As they walked through the plain, Henry took the chance to read the system messages that had emerged.

You have entered Hell, Homeland of Demonkind

You have completed the sub quest "Enter Hell for the first time".

Main quest "Find the legacy of Pope Johnathan the Fourth, the first Demon Slayer" has been updated. Head to the 36th region of Hell to proceed with the quest.

Hell is the natural habitat of a demon slayer. In Hell, your physical, spiritual and mental abilities increase by 10%.

'Damn, I get a buff for entering Hell? That's swell.'

The team kept marching throughout the plain. The ground was rock solid, similar to dehydrated farmland on the overworld, yet the purple blades of grass and red leafless bushes seemed to be growing just fine. Henry bent down and grabbed a blade of grass. It was quite warm and seemed sharp enough to cut someone.

'Analyze'

Analysis results:

Name: Peneris Grass

Species: Plant

Uses: Fuel, Serves as good bait for demon slimes, Edible for humans but causes severe stomachaches.*

"A common type of grass that grows in the more habitable regions of Hell. It serves as extremely efficient fuel, as even three small blades can keep a campfire going for three days. It feeds on acid rain and is damaged by pure water. Many species of demons, especially lower demons, tend to see this as their main source of food due to its fast ability to propagate and mature along with being relatively rich in the mana demons need to survive."

*Information from the second volume of the Encyclopaedia Daemonica

'Oh, so the analyze feature can also show me information from the Encyclopaedia Daemonica? Interesting.'

"What're you doing, dude?" Joseph had seen Henry lean in and grab a blade of grass, then stare at it for a while.

"Just curious about what kind of plants grow in Hell, of all places."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. The thing about life is that it's the most resilient thing ever. Plants grow in Hell; fish live in the Dark Ocean, it's fascinating. As they say, life finds a way." Joseph seemed truly passionate about this subject.

"Didn't take you for the kind to appreciate nature, Joseph." Henry took Joseph as an easygoing, slightly apathetic man who just goes with the flow, not the kind to actually appreciate said flow.

"Haha, I used to be a poet before this career shift, ya know?"

Suddenly, some rustling could be heard in the bushes. Captain Eve drew her sword.

"Into position, everyone. These are probably demon slimes. They may be weak, but you must destroy the core, or else they'll regenerate."

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

'Finally.' Henry drew his sword and activated the Demon Slaying Energy.

He watched as tens of purple gelatinous slimes emerged from the grass. They were the color of the grass, which made them hard to notice. Three of them jumped towards Henry at a relatively high speed. However, Henry easily cut them all.

'Shit, I missed the core of one.' Henry expected the slime to heal, but then the jade green color of the Demon Slaying Energy spread all over the slime, burning it to ashes.

You have slain 3 Mephillian Demon Slimes. You have gained 90 Demon Slaying Energy Exp. Current: lvl 1, 90/100 Exp. You have also gained 3 Darkness Points.

'Must be the anti-demonic effect of Demon Slaying Energy. I guess it's time to try that thing I wanted to try.'

Henry ran around the field and briefly touched all the slimes with his sword, leaving a little bit of Demon Slaying Energy.

"What're you doing, Hellwalker?" Captain Eve was curious.

Henry stood in the middle of all the slimes and sheathed his sword.

"Demon Slaying Energy: Purging Chain Lightning!"

The Demon Slaying Energy on all the slimes suddenly linked together in a very long chain of lightning. The chain electrocuted all the slimes to death, leaving only some remains of their cores. Henry had slain all the slimes in one move!

You have slain 34 Mephillian Demon Slimes. You have gained 1020 Demon Slaying Energy Exp. Level Up! Current: lvl 6, 110/350 Exp. You have also gained 34 Darkness Points.

"Hahaha, damn, it really worked."

"Good idea, Hellwalker. But doesn't that drain quite a lot of Demon Slaying Energy?"

"Not really. I just leave a small trace on each slime. However, it would be hard to do this to faster enemies though, as they'd react while I was leaving said trace."

"I see. Alright, we'll leave any future Demon Slime encounters to you."

"Sure!" Henry was still in euphoria from the mass slaying.

With this strategy, the team finally left the plain and got closer to Andromalia, the biggest city in Mephilis which they wanted to cause chaos in. They met two batches of slimes during the trek, which Henry dealt with. Henry ended up with a level of 9 with 430/500 Exp.

"Where are we now, Captain?"

"These are the outskirts of Andromalia, some small settlement. We'll meet some intelligent demons here, probably the demonic dryads."

Henry had read about the demonic dryads in the Encyclopaedia Daemonica. They were a corrupted form of the dryads, who were tree spirits the elves summoned via their Nature Magic. Unlike normal dryads, they were not fixed to a certain plant to inhabit, but instead inhabited a piece of farmland. They were magically created by Andromalius with the help of some of the other demon kings.

"Isn't fighting demonic dryads on their land pretty hard though?"

"Yes, but it's either that or we go through the Lesser Hellhound infested forest nearby. Trust me, the dryads are better foes."

"Alright, then." Henry trusted Captain Eve, and what he had read also implied that demonic dryads were far better to fight.

The team approached the village, trying to sneak by. It seemed empty, the small huts devoid of any sound or light, but the experienced members knew that the dryads were inside their land and would emerge the moment they felt them.

"We go in on 3."

"1."

"2."

"3."

They all rushed into the fields. 50 or so ethereal figures that looked like living wooden carvings emerged from underground.

"Everyone, these guys can become ethereal at will. Always imbue your attacks with aura or use magics like fire and lightning, not water, air, or earth. Especially not earth. Remember, this land is an extension of their bodies." Captain Eve advised.