To an avid observer, (suppose they could understand Demon speech) the Tretch King's question in the current condition seemed quite out of place.

So what if Hal was a Demon, did it change the fact that if it did not fight seriously, it could lose its life?

Did it change the fact that this human/demon could very likely put an end to its killing spree?

No, it didn't?

However, it could not help but ask.

The one that had given it the ability to harness such strength and even facilitated it's evolution into a Demonic fiend, had opened it's eyes to the reality of the Haron continent.

It allowed the Tretch King to finally connect the dots and finally crack the secret behind the disappearance of the last Tretch King.

The Title of Tretch king was for being the strongest Demon beast in the Forest. Usually, it was won through combat.

When a Beast attains the level of strength to call itself an equal of the Tretch King, it would issue a challenge and whoever won, by killing the other, would become King.

However, it did not matter who won, they never went past the Phenomenon Beast realm.

For some reason, even if they are close to breaking through to the next realm, their corpse would be found soon after.

The other Demon beasts never cared about such details, blaming the death of the former King on its own shortcomings.

Life goes on.

Another King is crowned.

The current Tretch King, Borus, had evolved from a simple wild beast, a male bear, and matured while admiring the strength of the King before him.

That King had been challenged more than its predecessors and yet always emerged victorious.

Alas, just like the others, its corpse was found the day after it attempted to advance to the next realm.

Once Borus took the mantle of King, he began to suspect foul play.

Surely, all these deaths could not have been coincidences. Alas, it did not matter how much he investigated (within the forest) he came up with nothing.

It was in this forest, Months before, that he had met the Hooded one, who had told him in a raspy voice and ultimately confirmed his suspicions, that the Deaths were not coincidences.

They were the result of the Haron genocide.

In the Haron continent, no Demon beast was allowed to advance to the Aurora Beast realm.

This was the barrier that once Demon beasts are able to cross, gain the ability to transform into human forms and at which point, they became even more troublesome to deal with due to certain factors.

This was not done because of fear but because of the lingering hatred the Haron continent or Human continent had for the Beast Continent or the Dystopian Continent.

Unlike the Haron Continent, the Dystopian continent, also called Dystopia is ruled by mortals who possess the bloodline of ancient beasts.

Hence it's an haven for Demon beasts.

This was the reality that Borus, the Tretch King had been exposed to.

He had despaired, not just because this was his future which he could not escape, but because the one he had admired had been killed due to the cruelty of humans.

The Hooded figure then told him that there was a way to escape this terrible fate.

And then the Hooded one gave Borus a Cultivation technique.

At first, Borus had been skeptical.

After all, Demon beasts did not need Cultivation techniques. The manner to increase their strength had been ingrained within them by nature, like an instinct.

He did not even think he could comprehend the Technique, but through the figure's persuasion, he perused it and discovered, it only required him to do one thing.

Kill!

With the blood essence, he would strengthen himself and ultimately become a Demon. The rate of his growth would be one the Humans would be powerless to stop.

According to the Hooded figure, Demons did not exist in the Nexus world, however, should Borus find one stronger than himself, then he should flee.

After all, he was cultivating to become a Demon, and there was no guarantee that the Demon he would meet would not be a natural-born one.

So Borus, the Tretch King could not help but be surprised when it saw Hal's eyes make a change while he released a Pressure that while similar to Borus', was purer and, dare he say it, more Divine!

He contemplated if combat was wise but ultimately stood his ground.

Natural born or not, Hal was much weaker than himself.

Besides, the blood essence of a Demon was bound to be even better for him than the ones he had absorbed so far.

It was a temptation, he could not possibly resist.

Hal's eyes narrowed at the Tretch King's question.

"Yes, I am. What of it?" He asked.

"Hmm, nothing. This changes nothing!" It snarled and it was clear that its calm reasoning was over, it was about to revert to being Bloodthirsty.

Hal gripped Executioner even tighter as the Tretch King Vanished, as it dashed forward.

Hal having expected a frontal assault timed his swing just so that he could hit the Beast's claws before it made contact with his comparatively smaller form.

Alas, when he swung...

*Whooshhhh*

...it hit nothing.

The beast had not gone for the a frontal assault after all.

Somehow it had ended up behind him and raised his right hand to strike down with its claws.

It was only thanks to Hal's instincts that he was able to block most of the strike in time.

Even so, the Claws still grazed his Arm.

"Damn it" he groaned as he felt the pain.

He had underestimated the Beast. Believing that, because it had surrendered to its violent tendencies, it would not be capable of thinking and fighting smart.

Borus leaped back and pushed himself forward by pressing his feet against a tree,

*Boom*

The impact was so impactful that the Tree was bent as he was propelled forward at Hal.

Once close to him, The Tretch King, Borus, spun around as though intent on shredding Hal to pieces.

Hal narrowed his eyes and began to wield Executioner to defend himself against the Beast's claws that seemed to come from everywhere all at once.

*Clang* *Clang* *Clang*

The contact between Executioner and Borus' claw made the sound of metal clashing against metal and sparks even flew as the two endeavored to seize the upper hand.

Or more accurately, Hal attempted to seize the upper hand, but was unsuccessful, while the Tretch King continued to act leisurely.

Hal could understand why.

The physical difference between them was much too high.

So he released his Fiendish Fog at an even higher concentration and it attacked alongside him.

As they fought, Hal could not help but admire the Tretch King's footwork.

It was most likely instinctive but, it was quite impressive.

The Tretch King, however, finally began to notice that Hal's combative abilities had improved with the appearance of the Fiendish fog.

Most times, it would be convinced, there was an opening and move to attack it but the fog would protect it.

The strength it exerted was just barely weaker than Hal's and as such, it was more than enough to lessen the number of moves the Tretch King could make.

Slowly but surely, Borus was being forced on the defensive.

Then he chuckled and Hal could not help but look up and into his face that was quite taller than him.

"So you were holding out on me, huh? Good, cause I was holding out too"

And with that, the Tretch King's body began to glow a bright orange.

'Be careful!' Grimoire warned

The brightness continued to increase at a rapid speed and Hal had barely enough time to disengage and leap back before...

*BOOOOMMMM!*

...there was an explosion that blasted him back and smacked him against a tree trunk.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

As he slid to the ground and braced himself on his knees, he coughed out blood as he could feel his internal organs in disarray and in danger of rupturing.

"Bastard" he groaned at the Beast.

'I told you to be careful' Grimoire said in a condescending tone.

'Yeah, and you could have said that before it blasted me' Hal retorted.

'That's what I did! You really should learn to be more grateful' Grimoire said in a disapproving tone.

Hal gasped at those words,

'I'm surprised you can even say that with a straight face. Oh, that's right! You don't have one!'

'Hey watch it. Have some respect!' Grimoire said with a frown.

'I'd rather die!'

With that, Hal faced the matter at hand which was for the Tretch King to dash forward at a speed he could not follow and kick at his head.

It was only at the last minute that Hal was able to roll away and escape the fate of a squashed head.

The tree he had been resting on, however, faced the consequences as its trunk exploded.

The Tretch King then turned to Hal as its whole form was now coated with bright orange flames which coupled with its bright red eyes and menacing claws and horns finally depicted it as a true demon.

"Roooaaaaarrrrrr!!!!"

It let loose a terrifying and deafening sound as it ran towards Hal at an incredible speed, with clear intentions,

'oh look, you made it angry' Grimoire commented.

Hal gritted his teeth.

He did not need the commentary.

The Tretch King's intentions were very clear.

*Bam*

The Beast made contact, grabbed Hal in its claws and enveloped itself and Hal in its bright and Demonic looking flames.

Essentially combusting him.

Marla gasped as she covered her mouth and her chest clenched in fear.

However, she was convinced he was not dead.

After all, the Dome was still protecting her.

The Tretch king was planning to stop its flames, after all, it still wished to absorb Hal's Blood essence and burning him to a crisp would make that impossible.

Before it could turn off the flames, however, a hand stretched from the figure that was ablaze and grabbed his own.

The Hand was Crimson and only had a few Black lines on it. Its grip on the Tretch king's hand was vice-like and seemingly unbreakable.

"Now you've done it!"