Shaula: ‘Sensation of his back upon my chest….that fearless attitude towards death and danger...bravery that defies any common sense…even his smell is irresistible…’

Unaware that he was not the crow she thought he was, Shaula assumed ‘Ren’ was showing his true colors once again.

When he was in his ‘regular’ form, Shaula saw Ren as something akin to a younger brother that happened to be the leader of her clan. In that form, she felt next to no attraction for him whatsoever.

But for some reason, whenever he was like this, Shaula could not stop her heart from beating loud enough to be heard by others.

Maybe he had a serious case of split personality or a some form of brain trauma, yet, at this moment, Shaula couldn’t care less.

As long as ‘this’ young master was with her, she was confident everything was going to be ok.

Somehow, they managed to escape the Lizard Tribe territory and enter the portal that led them to another remote location.

Unbeknownst to them, this was the Wolf Tribe territory.

Looking around, there were a lot of demon corpses lying around.

One of them just happened to be conveniently wearing a mask.

Since Shen’s previous masks ended up destroyed during various battles, he was really eager to get a replacement.

It was not like he needed to conceal his identity or anything, but wearing a mask was purely for psychological reasons.

Shen’s master suspected that wearing a mask gave Shengyn a much needed confidence boost, which would explain why Shen acquired new masks.

Unfortunately, his masks tended to get destroyed shortly after acquiring them, to the point now it is a regular occurrence for him.

Without any hesitation, he took the mask off the deceased demon and put it on his face.

Shen: “I will be using this”

Now that they were away from the Lizard Tribe territory, the magic cancelling effect was no longer active.

Shen: “Finally! I can access my mana again!”

With his magic back at his disposal, he no longer needed this female demon’s help.

Within seconds, he assumed his partial True Demon form, with two night black wings emerged from his back.

Shaula: “Young Master?”

Shen: “Thanks for getting me here; I can handle the rest on my own”

Shaula: ‘Oh no, he is doing this again’

Shaula: “But Young Master…what if we travelled together…”

Shen: “No can do. You will only slow me down”

Shaula: ‘*Sobbing on the inside* I will only slow you down?’

That much was true, after flying while carrying Shen for such a long distance, Shaula was completely out of stamina.

But his response was way too harsh for to take for a love-struck girl to take in stride.

It was very rational for him to want to keep going on his own.

Still, Shaula felt that this was very strange for him.

Something did not feel right.

The Ren Karatengu she knew would never abandon his clan members.

If anything, there was none who cared more about Tengu clan than Ren.

Shen: “Rest up. Hopefully our paths cross again”

After saying that, Shengyn took flight.

Exhausted and out of stamina, there was no way Shaula could catch up to the speed of his flight.

At first, she was a little sad that he left her, but then that emotion was replaced by another, far stronger feeling.

Shaula: ‘Young Master is so cool…’

Just by thinking of his image, Shaula found herself drooling a little.

Unlike normal Ren, whose sole redeeming trait was his ability to work well with others, this ‘Ren’ was more of a lone wolf.

But that trait of his made him rather appealing in the eyes of certain types of females….

* * *

Giant Apes were in a very strange frenzy.

Their movements were causing all sorts of destruction to their surroundings.

The commotion was intense enough for Ren and Kizilkoz to manage escape undetected.

Ren: “Whew, we managed to get out of there. It is a good thing I told them to look for food”

Kizilkoz: “You told them to commence an orgy!”

Ren: “Oh. No wonder they started to hump each other”

As they kept running, they saw that not all the giant apes were preoccupied, choosing instead to chase after the two of them.

Kizilkoz: “We are doomed!”

But before the apes could catch up to them, a gigantic bird swooped down and grabbed hold of Ren, who in turn grabbed Kizilkoz, resulting in both of them becoming unwitting passengers of the flying predator.

The bird beast was enormous, big enough to pose a threat even to the giant apes. With a beak big enough to easily snap a tree in half and wings that put many dragons to shame, it considered the two demons to be nothing but a meal for its chicks.

Kizilkoz: “It is taking us to its nest! We will be eaten!”

Just looking at the situation enraged her.

Kizilkoz: “Let go of me, you fool! You are going to doom us both!”

By grabbing her along for the ride, instead of being the only casualty, he ended up condemning her to be eaten as well.

Ren simply refused to let her go, grabbing Kizilkoz with his legs as well.

Kizilkoz: “Your feet stink!”

Ren: “It is either this or falling down, and I don’t think you can fly yet”

He was right on that part.

Though Kizilkoz, as an eagle demon, possessed wings, they were not strong enough for flight yet. Traditionally, the parents of the Ras clan members teach their fledglings to fly at their sixteenth birthday.

But since her parents were killed, Kizilkoz was still a ‘grounded’ bird. Since she believed Ren was responsible for downfall of Ras clan, it felt like rubbing salt on the wound.