Rey, like saying good morning to someone who had slept a pleasant night, said, "Oh, you're awake at last." Taking a breath, he looked around as if enjoying the scenery, to add, "I have kept my promise. If you use your power, you can break through this stop and get to where you wish..."

Edith was being held by a single hand, her feet dangled in the air, and she felt the strong, firm embrace of someone smaller than her. Lifting her gaze, she also noticed Rey's transformed hand wedged within the solidity of the platform. She also saw the wings still burning like glowing coal embers and the pale face of White, who, despite having his mouth open and tongue out, was breathing evenly.

"Are you out of your mind!!! What if this isn't Tartarus?" she asked tearfully.

"No, oh, oh oh oh... Don't play with me Edith." The grip on the ceiling loosened a little. "It's not like I'm staying long. This is the only chance I can give you as a friend. Face your problems and take responsibility for the consequences, it's the only way. It's better than wandering around lost. Looking into your eyes, I reflect back at you. You made me realize that the only way out is to go through the situation I was trying to escape." The grip loosened a little.

Edith, with tears in her eyes and denying, said, "I don't want a friend..." She paused and hid her gaze. "To fulfill my purpose and hold me accountable afterwards, I need us to be something more..."

Rey, almost unsurprised, said, "Umm, that is something I may take into consideration in the future. But for now, this must be goodbye between the two of us."

Edith asked worriedly, "With those wings, will you be able to survive the fall?"

"Will I be able to survive the fall?" He flashed a haughty, wide, confident smile of someone even more arrogant. "Are not our strings intertwined? Is not your name Edith Laquesis? Have more faith in yourself and don't make me laugh anymore. Our life has many more options than those shown to us by simple strings; we need to see them and have the power to take them..."

"But, but..."

"Edith, I wish you well..." interrupted Rey.

The sound of the grabbing and the crumbling of the stones in the area he used to hold on took place. The three little ones fell into the void; however, using his hands, Rey threw the Parcae's body as hard as he could, forcing her to make herself non-tangible, if she didn't want to crash into the stones.

Edith, with her saddened eyes, stopped seeing the little one without a surname and the whole red environment. Crossing the Earth, all was darkness. She could remain intangible and fall back down, but she would waste the precious opportunity someone had given her through his sacrifice.

"No," she answered.

Emerging above the surface of Tartarus, she wiped her blurry eyes to make out more than a dozen figures wearing long black robes with silver buttons and gold ropes. Tall and imposing, endowed with slight curves that only the female body had, with black hands, they covered their faces with hoods. They, who could be perfectly distinguished by their dead eyes, said the following words: "Oh, little one. We have been waiting for your arrival. Come on, you're late for your ancient language class," as if nothing had happened.

Edith stopped floating, fell to the ground and, with her eyes twisted and her fists clenched, followed the guides with the airs of rigorous instructors, with whom she was well acquainted. The Parcae knew they were strict because, no matter how much she learned or how much she demonstrated her talents, none of them ever gave her a smile or a nod of approval. But something struck her as odd, for every time she made a mistake, she received a stern reprimand. More than a hundred times she had had to go to sleep after a good thrashing. "Won't I be punished even though I escaped?" she wondered. "Why were they waiting for me in this exact place? Was this among their plans?" Questions that never escaped her lips, for, if they had, perhaps they would interpret it as wanting to receive punishment.

...

On the other hand, Rey, hugging White against his chest and shrinking into a ball, descended as far as he had climbed until with his barrier he impacted against the almost solid surface of a drying lake. The violent impact caused the sphere to crack on all sides and partly deformed its original structure. On the other hand, the ground, overflowing with bodies in pain, boiled blood, filthy mud, and sullen sludge, almost exploded into a thousand pieces as if it had been a bomb. Heart-rending screams and cries of grief, and anger were heard all over the place.

Both White and the little boy survived because the defensive barrier had withstood the blow, but that did not mean that the creator had remained unharmed. The barrier had cracked just as an egg did when it fell to the ground and fortunately did not split in two. As his core was related to the heart chakra and all the others, Rey felt the external damage right inside him and vomited blood. As if an organ had been damaged, Rey clenched his jaw with the intention of enduring the most unbearable pain he had felt so far. "No, I may lose consciousness..." he mumbled to himself. Fighting against the intense dizziness and the fading lights, he willed the barrier to shrink and return inside him as a core of energy.

Struggling to stay lucid, Rey was losing track of what he was doing, where he was, his sense of direction and thoughts. Had it not been for constantly reminding himself to protect his furry friend, he would have opened his hands.

Dead and unwilling entities rearranged themselves in the hole created by the little one in his fall. Unable to use the barrier to protect himself and rendered helpless, Rey was devoured by a thousand dead hands pulling him to the bottom of the mud. Without ceasing to protect White with his own body, he received as many blows, scratches, bites, and screams as those dead wraiths who hated and detested life could give him. Once human, they were now drowning in rage and hatred, and though they had no eyes in their sockets and no flesh on their bones, they did avail themselves of two black lungs inflated by mud and muck. The two sacks hanging from the chest cavity had the sole purpose of inflating to scream, and though not many had tongues, the few that did insult the gods, insulted Leonel.

Returning to the present, Rey began to struggle as much as he could, but in the face of his inability to create favorable results he said to himself, "It is impossible to reach the surface." Scratches, blows, bites, and kicks from those dead stopped hurting him as they had before. "Hmm! My body doesn't feel hurt anymore... Since I can't go up, it's better if I keep going down," he said to himself before letting himself sink. Which was not very difficult, since he weighed more than the dead there.

Even if he opened his eyes, Rey was unable to see. All around him everyone wanted to climb into the lake of shifting mud, apparently to cry out their sorrows so that they would be heard. On the other hand, the deeper he went, the calmer it became. So much so that it got to the point where there was no more slapping, scratching, and biting, only kicking. "This mud feels more liquid, but I don't think I can see," thought the little guy who, after patting twice, appeased the squirming that his furry companion was giving as he became short of breath.

White had been out of breath for a long time. She struggled against his urge to want to inhale from the liquid around her, but still the struggle was becoming ineffective against her instinctive desires to want to expand her lungs. As soon as she felt Rey's pats on his back, she decided to exhale all the air she had inside her a little at a time, to at least do something and buy time. Still without opening his eyes, Rey propelled himself down with his feet and kept swimming until the mud ceased to be and felt more like water.

Pushed away from all the movement and anger that hurt him, the little guy with no last name decided to once again put to use the barrier he could create with his core and push the water away from the spot. Once he was able to rest on the bottom of the narrow, still cracked sphere, he called out a full blast of wind, which came with oxygen and the gases needed to breathe. The wind further inflated the size of the sphere, which allowed itself to be enlarged by the will of the user.

White inhaled through her mouth, then expelled the water that had remained in her nostrils, and thus took as deep a breath as she swore she had ever taken in her life. Lacking strength, after taking a few steps, she shook out her coat and lay down on the floor which was circular in shape and made her slip to the center no matter how far she moved away.

Rey opened his eyes and, although he could see in the dark as if it were daytime, he could not see out of the barrier. His body was battered. He only had to reach out his hand to feel the cracks in the enlarged core. As a sorcerer, he knew what he had to do. Sit down and meditate. And so he did to reach out to recover the physical wounds and replenish the structure of his barrier. The energy of all his vortexes was flowing correctly and, with it, he gradually mended the cracks of the core that protected him, as well as healed the wounds of his skin and replenished the plumage of his wings. Once White had recovered from her near-death experience, Rey opened his eyes and stroked her head.

"Thank you for trusting me so much," he said and White purred in response. "Well, it's time to find our way out, I think we've hit rock bottom. Whether it's good or bad, who knows?"

The little white-eyed one stood up and, after extending his hand, once again cried out a gust of wind to re-enlarge the size of his now repaired core. Rey made the large black book with red letters float in the air to search through its many pages. At the conclusion of his search, he was able to summon a sphere of light out of the barrier. Putting in far more energy than it needed, the sphere became capable of illuminating a considerable amount of space at the bottom of the lake.

From within the darkness, the light caused a huge, wide-eyed face to appear with a whole expression ablaze with withering hatred, with eyebrows and eyes raised as if someone was pulling at her hair and a mouth open as if she were screaming at the top of her lungs. It was a female face whose body was of unknown size, for how big could someone whose pupil was twice the size of the sphere protecting Rey be? So large and terrifying was the image that White raised a paw, covered her resigned little eyes, lay down on the ground, and pretended to be dead.

On the other hand, although Rey raged, the expressions on his face like a fighter who was ready to give his all in one last glorious battle, inwardly he felt an immense weakness in his feet. Had it not been for the fact that they were locked in place, he might have fallen on his buttocks from the shock of the horrifying image that appeared within the darkness. "Edith wasn't wrong to be afraid of that thing that could exist under a lake," he said to himself reflectively.

Turning the pages of his book with his mind, Rey stopped on one in particular. Two pages shrouded by thousands of mysteries, many chants, and countless strokes that formed the call of one of the most powerful creatures in history. So powerful, terrifying, and indomitable that it was among the hundreds of pages that Heroclades had marked as unusable. It was a dragon, according to the books he had read in the Library of Knowledge; this type of creature harbored an intractable rage against any being that were not of their own kind, particularly humans and those that resembled them. Such is the hatred that there is no dragon who would hesitate to trade his life to destroy the object of his wrath.

No wizard in history has ever managed to make a contract with these beasts. The only way they were able to add them to their books was by a method of sealing. Therefore, claiming one means breaking the imprisonment for a short period of time, but the intelligent beast will choose with all its might to curse the user, meaning that claiming such a creature should be its last option, a very risky gamble. Despite the very strong expression with which he was looked at, Rey held his breath and waited a moment in response to any attack.

Nothing was happening, so the little boy decided to move the luminous sphere away, but something caught his attention. Neither the huge pupil reacted to the light nor did the eyes follow it. After lowering the luminous sphere, Rey realized that it was only a decapitated head he was seeing. Next to it were some fingers, a foot, and a breast. It was a dismembered body lying at the bottom of the lake. The crime of someone who had wanted to make his victim disappear after killing her.

Rey, with the tip of his foot, moved the stiff body of the feline and, even so, it continued to pretend to be dead. With a half-faced grin, he carried his fainting companion and tried to take steps forward to move the sphere forward on the spot. "Heroclades couldn't relocate if he had his barrier exposed, but it seems it's not that hard to do when I was able to fly. On the other hand, here, maybe because it's a smooth surface, it won't let me pass to advance... What if I create a rough surface with some spikes?"

The little boy succeeded, he didn't quite know how, but he managed to concentrate on creating protruding spikes and, as a result of the traction generated by the sphere, he was able to move forward. Wandering around the place, with several luminous spheres already lighting his way, the little boy saw two things that caught his attention. A golden cup on an altar and a kind of sunken boat far ahead. Rey tried to grab the goblet, but as he included it inside his core, within seconds a torrent of water flooded the interior of the sphere. With no other choice, Rey excluded it from the core along with his arm and returned it to where it belonged and immediately drained half of the water that nearly drowned his furry companion.

On the bright side, the water that remained inside was not as dirty as the water outside. It was clear and warm, so much so that it made you want to take a bath in it. With his hands he scooped up some of the clean liquid and proceeded to groom himself. White looked at Rey as someone who had made a mistake and wanted to cover up her mistake by taking advantage of the situation; if she could talk, she would surely tell him: "Try not to drown me next time." As soon as the little boy finished bathing and cleaning his clothes, he also bathed the little feline who looked at him with accusing eyes. With everything clean, Rey got rid of the water after separating the barrier in two and expanding the part that had air in it while opening the water compartment. Now, for Rey, there simply remained a second thing that caught his attention: the sunken boat. So, he continued on his way.

As Rey and White got close enough, they could notice how from inside the interior of the boat a human figure stood up. Like a butterfly seeking to come into the light, even as it burned in the flames of the fire, the figure moved forward and stretched out its hands without considering that it was hurting itself. Rey could not ignore the fact that there, below the water, was someone who seemed to be non-aggressive. After approaching, the little boy let the naked man with a long beard and a hunched body into his barrier.

At first glance the person had ceased to be, with the skin of a corpse brought back to life, without eyes, lips, ears, or eyelids. Anyone would assume that the said subject was someone who had lived a whole eternity in the heart of Hell. He had lived so long in the abyss that he had become part of it, and no longer had any human features other than his head, two hands, legs, and bones. His teeth were sharp and, despite having two lungs, he also had a stomach and digestive system. Therefore, it was not very doubtful that it had been feeding on corpses of its own kind to survive, which made it a ghoul of sorts.

Including a being as disgusting and ugly as this within his barrier could bring consequences, but Rey didn't see it that way. Whoever he was, however he looked, he had no hostile intentions against him and if he was not an enemy, he could be a friend.

Rey, looking him over from head to toe, proceeded to ask, "If you can speak, tell me... who are you?"

Tears of blood streamed from between the open sockets of the eyeless skull. The subject wrapped himself up even more, covered his mouth, and tried to hide his hideous appearance with the intention of not offending with his ugliness the kindness of the voice that had asked for his name.

"Oh, how good it feels to be able to breathe, to be able to see, to be able to hear. I am so grateful for this little relief you have given me. More I have to be thankful that you can speak and understand the language of the ancients," said the fellow as he knelt on the ground and leaned his forehead against the barrier. "And how could I forget those eyes of yours, lord and master? Though of me there remains the body of a 'ghoul'... my mind is still intact. My name is insignificant in your presence and must not occupy space in your thoughts, my gracious lord. I... I am but one of your convicts and not because I disown my work, but because of the wear and tear of my boat, that I have not been able to continue my penance as I was commanded.

Rey, as one who did not take into account the appearance of that subject, even of his interior, but judging his actions and deciding to reciprocate the respect and good treatment that was being given him, said, "My name in this life is Rey. I have no memory or knowledge of my past incarnation... Where am I, what is this place, and how can I get to Heaven?"

Maintaining his debased posture and taking care not to soil where he spoke, the guy said, "My lord, we are within the fifth circle of Hell, right at the bottom of the river of hate, a river whose channel originates from a sacred source in Arkadia and travels through the golden cup that resides in the deepest part of the place. As here also lies the body of the daughter of Oceanus and Thetis, the lake is known as Styx, and is where those who hate and detest suffer. I see that you are still alive, and that you bathed in the waters... waters that strengthen the body of the living and make them invulnerable."

Rey was intrigued by the name Arkadia and now the word invulnerable. They were terms that were used when someone was going to refer to his father.

"If you want to get to Heaven, you must go forward. Where the rivers converge, a great swamp of different colors is formed; there you will follow the waters that burn with fire and a thousand flames. They will lead you to the entrance of the seventh circle. From now on you must continue on foot through the three planes of the circle of the violent, cross the pits of the eighth circle and turn off until you can reach the Ever-Changing Forest. Be very careful not to make contact with the water of the river Lethe. There lies the body of the goddess Mnemosine and, even if you are alive, it will make you forget as it did to her...

"You are very knowledgeable regarding the structure of Hell," he said as he thought of the River Lethe itself originating in Purgatory, but the warning was believable to him.

"My Lord, perhaps in this, your new life, you do not remember. But my purpose is to guide souls through these parts. It is a pleasure to be of service to you... But... if I may ask a favor of you..."

Rey, as one who was suffering the grief of others, asked, "You are tired, aren't you?"

The subject kept silent and weakly clasped his hands.

"On my way here, I met Cato. He had a question to ask and only I could answer it. Tell me: do you want to stop being?"

The guy raised his head and left his mouth open, but he didn't dare say anything either.

"I come from Heaven, the first circle of Paradise under the Nine Heavens. There I was born, and I haven't seen anything particularly extraordinary or a God that my eyes could see... Purgatory is not the entrance to Heaven and Paradise I don't think is a place humans can ever get to, even if they are deserving of it."

As if knowing that there was no better world behind Hell made him lack the necessary purpose to continue suffering, that guide took a deep breath.

"Oh, my lord... Thank you for making me understand the meaning!" he replied gratefully for the knowledge. "Of all the things that existed in this world of torment and suffering, there were always those that depended on me and those that did not. Torment and suffering always depended on me... Isn't that so? Ha-ha-ha..."

Before the white eyes, the body that even looked human turned into a bubble and disappeared in thousands of imperceptible explosions. With directions in mind, Rey threw the small feline on his head and set out on his way while reading the floating book and ignoring everything around him. As soon as he emerged from the flaming waters and stepped out onto a red sandy beach, crowded by people shouting and fighting with each other, Rey focused his eyes in the distance. There were several landforms and at the end a dark mountain that appeared to be the Ever-Changing Forest.

With a landmark on the horizon, but many giants wandering about, he decided it was best to set out on foot. Before the white eyes of the little spectator, the site looked like the home of violent beings, champions of bloodshed and warriors devoid of pride, who beat each other vociferously for no reason or excuse. Those who could not get up boiled in the red liquid that accumulated on the floor.

Rey felt that his wings were not in the best condition, not enough to evade the giants with hundreds of heads and thousands of arms. Creatures with hunched bodies, straight hair that hung from their main head, with countless hands overlapping each other, there they walked and crushed everyone in their path with their feet.

After returning a few pages already previously studied, Rey erected a circular barrier of protection in response to the attack of the nearest choleric. With an almost unbreakable means of defense, he conjured up hundreds of floating swords that pointed upward and surrounded him until they closed a circle, which resembled a crown that sat atop the sphere.

The weapons were of different sizes and designs, but all attacked those who approached without discrimination. Step by step, the little one without a last name advanced using basic and very fair clamors with which to attack his enemies, because he had to make sure that his core, which he used as a protective barrier and was originally his energy store, could not be so refined as to be in danger of being destroyed by a simple physical attack.

Dodging the footsteps and the trajectories of the giants that walked there, Rey continued his advance on the red sand of the circle that boiled with steam, until he reached the end of that place that culminated next to the beginning of large stones. Shaped like blocks, each of these boulders were symmetrically agglomerated. Touching each other at some points, they then separated at others, again and again until they formed what is undoubtedly known as a labyrinth.

Rey knew of this type of place from the books he had read and understood that, if he followed the natural rules, he would get in easily, but then he would not be able to get out. With the intention of saving himself unnecessary work, he climbed up the walls and, after several jumps, managed to reach the other side of the structure.

There was a vast blue forest, dark, cold, and gloomy, composed of trees with countless faces. Closer up, the trunks looked rough and dry. Leafless and pointed branches rose rudely toward the sky they could not touch. Rey could sense that the trunks were not made of wood, though they felt as solid as wood. Thanks to the faces, he identified them as branching individuals. He did not understand why they could not move or the reason they had stiffened, but he was intrigued by the expressions.

The imitation trees covered the place thickly, but none of them had hostile intentions. Curious, Rey touched with his hands the trunks of branched human bodies in which only faces and silhouettes could be distinguished among the curves of those skins turned into bark. "Their expressions," Rey said to himself seeing that they had closed and open eyes, lost looks, dilated pupils with gazes that saw everything and nothing at the same time. Countless windows were bare, bathed in drops of salt water that also moistened the earth. Others had expressions of indifference, lost, those who had already forgotten death, eliminating their sadness through silent sighs.

"What do you feel?" asked Rey to everyone he saw and could reach.

"Feelings of..."

Answered those who could speak, though their mouths were painfully chapped in the process. "Love. Generosity. Joy. Affection. Rejoicing. Compassion. Hope. Freedom. Gratitude. Acceptance. Accompaniment. Kindness. Admiration. Benevolence. Relief. Pride. Empathy. Integrity. Attachment. Approval. Harmony. Honesty. Humility. Concentration. Tolerance. Happiness. Firmness. Fortitude. Serenity. Optimism. Satisfaction. Security. Peace." One by one, those present who had something positive to say stopped being before the little one. On the other hand, those who kept quiet or responded with negative sentiments remained in place.

Why on Earth would those who had no room inside them to harbor any more negative behaviors lie? Rey stopped right in front of a tree whose gaze was unmistakable to him, the only one he thought twice before asking. Standing in that spot, he realized that he had been standing for so long that he had almost sunk into the tear-wet sand. Then he looked up and finally asked.

"What do you feel?"

"I feel disappointment," replied the face that had the same look as Wulfgang.

Rey's heart went out for a second. It was as if his father had spoken to him at that moment. Questions of whether he really wanted to go back now that he was outside and had the chance to escape invaded his mind. Turning around, he reminded himself of the words he had said to Edith. "The only way out is through the situation I'm trying to escape from."

Turning around, Rey continued to move forward, through the trees of the fake forest. Eventually, a considerable amount of beast-like grunts, war roars, and battle cries could be heard, as well as a symphony of blows and aggressions against others. Quickening his pace, a dazzling yellow light finally touched his face. Behind the dazzling clarity, a whole desert of boiling sand in which hundreds of thousands of bodies fought each other with even more violence than that of the red sands took place. The little boy's eyes took time to adjust to the glare, but his defensive barrier was lifted as soon as the damned attacked him with their spears.

The sand of the place was a radiant yellow and what appeared to be trees were white crosses rising imposingly. Moving forward and facing off against the choleric ones who in anger attacked him and, of course, learning from them, Rey moved to the end of the circle without much trouble. Beneath the giants that walked back and forth, he destroyed the enemies until he could see no more giants between his position and the hill that appeared to be the Ever-Changing Forest. The little guy spread his wings and told his furry companion to hold on. Taking flight through the red-covered skies, Rey landed right where his parents had teleported. The very moment he stepped on the ground, Rey raised his eyes to meet the gaze of the Great Wise Wizard, who seemed to behave like he was waiting for someone's arrival.

...

With the training time of Maryam's other two sons over, the time came for the three little ones to return to the warmth of home and rest with the herd.

Or so some thought...

Dante Lobato of Heaven, Viewpoint.

As he always did in the mornings, after sleeping in the same bed as his master, Dante woke up and, opening his mouth in a yawn, stretched the muscles of his body. But, unlike the other mornings, on this one the wolf cub was so excited that, with his eyes alight, he couldn't help but jump out from between the sheets like a storm. "Finally, I'll be able to show off my strength and knowledge," he said, thinking of his brother Rey. "Ha, I'll take him with me to show me the way before the elders want to make a decision," he thought already up as he dressed his naked body in fine garments that promised to take care of him from wounds and blows. Opening the window, Dante noticed that Mijan was also about to get up and, before he could ask him anything, he ran away shouting a farewell of few words.

The intention to meet his brother, the only one who had left the Ever-Changing Forest, took priority and was a crucial part of culminating his plan to "escape" his parents' possible sentence. "I have to catch up with Rey before he gets to the house. My master told me he was dangerous and to stay away, but I don't think so. If he is indeed a De-Bastador, he is also a tool that can be easily used. I will have to prove to him that if we are going to form a group, I will be the leader!"

Running and leaping, zipping among the branches, slipping through the roots, as soon as he reached the main path, Dante saw someone a little shorter than him. Said individual was wearing liger skins and, although he was advancing in the direction of the Great Wise Wizard, he made use of a slow walk. But as his master had described him, he had no doubt that this must be the aforementioned Rey, "the black sheep of the family, whom no one in the clan wanted because he was such a troublemaker." Dante thought about the only one of the three sons who had no last name and who did not even sleep with his master. "If I show him a little acceptance, he'll surely thank me and stay by my side, just like this furry ball my master brought me to take care of." Dante looked at the little Paradise guardian who had just joined in. "My plan is foolproof: it's in his best interest to escape and he won't be able to refuse when he finds out that Katherine plans to kill him... she's intimidating. Ever since I broke the sword she lent me, things with Mother, Father, and my master have gone from bad to worse. I'm afraid it won't be long before they get rid of me too," thought the little wolf cub.

About to throw himself into making his entrance, Dante stopped short.

"Don't you dare get in my way, you hindrance!" Rey said nothing, but the wolf cub sensed that was what his brother's bodily expressions said as he took firm steps forward.

Dante lost all confidence in making his introduction. The creature in front of him was not his brother, but an obstacle he could not reach. "What's wrong with him?" wondered Dante, feeling afraid, as if he was looking at a hungry beast that was roaming the place. "My master and Katherine weren't entirely wrong," he told himself. If that hungry beast he had for a brother was in search of prey, Dante didn't want it to be him because he wasn't prepared. The situation took him by surprise, as did the sweat on his hands and the quickening of his heartbeat. And as one who had no reason to take unnecessary risks, he decided to keep his distance and approach him slowly.

Dante studied his brother from a distance and said the following words in a low voice: "No wonder he is so troublesome. But you can't be stronger than me. I'm taller and have more muscles... You can give that impression, however, it's just that. An impression, nothing more." He paused for a second, looked to the side, and met the blue eyes that had noticed him.

…

Jhades, Viewpoint

On the morning of the same day, Jhades narrowed down his eyes in a bad temper. He rarely spoke more than he should and when he did, it was to blurt out cheeky remarks or complaints. Because he was so bothered by the brightness, he wrapped himself between the sheets and mumbled between his thin, pale lips the following words, "Why does there have to be brightness when I can see perfectly well in the dark?"

After hearing and feeling his teacher stretch, he remembered that the time to return to the house had come, and it was time to see Mother and Father. With a little more motivation, he slipped between the bed sheets and, after dressing, went out as he always did. Katherine usually didn't get up until later: she intended to meditate on the day before she got moving.

Jhades walked fast, motivated to get home to see his parents. He thought that if he was the first to arrive, he would be celebrated. He also thought there was no point in wasting time talking to his siblings. None of them would benefit him at all. Already, as he crossed the trees and peered out into the brightness of the path, he was forced to stop abruptly and within seconds preferred to join the shadows around the path. Not because he felt threatened by the brightness, but because he felt safer from his brother Rey, who he had spotted walking along the road. "So that's the De-Bastador of the family. A beast without a collar capable of unleashing his aggression against anyone who provokes him."

To the blue-eyed vampire, Rey had the same way of looking and walking as the elders of the pack. Individuals who walked without apertures, perhaps because they were always fighting for survival, not an aggressive beast in the face of anyone. To Jhades, his brother didn't fit the description, but he also had no reason to doubt the words of his teacher, who particularly looked happy every time he got the news that Rey had done something wrong.

On the other hand, it was true that the intimidating expression in the hybrid's eyes made words of his mentor come to Jhades' memory. If one could speak of cautious, the little vampire was the most cautious of the three brothers and the one who made the least unnecessary efforts. Of course, fighting a "troublesome" brother, as his mentor called him, would not be smart at all. "His eyes have an edge. You can see arrogance and pride, as Katherine says. I understand why she feels the need to kill him in the initiation process. But what kind of environment does it take to give birth to such an arrogant person? How is it possible that he suddenly has so much knowledge and greater fighting ability than mine? If he knows he's going to die, why is he still here?" he wondered, intrigued, to add a cynical comment. "I don't think I can kill him and keep the credit."

...

In the middle of the road, between the Ever-Changing Forest and the house of those present, stood the Great Wise Wizard, reinspecting the depth shown in Rey's eyes. He had another opinion of the matter, totally different from those that Jhades or Dante might have taken. The place was Paradise, the only place of the three planes where the currents of time flowed abnormally and already Rey, in particular, had eaten of the fruit of knowledge. The old man had no doubt that one more night would be enough for the little one without a surname to figure out how to control something that no one should: the flow of time.

The Great Wise Wizard, ignoring the presence of Jhades and Dante, gave a half smile with which he illuminated the wrinkles on his face to return the greeting that Rey had given him. The old man's eyes still saw someone arrogant and haughty.

Slightly taller than Jhades, unlike his brothers, Rey had long hair as if it had been left unkempt. He also carried sharper and more suspicious eyes. He left most of his body exposed and wore only the black-striped, white furs of one of the Paradise guardians.

To be specific, Rey was covered in the fur of White's father. How? That's a good question. The feline that was missing a fang and on the first night died by Rey's hands, now lived inside Rey, therefore, Rey, using his skills acquired from his mother, could summon the furs of the feline. Although only summoning the skins of a being was but the hints of an incomplete skill, but it was not long before he could fully resurrect him.

Rey, with sharp eyes full of haughtiness, said, "Long time no see," after receiving a greeting and inspecting the old man, who was acting so suspiciously. Rey remembered that the Great Wise Wizard appeared whenever a problem needed to be solved and, as he appeared in front of him, perhaps the problem was him.

              "You never cease to amaze me... the last time we spoke, and you left, despite my second warning, I didn't expect you to still be here, but the resilience you showed over the next few nights was not what I expected. Keeping yourself living is a problem when you still refuse to "act normal" in front of others... You cling to behaving like an arrogant and haughty being to remain in control when you are the only one who is rational. Precisely because you are distrustful, you don't make it so easy for someone else to end your life. I have to make you vulnerable and unstable so that, in your collapse, you might be worth something..." thought the one who then said aloud as he turned and marched in the opposite direction, "Come with me, there is an urgent matter of which you must be aware. Jhades, Dante, you too. Don't stay behind..."

The two brothers, realizing that they had been noticed and that mention of their names by the Great Wise Wizard aroused no reaction in Rey, approached, but, as a precaution, they made sure to take their furry companions with them. If by chance a fight broke out, it was always better to have the advantage of not fighting alone. They had the same liger cubs that their masters had sought out for them as soon as they learned that Rey had one.

The two felines were both males of the species, but their coats suffered from the absence of grooming and washing. As if they did not know the behavior of grooming themselves because they had not learned it from their parents, or they suffered from some disease. Both looked at each other as if they were always hot, stinky, and dirty, their hyperactive eyes turning to their owners as if suffering from the anxiety of being left behind at any moment.

Down the trail, the three little ones walked in silence. Neither Rey nor Jhades made a sound in their footsteps, unlike Dante, who walked as if he wanted to shake the Earth with every step.

"What would be an ideal topic of conversation to be a leader?" wondered the wolf cub.

Dante, about to launch into a sarcastic comment, was interrupted by Ehimus' shrill voice. As soon as they encountered the elf, the three little ones stopped.

The Grand Wizard kept walking while the green elf spoke in a jocular tone.

"Doesn't it feel good to be back!" she said while acting as one who was trying to break the tension in the atmosphere. It was fine with her that three normal kids were jumping around, playing and fighting with each other, but not that they were so serious and quiet.

"You're telling me!" replied Dante almost shouting.

With his voice turned on full blast, he sounded as if he wanted to intimidate the others and, referring also to the feline accompanying him, he continued, "Mijan's training made me invincible."

Diverting his gaze, he saw his prey; what better way did Dante have to stand out than by putting his other brother underneath him? So he didn't hold back from asking, "Did you fare better... Jhades?"

Rey, silent, merely studied his red-eyed brother's demeanor as he spoke. Dante, standing with one foot in front and one behind, tightened his lips with more pronounced breath. Fiercely he glanced sideways and flicked his ears, when the odd noise out of the ordinary made itself known. His hands were active; over-expressive, barely closing and opening as he gestured. Among those present, the heart that could be heard the most was that of the wolf cub. Rey thought his brother didn't notice, but he was expressing a body language crammed with inner fears, constantly growing fears, forced to transform into fury and aggression.

Jhades, the smallest in stature among the three, was forced to respond, "If no one has offended you, why are you shouting so much?" refusing to be left intimate.

As soon as Jhades answered Dante's question, Rey changed the direction of his gaze. Though it was few words in response, the micro-expressions on the vampire's part were not lost on the young hybrid's sharp white eyes.

Face defeated, posture discouraged, the vampire seemed to be despising his life in order not to threaten the one who questioned him. Few words preceded a sepulchral silence from someone whose image was impeccable and who perfectly managed his efforts, making the whole conversation uncomfortable for the wolf. Turning his face away, he broke all eye contact; Jhades escaped having the particularity to communicate how upset he was. Calm, he breathed who struggled in his own way to have superiority, harboring in his silence a whole abyss of insecurity repressed by low esteem, not for him, but for all those around him at the moment.

Dante, taking the attribution of changing Rey's name to one that combined the words "bastard" and De-Bastador, said, "What about you ‘Basty’!" asking in an eager, competitive voice that seemed to be searching for something.

Rey kept silent, stared at Dante, and then went on to ignore him. But the wolfling himself hadn't realized that he had used an offense to address his brother, and it was the reason why his brother wasn't responding to him. Still, ignoring the silent treatment and being intrigued to see how the furs of a liger made up part of his white-eyed brother's garments, the wolfling decided to be more aggressive in his words.

"Answer me. I had to endure several reprimands from Mijan because on your second night you crossed the boundaries of the place and that caused me discomfort. Even if you keep your silence, of all of us, you are surely the one who has the most to tell. Tell me... Did you try to escape because you know Katherine is going to kill you?"

Ehimus, ignoring the final part of a baseless comment, said, "Rey, now that I notice, Dante is right... Are your skins from a Paradise guardian? Did you defeat him?" she asked curiously.

Rey, as he heard his name from the elf, responded by projecting himself in a gently serious manner.

"Ah, a long story..."

After pausing, he turned his gaze to the curious elf, who reminded him so much of Edith.

"The furs that cover my body are a symbol of a victory for which I will never be able to forgive myself. They belong to a noble animal that gave me everything I now have. His flesh, his blood, his bones, his own residence, his offspring, and a second chance for me to go on living."

The seriousness and gentleness disguised well the guilt, regret, and depression that the little one without a surname had inside him and chose not to let overcome. Despite his characteristic immaturity, Ehimus could see something that the other two could not. The skins of a dead animal, the motives, and a persevering look from Rey reminded him of the tragedy suffered by necromancers. The history of necromancers was sad because the best ones were those who never had the chance to bring back to life the one they needed and time always made such work more difficult. Ehimus remembered, from the stories her brother gave her to read when she was unable to move, that there is a kind of residual life force that survives after death. That vitality remains in the corpse in a dormant state and can be used to revive it, but time increasingly gobbles up more and more of this bit of vitality.

On the other hand, Dante felt that his brother was hiding something by not addressing him. It wasn't as if he could believe that was all the "troublemaker" in the family had to tell either, and more so to Ehimus. "That he didn't try to escape? That there is no pride in defeating a guardian of Paradise? That he is still alive?" thought the wolf cub, who needed to know more. Therefore, he put himself first and pushing Ehimus, who was trying to say something, faced his brother without a surname to try to make him recognize that there were things to tell.

Rey's eyes did not behave like Jhades'; they seemed to confront the wolf that stood in his way. Ehimus and Jhades made an intimidating impression when they saw the sharp gaze that Rey had used to almost freeze the environment. As if fire and the edge of a sword had collided against each other, the wolf understood that his own brother was confronting him for being the leader, while the young hybrid was given the task of observing the inside of the red eyes until he literally saw a fiery flame burning inside that dark well that was the pupil. A flame that was not at all similar to that of his father, but it did awaken memories.

Rey remembered Wulfgang's words at a similar moment: "You have noticed the decadent flame that radiates will through my gaze, haven't you?" at dawn on the fourth day, when Wulfgang routinely came to visit him. The red-eyed, sad-looking father would sit talking to his son. "Every time you look into my eyes, you seem to be wondering why. I welcome your curiosity and I know you're not doing it for evil, although I want you to be aware that if you stare into someone's eyes, it could be interpreted as confrontation rather than curiosity. I will tell you that each individual carries his own world, one that he exposes to the outside through the eyes."

At the same moment Dante was talking, claiming, and questioning, but Rey was still immersed in the past. "Seeing it is not difficult. Although they say the flame is the entrance guarded by darkness, it is also the perfect reflection of the will and the heart. If you pay attention, you can see how feelings can come to affect the brightness of something pure. In my case it is sadness... I am aware."

 Rey remembered asking his father a question. "Good question, the flame in my eyes is the result of living to meet the expectations of others. They all called me God. Ironic, isn't it? If I were one... the reflection of my will, and the feelings in my heart wouldn't be in such a pathetic state as this would they?"

Rey fired another question at his father: "Where is happiness?”

“I'm afraid the answer won't give you the best direction to find it. It's better if you ask yourself what's keeping you from it? On the other hand, to become an adult is also to learn that happiness is to smile. We look for happiness when we are sad and, for that reason, we overcomplicate something so simple. I tell you this, so you don't make my mistake or follow in my footsteps. Lift your spirits in the face of failure, my son. Even if you are wrong, don't stop trying. Do not fear to lose when you act for good, and do good deeds trusting in the outcome, without letting doubts hold you back."

Dante, exalted with the veins in his throat popping out from shouting so much, said, "I tried to escape several times, but I couldn't get very far!!!! I was still weak, but I'm not like I used to be!!!" said the wolf cub, puffing out his chest, applying his gesticulations, trying to impress the one who only seemed to be looking at him seriously. "I learned many ways to survive! I became the fear of everything that pretended to scare me. To change the constitution of my body and move on in whatever way was necessary. You can't be better than me... I refuse to believe that you are stronger because you have put in so much more effort. Arggg... What? Is there nothing inside that head, you bastard? Answer when I speak to you."

From one moment to the next, Dante, after turning off his tone, stopped and kept silent, as well as frowned and ducked his chin, ready to fight. Both Jhades and Ehimus took precautions against the direct confrontation of the wolfling, who dared to insult his brother for the second time, as if he believed that such an insult would guarantee him attention.

Rey remained silent, but he had also returned to the present and could see how the fire in the wolf cub's gaze was frightened, extinguished and resurfaced like all Hell. As he gave a smile and put the situation that saddened him aside, he also noticed that in the atmosphere there was a thirst for acceptance. He realized that his brother demanded to be noticed. That he had not acted as he should. He was not trying to fit into that social circle, even though he was the one who had said goodbye with, "I hope to see you again..." Having to behave more naturally, Rey decided to ask a question with the intention of humoring his brother.

"What do you want to know?"

Dante, like one who had gained control of a dangerous weapon, asked, "Why didn't you try to escape?"

Calmer, he smiled as he turned away.

"You defeated your master on the second day of training. That makes you strong. If it's true, why didn't you escape if you're so strong? You don't really think that Katherine is weaker than Heroclades, do you?"

Ehimus, more relieved by Rey's attitude to the insult, said, "Why would he do that, why would they assume Katherine would go and kill him?" she asked intrigued.

The small wolf was silent at the elf's question. Rey replied, "Regarding Katherine, I have no reason to be afraid. On the other hand, just because I could pass the test Heroclades put me through doesn't mean I'm capable of beating him in actual combat. I did not escape simply because I had no reason to, and Mother forbade me to. Father made me understand that escape does not guarantee freedom... In this immense and fascinating world, I am still nobody. If I learned anything, it is that things are not what they appear to be, and emotions take control of your thoughts, override them, and make you act irrationally... Take it as a warning."

With the last sentence, he ran his hand through the clothes he was wearing.

Dante, uneasy, and as one who proposed to be a leader, continued, "Lies! An embellished way of admitting that you are weak... weaker than I. What do you think, that I don't realize it?"

"Embellished way of admitting I'm weaker than you?" he replied with another question, softening the expressions on his face as one who wanted to understand what the point of the conversation would be.

Dante clenched his fists, not because he was about to attack, but because he felt in danger. Every cell in his body was screaming at him not to keep facing that sharp-eyed beast he had for a brother. Jhades simply took a discreet distance, just enough so that no one would blame him in case something happened. Ehimus understood that there could be fights and quarrels between siblings, more so if they were young, but for some reason the elf felt the atmosphere very tense between them. As one trying to defuse the situation, she spoke, "Please. This is the first time you have met after such a long time. This is no time for you to fight..." She raised her hands in the air.

Dante, reluctantly, completely ignoring the presence of someone he regarded as inferior, said, "I beat my master's test before the thirtieth day of training! It took me so long because I'm sure it was because Mijan is much stronger and stricter than Heroclades! Therefore, I am stronger than you and you must serve me to escape."

"Why are you so clinging to escape?" asked Jhades, intending to help his brother, to give him a chance to hear how stupid he sounded.

Dante answered without thinking, as if he was a dog biting painfully at the hand of the one who was trying to help him, "Someone like you, Mommy's favorite son, would never understand!!!!! Bastard, you follow me, or I'll make you."

Before Rey could give an answer, Heroclades appeared on the road accompanied by White.

"Oh, you frightened little sheep. Mijan told you of the fate faced by unwanted children and those who are not accepted into the clan."

He set out to ask almost with the same disinterest that his disciple had, "By chance, do you want to escape because you want to make a pack? To look for an accomplice and try your luck elsewhere?"

Both Dante and Jhades turned their faces and felt intimidated, not by Heroclades, but by the guardian of Paradise walking beside him. A majestic feline almost twice the size of the other two, with short fur and defined musculature, he walked almost as intimidating as his owner. Ehimus opened her eyes in amazement. As one who finally realized why Dante was acting so desperately and stopping them all before they reached the house. Jhades and Rey took as deep of a breath as they could, Dante with his insistence had screwed up and put himself in a bad position. The wolf cub was at a loss for words; someone knew his secret.

"Basty's teacher is a menace," thought Dante as he wiped the sweat from his hands on his clothes at his sides. For him, Heroclades could communicate his knowledge to Wulfgang and Maryam, and with this have three points less in the initiation. Jhades was impressed; little by little and unnoticed, he changed his behavior and became more awake. The fact that he did not sense the presence of his brother's master upon arrival, nor that of the medium-sized liger, reaffirmed Rey's abilities.

"Did you manage to reunite with Father and Mother yet?" asked Rey to his master to, immediately after, pet White and look sideways at the explosive wolf cub's behavior.

Dante was a bomb waiting to explode, and he didn't know the best way to defuse it. Ignited within himself, the young, red-eyed warrior was experiencing the loss of control. Aware of what he did not understand, fear began to invade his system. How would a wolfling act in this situation? The same way he was taught to act. By facing his fears head on. Resembling a fit of rage, Dante screamed as he took a great leap off the ground and uncovered five intimidating claws whose intentions were to pierce the tan-skinned subject.

"Looks like they're not in the house," Heroclades spoke without stopping the conversation he had engaged in with Rey, but when he was about to be cut in half, he expelled a strong wave of energy that drove back even the nearest trees, not to mention that the wolverine's claws ended up splitting.

Completely paralyzed, the little wolf fell to the ground and clung as tightly as he could to everything around him so as not to be thrown off. Studying with his frightened eyes the behavior of the old man he had tried to attack and remained alive despite knowing about his secret.

Rey, in just an ephemeral almost imperceptible moment, let out his murderous intentions to then launch a warning, "Dante, if you attack my master again... I will personally end your life."

Dante could not understand anything, Heroclades did not even move from the place or had done anything to defend himself. He was sure, so sure that he could bet his eyes that such a statement was valid. Instead, the one who had left a whole aura of murderous intent exposed had been his brother without a surname. "Perhaps it was Rey who repelled my strongest attack... No, it couldn't be. It had to have been Heroclades. I trained for so long to make my claws nearly indestructible. A bastard is not capable of such power, but... in the off chance that it was... your warning would be valid." On the verge of tears of rage, Dante was practically pulled out of the abyss as he heard his father’s voice.

"Heroclades!... You don't have to put yourself on the level of a child!"

Maryam spoke in an even harsher tone, "It is unacceptable, your offense before a member of the clan. Hostility against your brother's teacher… were those the manners Mijan taught you?! And where is all the respect I taught you? If you are good to people, they will be good to you... What are you waiting for to ask for forgiveness?" she said as she walked over with her husband.

Wulfgang was trying to placate his wife's fury so that she wouldn't make such a big deal out of the situation. "Don't worry, he's still a child. You don't have to scold him like that. I'm sure he wanted to measure his strength with Hero."

"I must say, he's a bit of a lively one," said Heroclades. "He brought out his father's characteristics, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, didn't he?" he said looking at the little boy who refused to apologize.

Jhades had the same omen as his lycanthrope brother. As much as he searched for the explanation, he didn't understand the result. For the trees to move and Dante’s claws to snap, something had to have happened, something similar to one of his teacher's moves. The vampire remembered that every time Katherine swung her sword, the power of the residual wind and edge could move the trees on the spot. But how could Rey be able to deliver such a powerful thrust without being seen?

Muttering, Dante begged for forgiveness and lowered his head. He felt helpless in the face of the situation. His mind was perhaps playing tricks on him. "Yes, that has to be it: neither Father nor Mother said anything about Rey having been the cause of such an event. As strong as he was, Rey couldn't have been... Wait a minute, why did she call him by his name? It doesn't matter. The best option is to finish off the old man, the elf, and maybe Jhades as well. When I'm done with them, Rey will have no choice but to follow me. I have to persuade him; that way, he will be as responsible as I am for failing to stop me."

Heroclades, he said respectfully, as if he were speaking to one of his own.

"I forgive you. Forgive me for being so rude and inducing your anger."

After the tan-skinned lord hurled those words of apology, Dante turned his body vigorously and like a storm marched forward. The wolf cub felt he had no choice but to forgive, for when someone apologizes for something, they are taking responsibility for the blame. "If someone asks for forgiveness, the wise thing to do is to forgive and not hold a grudge," his mother had told him. That was what he had been taught.

Jhades, in an obvious attempt to please his parents, was motivated to say something to Dante, who had wrongly acted against Rey's teacher. Just as the little lycanthrope realized that his vampire brother was trying to point out his mistake for his own benefit, he said loudly and slapped his hand in rejection.

"If you value your life... you won't."

Jhades, lowering his accusing finger, thought twice before continuing. Dante was scary and capable of attacking as he had done against Heroclades. It wasn't that he couldn't win, but it was annoying to have to relive the occasional blow or wound in the process.

Maryam realized that the atmosphere between her children was very delicate, perhaps because of all the time they spent without any contact, as they grew up independent and competitive with each other. Using her typical smile, she left her husband to gather the three little ones and give them a warm motherly hug.

"It's a good thing it's all over. How long have I not seen you? I never got used to all this time without you three. It's so ugly that you treat each other indifferently and always compete. You must learn to leave competition and indifference aside. Between siblings these are things that don't fit. You have to love each other because you are all you have." Squeezing them all at once, she continued lovingly, "It seems that the ‘reunification’ of the group and welcoming of the three new members can no longer wait.”

"I have something to say," said Heroclades making the wolf cub nervous.

...

The Great Wise Wizard looked away from the path he had already traveled on his own, to see how the parents were reunited with their children and began to hold a conversation. Raising his hand, he shouted as loudly as he could to get everyone's attention and remind them of the urgency of the matter they needed to discuss.

Dante, disguising a competitive air as he interrupted Heroclades, said, fired up like a bolt of lightning, "Let's see who gets to the old man first!!!!!"

As soon as the wolf cub got into running position and looked in the direction of the supposed goal, he noticed that the old man was no longer alone. Heroclades, who was carrying Ehimus on his right shoulder, White, Rey, Wulfgang, and Maryam were at the old man's side. The only ones left to be in that place were him, Jhades, and the two small skinny and lacking in energy felines. The competitiveness of the adults had flared up and among them they laughed and murmured about the fun experience,

Maryam, with joy, as soon as she finished exchanging smiles, turned to encourage those who remained. "Come on! Keep it up!"

Dante spoke with disappointment to his brother Jhades, as one who considered an alliance with his enemy. "So, it's just you and me... Mama's little boy." The two ligers were already almost halfway down the road. "Let's run in the opposite direction now that we can. Let's give up everything... Follow me as your leader."

Waiting for a response, Dante knew his blue-eyed brother was quiet, but looking to the side with the intention of at least receiving visual acceptance, Jhades had disappeared. Gritting his teeth as hard as his fists, the wolfling looked in the direction of where everyone was, realizing that within the shadow of one of the ligers who had yet to arrive, was the vampire. Jhades came to where the elders were standing with a grin from ear to ear, as if he wanted his parents' approval. Indeed, with a face like that, the elders decided to flatter the little boy who had placed second to last in the competition.

On the other side, although the wolf cub did not look like it, he was devastated for not having the courage to run away alone, for not becoming the leader of the group, and because he believed that he would surely be the first to die among the three brothers. Fear invaded Dante's skin. Having as a reference the race that he himself proposed, Dante imagined that he was the weakest, precisely because he was the last one. Although he couldn't quite understand it, he didn't want to understand it. It was impossible for him. "Heroclades and Wulfgang are allowed to win, but not Ehimus, Maryam, Jhades, or Rey. They don't have as much muscle as I do. Of course, Jhades was allowed to win because he went in the shadows as even, out of bad vampire habit, Katherine does every time she comes and goes. Ehimus was left being carried by Heroclades, not that he needed to run. Who knows what other tricks the others used, but one thing is for sure: tricks are useless when fighting against the real strength of solid muscle. Otherwise, Father would not be the leader of the group. I have no other choice, I have to find another opportunity," said the one who, lacking any other options, sent himself to run with the intention of not giving Heroclades time to say anything inconvenient to his parents. He had to keep his eyes on the sorcerer and interfere as much as possible in his conversation with his parents until his moment of escape.

Running as hard as he could to the point of even having to transform parts of his body, Dante made it and, with this, heard the clapping of Wulfgang, Maryam, and Ehimus in an attempt to cheer him up. The wolf cub, returning the original form of his body, showed a face like one who was disappointed in himself, something that made him retort the following words, "They cheated! It wasn't a fair race..."

"Excuse me?" asked Maryam surprised at the word cheating.

Jhades' eyes whitened. Heroclades folded his hands and gave several guffaws. Ehimus guffawed, Wulfgang pursed his lips, and Rey opted to feed something to the two hungry ligers that followed him everywhere, or rather followed White.

Dante, almost on the verge of tears of rage, replied as he pointed in Ehimus' direction. The elf, after her siblings, was the smallest and weakest of the group. It posed no threat to him to use her as an example. "She didn't run using her muscles like so many others do. That's cheating."

Ehimus somewhat seriously, more than usual, added, "In this case, cheating would not be following the rules. You said, 'whoever gets there first,' not 'whoever runs the fastest using their muscles...' Even so, if using your muscles were the case, I would say it would be an unfair race because I am not allowed to use my muscles if with my eyes I can see someone from the clan. It is dangerous..."

Dante, somewhat confused, said: "That this little green one is not allowed to use her muscles... Why?" he asked.

At the wolverine's intrigued expression, Rey threw out a comment in response, "Clan members keep various abilities restricted if they are in close proximity to each other. She, in terms of brute strength, is the strongest of the entire group, so much so that using her fingertips she was able to dismember one of the trees in the Ever-Changing Forest by the root."

Along with the comment, the little, white-eyed boy could not help but remember how his barrier was destroyed into a thousand pieces by just one blow generated by the little elf after propelling her index finger with her thumb.

Dante, as if he had been offended and taken as stupid shouted in anger, "You're lying!!! Are you kidding me!!!!"

Wulfgang with the warm voice of a sad face, added, "Don't worry about defeats. Sometimes victories come empty and become a real loss." Looking into Dante's eyes to reaffirm the credibility of his words, he continued, "You must try even harder. Nothing stops you from giving your best until you get to win," he said, as if speaking from experience.

Enraged, Dante lit his eyes like reddened coal embers, stamped his foot on the ground, and added, "'Try even harder', you say? I refuse to believe that any of my brothers would try as hard as me! Nor that she would be stronger than you!!!!!"

Wulfgang also turned on his withering gaze, one that made his most similar son's feet tremble. "Fool, when will you stop deceiving yourself and giving me reasons to rage at you? Do you still think that anger and rage will make you right? Perhaps you believe such a lie because Mijan has not yet taught you what true power is?"

Dante's mouth dropped open. His father's words wounded him deeply. The little wolf cub's ego was a very big bubble, but at the same time a very delicate one. That Mijan would not seriously fight against him meant that he had let him win the test. But was his father right? It was easy for Wulfgang to talk the talk, but he had not been in training or beaten his master after days and days of failed attempts.

The Great Wise Wizard was forced to step in and break the familiar atmosphere. "As your quartermaster, try to remain calm, but we are indeed running out of time... Hold on. We'll have to teleport so we can get there before it's too late."

A circle of incantation at the feet of those present took place. Both Dante and Wulfgang were calmed by the event, as they were forced to put aside their differences and focus on what was happening in the present. The eight individuals, plus the three small Paradise guardians, were enveloped in a white light coming from a circle of spells, which appeared on the ground. As soon as they were out of sight of the green plains, they looked out from the top of the highest mountain in the place.

Wulfgang asked a little more concerned about the situation, "Where have you brought us? What is the matter of urgency that we needed to know?"

Ehimus repeated angrily, "Yes, you old fool! Where have you brought us?"

"I hope Mijan and Katherine are aware," Heroclades threw out a disinterested comment.

The Great Wise Wizard, as one who had everything under control, said, "Don't worry about the two of them. Silvia went to contact them and brought them here, though I need your attention before answering the question of why I brought you here.”

Confirming the words of the black-skinned, white-bearded old man, out of the bushes came the couple dressing their naked bodies. Mijan and Katherine walked reluctantly as they fixed their clothes and looked in the direction of the old man as if they were waiting for a reason to justify all the inconveniences he had caused.

Once everyone was paying attention, the Great Wise Wizard spoke, "We are under attack. From outside, countless damned plus the bounty hunters who were teleported with you made their way through the lower circles of Hell. Following the trail Rey left behind, they arrived at the gates of this place and, intending to avoid being trapped in Purgatory, they are using the giants to go over the trees... I brought you here because, as your quartermaster, it is my duty to protect you. This mountain is the middle and safest point in the whole place. Silvia will be protecting the house. We must resist until it gets dark..."