Beginning Beyond The Horizon

The hustle and bustle of the morning market gradually subsided, and there were fewer pedestrians on the street. Yul still hugged Meiji and waited for Hajime with Nayao outside of Eternal Library. As time passed by, Yul became more and more worried. He decided that if noon time passed and Hajime hadn't returned, he would break into the library.

When noon has passed, Yul found that Meiji had fallen asleep. He put Meiji in the basket and looked at the door of Eternal Library. He was looking for the best place to enter when the door of Eternal Library suddenly opened and Hajime walked out alone, without Ru.

Hajime quickly rushed down the seven steps and rushed towards Yul. He smiled at Yul and said, "I have something for you." He opened his palm, and in his palm lay a bright stone crystal. "Our fourth key."

Yul looked at the white stone crystal and smiled. "I thought it would be on Kinigan Island," Yul said with a laugh. "How did you get it so easily?"

Hajime said, "Let's eat first, we can discuss it with the others. Where is Meiji?"

Yul said, "He is sleeping. We booked an inn not far from here." He and Hajime walked back to the white goat and Nayao. "By the way, this is Nayao." He looked at Nayao. "This is Hajime."

Nayao smiled shyly and nodded to Hajime.

"Nice to meet you, Nayao," Hajime greeted with a smile. "Oh, I can take care of that." Hajime stretched out his hand and took the robe that tied the white goat from Nayao's hand. He grabbed the reins and slowly pulled the white goat walking alongside Yul.

Abrafo and Bong stood by the main entrance of the inn, waiting for Hajime and Yul in the hot summer sun.

"I don't understand why we need to stand here waiting for them," Bong said irritably.

Abrafo turned to look at Bong and said, "No one forced you to stand here. Why are you here?"

Bong looked at Abrafo wildly and said, "Then why are you here?"

Abrafo said, "I'm waiting for my godson. Do you have a problem with that?"

Abrafo crossed his arms across his chest and looked back towards the street. When he saw Nayao coming, he quickly rushed out, passed Nayao, and went straight to Hajime who was dragging the white goat and walking side by side with Yul.

"Where is my god son?" Abrafo asked.

Hajime smiled and said, "He fell asleep."

Yul looked at Abrafo and said with a smile, "You're more excited than me."

Abrafo said, "Of course, you have been holding him for so many hours. I only picked him up for less than a minute and he vomited on me."

Hajime said, "That's because he just finished eating."

Abrafo looked at the goat and asked, "Why are you dragging this goat?"

Hajime said, "This goat belongs to Master Yuuto. I need her milk to feed Meiji."

Abrafo chuckled. "I thought you'd develop breasts after you gave birth," he joked. "Anyway, lunch is waiting for you three." He looked at Meiji. "Can he eat yet?"

Hajime said, "No, according to master Yuuto, he won't be able to start eating solid food until he's at least five to six months old. "

Abrafo frowned sadly, "Oh...then all the chicken drumsticks I prepared for him will be wasted."

Yul said, "Michio is happy to eat on Meiji's behalf so those chicken drumsticks will not go to waste."

After a celebratory lunch and dinner, the five Tanzanies sat around a table in Yul's room.

U-ri said, "After reading all the oldest books, I found no record of Huoyang."

"I thought it was strange that there were no records of Huoyang in this library," Yul said. "I asked some librarians, and they told me that they had not heard of Huoyang's story."

U-ri said, "So I came to the conclusion that ordinary people would not know about this. The people who know Huoyang's story may be the descendants of the mortal kings who fought alongside the gatekeepers of the South Sea."

Abrafo said, "So we're in this stupid game for nothing."

Michio said, "This is not for nothing. I have learned a lot of new magic and improved a lot of my own spells."

Abrafo sighed, "I think you are right, at least my fighting skills are much better than before." He raised his eyebrows at Yul. "You may never beat me again."

Hajime asked, "I forgot to ask if Lixin participated with you."

Abrafo said, "Without you, we didn't have enough manpower, so Bong had to beg Lixin to join our team."

Hajime said, "With Lixin's character, he will not do this for free."

Abrafo said, "You are literally a worm in his gut. Yes, he is not doing this for free. In return, he wants us to share everything we know about Kinigan Island, once we find the fourth keys, the key will be his."

Hajime said, "But you won't find the fourth key on Kinigan Island."

Abrafo stared at Hajime and asked, "What? How did you know?"

Hajime said, "When Librarian Ru and I were drinking tea and chatting, he gave me the fourth key."

Abrafo's jaw dropped. "What? That...that bastard..." He took a few deep breaths. "So, there's no need to go to Kinigan Island."

U-ri said, "If it can be avoided, Huoyang is best to stay on Kinigan Island. Now that we have the fourth key, let's continue looking for the last key."

Yul said, "But the map only shows Kinigan Island. You know, if we don't complete the task given to us, the next key will not appear."

Michio said, "But that map was given to you by Meng. Meng has been planning his conspiracy against us for a long time, so I suggest that we not go to Kinigan Island because Hajime has already found our fourth key."

Hajime said, "We still need to go to Kinigan Island, but not for the fourth key. We must warn Baishui and the others that danger is heading their way."

"Danger?" U-ri asked. "What kind of danger?"

The door to Yul's room was kicked open, and Lixin and Bong were standing at the door with Lixin's subordinates. Lixin walked into the room and stared at Yul and the others.

Lixin said, "We have agreed that from now on, there will be no secrets between us, and we will share all information about Kinigan Island. Once we get the key on Kinigan Island, the key will be mine."

Bong looked at Abrafo and then at the others madly, "I am not risking my life just so that the five of you can talk in secret."

Abrafo looked at Bong, and he said, "Well, U-ri saved your life and you didn't die, so what else do you want?"

Bong said, "Compensation for pain and suffering." 

Abrafo said, "Hey, no one forces you, you do it of your own free will."

Bong quickly rushed forward, grabbed Abrafo's collar, pulled Abrafo up from his seat, and sat on Abrafo's seat.

Lixin walked to the bed and sat on the edge. He looked at the door and Jin closed the door. "Continue your conversation," he said.

U-ri said, "We were about to talk about Kinigan Island." He looked at Hajime. "Hajime, what do you want to say about Kinigan Island?"

Hajime said, "Librarian Ru told me that he doesn't know where Kinigan Island is, but if we go to Dreake City, we will most likely find Baishui, and he may be able to take us to Kinigan Island. It will take us a few days to walk from here to there." 

Lixin said, "When I walk in, I hear sir U-ri ask what the danger was."

Hajime said, "The Zahog phoenix will take revenge on Huoyang, who is currently imprisoned on Kinigan Island."

Lixin asked, "What about this Huoyang?

Hajime said, "Eldrys's master."

Hajime looked at Yul, who nodded to him. "Lord Lixin, you were not present when we saw this Zahog phoenix, but everyone here, including lady Fufu, has seen Zahog's ability. When I returned to the temple, Master Yuuto told me that when Huoyang was at his highest peak of power, he ordered his army to enter the Hellfire Peak and his army of demons, goblins and Eldrys began to kill every fire phoenix and destroy all the phoenix eggs. Zahog, the mother of the fire phoenix had a total of ten phoenix eggs that were destroyed by Huoyang," Hajime said.

U-ri said, "I understand Huoyang's reason. He wants to ensure that no other Nephilim will be born besides him. He is afraid of losing his power."

Hajime continued, "The Zahog fought with Huoyang and was defeated miserably because she could not defeat Huoyang, Eldrys, and Lan Huan, but she still continued to fight. The battle lasted for many days and nights, and innocent people were killed. So, the mortal king and the Nine Dragon clans decided to join forces to fight against Huoyang and Zahog." He sighed. "But now, Zahog breaks free from prison, and she will go to Kinigan Island to seek revenge. Zahog's flames are enough to melt the ice that imprisoned Huoyang, so Master Yuuto and Master Budi are worried that if Huoyang escape and with his thousands of years of cultivation, no one will be able to stop Huoyang. If this happens, even if the Dragon Clan joins forces, they may not be able to stop Huoyang. Therefore, we must go to Kinigan Island and let Baishui know. Baishui and the others may be able to find a way to strengthen the defense of Kinigan Island."

Bong said, "No wonder when Kaizen took you away, he said that Huoyan's story is too long to explain in one go."

Yul said, "This must be the reason why Meng went to Maka City. Zahog was imprisoned in Mount Zins." Yul looked at the people around the table. "Meng's master is Huoyang."

Bong said, "That bastard must have planned it from the beginning. He wanted to lure us into a life-and-death battle with the dragon clans and take the opportunity to cause chaos in Maka City to release Zahog."

U-ri said, Meng's initial plan must be that when the dragon clans fight your army in Misnix, there will be no guards on Kinigan Island, and Zahog is likely to break through the barriers defense. The dragon clans will be too far away to come back in time to seal the ice cracks and prevent Huoyan from escaping."

Bong clenched his fist tightly and muttered angrily, "We should kill him in Maka City."

Lixin asked, "So, when are you leaving for Dreake City?"

Yul said, "Two days from today. We need to make some preparations."

Lixin said, "You don't have to wait so long. I will prepare everything tonight and set off early tomorrow morning."