"Go on."

"What did she mean when she said that you already know where Ambrosia is?" Atomu's eyes focused on theirs.

Rowan wasn't surprised. "It's a hunch, so it's not unnecessary lies. Then again, Orania was a hunch as well, and look where we are now." they shrugged. "It's something connected with Malikan, as you've guessed."

"Are... they going back home?" Atomu leaned closer.

"Not necessarily. Are you familiar with the term of..." they shook their head, as if pushing all the courage inside their heart to say a few simple words. One eye twitching, they glanced at Atomu. "Sin Sacrifice?"

Atomu gulped, and Rowan stepped closer.

"No?" Atomu answered.

"Better off, then." they sighed in relief. "Listen, Atomu," they uttered, earlier signs of a beam turning into an unsure frown. "After we reach Saphrith, that concludes our camaraderie. All this Klakunhoi stuff."

"Wait, what?" Atomu whispered. "But-"

"I can't take you with me," Rowan muttered. "You go look for the Morians."

"But you have the compass!"

"It points to Tributal Magic!" they yelled out, and Atomu opened his mouth in shock. "Ambrosia took the Morians, didn't they? Then again, there is no way in hell they'd allow them into this messed up Tributal stuff." they shook their head. "They're somewhere safe. You'll find them, Atomu. You have to."

"You knew?" Atomu asked, softly.

"I figured it out. But yeah, I had a hunch too, and as far as they go, there doesn't seem to be another answer," they whispered.

Chyuuichi still jumped around in the distance, while Atomu stood still, taking the time to process their words.

"A-At least..." Atomu said, stopping halfway. "Do you promise to be safe out there, all by yourself?"

Rowan turned.

"Without us to help you."

Rowan's eyes were half-closed. There was no snarky or cocky response to reply with to Atomu's words, they stared at his eyes for a couple of seconds. "Promise," they spoke.

Atomu slowly nodded.

Rowan breathed in, before fixing their step, looking further ahead. "Chyuuichi, don't run too far off, damn it!" they repeated.

"It's okaaay!" Chyuuichi chanted, before suddenly falling behind a few leaves.

You can probably guess.

The two ran forward, only for Rowan to suddenly grab Atomu's hand.

Atomu screamed out, seeing a massive sinkhole with waterfalls creating a circle that rose out of seemingly nowhere, with Chyuuichi falling inside at neck-breaking speeds. "CHYUUICHI!" he stuck his hand out.

Through the fervour of yells and worry, the Mirillian's hand landed on his scythe, spinning an icy circle around. It only slowed him for a bit, before his body crashed into a big waterfall, bouncing him off further down inside.

Chyuuichi reached his hands out.

"Damn, that idiot!" Rowan raised their voice, taking a few steps back. "Can't go anywhere without him getting into trouble!"

"Wait, R-Rowan, you're not going to- ROWAN!" Atomu reached his hand out, but Rowan jumped forward, and even dove in to speed their descent. Their earlier expression suggested, that if they couldn't save Chyuuichi, then Atomu must save the two, in any way he can.

Back then, when the demon fell into the sinkhole, he still had enough power to conjure up a demonic way to save himself, but this time, his hands wouldn't be clenched hard enough. Atomu desperately wanted to be human, and much like humans, he also had fears.

But, seeing as Rowan and Chyuuichi only kept tumbling downwards, he stood, full of worry.

The Tributal grabbed the Mirillian's body and started pushing across the water, towards the waterfall. However, their steps weren't strong enough, only collapsing further in.

There were exactly nine layers, each smaller and faster than the other, with waterfalls crashing through willows or llove trees, defining little islands to further spiral down into the abyss.

Rowan and Chyuuichi were six layers deep, and hell knows what could've rested inside. Atomu wasn't going to want to know. Even if his hands couldn't move, something else forced him to take a leap and make a change.

His hand landed on Knrhum's Blade.

Rowan spouted out through the waters, as they pushed on their and Chyuuichi's legs. The Mirillian desperately tried using the rope to help himself and the Tributal pushed forward, but each swing was only met with more of the liquid splashing back into his face.

Chyuuichi yelled out.

Rowan pushed their hand forward, trying to quickly conjure up a spell. A lizard appeared on Chyuuichi's back, following his magic, but that didn't help ease any pain or push forward. There was no last resort, and no fear, since they still somehow trusted themselves that they'd be able to get out of this.

But there was one emotion the Klakunhoi all shared. Complete, and utter frenzy.

When Atomu landed a layer above them, he panicked and found not enough time to stick the blade into the ground. He crashed down into the seventh layer, followed by the two.

There was no time to stand up and push.

Which meant a worse probability of ever being saved.

Atomu grabbed onto a rock that stuck out of the side and extended his arm to the two. "Come on!"

Chyuuichi swung the rope, only hurting Atomu's arm, and Rowan leapt forward, managing to catch on.

"CHYUUICHI!" they yelled, as the Mirillian tried running to resist the push. "JUMP! COME ON!"

Atomu reached his arm further out, before almost tumbling in.

Chyuuichi pushed, as hard as he could, but the edge pulled harder. One second, and with a blink of an eye, he started falling on his back, with an open mouth.

Atomu couldn't scream, and Rowan only stared in disbelief.

All of that for nothing.

All of that for-

Chyuuichi closed his eyes, as his hands wrapped around a massive rope, hanging from above. "Eh? I'm not dead?!"

Various yells of people could be heard from above, and through the water sifting into their eyes, they could see a couple of silhouettes standing near a far edge.

The rope started moving up, and Atomu quickly glanced at Rowan. The two had no time to question or process whatever just happened.

With a mutual nod, they leapt forward, grabbing onto the line.

As fast as they leapt into the sinkhole, they were to leave it, seemingly unharmed.

The rope pulled and stopped right near where the waters were calm, and where Atomu's hand landed on the edge of the grass. He breathed in and out, heavily. He stared at the ground for a few seconds, coughing some of the water up, seeing as shadows surrounded his figure.

"Thank you," he muttered, through a huff. "T-Thank you, so much, whoever you are!"

A few ran around the Paladian, grabbing the rope and throwing the other two onto the grass. Atomu opened his eyes, and then finally looked up.

"Thank-" his eyes shrunk.

Before the three, stood a legion of guards, bearing armour he knew so well. If they weren't tugging on the massive rope, now visible to be hanging off an outpost nearby, they all pointed iron sharp spears at the three.

"Ah..." Chyuuichi made a strange noise. "The-"

"Silence!" one of them raised their voices. "You've been convicted by the king himself!"

"The king?!" Rowan furrowed their brows. "Who the hell are you all?!"

Atomu gulped, slowly raising his hands "What-"

Something struck him at the back of his head.

His forehead quickly hit the ground, and when everything started getting muffled, only a few words made their presence known.

"We caught them!" someone yelled.

***

Stepping through the darkness, thousands of sounds were revealed. Saliva dropped to the ground from droopy mouths, wings flapped, nails were sharpened and horns grew in a sick mix of excitement.

Lisbeth vowed to stare at the ground long enough in those dim caves, all up until an arm landed on her shoulder.

"Eh?" Tabus asked, sticking his sharp teeth out. "Lisbeth?"

"What's the hold-up?" she asked, turning to the army of demons formed in front of an empty pedestal a good fifty meters above them. Staircases led elsewhere, and the sound of a quiet distant waterfall was what she focused on. "Wasn't Leiru supposed to be here already?"

"Tsk!" Tabus' eyes widened, as he straightened up, breathing in. "I guess it's round two, then." he chuckled.

Lisbeth breathed out, in exhaustion.

***

Atomu's hands searched around the stone-cold floor, before a characteristic noise sounded, one of the chains being pulled back and forth. He felt coldness on his neck, a breeze around his bare chest, and his eyelids were finally, but barely lifted.

He didn't say anything, he didn't budge an inch, but only stared, opening his mouth, ever so slightly.

Gone was his weapon, his bag full of items, his shirt which masked all the scars left on his body. He felt blood, constantly dripping somewhere out of reach.

A familiar voice echoed across the room since they weren't outside or anywhere near the jungle.

The illuminations from above were blinding, and the six windows, three on each side were tinted in a vigorous red. Surrounding the stone-cold ground were massive wooden platforms, three rows each, filled to the brim with people, all bearing similar attire. They wore whites, with various patterns, and their faces suggested disgust directed at Atomu.

He gulped, searching for the voice, before finding a chained-up Rowan struggling with three guards. "Take your dirty hands off of me, you-"

"I suggest you keep quiet." A voice spoke, and Atomu's head turned. The wooden stands ended, and instead were replaced by a podium, with various men at the side, and one bearing a strange, long, grey beard. He raised a small hammer and continued to speak, his words directed at the Tributal. "It will only worsen your fate."

Rowan ground their teeth. "What's worse than humiliation, Prune?!" Rowan raised their voice.

"Death may be an answer, but knowing you two trod the line following exactly that, it might not be satisfactory to your twisted minds." Prune spoke, leaning towards Atomu. "Especially you,"

Atomu shook his head. "I don't understand."

Rowan was forcefully sat down in a separate row, taking a seat adjacent to Chyuuichi's. The Mirillian and Tributal bore handcuffs and were stripped away from any equipment they had. Rowan tried saying something, but Chyuuichi only stared at Atomu in worry.

"What do you not understand?" Prune asked. "Demon."

"D-Demon?" Atomu moved back a little.

"I always knew Demonears weren't to be trusted, and if it wasn't for Linno Palski's message, Saphirth wouldn't have taken this risky step." he turned to Rowan and Chyuuichi. "Even if it wasn't that, you're guilty of siding with a demon."

"You can try, Prune," Rowan muttered. "You can't do anything without the king!"

"It's 'your honour', Tributal, and we don't need a king to see the truth."

"You can't kill us," Rowan spoke through their gritted teeth.

"Exactly. You'll have to wait for King Sebastian to see the message left in the Goldenleaf castle."

"M-Message?" Atomu asked. "W-W-What message?" Atomu shook his head.

"There were three." a man to Prune's right stood, looking straight ahead, and fixing his square glasses. "One came from Prope Portam's mayor. Investigating one of its citizens, they found out that someone stole a royal item and then willingly handed it to the enemy. The second one was exactly what I just explained."

With one pull and tug, a silver knife with the words 'Kris' engraved on the side landed on the pedestal across the man, with the light above reflecting off its sharp finish. Each Paladian present turned their head towards the item, but none reacted.

Atomu opened his mouth even further, shaking his head.

"It was found in your sheath!" Prune raised his voice.

"I didn't steal it," Atomu answered. "I swear, it was given to me in Prope Portam!"

"A royal would never trust a demon like you." Prune pointed.

"IT WAS TO SAVE HIS LIFE!" Atomu screamed.

"SILENCE!" Prune smashed the hammer in.

Atomu was now visibly shaking. His earlier mask of confusion seemed to slide down with each second that passed. The pressure pulled on everything if it wasn't for the two guards already standing by his side. It wasn't humiliation.

It was unfairness.

"Even if that evidence wasn't damning enough, one look at your Guardian Demon already revealed the man responsible for the crime taking place in Prope Portam." Prune squinted his eyes. "You killed Bancho." he ground his teeth.

"I didn't kill Bancho." Atomu barely spoke through the huff.

"...and you dare lie in my eyes?" he tilted his head. "How curious, filthy demon. Just like anyone else."

"I didn't kill Bancho! He was my friend!" Atomu yelled.

"Was he?" Prune smiled.

The prosecutor cleared his throat. "There was one last message. Directed at Sebastian himself, reclaimed by Honour Prune to further investigate the case of those who call themselves..." he opened the paper. "Klakunhoi."

Chyuuichi and Rowan turned, and Atomu stared at the ground.

"Dear Sebastian. This is urgent. There's a traitor amongst the ranks of Demonears, waiting to pray and kill every one of our comrades. I know the person they are, they revealed their secret, hoping to find refuge. But I never lie, dear king. I always aim for the truth to be handled right to your doorstep." the prosecutor read, each word sinking deeper into Atomu's mind. "There are two which will surely try to guard him from harm, in turn harming themselves. A Mirillian named Chyuuichi Gamma, and a royal Tributal, Rowan Sven. The three compose the Klakunhoi, with Atomu Turon, a demon disguised as a Paladian, right in the middle. Never trust demons, dear sir, and I'm hoping this will ignite a search for their whereabouts, to put a stop to the filthy devil's reign."

Atomu breathed out.

"Signed, Bancho M. Vitaglia." The prosecutor fixed his collar and sitting down again.

"Bancho?" Rowan asked. "Bancho?!"

"Silence!" Prune smashed.

"THIS IS A LIE! HE WOULD NEVER SEND IN SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" Rowan flailed their entrapped arms, trying to stand up, but instead being pushed down by other guards.

"Bancho?" Chyuuichi silently asked himself, staring at Atomu, who... seemingly didn't react.

Up until he looked up. There was no anger on his face. Tears filled his eyes, and eventually strolled down his cheeks, followed by a few quiet sobs.

They weren't quiet. They would've been, if everyone in court didn't stay completely silent, simply observing Atomu in disgust. He didn't try to rub his tears away or attack in retaliation.

Atomu cried. Atomu wept only to himself.

"It's decided." Prune uttered. "We will make sure your life is as miserable as the one you're forcing humans to live through." the hammer smashed, for one last time.

"The court's session is over."