Richard wiped off the blood that had splattered onto his face.
Although he always made sure to go for scum of the earth and the drugs of society, he always couldn't help but feel a bit dirty after feeding Fenrir.
The eyes of the Blood Demon shone with a vicious light as it downed the first of its screaming meal, crushing his head with its powerful jaws.
Although the lock tk the cage had been broken clean off, none of them were able to escape as the Blood Demon stood right at the entrance, as though taunting them to try leaving.
The first unlucky victim to go had been killed relatively quickly, perhaps because the Blood Demon couldn't quite control itself after being starved for so long.
Ignoring the shouts, screeching roars of promised vengeance and pleas of mercy, Richard turned around and walked away, the sound of crunching bones and tearing flesh filling his ears.
Killer Dan's face was as white as a sheet.
Why? Why had he provoked the Demon?!
Could it be that his fate was so cursed?!
That, he would never know. With a single chomp, his head was separated from his body.
Warm blood gushed all over the place, splattering on the iron bars and the cold floor.
Walking out of the stuffy basement, Richard made his way back into the living area.
Settling down on a recliner, he paused for a moment then stood up.
Walking over to the fridge, he pulled a refreshingly cold can of some drink out.
Walking back to his seat, he plopped down again.
The can made a crisp sound as he opened it.
He downed half the content on a single go then let out a satisfied sigh,
"That's the stuff."
He leaned back even more, wallowing in the comfort.
A few minutes later, a gruff, satisfied voice wormed its way into his ears,
"It's finished."
Richard chuckled,
"Did you enjoy your meal?"
"I did." The Blood Demon responded.
Richard nodded.
There was no need for him to maralize his actions.
In this world, the difference between the good and the bad often blurred. While him feeding five people to Fenrir coulybe considered murder, it didn't matter at the same time.
In his opinion, some people were better off dead. And if they were going to die, their death might as well serve a greater purpose.
Such as feeding his Demons.
The shadowy figure of Fenrir coiled around him eeriely, the wolf body disintegrating into a viscous pitch coloured smog that filled the room
The blood red eyes swam through the air, settling right in front of him.
They stared into his eyes...
"The world of man is really interesting. Although darkness has fallen, it is brighter than the abyss."
The scent of blood was strong. Richard furrowed his brows,
"What exactly does the abyss look like?" He asked curiously.
"It is exactly as you humans describe it. It is Hell. Why do you think we creatures born of it are so eager to leave?"
Richard frowned, "And yet, your end goal is to lead Earth's assimilation into the abyss? Seems rather counterintuitive, don't you think?"
The shadowy wolf growled,
"We lead the Earth towards its inevitable end. There is no in-between. It will happen. It is something we cannot resist. It is instinct, much like this eternal hunger that plagues me."
Richard went silent.
He recalled the faithful night he had caught this terrible Demon.
Most members of the Bane family were given a lot of resources to capture their first Demons. As such, a lot of them had rather high ranking Demons sitting in the thrones of their Abyssal palaces.
Richard in the other hand, had to find these Demons and capture them, all by himself.
Well, he had received a bit of help, but in general, he had done it himself.
It had been a stormy night.
He had received Intel of a small farming community in the countryside being terrorized by a strange fiend that only appeared at night, once a year.
It had been that way for about twenty years.
On that day, multiple people would vanish, leaving behind small pools of blood and nothing more.
Not even a single strand of hair would be left.
Richard had worked hard to track the Blood Demon down to its lair in the forest.
There, they had fought a bloody battle that left him terribly close to death.
Eventually, he had defeated the Demon and sealed its soul within his.
Over the course of twenty years, the Blood Demon had gathered a terrifying amount of power, so he had no business facing it as a First Rank Sorcerer.
And yet, he had prevailed against the odds.
He stared into the demonic crimson eyes.
They thirsted for blood more than anything. The eyes of a ferocious, yet intelligent and malevolent beast.
"How close are you to the next realm?"
Fenrir replied,
"A few more meals, and I will have gathered enough blood energy."
Richard clicked his tongue,
"Opportunities like this are rather rare since there aren't a lot of deviants available all the time."
Fenrir snorted,
"Let me eat one of the other guys and I'll be good."
Richard grimaced,
"I was wrong. You all aren't getting along at all."
Fenrir chuckled menacingly,
"Those fools! They think they can compare to me! Little do they know that I already have plans for them."
Richard chuckled,
"But you don't have to eat them, right? I could just get you another Demon to eat, right?"
Fenrir paused,
"You are right. But I would rather just eat these ones."
Richard sighed and shook his head.
The Blood Demon circled the room in its ghostly form,
"If you want to go Demon Hunter, where would you head to?"
Richard paused for a moment,
"It might be difficult to find any Demons in the city. It is the dominion of a Devil."
Since Devils mixed like ice and lava, it was impossible for any strong Demons to be within its dominion. The reason the Demons of the Bane family could go under the radar was because they were hidden within the souls of their masters.
Suddenly, he froze,
'Wait a minute... If the city is considered the dominion of a Devil, why isn't any one actively hunting it down?'
It was suspicious.
No, it was more than that.
His brows creased.
"That means you will be leaving your hometown again? How pitiful." Fenrir said in a low growl as it swirled around Richard's head.
Richard clicked his tongue,
"Alright, that's enough from you."
With a snap of his finger, the Blood Demon felt a pull on its ethereal body.
"Hey! I still need some time to digest! You can't do this! Sto—"
The ghastly black fog was swallowed by his shadow.
Richard huffed, letting out a tired sigh as he collapsed on his chair.
The reason he usually didn't call on his Demons to do direct battle for him was because it required far too much mana to maintain their physical state as their master.
As a Second Rank Sorcerer, although his mana pool was much larger than others of the same rank, it was still too little, so he had to be economic with how he used the essence of magic.
The dark living room fell into silence once more, only now, there was a faint lingering scent of blood.
After a few minutes of silence, he picked his phone up.
The light flickered on.
He checked the time.
'The day is about to run out.'
He quietly stood up and walked upstairs. The old floorboards groaned under his weight.
He reached his room soon later. Once inside, he walked over to the balcony and threw the doors open.
He had never been invited to the Halls of Solomon before, but he had an idea how it worked.
The Halls of Solomon was a library containing all magical information there was, about their world, and the planes of the abyss beyond it, as well as the connecting corridor.
However, it was a special library. The information on all that was far too great to be stored in a physical location.
So instead, the Halls of Solomon existed only in a place where the soul could go.
He gently lay on the bed.
'If I remember clearly, something will comw to take my soul. However, it can't enter into a house uninvited so the windows have to be left open.
He glanced up.
His windows, as well as the glass doors to the balcony were all open.
'How terrifying.'
Essentially, to visit this magical library, he would have to die.
The idea scared and intrigued him at the same time.
He picked his phone up again and looked at it.
The time was just a few minutes to midnight.
In just a few minutes, the day would come to an end.
He was suddenly curious.
What exactly did this soul-ferrying creature look like?
Just as the thought filled his mind, his vision blurred and his mind became cloudy.
'What is...'
His vision stirred and the next moment, he blacked out.