"It's a sweet branch," Kael said.
"..." Ronan still didn't feel inclined to eat it. What should he do?
Kael assumed Ronan thought it wasn't washed properly, so he bent down to clean it again.
Ronan remained indifferent.
Finally, Kael felt a bit wronged and quietly complained, "It's your fault I can't find any other food."
Ronan's ears perked up. "What did you say?"
Kael immediately realized how disrespectful he had been. While Ronan had a good temper, demons typically respected the strong.
"The demonic aura you carry is too strong. Even the more alert animals will steer clear of you. Otherwise, we might be able to eat some meat."
It's no wonder they hadn't encountered any animals in the forest earlier; Ronan understood. "Is there a way to resolve this?"
"Maybe you could hold back some of it?" This was a fundamental skill for demons. Not being able to control their demonic aura could be very dangerous.
"Hold back some of it?" Ronan asked humbly, seeking guidance. "How do I do that?"
"This..." Kael was at a loss for words; he really wanted to ask Ronan where he had come from. "Concentrating demonic aura is like breathing; it doesn't need to be taught. You just hold it back."
"Oh~" Ronan seemed to understand, realizing it was a conscious action, similar to when he had grown eyes and a mouth earlier. He tried to focus his thoughts in that direction.
"All right, all right!" Kael was thrilled and flatteringly added, "You're amazing! You managed to completely hold back your demonic aura."
Ronan frowned again. To be honest, he didn't feel any change in his body.
"Did I really hold it back?" Was it that simple?
"Yes, it's completely held back," Kael said with admiration in his eyes. "You're truly incredible."
"Is it difficult to completely hold it back?" The black mist swirled around, and Ronan wanted to observe himself closely.
"It's difficult," Kael said, lacking experience. He had never left the Black Forest and had encountered few demons. "I've never seen a demon who could completely hold back their demonic aura."
"I see," Ronan said thoughtfully.
"Yes," Kael offered the sweet branch again. "So, would you like to eat a little to fill your stomach?"
Ronan was indeed hungry; his thoughts were slowing down due to the hunger. In this situation, he couldn't be picky anymore, and he didn't have hands to receive the food, so he could only try to open his mouth wide.
Kael was quite perceptive and fed the sweet branch into Ronan's mouth.
Ronan took a bite. It was dry and astringent, but after chewing it a couple of times, it finally had a bit of sweetness. He swallowed it down.
"..." Kael was stunned.
Ronan glanced down, "..."
The chewed sweet branch fell from his mouth and directly pierced through his black mist-like body, dropping to the ground.
"What?" Kael had a horrified expression.
Ronan's reaction wasn't much better. His facial features couldn't express a wide range of emotions, but he was dumbfounded for a long while before distorting his tone to say, "Am I a fucking juicer?"
With a mouth but no digestive system, the food went down and immediately ended up on the ground.
A demon and a black mist stared at each other.
Before Ronan could utter another curse, a sudden gust of wind in the forest swept him off his feet.
Kael looked up in confusion and saw above him a pair of membranous wings, two to three hundred feet long, completely blocking out the sunlight, rushing toward them at incredible speed from a distance.
Kael was frozen in place.
After rolling a few meters, Ronan steadied himself and looked up at the sky.
The gigantic creature was almost upon them. It had stirred up a whirlwind even from far away, and now the surrounding trees were shaking even more violently. That "giant" had an arrogant aura, flying in while startling countless demonic creatures in the Black Forest.
Ronan stared without blinking, and as the distance closed, he observed more closely. This colossal creature not only had exaggerated wings but also had a long, slender, curved body like a lizard, dragging a long tail with a stinger at the end. Its body was covered in scales and armor, and it had a row of serrated spines along its back. Its head resembled a horse, crowned with two black, sharp horns.
It was flying while simultaneously spewing flames downward.
Kael was terrified, his soul seemingly leaving his body as he panicked and shouted, "Dragon, dragon, dragon! It's a dragon! Hurry up... hide!"
...
Fatalis was very angry.
The collapse of the great stones in the Dragon Abyss had startled all the dragons in the North Drakoria Region. This was an omen of impending disaster, and news from the distant Central Eclipar Region had also made the elders among the dragons vigilant.
The Holy Temple of Eternal Dawn, which represents the power of light, had cracked, and the underground soul flame, which had never extinguished since the chaos of creation, had fallen into silence. The Oracle, the only prophecy caster among humans had made various prophecies regarding these events.
"The 7th demon king, who will disrupt the balance of the world, is about to be born. The world will soon be engulfed in flames of war, and countless races will perish in wretched cries."
The merfolk had even seen through the Illusory Mirror that the Black Forest, which was located in the Malgorath Region had been shrouded in an unprecedentedly thick demonic barrier.
The signs were abundant and obvious. The new demon king was very likely to be born in the Black Forest, and it was an unavoidable responsibility for all races to eliminate it beforehand.
After all, there were already six demon kings in the World of Elysium; adding one more would be unbearable for anyone.
Fatalis was sent by the elders of his clan to the Central Eclipar Region to eliminate the demon king. He crossed oceans and seas, finally flying to the Umbraxis Region. He didn't have time to catch his breath and rest before he had to fly to the Malgorath Region, passing through the Santalune Mountain Range.