A few kilometers away from the ongoing battle, where the trees were farther apart, stood the lone, escaping ape, wearing his bandolier and surrounded by Ren’s team. None of them said anything as the chimpanzee straightened his back like a human, looking around with narrowed eyes.

  “You humans won’t let me pass, am I correct?” he asked in a calm voice.

  “That wasn't part of the pn,” Ren nodded, "Sorry."

  “You are the leader of this group?” He turned towards her with a surprised light in his eyes.

  “What, is it unexpected?” She smirked in response.

  “Yes. You are small.”

  “Pft…” Isha stifled a ugh, receiving an annoying gre from Ren.

  “Size isn’t everything, you know.” She grumbled.

  “In our tribe, it is,” the chimpanzee replied, “The biggest, the strongest lead; the weak follow. I know this goes for your tribe just the same, so you must be strong.”

  “Tsk. You got me there. So, why are we talking instead of fighting?” Ren crossed her arms, grinning, waiting for his answer.

  “Because both of us need time.” He replied, causing Ren to flinch and make a quick decision, striking out. Still, the monkey easily deflected her punch and, with a single move, redirected Ren’s body towards Leinor, who was already following her with a synchronized attack. When the ape successfully immobilized them for just a short time, he was already moving as he did a blind counter kick, aiming toward Isha, who wasn’t far behind with her move.

  "He's good," Ren whispered, untangling herself from Leinor.

  It only took a few seconds, but he repelled their attacks, using perfectly human-like martial art moves that felt like a grass bde swaying in the wind, skillfully deflecting their blows before trying to run away a second time. But... It was his animal instincts that saved his life as he jumped backward only after taking a half-step while a dark red halberd swept across the space before him, leaving a deep gash on the ground.

  “It seems you were the one who bought enough time,” the demon sighed while being surrounded again by the group with a new addition. He watched as Boursat walked out of the trees, his weapon slung over his shoulder, posing the greatest threat to the chimpanzee's senses.

  “Boss!” Isha shouted happily, receiving a nod, but the man's eyes were fixated on the demon.

  “Uncle Boursat? What are you doing here?” Ren blinked her eyes with surprise.

  “I was asked to come by a friend. Also, I was tasked to keep you all safe. Don’t worry, I’ll be paid handsomely, so I’ll do what I can!" He chuckled, "Now, the more interesting part is that.” He pointed with his halberd at the chimpanzee. “Those moves you used….”

  “I learned it from a human cultivator.” The demon admitted without hesitation.

  “From a human, eh?” Boursat mused, “Did you make him teach it to you before killing him or…?”

  “It was voluntary; you don’t need to ask too many questions." The chimpanzee shrugged, "I was living with humans when I was young. It is there I learned a lot of things before returning to my tribe.”

  “Weird, we never heard about something like this… we would if… wait... “ Ren murmured before realizing something.

  “He lived within the borders of the Kingdom of Ten.” Leinor finished her thoughts.

  “I don’t know their names, but they look different from you, except the small one. Paler skins, lighter hair colors, and smaller eyes.” He confirmed their specutions: “They frequently take away cubs and children, raising them as pets or the likes.”

  “So you were someone's pet? Harsh.” Poli blinked, amused by the new information.

  “Yes, but I was released by my Master." He nodded, watching the humans around him, "I returned to where I thought I belonged, but honestly... They are a bunch of retards. I was working on reforming them slowly, but… You see what happened." He shrugged, dropping his shoulders, "They never listen to the smaller, weaker ones... Now it’s the perfect time to take over. Or so I thought!” He sighed again, showing the same emotion as any human would in a situation like his.

  “So if we let you go, you return, and we never see you again? You will live happily as the new king of the tribe, bbb, is it? Such a happy ending and everything. Yeah… sure.” Isha moaned, sounding annoyed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

  “I like this monkey.” Ren grinned. “You have a name?”

  “Had one." He twitched his eyes after being called a monkey, "Niji was the name they called me back… home.”

  “Well, Niji, I am Ren." She giggled, "Now, slowly remove your bandoliers and set them aside. I’m not stupid! You said you are also trying to buy some time. Probably you are already ready for something dangerous, so toss them, um, no, scratch that. They may explode. Put them down slowly, then pce your arms behind your head, and walk a few steps backward. Deal?”

  “You want to take me as a prisoner?” The demon asked, with sharp eyes, focusing on her, but Ren didn’t flinch.

  “Yup. Don’t worry, if you are cooperative, we will treat you like a prisoner of war. You won’t be harmed or tortured." She promised, "If you try something stupid, you may be strong, but we can hold you up, and Uncle Boursat here can finish you off! It would be best for everyone if you don’t do something stupid, Niji.”

  The demon folk waited for a minute, watching them, and thinking about many things before letting out a defeated sigh. He slowly removed the bandoliers before stepping backward, surrendering to Boursat, who was surprised, as he expected a fight.

  “Guard him," Ren ordered, as the others, without saying anything, were already surrounding him. Watching the chimpanzee, Niji kept a calm expression while Ren slowly went ahead and checked the bandolier.

  They had different little vials, filled with funny-smelling liquids, and, in others, rubber-like balls. As she looked them over, next to them were some other, already broken vials, now soaked by their contents.

  “Your decision was right. If you mix the two... the balls become violent. Especially on impact, as it combusts and explodes, making a chain reaction." Niji expined, "If more than one is thrown out... Haaah... It just needs time to soak up the liquid, and then it can be used before it dries up. I needed time for them to soak in them..."

  “What are these?” Poli asked, walking over curiously, holding one of the vials and smelling the liquid inside.

  “Back in the tribe, we have an old shaman, a bit crazy if you ask me, but a good doctor." Niji continued, "It’s his invention. I don’t know what the balls are made of, but the fluid is his piss after drinking some of his own concoctions.” He added with a smirk, and Poli immediately dropped it, retching loudly as he tasted the smell stronger than before, knowing now what it was.

  “Careful, you idiot!” Zern scolded him, catching the vial before it could crash to the ground. “You act as if you drank it. Grow up!” He rolled his eyes while Isha ughed loudly, yet still, wiping her hands onto her trousers after touching the vials.

  “Interesting,” Ren murmured, holding one of the soaked balls without disgust, then threw it out, and when it hit a tree, it exploded with a very bright fsh, blinding them.

  Only Boursat kept his calm, still having his gaze on Niji, holding the blood-made halberd towards his head. Niji also did not flinch, thinking, and he almost took up the opportunity to flee, but held himself back.

  “Whoa, they don’t explode as violently as I expected, but those fshes are blinding!” Ren moaned, rubbing her eyes. "Ouch!"

  “Fuck, I see dark patches everywhere now!” Isha cried out, filing around as Zern came up, calming her down.

  “Rex, it will go away.” He patted her back.

  “They are excellent weapons,” Leinor commented, who was the first to recover as his eyes adapted almost a second after the fsh, repairing the temporary damage at once.

  “Collect up his stuff, and let’s head back. We need to report this as soon as possible!” Ren ordered in a happy, good mood as they started the trek back to the main forces with a lone prisoner in tow.

  …….…..

  “Waaaaah, Big Sis!” Rem cried out as she saw Ren, who arrived back at the Pass, quickly flying to her, almost crashing into her, and hugging her tightly.

  “Ahaha, calm down, calm down! I told you there won’t be a problem!” She ughed, patting the fairy's head. “How's the rest of them?”

  “They choose to move to a nearby pce. It’s beside a clear creek! It’s not far, I can show you!” She replied happily, full of energy, whizzing around Ren as her beautiful wings fluttered quickly, spraying shining, reddish dust everywhere, releasing a calming, sweet scent.

  “We will visit them, but not now. We are tired. Let us rest first!” Ren giggled, stroking her head gently as the others nodded, approving the thought of rexing a little as their nerves were stretched thin, even if they didn’t show it.

  Finally, after a good meal, they were lounging in their room when a soldier arrived and asked Ren to meet with her father. When she reached his office, Xendar, Anya, Boursat, Feynor, and Dermitos were already in discussion, immediately stopping when she entered.

  “Whoa… Did I mess up something?” She blinked her eyes with a surprised expression, pying with her hair, trying to seem innocent and fragile.

  “No,” Dermitos answered, revealing a smile. “It’s about the prisoner you took.”

  “What? Is he dead? Tell me we didn’t kill him…” she sighed, rubbing her neck.

  “Why would he be dead?” Xendar rolled his eyes. “Stop spewing bullshit before knowing anything!”

  “Oh, that’s a relief. Then?”

  “He won’t talk. He asked for you.”

  “Me? Why?” She flinched.

  “He says he will only talk with you. Anything we want to ask or know about, he just sits there like a mute.” Xendar finished, sighing.

  “Huh. Interesting. What do you want me to do?” She looked at them, scratching her chin with a dozen ideas going through her mind, but waited for their expnation.

  “Make him join us. We want to make use of this!” Feynor expined, “It's a great opportunity. Humans raised him! We need someone we can reason with and build bridges between us and their kind. Let him reform his tribe, take control, and work with us! We can exchange resources for technology. There are a lot of things that can only be found in this forest... We want to establish a stable trading route if we can! Knowing that our neighbors started to take an interest in demon folk and who knows for how long, we can’t g behind.”

  “I never knew about this,” Anya added quietly, but Xendar smiled, holding her hand. “Nobody said anything about this to me,” she continued, looking at them. "The demons I saw in the city back home were usually used... in arena fights and to train cultivators."

  “I get the gist of it and about what the Kingdoms are doing, but they approach this from the wrong side." Feynor muttered, "They are taking adolescent demon folk to raise and brainwash them. What did they think? The parent demons won’t be angry? Won’t they see us as their lifelong enemy? They may stay silent about this for now, but give it a few centuries... Pft, thanks to them, we may have much more trouble establishing a peaceful border with them! Especially if they don’t differentiate between empires and just see us as humans. Just like how we see them as only demons,” he grumbled.

  “I agree…” Ren sighed. “But changing the perception of common folk will be a slow process. Anyway, we are working on that now, and the Kingdom's side is not our business...”

  “There is another thing.” Dermitos added, “Ren, what you will hear now is confidential. You can’t speak about this to anyone.”

  “Not even to Leinor?”

  “No, not yet. I’ll tell him myself when I judge that he is ready.”

  “Now you got my attention, Uncle~!” She smiled innocently, making him chuckle.

  With a deep breath, Dermitos id out the rough pns for what the Forefather wishes to establish when he returns, while Ren listened with interest and an ever-growing smile, hearing about his wishes to build a Sect.

  “I’ll be honest. I was thinking the same." She sighed, as if she was relieved, "It was just… still far away from me. It’s good that someone has the same thinking. Now I can be freed from the hassle of thinking about how to build up a Sect! Yey~ More free time!” She ughed as she stretched rexedly, surprising the others, especially Dermitos. “Thinking about the foundations, the money needed, teaching, where to build it, all this work… booooooooring! At least I don’t need to manage everything! Yey! Others will do it for me; double yay! Also, if he comes back and we establish a Sect, we can take in demon folks as members too!”

  “What?” everyone asked in unison, still just taking in her words that were shocking enough as she dropped another bombshell at the end.

  “Why not?" She asked with absolute innocence, "Isn’t it the Forefather’s idea that a Sect will be above the common norms? Outside of mortals’ reach and jurisdiction? Then why not? Still, for starters, I would need to learn more about their evolution and how they train... Hm..." She began walking back and forth, scratching her chin, "They are different from us, so it would be interesting to study them... Oh, yes, I’d like access to some of the corpses we brought back. I need to study their physicality!” she added with a nonchant expression and voice, counting on her fingers.

  “You are a weird kid….” Dermitos murmured but then nodded, “I grant you full access. Do as you see fit, and I want a copy of your results!”

  “Naturally.”

  “Let’s end the meeting here. Everyone needs some rest.” Dermitos looked around before coming to a decision.

  “I’ll visit Niji." Ren raised a hand, "Now I’m pretty curious about what he wants!”

  “Do that. Feynor will accompany you." The Emperor nodded, "He is well-versed in how the Empire works, and he will help you crify all the details if you agree.”

  “That would be a big help!”

  “My pleasure, Lil’ Sis.” Feynor ughed. “And you can tell me about my Lil’ Brother. I haven't seen him since he was a little boy, and now we have time to catch up~!” he patted her shoulders as they left the room.

  “You two made a special one, huh?” Dermitos looked at Xendar and Anya with snted eyes. "It was the best choice to let you two hook up."

  “Ahaha, sure we did!” Xendar ughed proudly while Anya just silently smiled, leaning against him.

  “She’s grown up." She muttered, "I’m proud of her but also sad… I feel she will not rely on us as much as a child should… haaah… she started to get independent too early! I still want to cuddle and py with her, yet she acts like a grown-up since she was young….” Anya mented, her voice slightly sad.

  “Tell me about it!” Dermitos rolled his eyes. “She corrupted my baby boy… look at him, wagging his tail at every word of hers and being defiant against us since he started to hang out with her!”

  “You were the one who made the arrangement. Remember?” Anya snapped at him. "Stop crying."

  “Yeah, yeah… I do… that damned boy!" Dermitos snorted, "He acts like he is the bride being married off. Honestly, he makes me so angry sometimes!”

  “So? What’s the problem? Let him marry into our household! No problem, we are happy with it!” Xendar ughed with a provoking voice.

  “Fu- Never mind… let’s go, have a rest, you two. I also need some rexation.” Dermitos grunted, throwing his hands up.

  “Rexation, sure…” Anya rolled her eyes as they started to leave.

  “Look who’s talking. Like you two aren't doing it like rabbits,” Dermitos retorted, only making Anya blush a little, and even as she stood with her back to Dermitos, he could see her slightly redder ears now. “Anyway, good work with everything. Let’s hope she can make a deal for us with our new guest.” He sighed, looking out of the small window towards the deep forest.