I stumbled along the muddy twisted streets of the unknown realm, my mind still reeling from the encounter with Yaozrui. The Demon Dragon God had pushed me out of his palace with a mixture of curiosity and amusement on his face.

As I walked, my eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the eerie atmosphere that seemed to permeate every aspect of this realm. Every demon I saw seemed to be watching me, their twisted faces full of malice and hatred.

For whatever reason, the demons would not attack, they would however grin and talk. From their words I would come to realize that I am stuck in what they call the "Demon Realm", the "Demonic Grounds" being my exact location, however the portal to the Grounds should only just now open.

It would seem that I had been forcefully summoned into the Demon Realm.

"Does this mean that I could leave this horrible place? And what of Lei? Should I try and wait for her in the Demon Realm while I recover somewhere? Is my recovery even possible in this God forgotten, cursed land?", I would mumble to myself, trying to stay away from conflict with the swarm of demons that would be all around me in mere seconds if I were to engage in battle.

During my travel from the Demon Palace, I couldn't help but wonder what Yaozrui had planned for me now that he had "honored" me with an audience. Was I supposed to be some kind of puppet or tool in his twisted game to change the world? And why were the demons not attacking me after our meeting?

The streets seemed to grow darker as night began to fall, casting long shadows across the ground. My stomach growled with hunger and my throat felt parched from thirst, leaving my vision blurry and my strength depleted.

A few days after the fated meeting with Yaozrui, my inevitable collapse into the muddy ground would be seen by the grinning demons.

Just as I would start to lose hope, a figure would emerge from the shadows ahead of me. It would be a 6-armed demon with a third eye on its forehead, this figure would carry me to my next destination in this horrid land.

The demon would speak in a low, raspy voice, saying something about needing to take me to a certain place.

At this time I wouldn't understand what he was saying, but I knew I needed to trust him if I wanted to survive.

And so, with the 6-armed demon leading the way, we set off into the unknown night, bound for some destination that only he seemed to know about.

Days later, the demon would dump me in a half-dead state in front of another gate, music would be heard from deep within this unknown place.

"A-A Parade?" I would question the demon, "W- What is this place?"

"Do not worry, you are to recover in this place, enjoy the show." He would say as he would disappear into the shadowy streets without a care in the world.

With what would probably be the last of my strength, I would scrape myself off the solid ground and start walking towards the music, in hopes of food, water and a place to recover.

Soon after, a very beautiful and petite girl, different from the demons so far, dressed in red clothing mixed with yellow and green, would come to meet me, "Hello stranger, are you here for the Red Parade?".

"Y-yes, surely this Parade would be good for recovering my body and soul from my injuries...", I would mumble, my words barely leaving my soar throat.

While walking with the child towards the inn, I would notice an extremely beautiful female demon, with a very peculiar set of horns, similar to that of a ram. She would be dressed in white mixed with black, a very distinct garment, her silver-blonde long hair would cover her back while two curly pigtails would be on each shoulder, her autumn gold-like eyes almost royal in nature.

Going further into town I would notice many more other demons with a similar horn style and clothing color pattern, but not one would come close to her distinct presence, they would all have a badge on their left shoulder, but hers would be one with an X in the middle and several times more royal in nature.

Going further into town I would notice many more other demons with a similar horn style and clothing color pattern, but not one would come close to her distinct presence, they would all have a badge on their left shoulder, but hers would be one wi... [https://img.wattpad.com/45bb5f8551203565c101f71d2997423afb38c2e1/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6673643664684d565042776561773d3d2d313439393038383435342e313830633231633932646563356664353136393539353033373737362e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"I wonder who they are, they seem very different from the rest of the demons." I would ask the child, but she would not respond. With a face that would almost make her seem angry, she would ignore my question while leaving my side when we would reach the inn, but not before telling me that the local currency is the "demonic blood stone".

As luck would have it, with all the demons that I've slaughtered over time to make it this far, I would have more than enough to clock out at the inn for the night.

Several hours later, the music would intensify, signaling the start of the Red Parade. However, due to my accumulated fatigue, I would pass out and not wake up for the next few days.

"Hello there, please pay the extra blood stones for your stay!", a woman would ask, possibly the demon in charge of this specific shift, or maybe the inn owner, I would be unable to tell due to her talking through the door.

"Uh, sure, how much do I owe you?"

"Well, you've payed the initial deposit of 50 stones for your first night, that would leave another 375 for the 5 days and nights you've stayed. You're lucky the maid insisted on letting you sleep, mister, otherwise we would've had to kick you out. You do however need to pay for your stay during they day, which is another 25 stones."

"Ah fuck... I- I'm sorry, it's been way too long since I've last slept. Here, there are 500 in this pouch, thank you and please thank the maid in my stead when she returns."

Oddly enough, the food and water would be exactly like that of Atris, so recovering proved not to be an issue. I would be left with 3750 stones after indulging in a good meal and drinks, a singular stone for every demon that I've killed. Turns out, the stones are made through the accumulation of demonic energy and demonic blood, in the body of a demon, which makes each stone extremely valuable as there are limited stones due to there being a limited number of demons in the Demon Realm. Because I've killed the demons and did not properly wait for them to mature long enough, I've receive only a little amount of blood stones.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"I wonder how much time has passed in Atris?" I would think to myself, "Surely I haven't been gone for more than a year or two. I need to find a way to leave this place, but I don't know where the Demonic Grounds portal is...".

As frustration would build up, so would the music of the parade, this parade I have come to know as the Red Parade and it would only last for 7 days. Nobody would give me more answers to my questions at the inn, but one thing would be certain, something would be bound to happen on the 7th day when the parade would end.

"XU!?"

"XU! I can't believe it!"

Two voices from the crowd would be heard, "Who's calling me?", I would turn my head in the direction of the voices, trying to see through the crowd of dancing demons enjoying themselves at the parade.

"Wait, there's no way... Lei Lei? And... Mer Xia!? But why do you look so different? How did you get here?", I would ask them while hugging both, as tears would drop on their faces.

"Xu... I can't believe we finally meet again.", Lei would remark, "Do you even know how long you've been gone for?"

"N-No? How long has it been since my disappearance into that portal?"

"5 years Xu, I thought you were dead...", she would cry, struggling to contain her emotions, "Don't ever scare me like that again dummy..."

"Wait... hold on... 5 years!?", all sorts of emotions would hit me with this revelation, "I've been gone for 5 whole years? There's no way, it's only been 1 year and a half for me..."

"Xu, your family, we've buried them, I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you two..." Mer Xia would exclaim, "I'm not leaving your side from now on, both of you!", clearly angered with herself and teary eyed, she would grab hold of my arm, "It's been far too long since we've last met... I thought you died when LeiLei told me."

"Y- Yeah, I'm sorry, it was out of my control", I would let out with a sigh of relief, telling them my story of how I've spent my time in the Demonic Grounds, starting with the initial fight with the crazy demon that started it all and has forced me onto the demonic path, ending my story with the meeting between Yaozrui, the Demon Dragon God and I.

"Wow, that's some crazy stuff you've been through, Xu", Mer Xia would exclaim with a sigh of relief that I seem to at least be in a better shape now, "Let's have some fun at this parade, you definitely deserve it!"

"YEAH, LET'S DO THAT!", Lei would excitedly yell, "It's been far too long since we've been all together."

"Yeah, we should, there's a performance about to happen soon. But enough of that, you've both grown extremely beautiful, you know?"

With a blush, Mer Xia would say, "Duh, we're adults now dummy... I'm 23 and LeiLei is 21 this year."

The announcer of the parade would yell into a device that would amplify her voice, "Come now, come all! Everyone, come, come! We're about to have our very first ritual duel of the night! Do not miss the finale of the parade!"

"Oh, guys, let's go sit down and reminisce!" Having said that, Lei would excitedly grab both our arms with a smile and a blush, leading us to the nearby empty table.

And so, a talk about the past would start between us three.

"Alright, so, how have you been doing Merry, LeiLei?"

"Merry? Didn't I tell you not to call me that, dumdum?"

"Oh come on, what's the harm in that? I call you that all the time though?"

"LeiLei... don't encourage him... Do you remember our sects, Xu? I'm now an inner disciple of the Jiàndào Sect and LeiLei has reached inner disciple level as well in the Zhòuyǔ sect due to our advancements in studying our special body constitution. You remember that LeiLei has the Mythic Buddha Reincarnation Method and I have the Ancient Sword Body, right?"

"R-Right, inner disciples, in a mere 5 years that I was gone, wow you two..."

"Hey, cheer up, you'll get your chance, remember, Yuiren's waiting for you to re-take your own sect."

"Oh, right, Yuiren, I had forgotten."

"Hey guys, look, they're starting the performance." Merry would let us know, pointing at the ring.

The announcer would start again, "Our preparations are ready, look here folks, these two need no introduction, we're about to have one HELL of a show!"

Soon after, the first performer would show himself, his appearance similar to the Samurai of legends, from my distant memories of a different reincarnation, from a place known as Japan. His appearance would be a bit off and weird at the same time however and he would give off an ominous feeling.

The other would be a demon with 6 arms, a yellow aura combined with a red effect due to the malicious intent he was giving off. This demon would be different from the one that had carried me over to the site of the Parade, but similar in appearance.

The three of us would watch the performance closely, as we've never seen demons such as these, and as the duel would come to an end and the sword of the Samurai would pierce the heart of the 6 armed demon, the moon would slowly turn red and the sky would follow.

"Ladies, I think it's time we move, there's a disturbing feeling in the air, we should get away from this place.", I would say, leaving them in a state of confusion.

"What's going on Xu?" they would both ask at the same time.

"Hold on," Mer Xia would say, sensing something with her Ancient Sword Body, "grab your stuff, LeiLei!"

"H-HUH!? Guys, I think it's too late..." LeiLei would let out with a sigh, activating her Mythic Buddha Reincarnation Method's palm aura, "We're already surrounded!"

"Darn it, not again..." I would sigh, angered from all the sudden death situations I was put through during my stay in the Demon Realm, and as I would finish my sentence, the human-like folks would change right in front of us, "I can't catch a fucking break..."

The sky and the moon would turn into a dark-red, blood-like color, the people would turn into creatures that even the remaining demons would be afraid of and as a blood red mist would slowly rise the entire area would go silent.

"GUYS, RUN! THESE AREN'T NORMAL DEMONS!", I would yell, grabbing Lei Zhao and Mer Xia by their arms, "Damn it, we don't have time!".

"Xu?", they would both be left in shock and awe as my demonic aura would surface for the first time, "I'll explain later, for now just trust me girls!" I would say, jumping with all my might, lighting and demonic aura being left in our trail.

"Woah, Xu, are you a demon now? Do we have to put you down?", Mer Xia would say with a worried tone.

"Yeah, Xu, what gives!? Weren't you able to suppress this back 5 years ago, before you enter the portal to the Demonic Grounds?", Lei would continue, "I thought I told you not to let the demon energy grab a hold of you dumdum!"

"I've been through a lot, you can thank that demon wench I told you about, she basically forced me onto the demonic path", I tell them, reassuring them that everything is under control.

"But, you know, I've been wondering, Xu" Merry would question me confused,"What is up with this demonic blade?"

"Demonic Blade? Oh, you mean this rusty old sword Yaozrui gave me?" I would question with a frown, "I thought this was just a piece of garbage...?"

"I'm getting some weird and powerful vibes from it, this is not sword Xu, that's a blade, it's way thicker than a normal sword" she would continue, "You know how I'm sensitive to swords due to my special body constitution from the Ancient Sword Body, it's giving me the creeps... it's as if the blade is resonating with your power."

"That's what it was?" LeiLei would exclaim,"No wonder my senses are so off when I'm near you! All I feel is that damn blade of yours..."

"Huh, maybe this thing will come in handy soon... Yaozrui, what have you given me?", regardless of what we would think, the blade would be useless right now as it is not in any shape to be used on cutting down foes.

The blade would need to be restored, and through no ordinary means would that happen.

The more I would run, the more everything around us would change, not even the plants and the trees would escape this phenomenon, our party of three would be pulled into a dark and bloody abyss. But while I would be thinking of how we could get away, an ominous voice would be heard, yelling from behind, "AAAGH-HAAAAH-HAAAAGH! WELCOME TO THE RED PARADE!"

"Girls, I have a really bad feeling about this..."

"Xu, stop, you can't outrun them while carrying us." And as Mer Xia would finish her sentence, Lei Zhao would notify us, "DEMONS INCOMING FROM ALL ANGLES!", with that, Mer Xia would free herself from my grip and charge her sword with a powerful aura, her eyes would turn jade-green in color, the air around her blowing in all directions.

"It's time my Ancient Sword Body was put to the test!"

"It's time my Ancient Sword Body was put to the test!" [https://img.wattpad.com/6d1fee843027f9c20d914bcb2503a4fa580b531d/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f375f6e464e6347786f66646e57413d3d2d313439393038383435342e313830633231643533663162653934633438353837313337353333362e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]