Survival of the fittest.

Such was the law of the demon kind.

It was foolish to assume that Wild Lands would be any different.

In fact, here that principle was at its purest.

Strong ones lived while weak were pushed into extinction.

Some giant beasts like eagles and bears naturally operated alone.

In their cases, they possessed enough strength to act independently without fear of the other beasts.

But in cases of the other tribes, unity was essential for survival.

What they could not compensate with their individual strength, they would compensate with their sheer numbers and impeccable teamwork.

Tribe of giant wolves was no different, as certain trio of demons found out.

They may not be as strong as bears, but their numbers more than made up for it.

Combined with the fact that most beasts were much larger than normal demons, it was no wonder the Wild Lands were considered no-demon lands.

Orin: “I hate this! I really do!”

Sirinke: “Same here, Mr. Rheno!”

Sukesir: “Both of you run for your lives!”

Currently, the three of them were being chased by an enormous pack of giant wolves.

Apparently beasts could assume a more humanoid form at will, which allowed them to wield weapons.

In their beast-form, their speed increased substantially, while in their semi-humanoid form, they could wield spears, bows and arrows, and hunting tools.

Strangely enough, none of them seemed to use magic.

Unlike demons that devoted their time to study the flow of energy and its usage, most giant beasts only used their physical abilities for combat.

Overall, the inhabitants of the Wild Lands were somewhat more primitive compared to the Demon Kingdom’s residents.

But the fact remained; each one of the beasts was at least ten times stronger than an ordinary demon.

Even with the aid of magic, a demon would be inevitably overwhelmed.

After his encounter with the King of Beasts, not even the previous Demon King dared to step foot on the Wild Lands.

Among the beast tribes, magic was a rare gift.

Maybe it was due to their lack of understanding or maybe because the knowledge of magic was a secret passed down only to select few; only a small number of giant beasts were adept at using magic.

Those who could use magic were usually one of the higher ranking members of their tribe, sometimes even assuming the roles of tribe chief or tribe king.

Wolf tribe’s chase was relentless.

One must never underestimate the endurance of wolves.

Only by sheer luck did they manage to conceal themselves from those savage predators.

The two lizard demons, Sukesir and Sirinke, apparently had a natural ability of camouflage.

It was not as potent as invisibility, but it functioned in practically the same fashion. If an opponent relied on sight alone, then it would be enough to fool him.

Wrapping their bodies around Orin, they managed to make a grand ‘disappearing act’.

But wolves were not so easily fooled.

Relying on their keen sense of smell, they drew closer and closer.

Just a couple more meters and they would be found out.

Sukesir: “That’s it. We are dead”

Orin: “Not yet. I apologize beforehand for what I am about to do”

Sukesir: “Apoligize?”

Sirinke: “For what?”

Orin: “This”

He proceeded to squeeze his stomach tightly with one of his lower arms.

What followed was a release of a green gas-like substance that spread everywhere within seconds.

One of Rheno clan’s adaptive features, ‘Gas Bomb’, it was a very effective for messing with creatures with sensitive noses.

In terms of smell, it similar to that of a small animal called a skunk, but twenty times more potent and slightly acidic.

If used with allies around, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

But this time, Orin did not have much of a choice in the matter.

Sukesir: “I can’t breathe!”

Sirinke: “This is simply horrifying!”

Apparently, the wolves thought so as well.

After taking a whiff of the green gas, they ran for their lives.

If two demons thought the smell was bad, imagine how much of a torture it would be for a beast with highly enhanced sense of smell?

Judging by their pathetic dog-like cries, the gas was extremely effective.

Unfortunately, Sukesir and Sirinke, due to their extremely close proximity to Orin, ended up receiving a large brunt of the damage.

Sirinke: “It’s in my mouth! It’s in my mouth!”

Sukesir: “Bleargh! *Cough, cough*. What the hell was that for, Orin!?”

Orin: “It was either that or getting torn to pieces by wolves”

Sirinke: “You know what? I would rather become a dinner for a wolf than experience this!”

Their reaction was understandable.

The smell was simply unbearable.

And the worst part?

It would not completely fade away and would persist for a couple of days.

For obvious reasons, Rheno clan earned the nickname of ‘Skunk Bug clan’.

Sukesir: “Orin, please never do this again”

Orin: “I am sorry, guys, I truly am”

He was trying to keep them safe from wolf beasts, but perhaps using this solution was not the best idea he has ever had.

One the bright side the stench made most beasts stay away from them.

The only ones that even came near them were the ones that lacked olfactory senses.

Sirinke: “Where do you think Young Master is?”

Orin: “Who knows, everyone entered the portal at the same time, but only three of us were sent to the same location”

Sukesir: “That is rather concerning. Did the same thing not happen during the second trial? But many demons ended up falling into Holy Water…”

Orin: “Yeah, but during first trial, we did not have that problem. Luckily, this time, there is no Holy Water, not as far as my eyes can see”

Since he was four meters tall, Orin’s range of vision easily exceeded those of the lizard demons, who only reached up to his waist.

Still, his range of vision was not as good as Shaula’s, who could fly up even higher.

Orin: “Too bad I can’t fly; otherwise this would have been a piece of cake”

Sirinke: “You are a beetle type demon, are you not? How come you are not able to fly?”

Orin: “Well, we beetle demons undergo a series of metamorphic changes, ‘molting’, if you will. I have not exactly reached a stage where I can gain wings yet”

Sirinke: “Does every beetle demon gain wings upon reaching a specific age?”

Orin: “Not exactly. Some members of my clan could never gain wings. Apparently, in order to trigger a change, certain requirements have to be fulfilled”

Sirinke: “What requirements?”

Orin: “No idea. My clan was destroyed before I had a chance to find out”

Elders of Rheno clan most likely had the answers, but they were no longer around for Orin to ask.

One of the reasons Orin was so weak compared to other demons was because many techniques of his kind were lost during the destruction of his clan.

Currently, he was an iron ranked demon, far weaker than Akjan, who happened to be the strongest Tengu clan participant.

Even if they are all classified as demons, each one was of different type.

Just like Ren and Master Korgan were bird types, with capacity of flight, the other types of demons had adapted to different circumstances, with their own strengths and weaknesses.

While all of them could learn martial arts and energy manipulation, as far as becoming stronger goes, each demon type had a different path to follow.

Sukesir: “Now that I think about it, you did mention that your clan was responsible for creating power stones, right? Per chance, is that not the same kind of stone Young Master is currently wearing on his neck?”

Orin: “Yep”

Sukesir: “Then, does that stone not rightfully belong to you, the last member of Rheno clan?”

Orin: “Master Ren actually offered to give it to me, but I refused”

Sukesir: “Why?”

Orin: “Master Ren has earned it the fair way, through a trial of combat. The only reason I wanted to retrieve them in the first place was because they were stolen from my clan. Earning the power stone through one-on-one combat was my clan’s way of bestowing a power stone upon a demon, as a rite of passage”

Sirinke: “Your clan has weird traditions”

Orin: “Perhaps. But in order to control the power stone, the demon needs to be at a certain level of strength; otherwise, handling the power stone could potentially be fatal. Unfortunately, the other clans realized we had the monopoly over power stones and chose to attack us. The rest is history”

Just thinking of that was depressing. Orin couldn’t help but sigh.

Orin: “I can’t become any stronger. Not without guidance from the elder Rheno clan member who are no longer in this world”

Sukesir: “Perhaps it is similar to our clan’s legend of transcendence”

Orin: “?”

Sirinke: “Yeah! It is our clan’s long-held ambition to finally transcend into Dragon-hood”

Orin: “I am sorry, what?”

Sukesir: “I will explain”

She began.

Sukesir: “Legends say that both the lizard demons and snake demons have descended from the dragon line. Just like dogs are an inferior version of wolves, we believe that lizards and snakes are watered down versions of dragons”

Sukesir: “But, our ancestors have stated that if a lizard demon pushes himself to his fullest potential, then he can regain what was lost, the power that has stayed dormant within our blood. Become a true dragon”

Sirinke: “To be honest, I am a little envious of Sento and the members of Draco clan. They are born dragon type demons, while the life goal of many members of our clan is to become one”

Sukesir: “Same here, but bemoaning how life is unfair does not change anything”

Sirinke: “True”

Orin: “Wait, wait, wait. How exactly do you transcend?”

Sukesir: “By reaching the heights few have reached. In order to transform into a dragon, a lizard demon needs to reach a level beyond that of a gold rank demon, but that is easier said than done. But if accomplished, the lizard demon can shed his old scales and emerge anew, reborn as a dragon”

Orin: “Has anyone accomplished this?”

Sukesir: “I am not certain. Personally, I have never met anyone in our clan who managed to even reach gold rank”

Sirinke: “But someone in our clan must have achieved it in the past, otherwise, how did the legends of such feats were passed down?”

Orin: “Understood. So the key must be reaching a level beyond gold rank demon. Reaching a level beyond that of a Demon Lord….Is that even possible?”

Demon Lords signified the absolute power and authority, just below that of the Demon King.

Feared and respected by every denizen of demon kingdom, Demon Lords were considered special existences.

Having or lacking a Demon Lord could mean the difference between life and death.

By joining the Tengu clan, Sento made the clan twice as powerful as before.

On the other hand, Draco clan, after the death of their Demon Lord, they pretty much lost everything, reduced to a declining clan.

Such was the influence of the Demon Lords.

Going beyond such existences seemed like a fool’s dream at best and a madman’s ambition at worst.

Sirinke: “One day, I will become a dragon. I will breathe flames and fly in the sky!”

Sukesir: “Keep dreaming”

Orin: “Flying…That would be nice”

Perhaps he could reach those unimaginable heights one day.

Orin avoided training with Master Korgan precisely because he considered himself a hopeless case.

After this trial is over, Orin considered begging Master Korgan to take him as a disciple as well.

Their day dreams were interrupted by the arrival of a certain masked demon.

Dropping from the sky, his extended jet black wings were in full view.

He wielded a double sided spear in his hands and a sword on his belt.

Orin: “A black winged bird demon? Is that Young Master?”

As if in response, the masked man threw the spear in Orin’s direction, landing only a few inches away from the beetle demon’s face.

Orin: “Not Young Master”

Orin immediately assumed his battle stance. Two lizard demons followed the suit.

Sirinke: “This is strange, he smells so much like Young Master, but it clearly is not him”

Sukesir: “Maybe all bird demons smell the same? Who knows?”

Sirinke: “That might be true”

Whoever they were up against, he was not Ren Karatengu.

Shen: “Foolish demons. You should have run when you had the chance”

Orin: “As if we would run from a scum like you!”

Immediately, Orin fired off a barrage of explosives in Shen’s direction.

Strangely enough, instead of dodging, Shen simply used his mana to create a small barrier to absorb the brunt force of the explosions.

As soon as the dust cleared up, it was obvious that Shen was unhurt, though the terrain around him suffered quite a bit.

Shen: “Is that all you’ve got?”

With a maniacal smile hidden underneath his mask, Shen rushed forward, with a sword in hand.

He was trying to kill the big beetle demon first, but the two lizard demons ended up getting in his way.

One of them was an ice magic user while the other used fire magic.

Unlike most demons that use magic outside of their body, their usage allowed them to channel the element through their body, making their physical attacks contain elemental damage.

Shen’s sword ended up clashing against the swords of lizard demons.

Lizard demons tried to catch Shen off-guard by using their tails in whip-like fashion, but he avoided their attacks by performing a sideways spin.

While still in the air, using his free hand, Shen punched one lizard demon while delivering devastating kicks to the stomach of the other one.

The impact of his actions was instantaneous.

As an expert hand to hand combatant, Shen hated wasting his time on weaklings, so he specifically targeted their pressure points, making them momentarily paralyzed.

The ice user lizard demon who got kicked was cradling her stomach.

Those were no simple kicks.

Imbued with chi, the strikes ended up having a domino effect upon her entire body, momentarily shutting down her body’s mobility.

She struggled to get up, but the pain only intensified.

As for Sirinke, he was fighting a losing battle against Shen.

During the first five seconds, Sirinke lost his weapon.

Next ten seconds, Sirinke tried to kick and slash Shen with his tail, only for Shen to grab on to it, and swings him hard enough to slam him to a tree.

The impact made Sirinke’s vision blur up, but he managed to duck just in time before Shen’s fist landed upon the tree.

He was fortunate to dodge the punch, since the tree that Shen hit ended up breaking in two at the point of contact.

Not stopping there, Shen delivered a back fist and an uppercut to Sirinke’s face, with so much force behind it that Sirinke ended up flying up in the air before landing with a thud.

From what Sirinke could tell, this masked man was toying with them.

Two down, one to go.

Shen: “Might as well get rid of the trash”

Before Shen could stab Sirinke, he sensed a wave of magic travelling through the ground.

Orin: “Like I will let you!”

Shen instinctively jumped away, just in time to avoid a swarm of spikes protruding from the earth.

Shen: “Well, well, well, what do we have here? An insect?”

Orin pointed all four of his arms towards his enemy.

Each one shot out lance-like projectiles in Shen’s direction.

Shen sighed.

This was getting boring.

Even if the attack was a good one, the difference between their levels was too great.

Currently, Orin was an iron ranked demon.

Shen on the other hand had already stepped into the realm of Demon Lords.

It was a battle of krill against a shark.

The outcome was obvious.

Projectiles had no effect as Shen simply swatted them away.

Orin: “Take this!”

Orin fired a blast of explosion magic, but this time, Shen was aware of the difference in power between the two of them, so instead of dodging or shielding against them, he simply took the attacks head on.

Strangely, when the explosion magic reached Shen, instead of expanding, it condensed into a ball in the palm of Shen’s hand.

The concussive effect of the spell might have been strong, but if it does not expand, it was just a ball of mana thrown at an opponent.

Mana obeyed the one with stronger will, so in this case, Shen’s will was obviously the dominant one. The mana ended up disappearing as Shen absorbed it into his own body.

Seeing that his spikes and explosions were ineffective, Orin resorted to hand to hand combat.

Size-wise, Orin was twice as tall as his opponent and he possessed four arms.

If they were of similar level, Orin would have had a massive advantage.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

As Orin relentlessly threw his punches at his opponent, Shen used minimum amount of movement to block the beetle demon’s desperate onslaught.

Orin: “KYAH!”

Manifesting a sharpened, sword-like spike on his lower right arm Orin attempted to impale Shen with it.

Too bad Shen was expecting Orin to make that move.

Orin felt a sensation of wetness travelling down his lower right arm.

It took him a moment to realize that this sensation was that of his blood dripping on the ground.

His lower right arm was ripped off below the elbow.

It was an agony Orin never experienced.

Overwhelmed by the sheer pain, Orin fell on his knees, clutching on to his bleeding appendage.

Shen: “*Grabbing Orin’s head*. So long…”

Right before Shen could stab him, someone threw a rock-like object at him.

As soon as the rock hit Shen, the rock exploded with far more power behind it than any of Orin’s blasts.

It was one of the Destruction Spheres, given to Sirinke by Master Korgan. They were still in experimental stages, reproducing the true power of Destruction spheres was no easy task, so the explosive power was contained only a quarter of the real one’s potency.

According to Master Korgan, this was already a progress in the right direction. Soon enough, their clan would be able to make their own supply of Destruction Spheres with the same potency as the original. But until then, they were limited to prototypes.

Even though it was an untested prototype, it had enough power to make Shen, a Demon Lord level demon, lose his ground, and end up slammed rather roughly against the nearby boulder.

Sirinke: “C’mon! This will not keep him down for long!”

Grabbing hold of Orin, supporting him from both sides, the two lizard demons ran for it.

Sukesir threw a one-time use magic item in the air.

Immediately, the entire area ended up covered in dust and smoke.

At least this way, the three of them might be able to escape.

As for Shen, he stood up and cracked his neck.

By the time his vision cleared up, the three demons already got away.

Shen: “That was not half bad. But fun time is over. The next time I encounter demons, I will kill them on the spot”