing two sons had taught him to be cautious and suspicious of anyone.

“Because of this.” Sento showed his right hand, there on the palm was a writing of some kind which Ren was unable to understand.

“Master- Servant contract. So that means… Ren show me your palm.” Ren showed his open right hand palm to Korgan who saw a small writing. In ancient demon language, the mark on Ren’s palm meant “Ruler”, while the mark on Sento’s palm meant “Servant.” Korgan gulped in disbelief. His grandson actually managed to pull something as great as recruiting and gaining the servitude of a Demon Lord, someone on the same level as Korgan if not higher power wise.

His grandson, Ren Karatengu, was a rather strange lad, but his ability to impress even someone as experienced as Korgan was mind baffling. He made three of the high tier clans in Kalkan kingdom become weak and broken if not completely extinguished. He attracted followers who felt a bond of loyalty to him. And he survived the First Trial of the Selection. Even if it was just the first trial, Korgan couldn’t help but be proud of his grandson. And now, a new addition to the Tengu clan’s forces, another Demon Lord for the Tengu clan. Now the Tengu clan had a backing of two Demon Lords. It was an ultimate strategic move. Korgan felt immense sense of pride that his grandson had both strong goals and the will to implement them.

“I have pledged my absolute loyalty to Master Ren, as such I will obey any order he gives me, even if he orders me to sacrifice myself, I shall gladly obey his order.” Said Sento.

“No need to go that far, Sento!” Ren patted Sento’s back. Ren really did not like where the conversation was going. “So, grandfather, we are going to need a room for Sento and some clothing, also he did not eat for more than two hundred years, I had a glimpse of how hungry he really is.”

“I am truly sorry about that.” Sento muttered.

“Karatengu territory is not small. There is plenty of space for him.” Korgan agreed.

“As the father of my Master, I humbly ask of you, Master Karatengu to give me tasks to complete. I wish to serve my master; I cannot stand idly doing nothing while Master was so unimaginably kind.”

“Why does everyone get this completely wrong? Sento, did you not hear me speak? Master Korgan is my grandfather, not my father!”

“Ow~” Sento’s was about to apologize again, but Korgan stopped him with a motion of a hand.

“No need for that. We have had others make the same mistake as well. It’s a common mistake, no need to apologize.”

“Understood.” Sento muttered.

“As for work, the Tengu clan members mainly deal with agriculture. The land is vast and we need all the help we can get to plant and harvest the crops. I would ask you to join them as soon as you can.” Korgan answered.

“We need more workers to get all of the crops, and then there is a problem with Jilan Snake infestations…Yeah.” Ren found himself completely silent with dreadful memory of his experience with those scary reptiles.

“Of course, I shall do as you command.” Sento bowed.

* * *

“I am rather impressed with the progress you have made, grandson.”

“We have losses as well. Aron, Lecro, Rona, Quo, Riosa, and Mara have lost their lives. I wish to hold a funeral for them. We couldn’t retrieve their bodies but making a tombstone is the least thing I can do for them.”

“I did not know you memorized all of the names of Tengu clan members.” Korgan said with surprised voice.

“It would be rude of me if I did not memorize the names of those who died for this clan.”

“That is it, Ren. Never forget the sacrifices the demons make for one another, otherwise I fear we might end up as cruel as human beings. I will make sure each one of them shall be given a gravestone.”

“Thank you. These trials, I thought they were some kind of a competition, but it was a massacre.” Ren admitted.

“That it is. Unfortunately. The Great Ones have created the trials in order to select the most worthy of being the Demon King, but along the lines the power hungry demons have perverted the practice into a senseless slaughter to the point the trials became much less about winning than it was about pure survival.” Said Korgan. “Many demons have a twisted philosophy of strength being the true measure of a leader, so each clan tries to one up the other with pure brute force, sometimes resulting in destruction of clans. As long as the demon leading the kingdom is perceived as strong then the other demons follow him due to either loyalty or fear. But when the leader becomes weak however…” Korgan opened the door to an empty room. There were candles lit inside there. There, in the center of the room was a casket.

“Grandfather, what is this?”

“That is my sworn brother, former 56th Demon King of Kalkan kingdom, Akil Ras.” Korgan said sadly.

“His..his…”

“What remains of him, that is. While you and your group participated in the trials I have infiltrated the territory formerly belonging to Ras clan. There, under the rubble I found what was left of my dear old friend. The other bodies were turned to ash; apparently the place was set on fire after the Ras family was killed.”

Ren felt a sense of dread coming over him. A fear that was slowly tugging at his heart.

“How did the Demon King die? You told us all when he died when the mark on your hand disappeared, but what happened to him?” Ren couldn’t help but ask.

“At first I wasn’t sure what happened either, so I chose to investigate. From the marks on the buildings, the blood spatter, leftover weapons, it was obvious that the ones responsible were humans. As for Akil Ras, he was lead into a trap where he let his guard down, there he was stabbed through the heart and then beheaded. A horrible way for a king to die along with his family.”

“That is a horrible way to die.”

“Indeed it is. That is a reminder that not even Demon King is safe from death. A reminder that the one who bears the mantle of the king shall accept the privileges and the burdens that come with that title. If the king is perceived as weak then he shall have many enemies, unfortunately that was the case for my dear friend.” Said Korgan, before turning towards Ren. “While the Demon King is selected as the most worthy by Great Ones, it doesn’t mean all the demons will accept that. You must be careful grandson, the more enemies you have the more likely you will be killed. Akil Ras’s own clan struggled to keep peace between the demon clans, to the point that in his late years the clan was reduced to a few members, with his family included. They were so spent and lacking in power that they were massacred by the humans invading their territory. Back in my younger days, something like human invasion would not have been enough to kill the mighty Ras clan, but the years of struggling to preserve the balance had worn them down completely. Akil Ras was much weaker with old age, nowhere near what he was in his prime. And his decline in strength is what made killing him along with his entire clan possible.”

“So the clan of the Demon King is no more?”

“It is Ras clan of blazing Eagle demons. And no, the clan is not extinct, not yet at least.”

“What do you mean?” Ren asked.

“Didn’t you know? The girl you brought with you, Kizilkoz, she is Akil Ras’s youngest daughter.” Korgan revealed the facts.

“I did not know that. The daughter of the former demon king…I thought she was eager to participate in the trials but I never thought…”

“She most likely wants to preserve her father’s legacy by becoming the Demon King or at the very least die trying. If my assumption is correct, then her end goal is to use the power of the Demon King to get revenge upon humans who have taken her family away from her.”

“You knew that? How?”

“Akil Ras and I were sworn brothers. I have met his children when they were still hatchlings; I am familiar with their energy signature. When you brought her here, I couldn’t just abandon her. You must keep her identity a secret at all cost, if other demons find out she is the daughter of the former demon king, then there is not telling what will happen to her and to the rest of the demon clans. Demon King’s name commands great authority, be it for the good or the bad.”

“I see. I will make sure to keep her identity a secret.”

“Very well. Now then, Ren, would you tell me in detail about what happened during the trials?”

Ren took a few hours telling his grandfather a summary of what happened during the first trials while Korgan listened calmly, enjoying the company hearing the story of his grandson, thinking ‘So this is what it means to be a grandpa, listening to grandchildren tell their tales.’ Korgan smiled in delight. His grandson wouldn’t even know how glad Korgan was to have a grandson there, speaking to him. He was the living proof that Korgan still had a purpose in life- to make sure his grandson survived.

* * *

“Now then, screaming diamond aside…” Ren took out the crystal from the Orin-Yakit crystal on his necklace. There it was, a small greenish blue crystal that he wanted to use as tiling for a bathhouse. Now examining it closely he could see that the crystal was reflective. “Isn’t that curious? I can almost see my reflection. Wait, is that Shaula?” the crystals, looking closely at it, now showed Shaula’s sleeping figure. It was night after all.

“I see, I see…” Ren muttered. The crystal showed other Tengu clan members now, many were sleeping. “I wonder if this is some kind of a special crystal that only shows people sleeping…Wait, where is this going?” the vision in the crystal now entered the head of one of the Tengu clan members. Ren now could see a world made of pillows, with the said clan member now jumping across one pillow to the next. “Ok, that is weird.” Ren muttered. Then he ended seeing Orin’s dream. There Orin was flying with wings on his back, screaming ‘I shall exterminate you all!’

Ren ended up seeing many of the dreams of his clan members, then after getting carried away, Ren proceeded to sleep.

Little did he know that by sleeping near dream crystal, he unintentionally gave every sleeping Tengu clan members a nightmare?

“Oh, a had the strangest dream~”

“No kidding, I saw Master Ren, but instead of his usual self he was a floating giant head, trying to force me to either eat his grub or be eaten!”

“I had the same dream! His giant head was chasing me all over the place!”

Apparently, everyone unfortunate enough to be asleep or had dreams had a nightmarish experience of seeing Ren’s floating giant head chasing them. Everyone thought it was just a phenomenon without realizing it was completely Ren’s fault.