Suddenly, Chyuuichi's fingers turned blue and cold, with sharp, frosty nails at the end. When he dove in with one sweep, fifteen were eliminated, pushing the others to crush down into tiny bones, which splattered on the rocky ground, and formed back elsewhere.

Crystals appeared above Chyuuichi, creating icicle connections through each before reaching Morgana's tip, blasting off with a frosty attack.

"Much like how our hearts connected." Chui sounded.

"The crystalline connects to form strength." Yanma continued.

When everything around Chyuuichi was cleared, the half-demon turned to Jyuzou and Elton, skillfully making haste, far away from the horde. He smiled again, before jumping up and whispering something under his breath.

A lizard-like creature appeared from beneath his sleeve and jumped onto the enemies, clashing through their bones and piercing through five more. Chyuuichi gritted his teeth and swung once more, matching the wind that Jyuzou created, pushing the army towards the Mirillian.

"The body, the mind." Chyuuichi thought. "I am myself. I am my friends, I am the people inside me. I don't need to choose a side. Sun or the moon? What about the eclipse, I've never seen one!" he grinned. "Yes, no, how about a different answer? How about... maybe?!" he beamed, flowing through the air carefully and thrashing the skeletons away.

With a few swings and strikes, he ran in the front, finally reaching the others and putting his hands on their shoulders, with a bright smile that could perhaps, light up the path they were to take.

A completely new one, as well.

Jyuzou and Elton looked at their companion, and Chyuuichi breathed out, before stopping.

"Sometimes ya don't win," Chyuuichi said. "Sometimes ya don't lose, and sometimes..." he closed his eyes, before quickly opening them.

"Sometimes there's another answer!"

The skeletons crashed into each other, sending an intimidating wave of dust and white specks, which went through the three with a harsh wind, temporarily blinding them.

Jyuzou put his hands over his face and ground his teeth, Elton turned around, yelling, albeit rather quietly, and Chyuuichi stared forward, with a confident smile.

Everything went silent.

"Huh?" Jyuzou turned around, taking a few steps into the darkened, empty hush. "Huh?" he repeated, amidst the great confusion.

"Huh?" Chyuuichi also said the same thing, only to feel included.

"W-Where are they?" the Morian asked, rubbing his eyes, and then pinching himself to make sure that everything they experienced wasn't a dream.

"Hm?" Elton hesitantly turned around. "What?!" he raised his voice. "Wh-Where?" he pointed. "Where?!" he repeated.

"No clue here either." Jyuzou shook his head. "But it's all very, very interesting..." he started noting something in his journal, much to Elton's inner disappointment.

Chyuuichi looked up, then around the cavern. "Ooh!" Chyuuichi strolled forwards. "I know where we are!" he sounded. "Totinoi!"

"Toti... what?" Elton raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes!" he clapped his hands." I remember those stories!" he bit his lip excitedly, jumping around joyously. He kept yelling out, raising one fist, then the other, in pure, unfiltered joy.

"So?" Elton leaned closer. "What was it about, Chyuuichi?"

"Yipee! Yipee!" Chyuuichi's voice echoed. It seemed that, the simplest of things returned to how they once were, both sides now pouring themselves into one basket and creating who Chyuuichi was.

Himself.

Jyuzou squinted, lying on the ground before spotting a weapon shining in the darkness. He waddled, picking up the remnants of the skeletons, now fully confirming that whatever happened merely a few seconds ago was, indeed, real, and not a figment of his imagination. He slid the translucent blade right into the shaft that found enough space to fit both weapons and turned around, quickly breathing in, putting both hands on his backpack's straps.

Totinoi, as the Paladian and Morian would later learn, was the one exception to the rule established by Mirillians inside their small circles, outside of Soban. Generally, it rarely occurred that Mirillians joined forces to build structures and form cities or towns outside of Soban. Usually, they kept in groups and used the shifted environment to their advantage.

Yet, the place they found themselves in was nowhere near having naturally formed grottos or hideouts, so, for once, they vowed to spend their time and erect structures out of the endless supply of the flowy, black 'ghizma' liquid, which when burned, turned into fine, hard bricks. The Mirillians chose to stay instead of searching because they once heard groans and roars deep below the ground, hoping it might be a chimera or those fabled dragons.

Years passed, however, efforts were futile and the Mirillians passed away or moved elsewhere, in search of their beliefs and prizes hidden in rocks and minerals. Chyuuichi swore, though, that he'd return here one day and be the first to find those mythical creatures.

As for the skeletons, this question was left unanswered, but for the sake of convenience, there's someone who knows the solution.

In many beliefs, it is widely speculated that after a human dies, they have three paths to choose from, be it, the above, (heaven for Shinnia, the skies for One, etc.) the below, (the deepest layers of hell) or the middle, which is the state where the dead souls endlessly wander without a place on earth.

The souls inhabit the last remnants of one's body, turning into a skeleton, and continuously fighting for peace, or perhaps torment. They're everywhere, but they can't be seen or felt, unless the time and space specifically call for such an occasion, this time, being Chyuuichi's confusion.

For moments there, his body existed in the same place the skeletons did, neither was he a human or a demon, but upon bringing peace to oneself, and a reason for the army to end their battles, they all went their separate ways, finally finding a path that suits them.

"Phew." Jyuzou breathed out. "Alright, we shouldn't be wasting more time."

"Yippee!" Chyuuichi kept jumping.

"Tell us already!" Elton yelled.

"You two!" Jyuzou added from afar, and both their gazes met the Morian's. "Stop screwing around, and let's see what's at the end of this b-big cave."

As they strutted further away, a thick glance met the Mirillian from above.

"You've grown weak, Yanma," Lisbeth muttered, clenching her fist, before disappearing into the shadows.

***

Much of Anna-Pom's, Ambrosia's and Morio's travel was met with a strange silence, as the Tributal and the Paladian-Morian were keen on thinking rather than talking, arguing with their various thoughts and notions. The young Morian, deterred by the rather tense atmosphere, decided to look around and blabber from time to time, albeit still very quietly.

They passed through various caves, stopped by waterfalls or observed various stalactites and stalagmites, either dripping water from the ceiling or obscuring their path, which led to Ambrosia halting their movements, confusing their brain with their legs, which did force a chuckle out of the normally serious Anna.

Situations like these didn't bring peace to Morio's minute stress, however. Even though he was excited about setting out earlier, the simple thought of travelling alongside Anna-Pom scared him. He didn't tell anyone, but he was deathly afraid of the woman. He thought of her stature as very menacing and the glances that met him and Jyuzou when they were arguing seemed very judging.

Even now, when he wasn't doing anything quirky or characteristic, he felt the sheer pressure of Anna's presence, and whenever their eyes met, even for a few seconds, the Morian would back out, sticking his head into the map he kept sketching.

"I never thought I'd venture into the depths of Errarion," Anna thought to herself. "Not to fool myself, it's not like I ever wanted to. Demons, bats, goblins... haven't met the latter, fortunately." they passed by an overhang, which was decorated with many shining crystals. Morio's eyes lit up and Ambrosia smiled, nodding to themselves. "Tight squeezes, thin corridors and small, light bridges above shallow and dangerous waters. It's cold, but I've already gotten used to that." she smiled lightly, scratching her head.

"I never thought I'd find any joy going down into this dampness. Frankly, I have a lot of things to complain about. Firstly, my clothes. They're sticky from all the dust and particles that settled, but Ambrosia did promise me that they'd get me some Tributal robes after all of this was over so am I winning? Probably." she grinned, much to Morio's dismay.

"Also, I'm not really fond of Bancho's group. Surely, here and there exist more bearable people. The big Mirillian is tolerable, although a few things could be worked on. Elton is Elton, you can never go wrong with Elton, he just... naturally tends to piss me off." she rolled her eyes, and at this point, Morio decided to just stop paying attention to her, focusing on something else instead.

"Atomu is fine, I guess. I think he's scared of me. The purple Morian is fine on his own, it's just when they match... ugh." she shook her head, taking the lead, while Morio and Ambrosia stayed in the back, chatting.

"I'd have to search for good things about Bancho, but I already know him, and that other Mirillian... he was annoying at first but went silent after a while." Anna turned back to the two. "...and I like silence." she beamed triumphantly.

"There's something I've been thinking about." Ambrosia smiled, announcing, stopping Anna's complicated train of thought.

"Hm?" Morio looked up.

"Would you perhaps know how the demon army keeps growing and growing?"

"I think Shi Hon creates them, no, wait! That Satan guy!" Morio grinned. "Yes, of course!"

"Not really what I was talking about." Ambrosia shook their head. "Do you think they create families? Such as parents, and children."

"No clue here." Morio raised his voice.

"You never heard or saw anything?"

"Nope." he shook his head.

"Well, my point here is that humans can be turned into demons, and such can reproduce. Normal demons, though. They're clothless, and they don't have any genitalia." Ambrosia closed one eye and signalled with their hands.

"On the right, stands Ambrosia, a rather quiet individual. I don't have anything against them. They're curious, and much smarter than they present themselves. In all honesty, that's how I picture most Tributals. Such fascinating people." Anna-Pom waddled over, but Morio was unaware of her presence. "...and on the left, stands the one sole obstacle in the path of my happiness."

"What are genitalia?" Morio asked, with a genuine smile, and Anna-Pom pushed her hand into his face, silencing him.

"Enough," Anna muttered.