On the way to retreat, Batman appeared as hectic as a firefighter: picking up a Miniature Demon to toss forward, helping up a fallen Giant Demon, untangling a Shadow Monster's entwined tentacles, gathering broken pieces with a Mud Monster, preventing the spread of sparks on a Lava Demon, guiding an injured Red Devil through the corridor....
Batman's saintly heart was only to protect the human race, but he knew that now, saving demons was just like saving himself. If he had no one to use after this retreat, his failure would inevitably happen. He had to save as many living forces as possible for the future.
Within a few minutes of retreat, most demons had already evacuated to the designated location and gathered around the miner's mountain. Scanning the area, Batman noticed some demons were still trapped inside, unable to escape.
As such, to the astonishment of numerous demons, Batman rushed into the mine's gate once again. The first to scream in alarm was Hexagon.
"What's he doing? Is he crazy? Get out!! Batman, get out!!"
"My God!! This human must have lost his mind!! Why did he rush back in?... Wait! He's coming out! Who's that? Isn't that Dapo from the lower ranks? Didn't he run out earlier?"
"Oh, he just put him down. Hurry, hurry, hurry, you demons over there, drag him back before he goes crazy!!"
Hexagon was quicker. The moment Batman returned, he extended a tentacle, wrapping it around Batman's waist. Another tentacle latched onto a nearby tree, and he tugged Batman back with all his might.
"Batman! What are you doing? Are you crazy? The mine is about to collapse! You can't rush back in anymore, stop!! Stop dragging me!!"
Batman paused at the instant he was caught by the tentacle, sighed where he stood, then turned back immediately, grabbed Hexagon's tentacle, and yanked hard.
Just as he thought, Hexagon, afraid of getting hurt, let go of his tentacle right away. However, one of his feet was still caught in Batman's hand. Batman pulled Hexagon back into the mine with him. He grabbed one of his tentacles, swung him around, and hurled him against the wall. Batman sternly said:
"Pull those Miniature Demons over there! Quickly, if the mine collapses, nobody can escape!!"
Hexagon screamed in agony. Instinctively, he extended several tentacles and wrapped up all the Miniature Demons he could see. Batman swung once more, throwing Hexagon and the Miniature Demons wrapped in his tentacle out of the mine.
Just as Batman planned to dash out of the mine, he suddenly heard a wail. He found that in the blind spot, a smaller Miniature Demon cub was not thrown out. The falling rocks had hit and bloodied its head.
Without any hesitation, Batman rushed over, bent down, and picked up the Miniature Demon cub.
At this point, a violent eruption erupted. Flames rose behind Batman, and the entire mine collapsed with a roar.
Hexagon, who had been thrown to the ground, used his tentacles to prop up his body and let out a mournful cry before instinctively rushing toward the rubble.
It was a constant process of collapsing. The dust did not disperse immediately, and the aftershocks on the ground made all the demons somewhat unstable. But at that moment, Elder of So Snake Demons shouted, "Move!! Clear out the debris!! You Giant Demons, and Lava Demons, hurry over!!"
The robust demons were at the forefront, so they were already far away from the mountain. Most of the demons close to the mountain had some sort of defect. In other words, many of them were helped by Batman and were able to escape.
All of them were panic-stricken, but when the Elder So Snake Demon shouted, they all rushed up and started to shift the rocks.
This group of enslaved miners had no warfare skills, but quarrying and digging was their specialty. Even under the intense aftershocks, the Lava Demon swung his fist, the Giant Demon lifted the rock pieces. Not much longer, they dug Batman out.
Batman was not a brash young man acting on impulse. He had foreseen the mine collapsing when he rushed over. So he held up the Miniature Demon cub, rolled to the side, and got under two sturdy logs. The logs protected him and the Miniature Demon cub, forming a sturdy corner.
Batman climbed out covered in dust. Hexagon let out another scream, "Your leg! Your leg is bleeding!! And your back, my God, your previous wound has reopened!!"
Batman looked back only to see a sea of blood. He had expected this and, therefore, simply sighed. At that moment, a Miniature Demon wobbled over, staring at Batman with its big eyes.
Batman passed the cub in his arms to it and sat on the ground to rest and recover his strength.
He had known he would be injured but also found that in Hell, perhaps due to his high soul activity, he had stronger recovery power than in the real world.
The lash marks left by the miner's whip would have become inflamed and infected in the real world. But three or four days later, the surface of the wounds were already healing. Had it not been reopened, the deep cut would probably have healed completely in another two days.
Therefore, Batman was not worried about his injuries. However, at this moment, The Elder of So Snake Demons quickly swam over and glanced at Batman.
Then, he curled up his snake tail, ritually prostrated himself on the ground, and kowtowed to Batman.
Batman was about to turn his head when he noticed the mysterious tattoo pattern on The Elder of So Snake Demon's body began to emit a faint light.
The light grew brighter until it engulfed his entire body.
The surrounding So Snake Demons suddenly let out sad moans. Before Batman could realize what was happening, the light transferred to him.
The spirit began to emit warmth, the wounds healed at an incredible speed, and the spirit that had become dim due to overwork and blood loss brightened up again.
Under that light, Batman heard the deep and desolate voice of the elder Snake Demon:
"In Snake Demon clan's heritage, I have witnessed the history of this barren land over millions of years, from the moment the great being seeded life here to the rise of different powers, and the chaos that ensued...."
"The Snake Demon Clan, without a wise leader, if what you aim for is more than your present accomplishments, if you can achieve greatness far beyond theirs...."
"Then go and teach them, teach every one of our descendants ... what is true fairness, justice, and ... freedom."