Crystal Clear

'I can sense where Kaito's mother is. She's at the center of the castle, on the top floor.' Rem thought, deactivating her detection skill.

She heightened her senses and stealthily went towards her destination as Kaito followed quietly.

...

Rem and Kaito are now on the highest floor of the castle. The highest floor is the third floor. Each floor is humongous, just like what anyone would have expected it to be.

Rem looked around her surroundings warily.

'How odd... How come there's nobody around? There were so many demons on the lower floors.' She walked towards the center of the castle slowly.

Although Rem was suspicious of this, she shoved that thought away. As long as they weren't busted, rescuing Kaito's mother would be an easy task.

Kaito was suspicious as well due to him not being able to sense any more demons on this floor.

'We're finally here.' Rem stopped near a large, luxurious-looking door.

She opened the door, and the first person she saw was indeed Kaito's mother. However, what she saw was quite unexpected.

'What in the world is this...?'

When Kaito saw the scene before him, his eyes widened from shock.

"Mother!" He ran towards his mother, who's inside a blue yet clear crystal.

'What happened to her?' Rem wondered, staring at the huge crystal lying on the double bed before her.

The crystal was not only large and blue, it was extremely clear, almost like a diamond.

Rem didn't want to test how strong the crystal was. She didn't want to risk hurting Kaito's mother in the process of testing something out for her curiosity.

The room was oddly cold. Rem could feel how cold it was even when she's in her beastman form.

"She's still alive. We'll figure something out later. We need to take her to a safe place first." Rem exclaimed.

Kaito nodded, his body shivering from the cold and the shock. He was relieved to hear that his mother was alive. At that moment, he was shocked and anxious. After Rem spoke, he got back together, and instead, he felt outraged by what the demons did to his mother.

Rem lifted the crystal and tried to get rid of the aura it's emitting.

'I can't hide this crystal's presence!' Rem felt troubled.

"What's the matter?" Kaito asked, looking at Rem worriedly.

He was worried about many things. Mostly though, he was worried about his mother right now.

"I can't hide her. If we try to escape while bringing her with us, the demons would find out that your mother has gone missing if they suddenly can't feel her presence." Rem claimed.

"Then what should we do???" Kaito started to panic.

'Should we just make a run for it? No, that's too reckless. I can't hide her presence though. Hmmm...' Rem crossed her arms as she tried to find a solution to this problem.

'I think I know one way, but, that way is risky...!'

Before Rem could say anything, Kaito spoke first in a desperate tone.

"Please, Rem. All I want is to save my mother. I know, I'm selfish. Even if it means giving up on Arka City or sacrificing myself, I'll—"

"Stop saying that you'll sacrifice yourself. I know how to get you and your mother here out of this castle. Can I trust you on this?" Rem asked, cutting Kaito off.

"Yes, you can," Kaito said seriously.

"Alright, so here's the plan..." Rem began to tell Kaito about her risky plan.

...

After explaining her plan to Kaito, Kaito shook his head in disagreement.

"No, Rem. I won't leave you here by yourself! How can you simply replace my mother and put yourself in danger like that??!" Kaito argued.

'I just have to mimick her aura. Finally, this skill that I thought was useless is coming in handy!'

"I have my ways." Rem bluntly said.

She didn't want to let Kaito stay here for too long. Not to mention the fact that her mana is going pretty low.

"What if that doesn't work...?" Kaito questioned, sounding sincerely worried.

"It's okay. I have another plan if the first one fails. I need you to do as I told you to, got it?"

"I... I understand." Kaito reluctantly answered.

"I already hid your presence. Now, go. We can't waste any more time." Rem made a shooing gesture.

She watched Kaito leave, using the way they got here from.

'Let's play the waiting game...' Rem thought, laying on the freezing cold bed.

...

The demons could sense Kaito's mother's presence everywhere. They were confused. Almost everyone began to talk to each other about what's happening.

"What the hell is happening??!" One of the demons guarding the castle shouted in confusion.

"You guys over there! Should we notify the higher-ups!?" A demon suggested as he ran towards the other demon guards near the main entrance of the castle.

Many demons soon gathered there, discussing this weird event.

"No, I think we should find out about this ourselves." Another demon said.

"I agree. We may get rewarded if we solve this mystery!" A demon chimed in with a bright face.

"Wouldn't we be breaking the rules if we—" The demon who suggested notifying the higher-ups stated, but he was cut off by the bright demon halfway when he was speaking.

"Stop being like that! C'mon, let's go!!!" The bright demon said enthusiastically.

"I'll tell the other demons. We'll search the area around the castle and notify the demons who're on patrol to be on high alert." The demon who first suggested solving this mystery themselves said like a responsible leader.

"Okie dokie!" The bright demon gave the other demons a thumbs up and skipped towards the center of the castle.

"Fine! I won't notify the higher-ups. However, if we can't solve this mystery in a day, I'll notify them myself." The only demon who disagreed with all the other demons said loudly.

Nobody listened to that demon since they all went their ways to try and solve this mystery. Every demon here is greedy. Who wouldn't want an opportunity to rise up in the ranks?