It was a great shock to find out that the Supreme Spiritualist had returned the Hakokage Box to the Prince of Souls.
According to what Mukoku told him, the box was too volatile. Any crazy person who wanted to die and take the world with them could open it, thus the great monk felt it was actually safer in hell than in Kurana.
He eyes the box which had somehow appeared in the hands of the black prince.
At the moment they were in the team of souls and Xin, in a show of power, had caused the ground to break open and for lava to flow out, grow out of the ground like a curtain vine, and form a throne for him.
A throne he was sitting on now with no hesitation or a sign of discomfort.
The prince got in well with the landscape, it set a nice backdrop for him.
To the north, where the City of Blazes had been was nothingness, but all around—
The environment looked like it had crawled out of the myths.
The ground convulsed beneath his feet, cracked and fissured, as if the very earth itself was torn asunder. Glowing tendrils of lava pulsed through the fractures, casting an eerie light on the desolate terrain.
Yet, despite the darkness that seemed to suffocate everything, he could see—somehow. The mountains in the distance pierced the sky like shattered teeth, their rugged silhouettes stark against the ash-encompassing horizon.
Above, the sky was a swirling vortex of smoke and ash. The telltale sparks of Naraku danced like malevolent fireflies in the airspace, souls representing every color of the rainbow as they flashed and flickered in an otherworldly display that seemed both mesmerizing and terrifying.
The air was heavy with an unspoken malevolence, as if the very landscape itself was alive and hostile.
The atmosphere was thick with an aura of dread, the ground trembling beneath Ran's feet like a living entity in agony.
This was a realm of unrelenting torment, where the laws of nature were twisted and distorted. Every step felt like a journey into the very depths of madness, as if the landscape itself was conspiring against him.
And Xin sat amidst it all like he had no problem in the world. And he sat upon enough heat to melt steel in seconds.
His resistance to fire seemed even stronger than the one Ran possessed through his metallic flesh.
Though it may be argued that Ran didn't actually have a resistance to fire but instead a ridiculously powerful regeneration power.
He frowned as he remembered that. He didn't like thinking about the Lagarakei, thinking about what he was now.
For some reason he felt betrayed. Maybe it was because he may have subconsciously felt a tad grateful to the Lagarakei for seemingly saving his life.
And the creature had stated he should be grateful to it for having saved his life. The disgusting creature had the effrontery to tell him that, when it had only saved him to protect its vessel of reincarnation from destruction.
He shook his head and decided to pay attention to the conversation Mukoku and Xin were having now.
"...you were the one who went into the Noxsphere, your carelessness brought the Lagarakeis upon us!" Mukoku yelled.
Ran had almost forgotten about that, he remembered he'd eavesdropped on a conversation on his first day in hell when Mukoku had been informed of it.
Xin looked completely unfazed. "You think your accusation will change my mind about the price?"
Mukoku took a gentle step towards his fierily pulsing throne. "I see no price that needs to be paid. I trapped the creature and provided the opening for you to use the Hakokage. You owe me and I request this as payment."
Ran was slowly starting to realize what they were talking about, and it made him so agitated, his head shifting to follow each of them as they spoke.
"If that's how you want it, my lady of severance? Fine, then. You can have the old mortal. I will release him back to Kurana, his body shall regain life and it'd seem like he was never dead."
Mukoku nodded, pleased with the conclusion of the agreement. Ran was beyond pleased.
He was ecstatic. He couldn't believe he was finally getting what he'd always wanted, and just like that.
Yes he'd gone through hell twice, he'd known pain and had had it love him. He'd seem things beyond his measure of endurance, he'd walked the limbo.
So many obstacles were climbed over and so many trials crossed, still he could not believe this was happening now.
He waited patiently for the other shoe to drop.
"But I wonder what you owe me now," Xin continued.
Mukoku frowned. "I fail to comprehend your meaning."
Ran could comprehend it just fine. This negotiation wasn't nearly as done as either himself or his mistress would like.
It was obvious.
Xin wanted something.
"Mukoku," the Demon of souls said slowly, lounging on his throne. "You have a Lagarakei living inside your Knave. For beings such as we you know that is equivalent to a lord of the ancient days of Kurana having a pet dragon."
Or a state with nuclear weapons, Ran thought. But he had no idea where the Prince of the Blazes was going with this.
"None of the others will accept this," Xin said, favoring the Queen of Severance with an insufferable look of smugness.
Now Ran understood. Technically, through him, Mukoku had a Lagarakei under her service, supposedly at her beck and call. As he'd compared earlier, it was like possessing a nuclear power, and the powers of Kurana would never stand for it that there'd only be a single nuclear power in the world.
Ran guessed powerful people were the same all over the world.
Mukoku glared at Xin with so much hatred that black veins pulsed all across her face. "I guess I'm indebted to you for your silence."
Xin grinned and nodded. "And I feel for something as important as this I better not leave you to decide the price. I'm afraid, my dear, I must take upon myself that burden."
"What do you want?" Mukoku asked, sneering.
Ran took a step back in fright, his eyes fixed on the sight in front of him.
The Demon Prince, lounging upon his throne, had his arm stretched out—his finger pointing in one direction.
It pointed towards Ran.
"Him. For a Blaze he shall serve me."
Deep within him Ran heard the sounds of gravel rumbling as the Lagarakei laughed.