The sea otter, sensing danger, quickly turned its body and dove into the sea. Raon stepped on the Supreme Harmony Steps amidst the waves. He summoned the wind of the Gale Wind Style and reached out towards the pentagonal stone tightly held by the sea otter.
The sea otter tried to escape by abruptly changing direction, but Raon had already predicted its movement from its gesture.
'I'll just check the stone.'
Raon blocked the sea otter's escape route and reached for the stone it was holding.
'Huh?'
What's this? Even though his hand touched the pentagonal stone, nothing happened. Despite opening his realm of the soul, he couldn't feel anything.
'Wasn't I supposed to know something when I touched it?'
Merlin had said that someone of his level should be able to enter the soul's Mental Image the moment they touched the stone, but he couldn't feel any energy or phenomenon from this stone. It was literally just an ordinary pebble.
-Hmm.
Wrath frowned as he looked at the pentagonal stone in his hand.
-I can't feel it accurately because my current condition is poor, but as you said, it seems like an ordinary stone.
'So it's not the one after all?'
-That's right. It means that sea otter isn't that madwoman, but a resident of this sea.
He sighed in relief, as if glad.
'I knew that.'
He knew it was a real animal since Merlin wouldn't have run away if he had been her. He touched it because the shape and color of the stone the sea otter had were too similar to Lawaine's testimony, but it turned out to be just an ordinary stone.
'I'm sorry.'
Raon returned the stone to the sea otter and nodded slightly. The sea otter nodded back as if to say it was okay and moved away.
'Sea otters even comfort people these days.'
Raon chuckled and rose back to the surface of the sea.
"What? Did you find it?"
Rimmer approached and tilted his head.
"No."
Raon shook his head.
"The stone the sea otter had was pentagonal, so I chased after it, but it was just an ordinary stone."
"Sea otter? Ah! The stone they use to crack open shells?"
Rimmer pounded his stomach with his fist as if he were a sea otter himself.
"That's right."
Raon nodded.
"The shape was similar, and it was emerald-colored, but it wasn't the one."
"It would have been funny if you found it that way."
Rimmer laughed, saying it would have been interesting.
"As you said earlier, since it's been on the beach all this time, it's probably right to assume its edges have been worn away. We should just search everything."
He smacked his lips, suggesting that they should examine all the stones in this area rather than looking for a pentagonal one.
"It won't be difficult, but it's going to be a very arduous task."
Raon let out a short sigh as he looked at the stones submerged in the clear sea.
'Even more so for others.'
It was natural for him to do it since it was a family matter, but it wasn't the case for the Light Wind division or the Azure Wind's crew. He felt sorry that they would have to work hard on the beach for quite a long time.
"It's something we have to do, no matter how arduous."
Rimmer gave a small smile, telling him not to worry too much.
"Uh..."
Raon blinked as he looked at Rimmer.
"What?"
"I'm surprised because someone who seemed incapable of comforting is actually comforting me..."
The Rimmer he knew would have complained about the tedious task and gone to rest, but today he was searching for the Soul Crystal more passionately than even Alice. It was so different from usual that he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't you think you're seeing me as too much of a troublemaker?"
Rimmer frowned as if he found it absurd.
"I might have done some crazy things, well, quite a lot actually, but I'm not selfish enough to go rest while leaving behind something precious to the Division Leader."
He smiled gently, saying he knew how important family was to him.
"So let's put more effort into finding it."
Rimmer turned his back abruptly, as if embarrassed by his own words, and left to search for the Soul Crystal.
"...Thank you."
Raon bowed his head towards Rimmer's back.
'I'm grateful for your comfort, but I still can't help feeling sorry.'
Since only he, Alice, Rimmer, and Lawaine could find the Soul Crystal, the Light Wind division and the crew could only do the tedious work of sorting through stones. He felt even more sorry for using high-level personnel for such a monotonous task.
"Hah..."
Raon let out a short sigh and dove back into the sea to search for the Soul Crystal.
* * *
-Nnngh!
As the moon set and the sun began to rise again, Wrath groaned as if in pain, clutching his head.
-Ah! I can't stand this anymore!
'What is it?'
Raon blinked, brushing back his wet hair.
-How long will it take to find it like this! There was nothing on that small island over there either! At this rate, I'll never even get to see Bead Ice Cream!
He screamed, saying it would take too long to find the Soul Crystal.
'We can't help it. Just be patient a little longer.'
-You do it.
Wrath grabbed his shoulder tightly with his round hand.
'Me? What should I do?'
Raon tilted his head, looking at Wrath.
-What this king was about to do! Open your soul and detect the Soul Crystal that should be around here!
Wrath raised his fist, saying that would allow them to find it right away.
'You said only you could do that. I haven't even reached transcendence yet, have I?'
Wrath had said that the size of one's soul grows according to how one has lived. No matter how many hardships he had endured, he couldn't match the soul of a demon king.
'If even Aunt can't do it, it doesn't make sense for me to do it.'
-Sigh...
Wrath let out a long sigh as if he found it pathetic.
-This king has been telling you all along! Your soul is incomparably larger than your pitiful Martial Prowess!
'You have said that...'
Raon nodded. Wrath had often told him that the size of his soul was disproportionately large compared to his Martial Prowess and age.
-When you turned that accursed Ring of Fire, the size of your soul was even above that troublemaker!
Wrath pointed his finger at Alice.
-That's why this king always says it's cheating!
He slammed his hand down, telling him to realize his own abilities.
'Hmm...'
Raon smacked his lips, placing his hand on his left chest where the Ring of Fire was rotating.
'Even so, wouldn't it be difficult? Even if I fully open my soul, it would only cover this area.'
-You fool! You weren't given just a soul.
Wrath pointed at the bracelet on his wrist.
'The Demon King's Authority...'
-That's right. What you've been given isn't just simple power and characteristics, but fragments of the demon kings' souls!
He slapped his wrist, telling him to look properly.
'I know, but...'
Raon bit his lip, recalling the demon kings' emotions tied to the edges of his soul.
'I can't use all of that right now.'
Due to his insufficient realm, he couldn't summon all the Demon King's Authority. It took all his concentration just to draw out the most familiar Wrath.
-This king will help you.
Wrath wiggled his chubby fingers as he sat on his shoulder.
'What?'
-I said this king will help you control the Demon King's Authority.
'But you...'
-While it's difficult to use physical strength at the moment, supporting you to this extent is certainly possible.
He nodded calmly, as if telling him not to worry.
'No, this is too much strain on you.'
Raon was worried first, even though Wrath said he would help, because he had said his spirit body was in poor condition and couldn't exert force externally.
-How laughable that a youngster like you is worrying about this king!
Wrath sneered, lifting his round chin.
-Enough! We'll start now, so get ready! If you can't keep up, I'll leave you behind!
He twisted his lips, telling him to follow along no matter what.
'...Thank you.'
Raon thanked Wrath and closed his eyes. He resonated the Ring of Fire, awakening the Demon King's Authority sleeping deep within his soul.
-Now! Focus!
With Wrath's shout, his Wrath began to seep in from his shoulder. Unlike before, when it tried to steal his soul, this was a concentrated force to control the Authority of other demon kings.
-This king can't hold out for long! Use those emotions as your hands and feet and spread them throughout this entire beach!
'Got it.'
Using Wrath's shout as a foothold, he raised his concentration to the extreme. The Demon King's Authority connected through the emotion of Wrath, giving him a sense of having the entire beach in the palm of his hand. It was an omnipotent sensation as if his skin had transformed into the whole of Giran Island.
'Show me everything!'
At the moment he entered a world of Super Sense where he could feel even the shape of each grain of sand, not just stones and pebbles, he strongly sensed Lust's Authority from empty space.
"What is this..."
Raon's lips trembled. Lust, whom he thought had returned to Devildom, was looking at him from within a pink current.
-Kyaaaak!
As soon as Wrath saw Lust, he was startled and removed his hand from Raon's shoulder. The omnipotent sensation that made him feel he could do anything disappeared in an instant.
"Lust? Why are you here?"
"Ah..."
Lust, in the state of a pink current, let out a sigh that sounded like lamentation.
"Hehehehehe!"
While Raon was exhaling empty air looking at Lust, a baby sea otter surfaced from the water and started giggling.
"I told you! You got too close!"
A sea otter speaking human language. There was no need to ask who was inhabiting it.
"Even Merlin..."
"Yes! It's me!"
The sea otter nodded its head quickly.
"Why are you two here?"
"We made a small bet."
Merlin grinned, saying it ended in her victory thanks to her.
"I'm sorry..."
Lust revealed her face amidst the pink current.
"I was so happy that you used my Authority that I..."
She bowed her head deeply, saying she was really sorry.
-Ughhhh!
Wrath sobbed and hid behind Raon's back.
-Why did those madwomen come! Why do the crazy ones always travel together! At this crucial moment!
He screamed that everything was ruined.
'You don't need to worry.'
Raon patted Wrath's head as he wailed and shook his head.
"I'm curious about what kind of bet it was, but let's talk about it later."
"Are you trying to find the Soul Crystal? I'll help too!"
Merlin stretched out her hand, saying she would come in her main body.
"I've already found it."
"Huh? You found it?"
-Is, is that true?
Merlin and Wrath's jaws dropped in surprise.
'Yes.'
Raon nodded calmly. Although he was surprised by Lust and Merlin, his concentration, which had reached the state of Forever Unrippled Mind, didn't break immediately. When his soul spread throughout the entire beach, he clearly grasped a gloomy emotion as if shrouded in darkness.
'It's here.'
Raon looked at a fist-sized pebble in the shallow sea not far from the shore. It was round with all its edges worn away, and it had a deeper green color than emerald. From this pebble, he could sense someone's crying, sadness, and despair.
'It doesn't seem like a good soul, though.'
But we still have to go. Raon let out a short sigh and grasped the pebble. With a sensation as if his body was floating, like seeing an ancestor's memory, his vision turned black.
* * *
A girl of seven? No, even younger, appears. The girl was practicing swordsmanship in the open space in front of her house, and she seemed to be growing remarkably day by day as if overflowing with talent. Despite her young age, there were a few times when the girl's emotions wavered, and that was when she saw children her age playing together.
The girl stared blankly at the children who were wondering what to play or what to look for today, as if envious. One of the children approached the girl and reached out. He smiled brightly, asking her to play together.
[Me too?]
Just as the girl was about to take the child's hand, a middle-aged man with a stern expression came out and blocked the way.
[Get lost.]
At the man's sharp voice, the child ran away with a tearful face and never appeared in front of the girl again.
[You have things to do. Don't disappoint me.]
The middle-aged man, who appeared to be the girl's father, repeated that she should focus on training with dry eyes that showed no affection. After that, the girl swung her sword day and night. Even when she saw children her age laughing and playing, she didn't give them a glance, swinging her sword every day with the sole intention of living up to her father's expectations.
When three years had passed, the girl reached the level her father wanted. When the girl went to find her father with an excited heart, he uttered just one sentence.
[It's time. Let's go.]
'Without a word of praise like 'Good job' or 'Well done,' he just said to go somewhere and got up.
The girl wasn't disappointed. Thinking that joyful days would unfold from now on, she followed her father into an unknown underground chamber. There were children who seemed to be around her age. The girl was happy that she finally had friends, but the other children didn't seem to have such thoughts.
They all had cold eyes, just like looking at the girl's father. The girl's life didn't change much. She swung her sword all day in the chamber and slept alone in a separate room. There wasn't even proper time to rest, let alone time to get close to anyone.
While the other children seemed to adapt quickly to this hell, only one child was different.
He always had tears in his eyes, as if scared of the gloominess of this underground. The girl seemed to see herself in this child and took care of him. When the girl began to feel a small happiness while building a bond with the child named Valde, it happened.
One dawn, instead of being called to the training chamber, she was kept in the room where she only slept. While trembling with the happiness of not having to swing a sword and the anxiety of not being able to see Valde, she heard someone's scream from far away. The next day too. And the day after that, continuously.
A strange land where someone's screams erupted with each passing day. The girl called out her father's name in fear, but of course, no answer came.
When a week had passed with the girl worrying about her father and Valde's well-being, the door to her room opened and her father entered.
[Father!]
The girl ran towards him, crying out for help, but her father kicked her with eyes that looked at her as if she were a bug. As the girl was rolling on the floor after being hit, a boy with cold eyes entered in front of her.
Valde. The young and immature child with whom she had built a small bond was now holding a sword with the same cold eyes as her father.
[Valde. What are you...]
As the girl was about to shout at him to put down the sword, Valde's sword pierced through her heart. Her chest felt hot. Only after feeling the empty sensation of all her aura and soul being sucked away did Valde pull out his sword.
[Dad, Valde...]
The girl used her last strength to reach out to her only friend and father. But that hand stopped in mid-air, and her father and friend left the darkened room without even giving her a glance.
[Half a success, I see...]
The girl recalled her life as she heard her father's cold voice. The cold father, the sword she swung her entire life, the children who reached out to play, and the betrayal of the friend she made at the end. The desperate moments of not being able to live like ordinary children flowed down her pupils.
I just wanted to play like other children...
The girl's body burst into black flames and transformed into a giant fire monster. All the dark energies of death, despair, anger, and pain were reflected in the child's soul.
'I see...'
Raon opened his hand towards the child's soul that had become black flames, without drawing his sword.
'I'll play with you.'