Subduing Red Sun and Moraine - the origin of Blue Wind's shocking power!

Just as Kai was reflecting on the matter of the Deep Ones, a notification appeared.

[

Contestant Kai Stormborn, your 3-days Time Limit in the Switched World will end in 7 minutes

An amount of 100 MC will be deducted per second for 1 minute after that. Then, the rate of deduction will double with every next minute spent in the Switched World

When all your Missions Credits run out, you will be thrown out of the Random World

]

Kai's eyes shone gray under the incorporeal light of the notification.

Yet, he didn't hurry. Not now.

Cersei was right, he knew. Kai must not go back without doing something about Robin and Moraine.

These two weren't like Item-M, a fallen Hastur's Priestess from the 13th floor. All she needed was hope in those times. What else could be the biggest hope other than a myth coming alive?

Glitch!

It was Glitch that had swayed her heart. Nothing else.

Only later had she come to know what kind of existence Kai was, even if he was not to have the assistance of Glitch. But that was a different matter altogether.

Item-S was a special case in herself, to say the least.

Contestants like Red Sun and Blue Wind weren't someone who would agree to their enslavement, Kai knew. A different Will was needed for one to arrive at their levels, to gain the level of their strength. They would rather die than let Kai force them under an enslavement oath.

Not to mention, Kai had already decided against revealing the matter of Glitch to anyone. No matter the circumstances.

But Kai also knew he couldn't just let them go when he had the means to do something about it.

-How much longer can you last?- Kai hissed, his breath colder than ever.

The Reality Marble had all but gone. One couldn't even see the blood ocean anymore. Nor could they see the starlit night. The gray pillar had vanished, along with the hole in the sky.

Only the faintest touch of red remained, the lightest smell of blood.

A shadow of Kai's monstrous Spiritual Awakening was still lingering in Reality; a result of the illogical and incomprehensible connection between two Primordial Laws.

The four Dementors seemed to howl in response to his voice, but it wasn't them to whom Kai had asked that question.

-Keke!- Ayin, the Sword Spirit, cackled, coming to hover to his right. -A few minutes, perhaps.-

Kai felt her dwindling presence but said nothing. -Do it, then,- he hissed after a few seconds.

The Sword Spirit was already almost one with him and didn't need to hear his words to know his intention.

Cackling, the yellow-haired being disappeared.

Kai tightened his grip around Cersei's waist and flew toward the black, dead ground at the same time.

On the ground, Red Sun, missing his right arm and amber-colored glasses, had already gone incredibly silent a while ago. He had regained his original appearance; red short hair, wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts, his muscular figure standing against his child-like get-up.

How to make sense of what he had just seen?

How could he, with all his intelligence, believe his eyes in which four foul beings were getting reflected, flying in and out of a cloud of fog?

Red Sun knew no answers. But… the cold that bit into him, the cold of despair, felt so real.

And the moment the top-level 9th-floor Contestant saw that icy fog descending toward him, Red Sun's teeth clattered.

His memories were all he had…

He lived because of the hope in his heart. He fought and killed for it as well.

The reason for him belittling himself in front of others, making them call him a lickspittle, was also this hope.

Red Sun had never believed that anything could scare him.

Yet, as he saw four Dementors swirling around a blurry figure, a true feeling of dread imbued itself in his heart.

Bang!

Suddenly, a pressure fell over him, planting him into the earth with his face upward. He had already lost too much HP, MP, and even SP for him to fight against Dementors. Much less needed to be said about this pressure that felt like a mountain pressing over his chest.

He wasn't the only one, though.

A woman in tattered clothes had appeared to his left. She was lying just like him with her face upward, her eyes regarding the blackness of Inheritance Land and the Sword Spirit's pressure flattening her full breasts.

How was she even alive? No one knew.

Endless cold and despair pelted over them like raindrops amongst a downpour. Both Red Sun and Moraine's figures shuddered, their eyes losing focus, as the four Dementors pounced over them, sucking out their happiness.

The sound of their breath rattling together shattered all hopes.

They were the foulest and vilest beings that walked the earth, the impure forces. Not even 9th-floor Contestants stood a chance to keep a hold over their senses against them without using Skills and Items of positive forces.

"Enough," Kai's voice tore through the coldness like a frozen blade. "Get away from them."

The four Dementors returned and swirled around him, creating even more icy fog.

The very sight of Kai coming toward them, commanding the four Dementors, could force all knees to bend.

Dementor-Kai canceled his transformation, returning to his original appearance. His long, white hair tumbled down to his waist, and his hazel eyes glistened with a never-known sinisterness.

Kai sauntered toward the two Contestants, holding a beauty in his left arm. He put one foot over Red Sun's chest and pressed it down. His gaze, though, fell on Moraine's face.

A touch of his bloodlust seeped out of his eyes, filled with blade-like iciness. Four Dementors hovered behind him like sentries, their long, black cloaks rippling without wind, noiselessly.

"Give me a reason…" Kai's whisper boomed in their ears. "… one reason to not kill you two." He had not expected an answer without forcing them against a cliff. But an answer did enter his ears just as he demanded of it.

"One?" Red Sun almost shouted, his face pale. "I can give you two. No. Three. I can give you four reasons, my lord. A total of five!"

Kai frowned inwardly. Item-M had mentioned once to him about Red Sun's infamous fawning personality. But even he had never assumed that such a ridiculously powerful Contestant would grovel at the merest hint of threat.

Seeing this dark being's silence, Red Sun licked his lips and blurted, "I am almost a 10th-floor Contestant. I have an organization at my disposal. You can act as the hidden leader for all I care, my lord. Not to mention, I have many contacts. They aren't reliable, true enough. But I know how to have my own way through them as well. You can ask anyone. Oi! Big breasts, tell him."

Kai was indeed tempted by all this, but he also knew Red Sun hadn't told him everything. Then there was a doubt in his heart that Robin had recognized him somehow, but had mentioned nothing of that meeting.

There was something truly odd about that.

Red Sun's heart shuddered, getting no response. He had indeed decided against bringing Contestant Shadow Origin into the conversation. Who knew if this was a test as well? Who knew if they had set their eyes on him, and this was nothing but a way to see his sincerity?

No. He could not and must not lose his ticket to the 18th floor.

This was his opportunity. The only one.

"I…" Red Sun stuttered, gritting his teeth. "I have two Multiverse IDs, my lord. I swear on my famous and real name, Robin the Swindler, that I will serve you to the end. Please become my Liege Lord, Blood… I mean, my lord."

Under the hood, the corner of Kai's mouth twitched ruefully. 'So he had recognized me? What's wrong with him, anyway? Hmm, 2 Multiverse IDs.'

Yet, it was the sight of Digimon that kept resurfacing in his mind the most.

Kai then shifted his gaze toward Moraine, her elegant gaze going beyond him, but unable to look through the cold fog around them.

It seemed as if… she had already accepted her fate.

"I… have nothing to give to you," Moraine breathed out, her voice lost.

"Hehe!" Red Sun suddenly laughed mischievously. "Big breasts is lying, my liege. She's quite famous even among 4th-Set's Contestants. Blue Wind, Moraine the Elegant, a Contestant with Blessing from the Temple of Amon-Gorloth. And it's not some simple Blessing, I heard. It's the one related to the Grim Butterfly; a terrifying existence.

"Then there's the rumor of her being favored by the Avengers. I don't know the exact details about that. All this is nothing compared to her sword skills, though. It's rumored that Blue Wind became the successor of Hysteria the Elegant from the Claymore Random World in her Initiation Mission, and inherited the most beautiful technique of all, the Elegance.

"I also heard that the High Priest of the Temple took a liking to her. When she refused his advances, he sealed a demonic entity in her heart out of spite. Otherwise, she was the most widely known Candidate to reach the top 10 ranks in this ToW. And if I am not wrong, I saw her using the Nexus' Helmet of Fate. That's a Rare-grade Item!"

Kai's mouth was almost hung open, and even Moraine's eyes had widened, knowing not what to say.

"You…" Kai said, losing his frozen composure, "… seemed to have heard a lot."

No matter what Robin told him, Kai had already noticed how masterfully Robin avoided mentioning his own powers. This kind of man was a double-edged sword, with each edge sharper than the other.

Red Sun fought against the pressure pinning him down and slammed his chest. "You see then, my lord," he proclaimed, blood seeping out from the corner of his mouth. "I can be quite useful in your Party. AND you must not believe any rumor about me circulating in the Primordial Tower.

"You might hear that I bring disaster upon my Party Members. You might hear that I am the biggest black spot in the name of top-level 9th-floor Contestants. Also, you might hear that I like little boys… Not true. Absolutely bullshit! I like girls, especially with round asses and big breasts. I swear upon Chaos."

Kai: "…"

Moraine: "…"

Cersei: "…"

Ayin: "…"

"Haha!" Kai suddenly laughed, making the Dementors howl along with him with rattling breaths. "Very well. Serve me, and you shall know what it means to have true Power. Show them."

Kai suddenly let go of Cersei. Her entire figure glided up, coming to rest a few feet above all. Even the Dementors flew around her as if they didn't affect her at all.

This sight was alone enough for Red Sun and Moraine to tell that she was no ordinary Contestant. They hadn't forgotten that Kai had returned to the island for no one but her and her alone, either.

For them to think so was the only reason that Kai hadn't put her back into the Book.

There was one more reason.

The time had arrived to bring down a horrifying shock over these Contestants, imprinting it on their very souls.

Boom!