The two Elders rushed into the portal right after Draco and Eva, followed by the two mounts. The Human Commander who had been in the void at the back was horrified and also jumped in without thinking.
About 30 minutes later, the Demon Commander managed to cough out a thick wad of blood and extricate himself from the 7th mountain he had crashed through, his body bloody and shattered.
His demonic regeneration kicked in and patched his wounds, but his mind still felt fear from the potency of that attack from Draco.
'How can it be?! That boy was a Demon God in the flesh! Why would a young Demon God ever choose to walk alongside an Angel?'
The Demon Commander couldn't understand even if you gave him 20 brains. As he floated in the air, he pondered for a long time until his mind finally clicked.
'Hold on, why do I keep thinking of collusion? Would a Demon God need to collude with a mere Angel? Why did I not think of subservience first?!'
The Demon Commander slapped his own forehead. 'I'm such an idiot. She obviously attacked first because the Demon God did not want to sully his hands, so it was the lackey's job to please her master. When he saw me attack, he must have realized I would be too powerful for his toy, and so he attacked me casually, but left me alive due to my status.'
The Demon chuckled and shook his head. 'It was so obvious from the beginning, yet here I was thinking plenty. Truly, my Demon race are not known for their quick wits.'
"Oh right, better go and check the aftermath." The Demon Commander finally spoke out loud, murmuring to himself.
He returned to their base camp and saw the utter devastation, frowning deeply. He wondered why the Demon God would need to slaughter them all. Just flash your power, and we would all kneel like dogs.
Maybe the Demon God had other concerns? A problem of secrecy? Or was it a competition? Perhaps he was at odds with his own faction?
"No, first of all, a puny Commander like me has no right to be thinking too much. My job is to report to my betters and let them agonize over this." The Demon Commander concluded with a cruel smile.
Every subordinate who encountered a difficult situation would be familiar with this type of smile, the knowing kind that you were about to 'bless' your superior with many sleepless nights!
With a sigh of relief, he noted that the Demon God had not closed the two-way portal. This was a relief for the Demon Commanders, as he would need to wait for reinforcements soon. In the meantime, the Demon began rebuilding the base.
Luckily, some elite Demons had been sent out on missions, so it wasn't like he was totally out of manpower. The Demon Commander quickly sent out a missive for them to return ASAP, as it was urgent.
After taking care of the obvious stuff, the Demon Commander was about to rest when he noticed a strange aura approaching. It was a powerful aura, one that made his bloodline burn with anxiety but determination.
This meant that whatever being was approaching, its bloodline rank was one level higher than his, but since Demons were a combative race, one rank difference was not enough to make him feel abject fear.
The Demon Commander rushed to the front of the base to see a silhouette hopping over, a four-legged mammal that radiated danger. Its eyes were a radiant blue, its lush mane flowing in the wind.
With tightly packed musculature and paws the size of large pans, this beast would certainly give the Demon Commander a tough fight as he unsheathed his greatsword.
'It's a Divine Lion!' The Demon Commander thought with horror, wondering how a Divine Beast with full bloodline power could appear in this realm. If we were equating the Demon Commander current bloodline rank, we could say he was at the Legendary equivalent.
Above that was Demon Supreme at Divine and Demon God at Origin. Since Qiong Qi was a DIVINE Lion, it should be obvious what Rank his bloodline was.
The fellow walked up to the Demon Commander with an imperious look, as if looking at mere trash. The Demon Commander felt cold sweat run down his back, but he maintained his battle stance.
The Lion paused right before him, breathing heavily upon him as it towered over his head. Just when the Demon Commander expected to fight to the death, the majestic lion collapsed in a heap on the ground, panting and wheezing.
"Argh.. *pant*… caf caf… *wheeze*… my chest…!!"
Qiong Qi wanted to scream to the heavens in pain, but he currently lacked the lung capacity to do that. All his functions were currently working overtime to restore stamina and let air flow into his battered body.
He had run nonstop from the city to here, a distance of over 200 km at the least. He had passed through forests, deserts, jungles, and seas to reach here, avoiding foes higher than him while also ignoring those other Demon Beasts that wanted him to submit out of arrogance.
It was only when there were no more on his way that he regretted it, realizing too late that he could have tamed a weaker beast to carry him along. Now, 30 minutes after Draco and Eva had entered the portal, he had finally 'caught up'.
The Demon Commander took in Qiong Qi's pathetic sight of him rolling around while clutching his chest, trying to breathe, not really making his situation any better. His hand that held the greatsword faltered, and he couldn't bring it down.
Was… it really alright to kill this thing?
Why did it feel like killing it would be more disgusting than bathing in vulture shit?
Qiong Qi seemed to finally notice the fellow opposite him and jumped to his feet, making the Demon Commander wonder if all that had just been some act.
"This retard here, quickly bend over, so I may use you as my mount! Otherwise, don't blame me for being cruel!" Qiong Qi demanded arrogantly.
After hearing such vulgar words, how could the Demon Commander hold back?
"Vile beast, how dare you? Die for me!" He roared as he swung his greatsword to decapitate Qiong Qi.
The mighty weapon, coated with the highest grade of Demonic Energy that the Commander could muster, struck down on the lion's neck and bounced off without even leaving a white line.
This shocked the Demon Commander, and his heart fell. He realized he had been too rash and was easily provoked by a better foe. Now that he was open, this lion could claw out his innards with one swipe, if it could negate such an attack without even mustering energy.
Just as the Demon Commander was about to shout for mercy, Qiong Qi grabbed his neck after a short delay, rolling around once more.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!! I-I… My neck has been severed…!" Qiong Qi cried softly.
He rolled around for about three seconds, but he suddenly stopped rolling and got up with a bored expression. "Meh, I've done this before, and it was much funnier last time. You aren't good enough entertainment, dude, is that why your girl is known as the barracks bunny?"
Rather than get angry, the Demon Commander became warier and stood back cautiously. Clearly, this Divine Lion had been playing around from the start, whether it was some clever tactic, or just ingrained habit, he didn't know.
"Right, did you see a handsome bloke about this tall, with black hair in a gay hairstyle, two edgy red eyes, and the smile of a third-rate villain? He was probably riding a giant red oversized lizard with some foreskin on his back, red scales that look as if someone had colored them in with crayon and shiny white teeth that are all artificial?"
Qiong Qi picked his nose lazily as he asked this. However, if the targets had been here to hear this, his life would probably end today.
"They came and attacked us, but I was sent flying and did not see where they went…" The Demon Commander began, before he saw a shadow over his head.
Qiong Qi's right paw came down like a hammer, clobbering his head and sending his face crashing down into the dirt. The Demon Commander's face got buried into the ground while Qiong Qi looked at him with contempt.
"What is the difference between this and saying you eat shit for recreational purposes? Retard."
With that, Qiong Qi strutted into the nearby portal, as that was obviously where bastard Draco and vile beast Clarent would go in their pursuit of discovering more ways to court death.
After Qiong Qi left, the Demon Commander pulled his face from the ground and spat out dirt. With a solemn and sad expression, he swore to himself.
'I am just going to apply for guard duty back in Hell. I'll never come out again.'
…………..
Draco and Eva looked around the Hell Realm, noticing that they were on a wide plain that was filled with blackened and craggy earth that had some bits of lava flowing through it here and there.
They checked the portal behind them to see that it was still open and was two-way. The two Elders rushed in after them, including the Human Commander. All paused and took in the sight of the Hell Realm for themselves.
The stink of sulfur in the air, coupled with a trace of methane made the average human lightheaded. However, no one who entered was average, so it had no real effect on them.
Draco felt his bloodline churn with familiarity, while Eva frowned as hers churned with disgust. Not only that, but the two felt a huge consciousness descend upon them immediately.
The Hell Realm's Heavenly Dao was gazing upon them with disbelief. After angering me, you dare to enter my realm to cause more trouble? Am I a dog in your eyes?
Immediately, the black sky above them churned and created dark clouds filled with red lighting. Clearly, the world's will was mustering its power to eliminate them once and for all.
Immediately, Eva who was already irritated, decided to do something inhumane and cruel. She used her daily chance to overclock one bloodline generator, and connected to her Light Angel Inheritance's mental abilities.
This was the same actions she made back when he created the mind plague that crippled parts of Shinoka and the Merchant Guild. This time, she manifested a direct mental attack that was aimed at the world's consciousness, which was, in essence, a mind as well.
How does it feel to be sitting at a desk, writing something down when a cousin or something clobbers you on the back of the head with a baseball bat at half power?
You'd be dazed, in pain, and on the verge of blackout. That was exactly what the world will felt when Eva attacked. It was a world's consciousness, so even the overpowered bloodlines could not one-shot it.
However, it definitely would not walk away unscathed, so you could say Eva had temporarily disabled it. For how long, no one knew.
Eva rubbed her temples with a pained expression, but soon recovered. She then traveled forward with Luxia raising her hand to the sky as she released genocidal light beams that struck all demons within range and edified them.
As for Draco, he and Clarent went elsewhere. They were going to the core of the world, where the other Demon Gods resided and where the Heavenly Dao was based.
In coming here, the Evil Duo had two goals.
The first was to acquire a Cultivation Method on the level of the Dragon/Phoenix Method for Draco that would fit his Demon Martial Spirit.
The second was to find a way from the hands of the Demons to access this universe's Heavenly Realm or Angel Realm so that they could do the same for Eva.
Hence, Eva took action first back then to trick the demon commander into confirming if there was such a realm, but he did not share how to get there. However, Eva realized that it didn't matter when her killing of Demons got her feedback.
The Heaven Realm was directly telling her that if she edified a certain amount of demons, it would award her with what she wanted right away.
And so, Eva's slaughter began.
