"For what?" Chyuuichi asked.

"C-Calling you all those things. They were awful."

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry! I've been called way worse, I think!" Chyuuichi patted Jyuzou's hair, chortling.

"You're not mad at me?"

"I don't even remember most of the things ya said!" Chyuuichi smiled. "At the same time, I don't think I get it either. Why would ya want to be angry?"

Jyuzou put his hands together.

"We're all future Demonears, eh? Without a solid group, what are we, just some little humans wandering around this huge world, asking more questions than receiving answers? That especially applies to me!" Chyuuichi stated. "Ya wouldn't want to be alone, would ya, Jyuso? It'd get boring!"

"I guess so?" Jyuzou scratched his face. "...and it's Jyuzou."

"Alright, Jyuso, and I'm serious here! Those plants will never satisfy yer hunger. Of course, except for the ones that ya can eat." Chyuuichi signalled. "Ya can't find substitutes for loneliness. Ya need people,"

Jyuzou opened his mouth.

Of course, the best thing to counter his argument was mentioning the fact that, unlike the others, he wasn't going to take part in the exam. However, the morian seemed to hesitate, as if there really was nothing to go against in Chyuuichi's simple and effective words.

"I always surround myself with people, and I don't even realise it! Maybe it comes down to whether I remember how I found myself there in the first place, but whatever, ya know? Who cares about all that? We're not demons, that's what it is!"

From time to time, the morian glanced at the water, then back at the mirillian. "What would-" he spoke "-never mind."

"No, no, tell me, Jyuso." Chyuuichi signalled him to keep going.

"It's nothing." Jyuzou turned around.

The boat started shaking.

"Steady control, Morio," Atomu explained, signalling with his hand.

"You're the one swinging the oars around like a horse's tail!" Morio added.

On rare occasions, Metho seeds would fall into the animals' tails and get stuck in the hair. When morians stepped down from their horses, they shook their tails around, expecting some reward.

Atomu squinted. "I'm not doing anything."

Morio turned, holding the oars in one place. His eyes widened. "Firstly, why aren't you rowing?"

"There is a small current. Can't you feel it?" Atomu pointed.

"It's taking us backwards!" Morio replied. "Jyuzou!" he yelled into the mist.

"YEAH?" Jyuzou raised his voice.

"Is your boat shaking?!"

"NO!"

Morio stopped rowing, putting the oars up. The boat trembled, with each swing causing it to move a little faster,

"Whoa.." Atomu held onto the sides of the boat, panicking.

Morio immediately stood up, glancing around.

"Get down, Morio!" he shouted.

"Shh! Shh!" he shushed him, looking down.

The boat halted as small bubbles appeared in the water, but after a while, they faded with the fog. Morio gulped, sitting down.

Atomu blinked twice, expecting answers.

"I think a few fish swam by the boat," Morio replied.

"Really?" Atomu raised a brow.

"That's weird. Fish aren't usually this high up in the waters unless it's icy. They're very wary of anyone swimming through." Jyuzou's boat approached theirs.

"Unless they're running from something!" Morio raised a finger.

"Guys, I don't like this," Atomu announced. "Please stop assuming the worst things, every single time, because they usually end up happening,"

"Fish can't run, and if something is trying to attack us, it's better to know earlier," Jyuzou stated.

"Why would denying the inevitable make it any better?" Atomu looked terrified.

"No." Jyuzou raised his voice. "We'll know if there's a way to prevent that!"

"Then why are we just standing in the water?" Atomu asked, pointing. "Start rowing so we can get away from this monster!"

"Who told you there is a monster?" Morio looked at him, snickering.

Chyuuichi curiously peeked out from the boat and put his head into the water.

"Start rowing!" Atomu put both oars into his hands and started flapping against the water.

"Oh, Shin!" Jyuzou put his hand on his nose. "You call yourself a leader?"

"I'm not the leader, damn it! It's he who made all that up!" he pointed to the mirillian. "C-Chyuuichi?"

Chyuuichi turned to the others. Water dripped down from his lips and wet hair, and with an awkward smile, he announced. "There's a big whale below us."

"Whale? In a lake?" Jyuzou chuckled. "Please, Chyuuichi, it must be-"

Out of the blue, Morio and Atomu's boat was sent flying, with a massive spear-like attack. When the liquids shifted, a grey body was revealed, with a shining eye, clearing the mist around the lake.

It bellowed sharply, before locking eyes with Jyuzou.

"M-MORIO! ATOMU!"

When the creature fell onto the water's edge, it bounced off Jyuzou's and Chyuuichi's boat, flipping it upside down. Morio fell onto the whale and grabbed a massive fin growing on its back.

"No, no!" Atomu dropped onto its slippery body before grabbing Morio's leg and grinding its teeth.

 Morio closed one eye, trying to climb further.

"DON'T MOVE, I'LL FALL!" Atomu screamed in fear. Morio forcefully put his foot up, in a mild panic, yet he tried to think of any coherent solution.

He breathed in and out, heavily.

"MORIO!" The paladian screamed before letting go of his foot. He landed on a dent, as water shot him out into the sky again. Morio's body turned, but he kept holding on. Atomu's eyes shrank in awe.

"You bastard!" Chyuuichi yelled, taking out a rope from his pants and throwing it towards the whale. It wrapped itself around a sharp spike on its head, and he smiled before letting go.

He punched the whale in its face.

"Ah." Chyuuichi fell into the water.

The whale groaned, angered, as the spike grew in size, changing into something resembling a tentacle. As it tried grabbing Morio, it hit its own body, piercing through an open hole, reaching out from the other side, and heading straight towards the paladian. With a tight grasp, it strangled Atomu, while Morio managed to take a stand on the fin, shocked.

The whale looked up, opening its mouth.

"MORIO! DO SOMETHING!" Chyuuichi screamed out.

Morio shook his head before reaching into his sheath. With a clenched jaw and Victis in both hands, he stabbed the whale's body, much to no avail. Little drops of blood splattered on his cloak, and yet another long tentacle appeared, grabbing Chyuuichi's body. He screamed, matching Atomu's yells. The morian desperately held onto the fin, sinking his feet into the whale's body.

Morio looked around, breathing in. He tried to spot Jyuzou around the waters but was unable to find anything. He looked up at the paladian and mirillian, trapped in the whale's tight grasp. He gulped.

"Dark deformities." Bancho pointed to a small knife he held in his hand. "They're normal animals, unfortunately, corrupted by a demon's touch. They lose all their beneficial characteristics, and much like demons, turn into something controlled by a primal desire to kill anything on sight. They won't go back to how they once were."

The tentacles started retracting into the whale's spiky body, and Atomu struggled, shaking around.

"We're about to be eaten!" Chyuuichi announced.

"Morio! " Atomu continued yelling. "Do something, please!"

"All dark deformities have a weak spot after all," he inched closer, raising a curious finger. "The jest is, search for a dark red, pulsating spot somewhere in its body. The owl has one on its back."

Morio eyed the same point inside the jaw, attached to the ceiling of its mouth. He breathed heavily and then yelled out in a fit of vigour.

Without further hesitation, he jumped in.

Atomu's eyes widened, and with a loud sound, the tentacles let go of both, who started falling into the same mouth. When they were about to meet its sharp, big rows of teeth or a tongue that seemed to venture towards swallowing them whole...

...the whale closed its mouth.

The two bounced off its teeth, holding onto any fin at the side.

"M-Morio?" Atomu asked weakly.

Chyuuichi put his hands together, gulping.

Out of the blue, the whale's body flipped to the side.

A fountain of blood streamed out of the top of its body, and when the two squinted, they made out the shape of a stone sword, dancing against the crimson.

Crashing into the boat, Atomu turned to the body instantly. Chyuuichi swam out, which was followed by the whale's groan, and a figure lifting a sword inside its massive mouth. A proud smile could be seen on the morian's face, and when the eye met his determined glance, the colour seemed to fade away.

Before the jaws could close, the morian leapt into the water, only to be met with another groan, signifying its defeat.

Morio breathed in and out, heavily.

"I killed it! I killed the monster!" he yelled joyously, turning to Atomu.

"Oh, my!" Atomu put his hand on his face. "Morio, don't ever do something like that again!"

Morio chuckled before swimming up to the boat and climbing right on.

Atomu took out clothes, which, somehow, much like the other bags and equipment, didn't sink with the other boat. He stuffed some of it in Morio's hands, as the morian threw it over his head.

"I thought you were a goner for a moment there."

"Sorry, sorry!" Morio grinned. "There was no other way around it, though!"

"Oi, team!" Chyuuichi raised his voice. "Where is Jyuso?" he asked, and the two glanced, right as a few bubbles appeared out from below the water's thin surface.

Their eyes widened, and the mirillian leapt in without hesitation.

Jyuzou struggled underwater. The moon's light grew distant, and with each second that passed, his body headed into the lake's depths. He tried screaming out, but his voice was drowned out. His vision got blurry, and he closed his eyes, almost giving up.

...and when all hope was seemingly lost, something touched his hand. In a snap, he drifted out from the depths.

The mirillian quickly put the morian's body atop the boat, as he coughed some of the water out. Chyuuichi breathed heavily, holding onto the edge, and glanced at Jyuzou, who turned his head.

Atomu sighed, pushing onto his heart. Morio raised his hands, and Chyuuichi shook his wet head around.

"Man, did ya give me a fright!" he yelled out. "I'm not a good swimmer either, but ya ought to tell the others you can't do that at all!" he climbed the boat as well, sitting atop. "Guess ya could say that seals the deal!"

"What d-deal?" Jyuzou asked.

"Ya've got debt in me now! Next time I need to be saved, ya better haul right over and swim, even if ya can't!" he laughed.

Jyuzou clenched his fists, wanting to add something. In a snap, though, he gave up. Morio and Atomu moved over, and Jyuzou breathed out, turning to the night lights.

They were still there.

"T-The boat's flipped over," he eventually muttered.

"Our bags are all here!" Morio added, raising both. One almost tumbled in before the tired paladian caught its end.

"What about your armour?" The glassy-eyed turned to Chyuuichi, scratching his head.

"Oh, damn it!" Chyuuichi slapped his knee. "I'll be cold now."

"You're already wet." Jyuzou pointed.

"I'll be even colder!" Chyuuichi raised his voice before glancing down. Jyuzou grabbed his hand.

"D-Don't, okay?" he smiled. "We'll find some in M-Magna."

Chyuuichi sighed. "Right after we get ya new boots as well!"

"Who's gonna pay for that?" Atomu raised his concerned voice.

Both morian and mirillian chuckled, as Morio joined in as well. Then, the white-haired turned back to the paladian, seemingly fighting the earlier exhaustion. All was well for now, even though there was still quite a road ahead. That being said, Morio spotted a wound going right across Atomu's face.

"You're bleeding," he pointed.

"Ah, it's nothing." Atomu shook his head, wiping the blood on the boat's side. "I'll get that checked out in Magna."

"You were shocked when I jumped into that whale's mouth, but your own wounds don't seem to matter?"

"It was a much bigger sacrifice! Don't do something as reckless as that again, Morio!"

"I'm just saying!" he put both hands up. "I'll keep getting back up, and that extends to everyone here. A small wound could be the start of something bad if not cured fast enough. Jyuzou, you got more of those rossas herbs?"

"I think so?" Jyuzou turned, blinking a few times. "How's your palm, Atomu?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore," he quickly answered, stuffing his hand into a pocket. "...and as I said, we've got bigger fish to fry here."

"We're gonna eat the whale?" Chyuuichi asked, and Morio's eyes lit up.

"That was..." Atomu sighed, and Jyuzou considered the mirillian's words for a few seconds. "I meant, your life isn't worth sacrificing, Morio." Atomu shook his head. "You can always count on us."

"I'm strong, aren't I?" he asked.

"Yes, obviously," Atomu added, and Chyuuichi raised his fist.

"You lot won't be there forever, though." he shook his head.

"For now, don't be afraid to ask for help," Atomu explained. "That's what I mean. I know there wasn't much time to think things through now, but... let it be s-some warning for the future, okay?"

The four glanced at each other before at least a lukewarm smile appeared on each face.

"Of course...!" Morio gave him a thumbs-up, sticking his tongue out.

Jyuzou breathed out before staring forward. "The fog's cleared."