The elder guided Furia to the place where the blood vial was stored. The elder had carried the sleeping Rei on his arm and the other was holding the anxious Xei.

As they walked, the elder explained the situation of the village.

“This village had almost a hundred people left.”

For each person, they rotated the blood tribute every two months. Usually, the Lord consumed 15 vials each week and sometimes the lord drank more. Fortunately, the blood of an adult beastkin replenishes faster than a normal human. They could reach the quota for the whole year. However, there were times when the lord consumed too much without care. As a result, one of the villagers would be sacrificed. And once the villager entered the Lord’s residence. He would be never seen again. Most of the people assumed they were dead or much worse eaten alive by the demon. This event had been happening for as far as the elder could remember. They were helpless and weak.

The elder had no idea when this suffering would end. He was old and at death’s door. At some point, he had given up. The only thing that was keeping him alive was because of his adopted children.

Nearing the destination, a unique building appeared in Furia’s vision. The village was mostly wooden. However, the structure in front of them was made of bricks and metal. The demon's civilization was advanced but they used it only for themselves. They had treated the villagers no more than a blood bank.

"I cannot go any further, the imps of the lord Gha’Nis are within."

Imps… Furia was familiar with the word.

It was a unique demon species that couldn’t evolve. Imps maintained their original form even after consuming a gallon of blood but they could gain more strength in the process.

Another factor that made the Imps unique was their characteristics. Imps had a maximum height of 4 feet. They had a blood-skinned body and could levitate mid-air. Furthermore, they could become loyal to those awakened demons that feed them blood. With enough affinity, Imps naturally offered their allegiance through a blood pact.

The Imp Blood Pact was a powerful pledge that affects their body, soul, and mind. When Imps formed a blood pact, they had gained a similar horn to that of their master. They became soul bounded in which they could only obey their master’s words. Furthermore, they gained intelligence to perform tasks that their master commanded.

Through the blood pact, the imps became the perfect servants for higher demons.

"Thank you, Elder. I'll be right back."

Gripping the Dawnbringer sword, Furia invoked the first and second passages of divinity.

She jumped over the brick fence and entered the facility.

The Imps within the building had been collecting and drinking blood for over centuries. When the collection was over, most of the imps were idle, some were doing chores and some were simply awaiting command. The Imps had long mastered the routine. However, once they had pledged their blood pact. They could simply be satisfied performing simple tasks.

One of the imps who was idling at the door noticed the stranger's arrival.

"Hey!! This is off lim--"

‘Huh? Did I get taller?’ Before the imp realized it. His head flew above the air. He was beheaded. The lord Imps were powerful. They could rip apart flesh and carry heavy objects.

However, they had little defense and were vulnerable to sharp and durable swords.

They didn’t stand a chance against the mithril sword Dawnbringer accompanied by a divine force.

Inside the storage building, there are quite a number of blood vials neatly arranged on shelves. A few more worker imps were spotted. However, Furia swiftly stabbed and slashed them to death with a smile on her face. There were a few screams but they died down immediately after a few seconds.

Shortly, the building was cleared of Imps.

It was then, Furia used one of the demon's innate abilities after the first awakening, Blood Absorption.

Furia walked around the room as the blood broke off their vials and went directly into Furia's body. Using blood absorption, awakened demons could easily pull nearby blood into their body. It also helped them heal or recover dismembered limbs. With this, Furia's blood pool reached almost a quarter of full capacity. As long as there was blood, most of the demons were unstoppable.

These blood vials were months worth of blood supply for the Butcher Demon. However, Furia had gracefully absorbed them.

With this, she weaved a set of blood undergarments under her blood cloak. The weaving ability was similar to adding something to her skin. However, Furia couldn’t weave something that was removable. It would simply be turned into liquid blood. Blood Art of Words had its limitations.

However, she believed that with enough blood. It could break this world's rules.

Just like how she fused with the Saintess. Remembering that moment, her blood arts didn’t have any range. It would be wise to say it was a melee Blood Art. Moreover, she could’ve failed if she wasn’t able to touch the saintess. The demon part of her would’ve died in that foggy valley burned by divinity. Nevertheless, she survived to see another daylight.

After absorbing all the blood, Furia returned to the elder foxkin and commanded,

"Elder… Guide me to the Butcher Demon."

~ x ~

Lord Mal Gha'Nis residence.

The Butcher demon was admiring a work of art. Like all other awakened demons, he had red skin and a handsome face. The horn around his head was similar to small antlers.

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The art that the butcher demon adored was a blood tree. It was surrounded by a pool of blood and underneath these bloody pools were countless dismembered limbs and bones of local beastkins.

Lord Mal Gha'Nis had cultivated this blood tree for centuries!

His goal was none other than more power. A power that was comparable to the Blood Queen Lilith. The demon who led the fall of humankind.

Over a thousand years ago, since the disappearance of her blood sister. Lilith was filled with hatred for humankind. She used her power and seduced the saint candidate before killing him with her own hands. With the saint candidate killed, the other high demons simply followed the path that she forged and overwhelmed humans creating the era of the demonkind!

The demons had the choice to annihilate all the humans on the face of the earth. However, the blood Queen Lilith didn’t rule them over. She had valued freedom just as her lost sister would. After the war, Lilith disappeared on a journey. No one know where she was.

In the end, the human realm was given to the wise demon lord Mephisto. Who revealed the way to meditate through the power of blood. Through blood cultivation, they could gain more power and the mark of the blood.

The more marks they gained, the more powerful they could become. Mephisto believed that demons could achieve immortality. He believed that they were the true rulers of this world!

He reasoned with other demon lords who were itching for more humans. Mephisto proposed that the annihilation of humans was a fool's mistake. Instead, he created the blood tribute method.

‘Let the humans live but remind them that they are under our mercy!’

Thus, the first five hundred years of human suffering occurred. The humans called it the dark ages.

However, 500 years later, the frozen north melted and spring bloomed in the place that was surrounded by ice.

New land was revealed, and a new war began.

This time, the discovery of the beastkin race elated the demons! A new source of BLOOD!

A race that was akin to half-beast and half-human. The beastkins believed in the god of war, Ragnar. The blessing of the war god granted them the ability to use their bestial characteristic to gain more power. Some of them could transform into full beasts and some could gain unique extra sense. However, the demons who had been cultivating human blood for five hundred years were able to overwhelm them with sheer power.

The beastkin warriors never stood a chance.

The rule of the demons had spread further north and enslaved both the human and beastkin races.

Moreover, the land in the far north was vast. The further the demons explore, the harder the communication becomes.

Some of the demons had settled down in some villages fighting amongst each other and some continued to wander.

Time passed since then, and the demon lord Mal Gha’nis was lost.

The demon Mal Gha’nis had fought alongside Lilith. He consumed countless bodies in both human and beastkin wars. However, there were far more greedy demons that took over villages and lands. They claimed it on their own.

In the end, Mal Gha’nis returned to the capital where the demon Mephisto ruled. He terrorized humans and ask for blood and no one cared. As long as he didn’t kill them, lord Mephisto allowed it.

However, he grew tired of it. There were a lot more demons in the capital and he could barely extort enough blood from the humans. He decided to leave and go north to the land of the beastkin race.

With a stroke of luck, Mal Gha’Nis had found a small hillside village. Furthermore, it was ruled by a weak elemental demon. Mal Gha’Nis blood art was weapon summoning. He could turn his blood into a weapon and manipulate it at will.

Challenging the elemental demon, he used his blood art and dismembered the elemental demon in front of the beastkin villagers! This caused him to gain the title of the Butcher Demon.

His luck never ended there, he also found a blood tree inside the residence of the elemental demon.

The blood tree was a unique plant in the demon realm. They were everywhere and mostly dry, however, if soaked in blood. They could boom into a beautiful tree with red-blood leaves and a trunk. Furthermore, it could produce a blood fruit that greatly enhanced demon power!

“Oh… It is blooming, the blood fruit!!! Finally!! Finally!!! In a few more years, I could challenge Duke Beelzebub and take over his land!” Mal Gha’Nis was elated!

Every ten years, the blood tree produced one fruit for the lord to consume. With this, his current power had obtained four demon blood marks! Reaching the fifth mark, he could summon his awakened demon form. A powerful demon forms closer to an immortal being!

Furthermore, Duke Beelzebub was a demon that owned a large beastkin city in the west of the village. Defeating him would greatly increase his supply of blood! A little more, and he could take on anyone and rule this world.

When using their blood art, the blood mark naturally appeared similar to a black tribal tattoo. The first mark appeared on the right arm. The second appeared on the left, two appeared around the eyes and the last mark appeared on a demon's forehead.

All of a sudden, Mal Gha’Nis felt an unknown itch behind his back. However, before he could react, the room was horizontally cut in two!

Mal Gha’Nis was cut along with the demon tree! Furthermore, the upper half of the room fell down burying the lord underneath!

“Ahh!! My Lord Mal Gha’Nis!!!! Forgive meeee!!!” Behind the room, an imp cried out. Beside him was a woman filled with divinity.

~ x ~

A moment earlier,

Furia arrived at Lord Mal Gha’Nis's residence, She encountered a few more imps that were doing chores and chose one to interrogate.

“Where is your lord?” Furia asked.

Seeing his mates all dead, the imp trembled and pointed at the Lord’s blood tree room.

Without further delay, Furia arrived at the entrance of the room. Furia thought back, she visualized the village that was in poor condition, and the people that were hopeless, how much suffering had this demon lord committed? This has to stop now!

Furia had an attacking stance before she immediately invoked three divine passages and launched a surprise attack!

Divine Slash!

The room was cut in half and the roof fell over.

However, Furia knew it was only the beginning.

As long as the demon had enough blood around or blood within his center. He would not die.

At this moment, the debris exploded revealing Lord's dismembered body.

After wiping the debris with great force, the upper body of the lord shot blood nerves towards its lower body! In an instant, the lord lower half and upper half fused together!

He stood as if nothing happened. However, the lord was completely enraged!!

The blood tree was cut!! It was cut down!!!

“You!!!!!!!! YOUU!!!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!??”

Furia remained calm and made a defensive stance. She planned to test the demon's capabilities.

On other hand, the demon finally noticed the culprit. It was a human with golden eyes and white hair.

A human!? A human dared to harm me!? I am Lord Mal Gha’Nis!! A demon lord!!

“YOU WILL PAY FOR THISS!!!! HUMAN!!!”

It was then, Lord Mal Gha’Nis summoned his blood art! Similar to other demons, he also named his own!

Blood Arts: Butcher: Blood Swords!

From his blood, The Lord materialized a red-colored sword in his hands, and two others floated above him. The blood mark showed themselves, there were two around his arms and one around his left eye. The only missing piece was the mark on his right eye and his forehead. Lord Mal Gha'Nis could've obtained the 4th mark on his right eye however, it was lost!

The rage he was feeling was beyond Furia could ever imagine.

The next moment, the two floating swords flew toward Furia! At the same time, the Lord charged!

“DIEE!!!”

The battle began!