If wizards were the eternal enemies of demons, then the Black Prison was the demons' age-old nightmare.
The Black Prison was a prison established by wizards for demons, originally called the "Wizard Alliance First Prison." It was hidden deep within the Silent Forest. Hundreds of demons were escorted into it every year, yet not a single one had ever emerged alive.
The prison was like a black hole, swallowing all information.
Thus, demons fearfully called it the "Black Prison."
When the wizards learned of this, they simply renamed the prison "Black Prison" to intimidate the demons still active in the outside world.
And now, a little one who had come out of the Black Prison stood in the cabin.
The captain of the Mist gazed at her with a smile, his chin propped on one hand.
She was a six- or seven-year-old girl, delicate and adorable. Her big black eyes were bright and watery as she happily smiled at the tall captain, utterly unaware of how terrifying the demon before her was.
"She came from the Black Prison?" The captain tilted his head and glanced at the female demon.
"Yes." Nikita lowered her head.
"They say it's an abyss. How did she climb out?" The captain pinched the little girl's cheek and asked with great interest.
"Her mother is a guard at the Black Prison."
"Why protect her?"
"When I was still a wizard, her mother was my mentor." Nikita answered swiftly. She knew she had to persuade the man before her; she had rehearsed these words in her heart for many days. "She was corrupted by the demon blood of a Primal Species and will transform sooner or later. My mentor knew what would happen if she remained at the academy, so she entrusted me with taking her away. I owe my mentor my life, so I have to protect her."
"How ridiculous." The captain of the Mist shook his head.
Nikita knew what he meant.
To a demon, keeping a promise made to food was indeed an utterly ridiculous thing.
Perhaps, deep in her heart, she still held onto a sliver of unrealistic hope.
"Why didn't you return to the Lich King's territory?" The captain stood and tossed his white cloak onto an armchair.
"I did return." Nikita answered hoarsely. "But she still hasn't transformed. The Old Liches wanted to put her on an operating table, the young liches wanted to eat her, and even my companions were eyeing her hungrily."
"Why come here?"
"My teacher told me that only by boarding this ship could she survive."
"Did your teacher not tell you the rules for boarding?" The captain's bluish-black lips curled upward.
"The rules?" The female demon looked at the captain blankly. "Isn't the captain's word the rule?"
"Though I do enjoy your flattery, I must tell you that the rules for boarding were laid down by His Majesty the Sea Demon King." The captain waved a finger, pointing at the two prey before him. A bloodthirsty smile touched his lips. "Everyone who boards must bring their own sacrifice."
Nikita's heart tightened at once. Blood drained from her face as she stared at the captain.
"A sacrifice!" Her voice was hoarse with terror.
A sacrifice was an offering used in a ritual.
When wizards held rituals, they were accustomed to using sandalwood, talismans, fine wine, and delicacies. More solemn ceremonies would even offer the three sacrificial animals. To them, rituals were usually merely ceremonies for commemorating their forebears, only occasionally serving as bridges between yin and yang.
Demonic rituals, however, were entirely different.
Demons possessed a long history and heritage. Their ancestors believed that the world originated from a great True Spirit, and that every living being was descended from it by blood. The True Spirit governed the fortunes and misfortunes of each of its descendants. Wizards were thieves who had stolen fire from the True Spirit, rebellious children, and wizard flesh and blood were the finest gifts that could be offered to it.
Before every feast, demons performed a simple ritual. And after every ritual, they held a grand banquet. For fresh flesh and blood were the True Spirit's feast, and also the demons' delicacy.
"So I need to choose a suitable sacrifice from the two of you." The captain of the Mist looked at them gently, without a ripple in his dark-red eyes. "First, your names."
He snapped his fingers, and the blackened oil lamp on the table immediately flared with green fire.
An aged elf with pointed ears, round eyes, and a white beard slowly crawled out of the darkness. It crawled onto the table, trembling as it spread out a grayish-white beast-hide chart.
At the center of the chart was a black balance scale, as though it had been drawn with charcoal ash from embers. Its lines were crude, its structure simple. Dark-red Runes covered the hide around it, flickering with a faint red light in the dim cabin.
Nikita's lips trembled, but her mind was utterly blank.
A sacrifice meant death.
Since she had ended up living on the streets at the age of six, this was the closest she had ever come to death.
"Zhou Zhou." The little girl beside her pursed her lips and timidly gave her name.
The aged elf roughly seized her little hand, pierced her arm with a black fingernail, then dipped a finger into the flowing blood and wrote the two characters "Zhou Zhou" in the blank space on the left side of the scale.
"The character 'Zhou' is formed from 'mouth' and 'use.' Long, long ago, it represented the finest human sacrifice." With his back to them, the captain admired the brilliant view outside through the cabin's narrow window.
Behind him, the little girl covered her arm and quietly sobbed.
The aged elf poked the stunned female demon beside her with its long finger.
"Nikita," the female demon muttered.
Her name was written on the right side of the scale.
The green flame on the oil lamp surged upward, casting light over the old elf's weathered face and making it appear especially gloomy.
"Now, the two of you will recite a passage from the Scripture of Reverent Feast before the shrine of His Majesty the Sea Demon King." The old elf pointed with a hoarse voice at a short black object on the table, resembling a tree stump.
The Scripture of Reverent Feast was a scripture demons had to chant before a feast ritual. It was said to be the admonitions of the True Spirit, recorded by an ancient demon king. Demons who did not follow its precepts would lose the True Spirit's blessing.
Nikita was very familiar with these prayers.
The aged elf sang one line in its strange intonation, and Nikita and Zhou Zhou repeated each line after it.
"...Pour with a great ladle, praying for venerable age; may the aged and bent be guided and blessed. Long life is auspicious, granting great fortune... Alas, in sorrow, may the Reverent Feast be accepted!"
The entire scripture contained fewer than three hundred words and was finished in under five minutes.
As the echoes of the chant lingered, the dark-red Runes on the grayish-white beast-hide chart burst forth with dazzling red light, casting the figures in the cabin onto the walls in grotesque, twisted shadows.
In the red light, Zhou Zhou's small hand clutched Nikita's robe tightly.
Nikita sat on the floor with her arms around herself, burying her head deep between her knees.
She had barged into the Silent Forest in order to live.
She had escaped the Silent Forest in order to live.
She had barged into the Lich King's territory in order to live.
She had escaped the Lich King's territory in order to live.
She had struggled for so long.
Was it finally going to end?
On the grayish-white beast-hide chart, the scale swayed indecisively from side to side.
The old elf frantically sought the captain's advice. The captain grabbed its ear and threw it through the window into the sea.
"You choose one yourselves." The captain wiped his hands with a spotless silk handkerchief, then tossed the handkerchief out the window as well.
The green oil lamp on the table flickered a few times before finally going out. Pale-blue smoke curled upward, lingering endlessly through the cramped cabin.
"If we can't live together, then let's live together." Zhou Zhou leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I haven't transformed yet. I can't eat people."
The female demon raised her head and looked at the Little Witch. Zhou Zhou bared her teeth, her eyes sparkling.
Brief memories surged over her like a flood.
"Big sister, that uncle is so ugly!" In the Lich King's territory, the Little Witch had pointed at Nikita's lich teacher and whispered in her ear.
"When I grow up, I'll catch you a whole bunch of little wizards! Eat one, throw one away!" Standing before a bonfire, the Little Witch had waved her small hand with an air of great wisdom.
"Big sister, if you're hungry, bite your fingers and you won't be hungry anymore." On the road of escape, the Little Witch had comforted her when she had gone without food or water.
The female demon burst into loud sobs.
"What a mesmerizing scent." The captain of the Mist turned back toward the cabin. He took a deep breath, his expression intoxicated and his tone growing ever gentler. "Reeking of fear and despair, yet still trying to struggle. Even if it is only the faintest glimmer, you cling to it tightly and refuse to let go."
"Perhaps your teacher knew you could still see a trace of light, which was why she sent you here."
Nikita felt a bone-deep chill.
"Now, you can let go."
Tears streamed down Nikita's face.
She knew she was about to fall into the deepest darkness.
The captain looked at her gently.
He watched Nikita sobbing as she chewed.
He watched a thin thread of blood slide from the corner of her mouth.
He watched them merge into one amid despair.
The blood at her lips was sweet and warm.
But Nikita's stomach began to grow cold.
The chill would soon spread through her entire body, and it would remain cold forever.
Before you continue