Death... and me

*Crack!*

The lizard's skull was hit by Rean's Stellar Piercer, breaking apart while still in midair.

'Death Style, Shadow Bind!'

Then, several dark vines shot out of the shadows on the old trees, latching themselves around the lizard's body. Though the tree made cracking sounds, due to the number of vines, it was able to hold the enormous Eight-legged Lizard's weight. With that, the lizard stayed suspended there as the light in its eyes faded away.

"That's about it..." Rean looked at the lizard from up close. His attention then turned to the dark swamp water below, which was still as calm as ever. "Seems like the swamp won't act if the body doesn't touch it."

"Makes sense." Roan nodded in agreement. "Otherwise, we would have been attacked a long time ago."

Rean nodded before touching the lizard's body.

*Vup!*

Sure enough, he was able to send the dead body into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. After that, he entered the realm as well. 'Roan, I'll try to make something with this guy's materials. Perhaps the skin can help conceal our presence.'

Roan didn't mind, as he had already brought Luan outside once again. 'No problem. I'll go ahead. Use me to come out when you're finished there.'

Inside the Dimensional Realm, Kentucky looked at the lizard, staring at the hole in its head. "What a great smell..."

Before Rean could do anything, Kentucky's beak moved at lightning speed, piercing through the creature's brain. Not long after, he pulled out a slightly large Demon Core that glistened with Dark Element. "This thing is great! There's a lot of Dark Element concentrated inside. I'll take it to use in my cultivation, okay?"

In response, Rean shrugged his shoulders while he shook his head. "No can do. I don't know if I'll need this core for the coats I'm planning to make. If you want a Demon Core, head outside with Roan and get your own."

"Tch, so be it." With that, Kentucky could only throw the Demon Core to Rean before his body disappeared. Sure enough, he went straight out to move with Roan and Luan.

Once there, Roan took the chance to ask him. "By the way, can you try to fly in this place? It was the Space Laws that brought Rean and me down, so I believe it shouldn't work, but I just want to make sure."

Kentucky looked up and nodded before his wings flapped. Immediately, his body raised in the air... just to stop around 30 or so meters above the trees. With that, Kentucky flapped his wings even faster, which helped little with his altitude. Before long, he descended halfway from the canopy line while gasping for air. "Holy shit, this thing is really difficult.

Even my own Spatial Power can't fight the spatial power in this place. My wings alone can't go up, either."

Roan looked at that and nodded. "As we expected. Then again, you can fly a few meters, it seems."

"Yeah." Kentucky nodded. "If it's only 10 or so meters, I can keep myself in the air. The problem starts after 20 meters; I guess 30 or so is the limit. If I go all out, I might be able to push myself to 40 meters, but I wouldn't last more than a few seconds at that altitude."

Hearing that, Roan then jumped on Kentucky's back with Luan. "10 meters is already good enough. At least we can keep going while we fly."

Luan found it risky. "Is that a good idea, Father? Without trees, rocks, and other things to use our legs, it would be quite complicated to dodge an attack since Kentucky can't move above this height."

"It's fine." Kentucky didn't seem to mind. "I can't go up, but my speed isn't affected when I move laterally. Not to mention that I have the highest defense between us all."

Roan warned Kentucky. "Just make sure you don't get dragged into the dark swamp water. I don't know if it'll affect us, but I'd rather not risk it."

In response to the warning, Kentucky nodded and immediately flapped his wings, flying in the direction Luan pointed at.

Inside the Dimensional Realm, Rean used his blades to cut the lizard's skin, separating its flesh from the bones and other various parts. "I'm not very good with leatherwork, to be honest. Perhaps I can use chainmail to attach the leather or something like that."

[Does it really conceal the beasts' presence. No, first of all, are they Demon Beasts? This lizard did have a core, after all.]

"No idea." Rean could only say. "The core was indeed similar to one from a Demon Beast. However, I can also feel that it's different from the Demon Cores in the Realm of Gods. Perhaps they were Demon Beasts before and evolved into a new type. Perhaps they were like this from the start. Who knows?"

After saying his piece, Rean worked on the leather for a few days. Occasionally, he would see a new creature's body falling inside the Dimensional Realm, courtesy of Roan and Kentucky outside. None of them had their Cores anymore, though, Kentucky being the culprit. Nonetheless, their skins and bones did help Rean with his work.

Eventually, Rean was able to fashion three coats that were able to cover his group's entire bodies. It's just that he couldn't feel anything different from them, even after trying to keep their properties as intact as possible. "Hmm... did I even make this correctly?"

*Vup!*

Suddenly, Rean appeared outside, right on Kentucky's back, who was in the midst of flying. "I finished the coats. Let's give it a try."

Roan and the others nodded in response. With that, Kentucky quickly changed back into his humanoid form while Roan and Luan landed on a rock below. After that, Rean threw the leather attire for them to wear. Though they didn't look very good appearance-wise, the coats didn't hinder their movements while still covering their entire bodies.

Rean nodded in satisfaction. "Well, let's go. If we don't get attacked anymore, then they're working."

Fortunately for them, the answer came just a few minutes later.

*Roar!*

Another monster jumped out of the swamp water, attacking them straight away. If anything, it seemed to be well aware of their group's location.

"Well, it seems like their skin isn't the only thing that keeps them hidden..."