"We'll scold you when we get home."
This wasn't the time to reason with a cat. Shade spoke to the aggrieved cat, reached over to snatch the ring from its mouth, then lifted it out of the box and handed it to Tifa.
He placed God's Gift Box at his feet. As though responding to the light of the Scales in Iluna's hands, it prevented the sludge that had already covered the entire clearing and was spreading into the Crystalline Forest from contaminating the three of them.
"Meow~"
Mia curled up in Tifa's soft embrace, her big eyes fixed on Shade. A very faint golden glimmer shone from the cat, like the Sun, yet also like the glow of God's Radiance currently emanating from Shade.
"I think your ring is here."
Shade displayed the Fish Training Ring, then slipped it onto his finger. This way, he wore two rings on each hand, making them look rather symmetrical. When Daknis's right hand had fallen to the ground just now, the black shadow that rushed out of God's Gift Box had clearly been Mia. Mia had stolen the ring from the severed hand. That cat liked the Metamorphosis Ring, so perhaps it liked the Fish Training Ring as well.
"You damned thief!"
A curse-like voice came from Daknis's mouth, but it was not Daknis's own voice. It was clearly the Demon speaking in Demon Tongue. Amid the sound of gurgling flow, Shade parted his lips slightly in surprise.
"Without the ring, you can still use his mouth to speak? So you really did intend to take over Daknis's body!"
Within this utterly dark region, the three stood close together beneath the golden light. The radiance of the Scales in Iluna's hands barely allowed them to see Daknis.
"Ivan Daknis, answer me. Who