As time went by, something gradually happened to the Scribe.
The objects in this painting do not appear to be completely still.
A tall, straight tree that was growing upright just a second ago is cut down and felled to the ground the next second, as if it had been damaged.
The land that was flat just moments ago now has a large pit.
Moreover, Scribe always felt that something was moving in the painting.
"Is this painting alive?"
With a slight furrow in his brow, Scribe then stretched out his arm.
When the painting was touched, swirling ripples suddenly appeared on its surface.
Immediately afterwards, a suction force came, about to pull Scribe into the painting.
Although the suction was not weak, it was far from being able to forcibly suck the Scribe in.
After reviewing his posture, the Scribe began to ponder.
Not long after, he made a decision.
"Let's go in and take a look."
As his body relaxed, the suction returned, drawing him into the painting.
When the vision cleared again, what appeared before the Scribe was an endless forest.
Behind them are towering mountains reaching into the clouds, and not far away is a magnificent river.
"Is this an illusion, or a world within a painting?"
Scribe bent down, picked up a handful of dirt, rubbed it in his hands, and said.
"No, these things must all be real."
"That painting was just a passageway; it was through there that I was transported here."
"Another layer of space existing within the Infinity Castle, what a brilliant idea."
As the Scribe sighed, he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from behind him.
Immediately afterwards, a figure fell from the tree.
"Go to hell!"
The dagger in his hand plunged down fiercely, aimed directly at the Scribe's head.
But the Scribe simply took a step to the side and dodged the sneak attack.
He spun around and delivered a powerful kick to the figure's back.
A crisp cracking sound was heard, followed by a painful howl before the figure collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.
His spine was broken by the Scribe's kick.
"So they were people from grassroots forces."
After glancing at the red scarf tied around the figure, Scribe stepped forward and picked up the other person's dagger.
With a soft thud, he plunged the dagger into the back of the other man's hand and said coldly.
"Tell me, what exactly is going on here?"
"If I tell you the truth, maybe I can give you a quick death."
A look of fear flashed across the face of the man who had fallen to the ground; his lips trembled, as if he couldn't speak.
"Smack!"
The Scribe didn't hold back and slapped the other person across the face.
"Explain."
"I'll talk, I'll talk!"
After the slap, the man seemed to be awakened and nodded frantically.
"This is what happened..."
Chapter 613 Upper Rank Five, Upper Rank Four
"We were teleported here to kill the Demon Slayer Corps members."
"But after arriving here, I discovered that there are more than just those guys here."
"There are man-eating demons, and there are creatures that look just like us, but are impossible to kill!"
After the person in front of him explained, the Scribe understood.
This was a scam from the very beginning.
Whether it's royal forces, overseas forces, or civilian forces, once they enter the Infinity Castle, they are all just pawns.
Their sole purpose is to deplete the Demon Slayer Corps' manpower.
Considering that these are ultimately human beings and their credibility is relatively low, some ghosts and parasites have also come here.
Whether these people will die, and how many will die, is not something the planners considered.
"Muzan doesn't have much affection for humans, but his mind shouldn't be that sharp."
With a thoughtful glint in his eyes, the Scribe spoke.
"From this perspective, there is a high probability that Brain Food is the mastermind behind everything."
With this in mind, he had a general understanding of this so-called game.
The first step in "salvation" is to survive.
Only then can you climb up layer by layer until you reach the final boss's territory.
The reason for not placing the battlefield within the Infinity Castle was also due to the existence of the Scribe.
Otherwise, the Scribe alone could have wiped out the high-end combat power of the demons.
"The brain food plan is indeed meticulous. So, what I'm standing on is a 'map'?"
The Scribe rose and looked into the distance.
"I wonder who the boss of this level is."
Seeing that the Scribe had gained confidence, the man said.
"I've told you everything I know. Please keep your promise and give me a quick death."
The feeling of having his lumbar spine shattered and being unable to control his lower body filled the man with despair.
The Scribe didn't speak, but simply drew the dagger and raised it.
Just then, he suddenly heard a sound.
Following the sound, they saw a huge figure walking out of the forest.
"This thing is..."
The enormous figure looked like a goldfish, but it had hands and feet, and its muscles were bulging.
Four patterned pots were placed upside down on his back, flashing past every now and then, which looked very strange.
"So it's Gyokko's summoned creature. It seems he's the boss here?"
But just as he was about to kill the Muscle Goldfish, something strange happened.
The Muscle Goldfish, which had been moving forward, suddenly stopped, and then opened its mouth.
It was full of sharp teeth.
Not only that, a dark shadow suddenly emerged from the mouth of the Muscle Goldfish.
"Whoosh~"
An octopus tentacle extended from its mouth and bound the man.
In the blink of an eye, the man was tied up like a rice dumpling.
As the tentacles suddenly retracted, the man was bitten to pieces before he could even let out a scream.
The Scribe looked at everything that was happening before him and fell into deep thought.
"When did Gyokko's Blood Demon Art become such a grotesque thing?"
In his memory, the Muscle Goldfish and the octopus tentacles should be two completely different summons.
How come they're all mixed up now?
Before Scribe could figure it out, the Muscle Goldfish looked at him.
With a thud, the goldfish slammed its forelimbs onto the ground and brought its mouth up.
As it opened again, several tentacles flew out.
"Let's take a look at it."
Just as the tentacles were about to touch the Scribe, he moved.
With a gentle flick of his wrist, a beam of light appeared.
It easily sliced up the tentacles and continued flying toward the Muscle Goldfish.
Seeing that its ranged attack had been countered, the Muscle Goldfish immediately raised its hand and blasted at the attacker.
But the blade still easily sliced through its fist.
Half of his body also fell off.
Although the injury was terrible, the Muscle Goldfish seemed not to feel it at all.
Numerous tentacles emerged from the cut surface, attempting to reconnect the two halves of the body.
"If it's completely destroyed, it seems like the spell will be completely broken."
The Scribe's voice rang out, and somehow, he had appeared beside the goldfish.
"Then let's destroy three of them."
After saying that, the three pots on the goldfish's back were smashed to pieces.
The tentacles that had been trying to connect to the body also lost their vitality, Muscle Goldfish collapsed to the ground with a thud, leaving only half of its body still moving.
His still-mobile right arm reached out, trying to grab the Scribe.
"Don't move."
With another swing of the dagger, it shattered the arm and sliced it into pieces.
After looking the goldfish over from the outside and inside, Scribe couldn't find anything wrong with it.
"It doesn't look like it was forcibly pieced together."
"Although given Gyokko's aesthetic sense, it's not like he's incapable of doing something like this, but..."
After a brief silence, he considered a possibility.
"Has the Gyokko's strength increased? Is that why it was able to fuse the two summoned creatures together?"
With a slight frown, the Scribe knew he could no longer stay here.
Although he himself did not think that Gyokko was very strong, for most swordsmen, Gyokko was a nightmare.
Even some pillars, in a one-on-one fight, might not be a match for Gyokko.
"Let's end it."
With a swing of his Nichirin Blade, he sliced Muscle Goldfish into pieces.
After watching the fragments dissipate into black smoke, the Scribe ran towards the river below.
Just as the man said, there were more than just them and the Demon Slayer Corps Member in this forest.
After running for only a few minutes, the Scribe killed one ghost and six parasites.
If such a density were spread across an entire mountain, the number would become extremely terrifying.
After slashing down another parasite, the Scribe crouched down to examine it.