Chapter 971: A Frightful Experience in a Demon’s Memory
A prolonged horn blast silenced the demons all at once. The Red Mist, crystalline a moment before, began surging like boiling lava inside the gigantic sinkhole.
Two demons stepped from the crowd and crossed the slender stone bridge.
One was clearly a Mad Demon—the largest Roland had ever seen—though it looked mediocre beside its companion: a giant crawler-shaped Lord of Hell. Neither wore armor, and the tension between them was obvious. They shouldered and jostled each other the entire length of the bridge.
The surrounding demons showed no surprise at this. If anything, they looked excited.
Is it a duel?
Roland guessed it was some kind of ceremonial combat—the sort barbarian races enjoyed. A fight to the death. A show of strength. The survivor venerated as a hero.
He despised such spectacles. Not from racial prejudice—it simply seemed to offer nothing beyond the entertainment of watching something die. The world he came from had indulged in such theater once too, though there the dying was done by slaves against wild animals, which meant neither outcome merited grief.
As the only human being present—intangible, invisible, a ghost among thousands—Roland felt no particular stake in either contestant. He walked straight through the crowd and followed the two demons onto the bridge.
The island, roughly the size of Neverwinter’s main square, was not empty.
His eyes widened.
It seemed to be a female demon.
He couldn’t be certain at first. But he couldn’t deny the resemblance—the upright posture, the proportions, the face arranged in a way that was, against all reason, almost—
This isn’t scientific at all.
He checked himself.
How could an alien species, completely incompatible with mankind, produce an individual who resembles a woman this closely? Walking upright made evolutionary sense—height benefited both predators and prey. But this degree of similarity, purely coincidental?
He reconsidered. Most people, he knew, would not share his impression. She had livid skin, prominent horns, a third eye on the forehead, and bony spurs bristling from her shoulders and arms. Anyone else would have called her terrifying.
Before the duel began, the two demons bowed to the female in her white robe, then moved to opposite ends of the island. They stood near the edge, facing the Red Mist Lake with a gravity that reminded Roland of soldiers before an execution.
The female demon walked to the island’s edge and sang.
Her soprano rang out across the sinkhole, and the lake answered. The mist surged upward; the surface roiled as though something beneath it was waking.
Maybe it isn’t a duel. Maybe these two demons aren’t fighting each other at all.
Two massive tentacles erupted from the lake. They swung toward the Mad Demon and the Lord of Hell separately, each one thick enough to crush a building—and at the last moment, both demons raised their arms. They didn’t flinch. They didn’t retreat. They simply stood with arms extended, as though offering themselves.
The female demon cried out. The tentacles hesitated, hovering above each demon’s head. Then they curled back and spat: a gout of mucus, and from within it, a crystal gemstone for each.
The demons caught the stones. Without hesitation, they drove their fingers into their own chests and pushed the gems inside.
Light detonated from their bodies. Roland threw up a hand against the glare.
Magic stones. Is that how demon warriors acquire their power?
He ran the numbers immediately. No—that can’t be right. Mad Demons are common soldiers. Thousands of them. The demon city couldn’t hold a grand ceremony for every one.
Several minutes passed before the light subsided.
What it revealed stopped his breath.
The Lord of Hell had curled into a ball. All the spiracles along its back gaped open, leaking white fog. Its body appeared to be dissolving—melting from the inside like wax left too close to a flame.
The Mad Demon fared better, though its body had shrunk after absorbing the stone. Its arms and legs were no longer as massive, and vivid blue veins pushed through the wound at its chest. It looked miserable. But it was still standing.
Looking between them, Roland thought of the God’s Punishment Army’s incarnation ceremony.
Do demon warriors also pay with their lives to gain power?
The Lord of Hell screamed.
It reared upward, lunging toward the female demon—and landed hard enough to shake the entire floating island. When the impact dust settled, there was no crushed body. Only shattered stone. It had missed entirely.
Red-eyed, it turned its aggression toward the Mad Demon.
That’s it.
That’s why they behaved this way.
A demon doesn’t die from absorbing a Magic Stone. It changes. The Lord of Hell, intelligent a moment ago, is now something closer to a beast. It has lost itself.
The Mad Demon didn’t flinch. It threw itself at the crawler with a ferocity that looked like joy.
Whatever the stone had given it, it had also made it smaller and faster. The seemingly invincible four-legged crawler was driven backward. The hot steam it vented could only singe a corner of the Mad Demon’s garment; the Mad Demon’s waves of black light cut open the crawler’s body in long, deep gouges, exposing the bone beneath.
In less than five minutes, the duel was ending.
The Mad Demon tore off the crawler’s tail, stripped the flesh from the tailbone with a few savage pulls, and hurled it back at the dying creature. The bone punched through the Lord of Hell’s head. It was over before the crowd could exhale.
Roland, watching from the side, felt his jaw tighten.
The Mad Demon’s throwing arm hadn’t withered.
The frenzy on its face as it walked toward the dead crawler was something close to religious. It reached down, extracted the Magic Stone from the body, and swallowed it whole—along with whatever flesh and blood still clung to the surface.
The crowd erupted.
Before Roland could track the moment, the female demon was on the island again. She seemed to raise her eyebrows slightly, as though surprised.
The Mad Demon’s expression twisted with pain. Steam hissed from its nostrils, from its ears. But it was grinning through it. Savoring the torment.
This time, the transformation lasted nearly half an hour.
When it finally ended—when the blistered old skin tore away and sloughed to the ground—what stepped out looked nothing like a Mad Demon.
Its face resembled a human being’s.
The crowd detonated.
He didn’t know who called it first, but the word swept through tens of thousands of voices in a single wave:
“Charita!”
“Charita!”
“Charita!”
The chant rolled and rebounded off the stone walls of the sinkhole, reverberating until it felt less like sound than pressure.
Roland’s heart continued to sink.
He thought of what Pasha had mentioned—a rumor, old and uncertain: Long before the first Battle of Divine Will, someone had made contact with the demons. Someone had taught them knowledge, had lifted them from something not far removed from beasts.
Perhaps that was why Senior Demons now looked increasingly like humans.
Chapter 971: A Frightful Experience in a Demon’s Memory
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
Hearing the prolonged blast of a horn, all the demons fell into silence simultaneously. The Red Mist which looked like a crystal a moment ago started to surge like boiling lava inside the gigantic sinkhole.
Two demons stepped out of the crowd and walked on the slender stone bridge.
Roland found that one of them was clearly a Mad Demon whilst the other looked like the Lord of Hell Agatha mentioned.
Though the former was the biggest Mad Demon he had ever seen, it looked mediocre in front of the giant crawler shaped Lord of Hell.
Neither of them wore armor, however, the relationship between them was obviously confrontational. They were pushing each other all the way to the island.
Seeing this situation, the demons around the island did not show even the slightest surprise. Instead, they all seemed very excited.
What’re they doing? Is it a duel?
Roland guessed that it was a kind of ceremonial battle which most barbarian races enjoyed. It was a duel to the death and a show of strength. The one who survived in the end would be venerated as a hero.
He despised such duels. It was not because of racial prejudice, he just thought that it had no meaning except providing the audience with an exciting
fighting show. Besides, it may cause the race more harm than benefit. People on Earth also enjoyed these kinds of shows long ago. The only difference was that they usually watched some slave fighting a wild animal. Thus, no matter which party died, they would not feel sad.
As the only human being here, Roland did not care about the demons in the duel at all. Instead, he decided to take a closer look at this fierce battle. To the demons, he was now intangible and invisible like a ghost. Given that, he walked directly through the crowd and followed the two demons to the stone bridge.
When he got onto the island which was as large as Neverwinter’s square, he found that someone was already there.
His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the creature clearly.
It seemed to be a female demon!
He was not sure about this impression at first, but he could not deny that it resembled a woman in many ways.
Besides, she looked quite attractive.
Wait, it’s not scientific at all!
He became alert.
“How can an alien species who are completely incompatible with mankind produce an individual who’s so much like a woman! It’s reasonable that some of them may have evolved to walk upright since height would give predators a better view and a practical advantage in hunting. However, it’s really hard to believe that this extent of similarity was purely coincidental.”
On second thought, he believed that other people would hardly agree with him that this female demon was attractive. She had livid skin, prominent horns, an extra eye on the forehead and bony spurs all over her shoulders and arms. Different from a time traveler with wide experience like Roland, they would probably be terrified by her appearance.
Before the duel, the two demons bowed to the female demon who wore a white robe before moving to either side of the island to take up their positions. They stood close to the edge of the island, facing the Red Mist Lake solemnly.
The female demon walked slowly to the island’s edge and began to sing a soprano.
The lake vigorously rippled as if something was about to come out.
Roland wondered, “Maybe, it wasn’t just a duel, or maybe these two demons weren’t dueling at all…”
Suddenly, two stout tentacles popped out of the lake. They swung respectively at the Mad Demon and the Lord of Hell. It looked like they were going to crush the demons at any minute, but surprisingly, both of the demons raised their arms as if they had willingly given up resistance.
The female demon shouted out, causing the tentacles to reluctantly stop above each demon’s head. They wiggled for a moment before each spitting out some mucus and a crystal gemstone.
The demons used their fingers to rip open their chests before inserting the gemstones into their bodies without the slightest hesitation.
Instantly, a strong light radiated from their bodies, making it difficult for Roland to open his eyes.
His heart sank.
“Are those magic stones? Is that how the demon warriors get their supernatural power?”
“No, it can’t be. Mad Demons are just common soldiers. There are thousands of them in the demon army. How could the demon city afford to hold a grand ceremony like this to convert each Mad Demon?”
A few minutes later, the blinding light gradually subsided, revealing a shocking scene.
The mighty Lord of Hell curled into a ball under tremendous pain. All the spiracles on its back opened as it continuously leaked white fog. It seemed as if its body was melting.
The Mad Demon appeared to be much better compared to the Lord of Hell. Although its body also shrank after absorbing the Magic Stone, Roland believed that this was just a common side effect. Its arms and legs were not as stout as before and distinct blue veins appeared from the wound on its chest. It looked miserable, however, at least it was still able to stand.
Looking at the two demons, Roland could not help thinking of the incarnation ceremony of the God’s Punishment Army.
“Do demon warriors also need to sacrifice their lives to get magic power?”
The next moment, the Lord of Hell issued a piercing cry. It lifted its upper body and sprang towards the female demon on the island.
With a loud bang, the entire floating island trembled.
Roland thought that he was going to see a crushed body under the Lord of Hell, but to his surprise, there were only a few shattered stones instead.
The Lord of Hell had missed its target. It got irritated and shifted its red eyes to the Mad Demon combatively.
“That’s it.”
“I’ve understood why they acted this way.”
“A demon won’t die after absorbing a Magic Stone, instead, it’ll change. The Lord of Hell, who was an intelligent lifeform a moment ago, now looked more like a crawler and behaved as if it was an irrational beast.”
The Mad Demon did not flinch at all. It fought the giant crawler fanatically!
After absorbing the magic stone, it seemed to obtain a new ability along with a smaller and agiler body!
The seemingly powerful four-legged crawler was forced to retreat by the Mad Demon. The hot steam it emitted could only damage a corner of the Mad Demon’s garment whilst the Mad Demon’s waves of black light were able to easily cut the Crawler’s body. Roland could see the crawler’s bones from its open wounds.
In less than five minutes, the duel was drawing to an end.
The Mad Demon tore off the crawler’s tail. It quickly peeled the skin and flesh off the tailbone before throwing it back to the dying crawler to give a decisive blow!
The bone pierced the Lord of Hell’s head and killed it. The whole process was as fast as lightning.
Roland who was standing by watching the whole duel, now looked grave. He noticed that the Mad Demon’s arm did not wither after throwing the tailbone.
The frenzied Mad Demon walked step by step to the dead crawler. It grabbed the magic stone from the Crawler’s dead body and swallowed it along with the flesh and blood adhering to the surface.
The audience suddenly burst into exclamation!
The female demon somehow appeared on the island again before Roland realized. She seemed to raise her eyebrows in surprise.
Once again, the Mad Demon revealed a painful expression as steam discharged from its nostrils and ears… Roland clearly saw that it was grinning. It seemed to be enjoying this torment very much.
This time, the converting process was much longer. It did not gradually recover until roughly half an hour later. Tearing off its old blister covered skin, it revealed a completely different appearance.
Roland could not help gasping at its new figure.
Its face now resembled a human being’s.
Seeing this, the audience all cheered simultaneously.
“Charita!”
Roland did not know who called out this word first, but quickly, all the demons followed and repeatedly chanted together!
“Charita!”
“Charita!”
“Charita!”
Hearing the reverberating roar of the demons, Roland’s heart further sank.
He thought of the rumor Pasha mentioned.
“The rumor was that, long before the beginning of the first Battle of Divine Will, someone had got in contact with the demons.”
“That person had taught knowledge to the demons, who were no different from beasts.”
“This might be the reason why Senior Demons looked more and more like humans.”