The sun stood tall across the sky over a rich jungle with green foliage. Artemis walked through the palm trees and exotic bushes, his hands set on his back as his bicolor eyes explored the area.

'Tell me, Artemis, what do you plan to do when we see Goliat?' Kuro inquired within his mind. 'He is not one to listen to your kind.'

"Of course, he isn't. He was born among mortals." Artemis passed through the wet grass and rocks that adorned the ground. "But no one can discuss the results. You know that very well."

'Hmmm..." the dragon mumbled.

"Besides, that is not something we should be worrying about yet." He looked around, continuing ahead in the wilderness, a device embedded in his hand setting a projected path. "The supreme leader of this realm may have perished, but that wouldn't stop the gods from getting their avaricious hands on the fundamental beast."

"Meaning they must have sent someone to get control of the Lion," He added while glancing ahead.

'And do you expect them to have succeeded?'

"Not in the slightest," he snickered and glanced around the trees as he continued to advance. "The gods do not care about this realm enough to send their best subjects to this world. Their ignorant asshats probably brought some blisters around here. Regardless, we must not drop our guard."

Eventually, he reached a clearing. In there, he could see a temple in the distance. It appeared to be a giant statue. "We are close." His eyes were set forward. He noticed that the jungle seemed to be distorted. He reached his hand to it and felt a solid, invisible wall on it, causing a minor burn on his palm.

"Ah, barrier." He waved the pain off his hand. "Of course," he opened his other hand, demonic energy forming on his hand while he pointed his fingers at the forcefield. A small mass of deep red light was created between his fingers; it shaped into a sharp, arrow-like head form. "Pierce," he released the spell, destroying the wall as soon as it made contact.

"top-notch security here." He mumbled sarcastically and dusted himself off as he walked through.

'They must have something else prepared. I doubt they settled with putting up a barrier,' Kuro told him.

"I know." Artemis tilted his head as he felt the air changing after his first step. The atmosphere was heavier as if there was an overwhelming presence in the area. He hummed and rubbed his chin. "If I had to guess, I'd say they'd send..."

Suddenly, a group of blades fell from the sky. Artemis jumped out of the way and covered his face from the rubble; a shape blinked into sight within the cloud of smoke. "One of their 'heroes.' Right on cue." He stood back normally, then squinted his eyes.

The cloud dissipated to reveal an older man with grey eyes. The top of his head was completely bald, and long, jagged grey locks rotted on the sides and back, and a thin mustache on his head. He was dressed in pearly samurai armor, and countless swords rested on his back.

"Legendary swordsmith Muramasa Sengo." He dusted himself off and looked at him.

'This is one of their heroes? That's just sad.' Kuro sneered.

'Let us not judge appearances,' Artemis scolded him.

"don't get past this point, demon child. The Behemot Lion is under my protection." Muramasa stood and pointed his sword at him.

"Right you are, sir." Artemis smiled and tilted his head with his hands on his pack. "However, I am in need of the beast's cooperation, so if we could discuss this in a civilized manner, I assure you we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement." He offered with a welcoming tone.

"I do not negotiate with demons; the gods gave me this task. I Will not let anyone take it!" the old man stated firmly as the katana shimmered in his hand. "You may fool the people of this era, but I will not be deceived!"

"Oh, goodie," Artemis mumbled, irritation tainting his smile. His hand dropped down, and his posture changed to a more tired stance. "One of these."

'You surely couldn't have hoped for him to accept,' Kuro commented.

'I was hoping for it- OH SHIT.' Artemis' eyes widened as Muramasa charged at him rapidly, drawing his blade back and delivering a powerful slash that sent him flying into a tree.

"All right..." he muttered, whipping his mouth, smoke coming out of his chest from the sword's impact. "The hard way it is," he groaned and summoned orbs of demonic energy, sending them all around the area and toward the older man.

Muramasa blitzed around the trees, cutting the attacks straight in half with numerous katanas floating around him; slashing sounds resounded all around as he ran to reach the redhead child. Once he was centimeters away, one of the orbs came from behind and blasted him into the air.

As more orbs approached the older man, Blades flew towards Artemis, who created a demonic magic shield. He watched the swords dig into the barrier. "Huh, cursed blades, interesting."

"Your tricks will not best me, demon!" Muramasa yelled from the air as he came down and cut the child in half. After that, the other blades released a rain of slashes, forcing the young male to block with his arms. However, that didn't stop the force of the attack from launching him away once more.

Minor bruises appeared on his forearms as he landed a couple of feet away. "Quite skilled for a blacksmith," he mumbled and brushed his hair back. "Let's test more." He adjusted a hand and pressed a button on a device infused on it. After that, his hands turned into cannons, and rockets formed on his feet.

Artemis then propelled himself away from the armored warrior, attacking him with a masterful swing, which was followed by several more. As he avoided the onslaught of floating katanas, he pointed the canons forward and charged them up with energy. A shimmering white blast was fired and overwhelmed the swords momentarily, making Muramasa block with the sword in his hand.

"What is this!?" he growled as the blast engulfed him and created a small explosion, momentarily damaging his armor.

"Stardust energy. Pretty easy to harness with the right source." He chuckled as he watched his armor reform. "But you wouldn't understand it." A small cannon came from each of his wrists, shooting small missiles at him. The projectiles homed in his opponent while Muramasa jumped back, summoning more swords and using them to deflect the rockets as he dashed around the area.

"I will not fall to your wretched weapons!" he shouted and rushed forward, cutting the attack at blinding speeds. As he brought his sword down at Artemis, he glitched through the attack, revealing a hologram in his place. The false image snickered at him while the real Artemis floated behind him. "Is that so?" he waved his hand, making the fallen missiles turn into turrets, all of them pointed at the armored warrior.

With a fist sign, the turrets fired numerous blasts of energy at Muramasa, continuously showering him with stardust energy. "Enough!" He shouted with anger as a slicing sound echoed. The turrets were cut in half as the older warrior came out with a longer katana of black steel. "This the Muramasa, the strongest cursed blade I've ever forged. This ends now."

Artemis raised an eyebrow, "you named the sword after yourself?" he snickered. "Typical." The next thing he knew, slashing waves destroyed his body, backing him further into the forest. Not content with this, Muramasa rushed after him and slashed at him various times as he flew through the trees.

The young redhead let out a loud grunt of pain as he crashed into a rock. He coughed some blood before his green eye moved on its own, locating Muramasa and seeing him still running after him. "Okay... that's enough intel." He mumbled as the rocks around him began to shake. When the older man reached him, the Muramasa was risen high for a finishing blow. But it never landed. The blade was stopped between Artemis' palms.

"What the..." he noticed dark energy starting to emanate from the boy, a surge of power that made the jungle shake.

"You are an interesting specimen, but I am not wasting more time playing your game, old man," he sneered at him as his eyes shimmered dangerously, and an eruption of darkness covered his body. The shadows materialized around him, showing a black draconic armor with dark purple eyes. As he continued to hold the sword, a shadowy claw emerged from his chest and slammed Muramasa into the ground.

"I really wanted to save this for another occasion, but you have proved more challenging than anticipated." Artemis extended his hands, displaying his armor in full might.

Black dragon of nothingness armor: Kuro.

"What... is that..." the older man mumbled in shock.

"This is the power of a primordial beast at its best use. Let me show you." He raised his hand. "Obsidian mirror." With those words, shadows flowed out of his hand, shaping an exact copy of the Muramasa sword.

Muramasa widens his eyes in shock. "How..."

"It's shadow magic. You connect the dots, hero." He tilted his head condescendingly, the view of his helmet shining dark purple. After that, Artemis flew at him rapidly, delivering a straight stab that forced the older man to block sideways the clash of their similar weapons, sending shockwaves around the area and shaking the palm trees near them.

"Your cheap imitation won't defeat me!" Muramasa growled as he struggled against him.

Artemis laughed a bit and pushed back. "Show me!" he slashed upwards, breaking their clash and preparing another attack, releasing black slashing waves that were met by equal strikes by Muramasa, cutting the trees around them and clearing the field bit by bit.

As the swords clashed, Artemis's eyes moved to follow his strikes behind his helmet. He parried each attack swiftly and then stabbed him on his shoulder, releasing a wave of black magic that enveloped his armor and clawed away at it.

The dark energy dragged the older warrior along the forest as Artemis floated after him, turning into dark purple trails that slashed at him numerous times, his attacks breaking apart the armor. But something was different. For some reason, the armor wasn't regenerating.

Instead, the older man started to get cut directly by the relentless strikes of the shadowy blade. He growled in pain before he planted his sword on the ground, taking a firm stance and drawing the katana back with his whole arm's length, mustering all the strength he could before throwing a titanic attack.

Artemis came from above, the dark replica sword surrounded by shadow energy as he swung down against the hero's sword. One second after making contact, the Muramasa shattered into pieces. Its forger widened his eyes in shock as his opponent's blade came down on him, leaving a massive slash on his chest and propelling him to the ground.

The older man coughed out blood and held his chest. "How... how did you overpower the Muramasa..." he panted shakily. "With that imitation."

"It's a boosted replica, you simpleton," he rolled his eyes at his disbelief. "Anything created by the obsidian mirror will be a perfect reflection with the extra power of shadow magic, simple as that." He pointed the sword at him. "Are we done now? I'd rather not have to kill you because of something as barbaric as pride."

"I've spent centuries protecting this temple..." Muramasa held the shards of his destroyed weapon. "The gods will never forgive me if I let it fall into the wrong hands."

"Good thing I don't plan to use it for heinous acts." He squinted in front of him, his arms resting on his knees as his helmet faded to reveal his face. "I seek to engage peace with heaven, not war."

"How do I know... you are not lying."

"Use your brain, old man." He pointed at his head, "If I wanted to attack the , I wouldn't have left Jigoku in the first place."

The older man looked up at him, his eyes darted back down in hesitation before letting out a small sigh, standing up shakily with his hand over his chest. "I'll let Goliat judge your words."

"Works for me." Artemis shrugged and stood back straight. He opened a hand behind them and opened a shadow portal. "Get out of here before you bleed out." He told him as he walked away from the area, the armor fading and letting him take a small breath.

"Such a lack of sight," he fixed his ear. But at least it helped test something," he opened his palm, displaying a screen with various numbers and pictures on it.

"It needs more work... but I'll finish that later," he advanced towards the temple. And soon enough, it was there. An enormous statue of a Lion, jagged by time but standing steady among the forest

'Hmpf, the bastard hasn't moved an inch in years,' Kuro spoke through their teeth with amusement.

"Give him a wake-up call then." He placed his hand on one of the paw's fingers, closing his eyes and letting the dark magic flow from him. Kuro's giant dragon form emerged from the ground as he let out a shrieking roar.

A couple of seconds of silence followed, and then, the earth shook. The rust and rubble fell from the statue before their eyes, gradually revealing the majestic beast's figure, white luscious fur and black claws, an enormous strong shape, and a pearly, stunning mane covering its head, flowing into the wind as it opened its golden eyes. It let out an equally mighty roar as it rose its head higher into the sky.

Behemot lion of the mortal realm - Goliat.

He moved his hands behind himself, walked back a couple of feet, and closed his eyes from the strong wind gusts their roars released.

The beasts briefly set their eyes on each other. After that, the lion scoffed, clouds releasing from its nose as it stared at them. "Kuro"

The dark dragon huffed, black mist emitting from his mouth. "Goliat"

"So, it is true, you allowed a kid to seal you within yourself." He titled his head, "How could that happen to the proud ruler of the Yomi?"

"don't mock me, feline," the black beast growled. "it's better than doing nothing and letting others conquer my plane."

The lion growled back as his eyes shimmered with violent intent.

"What a moving reunion," Artemis interrupted, clapping his hands. "Greetings," he bowed with a calm smile.

"Demon child. I've seen your actions in my realm." Goliat turned his sight at him, his expression serenating a little. He laid down on his stomach, resting his head on his paws. "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point, I respect that." he chuckled and straightened his clothes. "I seek your cooperation, of course. Your power, to be exact. As you know, the gods will only allow someone like me an audience if I acquire the position of supreme leader of this realm."

Kuro let out a slight growl but remained silent and let the conversation continue.

"Why do you want to go to the Takamagahara?" Goliat questioned as he titled his head.

"I need something from there. I have a lot of plans, and your collaboration is required for it." Artemis explained with his hands on his back.

"Not enough," he responded.

"Pardon me?"

"Do you think I am interested in a search for power?" Goliath leaned into his hand. "I've seen your actions in their world; I know of all the power you hold. And you still desire more? You are no less greedy than the humans you guided. If you do not have enough of what you already hold, you don't deserve more."

Artemis' eye twitched at the beast's lecture; he felt his hands gripping tighter on his wrists. Yet still, he regained his collected expression and uttered a single question. "What is the most valuable thing in the world?"

The lion raised an eyebrow at this question, giving him a head gesture to continue.

The young redhead smiled and started to pace around. "Is it power? Domination? Wealth?" he asked as he walked. "No! Non! Niet!" he turned around. The most valuable thing... is knowledge." He extended his hands with an energic smile.

"Knowledge discovers resources, it brings power, it cures disease!" he pronounced as he looked into the sky. "Knowledge is a never-ending search. You do not settle for a piece of knowledge. You continue to move forward; heaven holds so many answers and so much information that could have improved your realm. And yet, they've kept it for themselves."

He then pointed at the lion. "And you allowed them to do so; you've stayed here and let them look down upon you!" he declared, causing Goliath to narrow his eyes "I do not accept that fate; beings will not look down upon me to keep knowledge from the world. I offer you this choice, Behemot Lion. Join me and learn all the truths they've kept for us. Or stay stationary and let them treat you as beneath them," he offered his hand.

The lion stared down at him, remaining silent for a couple of seconds. Then, he chuckled a bit and stood back on its legs. "You're an interesting little demon." It reached its giant claw at his hand. "Very well then, I'll join your amusing journey,"

"Perfect," Artemis grinned. The lion turned into a mass of mist; it entered the demon boy's body through his chest as his eyes glowed. Once it was completely absorbed, he let out a relaxed sigh, cracking his neck as Kuro returned to him. When he opened his eyes, a faint image of Goliath's head flashed on his chest.

"Ah," He exhaled in satisfaction, brushing his hair back with his hand. "I love a successful exploration."

'What now, Artemis?' Kuro asked.

'Yes, this would be better if I had to share a mind with this lizard,' Goliat added, now in his mind as well.

'don't test your luck," he growled.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen," Artemis raised his hands to shoulder height. The answer is a simple process." He turned around and opened a portal in front of himself. For now, we focus on three stages," he raised three fingers.

"Question, hypothesis." he grinned darkly as he left through the portal. "And testing."