Chapter 109

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Chapter 109: Birth

A snake slithered through the wilderness.

Although it was not yet the coldest time of the year, several snowfalls had already covered the area. Even when the snow stopped, the thick layer remained without signs of melting. In such weather, all kinds of snakes should have started hibernating. Yet, this snake seemed to endure the cold well, crawling so swiftly down the slope like a stream of water.

The stream flowed all the way to a gentle slope and suddenly seeped into the crevices of the rocks.

The creature covered in scales suddenly spread out its body, like mercury flowing, and slipped into the cracks between the stones. This creature, resembling a snake at first glance, is neither a reptile nor a resident of the Primary Material Plane. During the time of the Decaying Disaster, as the Abyss Passage opened, a great demon led countless monsters to the surface. No one knew how this monster had escaped from the main battlefield to come to this temporarily peaceful rear area.

What is it?

Its ability to blend into shadows is somewhat similar to the Abyss Phantom Shadow, but upon closer observation, it did not dissolve into the shadow: the creature still had a complete physical form, it just flattened its body like a piece of paper, sticking to the ground like a gecko.

If a dogmatic devil apprentice were to witness this scene, they would most likely be very confused, as they would be unable to determine what species this monster belonged to despite racking their brains due to its many ambiguous characteristics. Even experienced devil scholars could not identify the name of this monster, but those who have studied devilry for years all know that most of the time you cannot reason with the Abyss.

In addition to the Abyss Researcher’s categorization of monsters, there are countless special species in the Abyss. They do not belong to any mainstream evolutionary tree, each having their own unique characteristics and appearances. They are scattered remnants outside the regular branches of evolution, unique, rare, and seldom seen by creatures of the Primary Material Plane.

The rarity of a species does not indicate its superiority over others.

Rare species are not necessarily superior, and the reason these strange branches are rare is likely because the monsters that evolve into these branches have a hard time growing up safely in their homeland. The Abyss is not a pleasant home; it is a brutal melting pot where survival of the fittest is taken to the extreme. A species that is common in the streets at least shows that they have strong survival skills. Those branches of evolution that are so common that researchers from the Primary Material Plane consider them a single species can be seen as mediocre but safe choices.

The creature before us is rather unconventional.

A winter rabbit emerged from a pile of snow, twitching its nose, running past the cracks between the stones, while the slender creature stood still. It observed the way the rabbit hopped, turning its head back and forth, and the posture of grooming its fur. The creature patiently lay in ambush in the shadow, silently following behind the winter rabbit for several minutes. Once it was certain the rabbit had no other skills, it sprang out from the crevice.

In the story, before Winter Rabbit could spot the enemy, it fell to the ground. A sharp, slender tail, like a steel needle, shot up from a crack in the rocks, like a triggered trap. The tail pierced through Winter Rabbit’s eye, coming out from the back of its head, almost destroying half of its skull. The monster that crawled out of the crevice spat out its tongue, realizing it had been too forceful.

It always forgets how fragile ordinary creatures on the Primary Material Plane are.

The monster moved towards the rabbit’s corpse, its body changing from flat to elongated, like a finger-thick rope, slowly wriggling into the pierced hole. The long rope pulsed as it devoured and advanced.

Abyssal monsters are very different from creatures on the Primary Material Plane. Their digestion is terrifyingly efficient, able to quickly break down what they eat. Some wizards believe demons have magical spaces in their stomachs, allowing them to consume food many times their size. This monster did the same, swiftly devouring the rabbit, then fully entering and donning the Winter Rabbit’s skin.

This sight was chilling.

The dead rabbit clumsily stood up, its empty eye sockets filled with a dark yellow eyeball. It looked around with eyes so different from a rabbit’s, then started grooming its fur just like a rabbit would. Its paws dug into the snow and brushed it over its head, wiping away the blood on its fur and covering the hole in its head.

The monster began to leap.

Compared to its kin, this uniquely evolved monster was not as strong but undoubtedly more cunning, skilled in observation and disguise. It was not the first time it had done something like this. After the Decaying Disaster began, it tried on several shells like a hermit crab and soon realized the rejection of the different and the favoritism towards the same among creatures on the Primary Material Plane: warm-blooded creatures were treated more lightly than demons or scaly creatures.

This monster was facing one of the most crucial evolutions in its demonic career, transitioning from an unconscious creature to a mid-level demon with a soul and self-awareness. However, it was still an instinct-driven primitive beast. For a monster, it was shockingly intelligent.

A magical creature wearing a rabbit skin took a while to adjust, but once it could run and jump smoothly, it headed towards where people were.

Before long, it met the first person, a regular hunter. The hunter shot an arrow at the rabbit, and as it fell to the ground, the hunting dog hesitated due to the strange scent. The hunter called the dog’s name and approached in confusion. As he bent down to pick up the rabbit, a shadow pierced into his mouth.

The magical creature’s tail spike pierced the hunter’s upper jaw, precisely crushing his brain without penetrating the back of his head. The hunting dog could only let out a roar before suffering the same fate.

Crawling out of the tattered rabbit skin, the magical creature’s body that had been compressed in the small shell suddenly expanded, like a flattened snake skin. A disproportionately large mouth suddenly opened and swallowed the entire hunter in one gulp.

The Abyss’s creations naturally long for souls, but this basic magical creature did not know how to extract souls, so it needed to swallow them whole. The souls of the Primary Material Plane merged into its body, nudging the magical creature closer to its next evolutionary step. Still not satisfied with devouring the hunter, it repeated its actions and entered the body of the hunting dog.

Several hours later, the "hunting dog" arrived at a gathering of people. Unable to see the distant smoke due to the dog carcass it wore, it "sensed" the gathering of souls, one of its talents as a soul hunter.

Ahead was a camp surrounded by many tents, with occasional sounds and crowds of people coming and going. The residents of the Primary Material Plane were mostly weak, but when gathered in large numbers, their potential for trouble increased exponentially. The magical creature cautiously hid in the shadows of the tents, observing the bustling camp and pondering how to find a solitary person.

It successfully fooled a child, who wanted to catch up with it and was swallowed whole once they were away from the crowd. It also deceived a drunkard, who laughed heartily as he chased a one-eyed, limping dog, running too far to return.

These were insignificant matters; to the magical creature, men, women, and children were meaningless, and the souls of the Primary Material Plane were simply food to it. No matter how clever its hunting methods, an Abyssal monster was still an Abyssal monster, and all its actions stemmed from desires bestowed by the Abyss. How could an Abyssal visitor harbor any kindness towards this plane?

The third victim was a wounded person with bandages around their head.

"Come here!" he called to the "hound," waving the jerky in his hand. "What’s wrong with your eyes?"

He spoke softly, behaved harmlessly, and left the door wide open. The monster doubted the man’s odd behavior, wasted time observing to avoid any traps, and finally realized there was no conspiracy. Sometimes the residents of the Primary Material Plane judged people by appearance, appearing weak and foolish.

What happened next was the same as before.

When the monster successfully killed the person, some changes occurred.

Whether it was due to the previous consumption being finally digested at that moment or because a series of killings satisfied the Abyss – in any case, the reserve for evolution had finally reached a critical point, and the low-level monster took the final step towards evolution. Its bones and scales began to crackle, its soul finally condensed, a chaotic-minded monster gave birth to a clear consciousness, and the true name bestowed by the Abyss appeared in its mind. The newly promoted demon tilted its head, leaned close to the wounded person, and drew out the soul from that body.

Then it opened its mouth, preparing to devour the body as well.

Meanwhile, the consciousness in the mist was gradually becoming clearer, and the demon began to realize how risky its previous actions were and how lucky it had been to succeed before. It understood that it should not continue to rely on luck and that the right choice was to finish the current one and leave immediately.

However, the demon suddenly had a strange idea, causing its open mouth to pause in midair, never closing.

Don’t want to eat.

No, it can’t be said like this. The deep desire from the abyss always surrounds the demon’s soul, from the lowest demon to the top demon in the food chain, hunger and emptiness are endless. However, in the heart of this newly born demon, there are other things more important than devouring this body.

In the present after successful evolution, this special type of demon has innate abilities in the soul aspect.

It can make its soul enter this human body, completely control it in a short time.

As this thought emerged, the demon knew it was not a good idea. Run out from its own evolved powerful body and enter the weak body of a Primary Material Plane creature? Near a large group of people’s camp? Where would it hide its own body? What would happen if it was discovered? What would be its fate?

No matter how you think about it, this strange impulse is very foolish.

After the soul enters this body, it would lose its strong body, unable to continue devouring souls, let alone it has never done this before, unsure if there are any other side effects. Taking on this weak body may allow it to get closer to the crowd, but it cannot kill or devour, so what’s the point of sneaking in? There are no benefits at all.

It’s just a sudden curiosity.

The demon with yellow eyes couldn’t understand the meaning of "curiosity", it just felt restless, really didn’t want to go back to the abyss like this. It vaguely felt a driving force, maybe from a hint in the abyss, the call of destiny, or an intuition of some benefit – at least it convinced itself so, just like the thieves on the Primary Material Plane who claimed to be tempted by demons to steal. The demon paced restlessly, leaving and returning, knocking snow everywhere, until finally, it made up its mind and left its own body.

A hunting dog with a demon inside suddenly fell down, and a human body without breath suddenly took a deep breath and started coughing, as if awakening from a deep sleep. At that moment, the demon’s soul entered the human body, different from the controlled feeling when wearing the skin of a rabbit or a hyena, the soul transformation was intense, as if being reborn after death.

The demon opened its eyes and saw the world through the eyes of creatures in the Primary Material Plane for the first time.

It was a cloudy day with no sun in sight, but the white snow covering the ground reflected everything around so brightly. The human body that had just fallen face up opened its eyes, and now the demon that had just opened its eyes saw the sky. The sky was gray-blue, without meteors or hail, occasionally with seemingly weak flying birds passing by. One bird had bright yellow feathers, which startled the demon. The demon clumsily got up from the ground, wide-eyed, looking around.

The clear soul spectrum that it could see in its eyes disappeared. The distant human souls vanished, hidden behind tents and their bodies, none of them visible. It was like dropping an infrared visor that had been worn all along. The demon was momentarily at a loss, unable to determine if its senses had been weakened. When it lost the ability to see through food, it saw countless colors.

Its black-gray-white vision suddenly showed countless layers of colors, the blue sky, white snow, yellow flying bird, red tent, green evergreen trees… Each could not be summarized with a single color. The sky above was deep blue, but the color at the end of the visible sky was slightly darker; the snow on the branches was glaringly white, contrasted with the dark and yellow snow underfoot; the tail feathers of the yellow bird had hints of orange, the color of the tent where it was staked was lighter at the stretched areas compared to the folds, and the tips of the green pine needles revealed a tender color. These vivid colors exploded in the demon’s mind, making it dizzy, almost losing its balance.

It couldn’t smell the blood scent kilometers away, but it smelled the freshness of pine trees, the meat and spices drifting from afar. Its ears couldn’t filter out the meaningless noises, all sorts of sounds mixed in, far and near, making it completely unable to adapt. It sneezed, feeling how weak this body was, feeling cold at this temperature. The snow melted under its palm, and as it moved its hand, it saw five sunken fingerprints.

The demon felt confused, feeling slow yet extremely sharp. It felt a vague desire towards this strange new world. It didn’t feel like any previous desires, not for devouring, not for killing, not for malice, leaving the demon completely puzzled.

"Hey, you’re here!"

Someone patted the demon’s shoulder.

If the demon were still in its own body, this person would definitely be dead. But now, the demon is trapped in a human body, tailless and struggling to move – hastily entering a human body was indeed not a good idea. Although it had observed humans, choosing such intelligent beings for its first soul exchange was too reckless. Its gaze lingered on the vital points of the human in front, who seemed to have consumed a lot and was completely unaware of its murderous intent.

"There you are!" the person dressed as a minstrel exclaimed with a thick tongue, "Stop hiding here, Victor! There are beautiful sights, wine, and lovely maidens over there!"

Victor, the demon belatedly realized that was the name of the body it had possessed. What a coincidence, the pronunciation sounded so similar to the first few letters of the demon’s true name. It began carefully analyzing the other’s language; eavesdropping and soul-devouring had given the demon some understanding of the common tongue, but full comprehension and mastery were still a distance away.

"Beauty?" it awkwardly echoed the frequently repeated word.

The demon’s language did not contain this term, and finding a similar meaning was challenging. How could you expect denizens of the abyss to find time in their daily struggles for survival to cultivate aesthetic appreciation? Its pronunciation was heavily rolled, as if it had an unmanageable tongue – well, its own tongue was not only soft but forked. The tipsy minstrel didn’t catch on, he just made a funny face and exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? My common tongue isn’t that bad, right?"

The demon stared at him, cautiously silent.

The unanswered minstrel then continued talking to himself.

"Beauty, beautiful, delicious, wonderful," he swayed as he spoke, "Ah, a beautiful maiden, fair skin, rosy lips, ample bosom, voice as sweet as honey, smile like aged wine…"

If this minstrel properly described the beauty in his heart, the demon would think of a succubus and understand his meaning. But with so many metaphors he used later on, the demon felt even more confused.

"Is the wine ‘beautiful’?" it asked.

"Poor Victor, did you hit your head?" the minstrel laughed.

The demon felt it was time to stop, fearing exposure if it continued. The tipsy minstrel leaned against a tree, almost slipping to the ground. As the demon moved its wrists to adjust to this body, it began to mutter to itself.

"Of course wine is beautiful, things that make people happy are beautiful," he said with a hint of sadness, "dance is beautiful, songs are beautiful, the sun is beautiful, the moon is also beautiful… everything before Decaying Disaster destroyed it, was beautiful."

The minstrel somehow found strength from somewhere, suddenly jumped up, making a gesture like plucking a harp with his intact left hand and his right wrist broken, and started singing a messy praise song.

"Praise our moon! The silver moonlight is like your eyes! Praise our sun! The Aryan sun is like your smile!" he sang aloud.

The demon looked towards the horizon.

The clouds parted a bit, and the early rising moon peeked out from between the clouds, pale and gentle. Ah, it was already nearing evening.

If this were an abyss, any purple sun would blind the eyes of creatures from the Primary Material Plane. When they all appear together, the skin of weak demonic creatures may blister and blacken. What the Abyss considers to be similar to the moon is called the Eye of the Tyrant, when this cruel eye unfortunately opens, the land it gazes upon freezes in swathes. The yellow-eyed demon had never properly observed the Eye of the Tyrant, which creature could? Perhaps the greater demons have that luxury, they scorn the moon that can no longer harm them, occasionally crushing ants under the moonlight, watching them shatter.

When the shadow of the Abyssal Moon draws near, all weak creatures can only hide desperately. If they can’t find a place close to the lava before the moon arrives, all they can do is fight each other, hide inside the warm-blooded demon corpses, hoping this will last until the moonlight leaves. The demons now wear human shells standing on the ground, looking up at the moonlight of the Primary Material Plane, vaguely sensing something.

Not far away, human singing is heard, their voices high and low, blending into a strange rhythm. Stringed instruments are played, it’s incredible, just a few strings vibrating, why does it create a magical resonance? The small creatures run around, bouncing as if in a ritual, but there are no gods or demons involved, they are just pleasing themselves. The glow of the bonfire reflects on their intact or scarred bodies, healthy or wounded, shining on each person’s face.

It could recognize "those" faces in the crowd, recognizing those belonging to creatures that will perish in battle. The souls of those warriors are filled with so much anger, bitterness, and killing intent, while the souls of new soldiers are vibrant and energetic, and the souls of old soldiers are numb and shattered, each with its own flavor. But at this moment, all these people show only varying degrees of happiness, without a shadow of doubt.

What would such souls taste like?

As the sky darkens, the bonfires lit by humans become even brighter, the glow of the bonfire reaching the sky, as if a sword is splitting the dark clouds. The moon is once again swallowed by thick clouds, no wind blows, but it starts to snow lightly. Not sharp icicles, not heavy hail, just tiny snowflakes, like powdered sugar shaken from a sieve. They fall on the surrounding trees, on the flat ground, on the minstrel’s head, and also on the demon. These gentle snowflakes treat everyone equally, regardless of thickness, adorning these trespassers from the Abyss with a white garland.

The demon looks at its palm and is surprised to find that the snowflakes are hexagonal before they melt.

"To the beautiful Aryan! Our poor, lovely homeland!" the minstrel continues to sing, surprisingly melodious, "May our blood flow into your veins, so your face remains rosy and bright tomorrow…"

In that moment, the demon has an epiphany.

Beauty, understanding, a luxury that doesn’t exist in the Abyss. Beyond the conspiracy and carnage, there are other things worth trying. Just standing here, observing, listening, becoming aware of the existence of certain things, the joy of soul and blood flowing freely is felt. It feels a shiver of joy run through its bones, a strange emotion rising in its heart, facing this weak and gentle plane, facing these delicate and beautiful beings.

"Beautiful…" he murmured to himself, "so beautiful."