Ren had actually considered begging the Death Sea King to hand over Zuran to him. He really didn't want to cause any problems that would trigger a whole string of involvement in this novel world.
But he knew the Death Sea King would never listen to him. He might even end up getting kicked out or something. So Ren knew that if he wanted to get what he wanted, he'd have to speak the language the Death Sea King understood—violence and threat.
"You scheming old fox," the Death Sea King scoffed, placing a hand behind his back. "I should have known you weren't being genuine when you sent your little disciple to make the offer."
"I should have known you were up to no good," he added.
Ren smiled. "Is that so? Well, too bad you fell for it. Now I'll be taking my disciple, and I'll be on my way."
The Demon God was sealed in the mountains, so he couldn't leave to do all he wanted. But Zuran could leave. Possessing a special skill, he was able to exit the mountain, so the Demon God had used him to handle all his business outside, especially regarding his beast baby project.
He had also sent him to strike a deal with the Death Sea King: Give me your precious Death Rose, and I'll hand over my disciple to you in marriage. I'm sure you know his value.
And the Death Sea King did know Zuran's value and accepted without much hesitation.
"Never," the Death Sea King now snapped. "What makes you think I'll let you take him as you will? Not under my watch."
Ren fanned himself. "So, what do you want, then? Your flower back?"
"I don't want anything else. Leave that boy for me and leave now. I won't be handing him back. But if you insist, then excuse me for being rude..." The Death King raised his fingers, exposing the needles that stuck out from them. He was ready to strike.
Ren stared at him and scoffed. "How naive. You think you can take me down with that?"
The place was soon surrounded by guards—half-human and half-snake beings who held their spears pointed at Ren, ready to attack.
Ren kept his calm even though he was panicking inside. This was his first time being the Demon God, so he certainly didn't know exactly what to do. But it was said that the Demon God could take down entire clans even while sleeping! So he was certain this wouldn't be much of an issue.
"What are you doing...?" Zuran asked him. "Why are you even here?"
"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to save you," Ren said, his eyes scanning the guards surrounding them from all angles.
"But why are you even doing this? Wasn't this what you wanted?" Zuran demanded. Ren could feel a hint of detest in his tone.
"You're quite noisy. Keep it down, kid; I'm trying to concentrate here," Ren said, spreading out his hand fan while staring at the guards.
"Take that fox down! Don't let him take the boy with him!" the Death Sea King ordered as the guards attacked.
They all flew toward Ren, their tails springing them through the air. Their spears, which dripped black liquid, were aimed at him.
But Ren casually waved his fan through the air. A purple wave brushed through the space and sent them all flying backward.
In a matter of seconds, these guards had either landed on the hard rock or fallen into the abysmal water.
Ren smiled. "Wow, that was easy." He stared at his fan. "I suppose it's the perks of being a Demon God—"
He heard a wild hiss from around them. A huge black snake had curled out of the water and attacked.
Alert, Ren pulled Zuran aside while he waved his fan toward the beast. Purple dust covered the snake and sent it circling back into the water in pain.
"Careful," Ren smiled at Zuran, who stared at him with a surprised expression. Ren could tell he hadn't expected to be saved by him like that.
"Worthless," the Death Sea King muttered as he waved his fingers toward them. Endless needles flew at Ren, who casually spun his fan around, leading the needles in a circle before sending them all toward the guests.
"Ah!"
"Run!"
"They're coming for us!"
The guests were soon sent running. Some disappeared into thin air, and some jumped back into the water.
Ren smiled. "I guess the party is over." He looked up at the Death Sea King. "So I'll be taking my leave, too."
Ren grabbed Zuran's hand without warning. He could feel him flinch in surprise as he held it tightly. "Let's go," Ren smiled as he waved his fan.
"No—!" The Death Sea King snapped in fury. But it was already too late. The two of them had disappeared into a purple portal that soon dispersed into thin air.
"That cunning fox..." the King muttered. "What are you all waiting for?" He glared at the guards. "Go after him and get that boy back!" he hissed.
"Yes!" The guards disappeared, going after Ren.
___
The boundaries between the Mortal Realm and the Demon Realm were held by powerful field forces—almost invisible, yet a hassle for normal beast demons to pass through. This field force was so subtle one might think it was just a windy air current keeping the two realms apart.
But it was more than that. It was a powerful barrier that separated these two realms by thousands of dimensions. Anyone passing through this field would have to travel through endless mystical layers before they could even smell the Mortal Realm—but not everyone. Those trained enough could pass through to the normal realm in a flash.
It was a field force created by the Heavenly Emperor, the Phoenix God, after the Sacred War to keep the demons away from the Mortal Realm—a way of gauging them from flooding the mortal realm and causing trouble.
At the heart of this field force stood a huge, dark gate. The gate stood in the middle of thin, dark, misty air. A small piece of land surrounded it, and a tree with dark leaves sat close by on that land.
On that tree sat a monkey—or a beast demon in human form with monkey ears and a tail. The old man was the gatekeeper of the Gates of Hell, with short black beards and furry monkey hair around his face. This old beast was so busy plucking leaves that he didn't notice when someone passed through the gate.
A quick purple flash of light flew past and through the portal in the big gate.
The monkey beast paused. He turned and looked around, then at the gate. He felt something but didn't see anything.
He blinked while scratching his head. "Did something just pass through?"
It was already too late. Ren and Zuran had already flown through the gates. And when the monkey turned to continue, the guards of the Death Sea flew past as well.
The beast monkey turned again. "Huh?"