Demon Realm
The middle-aged man realized at a glance that he was no match for Son Gohan. He threw out a feint, then bolted without hesitation.
Whoosh!
Gohan gave a disdainful smile. With a burst of high-speed movement, he flashed ahead directly into the man's escape route.
"Pick one," Gohan said flatly. "A quick death… or a slow one."
He'd only just arrived in the Demon Realm, and someone had already seen through him as an outsider.
Gohan had lived two lifetimes. He wasn't naïve enough to show mercy here.
The man let out a bitter chuckle. "Heh… guess I talked too much."
"Tell me how the Demon Realm is structured," Gohan said. The moment he heard that tone, he knew the man had already made his choice.
"Just don't go back on your word," the man said quietly. "Let me die clean."
"Fine."
The man took a slow breath, then spoke as if reading from a scarred memory.
"The Holy Realm what you call the Demon Realm has a Demon Sovereign. A being said to rival the Omni-King of the entire universe. But the Demon Sovereign hasn't been heard from in a very long time."
"Below him, there's a strategist… and the Eighteen Demon Generals. How strong they are, I don't know. I'm bottom-tier. I don't get to see that world."
He lifted his head, eyes hollow but steady.
"The Demon Realm is divided into Three Heavens. This is the First Heaven the layer with the most demonfolk. The Second Heaven is where the three major demon races gather."
"Ranked first: the War Demon Clan. They're numerous, they're the Demon Realm's main fighting force, and they rule with the body pure physical dominance."
"Ranked second: the Blood Demon Clan. They're practically immortal. Their bodies aren't as hard as the War Demons', but their trait is… rebirth from a drop of blood."
"Third is the Succubus Clan. Their raw combat power isn't great, but their spiritual strength is. They specialize in charm arts and illusions. And they're beautiful seductive. They've intermarried with the War Demons and Blood Demons for generations, so they never decline."
"As for the Third Heaven… that's the territory of the Eighteen Demon Generals and the strategist. The Demon Sovereign might even be cultivating there in seclusion. But I wouldn't know."
He finished, and something like resignation settled into his gaze true readiness to die.
Gohan didn't move yet.
"Tell me this," he said. "How did you see through me? Don't tell me it was just because I 'talk too much.'"
They looked similar. Skin tone? Demonfolk tended to be a bit darker, sure but that alone wasn't enough.
The man gave a short, humorless laugh.
"Instinct. Presence."
"Even if you look like us… you don't have killing intent."
"In the Demon Realm, you only hide your bloodlust in front of the closest people you have. Down here, competition is the fiercest. In the First Heaven, everyone dreams of one day being taken into the War Demon Clan or the Blood Demon Clan."
Gohan's interest sparked. "So those two clans allow outsiders to join?"
"They do," the man said. "The Demon Realm's competition is brutal. Killing and dying are everyday things."
"To keep their races flourishing, the War Demon Clan and Blood Demon Clan each maintain a Demon-Refining Pool. Every three years, they select twenty demons from the Three Heavens. Those chosen undergo the pool's baptism and can enter the clan."
"The pools are infused with the clans' bloodline essence. The bloodline concentration you gain afterward isn't pure, but anyone who survives selection is talented. Some even mutate and become stronger than before."
"Those who get weaker are rare."
He paused, voice lowering.
"But the baptism is… agony. If your will is fragile, you die in the pool."
Gohan blinked. "Then what about the succubi? They don't need one?"
The man sneered. "Succubi don't need it."
"Whether it's a War Demon or a Blood Demon that mates with a succubus, the children are always girls and they only inherit succubus talent."
"I see…" Gohan's eyes narrowed, thoughts turning. "Interesting. A Demon-Refining Pool…"
He had a feeling that pool could benefit him.
He didn't want to join any clan. Bloodlines didn't matter to him not in this life, and not in the last.
But any method that could strengthen him was a good method, as long as it didn't betray his heart.
And the War Demon Clan's path dominating through the body fit him perfectly.
Saiyans were already monstrous in physical potential.
"When's the next selection?" Gohan asked.
The man froze. "You want to join them?"
"Answer," Gohan said, eyes turning cold.
"…You're lucky," the man muttered. "In one month, the selection begins."
"A selection tournament," Gohan repeated. "How does it work? One-on-one matches?"
The man shook his head. "No. A melee."
"Before it begins, demons from all Three Heavens receive notice. The two major clans designate a region and raise a barrier around it. The barrier only opens when there are twenty contestants left."
"Then emissaries from the two clans escort the survivors to the Second Heaven."
"At that point, the choice is yours. Whichever clan you choose you enter their Demon-Refining Pool."
"If you survive the baptism, you become one of them."
Gohan heard the cruelty hidden inside the clean description.
A sealed region.
Reduced to twenty.
He couldn't help asking, "How many enter?"
"Over a million."
Gohan's fist tightened.
And something savage flickered in his eyes pure, hungry excitement.
One million demonfolk.
Only twenty left standing.
"Are there rules?" Gohan forced himself to sound calm. "Aren't they afraid geniuses will die?"
"No rules," the man said bluntly. "They value talent, but they value capability more."
"Anyone who rises above a million has talent guaranteed."
"And if a so-called genius dies? Then they weren't a genius."
Unrestricted slaughter.
Anything goes.
For Gohan, that was an advantage.
He could use Death Power in the Demon Realm. That meant he could drain life, convert it into his own energy
Keep fighting.
Keep learning.
Keep stacking experience until it became instinct.
That was why he'd come here.
To fill his combat with real blood and real stakes until the first stage of Ultra Instinct finally took root.
The man's patience snapped. "Any other questions?"
Gohan paused. "You're really that eager to die?"
"Waiting for death is torture," the man said, frowning.
Gohan's voice softened just slightly. "Do you have family?"
"No." The man's answer was calm, almost indifferent. "One man full, the whole family full."
"I know I'm weak. Having family just gives you something that can be used against you. A shackle."
Gohan exhaled. "You… don't sound like a demon."
The Demon Realm was harsh. Murder was routine.
But these demonfolk still had emotions love, hate, fear, greed no different from humans.
The man looked at him like he was slow.
"'Demon' is just the name you gave us. After enough time, even we got used to it."
Gohan held his gaze. "Then why invade the whole universe?"
The man stared at him in disbelief.
"No reason," he said. "Strong eat weak."
"There isn't enough land. So we take land."
"You really don't understand something that simple?"
"…."
Gohan was speechless.
"Do it," the man urged, irritation rising. "Stop dragging it out."
Gohan sighed. His palm rose.
A sphere of energy formed gray-black, cold, saturated with Death Power.
He tossed it forward.
Hiss.
The man's body reacted like it had been drenched in acid
Only this was faster than acid by thousands of times.
In two or three seconds, his entire body was erased into nothingness.