“YOU LET WHAT LOOSE IN THE FIELDS!!?” Aijasyl screamed at me at the top of her lungs. Apparently letting a baby hydra roam free across the fields was not the smartest thing I ever come up with.

“Were there any casualties?” I asked, worried that the hydra might have attacked someone.

“No, but that is not the point! Every one of the younger workers is now terrified to go to the fields because a monster with multiple heads pops up with grass in its mouth. To think that you let such a monster roam free, what were you thinking?”

“I told it not to eat anyone and only eat weeds, so what is the problem? I left it to itself only for six days, and if there are no casualties it should be fine. Besides, a monster? Fanghead? His is too cute to call a monster, I mean he is so…” Aijasyl lead me towards where the hydra was laying down on its back, apparently already full of eating grass. “HUGE!” I ended up exclaiming. The hydra that was only as big as his hand was no more, the beast that was in front of him could not possibly be his adorable pet Fanghead.

The hydra now had six heads, it was almost two meters tall, standing taller than me.

“Is that really Fanghead, come to think of it, grandfather mentioned that hydras grow ridiculously fast if given enough food and nutrition, but to grow this much in six days. Hey, Fanghead!” I beckoned to the hydra who now turned towards me.

Now the hydra stood up on its paws and advanced towards us. Aijasyl fearfully backed away. She looked in terror at what was happening here. A fearsome beast with six heads was staring at her master. Her master was walking towards the beast with outstretched hands. Now the most unbelievable thing happened.

One of Hydra’s heads nuzzled against Ren, even licking Ren’s face. Ren in turn hugged that head with his arms. If it wasn’t for the fact that the hydra was gigantic compared to its owner, it would have looked like a scene of loving embrace between pet and its owner.

“Well done Fanghead, I heard you didn’t eat anyone, I am so proud of you, my little hydra…” Ren was lovingly stroking hydra’s multiple heads. One of the heads now came from behind Ren, and proceeded to lift him up into the air.

“What are you…?” Aijasyl didn’t get to finish.

“Oh, you want me to ride on your back? Are you old enough yet? Wow, your scales feel so cool~” I proceeded to embrace the hydra.

Five of the heads were snuggling Ren, while one head hissed at Aijasyl when she tried to come closer.

“You know what? This is a perfect opportunity. How about this, Fanghead? I am going to be planting these seeds I collected during the first trial of selection. I have very many of them so it might take me a while to do so. What if you help me out? With your strong paws you can dig holes and I can put the seeds in them. How about that?”

The hydra proceeded to rub my face with one of its noses. Apparently it was saying “Sounds good.”

“I suppose I will be going now…”

“Aijasyl, wanna come with us?”

“What?!”

“Hey, Fanghead, I know it might be nuisance to ask but…do you have a room for one more?” now the hydra was not so eager, but it groaned in an equivalent of a sigh, now its heads moved away, giving some room behind me for Aijasyl to sit. I helped Aijasyl climb aboard. She now was fearfully hanging on to my body. Apparently she was not as comfortable riding the hydra.

“March forward, my gallant steed!” I said with pretentious air of bravery. Truth is, I am not sure if this will turn out so well.

* * *

What the Tengu clan members saw could only be described as preposterous.

Their master, the heir of the Tengu clan was riding atop of a six headed, near two meter tall monstrosity. And he was doing it as if it was nothing special.

“Do things like these happen all the time here?” Sento asked, looking at the bizarre sight of hydra being used as a steed.

“Don’t ask me, I am only starting to get used to it.” Kizilkoz replied.

“His jokes aside…” Kizilkoz began “I believe he is the best demon I could hope to ally with.”

“It seems you have no doubt in him.”

“Well, just like you, I did make a contract with him, but not a master-servant contract, but equal to equal contract of two masters. In order to make a contract with someone, you have to have absolute trust in someone, which reminds me, why did you make such a contract with Ren, without truly knowing him?”

“The fact that he freed me was enough of a reason for my gratitude. My clan treasured honor above all else, and the honor demands I repay my debts.”

“I see.” Kizilkoz muttered.

“I heard that the previous Demon King was killed by humans. That is rather pathetic way to go. Demons were never meant to suffer at the hands of humans, we were meant to strive and surpass them. Maybe it is for the best that a leader who was so weak that he was killed by humans had perished, it is best to be erased rather than live as a weakling. He most likely was a weak coward who couldn’t even protect his clan…”

“Don’t you dare…”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you dare call Akil Ras a coward!” Kizilkoz screamed out in anger. Both of them were at the entrance of her forge. At that moment, Kizilkoz’s spiritual form briefly manifested, forming into a shape of a blazing eagle, then it disappeared in a few seconds.

“That spiritual form, there is no mistaking it. You are a member of the Ras clan, are you not? Does master Ren know about this?”

“He does not and I would like you to keep it that way.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Sento agreed. “If the previous demon king was kin of yours, then I apologize for my earlier statement.”

“He was my father. He might have been a weak king, he might have been getting frail, but he was no coward.”

“I understand. So the reason you are here is?”

“I need Ren’s help if I am going to take back the crown of the demon king. Only if I obtain the power of the demon king I will be able to exact my revenge upon the humans who have killed my family. Ren might know who I am, come to think of it, Master Korgan must have already told him, and so it means he is supporting me regardless, huh? He truly is a twisted fellow.”

“And Ren knows you will be competing with him for the position of demon king?”

“Yes, I told him that I shall follow him until we reached the final stage. After that, we shall no longer be allies. He is well aware of that.”

“I see. But know this; my loyalty is to Ren Karatengu. I care not that you are the child of the former Demon King, but I am only loyal to Master Karatengu. Even if you succeed and become the demon king, I shall only take orders from him.”

“That is fine. Hope we get along, Sento.” Kizilkoz extended her hand. Sento shook it in a firm grip befitting a dragon type demon.

“I hope so as well.” Sento thought ‘If Master ever commands me to fight against her; I will be obligated to do so, so I apologize beforehand in that case.’