Arturo's eyes widened as he saw his uncle lying on the floor, headless. His head had popped like a balloon. He turned his gaze to Kira, who maintained a reassuring look while finishing her meal.

It had taken her just one punch to blow his head off.

Scarlet couldn't help but laugh, almost bursting with it.

No comment or exclamation came from Arturo's mouth.

"That was the end he deserved, that worm! Praising the old ways of the demons."

Kira's statement was clear; they were tired of the old, even before.

"The uncle is too stuck in the past. He doesn't understand that Artoris is the new demon king now."

Scarlet looked at Arturo's plate.

"My son, you haven't touched any of the meat, come on, you need to eat, or you won't be strong enough for the hunt."

"Hunt?"

"Yes... you can't just feed on robbit, you know human meat strengthens the power of demons?"

"I'm a vegetarian, I refuse to eat human meat."

Everyone at the table was shocked. Arturo preferred to give the food to Kira rather than eat it himself.

Kira finished the meal and rested her elbow on the table. "How generous our king is, leaving us the best meal."

"It is indeed very strange." Scarlet speculated. "Are we sure this is my son? Because he seems to have changed a lot, what if some spirit from the underworld has taken over his body?"

Arturo's fork trembled, but he tried to stay calm.

"Ha ha ha! That's a good one! You know, mother, you should start writing manga, I think yours would sell a lot."

Arturo got up from the table.

"Thanks for the meal! Really, it was a great lunch, but now I must run!"

Scarlet grabbed Arturo by the horns and pulled him back to her chest. "Where are you going? You can't just leave like that, there's the hunt!"

"Mother, what does the king have to do with a hunt?"

Scarlet pulled Arturo by the ear.

"You're still too young, you need to practice by going on more hunts, it's through hunting that you can improve your skills and become stronger."

"Okay..."

After the banquet, they headed outside the castle. As part of the daily routine of the demons, there was the hunt, which involved venturing out to catch any prey possible, for food or materials.

Naturally leading the hunt were Kira and Arturo, accompanied by a support team. There were three of them, simply tasked with scouting the surface territory.

They moved away from the castle and reached a desolate corner.

The demons clasped their hands in prayer and planted their feet firmly on the ground, their eyes slightly closed as they murmured words.

Suddenly, an aura burst forth, enveloping them. Then, they were caught in a gust of wind that lifted them like a tornado, the world seemed to turn upside down as if a thousand natural calamities were striking the world at the same moment, after which, they were immediately catapulted onto a meadow, it was the surface world.

Scarlet is right, if I have a way to train to face the hero, it's definitely through hunting.

"The first to win the hunt gets to screw Scarlet!" The demons yelled en masse.

"Did I hear that right?"

Orgies among demons were quite frequent, and it seemed Scarlet was often the star. Who knows what the previous king thought of his wife.

The first to dash across the vast grass was Kira, who ran on all fours, eager to find prey.

"I'll find it first!"

Arturo followed her, matching her pace.

I didn't know my legs could move this fast!

In a race to see who could get there first, Kira sped up and elbowed Arturo aside,

Kira disappeared as she ran swiftly out of sight.

Arturo caught up with Kira and saw her stop, sniffing something like a beast, she crouched to touch her nose to the ground, scanned the area, then lifted her head.

"A prey!"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Shh!"

Kira grabbed a robbit from the bushes, hoisted it up, and sank her fangs into the robbit, ending its life.

"First prey caught!"

"She did it in less than a second!"

Now it was Arturo's turn to catch a prey. First, he needed to concentrate: being a demon, he too had a keen sense of smell. He started moving with his tail wagging like a dog, sniffing everything around him, starting with the trees. Kira looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"What are you doing..."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Arturo scanned the ground, placed his ear to the earth. Nothing, he couldn't find a single prey, he was a total klutz. As evening came, they leaned against a trunk to watch the stars.

The fire, built from wood, burned with dancing flames while the prey was piled up like a mountain and slowly roasted by the fire. Arturo's stomach kept growling, and Kira was already annoyed.

"Make it stop!"

"BRRR"

"Enough!"

"I can't help it. I'm hungry."

"I couldn't care less."

"BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"

Kira was horrified. Without a word, she brought some roasted robbit to Arturo's lips, and he couldn't help but accept the gesture.

"Looks like you'll be the only one not joining the orgy, ha ha!"

So it wasn't a joke!

"While the two dined, the rest of the support team scouted the surrounding area to ensure it was safe to move freely, without any trace of potential threats.

After taking another bite, Kira's eyes widened as the surrounding visibility gradually became more obscured. She dropped the robbit thigh and stood up, her eyebrows furrowed. Arturo looked at her, puzzled.

"What's up?"

"The fog."

"Yeah, I see it."

“We need to move!"

"Eh?"

Kira grabbed Arturo's arm, pulling him to his feet.

"Quick! If we don't get out of this fog, we'll be stuck here forever!"

They ran as fast as they could, Arturo noticing the serious look on Kira's face, realizing she had never been more serious. Above, their demon companions from the team were flying, gesturing for them to leave the area. These were air demons, a lineage born with the gift of flight, unlike other demons who didn't possess this ability due to being from different elements.

They tried to follow, but in an instant, the others disappeared, the fog had become too thick.

"We're trapped!"

"Trapped?"

Kira bit her lip.

"Damn! We've been isolated by it!"

"By what?!"

"A creature from the underworld."

"What?!"

"A being that roams only on fog-enshrouded nights!"

"We just have to defeat it, right?"

"It's tough; it's a high-class beast."

Arturo shivered but was also excited.

As they continued along the path, the figures around them became faded and indistinguishable.

Their crimson eyes allowed them to see well and make out shapes, a trait Arturo also possessed.

Arturo looked around at the cloud that had enveloped them. He could barely see his companions in full; they were just faded spots.

"Can you hear us!" Arturo shouted as loudly as he could. "Can you hear us!"

Suddenly, a strong pressure weighed down on Arturo, feeling as if thousands of eyes were watching and mocking him.

"What a dreadful feeling, it's like having a dagger stuck in my throat!"

Arturo started looking around.

"Kira, what the hell is going on!"

He turned around, but no one was there.

"Kira, where are you! Kira!"

Even the vampiric ability of his eyes couldn't locate Kira, who had disappeared somewhere into the fog.

The ground trembled beneath his feet, and the howling echoes grew so intense that it seemed the sky wanted to cry and curse the entire world.

Everything became mystical because suddenly the meadow split in two, revealing a large fang that placed its long, sharp claws on the ground. Its growls echoed through the air.

Arturo ran as fast as he could, scared out of his wits just by seeing those sharp claws.

The hunt was interrupted by a calamity that was far from normal: a figure, only seen as a shadow, menacing and with an insatiable thirst for blood.

Several figures rushed past Arturo, disappearing into the horizon, and launched an attack on the mysterious beast. They were his demon companions, perhaps there was hope. But with just one swipe of its fang, the creature slammed them to the ground, leaving them dying and drained of blood. Even the demons couldn't stand against creatures from the darkest depths.

The entity revealed its full form, appearing as a wolf-like creature with moon-white fur and long, waving tails behind it. Its teeth were sharp, complemented by slicing sabers.

"It's huge! So this is a creature from the underworld?!"

It was as large as a building, slowly advancing, placing one paw after the other. Its growl sounded like the lament of a thousand echoes crying out in hatred. Its voice echoed through the fog.

"It's useless, you can't defeat me. If you don't resist, I'll make your death painless."

An archer demon emerged from the fog, firing arrow after arrow in rapid succession, but the arrows did no damage; instead, they passed right through the creature.

"How dare you?! To speak like that to Lord Artoris!"

The beast kept walking without hesitation, approaching the demons. Its tails wrapped around the archer, crushing him.

Arturo trembled in front of the creature, was this game over? It had wiped out the demons in an instant, and it seemed invincible. Not even a demon could take down this creature forged from darkness; surely, even Purply would struggle.

"Kira, where are you?!"

He strained his eyes as much as he could but couldn't see any sign of Kira.

"She must've gotten lost in the fog, damn it!"

The beast's eyes were white, and it opened its mouth as if smiling, but it was actually readying to feed.

"In moments like this, I wish Purply was by my side!"

No matter which direction Arturo took to escape, it was all ineffective because the monster knew exactly what move he was making, as its instincts and sight were far beyond any magical beast's capabilities.

The creature lowered its head, breathing into Arturo's face:

"I'm quite curious to know what a demon king's spirit tastes like!"

The beast lunged fiercely at Arturo, one of its long tails wrapping around his neck and tightening. Arturo nearly lost his breath but vanished, becoming a shadow, and slid away from its range.

"It's useless; I can see you," the beast said in a deep, dark tone.

Arturo reemerged from the shadow, locking eyes with the monster's white gaze.

"Damn it, what the hell do you want from me!"

The creature, almost appearing as a shadow, seemed to smile.

"To devour your souls. To increase my power."

"Tsk... a soul eater."

Amid the fog, a burst of light suddenly appeared, a dense and incandescent flame that swept away the fog.

"MOVE!" Kira shouted.

Arturo turned to see Kira's legs speeding towards the being face-to-face. A reddish aura enveloped her, and from her fingers, she was releasing a bright sphere.

"FIREBALL!"

Kira's thunderous shout blended with the powerful strike that hit the soul eater, causing an explosion and ending with a cloud of smoke that covered the surrounding area.

Kira lifted a smirk.

"Take that, you freak!"

Arturo jumped for joy when he saw her return triumphantly.

"Where the heck have you been?!"

"It was you who disappeared all of a sudden!"

But when the smoke cleared, the beast was still standing, its HP hadn't dropped in the slightest. Kira was shocked and bit her lip, trying again by charging more magical shots.

"FIREBALL!"

Like lightning, the shot propelled past the devourer, lighting up the entire surrounding area. A blinding explosion engulfed the entire territory. It seemed like daylight had returned, that blast was fatal even to their eyes, but for a demon, it was a matter of seconds to refocus after such a blow to the eyes.

It appeared that instead of hitting it, the sphere passed through the skeletal gaps in its structure. The fog had almost disappeared, and the figure had emerged even more into the open. Instead of flesh, it was covered in skeletal layers that made up its skeleton.

"We can't face it, or at least, not yet!"