Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes, and a Dead Devil's Heart Regrets Nothing
Lin Yuan's eyes tracked every movement Scarlet King made.
He looked back at the village—at the destruction, the blood, and the scattered skulls—before his voice emerged, rough with rage.
"Why did you do this? Tell me—why did you slaughter all the villagers?! Speak!"
Scarlet King let out a cold, mocking laugh and waved his hand as though brushing an insect away from his face.
"Hah… I did it for one reason: to increase my strength. And now, another person has appeared who will increase it even further."
Lin Yuan's brows furrowed.
At first, he did not understand what Scarlet King meant.
Then he felt it.
Sharp, direct killing intent.
He assumed a defensive stance and spoke in a stern voice.
"What do you mean by—"
He did not finish his sentence.
Scarlet King's fist suddenly appeared directly before his face.
The impact sent Lin Yuan flying nearly fifty meters backward, dust and debris scattering along his path.
When the dust cleared, it became apparent that Lin Yuan had blocked the strike with his forearm. Even so, the sleeve of his yellow robe had been torn apart by the force alone, and a faint red mark had appeared across his arm.
Lin Yuan laughed softly.
"Is that all you have?"
In the next instant, he disappeared.
He moved faster than Scarlet King's eyes could properly follow.
A strike slammed into Scarlet King's jaw.
His body shot upward and was hurled nearly five hundred meters away within seconds, spinning through the air like a spear thrown with tremendous force.
Lin Yuan leaped after him.
The ground shattered beneath his feet, cracks spreading from the point of his departure like a spiderweb.
He caught up with Scarlet King in midair and delivered a brutal strike to his back.
Scarlet King fell like a meteor.
Lin Yuan remained floating calmly in the sky while the village below continued collapsing from the force of the impact.
Scarlet King thought:
(That strike was heavy… His strength is at least enough to flatten enormous buildings.)
Lin Yuan lowered his gaze.
Bones, corpses, and skulls lay scattered below like broken tools, and a cold sensation ran through his body.
(Did he truly devour humans alive?)
Before he could think any further—
Scarlet King launched himself from the ground with a violent leap.
He closed the distance between them in an instant, then drove his fist into Lin Yuan's cheek.
Lin Yuan was sent hurtling through the air.
Before he could regain his balance, something struck him from behind.
The Shadow erupted from the darkness behind Lin Yuan.
Its white eyes were wide, and a demonic, clown-like grin split across its face as an enormous black hammer formed between its hands.
Boom!
The hammer crashed down upon him.
Lin Yuan was hurled into a nearby house with tremendous force, causing the roof to collapse over him.
As his body tore through the debris—
Scarlet King was already waiting.
Blood filled Scarlet King's mouth from Lin Yuan's earlier strike, yet a mocking smile still appeared on his face, as though the pain were nothing more than a joke.
He drove his fist into Lin Yuan's stomach with brutal precision.
Lin Yuan was sent flying once again.
He tore through ten walls in succession before crashing into the ground amid an explosion of dust, stone, and blood.
A beam of energy erupted from the crater into which he had fallen.
It was red and violent, shooting directly toward Scarlet King.
Scarlet King shifted aside at the last instant.
The beam missed him but sliced through the mountain behind him as though it were made of paper, splitting its peak in half.
Lin Yuan rose from the ruins.
His robe was torn, and scratches covered his body, but his eyes did not burn with fear…
They burned with excitement.
He shouted loudly enough for Scarlet King to hear him clearly.
"Hahaha! I'll admit it—no one has managed to scratch me since I was born. But fighting someone capable of matching my strength… is fun! Let's continue, Scarlet King!"
He charged forward.
Scarlet King met him among the ruins.
Their fists collided—
A shock wave exploded in every direction, wiping away what remained of the surrounding houses.
The bamboo hat flew from Scarlet King's head, its black veil trailing behind it as it spun through the darkness of the night. Their clothes tore further beneath the pressure.
They traded blows like thunder.
Lin Yuan punched Scarlet King in the waist.
Scarlet King answered with an uppercut beneath Lin Yuan's jaw.
Lin Yuan struck Scarlet King across the cheek.
But Scarlet King delivered a vicious blow below Lin Yuan's belt—
Lin Yuan's face twisted from the sudden, intense pain.
Scarlet King did not stop.
He struck the same place again—
Then a third time.
Lin Yuan flew backward through the air, attempting to retreat from the pain, before roaring in pure rage:
"Damn you, bastard! Where is the fair fight?! If you keep this up, I'll end up castrated because of you!"
Before Scarlet King could answer, an enormous impact thundered nearby.
The Shadow had been hurled into another wall with overwhelming force.
Its body shattered like glass.
But it did not die.
It melted into the darkness, then slid back beneath Scarlet King's feet.
From the place where the Shadow had been thrown, a strange figure emerged.
It was of average height, and its entire body was black like the Void.
Eyes were scattered across its chest, while its mouth was stretched into a demonic smile filled with sharp teeth.
Its face had no eyes…
and no nose.
Strange red markings covered its body, moving as though they were living tattoos.
Scarlet King's eyes widened.
"One of the… Chaos Beings?!"
The creature turned toward him and spoke in a rough, direct voice.
"Hmm. It is strange for someone in this place to recognize my race, especially since we live from the Seventh Dimension to the Eleventh Dimension."
"But that is good. I came to talk, not to fight."
"My name is Ikalath."
Lin Yuan, however, did not listen.
A red beam shot directly toward Ikalath—
and Ikalath dodged it with ease.