“Ace!” Iris hurried over to Finn’s side along with everyone else to see if he was okay, but-

“GRRR…” Raiju growled deeply and narrowed its striking blue eyes, forcing everyone to back off.

“O-Okay now… easy, boy… easy…” Octane said, trying to calm the celestial beast down.

“Just what do you think I am, human?! A dog?!”

“E-E-Ehhhhh?! I-It just talked!” Octane gasped in shock, hurriedly scrambling away. It would seem he was afraid of beasts.

“Tch… how pitiful,” Raiju muttered, spitting on the ground before turning around to face Finn once again. Its long and furry tail swung around with it in a semicircle, causing everyone to back away more a few steps.

Then, it tenderly raised one of its paws, zapping with electricity, and held it above Finn’s chest.

“W-Wait!” Iris called out all of a sudden in worry. “What are you trying to do to him?!”

“Quiet, girlie!” The beast snapped, shooting her an annoyed glare. “As much as I dislike it, this human is my master. I won’t hurt him!”

“G-Girlie?!” Iris was taken aback, this being the first time someone has ever called her that.

“Yes! Now, shut that mouth before I rip it off your face!”

“…!” Iris was completely astounded by this heavenly animal’s harsh language, left utterly speechless.

“Ivy. Just let it do what it wants to do,” Qi Ling said, pulling her back by the arm.

“But…”

“I know you’re worried. But that animal right there is one of legends. It possesses powers we cannot even comprehend. It’s best to just let it be.”

“…” Iris was still dubious, but reluctantly left Raiju alone and flew back a bit, resting on the floor so that she could let her wings recover a bit of energy.

“Hmph,” Raiju snorted condescendingly before turning back to its master, who was still in an unconscious state. Then, it raised one of its strong front paws once more, sparking with electricity, and tenderly placed it on Finn’s chest where his heart was supposed to be.

“G-Guh!” Finn’s body was immediately electrocuted, sent into an uncontrollable spasm.

“Finn!” Iris yelled in worry and tried to rush forward again, but Qi Ling stopped her in her tracks.

“Wait. That electricity… it’s not harmful. If it was, he would already be dead.”

“Finally… a human with half-decent brains,” Raiju chuckled deeply, taking its paw off of its master’s body. “Oi. Are you just going to get up, or continue playing dead?”

After several seconds, Finn sat up from the floor, closing and opening his palms in wonder.

“I feel… empowered. My injury… it’s gone.”

“What a useless master I have…” Raiju sighed in disdain, performing an impressive facepalm gesture with one of its paws. “Human, do you not know about the properties of my lightning?”

“Wait… that voice… Raiju?” Finn asked in somewhat surprise.

“R-Right?!” Octane joined in. “I was surprised when first hearing it suddenly talk all of a sudden too!”

“Hold on,” Raiju cut in, narrowing its eyes. “So let me get this straight… human, you summoned me without even knowing what I am, much less what I am capable of doing?”

Finn nodded calmly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“But that is not possible… to summon me, one must have full knowledge of what I am and also possess incredible innate power,” Raiju explained thoughtfully, pacing around Finn in circles. “A frail human like you, who cannot even see at that, has no way of summoning me. Unless…”

Raiju narrowed its eyes as if searching for something within Finn’s body, then dropped its jaw, frozen in shock.

“This… what is this…”

‘Don’t say it.’ Finn took a bet and instructed in his mind coldly, taking care to use an ordering tone. Luckily, his bet was on point and Raiju was indeed able to feel his thoughts. Faced with a direct order from its master, it had no choice but to obey.

“To think ya really managed to summon one of the Four Heavenly Beasts…” Jim chuckled, striding through the door that had opened up and clapping his hands together. “Bravo, bravo. Gotta say, that’s the first time witnessin’ somethin’ like this, even fer me.”

“This human… he is carefree on the outside, but quite powerful deep down,” Raiju analyzed. “How interesting.”

“Oho! I appreciate the compliment, buddy!” Jim laughed and reached down to pat Raiju’s fur.

A big mistake.

“Grawr!”

“OW- AH!”

Jim immediately regretted his decision moments after making it, pulling his hand back and clutching it in pain.

“Aw… bloody hell… those fangs hurt!”

“You’re lucky I didn’t use my lightning, human. Be grateful.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah… but uh, are ya guys gonna go grab the bloody chest or just leave it hangin’ there? I don’t mind takin’ the loot, ya know.”

At his words, everyone remembered about the chest dropped by certain encounters within Dungeons, and turned to the front of the church hall where the Baron once stood. In his place was a pale white chest, matching the rest of the room which had now regained its color.

“Whatever’s inside… I think Finn deserves it,” Iris spoke up first, still sitting on the ground since she had no more mana left to fly.

“Yeah, for sure!” Octane chimed in. “Man, without him, we all would’ve died!”

“No objections from us either,” Qi Ling said, representing the Big Five — or rather… the Big Four, now that Pang Zi had died. “What’s inside is rightfully his, judging from contribution.”

“Welp, ya heard ’em, kid,” Jim said, placing a hand on Finn’s shoulder and patting it gently. “Go on, it’s right in front of ya.”

As everyone else watched on, Finn nodded and began heading for the altar, where the chest lay. Raiju trotted along by his side like a loyal follower. Despite saying it disliked having Finn as a master, it was quite dedicated.

Finn felt a nudge at his feet from Raiju after a while of walking, signaling that he was there. Bending down, he felt around using his hands for a little before finally finding the chest’s latch, then opened it up swiftly.

Reaching inside, he felt his hands close around a gemstone of some sort. Unlike the staffs Iris and Yun Xin received, this was a gem bigger than both of theirs combined, in its raw form.

Finn took it out and wished he could see it, but decided to just keep it in his cloak’s pockets for now. He then turned around and prepared to head back to the others, but then stopped in his tracks and spun back again.

Bending down, he picked up the entire chest off the floor and mounted it on his shoulder before heading back to the others. It was heavy, but worth it in Finn’s mind.

“Uh… kid. If I may ask, what in bloody hell are ya doin’?” Jim asked, visibly confused. The others were no different, expressions of perplexity and awkwardness on their faces.

“This chest. It’s made of decent material,” Finn explained, tapping on it gently. “It may come in useful.”

With these brisk words, he walked past everyone else and for the door, confident and nonchalant.

“Er… Finn,” Iris called out, stopping him in his tracks.

“… What?”

“The exit is actually… this way.”

“…”

Wordlessly, Finn spun around and headed back the way he came from. Apparently, a portal had opened right where the chest had been, but oh well. Jim, keeping his gaze on the young man the entire time, couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle in wonder.

“Kid… yer one hell of a unique one.”