A large yellow bird appeared in front of them, at least 10 meters long.
It had 4 eyes and 4 wings, looking like an enlarged chick with divine features.
Everyone in the group was confused, wondering why the guardian Sacred Beast of Rameciel, the birdman country, was there. But Allen lowered his stance and approached it with a Sacred Beast Stone.
"Wait, Allen! What are you doing?!"
Cecile whispered angrily behind Allen.
"I'm going to catch it, obviously."
(I'll get it no matter what. I'll become the Sacred Beast Master.)
"What are you even thinking?"
"Oh you're right, I need an actual strategy. I have to get its HP to half for the throw to work… Hm?"
Somehow Cecile's words did not seem to have the intended effect, but then he noticed Mouton on Luck's shoulder.
'Hm? What do you want?'
The Great Spirit answered, noticing Allen's gaze.
"I see, this had to be fate. Poison can chip away its HP exactly down to the half and then…"
Everything started to make sense.
He remembered using poison to carefully handle extremely rare monsters as Kenichi in games.
"Calm down Allen!!"
Cecile's fist fell on Allen.
"Huh?! Wait, what was I doing again..?"
Allen came back to his senses.
'...'
There was nothing else in the space, so Kuwatoro could clearly see Allen's group.
"..."
They looked back at the four eyes, leading to a long silence.
'So someone finally got this far in this Gate of Trial. Do you need something? The exit is over there.'
(Oh, that voice is far softer than I expected.)
Kuwatoro looked suspicious of Allen's actions, but still meekly pointed at the next magic circle.
That shocked Allen a little, as he had expected a more violent response.
"We actually were looking for you."
'Oh? You aren't here to conquer the Gates of Trials then?'
"We're also doing that, but we have various other goals."
Allen told the Sacred Beast of everything that had happened until then.
How the Demon King attacked the world, how Allen was fighting back, how he was looking for new summons, and how the Arbiter God had told him about the Gate of Judgement.
'The Arbiter God Pharnemes told you about this place… I guess you truly have an interesting fate.'
Kuwatoro reacted to the Arbiter God's name.
"Fate?"
'I heard that the Arbiter God Pharnemes was in charge of the Gates of Trials before the God of Space and Time Desperado took over.'
That had happened thousands of years before, maybe tens of thousands of years before.
"Ohh! Phar was in charge!"
The Arbiter God had told Kurena about that first.
(I see, so that's why she told Kurena. But she's not here helping.)
Allen had told the Arbiter God to come help them multiple times, but she remained in the stable.
So in retaliation Allen halved the food given to her, trying to force her hand, but that only made the Arbiter God hold a grudge against him every time he went to see if she changed her mind.
"Why are you in this place though?"
Allen also wanted to know why Kuwatoro was inside the gate.
'Me? I'm trying to keep myself safe from the Demon King's influence.'
The Demon King's power had gotten stronger over the years. Some Sacred Beasts were protected by Gods, like Luvanka who was taken to the divine realm by Garm, but Kuwatoro's only safe location was inside the dungeon.
(I see, so it's better to wait here for the threat to pass. Wait, if Luvanka is in the divine realm I have even more reason to go there.)
Knowing Luvanka's location gave Allen one more reason to visit the divine realm.
"I see. In that case, let's get back on topic and get inside this stone."
Hearing why Kuwatoro was there, Allen once again struck his hand out with the stone.
'My apologies, but I'm not really fond of conflict.'
"But if you don't fight you won't be able to protect the birdmen who venerate you."
'...'
(No response, huh.)
Kuwatoro remained silent after that.
Allen had learned he needed to use Sacred Beast Stones to unseal S Rank summons, but he could not find any Sacred Beasts.
The three most known ones were Makris, Luvanka, and Kuwatoro, but he could not find any information about them. Even in Rameciel they were searching for Kuwatoro.
Kuwatoro had been hiding inside the gate, and Luvanka was protected by Garm.
"Master Allen, I don't think that's really proper…"
Sophie usually sided with Allen, but now she supported Kuwatoro.
"I know, but it's still a pretty good offer. My summons aren't affected by the Demon King at all."
In Allen's 15 years of life, his summons had never lost control.
'I understand your desire. Let's do this then, I'll decide to accept after I see your worth.'
"Worth?"
(Not my strength but my worth? That's tricky. I'll have to work on that after the gates, I guess everyone values faith and beliefs a lot in this world.)
Showing one's strength was an easier concept to grasp, but vague terms like worth and limits seemed to hold special meaning in this world as well.
In Rosenheim Allen had learned that someone who could use an Extra Skill was considered someone who surpassed their limit, like Dogora when he entered Freya's temple.
'I'm not against lending you my power to protect birdmen, but I need to know you'll be worth it.'
Kuwatoro was not interested in Allen's strength, but in seeing how he acted.
"I see. Then…exactly what should I do?"
'Don't worry about it, I have my four eyes. I can see you wherever you go.'
Glint
Kuwatoro's eyes lit up and focused on Allen.
(I guess that's a Skill and I'll be under surveillance now. Oh well.)
Allen did not unlock a new summon, but he had activated a quest with Kuwatoro.
That felt like a step in the right direction for Kuwatoro to get inside the Sacred Beast Stone.
After that they stepped onto a magic circle and left that place.
"Say, Allen. How are you planning on making the Sacred Bird our ally?"
Kiel asked that when they were in a different area.
"I think we'll just have to help birdmen as best as we can if they're in trouble."
"W-wait, does this mean the Sacred Bird can see everything you do now?"
Allen decided they would help Rameciel with everything they had.
That way the birdmen would have a favor to repay.
"We'll just have to find a way that works, whether we're being watched or not."
Allen decided he would find a definite way to prove his worth and stepped onto another magic circle.
"I see. Wait, there's treasure here."
There was a treasure chest in that space, inside they found a broad belt.
"What's that? It almost looks like a red girdle."
Cecile looked at the red belt-like object in confusion.
"Wait a bit."
There were unknown items inside the gate as well.
Allen took the item and stored it.
'You've stored 1 Fire Band.'
"It seems it is a waist accessory."
"Ohh! A new type of equipment!!"
Kurena was excited to hear that.
This was the first time they found an accessory that was worn on the waist.
"Who's going to wear it then?"
Cecile wanted to know who would get to wear it first.
"I don't think it's a good idea to use it yet."
Allen decided it would stay in his Inventory.
"Wait what? Why?"
Kiel felt like it was best if someone wore it.
"I'll think about it after Peromus checks its effects. But if it changes one's Endurance Element to fire it might be better to not use it."
He would decide after Peromus looked at it.
"Are you sure about that?"
Kiel and Cecile could not understand why Allen said that.
"I mean, if you took a water element attack you could die instantly like that."
Allen tried to explain as simply as he could. Elements largely determined how much damage was mitigated or taken from certain attacks.
If the Fire Band changed the wearer's element to fire, they would resist fire attacks easily.
Sophie finally understood when Allen explained that much.
"So basically we need to only wear it if strictly necessary since we don't know what our enemies might use to attack?"
"That's it. We can search for more accessories like that in this dungeon, but we might not use them often."
Everyone understood then. It was best not to wear something that could potentially create a weakness on them.
"You seem to know a lot about things we've never seen before."
Allen's reasoning made sense, but Cecile still felt it was weird to not wear a new accessory as soon as it was found.
"Elements could easily decide who won fights in my past life. We should wait until we find a Band of a higher level element."
The group continued moving through the dungeon after obtaining the Fire Band and starting a quest with Kuwatoro.
