Pariston smiled.
"It's great to see you're still so confident. But it would be even better for us if you could explain where that confidence comes from."
Xiyou looked over curiously, too.
"I've figured out the trick." Beyond tossed the bones he'd picked clean beside the campfire and nonchalantly wiped the grease on his hands onto his robe.
"What trick?" Pariston asked, though he'd already guessed the answer. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"During the Gatekeeper's final trial, I fought the demi-humans it created. That was when I first got this feeling."
Beyond glanced at the two of them in turn, then explained:
"My father—Isaac Netero—was incredibly strong. When I was young, I never beat him. After I established the Blood Oath Shackles, I never challenged him again."
"But fighting the demi-humans created by the Gatekeeper brought back the feeling I had back then. And the rush I got from battling the Flame Demon Dragon completely went to my head."
"I feel like my body has returned to the state it was in when I was young, but I still have all the memories and experience I've gained since."
"The next time I fight the Flame Demon Dragon, I'll surpass Isaac Netero, and I'll surpass that dragon, too. I'm certain of it."
Listening to him, Xiyou couldn't help feeling a little excited. He admired Beyond, who always did what he said he would.
Beyond had said he would bring them all to the Dark Continent, and he had. If he said he would surpass Chairman Netero and the Flame Demon Dragon, then he would certainly do it.
Xiyou felt that there was no way he could ever beat Chairman Netero in his lifetime, so without realizing it, he'd pinned that hope on Beyond.
Pariston, however, wasn't so easily