Naturally Gifted at Learning

"An Upper Demon? How could that be? It's obviously just a slime!"

Linus stared blankly at the slime Sally was holding. The seemingly harmless slime had now become terrifying. After all, although Linus's Squad looked quite powerful, in reality, they were only somewhat famous in a few nearby towns.

For a squad like theirs, even a C-rank demon counted as an Upper Demon. They would only be able to escape after suffering heavy casualties. Yet the amount of demonic energy Lu Minghao was emitting was far more terrifying than that of any C-rank demon they had encountered before.

"Captain! The shadow, the shadow!"

At that moment, Gene pointed at Linus's shadow with a trembling body. The shadow, which had originally been shaped like a person, had twisted into a mass and was slowly breaking away from the ground. The next second, Gene's eyes grew even more terrified, because he realized that it wasn't only their captain's shadow—the shadows throughout the entire room had begun to twist as well.

Swish, swish, swish!

"Shadow Prison!"

In an instant, countless shadows transformed into chains. The slender chains crawled upward from beneath the feet of Linus's Squad like venomous snakes, while chains also descended from above and looped around their necks.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In less than a second, everyone from Linus's Squad was hanging in midair. Their limbs and heads were tightly bound by pitch-black chains, their bodies suspended in spread-eagle positions. Their weapons all fell from their hands under the intense feeling of suffocation.

"All right. The rest is up to you, Sally."

With that, Lu Minghao's elastic body bounced toward the door.

Bang!

As the wooden door closed, the shadow beneath Lu Minghao transformed into a curtain and tightly sealed off the entire wooden cabin. From that moment on, no matter what sounds came from inside, not a single one would escape.

"All right, it's over."

Lu Minghao gently stroked Sally's dark red hair. Under his comfort, Sally slowly stopped crying and raised her head to look at him. In the golden sunlight, Sally, dressed in a bright red dress, smiled. Her smile was utterly pure.

It was like sunlight, making people unconsciously become infected by it and feel warmth from the bottom of their hearts.

"Minghao, thank you."

Sally lifted Lu Minghao in her hands, turned around, and placed him where the sun was. At that moment, Lu Minghao was Sally's only sun, illuminating the self she had once been when trapped in despair.

"Minghao, did you know? Actually, my father and mother didn't die from injuries sustained during a mission."

Under the sunlight, Sally turned to look into the dim wooden cabin. Sally's father and her mother, who had concealed her Oni Clan identity, had once been fairly well-known adventurers. However, during an extermination mission, Sally's parents had been forced to temporarily team up with Linus's Squad. The demon that had originally been classified as C-rank for the mission had unexpectedly turned out to be B-rank.

To protect Sally's father, Sally's mother had no choice but to reveal her Oni Clan identity. After Sally's mother desperately killed the demon, Linus's Squad, driven by greed, chose to kill Sally's severely wounded parents.

After all, an Upper Demon like an oni was an enormous treasure to an ordinary adventurer squad. The stronger the demon, the more valuable it was. Besides, from Linus and the others' perspective at the time, since Sally's mother had exposed her Oni Clan identity, she would definitely kill them afterward to conceal it.

On top of the value of the B-rank demon Sally's mother had killed, Linus's Squad was driven by greed and fear to attack Sally's mother and father. They secretly hid the demon that had been the mission's target, shifted the blame for the failed mission onto Sally's parents, and forcibly took everything Sally's parents had left behind.

Because of this, five-year-old Sally had been forced to survive by scavenging through garbage heaps and fighting wild dogs for food. Then, by chance, Sally, who was sleeping in a garbage heap, learned the truth from Gene as he drunkenly passed by. From that moment, the seed of hatred had already been planted.

"Sally, are you happy now?"

Lu Minghao looked at Sally and asked softly. Although Sally currently wore a smile, deep sorrow was hidden within it. After all, Sally's parents were already dead, and the despair-filled life she had once endured had already happened.

Even though Linus's Squad, the true culprits, had now been captured and Sally could take revenge on them however she wished, what had happened could never be undone. It was just like how Sally's dead parents could never come back to life.

"It's all right. Sally is very happy now, because Sally has a family. She doesn't have to be alone anymore."

Sally gently shook her head and hugged Lu Minghao tightly. A blissful smile appeared on her bloodstained face. Her bright red dress fluttered slowly in the passing wind, and blood dripped from its hem.

To Sally, her entire world since birth had been constructed from all kinds of "evil": despair, disgust, contempt, and abuse. Endless malice had built Sally's world, and within that world, a few rays of light had once briefly appeared.

But they had all quickly vanished. Now, however, Sally had found a brand-new light that illuminated her figure in the pitch-black world. That was enough. No matter how despairing the world became, Sally now had enough motivation to keep living.

That was her happiness.

"Let's go, Sally. There are still a few things I need to ask them. Besides, let's let them experience what true fear is."

Lesser Demon (F), Lower Demon (E, D), Middle Demon (C, B), Upper Demon (A), Demon Species (Special A), True Demon Lord (S, Special S)