"Very well." Demon glanced at Wilbur and the old man. "Two human cultivators in exchange for a feast. Quite the bargain, this is." The old man said, "Sir Hagin, is the ninth checkpoint to defeat Demon?" "Precisely." Hagin smiled. "But only one of you can fight, and the other must not do anything or the challenge will be considered a failure." Demon smirked. "There's no point. You're not going to be a match for me. But since you came all this way to die, I guess you aren't leaving." He turned to Hagin. "I'm getting bored, Sir Hagin. Unchain my left hand. I want to kill them now." Hagin glanced at Wilbur and the old man. "Demon, these are no regular human beings here. They're both extremely powerful, which is why Emperor Ramos gave me special permission to unchain both your wrists. Remember to not hold back." "Ha! As if I would have to go all out with these idiots! It sure seems like there aren't any other elites in the underwater city aside from Emperor Ramos." Hagin u
Wilbur wiped the blood off his mouth. "I'm fine, sir. He's truly powerful. I guess I underestimated him." "That's elemental power for you! That wind-type attack was just a greeting! Look, I sent you flying with just a simple attack. That means I'm far more powerful than you. Don't hold back, young man. Just get to it." "Alright!" Wilbur got to his feet. "I won't use my feet since you aren't using yours! We'll duel just using our upper bodies, and I'll defeat you all the same." "You're funny. Sure, we can do whatever you want. Don't expect me to spare either of you." "Cut the crap and get to it." Wilbur released his dragon aura and shaped it into a dragon that soared around him in circles. Demon smirked. "Dragon cultivation, huh? I guess you really are unlike the others. You were lucky enough to cultivate using methods of the dragon clan. It's a shame that this won't be enough to change your fate, though." Demon swiped at the air, and a huge hand made of wind-type powers a
"Oh, is that so? Let's see, then." Demon muttered a string of chants. Following that, several enormous balls of fire appeared in mid-air. Demon waved a hand, roaring, "O' mighty flames, torch this lowlife to ashes!" The balls of fire came down on Wilbur. Just as they were about to get close to him, they exploded as rays of flaming light flashed, creating a sea of tiny flames on the surface they landed on. Wilbur, protected by the white glow, was not harmed by the fireballs in the slightest. "What? How?" Demon's eye twitched as he roared, "You monster, I'm going to destroy you!" He grabbed at the air with his right hand, and an enormous arm made of earth-type powers appeared. Right after that, Demon made a fist with his right hand and struck the ground. The enormous arm clenched into a fist in mid-air as well, swinging a punch down at Wilbur. Wilbur stood with his hands raised, catching the arm's fist head-on. He pierced a spark of lightning through the arm and blew the arm
The light faded, and the only sound that could be heard in the dungeon was the rattling of the chains. Demon was nowhere to be seen. Hagin heard the sounds coming from the cell and yanked the door open. He rushed in and saw the empty spot where Demon had been chained to." "What the… Where's Demon? Did you really kill him?" The cell was guarded tightly, and there were no passages to escape through. The only way out was the door, and Hagin had been watching it the whole time just now. He would have definitely seen Demon if he had escaped. Yet there had been no sign of Demon, but he was indeed nowhere to be found now. There was only one possibility. Could it have been the noise from just now? Hagin turned to the old man, who said, "Yes, Sir Hagin. Demon was reduced to dust. He's dead." "Y-You did that?" Hagin looked down at his watch. "Eight minutes! You two only took eight minutes to kill Demon. How is that even possible?" "Oh, I had nothing to do with it," said the old m
After that, Ramos passed the test of the six elders and became the most powerful person in the underwater city. However, the hatred and shame in his heart never left. In fact, the trauma Ramos had received from being seen as abnormal made him hesitate between saving and destroying the underwater city several times. Fremont was far more powerful than Ramos, and his appearance in the underwater city made Ramos think he had found his savior. Ramos begged Fremont to help him and expel all his evil thoughts from his head. This time, Fremont actually agreed to the merfolk emperor's request and did just as he requested, separating the evil thoughts in his body to form Demon. Fremont had Ramos lock Demon in the dungeon and told him that there would be a huge shift in the underwater city the day the eighth dragon cauldron's chosen one showed up. Ramos had thought that he would be able to serve the underwater city well now without his evil thoughts and that the appearance of the eighth d
Ramos chuckled. "I asked Senior Fremont about something when he was here. Can you ask him if he had forgotten what he promised me back then after you returned to your world? Send him my regards, too." "Uhm… Yes, of course." Wilbur and the old man exchanged a glance. The two of them were nothing but curious as to what the agreement between Emperor Ramos and Senior Fremont had been. They had not expected the great merfolk emperor, the most powerful figure in the underwater realm to be a human cultivator. Wilbur and the old man bid farewell to Hagin and Emperor Ramos, then returned to the human realm through the portal. By the time they appeared at the bottom of the lake, the portal had vanished behind them. Wilbur hesitated, but the old man grabbed him by the shoulder and the two of them swam upwards. They broke through the surface not long after and leaped onto the shore where they briefly dried themselves. On the way back from the top of Mount Taite, Wilbur could not help but
Wilbur chatted with the old man briefly. They were far too exhausted from their trip to the merfolk realm and decided to rest early. The two men only woke up by noon the next day, and the old man gathered his fishing tools. "I'm going to get two big fish for us. Let's have grilled fish for lunch." "I'll come with you, sir." Wilbur picked up his own fishing tools, following after the old man to head to the lake. The weather was splendid, and the rays of the sun emitted a comforting warmth. Wilbur stared at the old man's back in front of him, hesitation filling his chest. Wilbur's goal in coming to Gelsa was to find the eighth dragon cauldron, and now that he had retrieved the cauldron, he should be on his way. However, Wilbur had lived here for over a month and had long since established some form of a relationship with the old man. Wilbur did not know how to tell the old man that he had to leave. To be honest, everything here had been settled. Gelsa was in the middle of now
Miller knew Wilbur was teasing him and flashed a smile. "Either way, I can't go back. Hagin disgusts me, and I'd rather be a free person here than remain a slave to him back there. How beautiful it is to bask in the sun, rain, and the wind as time passes. I think I'll get used to it eventually." The old man sat down on the ice. "If you're willing to stay in Gelsa, I think we could be friends." "Thank you. I have heard how complicated the human realm is, and that Gelsa's pretty much a no-man's land. The humans may have forgotten it long ago, but I think it makes a pretty nice place for us to stay." The old man nodded. As someone who had been around for decades, he knew that Miller was trying to butter up to him. As it happened, the old man lacked company as well and thus reached out with a hand. "Welcome, Commander Miller. We're going to be friends now." Miller shook the old man's hand. "Thanks. You can just call me Miller." "Sure, Miller. But I don't think someone like you ne