"Damn it! Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well kill him!"
The King-level demon behind the Black Hole Demonic God was a six-winged demon known as a Skywing Demon. Its body was similar to a human's, but it had two hideous horns on its head. It looked like a fallen six-winged angel. Its strongest method involved the feathers on its wings, which could turn into countless blades that sliced through everything. Legend had it that a Ten-Winged Arch-Demon had once appeared in the Demon Realm and shattered a world with one strike.
While the Skywing Demon looked indifferent on the surface, its heart was filled with fury. The Demon Realm was a world of extreme oppression. To rise, one could only kill and devour. While devouring high-tier demons was technically forbidden on the surface, it happened all the time in private.
That was the way of the demons, and the Skywing Demon had eaten its fair share of lower demons. But since this Black Hole Demonic God was born, it had used its bloodline and backing to devour countless kin—including many rare King-level bloodlines! This was strictly forbidden! It was the bottom line for many demons. Devouring mindless demons was one thing; they were easily spawned by the Demon Seed. But every King-level demon was precious.
Countless demons had requested a punishment for this, but the most the Prince received was a period of "seclusion" in a top-tier cultivation land. What made the Skywing Demon even more resentful was that one of the demons Kelin had devoured was its former lover.
But even that was manageable; the Demon Realm was cruel and cold, and a bit of sentiment wasn't worth its life. But now it was being used as cannon fodder. It wouldn't survive the stone spirit's onslaught. Why did Kelin insist on it following? Others might not know, but the Skywing Demon knew well: the Prince had a method to make others take damage for him, and he could devour kin to recover in a short time.
What better shield was there than a King-level demon?
At this thought, its killing intent reached a boiling point. It could tolerate being insulted; as long as it lived, it wasn't shameful. It had a chance to become a Saint Demon and enjoy real power. But now it couldn't live. If it stayed to be a shield, or if it fled, the result would be worse than death.
"In that case... I choose the third path: killing the guy shitting on my head!"
The moment it made the decision, a sense of relief and cruelty rose in its heart. If the Prince was heartless, could the Prince blame it for being unfaithful? There was no such thing as "Demon Realm glory" or the shame of a traitor. What did "being a part of the Demon Realm" even mean? The entire realm was just a machine for oppression, harvesting level by level.
When it was born from the Demon Seed, it was just the weakest of flying demons. Its greatest wish then was to live a stable life, to sleep peacefully and see the red demon sun the next day. But that was a luxury. It had to kill and eat, constantly growing stronger. It fought until it was covered in scars and ate until it vomited and its body was deformed. It had experienced it all.
Looking back, there were only painful memories. Its only comfort was a partner it once trusted in that cannibalistic world—the one the Prince had eaten. It didn't know how many years it had struggled through hell to climb up and become a King-level demon. Only then did it gain some security and the comfort it dreamed of. But the appearance of this Prince made it live in fear of being eaten once more. That bone-deep pain and terror submerged it again.
It realized a truth: from beginning to end, it was just a consumable for the upper echelons. As a King-level demon, it was just a higher-grade consumable! It wasn't a part of the Demon Realm. You expected a consumable to have a sense of belonging? What a joke!
Then, it thought of the Star-Sea world. It had been curious about other worlds, so it learned through Futuzi of the Sky-Dragon Continent. Only the order established by that "Star Emperor" deserved a sense of belonging. Thinking of the Star-Sea, the demon felt an instinctive envy. The things it had struggled through hell for but could never reach were things that a weak creature in the Star-Sea could have by default.
How ridiculous!
The Skywing Demon felt infinite sorrow. It didn't understand why it was so hard to just live with dignity and security within the rules. Why was it so hard to not have demons like the Prince who stood above the rules? It struggled for a lifetime, only to find it was just a consumable. Who in the Demon Realm ever cared for it? Perhaps one... but she was eaten. And now, even its own life was forfeit.
"This is the tragedy of a little demon."
For some reason, after thinking it through, the demon's heart became unprecedentedly calm. No fury, only a helpless clarity. But it also felt a firm determination: no matter what, even if it had to cooperate with the world they were invading, it would kill the Prince before it died. It seemed the guy they were chasing was that Star Emperor's companion beast.
'If souls can reincarnate, and if this world isn't destroyed by the Demon Realm, I wonder if I can be born here. Even as an ordinary creature without talent, I just want to finish a life in peace and stability.'
Thinking of its life of struggle, the demon suddenly felt very tired. What was the point of such a long life? Perhaps it believed that if the Star Emperor was gone, the world would return to chaos, and a new upper class would rule everything. In that case, it would rather just experience a simple life once; at least from birth to death, it wouldn't have to face such a bloody world.
Its heart was completely still. It didn't want to remember those heavy things. It only had two wishes now. One was to unleash the peak strike of its life—turning all its suffering and fury into the ultimate attack against the Prince. The other was its "extravagant" wish: reincarnation.
As its state of mind transformed, its True Soul began to change rapidly. Its aura shifted. The feathers on its six wings began to glow with a power it had never felt before. But it didn't care. Life or death, it didn't want to go back to that place. Its goal was clear; even a breakthrough wouldn't sway it!
As it broke through, Kelin naturally noticed. He was overjoyed. The heavens were truly on his side; the Skywing Demon's strength had reached a new level, making the chance of taking the stone spirit even higher. With such a rare material, his chance of merging with the stone spirit's body would be even greater! Perfect! This invasion was the moment he would become the destined demon of the entire realm!
At that moment, they were drawing closer to the stone spirit!
"Little Stone, how fast should I go? When should we encounter them?" the fish asked. Following instructions, the fish let the two pursuers draw near.
"Just keep this speed. Wait until I'm ready. When I say 'attack,' you turn around and charge back."
"Right. You have to retreat immediately. The combat shock will be very terrifying," the stone spirit added. It didn't want the fish to get hurt. The coming attack might even wound the stone spirit itself; the fish's defense definitely wouldn't hold.
"Got it! I'll teleport away instantly. Don't worry!" The fish patted its chest.
"Good! Wait for my signal!"
The stone spirit looked at the approaching black hole, killing intent cold. The Boss told it that Kelin was a very troublesome fellow. During the initial melee, Qi Ping had failed to kill it multiple times. Other demons had died in droves, but Kelin seemed to have no recovery period; even the Five-Colored Immortal Light couldn't erase it.
Through that fight, Qi Ping discovered a pattern: only when the attack exceeded a certain range, or used a certain type of special strike, could it truly harm the demon within the black hole. To kill this horrific creature, there was only one way: unleash the strongest and most numerous attacks simultaneously! Only then could the demon be forced out and slain! Thus, when fighting Kelin, one must never fight a battle of attrition.
So, the stone spirit's method was simple: it would ignite every single one of its Military Conquest Patterns to launch the strongest attack of its life! Simultaneously, it was ready to detonate the spirit tools that got close to Kelin. Beyond that, it would use the single strike of the Five-Colored Immortal Light that Qi Ping had sealed within it!
It wanted to see if this fellow could withstand it! The monster the Boss couldn't kill would be slain by it! It had replenished its strength and was at its peak. As for the guy beside the Prince, while strong, it wasn't enough to threaten the stone spirit in a short time. It would deal with the Prince first; it couldn't give the Prince a chance to react.
"Now!"
Looking at the approaching black hole, one pattern after another lit up on the stone spirit's massive body. Startling auras rose. Weapon patterns began to condense. Those with corresponding spirit tools merged into them, granting the tools unprecedented power. The stone spirit stood amidst these terrifying blades like an absolute king. It was the Lord of Ten Thousand Weapons!
"Kill!"
The stone spirit, led by the fish, charged back at extreme speed! For this strike, even the fish used its strongest shift technique, even burning its blood essence. From proximity to attack was but an instant. The stone spirit reached Kelin, and the torrent of military power—carrying the strength of various Star-Sea weapons—poured over the Black Hole Demonic God. Kelin was given no time to react!
"F—!"
Kelin was stunned. He had expected the stone spirit to fight back, but he hadn't expected it to erupt with such power! This was a method the stone spirit had never shown! Most terrifyingly, he saw that hateful five-colored light—the light that had made him suffer outside the city.
The five-colored light combined with the torrent of weapons made his scalp tingle. Terror rose in his heart. He never thought a Void Refinement creature could erupt with such power! At least, nothing like this existed in the Demon Realm! A lethal crisis he had never felt before submerged him.
"Damn it! At least I have a guy to take the hit!" Kelin unhesitatingly prepared to use his talent to make the Skywing Demon take the damage. For such a noble bloodline, dying was the Skywing Demon's honor.
But as he tried to use his talent, he found that the Skywing Demon had burnt its body in an instant. Its feathers had devoured all its essence, erupting with a power that even Kelin found startling. Even worse, the attack was aimed at him! A torrent of feathers turned into blades that sliced through heaven and earth, all directed at him. Clearly, this was prepared specifically for this moment!