Good Demon Dedicated to His Job

Seeing how cooperative the Old Demon was, Roy was quite satisfied. He asked, "What... is your name?"

After asking this first question, Roy noticed that the Old Demon hesitated, so he added, "I'm not asking for your Demon True Name!"

Hearing that, the Old Demon visibly relaxed and answered, "Yaskalos! You can call me Yaskalos!"

"All right, Yaskalos." Roy nodded and pointed at the sacrificial altar's Magic Array. "What is this place? Is this altar and Magic Array a Teleportation Array? Who built it?"

"This place is called the Abyss Gate!" Yaskalos replied. "You haven't been summoned before, have you? Our Demon Race has called these portals that for generations. As for who built this altar, I don't know. In fact, these Abyss Gates have existed for tens of thousands of years. I've only heard that they may have been built by the Great Demon Kings living at the very bottom of the Abyss!"

Even an Old Demon like Yaskalos, who knew how long he had lived, did not know who had built the altar. Roy could only give up on getting to the bottom of it and asked instead, "Where does the Abyss Gate lead? Other worlds? Is there one such world, or many?"

"Many!" As Yaskalos stuffed his exposed organs back into his abdomen, he answered, "I've been summoned eight times in total, and almost every time was a new world. They say the Abyss Gate can connect to countless worlds. Any world that understands how to use magic power may be able to establish a connection with the Abyss Gate."

"Oh, you know about magic power?" Roy immediately became interested. "Then you know how to use magic?"

However, Yaskalos shook his enormous head. "No, I can't! Lower Demons can't turn magic power into magic. If I knew how to use magic, I wouldn't have been beaten so badly!"

"Why can't Lower Demons use magic?" Roy asked in confusion.

"Bloodline!" Yaskalos explained. "The bloodlines of Lower Demons are too complicated. Magic power accumulates through the bloodline and is stored in a demon's heart. When the bloodline is too complex, it cannot be channeled outward, so magic cannot be cast. Only after completing an advancement and growing into a Middle Demon can one enter the Lower Layer of the Abyss World, find a Quenching Land, and temper one's bloodline. Only then can a channel for releasing magic power be formed..."

After saying that, Yaskalos looked at Roy strangely. "These are all Memory Inheritance obtained from the Demon Eggshell during hatching. How could you not know? Why are you asking me instead?"

Roy was dumbfounded. There were such memories in the eggshell? Why didn't I know?

Could it be because of Premature Birth again!?

"My Memory Inheritance is incomplete!" Roy could only say. "Tell me, how do I complete an advancement?"

Yaskalos did not answer. Instead, he looked at the Demon Wings behind Roy and revealed an odd smile. Who knew what he was thinking, but it was probably nothing good. His expression looked very much like he was gloating, so Roy could not help saying coldly, "You can refuse to answer, but I can kill you and find another Lower Demon to ask!"

"There's no standard for advancement!" Yaskalos finally spoke. "Just keep hunting and keep plundering souls. But in truth, most Lower Demons cannot complete such an advancement in their entire lives, so I can't tell you how to advance either!"

Great, Roy felt that he had asked for nothing. If this Old Demon knew how to advance, he would probably have become a Middle Demon long ago...

"All right, another question!" Roy said. "What exactly did you encounter after being summoned? How did you end up like this?"

At this question, fear immediately appeared on Yaskalos's face. "I was banished! The one who summoned me was a Demon Warlock, but I never expected that he had summoned me to fight a powerful holy knight. He left me to fight that holy knight and Escaped himself. After fighting for a while, I was killed and banished by the holy knight!"

"Killed?" Roy could not help glancing at the huge wound in Yaskalos's abdomen. "Aren't you still alive?"

"That's because of the Ouroboros Mark's protection!" Yaskalos said irritably. "Demons summoned to other worlds have immortal souls under the protection of the Ouroboros Mark. The moment they are killed, they are banished back. At most, their souls and bodies suffer serious injuries..."

Roy finally understood. No wonder all the demons he had seen being summoned during this time had returned. Even those Missing Limbs had come back. No demon had truly died in another world. So it was the Ouroboros pattern in the Magic Array that caused this.

However, that was probably because the holy knight who fought Yaskalos did not know Yaskalos's Demon True Name. If he had known it, Yaskalos likely would not have escaped back! Even with the Ouroboros Mark protecting him, he would still have been doomed!

Having learned this, Roy was finally relieved. It Seems that being summoned was dangerous and he might encounter Natural Enemies such as holy knights and exorcists, but as long as he protected his Demon True Name and kept it from being known, he would not truly die.

Yaskalos struggled to his feet at this moment. "You're done asking your questions, right? I'm leaving!"

Although he had not died, Yaskalos was far from being in good condition. He had only just managed to stuff his organs back inside, and he still needed time to recover. With a demon's powerful vitality, he could recover as long as he had enough time. Moreover, demons were naturally cunning and suspicious. He truly did not dare remain with Roy for too long, so he was already eager to leave.

Now that he had stood up again, he naturally looked down from above. This downward gaze gave him some confidence. That was why he had answered Roy's questions so cooperatively before—he had merely been buying time to recover. Now that he had regained the ability to move, facing a demon like Roy whose Body Size differed so greatly from his own, his tone began to harden.

Bullying the weak while fearing the strong—demons were that kind of creature...

"One last question. Where is the sacrifice you received? That High-level Soul?" Roy asked, tilting his head up at him.

"I swallowed it long ago!" Yaskalos said with a hint of mockery. "What demon would store away such a delicacy after obtaining it?"

Although Roy had expected this, he still found it regrettable. Even though he had only smelled it and had not seen it, it was still the first High-level Soul he had ever encountered...

He shook his head regretfully and said, "Is that so? Fine, then leave your soul behind!"

"W-what?"

Before Yaskalos could react, Roy suddenly sprang into action! Spreading his Demon Wings, he shot skyward from below, straight toward Yaskalos's throat!

In the blink of an eye, Roy had flown to Yaskalos's throat. Then he swung his Right Hand fiercely!

Yaskalos's throat had been protected by Keratinous Scales, but Roy's Claws tore through them with ease! The four claw marks were so deep that a huge amount of blood instantly poured from Yaskalos's throat like water gushing from an opened faucet!

"Roar!!!" Yaskalos let out an angry roar and reached out with his enormous palm to grab Roy in midair. But Roy twisted aside, dodged his hand, and charged toward his head again, lightly landing on the forehead where only one horn remained!

The next second, Roy's tail stabbed directly into Yaskalos's right eye socket...

Blood sprayed out. Roy's tail clamped around one of Yaskalos's eyeballs and tore it out. Before Yaskalos could retaliate, Roy beat his wings and flew high into the air!

Yaskalos slapped at him, but missed Roy and instead struck himself so hard that his head spun. The incomparably intense pain in his eye socket shot straight into his brain, making him howl furiously in unbearable agony.

If his hammer weapon were still there, he might have been able to fly up and strike Roy with it. But now, he had no way at all to deal with Roy in the sky. Already Seriously Injured, he was now bleeding heavily from both his eye socket and throat. Before long, dizziness overtook him, and he collapsed to the ground again.

Watching Yaskalos twitch on the ground, Roy did not land. He was afraid Yaskalos might be playing dead, so he waited until Yaskalos's Soul Light Orb appeared. Only after confirming his death did Roy descend.

Grabbing Yaskalos's soul in one hand, Roy could not help sighing. Sure enough, it was still an Incomplete Low-level Soul. It was not large either; a portion of it really was missing.

In truth, Roy had never intended to let Yaskalos go from the very beginning. Since he was a demon, he had to possess a demon's awareness. If Roy had been the one Seriously Injured and Yaskalos had been standing beside him, Yaskalos would likely have made the same choice and killed Roy. Thus, Roy barely gave any thought to killing Yaskalos before carrying it out...