Another day begins, with the streets being prepared for the King's Coronation, a time when festivals take place and a period in which many establishments profit. Many people were excited as the coronation drew closer.
A young feral panda lady was preparing her clothing shop for the event, smoothing out the fabric of dresses that had become wrinkled. At a certain moment, the shop's bell echoed through the room. She quickly headed to the counter and greeted the customers with a smile on her face.
— Welcome to Roar Shop. What are you looking for, young ones? Are you here to pick up an ordered outfit, or something for an important occasion?
Wearing a white hat and a gallant white suit, Maprisius extends his hand and points to the two young people accompanying him.
— Certainly. I came to order clothes for these two here. This is an emergency.
The shop owner looks the two of them up and down and speaks in an ironic tone:
— Humans, huh? I see. I'll make this exception for you, since you're a loyal customer of the shop. I'll take the orders.
She slowly walks toward them, leaning on her cane, and observes them more closely. Then she asks:
— Mr. Maprisius, are these fashion offenders friends of yours?
Unable to hold back her laughter, Maprisius bursts out laughing and replies as he removes his hat and places it on a hook on the wall:
— Oh, Bayazinha, they're friends I made some time ago. I brought them here because they need clothes worthy of an event where they are guests of honor. So they need to be very well dressed. That's when I remembered you and rushed them here.
Shizu interrupts, speaking in a sarcastic tone:
— Yeah, I remember very well how we woke up today because of you at our inn.
At that moment, memories from two hours earlier flood Shizu's mind.
Shizu was sleeping lightly on the bed, while Detrin lay on the floor with a blanket spread beneath him. While he slept, someone approached his face and, with a gentle voice, said:
— Shizuzinho… shall we wake up?
Shizu replies sleepily as he turns to the other side and places his hand on the figure's face:
— Mmm… five more seconds, Mom…
Then he feels fur and something long in his hand. His eyes open instantly, and he jumps out of bed, almost falling, shouting:
— You're not my mother!
Maprisius stands up laughing and says:
— Ha ha ha, no, silly. I'm not your mother, but I can be your daddy if you want.
Shizu throws a pillow at his face and says angrily:
— No way!
The old woman then begins walking toward a room at the back of the shop and informs them that she will be right back.
— I'm going to get the measuring tape to take your measurements. Please wait a moment.
While observing the shop, Shizu begins to walk around. He looks at one suit, then picks up another, blue with green details, comparing it to his own body. Anin watches him and soon says:
— Wow, that one really suits you, Shizu.
Shizu thanks her. At that moment, Maprisius steps between them and says:
— Careful. If you attract too much attention, you might end up attracting a lot of little feral ladies… fu… fu…
Embarrassed, Shizu puts the suit back in its place. Then he finds an elegant red dress with purple details. He picks it up, brings it to Anin, and asks her to compare the dress to herself.
She gently sways the dress and asks:
— So? Does it look good on me?
Inside Shizu's mind, he was screaming like a madman:"How beautiful! Since when do angels walk on Earth?!"
On the outside, he simply brings his hand to his chin, clears his throat lightly, and says firmly:
— You would definitely look great in that.
She smiles and thanks him verbally for the compliments.
Returning from the room where the products were kept, Baya asks them to follow her to another, more spacious room. Upon arriving there, she climbs onto a small stool and asks Shizu to come closer.
— Come here and stand still with your arms open so I can take all your measurements.
Shizu agrees, tense, and stands with his arms open while she measures him with the tape. During the process, she observes him carefully, notices scars on his arms and marks on his face, and asks:
— Hey, kid, how old are you? Have you been getting into fights?
Tense, Shizu replies politely:
— Well… I've been pretty busy with fights lately, so I kind of ended up with some scars. At least I survived that damn one. Also, I'm fifteen years old. I'll turn sixteen in three months.
She smiles while measuring his waist and asks again:
— Oh, so you're a warrior or an adventurer, right? It must have been a tough battle.
Shizu smiles slightly and answers calmly:
— Yeah, yeah. Izius Babadar was a real monster. We won by luck.
Distracted, she simply nods and continues taking measurements. A few seconds later, it finally sinks in.
— Wait… DID YOU SAY IZIUS BABADAR?! THAT TYRANT WHO HAD A PRISON CITY AND WAS CONSIDERED A COUNTRY-LEVEL THREAT?!
Maprisius, disappointed, puts his hand to his face and says in a tone of frustration:
— Ah, Shizu… that was a surprise that was supposed to be revealed during the event, man…
Shizu, embarrassed for ruining the surprise, replies with an awkward smile:
— Ah… ha ha ha… sorry…
The old woman continues measuring Shizu, now speaking in a more friendly tone and asking questions:
— I didn't know you were such important people. Forgive my rudeness earlier… defeating someone as powerful as her…
Shizu soon grows curious, looks at Maprisius with a confused expression, and asks:
— Was Babadar really recognized as a country-level threat? Was she really that powerful?
Maprisius laughs and replies with a sincere, mocking look:
— If she was strong? You fought her and didn't notice? She was considered country-level for many, many years. Want to know a bit more about her power? We have plenty of information, especially because… she was one of the main figures leading the war between ferals and humans.
Moved by this, Anin grows curious about the story and asks Maprisius to explain more about the tyrant's power.
Maprisius realizes that both of them fought someone without knowing her true strength. Then, with a cunning expression, he begins to explain the tyrant's real powers:
— Ana Izius Babadar. A being considered a devastating monster by all. Four hundred years ago, we all know that there was massive destruction in Thyanos, the kingdom where she lived. Before that, she was a normal girl, but with great energy and a potential for power equal to that of her father, the Hero King.
— However, after the incident in which the Demon of Equivalence invaded the castle and killed everyone inside, she was never the same. Her childhood was deeply disturbed by having to ascend the throne at such a young age without her parents. Everyone around her thought she was going mad because of it. Many heard her screaming to herself in her room. It was during this time that both kingdoms spying on her realized something important: the Demon of Equivalence was inside her body.
Shizu, tense and frightened, asks with fear in his expression:
— If you knew… couldn't you just try to expel the demon from her body or something?
Maprisius sighs and takes the floor again, answering Shizu seriously:
— In this world, if a superior demon takes over your body, whoever has more pure energy wins. Babadar had an energy level equal to the demon's, so we hoped she would overcome and subjugate it. But it didn't go as we expected.
— After twenty years of her consciousness fighting the demon, she lost. The demon was older and more powerful, while she was just a prodigy child. Now you're probably wondering why we didn't put an end to her right after that, aren't you?
Anin nods, curious.
Maprisius lights a cigarette and speaks while releasing the smoke:
— We did do something. We sent two of our most powerful elite feral warriors, and one of the western kingdoms helped by sending three world-class assassins. Surprisingly, that monster became absurdly powerful in that body.
— According to reports, the Demon of Equivalence uses a unique spell called "Equivalence." This power causes any opponent, no matter who they are, to have their power level equalized with hers during battle, multiplying the user's level hundreds of times.
— And since Babadar was a living prodigy with an enormous amount of pure energy, it was the perfect combination. She killed many people and devastated two entire kingdoms on her own.
— And why was she considered country-level? At her peak, she could devastate an entire country with a single blow. She was so powerful that even today I remember, with my own eyes, her using Infernal Mist to destroy an entire human kingdom, along with possessing a vast arsenal of abilities, some capable of piercing barriers by adapting to impacts.
— She was such an overwhelming existence that, after seeing the level of danger she posed, no one was insane enough to declare war or become her enemy.
Shizu becomes completely terrified. Looking down, sweating coldly, he asks:
— But when we fought her… she wasn't that powerful.
Maprisius takes a drag from his cigarette, slowly exhales, and answers with a neutral expression:
— The demon was indeed very powerful, but there was something it lacked, unlike many other superior demons. It could not grant immortality to its vessels. It prolonged life, but it did not make one immortal to time.
— And since Babadar was human, even with absurd levels of power, becoming something between human and demon, she could not live longer than a thousand years. The older a human becomes, the less pure energy they possess, leading to a tragic end.
— You fought a weakened Babadar, far from her peak. And even so, I must say she was still powerful enough to fight all of us in a fair battle. She could beat us many times over and eventually win.
— That is why you are considered heroes.
Shizu looks down and begins to think to himself with a frightened expression as the image of that tyrant crosses his mind:"If that was considered weak today… what kind of atrocity was she years ago?"
Cutting through the mood, the old woman finishes measuring Shizu and calls Anin.
Meanwhile, at the city gate, a tall boy approaches. He carries a white katana with black details, a green backpack on his back, wears a white robe, and has long yellow hair. He sighs deeply and says with great relief:
— Phew! I finally arrived. After an entire month of walking, I finally made it here! Take that, sensei!
He shouts, throwing his hand into the air.
From a distance, a hooded figure watches everything. With a ghastly smile and shining chains around their body, the figure speaks softly:
— At last… the circus is set. Time to begin these delightful little games… it's going to be totally brutal.