The doors of the Pagoda opened with a heavy, drawn-out sound.
Daniel stepped outside.
The first thing he saw was the dark sky, filled with demonic auras.
The second thing was a sea of demons.
The valley, the cliffs, even the air itself—everything was surrounded by red bodies, curved horns, and glowing eyes.
Thousands of demons. Maybe even more. From B-rank all the way to beings whose very breathing made the space tremble, S-rank.
Daniel paused for a moment.
"...I didn’t expect you to value me this much."
He slowly looked around and muttered under his breath.
He had expected to be surrounded by demons the moment he came out. But this? This was far beyond what he imagined.
If he had to guess, it was obvious that at least more than half of all the demons in the Gulf had gathered here just for him.
Jokes aside, he honestly felt a sense of pride.
The Crown Prince had considered him important enough to summon nearly all demons here, accepting huge risks, just to capture him.
He smiled mockingly.
Unfortunately for them, he was currently the biggest living nightmare of the demons.
Among the demon ranks, the Demon King’s children stepped forward.
Their eyes were locked onto Daniel, as if they still couldn’t believe it.
"You... you’re alive?" one of them said in a rough voice.
"Were you expecting me to die?" Daniel looked at him and replied sarcastically.
They had truly believed that after all this time, he must be dead.
But it seemed they were completely wrong. This human was alive.
"Does it matter? Now that you’re alive, we can torture you and squeeze everything out of you," another one stepped forward and said.
The others laughed.
Because of this bastard, they had wasted two full weeks here. They were angry at the Crown Prince too, but they didn’t dare direct that anger at him.
But now this human was alive.
They could vent all their anger on him.
"You’d better surrender quietly. It’ll be better for you."
Daniel laughed loudly this time, a short but humiliating laugh.
"Do you really think you can defeat me?" His eyes sharpened.
"With idiots like you?"
Their faces twisted, and their auras exploded outward. The space around them began to shake.
"Bastard... looks like you’re tired of living."
Two weeks of waiting. Humiliation. And now this.
They were so furious that even the smallest spark could make them explode.
"Attack." One of the Demon King’s children raised his hand.
The wave of demons surged forward like a flood.
The ground cracked.
The first demon didn’t even get the chance to scream.
Daniel stepped forward. His fist moved through the air, bringing the Law of Death with it.
The punch landed—
Boom.
The demon’s body collapsed from the inside, as if the very concept of "being alive" had been taken away. No blood. No resistance.
He didn’t really need to fight the demons himself. He could have simply relied on the Fallen.
But he chose to do it personally.
He had two reasons.
First, he wanted to test his new power.
Second, he wanted to farm EXP.
Daniel plunged into the crowd.
An aura of death wrapped around his body like black mist. Demons that got close slowed down, their minds collapsing.
One of the demons activated a skill and attacked.
[ Infernal Claw Burst ]
Flaming claws tore through the air, rushing toward Daniel.
Daniel didn’t even look.
[ Demonic Twilight Shield ] activated.
A purple-black shield appeared, swallowed the attack, and returned the energy to Daniel’s body.
Daniel took the next step, powered by lightning. Thunder exploded from his feet.
Kraaack!
Three demons turned to ash at the same time.
Their innate trait that granted them pseudo-immortality was completely useless. A single punch was enough to erase each of them.
He drew his sword.
The Heavens Honor shone in his hand.
[ Strike of Destruction ]
An aura of destruction wrapped around the blade. Every strike was a true death.
No regeneration. No pseudo-immortality.
The demons screamed, but it was pointless.
They had realized that their pseudo-immortality didn’t work here at all.
Still, they couldn’t retreat. Nor could they stop attacking.
Several high-rank demons activated their skills.
[ Abyssal Howl ]
[ Demonic Veil ]
[ Hellfire Rain ]
[ Soul Chain Bind ]
They attacked without pause, not even giving their enemy time to breathe.
[ Death Roar ]
A silent but deadly roar came out of Daniel’s mouth.
The demons’ minds collapsed. Analysis. Reaction. Everything stopped.
He opened his eyes.
[ Eyes of Destruction ]
Beams of destruction shot out, carving a straight line through the battlefield.
Dozens of demons along that line... vanished.
One demon slashed him with a sword. Daniel’s skin split open, but the next moment, Mana Healing activated and fully restored it.
The wound closed. As if it had never existed.
Daniel laughed. It was time to end this battle.
"Law of Eternity."
The concept of the demons’ immortality shattered. Its root was severed.
Then blood flowed from his palm.
[ Eternal Judgment ]
A sword of blood formed in the air and came down with overwhelming force.
Hundreds of demons were annihilated at once, and the sky grew even darker.
The remaining demons, upon seeing this scene, became even more terrified. Chaos spread among them.
Orders no longer mattered.
They just wanted to run.
But how could Daniel allow such free EXP to escape?
[ Crimson Judgment ]
Blood clouds formed. Thousands of blood swords rained down.
A massacre.
When everything was over... the ground was covered in corpses.
Almost all the demons were dead. Only a small number remained...
The Demon King’s children stepped back. Their faces were pale.
"...This... this human..."
Daniel lowered his sword.
Behind him, space裂 cracked open.
The Fallen appeared one by one. Auras that even demons feared just by seeing them.
"Kill them. Don’t let anyone escape," Daniel said without looking back.
The small number of demons that remained were all fleeing.
Then he turned his gaze toward the Demon King’s children.
He had killed almost all the demons.
Now, it was their turn.