Advanced Lower Demon

After setting everything up and confirming that there were no errors, Orsaga closed his eyes and opened his mind.

He began his second advancement.

The blood and power within his body automatically seeped out, forming threads across his skin that tightly wrapped around him.

Before long, a Blood Red cocoon several meters tall appeared at the center of the cave.

A layer of blood mist flowed out from it, spreading through the cave before gradually condensing into vein-like structures. Centered on the massive cocoon, they wove a huge web that filled every inch of the cave.

At Orsaga's request, he had to remain conscious and could not fall into a senseless state. Thus, even now, he was still awake. Although he could not move at all, all of his senses remained active, allowing him to interrupt the advancement process at any moment.

Though he did not dare move for fear of disrupting the advancement, he could still clearly feel his skin and exoskeleton dissolving, his flesh boiling, and the bones in his back slowly rearranging themselves.

His entire body felt as though it had been soaked in concentrated sulfuric acid, and even his soul seemed on the verge of being torn apart. Everything had to be completely reconstructed and replaced with a more perfect and powerful form. Only then could Orsaga forever stay ahead of demons of the same rank.

Muscles melting, skin dissolving, bones shifting, soul splitting—Orsaga was currently experiencing all of these pains.

And this was already his second time experiencing them.

He had gone through it once when advancing from an Infant Demon to a Lesser Demon. Back then, utterly unprepared, the pain had nearly caused him to pass out. Before that, he had never known that conscious advancement could be so agonizing. Afterward, he had somewhat understood why demons automatically fell asleep during advancement.

He only said "somewhat" because Orsaga's advancement was not guided solely by the Bottomless Abyss and his own bloodline. The Evolution System was also meddling from the side. It was a three-party negotiation, unlike the advancement of other demons.

However, none of that truly mattered. In Orsaga's eyes, as long as he could achieve his goal, he could accept any amount of pain.

That was also why he still chose to remain conscious during advancement.

He needed to maintain his self-awareness at all times!

In his eyes, even this intense pain was a form of training.

When he had advanced into a Lesser Demon, that indescribable torment had nearly driven him to collapse several times.

But in the end, it had taught him one truth: only by experiencing pain, tasting pain, and understanding pain could one inflict it upon other beings.

So he began carefully experiencing the suffering he endured, learning to savor it before finally understanding it. Perhaps that was also the main reason his magical power trait had automatically developed pain and his bloodline spell, Pain Strike, had automatically Awakened.

Perhaps one day, he might completely comprehend pain—a primary rule among negative laws, comparable to fear, hatred, anger, jealousy, pride, greed, lust, sloth, and gluttony.

Several nights later, when the blood-glowing celestial body outside rose once more.

The blood-colored network resembling blood vessels within the cave began rapidly contracting and withering.

Whoosh!

Crack!

Two enormous wings nearly 3.4 meters long, with a wingspan close to seven meters, instantly burst through the cocoon's shell.

With a light flap, they stirred up a fiery whirlwind throughout the cave, thoroughly incinerating everything within it.

Once all traces had been erased, Orsaga's drastically transformed figure emerged from the very center of the flames.

His missing body parts had regrown, and new changes had appeared.

He now stood three meters tall, with perfectly proportioned features. Countless intricate Scarlet patterns covered his entire body. The two horns on his head curved backward, becoming thicker and longer. His tail had grown to 2.8 meters and could extend and retract to a certain degree. The wings on his back resembled a fusion of Bat wings and dragon wings, covered in slender scales and ending in spikes.

Host: Stuart. Ogarisa. Asaron... Corifer. Orsaga

Race/Level: Demon Race/Lower Demon

Strength: 61 (5)

Speed: 63 (5)

Constitution: 61 (5)

Magical Power: 65 (5)

Soul: 70 (5)

Talents: Soul Devour Evolution (autonomously evolves through continuously devouring souls), Slaughter Evolution (autonomously evolves through constant battle and slaughter), Combat Instinct (innately possesses extremely powerful combat talent), Flesh and Blood Absorption (can absorb the flesh and blood of any target it comes into contact with and extract its essence), Magical Power Trait—Corrosion, Pain (more corrosive than ordinary magical power and capable of making targets experience extreme pain), Elemental Talent—Bloodflame (possesses the traits of High Temperature, corroding flesh, and burning life energy and souls), Exoskeleton—Bloodthirst (evolved from its own scales, possesses extremely high physical hardness and a certain degree of energy resistance, and can automatically repair damage by absorbing blood and consuming magical power), Energy Vision (vision can penetrate most matter and see through energy), Abyssal Contract (possesses the ability to accept summons independently and can use the power of the abyss as a medium to form contracts with other beings; note: no one can violate a contract, even a Demon Prince), Disguise—Silence (can greatly reduce one's aura and sense of presence), Suffering Torment (as long as you injure a target, regardless of the severity of the wound, its pain will be greatly amplified), Soul Plunder (forcibly binds and draws in target souls within a certain range), Armament Rune—Scarlet (Scarlet abyssal runes cover your entire body and form an array, greatly enhancing all forms of energy resistance and improving adaptability to the world's suppressive force), Boundary Projection—Simulacrum (can project one's own image over a long distance; the image possesses sensory functions and shares them with the user in real time)

Skills: Fireball Technique (Bloodline Spell, 27%), Fire Arrow (Bloodline Spell, 28%), Life Drain (Bloodline Spell, 25%), Soul Impact (Bloodline Spell, 30%), Painful Wail (Bloodline Spell, 14%), Flame Nova (Bloodline Spell, 14%)

Evolution Points: 0

The talent Suffering Torment had evolved from the bloodline spell Pain Strike. It represented Orsaga's understanding of the conceptual rule of pain.

The talent Soul Plunder, the bloodline spell Painful Wail, and the bloodline spell Flame Nova were abilities that had automatically Awakened as his strength improved.

Even if a demon did not study spells, once its strength reached a certain level, it would naturally become a Spellcaster. Of course, they were generally the kind who could cast spells but probably could not explain how they worked.

They could be called the illiterates among Spellcasters.

Only Armament Rune—Scarlet and Boundary Projection—Simulacrum were abilities he had specifically had the Evolution System evolve. These two abilities were indispensable necessities to him.

Without them, Orsaga would have had no confidence in traveling to other worlds.

According to the knowledge in demon Inheritance Memory, Outer Planes could be called the dreamlands of every demon. Though fraught with danger, they were also filled with opportunities. Whether they were downtrodden demons or successful figures in demon society, they all hoped to go to an Outer Plane and strike it rich.

It felt a little like the western dream of the United States in his Previous Life. Of course, whether one went there to pan for gold or ended up digging mining tunnels at gunpoint depended on the person.

Quite a few succeeded, but quite a few also went straight to reincarnation.

And the latter probably made up the majority.

Likewise, most demons who traveled across Outer Planes in hopes of reaping benefits and harvesting souls met the same fate.

Orsaga did not want to become one of the failures.

After obtaining the most basic safeguard for traveling to another world, he did not immediately carry out planar travel. Instead, he decided to first adapt to his current strength.

After moving his body a little, he fired a Fire Arrow at the obstruction blocking the cave entrance, violently blasting it apart.

His Fire Arrows had once been just over a meter long. Now, as Orsaga had grown stronger, they had reached nearly 1.8 meters in length. In human hands, they could even be used as spears.

Although the data on the Evolution System panel had only increased by roughly a quarter, Orsaga's overall strength had risen severalfold. Some of his old combat techniques might no longer be useful.

Walking out of the cave, Orsaga watched the occasional monsters and demons flying through the sky. He lightly flapped his wings a few times, stirring gusts of wind. After adapting to the sensation of his feet leaving the ground and his wings providing the force, he quickly gained some confidence.

Having an extra organ made him somewhat uncomfortable. Whether in terms of balance or habit, it felt awkward.

Fortunately, these wings could normally be retracted into his body!

Otherwise, when he could not fly and had to fight on the ground with wings on his back, he would inevitably be at a disadvantage in terms of agility.

Even he found it rather fantastical that these wings, which were almost larger than his body even when folded, could be retracted into his body without any effect. There was not even the slightest sign of swelling, and his body shape had not changed at all.

Where had all that volume gone?

Orsaga did not understand it himself. He could only say, As expected of a demon. This is magical enough that there's no need to care about physics at all!

Perhaps his Inheritance Memory held the answer.

But he did not have time for that right now. Besides, it was not important.

Just as most people did not care why humans could walk.

After all, knowing the answer or not did not affect his ability to run and jump around.

Once he was ready, Orsaga forcefully beat his wings.

A gale surged forth, and the powerful thrust propelled him into the sky.

Watching the cliff beneath his feet rapidly shrink away.

At that moment, Orsaga seemed to feel a wave of satisfaction rise from the depths of his soul.

It was a creature's yearning for the vast sky!

And at that very moment, as though the demon's innate talents had Awakened within him, Orsaga felt that flying no longer posed any difficulty. It was as natural as walking with his own two feet.