After fighting Robos in Bukka clan territory, both Ren and Doran were injured and exhausted. For reasons Ren did not know of, Sento, Lumina, and Korkau were also injured. Ren couldn’t have known it was due to a certain other crow demon’s actions.

And now, they were under the care of Akjan, Aijasyl, Shaula, Lotus, Karli and the others.

With the guidance of Master Korgan, Shaula performed acupuncture on the injured demons.

No matter how much Ren screamed in fear of needles, Akjan and Aijasyl held him down while Shaula performed the treatment.

For the last couple of days, Ren had been taking a lot of medicine to get him back in health, and he was recovering splendidly.

Then, one night, he woke up to a nightmarish dream where he was fighting against the fearsome demons of Altyn clan and then saw the face of his mother.

Convinced it was just a dream, he went back to sleep, with the amulet Robos gave him still on his neck.

He couldn’t have known that the amulet was actually a Power Stone made by the Rheno clan.

While the Power Stones are usually used by demons to assume their True Demon Forms, that is not actually the true ability of the Power Stone.

Power Stone’s true power lies in its ability to draw upon the might of the demon’s own blood.

For ordinary demons, it would mean an unimaginable power boost, but for a half demon like Ren, it was a different matter.

Unlike full blooded demons, Ren was both a human and a demon, and due to his lack of mastery over his demon blood, it created an imbalance within him.

The imbalance between his human side and demon side resulted in a bizarre case of a split personality; with Outer self embodying his human side, and the inner self embodying his demon side.

Inner Ren, the one who fought Robos Bukka to a standstill, he is the side of Ren he had always unknowingly kept hidden.

But with the aid of the Power Stone, the demon blood in his veins was boiling.

The one that was hidden away now rose to the surface.

The change was not only mental but physical as well.

Two wings as black as the night sprouted from Ren’s back.

It was not a complete True Demon Form, but a Partial version, so his head was still humanoid and he did not gain talons on his feet.

He grew at least a head taller and his hair became longer, reaching up to his shoulders. Now the hair ended up covering the left side of his face, making only his right eye visible.

And the aura he emitted was of calm tranquility, like a ripple that travelled seamlessly across the surface of water.

Inner Ren or Demon Ren was now fully awake.

Standing up, he exited his room.

As he walked across the hallway, he passed by a certain demon carrying a tray with bottles of medicine.

“Good evening, Shaula”

“Good even…Wait! Who are you?”

It was a rather natural reaction.

As he was now, Demon Ren was taller than his normal, human self, and his hair was covering his left eye. And most obviously, he had a pair of black wings on his back. By appearance alone, it was obvious he was a Tengu, a member of crow demon bloodline.

When Ren turned to face her, Shaula gasped in disbelief.

“Master Ymit? No, it can’t be…” he resembled Ymit, so strongly in fact that Shaula thought she might be seeing things.

“It’s me, Ren. By the way, could you please bring some sake? A night like this calls for a good drink”

“Y-Y-Yes! Right away, young master!”

As Shaula hurried away, Ren proceeded to head towards the yard.

Closing the door behind him, Ren said in a calm voice.

“I suppose this conversation is long overdue, grandfather”

“We sure do have a lot to talk about, my grandson”

Korgan Karatengu replied with a proud smile.

* * *

“I see, so your demon half and human half are separate but whole, huh.”

“You don’t seem surprised, grandfather”

“Well, I suspected as much, after hearing that you are part human from Shaula and the fact that you were born in human world. Still, unlike Aijasyl, who is half demon like you, you seem to lack the balance between your human and demon sides.”

“Regretfully, balance was never my strong suit. Are you ashamed to have half human for an heir?”

“Nonsense, half human or not, you are still my grandson. Your human blood does not make you any lesser in my eyes”

“Thank you, grandpa”

Looking at the moons, Ren smiled.

“Grandfather, why exactly a Demon King is chosen?”

“In the past, to prevent humanity and their gods from exterminating our kind. More than nine hundred years ago, demon kind managed to flee to this world, and now the Demon King’s duty is to protect the demons from destroying themselves. Regretfully, demons had become their own worst enemies.”

“With all the clans stacked against each other, one clan exterminating the other, in an endless cycle of carnage” Ren remarked.

“Exactly. Demon King’s role serves to unite all the demon kind under a single banner, even for a short amount of time. The idea was to create a period of stability under the reign of each Demon King. But unfortunately, that has not worked out as well as it was supposed to.”

Master Korgan continued.

“The great ones use the Trials as a chance to find a worthy candidate to wield the power of Demon King. If that power ends up in the wrong hands…It could mean the deaths of countless innocent demons.”

Hearing that, Demon Ren chose to tell his grandfather a certain truth he had been hiding for a while.

“I made sure to end the clans that could have threatened our clan and bent others to my will. Kas clan was a threat, breaking their leader was a sure way to stop them. As far as Jou clan goes, it worked out better than I imagined, with both former leaders now as my subordinates. I had nothing to do with what happened to Draco and Ras clans, but the fact that Draco clan chose to join us was a pleasant surprise. With the human threats, we still need to watch out for them.”

“What about the Bukka clan? For what purpose did you chose to participate in their gladiatorial games?”

“With their marches upon neighboring territories, they would have eventually become a dire threat, so I made sure to address it before it happened. I had Fanghead injure their summoned monster and I bested their leader in combat. Now, they will not dare to attack our clan.”

Demon Ren, unlike human Ren, paid a lot of attention to the lectures by Aijasyl and Shaula, specifically the strengths and weaknesses of opposing clans.

As for Bukka clan, Demon Ren came to suspect that they have a secret weapon, which was proven to be correct with the reveal of Land Kraken. But now their summoned monster was out of commission for a while and their leader became subservient to Ren.

Every step Demon Ren took had a hidden purpose behind it.

Fools might attribute it to luck and wiser ones would see an undeniable pattern yet never be sure, but none could suspect that Demon Ren had been pulling on all the strings all this time.

As far as being a leader that looks out to the future of his clan, there could be none more worthy.

“So that’s what the purpose of it was. Well done”

Another reason for visiting the Bukka clan was for Demon Ren to test his limits. And from the looks of its, with his skills, he can take on demons below Demon Lord level, but he remarked that against a Demon Lord level demon he stood no chance.

“Yeah, but it made my weaknesses painfully clear as well. The biggest threat right now is Altyn clan; frankly I have no idea how to deal with them. If it were Shengyn, he would have definitely found a way to best them.”

Demon Ren sighed.

“You should have had my brother as your heir instead of me, a talentless weakling.”

“No need to put yourself down, kiddo. Talent is not everything”

“Perhaps not. But aside from my strategies and willpower, I got nothing going for me. Can’t even use magic without Absorption or taking over someone else’s spell. Still, it is better than nothing.”

As a resident of demon world, Demon Ren had to recognize that he was weaker than most demons, but unlike his human side, he was calculating and prudent. Every time his human side had no idea what he was doing, Demon Ren had been pulling on the strings from behind the scenes.

None of the events that had happened so far were a coincidence.

Aside from the fates of Ras and Draco clan, of which he had nothing to do with, everything else happened due to Demon Ren’s machinations.

Even the plan to bring Yaks to take care of food shortage problems was Demon Ren’s original idea.

He took advantage of his human side and had his body get to a place with Yaks, and when human Ren woke up, he would inevitably cause a situation where the Yaks would chase him, which would result in Yaks getting into Tengu clan territory where Demon Lords can place them under control.

Demon Ren was just as weak as his human counterpart, but if anything, he was not lacking in brains department and knew exactly what he was doing.

“My human side is not completely aware of my plans or purposes behind my actions. To be honest, until recently I have only been able to take over while he slept, and even then, my hold over the body was incomplete. Still, I was able to influence my human side’s actions to a certain extent…”

He continued.

“…I suspect the reason I managed to come out to the surface completely was due to this” He pointed at the medallion on his neck.

“A power stone. That explains a lot” Master Korgan nodded.

Ever since Ren started to sleep walk, Master Korgan suspected that his demon blood was growing stronger, which is why he did not worry about Ren’s whereabouts.

As far as Master Korgan was concerned, Ren knew exactly what he was doing.

And oddly enough, Master Korgan was right all along.

Ren’s demon side was completely different from his human side; calculating, calm, confident, and determined. His human side, on the other hand, was far less proactive. While not stupid by any means, there was no denying that his human side was extremely cowardly.

“I will do what I can to make sure our clan survives and prospers. I am not my brother, so it might be a rather difficult endeavor. But no matter what, I will protect our clan. Also… I suspect that when I wake up tomorrow, I will be back to my human form. So…please take it easy on him, I mean, me”

“That should not be a problem, my grandson”

“Just you watch, grandpa. I will make you proud” Ren said in a confident voice.

At that moment, Korgan remembered his son, Ren’s father, Ymit.

“Just you watch, father. I will make you proud” apple truly did not fall far from the tree.

Master Korgan couldn’t help but tear up.

“I already am, my fledgling. I already am”

Demon Ren being a mastermind behind almost every event that happened so far, only his grandfather, Master Korgan was aware of it.

Others had their suspicions, but only Master Korgan knew for certain what was going on inside his grandson’s head.

“Also, I would like to ask your permission for something”

“What would that be, my grandson?”

“I still have Lotus as my fiancée but I wish to take Akjan as my wife. Would that be all right?”

“Ha-ha-ha! Do you really need my permission for something like that? Ha-ha-ha!” Master Korgan ended up cracking into laughter.

It was no secret by now that at Ren’s age, his grandfather had a personality very similar to that of his grandson. Even some of his reactions made it undeniably clear.

“It is not unusual for demons to have multiple wives, you know”

“I only agreed to be Lotus’s fiancée because of the deal you and Sento made with them. To be honest with you, you guys caught me completely off guard.”

“Sorry about that, grandson”

“I will not deny, having their clan become our allies was a good idea, but it still was a surprise. Oh well, if there is nothing wrong with it, I am content”

“You have picked a good one. Even though I told her not to worry about it, every night you went away, she would follow you and bring you back home. It is obvious her feelings for you are genuine.”

“So are mine” Demon Ren replied. Unlike his human side that was extremely shy and dense, his demon side was brave enough to not hide his feelings or affections.

After Shaula brought sake, Ren and Master Korgan made a toast under the light of three moons.