The Czech Village on the border of the Tania Kingdom in the Western Realm.

After packing her belongings, Nicole stood in front of the door, staring blankly at the wooden target that Moko often used. Rosca, who witnessed this scene, could only sigh inwardly. Over the past seven years, he had come to see Moko as his own son, and in fact, he valued Moko more than Nicole.

He felt a deep sense of guilt because, if it weren't for him, Moko's biological parents, Moren and Lona, would not have died. He had always believed that he was responsible for the death of Moren and Lona... Of course, his wife, Anna, was also among the deceased.

Nicole probably felt the same way, considering Moko as her younger brother and willing to do anything for him. Both of them must have developed some inexplicable feelings for each other, and if left to develop further... But then, Salas returned, and Moko ran away from home... Did he discover it too late?

Moko was precocious, possessing a maturity that ordinary children didn't have. He probably already guessed that Rosca was not his biological father. He must have liked Nicole, although Rosca couldn't imagine an eight-year-old child understanding what love is.

Actually, understanding or not understanding love is not the key. The key is whether one will feel jealous, and if so, whether one will go mad with jealousy...

"Nicole, I'm here. Is everything packed?"

Salas arrived, politely greeting Rosca before shifting his gaze to Nicole.

"You're here..." Nicole's gaze toward Salas was somewhat complex. She wasn't stupid; she had already guessed that Moko ran away from home because of Salas. But even after countless reflections, she couldn't recall any conflicts between Salas and Moko.

Although reason told her that Salas was innocent, her emotions influenced Nicole, causing her to frown unconsciously.

Rosca was the same. Because of Moko, he couldn't help but be angry with Salas. However, he was well aware that Salas had done nothing wrong.

Having found no trace of Moko nearby, Rosca decided to venture further away. The battlefield between the goblins and demons was highly suspicious. He found Moko's weapon there, but not his body. Was he eaten or was there another reason... Rosca was more inclined to believe that Moko was taken away by a demon.

Therefore, Rosca decided to go on a journey. If possible, he hoped to find sorcerers, witches, or similar people who could harness the power of demons. These people were always shunned by other humans, so finding them wouldn't be easy.

As for Nicole, Rosca sent her to the warrior academy to study. Once she became strong enough, she would join the search. Of course, what Rosca truly hoped for was to find Moko before Nicole graduated.

At first, Salas was very concerned about finding Moko, but he was rational enough to know that a purposeless search would be meaningless. So when Rosca suggested sending Nicole to the warrior academy, Salas immediately stepped forward and volunteered to recommend Nicole for enrollment as a special admission.

Special admissions at the warrior academy had numerous privileges ─ waived tuition and accommodation fees, exclusive teachers, and exclusive weapons...

It could be said that all those who could enter the warrior academy as special admissions were geniuses among geniuses.

With a small burden on her back, Nicole tightened her grip on the wooden sword that Moko used for training. Tears shimmered in her eyes as she looked at the familiar training target one last time, softly saying, "Dad... I'm entrusting this to you, Moko... Once I become stronger, let's search together..."

"Okay, leave it to me." Rosca said confidently, though even he didn't believe his own words. He patted his chest, looking reliable, and said, "Nicole, study hard. Only by becoming stronger can you do the things you want. And as for Salas..."

Rosca looked at Salas, who straightened his chest, engaging in a meticulous stare-down. After a moment of silence, Rosca forced a smile, "I'm entrusting my daughter to you."

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of Nicole." Salas replied with a confident and sunny smile, but it failed to uplift the gloomy atmosphere between father and daughter. Salas could only force a bitter smile and say, "Moko is lucky, he won't come to any harm. Finding him is just a matter of time. He's very smart, I've known that since he was little..."

"Sometimes being smart doesn't help..." Nicole, with tear-filled eyes, caressed the wooden sword in her hand as if it were her most cherished brother, "Many times, being clever is useless... If we encounter bandits... should I pray that he becomes their slave...""Slave...slave..." Salas awkwardly comforted, "Being called a slave...That's too much...Maybe Moko isn't that miserable..."

Roska agreed, "Being a slave is not too bad..."

Salas: "..."

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Blood Sea of Purgatory

I woke up from my sleep feeling a bit groggy. I tilted my head and hit a rock, which instantly woke me up. I looked at my hands again, red skin, sharp nails... It turns out it wasn't a dream after all.

My stomach growled. When I wake up in the morning, I'm used to going to the restroom and then exercising, but there's no restroom here. Do they expect me to dig a hole in the ground? Wait a minute, yesterday I only ate souls. That shouldn't... come out, right?

Wait! I don't remember peeing yesterday... My little buddy! Where's my little buddy? I haven't even used it yet... Why is it gone...

Becoming a demon and facing a battle for survival, so many things have happened that my brain is not functioning properly anymore.

Perhaps because I made a noise, the four imbeciles guarding outside the cave immediately ran in. They surrounded me with pitiful eyes. Ah, I understand, you all must be hungry, right?

A group of hungry creatures.

Let's put the issue of my little buddy aside for now. The most important thing right now is the food problem. If I don't come up with a solution, these guys will surely revolt. With my four subordinates, I walked to the entrance of the cave and noticed something was wrong. How should I put it? The water level had risen!

The spot where I rested before going to sleep was hundreds of meters away from the Blood Sea, but when I woke up, the Blood Sea was right in front of me. Some of the bigger waves were almost touching my feet.

Could it be that the Blood Sea is moving?

"Let's go, we need to leave this place." To avoid being trapped inside the cave by the red bloodwater, I called my four subordinates and headed in the opposite direction away from the Blood Sea.

Along the way, we encountered many small fiends running away from the Blood Sea. Some of them were alone, while others were in groups of three or five. When a larger group encountered a smaller group, they would fight and kill each other. With a group of five, including myself, we were considered relatively strong, so we didn't encounter anyone who dared to pick a fight. Most of the small fiends we encountered would retreat upon seeing us. Even those who didn't retreat were only equal in number to us or slightly more.

I ordered the imps to capture any solitary fiends we encountered, and I would attempt to subjugate them. If the captured fiend refused to surrender... well, then let it die.

For some reason, almost all of the fiends I captured would kneel and beg for mercy upon seeing me. My plan to recruit small fiends was going very smoothly. In just half a day, my team had grown to twelve members.

Once the number reached two digits, I focused on hunting. The rule was that I would take all the souls, while the bodies would be divided among my subordinates.

It might be just my imagination, but the imps' appetite seemed to be getting bigger, and there were subtle changes in their bodies after each meal. Especially small three, with its stronger power compared to the other imps, ate the most and evolved the fastest. At this rate, it might become a big fiend before anyone else.

I had some speculations about the Blood Sea. The Blood Sea nurtured countless small fiends, who hatched from demon eggs.

Perhaps the Blood Sea was the birthplace of Purgatory, the mother of all demons.

I was currently on the edge of the Blood Sea, where the demons were the weakest and at most reached the stage of a big fiend. As for the reason... it was because the Blood Sea was moving.

Normally, if the Blood Sea didn't move, the first-born fiends could wait at the original location to devour the ones hatched later. Over time, the first-born imps would become stronger while the later ones would become nothing more than food. In that case, effort would be meaningless, and it would all come down to who was born first.

However, the Blood Sea was the origin of Purgatory. Although it's not known if the Blood Sea has consciousness, it clearly doesn't want to be used as a breeding ground for waste. The movement of the Blood Sea is the proof.

Due to the movement of the Blood Sea, all demons who felt threatened by it had to stay away from it. As a result, the first-born demons would run to areas further from the Blood Sea. As for surviving in the Blood Sea... On Earth, people say that the ocean is the origin of all life, and our ancestors were originally marine organisms. So, can you breathe underwater now?In order to verify my conjecture, another wave crashed ashore, carrying with it some round objects and the body of a small Fiend. These oval-shaped objects washed ashore were not anything rare, but rather demon eggs.

It was obvious now that the blood sea gave birth to demon eggs in its depths, and the waves carried these eggs to the shore. The demon eggs hatched into small Fiends, which discovered that the blood water would move after they fought on the beach. In order to protect themselves, they had to stay away from the blood sea. Then the next batch of demon eggs would be washed ashore...

If that was the case, there should be a limit to the expansion of the blood sea, otherwise the entire purgatory would be consumed by it. Unfortunately, I didn't know where this limit was, and in order to stay alive, I had to speed up and get as far away from the blood sea as possible. Who knows if the blood sea would suddenly go crazy and attack me while I was sleeping...

By this point, there should have been a big Fiend appearing. Speaking of which... it seemed like there was one up ahead...

A physique that was at least a circle stronger than the small Fiends, a height that could always look down on the lower-ranked ones, and a face that clearly showed a bad mood...

Behind the big Fiend were five small Fiends.

Including myself, there were thirteen units of small Fiends on my side, outnumbering them. But when it came to facing small Fiends, big Fiends had overwhelming advantages. In a one-on-one battle, small Fiends wouldn't last more than ten seconds.

"You, it's you, come over here," the big Fiend, standing tens of meters away, pointed at me arrogantly with his finger. "Hurry up!"

I pointed at myself in surprise with my index finger. "Me?"

"Yes, you."

After evolving from a small Fiend to a big Fiend, their intelligence significantly improved, and their speech became much clearer.

"What do you mean? What do you want me to come over for?"

"Come over and mate!"

"..."

Mate... mate... The word "mate" suddenly came out of a demon's mouth... and it was directed at me... This kind of experience really didn't make me happy.

By the way, this big Fiend had no chest and I couldn't see any male organ, so I couldn't figure out its gender. But it wanted to catch me to do that kind of thing. Could it be a female? Also, how do demons even do it? I'm a little curious.

Uh... What the heck was I thinking in my mind? Shouldn't I show anger when I'm being forcibly taken like this?! Yes, I'm angry, very angry!

"Hey, you come over quickly, otherwise I'll kill all your subordinates and tear you into pieces!"

Before I could express my anger, Xiao San took a step forward to block me. "You, go away, go away!"

"Little guy, how dare you disrespect me!" Being bumped by Xiao San, the big Fiend hesitated for a moment, then erupted with an unstoppable rage, pointing at Xiao San word by word, "You're dead!"

Xiao Yi, Xiao Er, and Xiao Si were slower than Xiao San, and they only stood in front of me together with the other recently subjugated small Fiends when the big Fiend formally declared war.

This way, a battle that no one understood was about to begin.