"What the hell is this thing...?"
Demonic magical energy ignited the space around Tiadam. Those green flames formed Gundaljika's body. Centered around the box Oyana had discarded, this lesser fire demon swiftly gathered into a solid entity several meters tall. Scorching charcoal made up his arms, while boiling magma formed his blood.
"Tremble beneath my power, mortals—" Gundaljika swung his sword twisted from flame and slashed at Tiadam. Green fire stretched several meters ahead, and the foul heat made it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
"Is this thing a monster?"
Having narrowly avoided the strike, Tiadam could not help looking at the creature made of flames. Although most of its body was fire, he could vaguely see that its core was a dark glass bottle. "No... no, that's not right. This thing should be a demon!"
"Die, mortal—" Gundaljika swung his flaming sword as he advanced toward Tiadam step by step, fel energy burning within his green skull.
The demon delivered a diagonal slash at Tiadam's head, nearly burning off his hair. To evade the fire demon's attack, Tiadam rolled twice across the ground before barely escaping its range.
"Human, you cannot run—" the enormous fire demon shouted. "Your soul is mine... you cannot run..."
"Who said I was running? This is merely a tactical retreat..."
Tiadam sidestepped the fire demon's attack. This carefree man casually patted out his burning hair, then began assessing the situation.
"First of all, this corridor clearly isn't normal human space anymore. I've run at least dozens of meters, yet I still can't see the end. Escape is probably no longer an option." Tiadam looked to either side, where the pitch-black darkness was as deep as an abyss. "These sides... maybe I can make use of them..."
"Mortal, do not even think of escaping—" The fire demon Gundaljika swung horizontally again. The flames near one side first vanished into the darkness, then appeared on the other side half a second later. In an instant, the entire corridor was filled with demonic fire.
"So the two sides are connected..." Tiadam leaped over the pursuing flames. "Though this thing isn't very fast, I... I can't keep this up for long... after all, it's a demon."
"Human, stop this futile struggle!" The fire demon Gundaljika's flaming sword began to lengthen, turning into a long whip that lashed toward Tiadam.
"Damn—" Seeing that he could not dodge the whip formed from flames, Tiadam slid into the darkness on the left.
Unlike the flames, Tiadam had a physical body. After entering the endless abyss on the corridor's left, he did not immediately slide back out from the right. Instead, he gradually began to sink.
"Dear Hero... we finally meet again..."
A gentle voice sounded beside Tiadam's ear. He felt his body continuously falling. There was only him in the endless darkness, and under the sensation of weightlessness, Tiadam realized he had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
"I shall wait for you here..." the gentle voice said. "Until... your awakening..."
"Who... are you..."
Tiadam emerged from the darkness on the right. The fire demon's whip swung again, but this time Tiadam had no way to evade it. Flames scorched his body, and the burnt stench was like rotten sweet potatoes roasting.
"Farewell, human—" The fire demon Gundaljika swung his whip once more.
"In the name of the Fourteen Witches, I summon Water Demon Basatali to protect the person before me, to pull him from death into the hell where I stand, until he is safe—"
Oyana's voice rang out. Filthy water with a sour, nauseating stench swirled around Tiadam's body, extinguishing the flames in an instant.
Having barely escaped disaster, Tiadam turned and glared at Oyana. "Witch, if you think this will make me give up Yalila! Don't even dream about it!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I made you give up Yalila? Hehe." With a snap of her fingers, Oyana sent the fire demon Gundaljika back to hell. "I'd be more than happy to let that little XXX go with you."
"Hey... Yalila, Oyana is back." Lufa, inside the fireplace, glanced at Yalila hiding by the wall. "Why are you hiding there? Where did all that arrogance from before go? Hey—hey—I'm talking to you, XXXXX."
"C-crap... Teacher Oyana is back..." Yalila said, trembling. "Damn it! Damn it! Why? Why didn't the fire demon kill that bandit sooner?!"
"Yalila—" Having dispelled the Endless Corridor, Oyana casually tossed Tiadam onto the floor. "Yalila, bring me my hookah. I'm craving a smoke."
"Yes~ Teacher Oyana~" Yalila smiled as she handed Oyana her hookah, as if none of what had happened before had ever occurred.
"Yalila—Yalila—" Tiadam desperately crawled toward Yalila. "Are you all right? I was so worried about you. That witch Oyana didn't do anything to you, did she?!"
"What are you talking about?" Yalila instinctively took two steps back, then looked down at Tiadam with contempt. "Lady Oyana is my teacher. Would she hurt me?"
"But you—"
"But what?" Yalila interrupted Tiadam. "Teacher Oyana wasn't here, and I was alone in the shop. I was afraid thieves would break in, so I opened the Endless Corridor to keep them out. Is there a problem with that?!"
"But I'm not a thief..."
"You're a bandit~" Yalila said lightly. "Aren't bandits even more detestable than thieves? At least thieves are more skilled than bandits..."
"Then, Yalila, I won't be a bandit!" Tiadam groveled at the girl's feet like a dog. "As long as you're happy, I won't be a bandit. I'll be a good, law-abiding person!"
"If you can't even be a bandit... then what use are you?" Oyana took a puff from her hookah and exhaled at Tiadam. "As your former partner, Tiadam~ don't make me look down on you~"
"I don't need your respect—witch!" Tiadam roared.
"Yalila, please believe me... I'll definitely make you happy. You... you haven't forgotten the time we went through together..."
Yalila: "Don't remember—get lost!"
Tiadam: "Yalila, please tell me, did you ever like me? Even if it was only for one moment?"
"Like you..." Yalila touched the pearl earring on her ear. "I do quite like the things you gave me, but... I never cared much about you as a person... After all... you're only an ordinary human. Though you claim Hero's Bloodline runs through you, who knows whether that's true or false?"
"Yalila... It must be! It must be! It must be that old witch Oyana who taught you to say that! I don't believe it!"
"Is it that you don't believe it, or that you don't dare to?" Oyana slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Yalila has made herself very clear. If you're a worthless human, don't come see Yalila again. If you're a Hero, then slay a Demon King and prove yourself..." Oyana's eyes gradually narrowed, like a fox wearing human skin.
"Teacher Oyana, please don't joke like that..." Yalila grabbed Tiadam by the hair. "S-so heavy... Teacher Oyana, I can't really lift him..."
"Forget it... I'll do it myself..." Oyana gently stirred the mist she had exhaled. "Wind, in the name of the Fourteen Witches, I command you to cast away the object before me, to somewhere beyond my sight—"
Mist coiled around Tiadam's body, and an unknown gale swept him into the fireplace in the living room. A while later, the unlucky man shot high out of the chimney before being flung into the distance.
"Cinnabar, mercury, lizard eggs, shed snake skin..." Sitting amid the ruins of Hero Square, Denolan silently fretted over the materials listed on the parchment.
"Most of the materials for Refined Dragonblood have been gathered. Now all that's missing is a dragon's Dragon Blood... But... I'm just an ordinary person. How could I possibly obtain a dragon's Dragon Blood?" Denolan lay atop the wreckage of the Holy Son statue and muttered to himself. "Besides, divine miracles have been set up outside Canfor... I can't get out at all..."
Denolan shouted, "God! Please give me a hint! What must I do to succeed? I don't want to go on like this anymore. I want a better future! I want wealth! I want to leave this decaying city!"
"God seems to have heard your response~" Eliyi said softly as he stood beside Tiadam.
"Mr. Eliyi... Why are you here too...?" Denolan asked.
Eliyi said nothing and pointed at the sky with one hand.
"You want me to look at the sky?" Denolan looked upward. A black dot slowly appeared before him. "What is that... a rock?"
"No... it's a person!"
By the time Denolan realized it, it was far too late to flee. Tiadam crashed directly into Denolan's arms, and the tremendous impact knocked them both unconscious.
"Oh~ The first meeting between the Child of Destiny and the Hero. What a memorable sight," Eliyi said with a smile as he stood nearby.
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