Kaido shrugged indifferently, his expression of "what's a little injury like this?" even carrying a hint of pride. "Great plans always come with a little pain. That's normal."
Ron said nothing, merely watching Kaido's bruised and swollen face in silence.
Kaido only grew more animated as he spoke. "Ron, I'm telling you, the way Rocks lost his temper last night was hilarious! The only bad thing was that Rocks really is a bastard. He wouldn't listen to reason at all, even though he was the one who told me to fix it."
"Heh, heh." Ron chuckled. If Rocks really wouldn't listen to reason at all, he would've thrown you into the sea to feed the fish long ago. You wouldn't be sitting here making snide remarks.
Kaido suddenly spoke again. "Ron, I've got another great plan!"
"Enough, Kaido," Ron said, a note of warning in his voice. "Give it a rest. Your face hasn't looked normal since you started playing games."
Kaido opened his mouth as though he still wanted to argue his case, but after hesitating for quite a while, he finally nodded. "All right, Ron. I'll listen to you. I'll let those guys act smug for a few more days!"
Time flew by, and several more days passed in the blink of an eye.
Elbaf, the Underworld.
The land was pure white, covered in unbroken stretches of snow as far as the eye could see, as though someone had spread an endless white blanket across the sky.
The bitter wind howled, whipping countless tiny snowflakes into spirals through the air.
In the distance, the outlines of mountains appeared and vanished behind the wind and snow.
Atop a towering cliff, a figure sat cross-legged.
A pair of long, curved black horns stood out atop his head. His pink