A glimmer of excitement?
The Demon King thought he must have seen wrong. He recalled fleeing desperately as a wisp of true spirit, flying day and night until he reached a foreign land.
That land had suffered some kind of catastrophe—half its cities lay in ruin, and tens of thousands of lives were lost. To a Demon King accustomed to witnessing grand carnage, this was nothing unusual or noteworthy.
However, to his weakened true spirit, the desolate city offered scattered remnants of souls, easy prey to devour. Through this feast, he managed to recover a fraction of his strength, growing his true spirit from the size of a needle tip to that of a fist.
At this stage, the souls of mere mortals could no longer sustain him. To restore his power further, he needed to devour living beings en masse, consuming both their bodies and intact souls.
Thus, he journeyed eastward, preying upon wandering monkey-faced creatures along the way. With each feast, his true spirit swelled to the size of a head.
During his travels, he got lost repeatedly and even strayed into a dense forest, where he was chased out by a seven-headed ferocious bird. After seven or eight days of struggle, he finally arrived at a city teeming with tens of thousands of mortals.
Excitement surged through him.
He leapt over the city walls, searching for a spot filled with dense yet weak spiritual energy, intending to start his feast there. Then, he planned to devour his way through the entire city, turning it into a graveyard.
That was when he encountered an unusual pair: a girl and a goat, staring curiously at him.
To his dismay, the goat even seemed excited, its eyes gleaming with an unsettling delight.
Excitement? About to be devoured by me, the Demon King, and you're excited?
Outraged, the Demon King released a dark mist from his conjured body. The mist coalesced into a massive demonic mouth, its fangs jagged and menacing.
"You insignificant ants! Let me, the Demon King, swallow you whole!"
He sneered, watching as the two mortals in the doorway—seemingly frozen in place—faced their doom.
Curious and excited? Let's see how you feel when my fangs pierce your feeble bodies!
The monstrous mouth lunged toward the small house, jaws snapping.
Before fear could take root in the girl, the goat beside her opened its mouth and inhaled. A spectral shadow appeared behind it—a terrifying phantom beast. The blurry image of the beast mirrored the goat's actions, taking a deep breath.
A tremendous force collided with the demonic mouth, severing its connection to the Demon King's spiritual energy. In an instant, the mouth dissipated into mist, sucked into the phantom beast's maw.
The Demon King was horrified. As he prepared to unleash a stronger spell, the seemingly ordinary white goat stepped forward, accompanied by the phantom beast.
The goat stuck out its long tongue and licked its lips, then spoke in a chillingly human voice:
"A wild Demon King's true spirit! Looks like the heavens heard my prayers."
Its eyes gleamed with greed as it sniffed the Demon King, as if savoring the scent of his soul.
The Demon King shivered.
What is this monster? It doesn't seem powerful, yet it saw through me at a glance!
Without hesitation, he summoned his remaining strength. Black spiritual energy formed a long whip, crimson like blood, bristling with jagged barbs and crawling with shrieking, miniature demons.
The whip lashed toward the goat with a deafening crack.
Unfazed, the phantom beast stomped on the whip, pinning it underfoot. The tiny demons screamed in agony, their cries sending shivers down the girl's spine.
"These miniature demons possess intelligence," the goat explained to the girl. "In its prime, a Demon King's body could house countless such creatures. Each of these demons could lay waste to thousands of miles on their own. But now, with the King's body destroyed and his spirit reduced to this wisp, these demons are mere echoes of their former selves."
The girl nodded hesitantly, though her understanding was limited.
Pinned and powerless, the Demon King's face twisted in despair.
"You know so much! You're no ordinary beast!"
The phantom beast behind the goat transformed into a massive net, ensnaring the Demon King's true spirit. Immobilized, he couldn't muster even a twitch.
"Look, didn't you just say you were hungry?" the goat cheerfully said to the girl. "Here's your meal!"
The girl hesitated. "But this Demon King… looks really unappetizing."
The goat dismissed her concerns. "We're not eating him directly. Just use the Heavenly Devouring Technique to refine him. Who cares about taste?"
The girl nodded resolutely. "He tried to eat us first. Now we're just returning the favor. Fair enough."
The Demon King, hearing their casual discussion about consuming him, felt a surge of panic. He wanted to plead for mercy but found himself entirely mute and helpless within the net.
The goat seemed to have an idea, its tone turning gleeful as it asked, "I hear Demon Kings can summon creatures from the Abyss. Can you summon them now?"
The Demon King remained silent.
Angered, the goat stomped on him.
The girl reminded, "He's tied up in the net."
Realizing her oversight, the goat adjusted the net, transforming it into a slender silver needle that stabbed into the Demon King's forehead.
He yelped in pain, only to be kicked again by the goat.
"Answer me!"
The Demon King, a former ruler of the Abyss's forty-third domain, had never suffered such humiliation. Yet the needle in his forehead throbbed ominously, a stark reminder that his life hung by a thread.
"Yes, I can summon creatures!" he admitted. "But in my current state, I can only summon weak ones—ten or so a day at most."
The goat's eyes sparkled.
"Ten creatures a day? If we devour them together, our power will grow exponentially. Once you're stronger, you can summon even more powerful creatures…"
The girl's eyes lit up, gazing at the Demon King as if he were a treasure chest of endless riches.
The Demon King trembled under their predatory stares.
At that moment, he desperately wished to return to the Abyss.