Hell, Abyss

Thousands upon thousands of Little Demons poured in through the volcanic crater. The sight was truly spectacular, but when Roy reached the bottom of the volcano, he discovered that the Little Demons who had arrived ahead of him had not gone all the way down. Instead, they were searching for something along the Volcanic Inner Wall near the bottom.

They continuously struck and probed the Volcanic Inner Wall with their Claws. Before Roy could wonder what they were doing, one Little Demon suddenly let out a delighted shriek and began frantically digging at the spot he had been striking.

Most importantly, the other Little Demons actually ran over to help!

What a strange sight. It was Roy's first time seeing Little Demons cooperate with one another!

It did not take long for the group of Little Demons to dig out a Dark Cave Entrance. The instant it appeared, they cheered and swarmed inside!

There was more than one such entrance. Little Demons had dug openings in every direction along the Volcanic Inner Wall, and whenever one appeared, a nearby group would rush into it together.

Roy finally understood. What these Little Demons were digging for were weak points in the volcano's inner walls!

There were countless caves of all sizes inside this volcano. Yet after every eruption, the surging magma sealed them shut. Since the caves were located along the sides, the erupting magma did not exert much pressure there. As a result, though the caves were sealed after every eruption, the blockage was never too severe. With a little digging, they could be opened again.

And this instinct of digging tunnels to escape had been engraved into the Demon Race's Genes over countless millennia...

Once he understood, Roy did not hesitate. He followed behind a group of Little Demons and ran into the tunnel they had dug.

Thousands upon thousands of Little Demons vanished in orderly streams through the entrances like ants returning to their nest. Not long after they entered the tunnels, a world-shaking blast erupted, and scorching magma broke through the Rock Layer at the bottom, shooting skyward through the crater...

With utmost vigilance, Roy followed the Little Demons through the lightless tunnel. In such a pitch-black environment, he naturally had to guard against attacks from the other Little Demons. Strangely enough, after leaving the Hatching Grounds, their aggression greatly diminished. They merely ran swiftly through the tunnel, with no intention of attacking anyone.

The instant the volcano erupted, quite a bit of magma flooded in through the tunnel entrance behind them and sealed it off once more. Yet not a single Little Demon was harmed. When the magma stopped flowing in, Roy had thought the Little Demons would halt, but those ahead did not stop at all and kept moving forward.

Roy could only continue following them. Whenever he stopped, the Little Demons behind him shoved him and snarled at him, telling him to hurry onward and stop blocking the way.

Roy had never imagined that the tunnels inside the volcano would be so long. He felt as though he had been walking for ages.

Moreover, from what Roy could tell, the tunnel seemed to slope steadily downward into the depths of the earth!

In other words, they were constantly heading deeper into the Earth's Crust...

Roy had been feeling uneasy the whole time. He did not know where the Little Demons were going, but he had a vague premonition.

Could it be? Is where they were headed the place where demons truly lived!?

He did not know how much longer they walked, but suddenly, strange cries filled with jubilation rang out from the Little Demons at the front. At the sound, the Little Demons behind grew restless as well and quickened their pace. Carried along by them, Roy also sped up and ran forward.

Sure enough, a ray of light appeared ahead. Roy's eyes had long adapted to the darkness of the tunnel, so the sudden light seemed remarkably dazzling.

In truth, however, the light ahead was not strong at all. It was a dim red glow, accompanied by waves of heat that constantly surged toward them...

At last, Roy reached the exit. It opened into an enormous cavern. With his body less than a pan tall, Roy looked utterly tiny at the mouth of the cave. But he had no time to marvel at it; he could only stare, dumbfounded, at the scene below.

This was an incomparably vast underground space. Within it lay a dim world: the ground was charred-black soil, the forests were strange and twisted black shapes, and a great river of lava flowed slowly through the land. Dozens of magma waterfalls pouring down from the cavern walls fed the river, falling from high above amid smoke and sparks. They stirred the air of the Underground World, sending scalding gusts of wind through it from time to time. Those hot winds swept up fine black ash from the ground, making the air extremely foul.

There were also endless mountain ranges here. Some peaks were high and others low, but all shared roughly the same colors and tone. It could be said that this was a world of black and red.

Black was the black of ash, and red was the red of flame...

From Roy's current vantage point, he could observe only a small part of this Underground World. Farther away, the horizon continued to stretch outward, leaving him unable to imagine just how vast this place truly was. By Roy's understanding, this Underground World should lie beneath the seabed's Rock Layer, a cavity formed between the Earth's Crust and the Earth's Mantle. Here, the sky was a dome supported by solid rock, while the ground appeared scorching because it was heated by the temperature of the Earth's Core.

The thought of having to live in this hellish world from now on filled Roy with sorrow. Yet his demon body's skin, upon sensing the searing air here, actually gave him a feeling of exhilaration, making him impatient to enter this world. The contrast between his thoughts and his body left him both amused and helpless...

The Little Demons following close behind Roy had already excitedly climbed down along the cavern wall. Roy stood there blankly for a while, then finally sighed and could only imitate them, climbing down as well.

Those with wings had long since flown away. Thousands upon thousands of Little Demons from the Hatching Grounds poured out of exits like ant holes and scattered across this Underground World, yet it felt as though they had not even raised a ripple...

They were not the first batch of Little Demons to enter this world, nor would they be the last. Just how many Little Demons like them lived in this Underground World? And how many Adult Form demons were there?

What Roy, who was currently climbing down the cavern wall, did not know was that he had entered only the uppermost layer of the Demon World's Endless Abyss of Hell...