A Strong One's Composure

Crack, crack...

As if it were a signal, countless Demon Eggs along the banks of the Styx began to slowly crack open.

All kinds of hisses and roars began to fill the air.

The newly born Infant Demons came in all shapes and sizes. Some resembled Zerg, some were humanoid, some looked like beasts, and some had grown rather casually into nothing more than writhing lumps of flesh.

After instinctively letting out their first roars at the outside world, they all began eating their own eggshells to replenish their nutrition.

Once they had finished their shells, they turned their attention to the eggs that had developed more slowly and had yet to hatch, as well as the weaker-looking members of their own kind nearby. Every demon's instincts urged them to grow stronger quickly, or else they would become someone else's nourishment. The weak had no right to survive.

The slaughter began!

Driven by their instincts to kill, they attacked their chosen targets with fangs, Claws, tentacles, and stones.

They might be hunters, or they might be prey, but no one knew who would win.

The boundless riverbank was drenched in the blood of Infant Demons at that moment. The most fundamental rule of the Bottomless Abyss was laid bare: kill, Plunder, devour, and turn everything into nourishment for oneself.

There was no mercy, nor was there any compassion. Only those victors nurtured by blood could leave the riverbank as demons and bring slaughter and Destruction to all things.

When facing the attacks of other demons, Orsaga had initially been somewhat unskilled. The Infant Demons, fearless of death and driven solely by killing instincts, left a few wounds on him. But as time gradually passed, the Demon Race's killing instincts made his techniques increasingly refined. In a short time, he seemed as though he had been tempered through countless battles. With one glance, he could see his opponent's weak points and understand how to deliver a fatal blow.

Relying on physical abilities far surpassing those of other demons, as well as exceptional combat skills, Orsaga could twist off their heads and tear apart their bodies with every movement. Moreover, as the Evolution System continuously strengthened him, the gap between him and the other demons was steadily widening.

His original height of one meter forty had grown to nearly two meters. Strong muscles covered his body, and the scales on him had become even tougher. He stood out conspicuously among the many short Infant Demons.

After killing hundreds of Infant Demons, he had already met the minimum requirements to advance and could become a Lesser Demon at any time. However, the countless enemies around him gave him no such opportunity.

Demons were forced into slumber when advancing. If the advancement was interrupted, it could cause irreversible permanent damage. He needed to find somewhere quiet, but there was no such place on the riverbank.

Furthermore, although his strength had reached the standard and he had gained permission from the Abyssal Will to leave the riverbank, he had no intention of leaving so soon. His Inheritance Memory contained much information about the other layers of the abyss beyond this place. Without exception, all that information conveyed one obvious message: the world outside was more dangerous.

Therefore, he still needed to do his best to Plunder the souls of every Infant Demon. So many opponents far weaker than him would not be easy to find in the Bottomless Abyss outside. Until the very last moment, he had no intention of leaving!

However, his current slaughtering efficiency was gradually failing to meet his needs, so he turned his attention to the system panel.

Host: Stuart. Ogarisa. Asaron... Corifor. Orsaga

Race/Level: Demon Race/Infant Demon (Can Advance)

Strength: 15 (5)

Speed: 17 (5)

Constitution: 16 (5)

Demonic Power: 19 (5)

Soul: 22 (5)

Talents: Soul Devour Evolution (autonomously evolves through continuously devouring souls), Slaughter Evolution (autonomously evolves through continuous battle and slaughter), Combat Instinct (innately possesses an extremely powerful talent for combat)

Skills: None

Evolution Points: 2858

Note: The values in parentheses are the standard levels of a normal newborn Infant Demon. Every one-point increase raises the current level of strength by one-fifth. For example, 6 points are one-fifth stronger than 5 points, and 7 points are one-fifth stronger than 6 points, increasing by percentage.

The Evolution System's method of evolution was not automatic.

Just as Orsaga had previously designated half of his Evolution Points to strengthen his body and soul while reserving the other half, he first had to specify the target and effect of the enhancement. Then, it would automatically list the available enhancement methods according to his requirements, allowing the host to choose how to achieve the desired effect.

Thus, Orsaga presented his request to the system.

Most of the flesh and blood is being wasted. I need an ability that can extract the essence of flesh and blood. Also, although I possess Demonic Power, its uses are too basic. It can only strengthen my body in the most basic way. I need more methods of attack.

Flesh and Blood Absorption abilities: 1. Blood Manipulation (can use Demonic Power to extract the essence of flesh and blood from thin air, 1500 Evolution Points), 2. Organ Modification (by modifying organs, the host can grant designated organs the ability to extract the essence of flesh and blood, 300 Evolution Points per organ)...

Attack methods: 1. Demonic Power Destructive Enhancement (the host's Demonic Power will gain greater Destructive Power, 1200 Evolution Points), 2. Bloodline Element Awakening (awakens the Demon Bloodline within the host, randomly granting elemental control abilities such as fire, lightning, or wind, 1000 Evolution Points), 3. Bloodthirsty Slaughter (consumes Demonic Power to forcibly enter a slaughter state, greatly enhancing physical abilities, 1000 Evolution Points)...

After reviewing the methods offered by the system, Orsaga first chose Flesh and Blood Absorption: Organ Modification for his fingers and tail. Then he chose Demonic Power Destructive Enhancement and Bloodline Element Awakening as his attack methods.

As soon as he completed his choices, the Evolution Points on the system panel rapidly fell as though being drained away. The scales on the tips of his fingers and the tip of his tail proliferated rapidly, transforming from small scales into hard black shells. They were covered in tiny syringe-like holes. As long as he pierced them into an opponent's body, he could extract the target's flesh and blood essence whether the target was alive or dead. The difference was that living targets would resist, so he might not be able to draw it out, while dead targets would not resist and could be drained freely.

The Demonic Power within his body seemed to boil. If it had previously been warm water, it was now concentrated sulfuric acid, becoming far more aggressive. As long as he released it around his body, it would automatically corrode the demons nearby even without Orsaga's control.

But what surprised Orsaga the most was the third enhancement: Bloodline Element Awakening!

Although the first two enhancements caused abnormal physical reactions during the process and somewhat affected his fighting, they were largely insignificant.

Temporary physical inconvenience did not stop him from crushing weaklings one-handed. The Infant Demons around him had made considerable progress after a period of slaughter, but their efficiency was simply on a completely different level from his. Compared to him, they were like elementary school students facing an adult. Orsaga could have given them both hands and still won.

However, when Bloodline Element Awakening occurred, the sensation of every blood vessel in his body seeming ready to leap out caught him completely off guard. Having never experienced such agony before, his body stiffened, and he nearly dropped to his knees on the spot.

The surrounding Infant Demons did not hold back when they saw his glaring opening. Although they did not know what had happened, their instinctive greed drove them to swarm him, intending to tear Orsaga apart alive and divide him up for food.

In their senses, one Orsaga was worth at least dozens of their kind.

Faced with such a crisis, Orsaga was extremely enraged. He had not expected the Evolution System to pull something like this. He had thought the enhancements, like physical strengthening, would be completed silently and without warning. Thus, he used his newly strengthened Demonic Power to cover the surrounding area, forming a defensive zone to buy himself time.

Not long afterward, more than ten seconds later, just as a demon broke through the Demonic Power and touched Orsaga's scales, the abnormality within his body returned to normal. What followed was a force that churned endlessly like his rage!

Blood Red flames erupted from his body, fueled by Demonic Power, directly engulfing everything within more than ten meters around him.

As though alive, they seeped into their victims through pores, mouths, eyes, and other openings, burning them from within!

Before them, the Infant Demons' scales—which could withstand even mundane swords—and their powerful Life Force, which meant that most wounds were not fatal unless their hearts or heads were destroyed, were completely useless. Within one or two seconds, they all died.

Looking at the charred corpses around him, Orsaga, who had just experienced a crisis, secretly decided that he would carry out any future enhancements only in a safe place. The Evolution System was entirely a rigid tool. It answered only what one asked and offered no additional warnings.

Still, this had taught him a lesson. Ever since his birth, everything had gone smoothly for him, and he had become somewhat too arrogant.

In the Bottomless Abyss, where lunatics were everywhere, excessive arrogance was simply courting death!

Looking at the Bloodflame still burning after it had incinerated all the corpses, Orsaga knew it could continue burning only by relying on his Demonic Power, so he withdrew it.

The Bloodflame immediately went out, leaving behind only a field of nonflammable refuse and blackened ground.

What a waste. All the flesh and blood has burned away. Until I can control its intensity, I can only use it in dangerous battles...

With that thought, he raised his head and looked at the celestial body in the sky.

When it completely descended, the Styx would rise and submerge everything along the shore.

And it had already descended about halfway!

There is still some time...

Orsaga began harvesting again without wasting time. After undergoing three enhancements, his harvesting speed was far greater than before. Moreover, because of his Flesh and Blood Absorption ability, each kill earned him more Evolution Points, leaving behind only dried corpses.

Much later, when the celestial body was about to completely descend, the slaughter on the riverbank had reached its end. Those still alive were all powerful beings deliberately delaying their departure to harvest souls. All the weak had been eliminated, becoming nourishment for the many victors!

After taking one last look at the wreckage on the riverbank and the many victors, Orsaga silently used the victor's authority and vanished from where he stood.