So Who's Next?!

Seeing Qi's ashes start to drift away, both Adrian's and Zero's minds were instantly flooded with flashbacks of their previous companions.

Adrian was forced to once again relive watching his friends be incinerated by the Monster Lord and his subordinates, while Zero watched as his tribe and family were slaughtered in front of his eyes.

In an instant, both of them had the same thought directed at two very different entities, 'He's back!'

Without confirmation or hesitation, while ignoring their weakened state, they both used their abilities to their maximum.

Zero performed hundreds of thousands of hand seals while his real bloodline ability, Immortal's Symphony, activated, distorting the true realm as shadows consumed the sky, looking for the culprit.

On the other hand, Adrian subconsciously overclocked his Authority over time as a teal-blue river of time appeared around him as an insane thought appeared in his mind, 'TURN BACK!'

Just as his hand was about to alter the course of history, the ashes that had blown with the wind caught flame once more, flying back together reforming into a flaming egg.

This one change in their environment caused both Adrian and Zero to falter in their actions under the intense heat that appeared around them.

Scared for the rest of their loved ones, Adrian and Zero grabbed them, jumping from the temple as what seemed like the core of a star was contained in that egg.

Luckily Bemo caught on to the situation, grabbing Sakura, who was over twice his height, nearly teleporting away from the heat.

As Adrian jumped from the temple carrying Fue, he shouted, "Dee! Sword!"

Dee, who was being carried by Zero, instantly jumped from his arms towards Adrian, transforming into his sword-form mid-air.

Catching him, Adrian wrapped Fue under his arm as he slashed out, cutting the heat wave that blasted across the sky, clearing the air for them to get down the steps.

Just as they landed on a fairly open platform, about a hundred steps below the peak, a giant phoenix overtook the sky, releasing an ear-piercing caw.

And within seconds, a crown of infernal flame formed above its head as a shroud of seven oddly familiar colored flames.

They reminded them of the flames that went into Fue!+

However, not even fifteen seconds later, the apparition was absorbed into the egg as it cracked open.

It was at this time, Zero, whose senses were still connected to the shadows, realized that neither the noble nor the Monster Lord were there.

Further cementing that fact was when the egg hatched, a miniature version of Qi stepped out before rapidly growing while absorbing the heat around her back into her original form, except now she had a small white crown affixed to her head.

But shortly after the transformation occurred, Qi fell on the metallic floor unconscious.

Thankfully Zero was the one who saw this, understanding the situation as he had experienced it himself not long ago, then quickly thereafter saw Fue undergo the same type of transformation.

Though he was left with one question as to why they had spectacles while he had to live through the pain! Or did they also relive their past lives?

Shocking everyone on the platform, Zero spoke up, trying to explain the situation, "We overreacted. Those flames couldn't have hurt us or even her to begin with; they couldn't even stop shadows from existing under them."

After taking a breath, as his hoarse voice caused his throat pain, he continued, "It seems like Qi… became some type of phoenix? Fire bird? I don't quite know, but she looks fine…"

Trying to explain what had happened to those who hadn't experienced something similar, especially as he chose not to reveal what he went through to not cause worry, proved to be his biggest challenge.

Skeptically everyone expressed their opinions without care of talking over one another until Zero finally managed to convince them to walk back to the peak.

Upon arriving, they all bore witness to the truth.

And much to their relief, as it turns out, much like Fue, Qi underwent an impromptu evolution, utilizing similar ungodly coincidences.

The first was what allowed her to pull this stunt in the first place, her past knowledge and techniques.

Secondly, the path principles and energy from last night still lingered on her body and mind.

Followed by the last, but most important and impactful, of these coincidences was the heat of her babies' flame, activating her bloodline to its fullest.

Once he felt confident that nothing would harm him, Sakura, or his children, he let down Dee to play.

Zero was more than capable of protecting himself,

Snapping his fingers, Zero created another set of smaller beds, fit for the children, and one larger nest-like bed, big enough for them all to fit on.

After talking so much, Zero was forced to cough out, "Just sea, chufh… set them oun, cuhu. By god!"

Frustrated, Zero tried to stroke his non-existent beard before pointing at the beds and mouthing the word "Lay."

Picking up Qi, Adrian gently carried the two troublemakers, from what he heard, onto the larger bed as they refused to let go of his clothes with their claws unless they held something.

It just so happened that they were both more than ok with holding each other.

Sighing, Adrian walked over to Zero while pretending Sakura, who waved him down, didn't exist after their previous conversation.

Bemo and Dee, on the other hand, worriedly and gently climbed onto the large cloud-like bed snuggling with Qi and Fue as if it was their job to keep them comfy and warm.

With no one paying attention to her, Sakura sulked in a corner as the Lover's Bond started to leak past the pink light, making her feel an intense need for attention from Adrian.

Fortunately, for now, her new impulses, chemical imbalances, and hormones were manageable, thanks to the pink light's emotional calming effect.

Unfortunately, she would suffer from frequent mood swings and the physical effects until she adjusts and, umm, she and Adrian fix their current "fixations."

But that's a problem for another day!

Back to Adrian and Zero's conversation...

Zero was off to the side, humming a soft tune as he tried to fix the problems in his body by cultivating the Demonic Shadow Melody Art, with major improvements after having experienced the wonders that Mythos brings.

Just as he pulled the first wisp of spiritual energy into his through, healing it, he noticed Adrian walk over.

Having seen Adrian ignore Sakura, Zero stared at him as Adrian grabbed his arm, ushering him outside.

Being clueless about matters related to romance, Zero asked, "Why did you ignore your chosen mate? WAIT! I didn't mean… Stupid demonic thinking, sorry. This elder still can't remember common sense for humans."

Hearing Zero's voice and words, he stopped dead in his tracks.

Unlike his previous deep and raspy voice when Zero spoke now, it was still deep, but it sounded smooth and almost sensual, making Adrian's already sensitive ears numb.

Less shocking but still earth-shattering to him was that Zero had slipped, that his thinking had become demonic and that he had forgotten common sense!

From the moment he woke up, Adrian had been assaulted by shock after shock, like the straw that broke the camel's back.

This new information caused him to blurt out, "HOW LONG WAS I ASLEEP?! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN BY DEMONIC THINKING?! @%$#%!"