A Veal swam toward the demon that was three times his size, his eyes narrowed, watching its every move, dissecting its strengths and weaknesses.
Whoosh!
In a little over two minutes, he reached ten meters behind the demon. Now he could see what it truly was and not just a shadow in the distance.
The demon, a giant compared to him, had the body of a grotesque, horned black lion, whose body seemed to be rotting. Its six legs pulsed with enough strength to shatter his body, and its fangs were more than sharp enough to rip him apart.
He couldn't help but think:
'It is like me, a demon who awoke and broke free from its egg before the other demons.'
His instincts told him that it was such… The demon, sensing his presence, locked onto him. Its mindless eyes shone with extreme killing intent, and its vile blood also urged it to kill him.
He locked eyes with it, and his blood and heart started cheering like never before, telling him to kill this demon before him and use its corpse as a stepping stone to ascendancy.
He couldn't help but let out a bestial roar that echoed through the foul water:
"RRRRAAAAAAOOOO!"
a degree of challenge, one that the demon before him instinctively accepted gladly. It raised its head, also letting out a bestial roar:
"Rrrrraaa!"
After that, the two launched toward each other with death and hunger in their eyes. In but a moment, they closed the distance, standing a meter before each other.
The demon's right paw slashed toward his head with enough force to fracture it, but before it could make contact, his twin tails vibrated. He then whipped one of them to the left the force allowed him to dodge the attack, while his other tail shot out like an arrow toward the demon's eye. It moved extremely fast,
Whoosh!
In no time, it reached the demon, but before it could take the demon's eye, its left paw moved at a speed unbecoming of it, and,
Ding!
A muffled ding sound akin to metal clashing rang out as the tip of his tail and the demon's claw clashed.
'Its speed is beyond what it had previously demonstrated.'
"!"
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he felt a threat. The demon opened its mouth wide, aiming to devour his tail that it had blocked. He immediately whipped his other tail downward, the force shot him upwards, allowing him to narrowly escape.
As he was ascending, he clawed his right hand at the demon's chest. It immediately made contact, but no damage.
'Hard!'
The demon's fur was harder than the shell of any demon he had clashed with before.
As he reached above the demon, he whipped his tails to the left, distancing himself from it. He immediately arrived ten meters away.
But before he could formulate his thoughts, the demon appeared a meter before him, its open jaws and razor teeth blocking out his vision.
"Raaaar!"
Without hesitation, he whipped and shot backward. The demon's legs kicked the water as it chased him down.
Whoosh!
They streaked throughout the water. Many sensed their presence and instinctively swam away… As Veal dodged the demon's attack, he thought of ways, the best way to kill it.
He couldn't afford for one of its attacks to land, and its fur was too hard for him to penetrate. The only advantage he had was speed and body size.
Because his body was small, the demon had difficulty making contact with him.
This was a dangerous battle, unlike the ones before. His blood was also screaming at him, telling him to stop running and battle like a true demon… He thought and thought, and suddenly his eyes flashed,
'In order to slay this demon, I need to make a sacrifice. Something must be given for victory… Very well then, I will fight like a true demon.'
'Kill! Kill!'
shouted his blood.
He let out a primal roar, "ROAR!" as he launched himself toward the demon that was five meters ahead,
Whoosh!
He immediately arrived before the demon's head. It roared with savagery, then slapped its right claw toward him, aiming to vertically bisect him.
Still in motion, his glowing tails contracted, and his eyes focused as he gazed at the huge claws moving bit by bit toward his head. And right as it was about to make contact,
"Now!"
He mustered all the speed he could and twisted his body at an odd angle, and,
Splat!
"Raaaoor!"
…
Veal floated behind the demon, his teeth clenched tightly as he endured the pain of his entire left arm and his lower left foot, severed.
His blue body purring, he felt his strength weakening each second that passed. He was fatally wounded. But he wasn't the only one sinking closer to death's embrace.
He narrowed his eyes as he glanced behind him at his tails, which were elongated, their tips lodged inside the demon's eye socket.
The demon's pain-filled wail echoed out, while its paws swatted toward his tails, aiming to sever them. But how could he allow that? He focused all his remaining strength on activating his innate ability. His tails vibrated more intensely,
Zzzzzzzz!
And, Splat! The upper portion of the demon's head exploded.
Splat!
Its rotten brain matter found its rightful place among the foul water. Veal's eyes dimmed. He was two seconds from passing out,
'No!'
he shouted in his mind, stopping himself from passing out with pure will. For he knew that if he should ever close his eyes, that would be the end of him.
Then, "Come!" he screamed as he retracted his tail, which had a chunk of the demon's flesh attached to it, then devoured it. The moment it entered his stomach, he felt his body tremble, and his wounds closed, along with some of his strength returning.
Suddenly, he sensed a few demons swimming toward him. He immediately grabbed the demon's corpse, bit off a chunk, then launched himself upwards, aiming to surface, his mother's womb, and step into the dark realm of the Abyss.
Whoosh!
As he rose, he chanted, not from memory, but from a deeper place, the echoes of his bloodline:
"Oh, Abyss, be my judge, I offer thee flesh worthy of 'I'. Grant me your acknowledgement, that I may ascend."
He chanted repeatedly. While he was chanting, his senses rang out as a four-legged demon appeared to the left of him. His tails shot out, effortlessly killing it. But right at that moment, his senses rang out, three times, as three demons approached from almost all directions. His eyes shone with determination as his tails whipped and stabbed, killing them after multiple attacks.
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Not once did he stop ascending.
Not once did he stop chanting.
Not once did he stop devouring the demon in his grasp.
Whoosh!
He could see the surface of the River of Birth; he was almost there, just another kilometer to go.
The demons in the surrounding swarmed toward him with mindless hunger, wanting to take advantage of his weakened state.
A demon is a demon, after all, and will act as a demon, no matter if it's a mindless one…
His tails operated at maximum. Akin to two vipers, they stung all who entered within three meters of him.
Swish!
With each kill, his blood cheered,
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Devour! Devour!
Two hundred meters to go.
When a loud roar reverberated throughout the water, he locked onto its source.
To the left, he saw the shadow of a huge heel-like demon zooming toward him about a kilometer away. Its aura equaled the end of the Blooding Rank. Its eyes shone with hunger, but it was missing something, and that was mindlessness belonging to a baby demon.
Veal realized this and immediately prioritized ascending. He no longer attacked the demons around him but weaved between them.
He chanted harder and devoured faster. In just a few moments, he reached a meter before the surface. He finished devouring the lion demon and chanted once,
"To devour is to live. To evolve is to refine."
And,
Splash!
He breached the water surface and shot eight meters into the air.
Everything slowed down.
His shimmering tails spread wide and his eyes dilated as he gazed at the giant crimson moon that illuminated the endless River of Birth. And he couldn't help but roar,
"Raaaao!"
He noticed that in the surroundings, there were many demons who had also successfully breached the River of Birth.
Right at that moment, he felt as if something vile, the embodiment of evil judged him, and,
Kleng!
A sound akin to a chain being shattered rang out in his mind. But before he could process it, a horrifying and irresistible force enveloped him. And the next moment, his vision blurred as he vanished,
Vash!
Less than a second after he vanished, a giant demon that was five times his size penetrated the water below where he floated, its mouth opened wide,
Roar!