Chapter 297 - Misfortune
Xun blinked in confusion at the question. “Master, don’t you know about the Twelve Demons of the training ground? Didn’t you read the manual? Wait... does that mean you are not from the Hell Civilization?”
The truth struck him at once. Han Wu’s ignorance revealed his origin. Unfortunately, it was too late. He had already signed the Spiritual Blood Contract and was bound as his slave.
Han Wu felt no need to hide the truth. The contract ensured Xun could not betray him.
“You’re right,” he said. “Now tell me everything you know.”
At that moment, Xun’s entire world seemed to collapse. Never had he imagined he would end up enslaved to an entity from another civilization. Such misfortune!
Yet as a slave, he had no choice but to obey. He shared everything he had read in the manual.
According to Xun, the training ground had been constructed several centuries ago to hold beings whose divinity had been stripped away. Once deprived of divinity, these life forms could never ascend past the Demon Lord rank. All they could do was grow stronger, like livestock fattened for slaughter.
The training ground itself was divided into eight regions, each separated by boundary markers. Within those regions lurked twelve terrifying demons regarded as the pinnacle of the site.
The Abomination was one of them. Xun explained that he and two other Demon Lords had trespassed into its territory by chance. The Abomination had noticed them immediately. Before the other two Demon Lords had had time to resist, it had seized them and devoured them alive.
Xun had escaped at first through sheer speed and power. Yet in the end, even he could not flee the Abomination’s grasp. He had survived only by becoming Han Wu’s slave.
Now, he and Han Wu stood in another such territory. The jagged stones scattered across the ground told Xun exactly where they were. This was the domain of the Steel Demon.
The manual described the Steel Demon as a demon encased in unyielding steel, impervious to physical strikes and highly resistant to elemental attacks. It possessed overwhelming might in both offense and defense.
Han Wu had already witnessed the Abomination’s strength and could easily imagine the Steel Demon’s might. He preferred to avoid a confrontation for now.
Han Wu spoke cautiously. “The Steel Demon probably hasn’t noticed us entering its territory. We should be able to escape.”
His body parts were not yet enhanced to a level that could match such a powerful foe. If any of them reached Stage 9, he wouldn’t need to exercise so much caution.
Xun agreed. “We have no choice. Let’s run first.”
He had just finished speaking when Han Wu noticed a shadow streaking toward them from a distance. Whatever it was, it moved faster than the speed of sound, its approach utterly silent.
Han Wu abandoned the arm and soared high into the air. He climbed 100 meters before activating Detection to identify the newcomer.
The figure below was a pitch-black demon roughly five meters tall, the average height for most demons. A sharp crown sat between its massive horns. Its torso gleamed with steel-like muscle, while its lower half was a bull, its tail whipping through the air with a cracking, metallic sound. The tail resembled woven iron wire more than flesh. Each step of its hooves dented the ground ten centimeters deep.
Han Wu’s heart sank as he recognized the demon beneath him: one of the Twelve Demons, the Steel Demon.
Xun was hiding in Han Wu’s shadow and complaining, “Misfortune, misfortune, misfortune! Such misfortune. The Steel Demon has noticed us.”
Han Wu smirked. “What’s there to worry about? It can’t strike me while I’m in the air.”
Then he saw it. The Steel Demon launched upward like a javelin, aiming straight for him. Its speed left no room for evasion, even with Detection.
The demon’s horns, tougher than steel, shattered Han Wu’s Dragon Scales, pierced his Cockroach Cells, and even cracked his crystal bones. That single tackle almost killed him.
At the critical moment, Xun leapt from Han Wu’s shadow and yanked him off the Steel Demon’s horn to prevent him from further injury.
Han Wu’s consciousness faltered as he hit the ground. The attack had left him gravely wounded, his strength sapped. His Cockroach Cells worked frantically to heal him, but the damage from the Steel Demon’s assault far outpaced their recovery.
The Steel Demon crashed to the earth as well and braced for another assault with its horns that were capable of piercing anything in their path. It aimed to kill Han Wu.
“Misfortune. Such misfortuneeeee!” Xun cried and sprang from Han Wu’s shadow once more. He used Blink and dragged Han Wu with him to evade the demon’s lethal charges.
The Steel Demon refused to let them escape so easily. When its charges proved futile, it used its trait and summoned an endless hail of steel spikes from the sky to impale them both.
Xun threw himself into protecting Han Wu and used Blink consecutively to avoid the spikes. He succeeded, but six of the steel spikes pierced his own body.
These were no ordinary spikes. Normally, a spike would absorb the victim’s iron, sprout thorns, and root itself deep into the body. Ripping it out recklessly could leave catastrophic wounds, yet leaving it in would impede movement.
Fortunately, Xun’s body was far from normal after signing the Spiritual Blood Contract. He tore the spikes free and lost only some of his energy.
“Such misfortune!” Xun roared.
He couldn’t defeat the Steel Demon alone, so the only option was escape. He used Blink repeatedly to run with Han Wu while the Steel Demon thundered after them.
Fortunately, they avoided most of the major attacks. Half a day later, Xun finally shook off the relentless pursuer and carried Han Wu into a massive mountain, where they could finally rest.
Han Wu’s condition was dire. He relied on the Cockroach Cells to recover and had barely survived the critical phase. His energy reserves were nearly depleted, and if he did not replenish them soon, his cells would starve.
“Misfortune, such misfortune!” Xun muttered yet again, unsure how many times he had repeated the phrase that day. He felt as if misfortune had shadowed him since birth, never letting him know the taste of luck.
Now, his misfortune deepened. He was a slave, his master teetered on the edge of death from grievous injuries, and he faced countless powerful foes. Allowing his master to die meant his own death as well. The Spiritual Blood Contract left no room for failure.
“Misfortune. I will find you food. Even my parents haven’t tasted a meal I prepared. Hmph!” Xun grumbled, though the claim was false. His parents had perished at the hands of another Demon Lord shortly after his birth.
He grunted, activated his detection skill, and scanned a one-kilometer radius for food. Soon, he located a cluster of Inferior demons. He sighed. Even flies contain meat. Now is not the time to be picky.
Xun hunted the demons and dragged their corpses back to Han Wu. Struggling to keep him conscious, Xun jabbed at the bodies. “Eat! Eat them now!”