Emily's eyes shot up like her mother's blood pressure charts at the mention of Xeno. Chiro had explained to her a little about who he was and for the first time while talking about a criminal Chiro had a sense of sadness and a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
"Yes," replied Nicole bluntly.
"That is…Unexpected at best, I thought Chiro dealt with him," explained Natsuki.
"I found it impossible to deal with Xeno this man…He has the power to create Avatars and manipulate his soul to a microscopic scope that is impossible to comprehend," explained Nicole in a menacing way.
"That…means in order to beat him we need to…" began Natsuki.
"Kill all of his avatars and there might be over a million," Emily completed Natsuki's sentence.
"And that's nearly impossible for us to do," said Nicole.
"What's the plan then?" asked Emily.
"I don't know yet but I wanted to meet all the DMMS members just to see if we have a chance and I need to know Danso's whereabouts. Where is the Shadow Kid and the Water Demon?" asked Nicole.
"Their names are Haruki and Tensei and they went on a duo trip together," explained Emily with a slight irritation in her voice.
"Are you crazy? Why would you let them go on a 'trip' by themselves?" questioned Nicole.
"Look I don't know what you think of us but we are strong enough to take care of ourselves and Tensei and Haruki can also take care of themselves," said Emily with her voice more urgent and not polite.
"We all saw how you guys took care of yourselves and the people in Jale," aggravated Nicole.
"I doubt you could make a difference even if you were there," lashed back Emily.
"How could you be so sure? Maybe I'd do more than you," hit back Nicole.
Natsuki realising the tensions rising in the room, stepped in the argument.
"Emily! And Nicole. Stop this nonsense. You're here to find Danso's whereabouts and to ask us for help to stop Xeno right?" asked Natsuki.
"I definitely don't need your help in defeating Xeno. I beat one of his stronger avatars all by myself," gloated Nicole.
"But you do need us to find Danso?" asked Natsuki.
"Yes…That I need," replied Nicole while Emily shot her a glare of victory and Nicole replied with rolling her eyes.
"Then let's make a deal? You help us, we help you. Let's be a bit mature here," said Natsuki.
"Fine," replied Nicole as she leaned back on the sofa with some anger as she crossed her arms.
In the Crimson Meeting Room.
The Crimson Meeting Room was located in a secret and discreet location far to the north of Ninjaro. Since it would be a hassle to physically appear there every week or for meetings Suzumi, who was an expert in Time/Space magic, created devices that connected to portals in the meeting room and they could just teleport to the room with a click of a button.
Suzumi also created buttons that would let them teleport to any of the Shrines in Ninjaro. They could teleport West to the Shrine of Imagination in Xiang, they could teleport North to the Shrine of War in Senso, they could teleport East to the Jade Mountains that connect Lukia and Ninjaro as well as the merging point of the twin rivers that lead to the Holy Spring, to the Shrine of Positive Emotions, or they could teleport South to the rural underground city of Tenet where the Shrine of Negative Emotions was.
This was also how Sunny was easily able to quickly teleport and kill all the Ronin with no difficulty and since the Shrine was always closed on Sundays no citizen had witnessed the bloodbath.
The closest Shrine to the Crimson Meeting Room was the Shrine of Negative Emotions and it was located in a swamp where inside one of the puddles there would be a lever that needed to be flicked upwards and once flicked it would automatically open a door with stairs that would descend into the meeting room. The lever would automatically unflick itself and close the door to ensure utmost secrecy.
Suzumi also made sure it was hidden by a secret veil similar to the one in the village that Everlin resides in.
Sunny and the rest of the Crimson Eclipse took their seats in the Meeting Room and began to converse. The main topic that they were going to be talking about is how they were going to kill all the DMMS members because without them Lukia can easily fall since Chiro is still sealed. There were many other topics addressed, for example some of the riots happening in a village near Xiang that might affect the city.
The more important information was that the Fate that Siddarth Ramakrishna had told he would read for them had finally arrived in a letter from one of his messengers. Hiroshi and Arion in particular paid attention to what Fate had in store for them.
"According to my Third Eye, a certain samurai is currently enduring the harsh winter storms of the Aurora and a Water Demon and a talented child is currently exploring the unknown and the terror that lurks beneath the known, three women are working together to defeat your leader in Rein. Do what you will with this information,"
Hiroshi's eyes were surprised at the mention of a 'samurai' enduring the harsh storms of the Aurora. This could mean that his location must be in the Snow Kingdom or Frozen Everglades. Hiroshi thought it was Danso and gritted his teeth and wished to finish the job he couldn't do in the First Ninjaro Raid now.
However Sunny got intrigued by the mention of a 'Water Demon' member and a talented kid and in his mind he already decided that he was going to find and hunt the two.
Basatin's mind was racing at the mention of women as his lust was too high and Arion, who was the remaining one, had no choice but to follow Basatin since he thought a fight between three people versus only one would deem difficult no matter how strong you might be.
Sunny tapped the table after everyone was done thinking and started to instruct.
"I am judging from your expressions, you already chose your targets right?" said Sunny.
All the members nodded before alerting each other about their targets. Sunny was a bit surprised though, because he thought he would have the same target as him or Arion but he did not think he would be interested in a mere samurai surviving in the harshest winter wilds.
"Hiroshi. Why did you choose a mere samurai? You have to survive in harsh conditions just for a chance of success…So do you want me to take the Aurora job and you hunt the Water Demon and child?" asked Sunny.
"No thanks, I wish to complete what I didn't finish," clarified Hiroshi.
"Understood," said Sunny with a smirk in excitement at what would happen in the Lands of the Aurora.
After a few more minutes of minor discussions, Sunny concluded the Crimson meeting and they all teleported to any nearby Shrines. Hiroshi teleported to the Shrine of Imagination in Xiang. The city of Xiang was a bustling city. Even though Senso was the capital of Ninjaro, Xiang had a higher population, literacy, and technological advancement rate. Many people believed that this was the case since apparently the Shrine that is in the city boosts everyone's critical thinking, problem solving, and knowledge.
Xiang had many intricate and beautifully crafted buildings with different colors and came in different shapes and sizes. It was a perfect mix of culture and technology.
Hiroshi walked the crowded streets blending in with casual outfits as he contemplated on how to find Danso. In the end he determined that Danso was somewhere in the Frozen Everglades due to the mention of 'harsh winter winds' and by now due to the financial support that the Starry Kingdom had been giving the Snow Kingdom the winds must not be a problem due to advancements in technology.
The Frozen Everglades on the other hand did not receive any advancements and was mostly plains and everglades filled with frozen lakes, white forests, beautiful night sights with the Aurora and mountains cascading across the sky and tribal villages who inhabit there.
"Not being able to use magic is also going to be a hassle," thought Hiroshi but he decided to think of a solution to that issue on his trip to the Frozen Everglades and instead decided to go to his rundown apartment building in an alleyway similar to the one Danso had in Akuza and take some rest.
Meanwhile in the Lustrous Forest.
"Is this the forest that you were brought up in?" asked Haruki as he stepped across the tricky maze of small prickly bushes, wines, and streams of water.
"Yeah," replied Tensei bluntly, trying to look for signs that remind him of the way back to his old home.
Then a small rustling noise was heard and Haruki's fodder Shadow Companion guards were quickly heard being killed. Haruki sensing this got his senses and alerted Tensei who also noticed it. Then a man carrying a black sword and crimson black attire appeared.
"Good Afternoon, last survivor of the 5th Water Demon Tribe," said Sunny with a pleasant smile on his face.