Chapter 94
“You killed three of them in a row?”
That night, the old man’s voice pierced through the silence of slumber. Sitting in his cell, Suho turned toward the decrepit, aged demon. He was still lying with his back turned, obscured by the shadows of his cell.
As Suho silently gazed at him, the old demon clicked his tongue. “There are demons like you who are receptive to the poison and thrive, but you’ll regret ignoring my warning about eating the food.”
Suho had defeated three demons under the influence of the mad blood poison in quick succession. The astounding sight turned the arena into a cauldron of excitement. To the oppressed slaves, seeing a weaker newcomer defeat seasoned, formidable demons provided an intense catharsis. However, this wasn’t what the guards had hoped for. The organizers originally envisioned a cruel display of the strong mercilessly slaughtering and toying with the weak before consuming them. They wanted to etch a message into the slaves’ minds—the weak must submit to the strong—but Suho’s performance proved the opposite.
“Regardless, it was wise of you not to consume your foes,” the old demon said.
Suho had slain the demons but refrained from consuming their corpses. Demons typically hunted their own kind and grew stronger by absorbing the magical energy dissolved in their blood. But since Suho wasn’t a demon, he didn’t feel the need to drink their blood. Of course, Vulcan’s Horn had devoured their souls instead.
Not knowing any of this, the demon guards were frustrated that the execution wasn’t going to plan, so they eventually pulled Suho out of the arena. They wanted to prevent further loss of their precious mad-blooded demons.
“It’s natural for demons to devour each other. However, blood tainted by mad blood poison must never be consumed.”
“Why?” Suho asked.
“Consuming a mad-blooded demon means more poison running through your veins. Sure, it will make you stronger, but the agony increases just as much.”
“That’s not what I was asking. I want to know why you are telling me all this.”
“I’ve told the others the same, but they chose not to listen.”
Mad blood poison brought pain, but it also amplified power. Advising against consuming it before an execution was equal to telling someone to accept death. This was why the other demons mocked and scorned this old demon.
“Becoming a mad-blooded demon inevitably leads to a pitiful and painful end.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
Instead of an answer, the old demon coughed up black blood.
[Querehsha sees that the demon’s blood is fully addicted to the mad blood poison.]
“Like everyone else, I ate what I was given at first. I fought countless battles and won many times. I grew stronger by feasting on the blood of my enemies, but one day, I saw what happened to demons like me. Toward the end of their miserable lives, the poison had even seeped into their bone marrow.” The old demon coughed for a while and then chuckled weakly. “The Tyrant King waits for us to fully ripen before devouring us. Eating us when the poison has spread to every corner of our bodies is the most efficient way for him to grow stronger.”
The old demon began to fast when he learned about the captive demons’ true purpose. Even after claiming victory in the executions, he never consumed the corpses of his opponents, knowing that a higher concentration of mad blood poison would mean being devoured by the Tyrant King.
“This coliseum is his farm and warehouse.”
“Now I understand why the old one looks so malnourished,” Esil said, still inside Vulcan’s Horn. “The meal you had today was your last here. From now on, you’ll have to kill and devour your opponent for sustenance.”
“How demonic. This is the sort of thing I hate being involved in.” Suho shook his head in disbelief and then asked, “But tell me, old man. Where is the Tyrant King hiding?”
“Hiding?” The demon laughed. “Your words are true, but I fear what would happen to you if a guard had heard. Young people these days are bolder than my generation was.” The old demon turned his head toward Suho for the first time. His listless gaze stared into Suho’s eyes as he whispered, “Nobody knows where he lives. He is one dreadful coward.”
“A coward?”
“Naturally. The Tyrant King rules supreme, but he’s also the most delectable morsel there is. Even someone like me would become immensely powerful by consuming his corpse.” The old demon’s eyes gleamed with intense greed. It was an improbable outcome, but the thought alone delighted him. He licked his lips with his serpentine tongue—the picture of a natural demon.
“Just so you know, all this devouring happens between weaker demons. Don’t you go on thinking that noble demons do the same, got that?” Esil said.
Not that I care, but I never asked, Suho rebutted inwardly.
“I’m just letting you know the truth. We don’t barbarically tear into corpses. Absorbing bloodstones is much cleaner and more efficient.”
Bloodstones? Suho suddenly remembered the gigantic demon he had defeated before entering the demon realm. The demon we defeated before coming here said that it had grown stronger by consuming a bloodstone, right? What exactly is a bloodstone?
“It’s a crystallized form of mana from demon blood. It’s highly condensed. While some less refined nobles consume demons directly, noble houses like ours, the Radiru Clan, dine on bloodstones.”
Isn’t it the same thing? You’re still consuming demon blood.
“No, it’s completely different! We don’t have to kill our prey. Instead, we just collect a small amount of bloodstone. If nobles went around devouring all their subjects, who would want to obey us?”
I suppose you’re right.
Esil fervently defended herself, worried that Suho might view her in a negative light. “This Tyrant King is just a cheap imitator, trying to pass as a true noble. Not only is devouring demons inefficient, it also reduces the population.”
“So, I need to make myself look as delicious as possible to catch the Tyrant King...” Suho said.
“Wh-what did you just say? Are you saying you’re going to take down the Tyrant King? You must be out of your mind!” The old demon burst into hearty laughter.
The sound woke up the sleeping demons.
“Damn it! What’s with all the noise?”
“That old fool must be going senile!”
The silence of the night was broken by insults and anger, but the old demon’s laughter showed no signs of stopping. Everyone was still locked up in their cells, so there was no way to shut him up.
Amid the cacophony of rattling bars and grunts, Suho looked straight into the eyes of the old demon laughing at him from a distance. “Old man, may I ask you one more thing?”
“Sure, sure! What are you so curious about?”
“How can I make myself look appetizing to the Tyrant King?”
The old demon burst into laughter once more, and the other demons joined him.
“He’s madder than the old coot.”
“Did he just say he wants to make himself look appetizing to the Tyrant King?”
“He’s a complete madman!”
Suho’s performance in the coliseum had already spread within the prison, but since most of the demons were locked up in cells, they hadn’t seen him in action. Suho had defeated three demons, but the captive demons had withstood the demands of their survival. They had devoured many demons themselves for survival, so in their eyes, Suho was nothing more than a lucky rookie.
“After one day of incredible fortune, you’ve already lost your mind! Your arrogance has reached its peak!”
“You want to catch the Tyrant King’s attention? Do you wish to become one of his underlings by catching his eye?”
“What a stupid question! It’s easy!”
“Eat and keep eating! Devour us and fill your blood with mad blood poison!”
“Then the Tyrant King will surely appear before you!”
“I see!” Suho regretted not asking sooner. I didn’t know they were this friendly. “I would have eaten those bodies had I known this...”
The beings watching Suho from afar gasped in horror.
[Querehsha is startled by your brutality.]
[Rakan chuckles and says that the world is ruled by the survival of the fittest.]
“If that’s the case...” Suho slowly rotated his wrists with a sly grin. “It’s time to feast!”
***
Suho’s feasting began the very next day.
“You were up against some weaker demons because it was your first day,” a demon guard said.
“But today will be different,” another said, smiling sinisterly. “You will regret not eating those corpses yesterday.”
“Yeah, I regretted it all night,” Suho said.
“What?”
“That’s why I’m going to eat everything that comes my way today.”
The guards looked puzzled at Suho’s unexpected response.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself now, Single Horn.”
“That arrogance of yours knows no bounds.”
“Let him yap. It will all be over soon.”
The guards were convinced that Suho was already addicted to the poison, so they assumed that he’d be weaker for the battle ahead after exerting himself the day before.
Poisoned demons lost more blood as they used their mana. Esil had similarly lost most of her powers, after being drained of her blood by lesser demons.
“So...” Suho smirked as he eyed his next opponent, who looked more menacing than the ones from the day before. He then lunged forward like a cannonball and plunged his hand into the demon’s body. The immense force slammed the demon into the ground. “Eat your fill and regain your strength, Esil.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” The demon noble hidden within Vulcan’s Horn gleamed with excitement.
From Suho’s hand, a dark mist began seeping out of the fallen demon’s body, and it dispersed to form small orbs, floating in the air.
“W-wait...!”
“What is that?!”
The audience was shocked by the bizarre scene unfolding before them.
“Impossible! Could that be...?!”
“Bloodstones?!”
Even the demon guards were more taken aback than the day before. Their shock was understandable since the only demons capable of extracting bloodstones before killing a demon were...
“Is he a noble?!”
“He’s a demon noble!”
“This is insane! I thought they were all gone!”
The bloodstones floating in the air flew into Vulcan’s Horn and into the mouth of the real demon noble hiding within.
“Single Horn is a demon noble?!”
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦