The residential area was now silent, deep into the night. Clouds shrouded the moonlight, plunging the surroundings into even deeper darkness. The streetlights flickered nervously, as if on the verge of malfunctioning, and then, with a sharp snap, they went out completely. A light breeze rustled through the greenery, and the trees and shrubs let out a faint, whispering sound.
In this almost ominous atmosphere, a shadow emerged from the bushes—an abyssal darkness even deeper than the night around it.
At first glance, I thought it was dirty puddles and instinctively moved to step around it. But the shadow shifted, as if alive, deliberately cutting off my path. Only then did I sense something was wrong and stopped in my tracks.
What is this?
Thanks to my earlier encounters with far stranger occurrences, my mind hadn't yet snapped out of its state of readiness for dealing with the bizarre. If this had happened to the old me, I would have been completely overwhelmed with shock. But now, even confronted with such a strange sight, I only felt a mild sense of surprise.
The current me could accept even the most unbelievable twists of reality.
This mysterious shadow was undoubtedly here for me, and the transformation it heralded was far from over. From the shadow that resembled a pool of puddles, a massive arm suddenly emerged, unimaginably thick and grotesque. It looked as if something was clawing its way out of a lake. The arm came crashing down to brace itself on the ground, and with just that single motion, the concrete shattered, the hand sinking deep into the broken surface.
The owner of the arm then began pulling the rest of its body out of the ground—head, the other arm, torso, right leg, left leg… In no time, the figure revealed its horrifying full form.
It was a demon, as if it had stepped straight out of a dark oil painting, with the head of a black goat. Standing nearly three meters tall, its exposed body blocked my path like an impenetrable wall of flesh. Its crimson skin and bulging muscles seemed to pulsate with rage, veins coursing across its frame like the roots of a gnarled tree.
The goat-like face of the demon was horrifyingly menacing. When people think of goats, they might imagine the gentle appearance of white sheep, but among goats, there are terrifying breeds, such as the adult Damascus goat with its distorted, grotesque features. This demon was the very embodiment of such horror.
To make matters worse, its mouth had no lips, leaving its teeth and gums fully exposed, making it appear even more bloodthirsty and savage.
"Zhuang Cheng."
It spoke in a voice that was sharp and raspy, like nails scraping across a chalkboard.
I couldn’t help but focus all my attention on the terrifying creature before me.
"You know my name?"
Just from its dramatic entrance, it was obvious that this wasn’t some prankster in a costume trying to scare people.
The demon didn’t answer my question. It moved its goat-like protruding jaws and spoke in a chillingly calm tone that didn’t match its ferocious appearance:
"I am here to claim your life."
"Claim my life…" I scrutinized its entire form carefully. "Instead of talking about that, what exactly are you? Judging by your ability to speak human language, you must possess intelligence comparable to or even surpassing that of humans...
"I never imagined there would be beings like you in this world. Are there others like you in other places? What is your species called, and where do you primarily reside?"
I was fully aware that asking such questions at this moment seemed highly inappropriate, but I couldn’t help my curiosity about this non-human intelligent being. Following the mysterious basement in the fifteenth-floor room, now came the appearance of such a demonic creature. It felt as if a journey into the unknown, full of magic and adventure, was slowly unfolding before me.
At the same time, I wasn’t entirely off guard. This monster, claiming it was here to kill me, had shown itself openly and struck up a conversation. Was it planning to let me die with some clarity, or was it deliberately standing in the open to draw my attention?
I moved my left hand behind my back, quietly activating a "Firefly."
Through the "Firefly," I could sense my surroundings with a full 360-degree view, and I quickly discovered the reason for the creature’s bold, upfront appearance.
About ten meters behind me, I sensed another shadow slowly creeping closer, like a venomous snake stalking its prey.
Upon closer observation, I noticed a faint black thread connecting the shadow to the demon's foot. Hidden under the cover of darkness, it was imperceptible to the naked human eye.
Rather than awkwardly maneuvering that enormous body to launch a sneak attack, using a diversion tactic like this... was its true strategy.
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Why would it need to use such cautious tactics to deal with a "normal person" like me? Could it know that I’m have superpowers?
Would that shadow suddenly transform into a spike and impale me? Or morph into a swamp, dragging me into another dimension? Or perhaps it might undergo some even more bizarre transformation?
I anticipated the developments that might follow, while mentally preparing countermeasures for when the time came. Don’t let my calm demeanor fool you—I do have a decent sense of crisis. Regardless of my strength, the dangers posed by supernatural entities can often bypass such considerations. The basement in the fifteenth-floor room had already taught me that lesson.
But compared to my sense of crisis, what surged more strongly within me was an inexplicable thrill. Perhaps I was about to engage in a life-and-death battle with an unknown foe—something I’d never experienced in my life and had always dreamed about.
The demon seemed momentarily stunned by my question before asking in return, “You… aren’t afraid of death?”
“How do you plan to kill me?” I pretended to remain unaware of the shadow behind me as I curiously asked, “And, for that matter, why do you want to kill me? Have we met before?”
Upon hearing this, the demon let out a voice filled with boundless resentment: "Perhaps you’ve completely forgotten, but I’ve never for a moment let go of what you did to me two years ago..."
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t remember. Could you be more specific?” I asked, utterly baffled. “When exactly, and where, did I do something to you? What exactly happened?”
I truly couldn’t recall ever doing something to any non-human being that would provoke such deep-seated hatred. Besides, this was the first time I’d ever encountered an intelligent creature that wasn’t human.
I was more inclined to believe it had something to do with the events in the fifteenth-floor room. From a probabilistic perspective, this theory also seemed to make sense.
Two strange, supernatural entities—ones I had never encountered before—had appeared to me today. One was the “basement,” and the other was this “demon.” Assuming these two incidents were unrelated coincidences seemed far too far-fetched. It made much more sense to hypothesize that they were connected.
The basement, the ritual circle, the fallen demon hunter... The clues I gathered earlier during the day seemed to resurface in my mind, as if taken out of a drawer. I couldn't help but develop a suspicion — was this "demon" who spoke human language really a non-human species?
Could it actually be a human? And further, could it be a fallen demon hunter transformed into this form? Or perhaps a monster summoned by a fallen demon hunter?
And speaking of "two years ago," the most memorable thing I did at that time was assist the authorities in eliminating a local superstitious faction, based on clues from a missing children case and folk legends. Could this demon be claiming to be the leader of that faction, or one of its affiliates?
But I remember that the leader was burned alive by their followers after losing their credibility. It’s impossible that he went to hell and came back as a demon to start a second life. Moreover, I never exposed my supernatural abilities to anyone during that incident.
The "two years ago" part that the demon mentioned was likely a smokescreen, designed to mislead my thinking.
"Still asking so many questions when death is at your door! It seems you’re just like those ordinary people, a fool who's been lulled into complacency by a peaceful life and doesn't even know how close death is," the demon scoffed with a harsh, mocking laugh. "This is the end for you. You won't even know why you lost..."
As it spoke, it lowered its stance, and suddenly its voice grew enormous: "—You will die by my hand!"
With that, it lunged at me with terrifying force. But knowing its plan, this extended preparation for its charge seemed a bit too obvious. It clearly wanted to draw my attention toward it, to make me focus on its movements. The real attack, however, was the ambush from behind.
As the demon launched its assault, the flat shadow behind it transformed into a three-dimensional blade, speeding toward me from behind.
I revealed my left hand, which had been hidden behind me, and the "firefly" hovering at my fingertip suddenly expanded.
The "firefly" was essentially a small flame I summoned. At that moment, I infused it with additional mental energy as fuel. It was like pouring gasoline into a fire pit, and instantly, the "firefly" transformed into a fireball.
The fireball then exploded, sending scorching, blinding flames sweeping in all directions, attacking both the demon in front and the shadow behind. The intense light was enough to blind any ordinary witnesses.
Fortunately, there were no witnesses other than the demon and me, and I wasn't harmed by the flames or the intense light. Both the fire itself and the light and heat it emitted were ultimately manifestations of my mental energy. Therefore, unless I intended to harm myself, this power wouldn’t have any adverse effect on me.
It seemed the demon had anticipated my counterattack. As soon as the situation changed, it quickly reacted by jumping back, avoiding the flames altogether.
The shadow attacking me from behind instantly dropped to the ground, then quickly leaped up from the corner where the flames hadn’t reached, transforming into a blade and swiftly thrusting toward me again. Although it was just a shadow, the intense light didn’t seem to disperse it. What a fascinating ability. As I thought this, I quickly sidestepped to avoid the attack.
In reality, with the speed of this thrust, I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it in time. However, because I had anticipated it, and the demon clearly hadn’t accounted for the fact that I had already noticed its move, I managed to narrowly evade it.
Though, taking the blow wouldn’t have mattered much either.
"—So it's a fire ability!"
The demon, whose eyes weren’t blinded by the intense light, landed next to a streetlamp. It then let out a triumphant laugh and said, "You're finished, Zhuang Cheng... one more strike, and you're done!"
As it spoke, it reached out and grabbed the streetlamp, effortlessly pulling it out of the ground before hurling it toward me with great force.
It’s important to note that what it hurled wasn’t a javelin, but the entire heavy streetlamp, and its speed was no different from an athlete throwing a javelin. This wasn’t a weapon meant for humans, but rather a siege weapon. The visual effect was so terrifying that even I reflexively dodged.
By the time I raised my foot and had yet to bring it down, the streetlamp had already brushed past my cheek. The demon had already closed the distance, charging at me with a terrifying speed.
At the same time, its arms transformed, changing from flesh and blood into white, mantis-like bone blades, moving much faster than its earlier attacks.
From this contrast, it seemed that earlier, it had been cautious of my unknown abilities, using a strategy of feint and distraction. But now, it was completely confident in its victory, unleashing its full power without restraint.
Its cruel face grew larger in my view, and I simply stared at it.
Then, my gaze ignited its body.