Chapter 87

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Chapter 87: Take a Risk

Ragehorn Simon is the only big demon in the Angry Demon.

The beginning of demons is the Abyssal Demon Seed. When they are born, they are ugly worms that look almost the same. During the long process of growth and evolution, they will gradually differentiate into many seemingly different species. The Angry Demon is one of the top branches on the demon evolutionary tree. Demons with a hot-tempered and fiery nature will eventually enter this branch, and Ragehorn Simon is one of them. This red-skinned, double-horned, muscular and terrifying appearance is the most common image of a big demon in human minds because during every Decaying Disaster, the Angry Demons are at the forefront, charging into the burning, killing, and looting.

These demons, who are eager for battle and easily angered, actually evolve more easily than other species.

The Abyssal Will, where all demons are born and grow, cannot be seen or touched. It is unpredictable yet everywhere. The evolution system of demons is quite complex, full of uncertainties. Even when scholars have deeply researched them, they still cannot be certain about the rules of demon evolution. Demons that are more adept at thinking and magic tend to develop into the Magic Demon branch. Those who prefer not to face direct combat and enjoy attacking from behind may grow into Shadow Fiends or Mind Demons. Those who indulge in lust and are good at using seduction mostly develop into Succubus. There are countless branches on the evolutionary tree, and it is difficult to determine the before and after of each evolutionary stage. Individuals that seem unrelated are actually on the same evolutionary path. There is no divine hand to provide a guide to the evolution of these creatures.

The scholars’ efforts to understand the Abyssal ecosystem only bring despairing results, but the preference of Abyssal Will is quite common knowledge: it appreciates destruction and chaos and will favor individuals who excel at creating them.

Creatures with the qualifications of Angry Demon are naturally gifted, they are like machines for creating destruction and chaos. They kill without purpose, even the Devouring Demon cannot match them – at least Devouring Demons kill to fill their bellies. Therefore, the Abyss favors this type, which is quite normal.

No special mutations, unique encounters, or additional strategies are needed; as long as they keep killing along the way (there are always enough victims inside and outside the Abyss), half of the Abyssal Demon Seeds may tilt towards the development direction of the Angry Demon during the progression. The Abyssal Demon Seed evolves into the Little Devil with a fork in hand, then into the Horn Demon with an iron chain, and then into the Angry Demon in the end. The evolutionary tree consists of just three steps. Countless Angry Demons suddenly advance in battle. This is the easiest evolution branch without any thresholds.

To give an example, Angry Demons are like high-level warriors in the human world: Don’t have faith? Not very intelligent? Lacking magical talent? Don’t have any special bloodline, reliable teachers, or inheritance, lack skills, patience, and no special talents? It’s okay. If you can wield a sword and handle it, you can be a warrior. Of course, how long you can survive in adventures is another matter.

Those demons who evolve into Angry Demons do not need to practice during their growth process. They just need to follow their instinct to rage and then kill. This is as easy for all Abyssal monsters as wielding a sword. Those who haven’t been eaten by their kind within a few weeks are sure to learn. In fact, the probability of Abyssal monsters evolving into Angry Demons is higher than for all demons. Just from this perspective, they are truly the Abyss’s own children.

However, the Angry Demon has a higher death rate than any other demons in the same class.

The Demon Seed has the highest chance of evolving into an Angry Demon in the entire abyss. The possibility of an Angry Demon advancing to a greater demon is also terrifyingly high. However, as one of the top points on the evolutionary tree, "Angry Demon" is not much different from other high-level demons. Greater demons are even rarer, and it is rare to see two Angry Demon greater demons coexist in the same period.

Angry Demons escalate in battle but do not know when to stop. They continue to rage recklessly until their anger temporarily subsides or they meet their match. Greater demons among Angry Demons are like shooting stars, dying shortly after advancing, and may end up sacrificing themselves in the days to come.

"Why are you so upset?" said the voice from the floating book, "After all, I am your lifesaver."

—Simon was the same way.

About five or six hundred years ago, Simon escalated during a battle, killing all the nearby Angry Demons and clearing the battlefield. It couldn’t stop killing and ended up charging towards Victor who was passing by. Victor, who was on his way to the Primary Material Plane, was too busy to bother with Simon. He simply reached out and grabbed the right horn of Simon, breaking it.

By the way, the horns of Angry Demons are connected to their skulls, with a hard shell and highly sensitive nerves inside.

The intense pain woke Simon up, successfully overcoming the most difficult hurdle after becoming a greater demon. This incident caused Simon a lot of trouble (revealing a broken leg in a wolf pack has only one outcome) but also provided valuable experience, making it slightly calmer than other Angry Demons in facing situations. From this perspective, Victor wasn’t wrong.

Unfortunately, the Angry Demon doesn’t seem to be grateful.

The eternal shame stayed on Simon’s head, drinking in the blood of mockers many times, but it was not enough to calm the hatred in his heart. Sharp bone spurs stood up on Simon’s back, extremely sharp, as if they could cut through the gazes. The roar of the Angry Demon echoed in this underground space, its claws inserted into the ground, muscles bulging like a bunch of balls piled together.

But ultimately, it did not attack.

If this was the abyssal depths, if Victor himself was in front of it, Simon would definitely rush forward to fight first. But this is the Primary Material Plane disconnected from the abyss for hundreds of years, the dungeon environment is strange, external conditions are unknown, and Victor’s original body is unknown. It had to split itself to come here, already suffering losses. If it gets nothing and is sent back, the original body left in the abyss probably won’t have a good outcome.

Simon is not an uncivilized beast.

Although Abyssal Creations can broadly be called demons, according to hierarchy, they can actually be divided into three categories: monsters, demons, and Archdemons.

The large number of low-level demons are monsters, from Demon Seeds to evolving demons with various forms. As long as they are still dominated by primitive instincts, no matter how powerful they are, they are just "monsters". Monsters may possess cunning like jackals, or have thinking abilities like children, but their entire existence is based on survival, killing, and evolution. All strategies and actions serve instincts; they are more of a collective phenomenon rather than individuals. The soul fire of monsters is very very thin, they can be said to have no soul at all.

Among the countless monsters, a very small part will give birth to demons.

Demons are the middle-class in Abyssal Creation, evolving to this extent, their soul fire has condensed, resembling creatures of the Primary Material Plane, beginning to develop individual consciousness beyond instinct. This process may be very long, or it could be an enlightenment after a meal, in short, demons who ascend to this level finally break free from the fate of being low-level cannon fodder and become high-level cannon fodder.

All Abyssal Creations with self-awareness but not classified as Archdemons can be categorized into this level, with a wide range of strengths. The weaker ones can be taken out by several Professionals, while some stronger ones can engage in flourishing soul trafficking business in the Primary Material Plane. The demons who lure saints with demonic pacts in various legendary stories belong to this class, although they are far fewer than monsters, their influence and drama make demons famous worldwide, still occupying the top spot as the primary antagonists in legendary novels.

Angry Demon is a type of evil demon, they are also the ones who make demonic pacts – as the ones who sign the contract, not propose it. Instead of setting traps with words, Angry Demon prefers to be straightforward and demanding, like a business deal – you give me your soul, and I fulfill your killing desires. The most commonly summoned demons are Angry Demon and succubus, where the former is used like a fierce dog in battles, and the latter is used for cunning tactics. The souls offered for payment don’t always have to be from the summoner, as succubus can charm anyone regardless of gender and race. Despite warnings and bans in place, it’s not uncommon for spellcasters to be drained dry by the succubus they summoned.

The fame and number of Greater Demons are much fewer compared to the previous two levels.

The quantity of Abyssal Creation is as numerous as drops in the ocean, including all demons, and no one knows the exact number. In a population much larger than intelligent beings in the Primary Material Plane, only a few Greater Demons are born, making the chances of ascending to legendary professions seem incredibly high. Each Greater Demon has its own abilities, trying to categorize them as a whole is like trying to summarize all legendary professionals in the Primary Material Plane, nearly an impossible task.

But there is one thing that is absolutely certain.

Regardless of the type of demon that can survive and make it to this point through countless battles, besides astonishing luck, they must also possess other strengths. Even if they may seem simple-minded, by the time they evolve into Greater Demons, they at least have the intelligence of a normal person.

Referring to Simon as "it," just like referring to a dragon as "it," is purely based on appearance. This beast-like creature that appears very aggressive is not a mindless fool.

"You’re still alive?" Simon rudely said, his voice booming like a summer thunderstorm, no different from a roar.

In anger, it speculated on the current situation of the other party. This passage originated from Victor’s plan, the key held by the traveler through the passage also came from Victor, and the other Greater Demon on the opposite side had long speculated on Victor’s current situation. With the Abyssal passage closed, and the passage to the Heavenly Realm shut, logically, a Greater Demon left here couldn’t possibly have a good ending…

"You’re thinking I won’t have a good ending?" The floating book chuckled, "Oh, Simon, you haven’t changed a bit, still as ‘frank’ as before."

The Angry Demon growled insultingly.

"Getting angry again, look at you… So, it’s you who came to explore," the book lamented, quickly changing to a falsely cheerful tone, "One-horned Simon, we go way back! What a delightful reunion after five hundred years! I thought five hundred years would have been enough time for another Angry Demon with a different balance of intelligence, strength, and luck to appear, but it seems there is still a golden ratio at play, just like you, a surprisingly good ratio."

This group of Angry Demon did not specifically target their own kind, there was no unspoken rule of "only one high-level Angry Demon can exist." However, when two Angry Demons met, the double rage was costly, almost always leading to one dead and the other injured, mutual destruction was not uncommon.

Simon didn’t immediately catch on to the indirect mockery, but at least sensed the mocking tone. The Angry Demon’s red skin dangerously gleamed, as if lava was flowing beneath it.

The book’s eyes looked at it expectantly, as if incredibly bored, only waiting for a fight.

No, Simon’s alertness suddenly rose, realizing it should not fall for this guy’s trap!

The dungeon appeared defenseless, with only a strange book in sight, no signs of traps visible. But Victor’s traps were always indiscernible, and Simon had fallen for them before.

In the first encounter, Simon unfortunately met the original, Victor snapped off Simon’s horn without a word, as if snapping a twig. The second time, Simon stumbled upon one of Victor’s clones, with a vast difference in strength, as he could torment the clone to death with a single hand. Simon had intended to kill the clone to avenge the previous defeat but unfortunately fell for Victor’s trick before making a move… The ensuing outcome is better left unsaid, Simon unknowingly fell into Victor’s trap and ended up in a semi-plane where the Saro God temple was located, barely escaping with his life.

Memories of being cut by the Holy Light made Simon’s vigilance outweigh his anger, the Angry Demon shook his head irritably, like a bull, trying to swat away the flying thoughts buzzing around his head.

"Enough!" it said loudly, "I don’t have time to listen to your fancy words. The Abyss needs information from the Primary Material Plane and preparations for expanding the passage!"

"Are you talking to me?" the book said in surprise, "Since when did our relationship as demons become so good that we can freely share resources? Did the rules of the Abyss start to change towards the Heavenly Realm when I was not around?"

The Abyss’s large-scale invasion of the Primary Material Plane comes from instinct, more like "robbers swarming when the neighbor’s door is open" rather than organized warfare. High-level demons can naturally suppress lower beings, but it’s hard to say when they are at the same level. Fighting for the Abyss, sacrificing for the greater good? That has never been the rule of the Abyss.

"What do you want?" Simon angrily said, "Stop pretending, don’t you want to open the Abyss passage?"

When the passage was turbulent, the great demons speculated on what they would encounter on the other side.

The best scenario would be a remote and safe corner where Victor, despite his bad luck, was still cunningly recognized by the demons. A worse scenario would be a fully armed army of demon slayers, at least the great demons could gauge the current strength of the Primary Material Plane from the destruction caused by the Angry Demon’s manifestations. However, the worst-case scenario, if the reason the passage was opened is due to the ambition of creatures on the surface, if intelligent beings dominant on the surface suddenly have ambitions to attack the Abyss, the demons would be excited and fully support it.

It has been four or five hundred years since all the great demons returned to the Abyss. They spent a lot of time probing whether Victor was still alive, dismantling layer after layer of defenses, using brute force, intrigues, and scheming, fighting and competing… until they ended up dividing Victor’s wealth among themselves. Today, everything left by Victor in the Abyss (at least what they could find) has found new owners, changing hands several times. Almost all the great demons believe that the "ever-clever Victor" has finally met his match and can no longer stir up trouble.

All speculations and strategies were overturned when it was discovered that Victor was still alive on the Primary Material Plane.

If he is still alive, the opening of this passage and the entry of the vanguard team must be under his control. Who knows, it might be driven by him. While being used by this guy may be irksome for the Angry Demon, cooperating temporarily with Victor when they both aim to open the Abyss Passage will undoubtedly lead to greater success.

The problem lies in what he wants. If it were not Ragehorn Simon who came here, but another powerful demon who is better at thinking, negotiations would probably have already begun.

The yellow eyes in the middle of the book page casually looked at the nearby big demon, as if it was just a misplaced piece of trash. Victor sighed, as if he was blaming the other for not being respectful enough.

"Isn’t it basic courtesy to pay rent to the owner before using the premises?" he said.

"What do you want?" Simon asked irritably, losing patience with the slow conversation.

"It’s not much really, just give me back my things first," the book said nonchalantly, "all that I left in the abyss."

"You lost them yourself!" Angry Demon let out a rough laugh, sounding like a bark, "Nothing in the abyss has an owner, they are temporarily owned by the most deserving entities! Want them back? That’s not how things work in the abyss!"

"These are my rules," Victor said patiently, as if explaining common sense to a simple-minded person, "and on my turf, we follow my rules."

"Your territory?" Simon laughed loudly.

Its laughter echoed loudly, and it extended its claws to scratch the stone wall, creating a long crack. Angry Demon scoffed, "Times have changed! You are no longer what you used to be! Do you think you can still negotiate, just based on this dungeon that doesn’t sense the aura of the abyss?"

The book didn’t stop the Angry Demon’s mocking or react to the cracking walls. It calmly waited as the demon scratched the wall, then it tilted its head in apparent distress.

"Well, it is a bit unconvincing," Victor said. "But owning a city still looks stronger than wearing a fragile human body, right?"

The laughter abruptly stopped.

"Remember when we last met?" Victor showed no sign of stopping, "It was really unfortunate. Not only did I break one of your horns, but with that human child body of yours, I couldn’t even kick your knee if I tried. And what happened? Simon with a broken horn, learn a lesson. Didn’t any demon tell you that you shouldn’t listen to Uncle Victor when your brain isn’t working properly?"

Simon roared and finally pounced.

Provoked three times, let alone Angry Demon who was never known for being calm. With its sore foot stepped on repeatedly, past grievances surged up, and the enraged Angry Demon no longer cared about consequences; all caution turned into violent actions.

Its bones made a cracking sound, its body expanded again, flesh and bone spikes intertwined within the torn skin. Its strong reverse-jointed legs pressed down and then sprung back up, like a compressed spring, allowing this mighty demon to leap like a nimble ball.

The spot where it had just stood on the floor tiles showed a spiderweb-like crack.

The debris previously scraped off was whirled up by a strong wind, disturbing the still air in the dungeon room. Before its sharp claws could land, the strong wind had arrived. The book in mid-air made a rustling sound in the wind, its big yellow eyes squinting, looking calm as if just avoiding strong wind and not facing an incoming giant demon.

The distance between them was only a few feet. The Angry Demon kicked out, and in an instant, the distance disappeared. The sharp claws got closer and closer, just a foot away from tearing open the book.

It stopped just a foot away from the book.

A bright golden light suddenly burst out from the sharp claw as the center. The glorious light filled the whole room in the blink of an eye, turning the dark dungeon into daylight. The sharp claw paused for just a fraction of a second, and then Simon was sent flying faster than before.

The light was beautiful, shining like jewels and bright like the sun. But for the Angry Demon trapped in it, it was not poetic at all. The golden light wrapped around it, causing its whole body to convulse. A deafening roar shook the room, and Simon rolled on the ground as black smoke rose from Angry Demon.

The black scorched marks appeared on the bone spike that had just emerged, quickly withering back into its body, making it look smaller. Simon lifted his head towards the motionless book, half angry and half shocked, shouting, "Saro?"

"How can you call a big demon by that name?" Victor said insincerely, "How rude."

"Saro, damn it, even if you turn to ashes, I will recognize you!" Angry Demon suddenly climbed up, the scorched marks on its body quickly healing, "How can you be okay? How can you use Saro’s power?!"

The power of gods and demons naturally repel each other.

The corruption of demons is the great enemy of holy believers. Various foul abyssal spells can corrode divine spells, and countless saintly maidens have fallen to demons. The purification of deities is the natural enemy of monsters. During the Decaying Disaster, the Holy Light cast by priests, previously only used for healing and exorcism, was more effective than wizard’s attack spells, causing numerous high-level demons to perish.

The Heavenly Realm and the Abyss have been enemies since the beginning of existence. Their creations of water and fire cannot coexist peacefully, not just on a psychological level. When there is too much water, the flames are extinguished. When the flames are strong, the water dries up. They have a completely opposite relationship. The higher the level, the less this restriction affects them. But even when evolved to the level of a great demon, the divine spell of a legendary priest causes more trouble for them than the attacks of any legendary professional.

The one just now was the Light Curtain Art, one of the basic spells used to protect the Temple of Saro God. It can be cast by a bishop and a group of believers. Its power is not considered strong, compared to the spells that almost killed Simon before. The clone of the great demon is strong, just like its vitality. The Light Curtain Art just now made it uncomfortable, but it dissipated upon colliding with Simon, causing insignificant damage.

But the problem is not here.

Saro is the most typical deity of the Heavenly Realm. Brightness, the sun, and the God of Justice do not tolerate any evil appearing under their noses. Even ordinary humans from the evil camp are not allowed near, let alone the demons they are targeting. It is not surprising that Simon could trigger the Light Curtain Art, but how could it be used to protect Victor?!

Victor has been a great demon longer than Simon, and he has committed more sins and evil in his heart than Simon. Any soul from the Abyss will provoke the strongest reaction of Saro God, like pouring cold water into hot oil. Simon’s clone cannot avoid this, how can Victor? The heated scales clearly indicate that he is present, where is he really? How is that possible?

"How is it not possible?" Victor said confidently, "The Light Curtain Art just now could turn a Little Devil to ashes, but it only made you stumble. It’s just a difference in power. It couldn’t harm me at all, so what’s strange about it?"

What he implied left Simon speechless with horror.

"This can’t be possible…" he muttered to himself.

"Poor Simon, times have changed," Victor laughed, repeating his earlier words, "This is my home ground that I’ve managed for five hundred years. Are you planning to bet on this clone and your destiny in the Abyss, to see if I’m joking?"