Yuna and Ygdran, who had managed to kill all other children in his trial and also managed to manifest and Aura Cloak, followed Tamashi through the great halls of Xinoll.
Yuna has already been experienced with manifesting her aura cloak, her hydras being just that, an aura cloak. Tamashi had said that an aura cloak that also acts as a living thing is something that is completely unheard of. She never knew that, up until a few years ago, she never even knew what an aura cloak was.
Xinoll was still under construction for the most part, but they had completely the entirety of the current sector they were in. At the end of the dark hall of black stone was a large door and two demons guarding it. Both demons were similar, yet different. One had a horn on his right side and only one eye on the left, while he carried a sword in one hand. A single demon wing grew from his back. The other was the exact opposite. Both had chains wound around their bodies.
Yuna still had no clue what the chains were for or what they meant, but she knew that every demon she had ever seen has had them, even the demons from her childhood. She couldn't help but wonder at times what their importance or purpose was. She had asked Tamashi before, but he never gave her an answer.
The closest thing to an answer she had gotten was "it is all that I have consumed and gained." But, that honestly cleared up nothing at all. All she knew was that they were important.
Both of the demons ahead of them raised their weapons and stepped aside to let Tamashi through.
"These two are with me." Tamashi said as Yuna and Ygdran passed through the doors.
"Haha, yeah, your little pets." One of the demons chuckled.
"Except that these little pets could kill you." Tamashi said nonchalantly.
Both demons frowned at this statement.
"Gatekeeper! Where are you?" Tamashi called as soon as they entered the next room.
It was large and spacious and a huge set of double doors with carvings of death and oblivion on them lay before the group. The doors looked like they were for a giant.
Then a hooded figure came out from a shadowy corner of the room. He was short and had a hunched back and he carried a large staff. He had a tattered black cloak with the hood pulled over his head, but below it, one could see gleaming eyes of white.
"And what do I owe this pleasure, lord Tamashi?" Gatekeeper hissed.
Yuna had never heard Tamashi be called "lord". It was strange, she had never really thought of Tamashi from the demon hierarchy angle.
"I would say it is time we set these two on their first real quest." Tamashi grinned.
"I see.." Gatekeeper glanced over Ygdran and stared over at Yuna for a long moment. The fact that the demon seemed completely disinterested in Ygdran got Yuna a glare from the boy.
Gatekeeper hobbled over to Yuna, the sound of rattling chains going along with his movements. Yuna glared at the old demon, not wanting him to come any closer.
"I'd watch yourself, Getekeeper, this girl has a temperament." Tamashi chuckled.
"I see. Most likely due to your style of parenting."
"Hey, I wasn't that bad of a father, now was I?" Tamashi asked with a knowing grin. Yuna ignored him.
"Tamashi. Before you do anything.. I have a warning." Gatekeeper growled.
"Oh? And what is that?"
"I have had a vision. Soon, our realm will be visited by one of whom is not god, demon, nor man. This being intends to bring ruin to all beyond and within our world."
"Are you saying he isn't from our realm?" Tamashi asked.
"Yes."
"I see. So there must be reality-bending abilities in play. Are you sure it isn't just a deity?" Tamashi asked.
"Once it was."
"Once it was? And it became something else?"
"A heartless being with no will nor drive, a tool to be used by something of greater power to eliminate all things that exist."
Yuna listened intently to the conversation. A being that threatened their own… reality? What kind of being could be of such a caliber? There was no way, she thought. It had to be false, or something else.
"So you are saying this being has no control over their own will." Tamashi spoke. "And how soon is he to be expected?"
"Soon. In two years time."
"I see. Is he a threat to us, or just the overworld and the gods?"
"He is a threat unto everything, including us. When the time comes, demons and gods shall be joined together in order to triumph this foe."
"Gods and demons? Working together?" Tamashi laughed. "Gatekeeper, I think you are just tripping on drugs. Whatever, just open the gates. I want these two to leave Xinoll, and they are not to return until they have killed either a deity or a god." Tamashi turned to Yuna, "preferably a god."
Gatekeeper sighed. "Yes, my lord." He turned and went to the center of the room and placed his staff in the ground, then twisted it. With a loud click and then the sound of grinding stone, the doors began to swing open.