Its demonic energy suddenly forced its way into my body.
It was stronger.
Far stronger.
The surge of demonic energy caught me off guard as it invaded my body, attempting to possess me.
I suddenly found myself in a foggy, purple space.
It was my spirit realm.
I was inside my own soul domain..
Standing before me was a massive demon, its towering figure looming over me.
It had two twisted lips, its face hideous enough to disgust even demons.
The demon grinned.
"All I need to do is erase your soul."
"Then your body will be mine."
The demon charged at me.
I instantly disappeared from my position, avoiding its attack.
But in the next instant, the demon appeared behind me.
It had already reached my new position.
Its fist slammed into my back, sending me stumbling forward.
No...
This can’t be.
What is this feeling?
The feeling of being weak.
I hated being weak.
And now this demon was actually overpowering me.
If only I still possessed all of my original strength...
I would have destroyed this ugly creature that didn’t even deserve to call itself a demon.
The demon continued its assault.
It kicked me once again, forcing me to stumble backward.
Reacting immediately, I summoned my sword.
Without even turning around, I slashed toward the spot where I predicted the demon would appear.
My blade sliced through the air.
But the demon vanished before the attack could reach it.
It flashed to another position and threw another punch at me.
I raised my sword and blocked the attack.
Our auras collided, bursting outward in a violent shockwave as they repelled one another.
The demon lifted its leg and kicked toward me.
I leaped into the air, narrowly dodging the kick before appearing behind it.
Without hesitation, I drove my fist into its back.
The demon staggered forward and crashed onto the ground.
...
The demon crashed onto its back.
Without giving it a chance to recover, I slashed my sword down again and again, each strike aimed at tearing it apart completely.
But just before my blade could finish it, the demon vanished from that spot.
It was fast.
Incredibly fast.
I could swear the speed of my sword was enough to cut down almost any opponent.
Yet this demon still managed to evade it.
Not because it was necessarily faster than me...
But because I no longer possessed my full strength.
I didn’t have all of my demonic energy.
I couldn’t fight this demon at my peak.
It seemed to be at a higher stage of cultivation than I could currently handle.
"Damn it!"
"You demon!"
"Do you even know who you’re fighting?"
"Huh?"
"You’re looking for death."
I glared at the demon with a cold expression.
The demon stared back at me.
Seeing that it relied mainly on its fists, I decided to fight the same way.
I dismissed my sword.
Then I charged forward, my fists wrapped in demonic aura.
Our fists collided repeatedly, each impact sending ripples through the purple mist around us.
Suddenly, the demon thrust its hand toward me.
Sharp black spikes shot out from its palm.
The spikes pierced straight through my chest.
A trick...
The reason the demon managed to stab me was because it had disguised the attack as another punch.
It had drawn my attention to its fist while secretly extending the spikes.
I saw the punch.
I saw the spikes.
But the demon was already too close.
Its speed was terrifying.
It was almost as though it had copied my fighting style.
Copied my movements.
Copied the way I fought.
I was the Demon King.
Even though I ruled over all demons and demonic beings, it didn’t mean I knew every ability possessed by every demon in existence.
I was the strongest among them.
There had never been a need for me to study the abilities of weaker demons.
So why would I have bothered?
...
After the spikes pierced through my chest, I fell to the ground.
A sharp pain spread through my body.
It felt as though my soul itself was dying.
"So..."
"I am going to die."
I muttered those words.
The demon grinned.
It slowly descended from the air and walked toward me, each step echoing through the endless purple mist.
It stopped in front of me before leaning down until its face was only inches from mine.
"Oh, Demon ."
"You put up quite a fight."
"No one has ever pushed me this far."
"You are quite courageous."
"But sadly..."
"Now I am going to destroy you."
"I’ll erase your soul..."
"And take your body."
The demon continued talking.
But halfway through its sentence...
Its eyes suddenly froze.
Blood poured from its mouth.
A look of disbelief spread across its face.
Then...
Its head slid cleanly from its neck and fell to the ground.
I grinned.
"Idiot."
"Did you really think you were the only one capable of playing tricks?"
"Well..."
"You aren’t the only one who can hide an ace up your sleeve."
"While you kept talking, believing I had reached my weakest point..."
"I was only pretending."
"I was waiting for you to let your guard down."
"The moment you did..."
"I executed you."
As I spoke, the hidden strand of demonic aura I had secretly released earlier finally revealed itself, having sliced through his neck while his attention was fixed entirely on me.
I slowly released a breath.
Then I manipulated my demonic aura one final time, completely erasing what remained of the demon’s soul.
I opened my eyes.
The blazing heat hit me immediately.
I looked up at the clear blue sky above me before slowly pushing myself into a sitting position.
The sandy ground beneath me felt hot.
It was as though I had been thrown into the middle of a desert.
"Who brought this king to a desert?"
I roared, displeasure evident in my voice.
"Hi. It’s good that you’re finally awake."
A feminine voice sounded beside me.
I immediately jumped back, putting some distance between us before turning to look at the speaker.
The face was familiar.
It was the face of the man who dressed like a woman.
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought the demon had killed you or something."
"No."
"The demon didn’t kill me."
"You saved me."
"Hah!"
"I did not save you."
"You’re only alive because you stole something that belongs to me."
"Now..."
"Where is the thing?"
"Where is the thing you stole from those demons that made them chase you?"
"Oh..."
"That thing."
"It’s here."
"Take it."
Ella said as he pulled out half of a map and handed it to me.
I took the map from him.
The moment it touched my hand, I felt an overwhelming surge of demonic energy.
It was powerful.
Extremely powerful.
This map...
It was somehow connected to me.
I lowered my gaze and carefully examined the strange characters carved across its surface.
"What?"
As I read the markings on the map, I sensed both demonic energy and immortal energy lingering within it.
This map contained the locations where every one of my body parts had been buried.
The immortal cultivators and demons who had joined forces against me must have gone to great lengths to create this map and scatter it across the world.
And somehow...
It had ended up in this man’s hands.
I tightened my grip on the map.
This man had just made my search for my scattered body parts one step easier.
"System."
"Why have you brought me to a desert?"
Of course, I hadn’t forgotten about the system.
That annoying pest was always forcing missions onto me.
"Well, Young Hero," the system replied cheerfully, "it is my duty to guide you to places filled with chaos so that you can become a hero."
"Your mission is to save those places."
"Turn lands consumed by chaos into lands of hope."
"So now, we are heading to crayanKingdom."
"There are many people there who need your help."
"All you have to do is go there."
"You’ll solve many cases, earn plenty of points, and then we’ll move on to the next place."
"System."
"You shall not control this Demon King."
"I will not do whatever you want."
"I do things my own way."
"I am not going to crayanKingdom."
"No."
"Young Hero, please!"
"Don’t disappoint this system."
"You have to go to crayanKingdom."
"There are many innocent people who need your help."
"The kingdom is overflowing with chaos."
"Go there."
"Save them."
I narrowed my eyes at the system.
"Does it involve demonic energy?"
The system paused.
"No, Young Hero."
"It involves being a hero and earning points."
"The more points you earn, the more powerful weapons you can purchase."
"Not interested."
I answered without hesitation.
Then I lowered my gaze to the map in my hand.
It was still radiating an aura that felt strangely familiar.
Suddenly, I sensed an enormous presence overhead.
A bizarre wave of energy rolled across the sky, making the map tremble faintly in my grasp.
It was powerful.
Very powerful.
"System."
"Where is this crayanKingdom located?"
"To the east, my lord."
"To the east."
"Hmm..."
The demonic energy I was sensing...
It was also coming from the east.
I looked toward the distant horizon.
"System."
"Let’s head east."
"Let us be a hero."
"Yay!"
"I knew I had chosen the right hero!"
"You truly are the chosen and destined hero!"
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Whatever."
I rolled my eyes.
A kingdom consumed by chaos...
The stronger the chaos, the greater the chance of finding what I sought.
I could already tell that going there would be greatly beneficial to me.
A faint smile spread across my face.
I had made my decision.