Volume One: "The Nature of the Devil Does Not Change"
Arc: "The Devil Finally Leaves Earth"
Strangely, images surfaced in Scarlet King's mind. A man stood before a massive crowd. In the center of the scene, beside the other men, hung a colossal sun. A gigantic red dragon stood near it, and a heavily built man radiated powerful golden rays. Meanwhile, the lone man's body was torn open, bleeding heavily.
Scarlet King spoke to himself:
(What are these images? Damn it… they're tearing at my mind! But wait… that sun is the Will of a Great Emperor!)
He wavered in midair. Ikalat and Lin Yuan noticed and asked, curious:
"Are you alright, Scarlet King?"
Scarlet King nodded, signaling he was fine. To Lin Yuan and Ikalat, his state was abnormal—though they insisted he was abnormal all the time. This time, however, it felt different.
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted, turning dark red. The rumble of explosions rose, and the heat surged to a terrifying level. Scarlet King steadied himself, and his expression changed the moment he realized where they were.
"We're in the Middle Region now… the Region of Erupting Volcanoes."
Scarlet King descended toward the ground, with Lin Yuan and Ikalat following. When they landed on scorched black earth, they saw a few charred trees, endless lava flows, and volcanoes erupting everywhere.
Then an ear-splitting screech tore through the air.
"Kuaaaa!!"
Scarlet King turned toward the sound and saw a red fire-bird—featherless and headless—flying on wings made of lava.
"They're the Charred Lava Birds!"
He stomped the ground, making huge chunks of earth rise. With a lift of his hand, he set the slabs above them as cover and said,
"They carry lava stones in the opening at their necks—that's where the sound comes from. If they notice any creature moving, they throw those stones… and they can kill us."
Ikalat replied excitedly as he stepped out of hiding:
"Hah! I'll kill them easily… they're birds in the end."
Scarlet King snapped,
"Get back, you idiot! You don't know who you're dealing with!"
Ikalat moved at full speed—500,000 times faster than light—but when he tried to strike one of the birds, it dodged effortlessly. Ikalat froze.
"What?"
Before he could even think, a bird slammed into him and sent him crashing into the ground.
From Scarlet King's side, Lin Yuan and Yu Ru Ming watched as he shoved the stone slab into Lin Yuan's hands. Then he surged forward, grabbed Ikalat's unconscious body, and tried to pull him back—
"Kuaaaa!!"
The sound ripped through the air again.
A lava stone was already falling.
Scarlet King saw it, yet he couldn't move—the stone distorted the movement of everything nearby.
It struck and severed Scarlet King's left arm. Blood sprayed. His clothes tore. The remaining stump scorched and burned, but he still hoisted Ikalat onto his shoulder and retreated beneath the stone cover, lowering Ikalat to the ground.
He clamped his hand over the wound. Yu Ru Ming stepped forward anxiously.
"I have a technique called Supernatural Wound Coagulation. It might help stop the bleeding."
She used the technique. Yellow light flowed from her hands into Scarlet King's arm, and the blood began to clot until the bleeding stopped.
Then a loud feminine voice—beautiful, seductive—rang out:
"Stop, my foolish little pets!"
A woman of overwhelming beauty appeared. Her pink hair flowed like a river, and her dark-pink eyes bloomed like flowers. Her skin was white as snow; her nose small and sharp. Her black eyebrows were fine as threads, her lashes long, and a small black crown sat atop her head.
She wore a tight black robe that traced her curves—full chest, wide hips, a narrow waist, and thick thighs—along with black boots and stockings. A huge scythe rested across her back, and she rode a Charred Lava Bird.
"Haha… looks like we have some pitiful guests…" Her gaze sharpened. "Wait. Yu Ru Ming? My little sister? What are you doing among these weak, pathetic creatures?!"
Lin Yuan shouted, pointing at her in fury:
"Who are you calling pathetic, you whor—"
He didn't finish.
In the next instant, she was in front of him. She flicked him with a single finger, sending him flying until he slammed into the side of a volcano.
Only then did she notice Ikalat lying on the ground—at the same time she heard fighting nearby. She turned and saw Titan King gripping one of the birds and crushing it under his gigantic foot. The hooks on his back snapped forward, piercing another bird. He fired the cannon on his right arm and erased a third completely. Then he unleashed deafening soundwaves along with red beams from his screen, and the birds before him died instantly.
The woman laughed coldly as she drew the scythe from her back.
"Oh… so there's someone strong among the pathetic ones. But no matter how strong you are, you will kneel before the Second Demonic Princess of the Opposing Demon Dimensions."
Titan King faced her. On his screen, the expression was:
">:("
Yu Ru Ming stood and addressed the woman:
"Yao Yan… my older sister, please stop. They're allies, and they'll help us get out."
Yao Yan's expression sagged into boredom. She spat on the ground and slid her scythe away. As for Titan King, fog rose around him, and Scarlet King returned to his human form—his arm still severed.
With swift speed, he moved to Lin Yuan, pulled him out of the volcano, sat him down beside Ikalat, and muttered,
"Hah… two unconscious now. Good. Looks like I've become a dual corpse-carrier… idiots."
He stepped back beside Yu Ru Ming and looked at Yao Yan with a calm expression, completely unmoved.