Death... and me

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Demon Beast Continent, Phex was standing in front of an enormous cave entrance that shone with faint red light. At this moment, he was in his humanoid form, the same form that the twins saw before.

Phex stood there like a statue as he looked at the cave. Not too long after, three more demon beasts appeared, all in humanoid forms. One of them had wolf-like ears above his head and fur covering most of his body. The second one was bald, had many scales, and had sharp eyes. As for the third and last one, he looked like an old man with a huge turtle shell on his back. One only needed a single look to tell that he was definitely the oldest one in that group.

That group formed the four strongest demon beasts of the world, the Four Divine Demon Beasts. They were the Phoenix, Black Tortoise, Silver Fenrir, and the Basilisk. Of course, Kentucky and Gulan were also Divine Demon Beasts, but they were both in Stage Five and Six, respectively. They didn't have a reason to be here.

Phex then looked at those three before saying, "So you've noticed it as well, uh?" Right after, he asked the Black Tortoise, "Senior Darion, what do you think?"

Darion was obviously the name of the Black Tortoise. He soon responded, "From the looks of it, this hasn't only begun recently. It's just that the reactions were too small for even us to notice. No one is allowed here, so I wonder how long it has been since it started. It has to be at least a few years by now."

The Silver Fenrir then asked, "Senior Darion, Phex mentioned that another Divine Demon Beast has appeared in our world, right? That's great news for us. With that one, we could say that we have seven of them now, including us. Don't you think that perhaps..."

Darion, the Black Tortoise, nodded as he said, "Frin is right. This is the first time we have so many Divine Demon Beasts on our planet. The requirements for the Bestial Sacred Ground might have been fulfilled. No, it's most likely the case. As I mentioned, it has to be a few years since the Bestial Sacred Ground has reacted. That must've coincided with the Minokawa's maturation." A rare tinge of excitement appeared on the tortoise's face as he continued, "To think that it would happen during my time. How many years did I have to wait? I can't even remember anymore."

"Do you think we can use it to break the barrier?" the Basilisk asked, feeling even more excited than Darion.

Phex sighed in response as he said, "It's still too early, Xaon. It doesn't have nearly as enough energy as we would need. Besides, it's not like we can simply activate it, and everything will be over. You also know about the records left behind by our ancestors, right?"

Xaon, obviously the Basilisk's name, narrowed his eyes after hearing that. He soon muttered, "The Sacred Transition...the records don't say anything about how it works, only that we have a path to take."

Frin, the Silver Fenrir, nodded as he said in response, "Exactly. Besides, don't forget the requirements. We need seven Divine Demon Beasts. But look at our current situation. Only the four of us are at Stage Nine. Gulan is still a Stage Six Blue Luan, while the Minokawa we've heard about is even further back, at Stage Five."

Frin continued, "In any case, let's ignore the fact that those two are very weak. We still need the last one, don't we?"

Phex, Darion, and Xaon's expressions turned worse as one of them said, "The World Swallowing Cedar...without him, we won't be able to continue with it."

"Well, at least that cedar is already a Stage Nine Divine Demon Beast...or Plant, for that matter. He should be a lot more helpful...if we find him," Xaon said.

Darion agreed with him, saying, "That's true. Also, there's another piece of good news. All we've found so far is that Celis escaped, and no one knows if he left the planet. However, since the Bestial Sacred Ground activated, that means Celis is still in our world." Darion then looked at Phex and asked him, "Have you told the Minokawa about this place already?"

Phex shook his head, replying, "No. In fact, even my grandchild is oblivious to this place. I told them that no one knows why this planet helps out Divine Demon Beasts. I was planning to tell Gulan once he became at least a Stage Eight Divine Demon Beast."

Darion, Xaon, and Frin didn't find it weird. "You did the right thing. Coming here without having any strength might end up in disaster, after all. It's better to not risk having Gulan get ahead of himself, thinking that he could deal with it. Divine Demon Beasts are too rare, after all."

Xaon couldn't help but ask Darion, "Senior Darion, you're the most experienced between us. Do you know more or less how long it'll take for the Bestial Sacred Grounds to be ready?"

"Hmm..." Darion pondered a bit over the question before answering, "Even at my age, this is the first time I'm seeing it happen, so it's hard to predict. However, I'm sure that it won't be just one or two years. As for the exact time, we'll need to wait and see."

In a certain way, that was convenient for the Divine Demon Beasts. "That's good. We can focus on the war for the time being."

Frin couldn't help but ask, though. "However, what will happen if it does activate? This is the reason why we Divine Demon Beasts can improve much faster all around the world. In fact, it also has some effects on the common demon beasts. Otherwise, the demon beasts would be far behind in strength. I don't think it'll be an isolated event when it activates."

Phex and the others narrowed their eyes after hearing that. Frin was right. There was just too much power in this place, even if it only existed for the demon beasts. Celis alone was able to affect an entire world, so what could this place, which was definitely a lot more dangerous than Celis, do?

In the end, Phex shook his head as he said, "Let's not think about it for now. We'll see when the time comes. After all, there's nothing mentioned about it in the records."