Red’s dreams were different this time. Or perhaps it was better to say his dreams were normal instead. Flashes of images and feelings that made no sense to him, and only the slightest sliver of a conscious thought to interpret them.

He saw himself towering above the world as lands unraveled to infinity beneath him. He saw everything crumble to dust, an ocean of blood and destruction washing away everything around him.

He felt helplessness and sorrow, the latter emotion which the boy wasn’t used to experiencing. Then, like dust to the wind, these sensations were blown away, and what came to fill its void was rage, unstoppable and insatiable.

So strong, so single-minded in its pursuit of revenge and retribution.

This rage was directed at something or someone at first. This the boy knew. Yet so much time passed - time lost in a fruitless pursuit, an objective that remained just as distant to him as when he first started seeking it.

It consumed him, this anger. So much so that the self eventually was lost in this unbridled sea of pure emotion. There was no longer a reason or aim behind it, no target or morality holding it back.

There was only rage and the desire to destroy, directed at existence itself.

The boy was no longer an individual. He no longer had a name or thoughts of his own.

He became an incarnation of something bigger, more primordial.

He became the end of everything.

…

The first thing Red felt when he came back to was his back lying against the soft mattress. Then, as awareness returned to him, he felt a lingering headache plaguing him.

The boy stirred in the bed, scrunching his eyes in discomfort.

“You’re awake!” a surprised and relieved voice came from his side.

Red opened his eyes in confusion and looked towards the sound. He saw Eiwin sitting by a chair next to his bed, looking at him with a smile on her face.

The boy frowned, focusing on his crimson sense. Indeed, he could feel the woman’s fluctuation right there, but it felt as if this detection power of his was being sluggish and it took it longer to process the information he received. This wasn’t a normal occurrence.

Even when Red was close to death in the past, his crimson sense always stood fully functioning. Something had happened.

‘Then again, I suppose that much is obvious.”

“What happened?” he asked Eiwin.

“Rimold called me after he saw you collapse.” the woman said with a worried expression. “We put you on your bed and examined your condition, but we couldn’t find anything wrong with you. You were just sleeping. It looked like you had just suddenly collapsed from exhaustion, but considering recent events, I was worried something beyond my understanding might have happened to you.”

She wasn’t wrong about that.

Red frowned as he realized something. “Did you ask Hector to examine me?”

Eiwin shook her head. “Rimold wanted to call him, but I convinced him not to. We agreed that if you didn’t awaken by the time the sun was up, we would tell Master Hector.”

Red looked out of the window. The faintest traces of sunlight were coming through.

He looked over at Eiwin and nodded. “Thank you.”

The last thing the boy wanted was for Hector to go snooping around his body. What if the elder found out about his healed acupoint and the being living inside his body? How would Red explain himself then?

Eiwin had proven yet again to be the most conscientious and considerate person the boy ever knew. She wasn’t privy to most of his secrets, and yet she still respected his privacy and knew how much his secrecy was important to him.

“It’s nothing to worry about.” she shook her head with a smile. “If you had worse symptoms, then I would have asked Master Hector for help, but you looked fine, so I opted to wait. It seems I was right… Or was I?” she looked at Red with a worried expression.”

The boy nodded. “I’m fine. Just a small headache.”

Eiwin sighed in relief. “That’s good. However, you must tell us if you feel anything strange, whether it is in your body or in your mind. Even experienced cultivators can’t always predict how matters involving demons will develop, so we need to react to anything out of place with utmost urgency.”

‘If only she knew…’

Red nodded again. “I’ll let you know if I need help.”

The boy used this choice of words deliberately, and it didn’t go unnoticed by Eiwin.

The woman hesitated, but just nodded. “Good. Then I’ll be leaving you to rest.”

She made to get up.

“Wait.” Red stopped her. “The meeting tomorrow… Or rather today with the baron. Is it still happening?”

Eiwin nodded. “It is. If anything, what happened with the demon yesterday only made the need for a meeting even more urgent. Of course, considering what happened to you, you don’t need to come should you not wish to.”

The boy frowned. “Is that what Hector said?”

The woman smiled. “No, but I’m sure he will understand.”

Red hesitated. “I’ll go.”

Eiwin nodded, seemingly unsurprised. “I will let the others know about it.”

With that, the woman left the room, closing the door behind her. Red was alone again with his own thoughts, as well as the images from his dream.

‘No. I can’t do that again…’

The boy chose to distract himself by picking up a book by the table and reading it. It seemed to work, and for many hours after, his mind didn’t linger towards forbidden thoughts and memories, until eventually the boy had subconsciously thrown them to the back of his mind.

…

A few hours later, Red was called to meet with Hector in the main hall.

When he got there, the elder, Eiwin, and Allen were already waiting for him. The young master waved at him excitedly.

“I really can’t wait for it!” Allen said. “I have never been part of a war council! I have some ideas that I want to-”

“You’re not allowed to speak.” Hector cut him off.

“What?!” Allen’s eyes widened in shock. “Then what’s the point?”

“You will only go there to listen and learn.” the elder said. “If you embarrass me in front of the Baron, I’ll punish you myself when we get back to the sect.”

The young master frowned but nodded in defeat. “Fine.”

Satisfied, Hector looked over at Red. “There are some things you should know before we go.”

Red was surprised. “There are?”

Hector grunted. “Of course. I don’t intend for you to speak, but you should know Gustav is going to be there, too. This is the first time you will meet with him, and since I know that bastard very well, I’m certain he will try to speak to you to find out what kind of person you are. You must not answer to his provocations, or any of his questions at all if possible, for that matter.”

The boy nodded. “I can do that.”

“Good.” Hector waved his hand towards the door. “Then we are off.”

The group walked out of the sect with the elder in the lead. As soon as they arrived near the main town streets, their whole surrounding became abuzz as the townsfolk spotted Hector.

“It’s the old man from the Water Dragon Guild!”

“It’s the third time he appeared out in public this year!”

“Do you think this has to do with the demon? Is another demon invasion coming?”

“I heard that the sects fought with demonic cultivators at the Skycrown Mountain!”

Red continued to hear such speculation and rumours as he walked through the streets. Most of the townsfolk’s attention was placed on Hector, but he could feel quite a few gazes directed towards him. It made him feel uncomfortable.

Red could also sense through his crimson sense that these people were all very anxious and concerned, which was understandable after what happened yesterday. Yet, in all their hubbub, a term continued to come up.

Red looked towards Eiwin. “This demon invasion they’re talking about… Should we be worried about it?”

This was yet another piece of information that wasn’t readily available in the books of the sect’s library. All the boy knew was that some thousands of years ago, a horde of demons invaded this world and almost wiped out human life from it.

Eiwin shook her head. “Demonic worshippers have always been active since time immemorial. A demon appearing in the middle of town is hardly an indicator that another demon invasion is upon us.”

Hector snorted. “Mortals’ memories are too short-lived. Sometimes decades go by without any major appearances from demonic cultivators, and yet at the first sign of their presence, they believe it is a presage to the apocalypse. Those fiends have committed much greater atrocities in the past. Ambushing a couple of sect forces is barely worth mentioning in our long history.”

“But how can you be sure this time it’s not for real?” Allen asked with a worried expression.

“Bah, do you know the first thing about the demon invasion, brat?!” Hector glared at the young master. “They established a connection to the Infernal Realm, a bloody portal capable of crossing dimensions! People from the other side of the world saw the after-effects of this phenomenon long before it was completed, so do you think it would go unnoticed this time around?”

“Uh…” Allen hesitated. “What if they’re building it in secret? How can you be so sure they haven’t found out another way to do it?”

Hector looked like he was about to admonish the boy again before he paused. “… That’s a surprisingly good question for someone like you.”

“Really?” the young master looked surprised.

The elder grunted. “It is a valid concern, but you have to think clearly. How can they hide a portal to another world? Even if it’s created in utmost secrecy, the sects still have their ways to detect fluctuations in space and demons don’t tend to be particularly stealthy either. Not to mention, such an endeavor would probably require an enormous amount of resources, which I doubt those demon cultivators could move without being noticed.”

“If that’s the case, what do they want from attacking the sects?” Red asked.

“To undermine their forces, of course.” Hector shook his head. “Long gone are the times where demonic cultivators could act openly in the world. Now they are hunted down if the slightest sign of their presence is made known, so they stick to the shadows and look for opportunities to expand their influence again. This obviously means that often sects are taken by surprise when these demonic cultivators decide to act, but trust me, it is a much preferable state of affairs than when they had the strength to act in the open.”

The elder continued to talk about this as they walked through the streets, oblivious to the gaze the townsfolk were giving the group. Red, on the other hand, now knew he had even more of a reason to hide his demonic tendencies.

They continued to move up the hilly town, a path that the boy had seldom traveled through before. Around here, the buildings became scarcer, leaving only the ruins of the temple that once stood in this place.

At the top of the hill, though, was a large castle, an amalgamation of different kinds of building materials that stood as the symbol of their Bestrem town. The Baron’s castle.

As they approached it, Red saw a contingent of guards waiting for them at the gate, as well as many others hidden from view that he felt with his crimson sense. Inside the castle, Red even felt the presence of three people in the Lesser Ring Realm.

Hector looked back at them. “Remember. Do not embarrass me.”

The elder left these warning words behind before walking forward.