Chapter 165 - "This Is Good."

Treasure Fragment Dimension.

"My, my." Red joins Havvah and Ahdem who are currently lazily sparring.

"Kichirou-san."

"Buddy."

Havvah and Ahdem stop what they are doing and they greet the man.

"It's only been… 71 days? Wow. 71 days and you are already sparring with the breathing technique." Red nods in approval.

After Ahdem and Havvah spent some days with Fumio to counsel the young man, their training with Red finally started four real-world days ago.

Red has trapped them in the treasure fragment dimension to have them focus on training the sixteen meridian opening poses and the breathing technique.

"It's been 71 days? Huh…" Ahdem shrugs.

"Time passes huh…" Havvah too does not find the length of time a big deal.

"Heh." Red is amused. "Benefits of a long life, I guess?"

The two fortunately, have not been bored inside the treasure dimension as they were not only busy training, they were also busy tending to Red's farms and feeding the thousand or so calves that Red got from Dominic as a gift.

Red also drops in from time to time to monitor their progress, correct their mistakes, and to make their nutrient milkshakes.

As to how Ahdem and Havvah managed to master the breathing technique inside the treasure fragment dimension despite the absence of spritual energy, Red has released spiritual energy inside the treasure dimension with the help of Spirit Crystals, making the couple feel the benefits of the breathing technique.

"Let me take these off of you." Red then deactivates the two's resistance seals, and the two immediately feel so much lighter.

They proceed to lightly spar once again, and to their surprise, their bodies have significantly become stronger.

"D – Class…" Ahdem utters as he signals Havvah to stop attacking.

"Yes." Havvah stops and says, agreeing with Ahdem's assessment.

The two are shocked by their newfound strength.

"The moment I felt the benefits of the training, I already believed you. But this… this is simply incredible." She then looks at Red with a complicated gaze.

"Alright man." Ahdem sighs.

"How is this possible? I don't think even the demons and angels have your knowledge. The resistance seals, the automatic water cycle of your farms, hell how did you even know that Himalayan Salts can be filled with… whatever you fill them. How do you know all of this?" He asks.

"It won't make a difference even if you two know. Trust me." Red shrugs.

The couple simply sigh in frustration, knowing that they will not be able to get answers. They know that they also cannot beat the truth out of Red.

"But I hope you'll tell us one day." Havvah asks.

"Sure. If I trust you enough." Red nods.

"Anyway. If it was my students, I would not be offering this so easily, but for you two, what the hell." He changes the subject.

"What offer?" The couple gets interested.

"A training method. A hellish, painful one. If you spend a year more training in 'the veil' with my method, you can catch up with my disciples in strength." Red presents.

"…" The couple is stunned.

"A-are you kidding? That's just fifteen days in the real world!" Ahdem says in excitement.

"My love, wait a minute…" Havvah on the other hand, is not as excited.

"Kichirou-san. This method, even though it'll be painful for us, is not free, is it?" She asks Red.

"That's right." Red nods.

"What do you want in exchange?" Ahdem's excitement deflates.

"Wood fragments." Red says with a smirk.

"…" The couple immediately frowns.

"You already took ours." Ahdem complains.

"Ah… You see, I happen to overhear you two talking after your first visit here." Red chuckles.

"What was it that you said, Miss Havvah? 'I knew they were not just some indestructible three-dimensional jigsaw puzzles.' Why of all comparisons would you compare to a jigsaw puzzle?" He asks with a smirk.

The two immediately realize that Havvah's rambling that day was enough to tell Red that they possess more than just one treasure fragment. 

They also feel that they cannot convince Red from thinking otherwise.

Considering this, "How many?" Havvah asks.

"Just one from each of you." Red says.

This surprises the couple. They thought Red would be greedier.

"What? You will be in a world of pain with the training." Red shrugs, seeing the two's expressions.

"Would one do? That's fifty percent of what we have left." Ahdem asks, trying his best to hide his excitement with feign shock.

"It's a rough trade." Havvah is also excited, but hides it with an expression of struggle.

The two of them are more than willing to part with one treasure fragment each. Not only because they still have sixty-one remaining treasure fragments in their possessions combined after Red took the ones they brought to Japan, they also do not need more than one or two to defend themselves against demons and angels.

They are not however, willing to show that they are willing to part with a treasure fragment so easily. They want to squeeze benefits just in case Red asks them for more in the future.

"A rough trade, huh?" Red has an inkling what the two are trying to do.

"But why? It's not like you can use them like I can?" He asks.

"…" The two almost scoff in jealously.

Even though they have learned more about the treasure fragments with Red displaying its features to them, the knowledge is useless to them.

"Even so, we only find one in ten or so millennia." Havvah argues.

"So? Will keeping them for ten more millennia or so give you the strength of high-tier A-Class?" Red shrugs.

"Alright…" Ahdem is the first one to give in.

"How about you? I know that you two don't have just one each left. Or else you wouldn't have made use a jigsaw puzzle as a comparison with the wood fragments." Red winks at Havvah.

"Damn it. Fine." Havvah sighs.

With Red's teasing smile, the couple realize that Red made a fool out of them.

`

Vasterfjall, Sweden.

In a clearing in the middle of an isolated forest, thirty-nine people are currently kneeling in a circular pattern, each holding all sorts of sharp blades on their hands.

Before of each thirty-nine people, is one unconscious person lying on their own stone benches.

Right below each stone bench, are ornate copper bowls the size of small buckets.

Among the eerie atmosphere, and the uniformity of their intentions, the thirty-nine people's attentions are glued to a woman whose presence alone commands respect among them, standing in the middle of the circle they formed, and awaiting her command, ignoring entirely the presence of her fidgeting personal aide beside her.

"General." The woman's personal aide calls out, seeing the woman still has her eyes closed with her face towards the dark night sky.

"Shush." The 'general' growls at her aide without looking.

This is enough to make the aide's urge to prompt any further, disappear.

A few moments later.

"NOW." The woman raises her arms to the air as a signal.

Immediately, the thirty-nine people around her unanimously slit the throats of the person before them.

Soon, their sacrifices' bloods start filling their ornate copper bowls.

The General, seeing the seamlessly unified actions of her subordinates, smiles in pleasure before taking a deep breath.

"My lord, this is your servant Gajliniz, calling out to you. If you can hear my call beyond the gates of Hell, please, give me a sign." Gajliniz recites theatrically in the demon language.

She and the rest of the demons around her wait in bated breath, each second passing feel to them like eternity.

More seconds pass, and the demons start losing hope, seeing no Demon Lord responding to Gajliniz's call.

"Haaa… Another failure?" One of the demons utter.

"I guess… But have faith in the General." Another demon responds, but that demon feels hope fleeting.

The next moment however, the blood that has accumulated in the thirty-nine copper bowls, burst out of their containers and proceed to accumulate a few meters above everyone until it forms a horse-sized hollow figure.

Slowly, the figure morphs into a shape of horned humanoid head.

Despite the lack of features in the gigantic head, everyone present find it familiar just basing on the head's horns.

"MY LORD." Gajliniz and her personal aide fall on their knees in excitement and greets the figure.

"G..gj..l.niz.." Everyone hears the faint voice coming from the blood head.

"My Lord. It is I." Gajliniz replies in respect.

"… ou … lled.. a…" The blood head's words however are not only faint, but also intermittent, making it unintelligible.

The next moment, the shape of the head collapses and the blood that it was made of, pours back down into the ground, bathing Gajliniz and her aide in blood.

Everyone present knows that they just failed to speak with the Demon Lord and they all become quiet in disappointment.

A few seconds later, "No…" Gajliniz speaks up.

"This is good." She gets her smile back.

"I know that you were all skeptical of my claims. Especially those of you who do not serve the same Lord as I. But this, despite our failure, is a proof that my claims are true. Day by day, I feel the presence of our home getting stronger." She addresses the demons, suppressing her urge to gloat.

"General Gajliniz." A demon, possessing the body of a frail old man, steps up.

"I am convinced. On behalf of my group, I ask you to provide refuge for us." He proclaims.

"General."

"General."

The rest of the demons soon pledge their allegiance to Gajliniz.

A few moments later, *shriek* *haaaa* the white colored forest starts to become dark, with hundreds of demon specters arriving to join the group. 

…

Queensdale, Australia

"What would you need demons for? I saw five in your place in Hinohara." Dominic asks as he leads Red down his demon prison in the lower parts of an abandoned mine.

"Just for experimentation." Red shrugs.

He is simply curious about the difference between subjugating a demon using a treasure fragment, and using his soul techniques.

Soon, they reach a cell.

The two find a young, handsome raven-haired man who are looking at them in suppressed rage.

Red then pulls out a treasure fragment and "O, kanerakkah kruittale taya 'unne…", and recites the demon subjugating spell.