Ren moved backward as the thought struck him: Zuran!
He was the key. So he turned to him to see what he could get from him.
But Zuran had already fallen to his knees. He had both hands over his head, covering his ears like someone going through a terrible mental state. His eyes were shut tight while he muttered some inaudible words.
"No… no… no…" was all Ren could hear.
Ren gasped. "What the hell is happening?" He wanted to approach him, but a dragon breathed fire toward them.
The fire couldn't touch Zuran, but it would have harmed Ren if he hadn't used his fan to block it, sending him flying backward and landing on his back.
"What…" Ren gasped as he staggered to his feet, staring ahead at the dragons that now gathered around Zuran.
Zuran was still on his knees, hands over his head while he went through his mental breakdown. The dragons clustered around him as though protecting him, their vicious eyes fixed on Ren instead as they prepared for an attack.
Ren counted about ten dragons, and he wasn't sure he could take them all down alone. After all, he wasn't the true Demon God! He needed to do something fast.
The system had been pretty clear with the solution:
[Zuran's emotions trigger the tasks. Him giving in to the deadly sins in the dimension he is pulled into intensifies the task. Him fighting against the emotions of the deadly sin lessens the effect of the task.]
[So to end a task or stage, you have to coax him out of the dimensional state he is in. That would mean having him walk away from the emotions of the deadly sin.]
Two dragons breathed fire at Ren as he used his fan to shield himself, leaping into the air.
The two attacked him, and Ren found himself flying through the air, dodging dragons while hitting them from time to time with strikes from his fan.
The strikes worked partially, knocking the dragon beasts backward. But it seemed as though they always came back stronger and angrier, as though nothing had happened to them—no matter how strong his blows were!
Ren knew who was the cause: Zuran.
Ren summarized the logic of it all in his head.
Zuran was in another dimension now, one where his past emotions were being triggered—emotions that reflected the particular deadly sin: Wrath.
So him giving in to that emotion in the dimension (e.g., wrath—anger) would automatically strengthen these dragon beasts. If he fought against falling into the emotions, it would weaken them. But it was probably hard to fight, since the dimension would persistently tempt him to fall into it—just like someone being tempted to fall into sin.
But if he could get closer to Zuran, or perhaps get into his dimension, he could help him break through the illusion by coaxing him to let go of the emotions.
That was the solution.
A dragon slapped its tail at Ren, sending him flying through the air. Ren almost landed on his back but managed to land on his feet using his powers.
He looked up as he saw the ten dragons approaching at the same time, all burning with fury. "Damn, that boy really sucks at controlling his emotions. What the hell is happening in there, and how angry is he?"
Ren looked up at the sky. "Hey, System! I thought I was the creator of this—why do I have to suffer to get to it?!"
[You also have to prove competence of control. Showing that you can handle these deadly sins as the master of them.]
Ren rolled his eyes. "That sucks. I have to be fast before those visitors come." he was already running out of time to meet the deadline for getting the beast babies.
Ren stood firm. He waved his fan into the air as purple smoke surrounded it. "I'm the Demon God, after all. These trash should be no match for me," he muttered as he spun with the fan and waved it toward them.
The fan flew, surrounded by purple waves. The waves blew the ten dragons away into thin air as the fan boomeranged its way back to Ren's hand.
Ren smiled. "Wow. I really am strong. And they're not as strong as they seem."
But the dragon beasts returned almost immediately, stronger and angrier, breathing fire straight at Ren.
Ren fought back with his fan, elegantly swinging it through the air and sending the dragons in different directions. They came back, but Ren still sent them off.
Ren then realized that this task wasn't about beating up these beasts at all. He was clearly more powerful than them, yet he couldn't kill them off—because as long as the source was there, they'd never be defeated.
"It's about calming Zuran down…" Ren muttered as he stared at where Zuran was, still kneeling in the same position, breaking down.
"These are just distractions," he said as he waved his fan at them with all his might. They were blown away into further space.
With the time he had, he ran toward Zuran and knelt before him. "Zuran, Zuran, wake up—"
He called as he held him by the hand. And immediately, Ren was pulled into his illusion too.
———
Ren could see it all: Zuran's mind.
What Zuran saw were moments when the original Demon God was taking advantage of him.
Flogging him with a whip. Stabbing him with a dagger. Pushing him into the fire. Throwing him in a cage while cuffing his hands. Running dangerous experiments on him…
All these toxic treatments were what Ren saw in Zuran's mind. They were all that ran through Zuran's thoughts, and he was breaking down and growing furious over these illusions he was clearly reliving.
"No, leave me alone… leave me alone… let me go… no… No!" Zuran cried. These memories were clearly triggering the anger in him.
Ren had his eyes closed; he was in Zuran's mind, and he could vividly feel his pain as though he were also being tortured. He instantly felt pity for Zuran.
And so, at that moment, he knew he needed to act.
"It's okay…" Ren said in a calm tone. "I'm here…" He spoke in his most comforting voice.
"No… leave me… No… Let go…" Zuran still panicked. Anger built up inside him as the scenes flashed through his mind.
Ren knew he just had to divert him from this emotion temporarily—that was the way to stop this illusion. He didn't need to stop him from being angry over such thoughts permanently. Just for now.
So he held Zuran's cheeks in his palms. "It's okay." He pressed his forehead against Zuran's. "I'm here… I won't let anyone harm you… I won't let anyone hurt you… You're safe… You're safe with me… I promise…"
Ren's calm and soothing voice echoed in Zuran's ears. Immediately, his nerves began to calm down. The illusions began to crumble as well.
In a matter of time, the system appeared before him.
[Congratulations, you have passed the first stage of Wrath.]