Zuran lay unconscious on the ground beside the rock on which the lion rested.
So getting to Zuran would mean getting past the lion as well.
Ren stared at the lion and flashed it a smile. "Hello, Mr. All-Powerful Lion Beast. I pay my humble homage to your great name and land. I hope you can let me take my friend over there." He pointed to Zuran.
Ren knew that to get past someone who embodied pride, you had to stroke their ego and sweet-talk your way through with praise.
But the Lion said nothing. It simply lay there, looking down at Ren. It's golden eyes fixed on Ren as though he was studying his move or thinking of what it would do.
Ren smiled as he approached, heading toward Zuran. But as he got closer, the Lion roared massively.
A wind blew Ren back; his feet slid backward as he struggled to stand his ground so as not to fall off the mountain.
He looked back at the brief distance between his feet and the edge, then at the lion again. "I guess sweet-talking him isn't working as smoothly as I thought," he sighed. "I suppose I have no choice." He took out his fan.
Ren attacked, stepping on the air while sweeping his fan toward the lion. Purple waves struck the Lion, but the Lion defended itself with a roar.
Wind echoed from its mouth and clashed with Ren's purple wave. It blasted toward Ren, but he dodged.
"He's stronger than I thought. Must be Zuran's pride…" Ren let out a sharp gasp after dodging it's attack. He stared down at Zuran . "I wonder what's going on in his mind."
The Lion now got up to its feet and roared again. The wind struck at Ren; he dodged. The lion didn't stop. It kept roaring endlessly as its wind waves blasted toward Ren.
Ren dodged some and brushed others off with his fan. They didn't stop, but kept coming and coming. Ren scoffed, "Is he so proud that he prefers using this trick against me rather than raise a finger? How pathetic."
The Lion kept it coming, and Ren decided to strike back. He summoned a bigger wave spell with his fan and hit it against the Lion's ongoing attack.
His wave smashed against the Lion's and boomeranged back—a returning strike.
The combined wave hit the Lion, and it fell off the rock.
Ren stared with a satisfied smile. "Bingo!"
The Lion immediately shrank to a normal size as soon as it fell. It roared angrily as it began growing back to its huge form.
Ren blinked. "Ah, I suppose hitting it means hitting its pride. So it shrinks when its pride has been struck…"
Ren nodded with a smile at the logic. "Then let's destroy your pride."
While the Lion roared its wind at Ren, he closed his eyes and summoned all the energy he could gather.
Infusing it all into his fan, a huge purple light appeared around him as energy began to spiral. He knew if he wanted to take down this lion, he had to put in more effort.
And so he did, using all his power to gather the Lion's attack into a huge orb of wind and then send it all back at the Lion.
It hit the Lion, who was trying to escape, and it shrank into a little lion.
Ren smiled. "That should buy me a few seconds." He flew toward Zuran, who still lay on the ground.
Ren knelt before him, picked him up, and rested Zuran's head against his chest as he placed his hands against his cheeks.
Ren fell into his illusion.
*****
Zuran's illusion was a reflection of his past trauma, similar to the previous ones.
Even though he was from a terrible background and had a miserable life, Zuran still carried himself with prestige.
As cold as he appeared, he was attached to his ego and dignity. He hated being looked down on and despised being pitied for any reason.
He always held his shoulders high, even in disastrous and humiliating situations. It complemented his cold, tsundere personality—even if it seemed like a coping mechanism from his trauma.
He was the type to fight anyone who looked down on him, even if he was weaker. Even if it meant being killed, he wouldn't go down without a fight for his self-respect. Careless as it may have seemed, Zuran held tightly to that mentality—his pride and his esteem.
Ren didn't understand fully. He was still searching for the right words as he appeared in Zuran's illusion. He stood there, staring at Zuran, who had his back to him.
Ren stared at his back, struggling to find what to say. Nothing came immediately.
But soon, Zuran turned. Their eyes met, and Ren saw Zuran's eyes light up.
"Master…" Zuran said as they stood there, staring at each other.
And that was all it took. The illusion began to break.
Surprised, Ren looked around. He didn't see anything specific, but the vision was clearing.
And as the illusion dissolved and they returned to the cave, it struck him:
The Demon God was the only person for whom Zuran ever laid down his pride…
[Congratulations on clearing the fifth stage of PRIDE.]
[Now let's move on to the sixth stage.]
[GREED.]
Ren said nothing. He simply stared at the system as the scene began to change. They were transported into another dimension.
And he found himself in a desert.
The sun beat down, and Ren placed a hand over his forehead to see better.
Zuran wasn't around him, so he had to look around to find him first before another monster attacked.
He didn't know what would be coming this time.
Soon, Ren caught sight of Zuran floating in the sky. But that wasn't the only thing he saw.
He saw two familiar beasts flying in the sky too: the Lion and the Tiger.
His jaw dropped. "What the literal F?"