In the vast Desert of Jahar, the sun blazed mercilessly in the sky, casting the land in unrelenting heat. Occasionally, a sandstorm would kick up, bringing with it darkness and suffocating winds that hurled sharp grains of sand that stung the skin.

The desert was a place of deathly silence. The air was thick with the smell of death and decay, and the sand was littered with the bones of those who had succumbed to the desert's unforgiving terrain.

Three carriages could be seen traveling, pulled by enormous lizards. Rattling chains and moans echoed through this deathly silent place.

From far away, one might mistake it for a parade like those on Earth. But if one looked closely, they would only shake their head in fear.

Behind the carriages were numerous demons with faces filled with dread and exhaustion. Clearly showing that they had been walking for a long time, if not for hours or days. They walked along with chains bound to their necks and wrists. As some demons gave in to exhaustion, they would be put inside one of the carriages for slaves, and the rested slaves inside would be picked in exchange.

This continued until every one of them walked and rested inside the carriage. They did this so that the slaves would stay fresh until they arrived at their destination.

None of this would happen if it weren't for the demonic energy they leaked, as their demonic energy can be easily sensed and is pure evil. If they're exhausted, their demonic energy weakens. That's why they cannot pretend and deceive the guards surrounding them, as only high-ranking demons can fake their demonic energy.

-Clang!

The sound of chains was heard as the queue of slaves stared at the young demon with deep blue eyes and black hair fallen onto the ground. All of them looked at him with disdainful looks.

"Not him again!"

"How many times has he rested?"

"Ah, 10?... Really, I couldn't count anymore!"

"What!? Are you kidding me!? I only rested once!"

"Weak! I didn't even rest!"

"Who are you calling weak!? Do you want to die badly, huh!?"

"You can't, not with that cuff though, ku ku ku."

As I was dragged by one of the guards into the carriage, I could hear the demons shouting and threatening each other.

'Sigh, I guess demons always show their craziness regardless of the circumstances'

As we reached the carriage, I looked at the indifferent guard and thanked him.

If one may ask what the strangest thing here is, I would say that it's the people guarding us, the "guards" I call it. No, I didn't call them that because they are "guarding", but because just like the ones who accompanied me all the time in the past, they're like robots. They don't react or do anything unless they are ordered to.

Well, I consider it strange because the one they are following is not the bulky man whom I suspected to be the boss, but the priest! Yeah, the priest. The red-robed priest that used some sort of... like holy magic? Yeah... that. You know there's no moment that I saw him open his eyes at all; he seemed to be always like... sleeping?

I remembered a few nights ago, when we were raided by the Desert monsters they call it. I watched him fight along with the guards. After he muttered something, the monsters around him were devoured by light. Even the demons near it suffered wounds!

What a scary magic!

Yeah, I admit it, the strangest thing here are not the guards but the priest. Hehe, I guess walking for too long made my IQ lower, no? Yes, that's definitely the reason. I'm the world's richest man, after all.

Stopping my thoughts, I went inside the carriage. As I stepped inside, I instantly noticed different stares directed towards me. Ignoring the stares, I weakly sat in my previous position.

"Ha..." The moment I sat, I felt my exhaustion slowly wash away. Looking around, I could see many demons whose faces were filled with nervousness and fear; some were burned out and unable to think of anything else, and a few were sleeping. Most of them were young ones like me.

"You!"

Standing at the entrance of the carriage, the guard pointed at the demon in front of me and ordered him to get out.

The demon was rather good-looking, with his long milky white hair accompanied by his black eyes that seemed to be reflecting the void. His two horns struck on his forehead only added to his devilish appearance.

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As he got out, the remaining demons sighed in relief as they continued to rest. Glancing at my thin body, I couldn't help but think,

'I guess being weak and fragile has its own merit, huh?'

I closed my eyes and let exhaustion take over.

***

Creak!

"Halt!"

The bulky man got off one of the carriages, and the lanky man followed him behind.

"Sir Reo, we will rest for the night here," the bulky man said, gesturing towards the red-robed priest coming out of the other carriage.

Reo, with his eyes closed and hands clasped near his chest, nodded and said,

"No worries, I'm a patient man, you see."

"Sir Reo is indeed a patient man," the bulky man answered with a smile. He bowed his head and said his farewell.

As he walked towards the carriage of slaves, one could notice sweat trickling down his forehead.

Observing his boss's expression, the lanky man was amused and asked,

"Boss, what do we do now?"

"We go at our own pace," Lark replied, looking at his subordinate, who had only followed him for money. He made a distrusting look and ordered,

"Steve, arrange the slaves. Tell them they will be given hours to rest as we wait for the dawn to come."

"Alright."

***

As the night grew deeper, a crimson moon hung low in the shimmering starry sky.

In the tranquility of the scene above, demons bound with chains huddled together as they slept without any concern for their surroundings. In the center, a large bonfire was situated, and with every gust of wind, the flames danced as if they were alive.

But not all slept, as some demons were still chatting with each other despite having walked for miles. The guards were observing the surrounding, searching for any signs of desert monsters appearing.

Inside the carriage, young demons were squeezed into a tight space, but despite this, they were sleeping like babies from the effect of exhaustion.

Well, except for one.

Opening my eyes, I couldn't help but curse, 'Why can't they all sleep!?'

From a distance, I could hear different demons laughing and boasting to each other. With this tight space, how could someone stay asleep?

As a demon, my hearing was three times that of a human, and the worst part was that, with my hands cuffed, I couldn't cover my ears.

'One sheep, two sheeps, three sheeps...'

To force myself to sleep, I silently counted jumping sheep in a fence in my mind.

I wasn't sure if it would work, but a man could only hope.

Suddenly, I stopped counting when I overheard the demons telling some grounded rumors, some of which were about this place.

"Hey, do you know that in the past, the Jahar wasn't a desert like this?"

"I know... Someone told me that when humans and demons were at war, this was one of the battlefields they used, as this land was once owned by a high-ranking demon."

"Yeah, the fight was so intense that it resulted in this place becoming a desert wasteland."

As they heard that, the demons all subconsciously looked around. Bones and skulls could be seen protruding from the red sand as the smell of death and decay lingered in the air.

-Hiss!

Chills ran down the spines of the demons when they saw the scenes in their wake.

"Are we really that strong in the past?"

"Idiot! Of course, we were super strong, and all races feared us!"

"Then what happened? Why are we so weak compared to them now?"

"I don't know; it's not in my time, but I heard that 'that' human was the cause, though."

"Yeah... If not for that human, I believe we would have long conquered this world."

"I believe so too."

They all sighed as the atmosphere became heavy. The demons talking all went to sleep as their faces showed sadness and pity. They knew that there were no "ifs" in this world. What was done could not be undone.

After sensing that the demons were sleeping, I laid back on the floor and let the information I had heard sink into my mind.

'So, them being weak compared to humans has its reasons, and it seems that the humans they're talking about are most likely the cause. Hmm....I wonder who that human is, though.'

Feeling the cold wooden floor, I closed my eyes as my lips curled upward.

'Interesting...'

***

Another few days had gone by, and the journey had been going smoothly.

By now, I had grown accustomed to our routine. Wherein the past, I can only walked for two hours before the exhaustion took over but now I can lasts for atleast five hours! A total of three hours of improvement!

Well, it's good that my stamina gets better and better but in this situation..I guess that's not something to be proud of.

-Huff...Huff

"Just a little more...a-and I would be done" I muttered weakly as I gasped for breath.

Never in my life would I believe that I regret myself for improving. Right now the only thing I could think of is that to time run faster.

As I stick my tongue out I mumbled, "Ha..It's good that this body doesn't need to eat or drink or else I...would found myself dead already"

As if the heavens pity me, after another long hours of walking my kness finally give in as it went numb.

Looking at the indifferent guard approaching me, I couldn't help but have a teary eyes as he is like an angel that will save me from this affliction and suffering of mine.

He dragged me out, brought me to carriage and

pick the demon who would walk in exchange.

I mustered all of my remaining energy as I went to my seat. Sitting at the floor, I wiped my teary eyes and looked at the demon around me.

Their heavy looks and faces of despair and horror spoke volumes. I could sense the air surrounding them becoming suffocatingly heavy, making my heart tighten.

In the past few days, every time I rested, I watched this scene and noticed it was getting worse and worse. I didn't know for sure why, but I could guess.

Looking in the direction where the carriage was heading, with my mouth twitching, I said with a grave tone,

"We're near."

I didn't know where they would bring and sell us, but with our continuous journey, I knew we were getting closer.

I tried to think of ways to escape. A hundred scenarios formed in my mind, but I knew all of them were bound to fail as I saw the hundreds of demons who had surrendered to their fate.

At first, I thought of them as cowards, but after watching the holy magic that the priest used and hearing the chattering of demons that night, I knew that wasn't the case.

Even though we had the advantage in numbers, with these chains and cuffs, there was a huge gap in strength. There was nothing we could do...

We were weak.

But even though my doom was inevitable, I would not give up. For now, I would see where the current of fate would take me. Yet, If I found myself in an unfavorable situation, I would do my best to struggle and swim to a nearby land.

And when the time came that I got free, that's where my journey would start.

The journey to my dream, where I could live peacefully with my own happy family.