"They're not immortal!" Shioko thundered. During the final seconds, the archer had clenched her fists, trying to hold back her anger. Her nervous words rumbled between the four walls of the cave. "If they were immortal, you wouldn't be able to kill them like that!" she fumed, walking past Enatsu and approaching a few inches from Yoichi's face.

The merchant stepped back, sensing a deep air of tension between his two fellow travellers. Yoichi took a deep breath: he knew that sooner or later, Shioko would stop play dumb, and she would have sought the truth. ??

"Just enough bullshit, okay? Look, I'm not stupid. I realized from the beginning that your Oracle isn't what it looks like!" Shioko ranted in Yoichi's face. "This black mud, your absurd powers, demons that grow in size and become immortal. Something damn weird is going on here, and I'm sick of looking the other way!"

"Okay, okay! Now calm down, Shioko. Let's talk about it" Yoichi stretched his arms forward, slowing down his guildmate's advance. historical

"I can't stay calm! Who the fuck are you? What kind of demon is your Oracle? You better answer my question now, or I..."

"Or you what?" Enatsu's flickering voice interrupted Shioko's threats. The archer hesitated for a moment before being interrupted again. "What are you going to do, kill your guildmate? Are you going to face the boss alone and go back to Goldhaven and say we're both dead in the Blackvault Mines? If you try to touch Yoichi, you're going to have to kill me too!"

Enatsu's reproachful tone had an immediate effect on the mood of the red-haired tamer. Yoichi was also astonished at his words, not believing that Enatsu would defend him wholeheartedly despite knowing that his friend did not tell him everything.

"Yours would not be a very clever move, considering that Yoichi is the only one among us capable of killing demons possessed by the dark mud!" the merchant barked again, grabbing the coat that he had dropped to the ground shortly before.

"I have no intention of killing you. Why should I do such a stupid thing?! Sada-sensei entrusted me with your protection, but he could not have imagined these crazy things happening! I don't know what you're hiding from me, but it's time to spill the beans!" – Shioko looked at Yoichi in disdain, getting closer and closer to his face.

Stopping at a close distance from her for the second time, Yoichi couldn't help but look at some details of Shioko's face. Little freckles ran through her face, from one side of her little nose to the other. Her full lips looked moist and warm, and her green eyes popped up from under her blonde eyebrows, almost invisible on her white skin.

Shioko's uncompromising attitude made Yoichi and Enatsu forget that she was a gorgeous girl, intelligent and skilled in combat. She sensed the hesitation in Yoichi's answer and immediately stepped back, hiding the embarrassment with a grimace.

"Yoichi has nothing to hide! He has no idea what this mud is and why it makes demons immortal! We only came here to look for Hyobe's necklace and..."

"Enatsu" Yoichi interrupted. The merchant stopped talking, growing speechless and staring at his blond-haired friend. "Thank you. You are a true friend. But Shioko's right. Only in part, but she's still right," Yoichi confessed, preparing to tell his teammates what he had discovered a few days before.

"So... what?" Enatsu quaked, falling silent a little at a time. He opened his ears, hoping that his travelling companion's explanation would not undermine everything.

"See? I knew he wasn't talking! Now shut up, merchant. Let's hear what he has to say," Shioko grunted, crossing her arms. Beside her, Kenji walked silently towards its tamer. With a feline jump, it climbed onto his leather pouch.

As the little dragon's crimson red eyes were pointed at Enatsu and Shioko, Yoichi's hand petted its horned head. "I supposedly know the reason why I can summon those flames, but I can't explain the whole thing. The nature of the black mud and its hidden powers are a secret to me too" with those words, Yoichi clarified some concepts before starting.

"It will be enough!" Shioko urged, preceding Enatsu. The merchant's gaze looked worried: the simple idea that his adventure friend had hidden something from him destabilized him.

"It all started when I woke up in Ryutaro's private room, at the top of the Dojo" Yoichi responded, starting from the beginning. By describing to his companions the most salient details and leaving out the most superfluous ones, he told them about Therion's tear and the method by which the old Ryutaro could cultivate his inner power.

He told his comrades about the history of the War between Tentochu and Kamakiri, underlining the crucial role Ryutaro played in the story, and about Gonshiro, the Immortal Emperor of Kamakiri.

When the Nightblades' two tamers learned that the enemy faction's leader had been living for hundreds of years, their faces turned pale. They let their companion finish the story, avoiding interrupting him and reserving the questions until later.

After all the preamble, Yoichi told them about the ancient tome of the Dragon Demons of Lumya, one of the most precious items Ryutaro received as a legacy from Tatsui, the current Emperor of Tentochu's father.

Slowly and gradually, specifying the details of the drawings depicting the mighty Therion, Yoichi tried to indirectly get to the heart of the matter. He tried to make sure that his companions came to the truth on their own, accepting it without forcing things.

"When I dipped my hands in Therion's Tear, touching the bottom of the stone sink with my fingertips, I woke up in the middle of a desert. There was nothing apart from the sand and the sky. It was so hot that I thought my clothes were going to melt on me, but at some point, something happened and I started shivering."

Enatsu and Shioko remained silent, without saying a single word.