Chapter 21: Acting

"GASP! Huff... Huff..."

Jun woke up in a panic, sweating bullets down his face. As he grasped his surroundings, a murderous look filled Jun's eyes.

"REEEENNNN!!!!!!"

*Swoosh* Jun lunged towards Ren, hands reaching for his neck. As Jun got closer and closer, Ren effortlessly side-stepped Jun's attack. *Fwump.* Jun crashed into Ren's sleeping bag, but he quickly got up to stare down Ren with hatred.

"I get why you didn't take the stone yourself, you just didn't want to deal with that demon lady!"

Ren felt immense satisfaction from Jun's actions right now, because someone finally also experienced that hell. Ren smiled a bit sadistically and held Jun down by his head, but Jun took that chance to attack his hand relentlessly. Ren allowed it, as Jun couldn't even scratch his skin.

"Relax Jun, I went through that hellish training with my skill stones too. It happens every time you use one."

Jun looked skeptically at Ren, not believing a single word out of his mouth. However, Jun stopped his attack, seeing that he couldn't harm him no matter what he tried. Seeing that Jun calmed down a bit, Ren let go of Jun, handing him a s'more.

"Alright, alright, I should've warned you. Will this make you forgive me a little?"

Jun looked at the s'more in Ren's hand with saliva building in his mouth, he tried to act tough, but he eventually caved in the face of sweets. As Jun stuffed his face with s'mores, Ren turned his attention back onto Elios.

'King, do you have any idea how he got so strong?'

Ren's eyes were fixated on Elios, watching him act like a completely different person in front of Olivia. King also peeked out, studying Elios with Ren.

'This might be a guess but, he might be affected by the mana snow.'

Ren's eyes widened as he dropped his stick into the fire, he quickly retreated behind a bush to hide his reactions.

'I thought only animals got affected by the mana snow, thats why there weren't any mutant humans.'

Ren sneaked a peek at Elios from behind the tree, trying to see any signs of the mutation on him. King looked at Ren's actions and scoffed, successfully attracting Ren's attention back.

'There were human mutants, they're just rare. Animals only need a mana injection and a subtle suggestion to mutate, humans require a primal demon to take interest.'

Ren had a look of surprise on his face, he's never heard the term "Primal demon" before. Although it was an unfamiliar term, he could deduce what it more or less meant. What he couldn't figure out, was the role of the primal demons.

"Why are the primal demons so special? How come they're the only ones mutating humans?"

As more and more questions arose inside Ren, King quickly stepped in to stop the question train.

'The primal demons are the ones behind the collapse.'

*Fwump* Ren's legs gave way, causing him to fall on his ass. He had a blank look on his face, staring absentmindedly at King. Ren finally found a clue behind the disaster that ended humanity, flooding his heart with excitement and fear.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner??!"

King looked at the agitated Ren, who had a strange glint in his eyes.

'I didn't tell you because it's impossible to kill those beings, they are like gods.'

King knew why Ren was excited, which is precisely why he had to snip this idea in the bud. While Ren wanted to save humanity from his 5 years of solitude, King wanted to live.

'Don't even think about it, you might be able to beat Elios, who's a vassal. But the real demon who lends the power is on a different level.'

King's warning fell on deaf ears, as Ren was internally coming up with a strategy to kill the primal demons. However, a small issue arose. Where were the primal demons? Ren couldn't ask King, because he definitely wont tell him even if he knew. So this left Ren with only one choice, using Elios to find his primal demon.

Ren sighed, depressed at his lack of choices. He knew he had to keep Elios around for a bit longer, long enough for Ren to gain the power to beat him. Ren stood up, a determined look was on his face.