Tai Yang was training with Ren.
Ren said,
"I order you to have leaves around you."
Tai Yang dodged them.
"Is that all you've got?"
Ren said,
"Leaf Rush!"
Tai Yang looked surprised.
"What?"
The leaves struck him and sent him backward.
Tai Yang smiled.
"Now I guess it's tough, but still not enough to beat me."
Ren said,
"Let's see how much that big mouth can talk."
Leaves came toward Tai Yang rapidly.
Scene shifted.
Hiroshi was sitting at Reigo's table. Reigo was sitting across from him, wearing his kimono.
Hiroshi said,
"Tell me, why did you invite me here, Master Reigo?"
Reigo said,
"It's about Kaizen. I want to ask you something."
Hiroshi looked at him.
"Kaizen? What's about him?"
Reigo said,
"He is back again. This time, I don't know where he is. Can you find out where he is right now? He is very powerful, and we can't ignore him. If we do, he could become a threat to us. He already has been, because you know about the incident—how he killed his own mages and his father very brutally."
Hiroshi said,
"Yeah. I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he isn't around here, to ensure everyone else is safe."
Scene shifted to Sha Wujing receiving the role of mayor.
Richard said,
"From now on, our new mayor will be Sha Wujing."
Everyone began asking questions.
"Is he an outsider?"
Another person said,
"No. He looks like a good leader."
Richard had chosen him, and people throughout the town began discussing their new mayor.
Freddie was looking out the window.
"So he's the new mayor? After my father's passing?"
He paused.
"I can't really say much, but yeah, he looks like a great and charming leader."
Scene shifted to Tai Yang's training.
Tai Yang said,
"Let's see how much you've got."
Ren said,
"I have to say, you've become a lot stronger than I expected."
It was revealed that three days had passed.
During those three days, Tai Yang had learned a new technique. He decided to name it Blast Dragon.
Tai Yang smiled.
"Tell me, Blast Dragon, how does it feel? I heard that Azure inside me is a dragon, so yeah."
Ren looked at him.
"Yeah, looks good enough."
Flashback to their training.
Tai Yang hadn't been able to use the technique before. But when he finally managed to do it, he shouted,
"Blast Dragon!"
A powerful blast erupted.
Smoke came from Ren's body. He was injured, with the damage mostly affecting his hand, but he was still standing.
Ren looked at Tai Yang.
"However, at least you came up with a good name somehow. Because this name looks very much—"
Tai Yang interrupted him.
"No. I'm keeping this name. I decided on it."
Ren sighed.
"But ouch. That hit was pretty tough, I have to say."
Scene shifted.
Someone was sitting on a throne.
He had light golden-blond hair, medium-long and somewhat messy. His bangs fell heavily over his forehead, with several pointed strands framing his face. His hair was tied into a low ponytail at the back.
His eyes were narrow and sharp, gray-blue, giving him a naturally calm and observant expression.
His face was slim and angular, with a defined jaw and relatively narrow chin. His features were delicate rather than rugged.
He usually wore a subtle, confident smile. His half-lidded eyes made him look relaxed and self-assured, almost as if he was rarely surprised.
He was tall and lean, with a slender but clearly athletic physique rather than a heavily muscular one.
He wore an almost entirely white military-style uniform:
- A high, stiff standing collar.
- A long-sleeved white jacket reaching past the hips.
- Dark trim running vertically down the center.
- A small dark-and-gold button at the collar.
- Simple horizontal chest pocket trim.
- Matching white trousers.
- Black ankle boots.
He was holding a large sword while smiling.
"Tell me, Sejimaru. Do you think we can use him? After all, he is growing as I wanted."
He smiled.
Sejimaru replied,
"Yeah, my lord. He looks pretty high and decent enough to be useful. However, I would say that good power needs some time. After some of his seals are broken, you must do it."
Kaizen said,
"You are right. After two seals, I might assume that is enough to take him down. When his second seal breaks, I'll capture him."
He smiled.
"But I'll do my thing for now. Let's see what happens."
Scene shifted to Konsoon.
He stood alone at the edge of a rugged mountain cliff, his back turned toward the vast landscape below. His posture was calm and deliberate, with one leg planted firmly ahead of the other while his body remained upright. One hand rested near his hip, while the other appeared to hold a slender walking cane or sword at his side.
Before him stretched an enormous, mist-covered mountain landscape. Pale clouds and fog filled the valleys, partially obscuring the distant peaks and creating layers of mountains fading into the horizon. Jagged, dark rock formations rose through the mist in the foreground and middle distance.
The sky was vast and almost completely covered by soft, gray-white clouds, with muted daylight filtering through them. The atmosphere was cold, quiet, and immense. The contrast between his dark silhouette and the pale, almost ethereal landscape made him appear solitary and contemplative.
Only Sha Wujing was standing behind him.
Seeing Konsoon in that pose, Sha Wujing remained silent.
Konsoon said,
"You know, this place is very familiar to me. Very much."
Sha Wujing looked at him.
"I might assume it's because this place has a very deep bond with you."
Konsoon looked toward the mountains.
"Because this is where everything started."
Konsoon continued looking at the landscape.
"I still look at it because the past defines what I am now. I am not afraid to face it, because I have already moved on. I have overcome everything.
"But humans fear God. Even though they have free will, they still choose slavery instead because they are afraid to question what they are told. In the end, they become slaves who never truly want freedom.
"I became what I am. A master of myself. I should always be able to do anything I want, even if it means putting this world into the abyss. I don't need anyone's approval or anyone's offer, because I don't work for anyone.
"People say they are slaves because they choose to be. I am not.
"Even the monsters themselves fail to understand this. They never reject the paths of good and evil, while I have overcome both. They never dare to gaze into the abyss.
"Perhaps that is a good decision. However, when they finally look into it, they will realize what they truly are—monsters who never wanted to be free, monsters who want other people to suffer through the same hardships they went through.
"What kind of fools are they?
"But I have overcome something that no entity can.
"I have overcome myself.
"I can go through the abyss with nothing but a rope beneath me. Yet I am still afraid that the abyss might be the cruelest order.
"The ultimate chaos-order that people never think about.
"However, I am already overcoming it.
"I am becoming someone who has to exist within it."
Konsoon continued looking toward the mountains.
"They are the ones who fight another monster, only to become the reasonable ones who destroy it themselves. I see them as a herd of sheep. They will never think deeply or seek within themselves.
Sha Wujing replied,
"That's what they are, my lord. They never truly know themselves. Even when they think they are floating with the water, they are actually drowning within it, because their very nature was never truly honest with themselves."
Konsoon indeed believed that the person they had built within themselves over the past years was something they could not overcome.
Scene shifted to Tai Yang's training.
Five hours had passed.
Tai Yang collapsed onto the ground and said, "Let me rest for now. I'm just tired."
Ren said, "We can do a little more."
"Just give me a break."
Ren nodded. "As you wish. See you."
Tai Yang looked at him. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah. You've done very well today. Let's continue another day. For now, let's eat lunch, or you can rest here."
Tai Yang replied, "I'll come back later."
Tai Yang looked ahead.
"I have many priorities. First, I need to save myself in this world. I just want to become stronger so I can protect the people I love. That's all I want.
"It feels like I'm demanding something big from my life. But if something big happens, I might even become the leader here, just like that old man."
He was referring to Reigo.
Tai Yang looked ahead again.
"I wonder if I can do it... but I might as well try."
Tai Yang was lying down in a relaxed sleeping position.
"Anyways, I should keep going and see what's for dinner."
He got up and started walking.
A moment later, he saw Lan standing there, crying.
"Oh... this is bad."
Tai Yang made an awkward, cringing face.
"Big brother! Where have you been? It's been five days!"
"Wait, wait! Don't cry!"
Tai Yang started doing whatever silly things he could think of to make her stop crying.
Then, suddenly, he did a backflip.
"See?!"
Tai Yang smiled.
"See?"
Lan laughed.
"You're funny!"
"You think so?"
"Of course I do. Next time, don't leave me."
Lan hugged him.
"Of course I will."
Tai Yang hugged her back.
After that, Tai Yang went to see what was happening at dinner.
He saw Ren sitting there, eating rice balls and fish.
"Hey, you're there."
Ren looked at him.
"Well, the dinner is good. You'll be missing out."
"Hey! At least wait for me, you idiot! I thought you would be waiting for me."
"Well, who waits for a loser like you?"
"Say that to my face!"
The sunset continued in the background.
The view slowly zoomed out over Kisain Society.
Black screen.
Then the frog-headed figure reappeared, his bear-human head emerging once more. He marched straight toward the kingdom. Villagers stared in horror as he approached. Before anyone could react, the bear-human head lunged forward and devoured a man's head in one bite. Blood sprayed everywhere. The frog-headed man threw his head back and laughed. "Hahahahah! Die, you pathetic ants! I'm going to kill all of you!"
The scene shifted to Tai Yang eating his food.
"It's tasty as always."
Lan was eating too.
Ren looked at Tai Yang.
"Hey, Tai, wanna go grab a hot spring?"
"Huh? You mean it?"
"Yeah. We should."
Hiroshi was standing there.
"You know…"
Tai Yang looked at him.
"I guess you're going to say that new mission, huh?"
Hiroshi smiled.
"The old new mission, you could say. C-2-7."
Tai Yang smiled.
"Alright. Let's end this forever."
Tai Yang was moving up with Ren.
"Why are you here with me again?"
Ren smiled.
"Of course I'm going to help you, forehead. This time, they're very strong."
Tai said, "Good. Then I'm with you, dumbass."
Then they saw the Bear-Headed Humans.
"Watch out!" Tai shouted.
Ren dodged one of them, while Tai swung his sword. Ren also swung his sword.
The two Bear-Headed Humans were cut by their attacks, and blood spilled.
Ren said, "I guess these are a vast amount of them."
The camera zoomed out, revealing many Bear-Headed Humans walking toward them.
Tai Yang smiled and said, "Guess this is going to be tough."
Ren smiled.
"Guess so. But hey, it's our job to do, ain't it?"
Tai Yang moved extremely fast and swung his sword. Several Bear-Headed Humans vanished from the attack.
Another group attacked them.
Tai Yang said, "Wow, that was really close."
Tai Yang and Ren kept moving forward.
Then they saw the frog-headed man.
Ren used his leaves and said, "I order you to surround them with leaves!"
The leaves surrounded the Bear-Headed Humans, and many of them were cut down almost instantly.
Tai Yang said, "Wow, these ones are really strong this time, I have to say."
Ren ignored Tai Yang's words and looked up.
"Look above us. There are many more of them."
Tai Yang said, "Alright."
Tai Yang swung his sword and moved extremely fast. On the side, they saw many more of them.
Out of nowhere, a Bear-Headed Human was running toward Tai Yang.
Above him, the same frog-headed man was there, with a human head in his hand.
Tai Yang said, "Who are you?"
The frog-headed man replied, "Who am I? I should be the one asking who you are. But still, let me introduce myself. I am Buzun, the scientist who wants to destroy this entire kingdom. In my hand, I have something that will help me destroy the three great nations! Hahaha! And I will rule with my queen!"
He blushed.
Tai Yang looked at him and said, "He looks like a weird guy, don't you think?"
Ren replied, "Agreed. He looks very suspicious to me."
Buzun said, "Hey, you two! What are you waffling about?"
Then he said, "Do you think you two kids can mog me?"
Ren replied, "Don't call me a kid. I'm an adult here!"
Buzun said, "Whatever."
He attacked Ren, but Ren dodged the attack.
Tai Yang moved back and said, "He looks strong. But let's see what you've got."
Tai Yang swung his sword and moved extremely fast, attacking Buzun.
Buzun dodged his attacks and said, "Don't tell me that's all you've got!"
Then Buzun started laughing.
The Bear-Headed Human began to grow larger and more violent. It slammed its fist into the air.
Buzun shouted, "Die!"
The entire area began shaking from the force of the attack.
Tai Yang said, "I have to say, they're very strong this time."
The scene shifted to Kurno fighting the Bear-Headed Humans.
Kurno said, "They are very strong."
Vianic replied, "I have to agree. But still, it won't be enough. Our kingdom's knights will be here soon."
Kurno didn't reply. She simply looked at the Bear-Headed Humans.
Her eyes began to glow, and she cut one of them down.
Some of the others attacked her, and she was slightly caught off guard.
Kurno thought, "What? They're stronger than before?"
Kurno said, "Vianic, be aware. Many of them are on their way."
Vianic had a serious expression. "Yes, I get it."
Out of nowhere, someone appeared.
It was Kaizen.
"Well, hi there," Kaizen said.
As they continued fighting, Kurno looked at him.
"Who are you?"
Kaizen smiled.
"Someone who's here to take something."
The scene ends.