Spreading their dragon wings and flying midair with Stella, Charles took a breath of the Demon World air said to make ordinary humans drop dead on the spot.
Sure enough, the air here contains too many energy particles; humans without spiritual power in their bodies simply can't withstand it.
But precisely because of that, the Demon World is far sturdier than the Human World; it won't be like before, where Sensui releasing a bit of Sacred Energy immediately triggered an earthquake, and it lets Charles at least cut loose a little.
Charles promptly fired off a burst of the Fire Dragon's Radiant Flame to vent a bit.
Naturally, that shot wasn't aimed at Kuwabara and the others, nor at Sensui; the target was the countless demons swarming around the entrance.
The rift had started appearing several weeks earlier and naturally drew in hordes of demons.
This inevitably brings up a point the original storyline glossed over: whether demons eat humans.
Charles only learned after coming to this world that demons are normal living beings, not some bizarre species that can consume nothing but humans.
Otherwise, with the Demon and Human Worlds separated by a barrier for centuries, demons in the Demon World would scarcely encounter humans and most should have starved long ago. Especially A-class and S-class demons—they wouldn't have obediently stayed put in the Demon World.
And judging by demon numbers, how many people would it take to meet their food needs? The Human World would have long since fallen into chaos from demon predation!
However, human flesh and spiritual power can increase a demon's demonic power, so demons who pursue strength instinctively hunt humans, especially those with spiritual power.
This is also why spiritual power users like Sensui are constantly harried by demons.
Ordinary demons can survive on normal food. The exception is Raizen—he is too powerful, and ordinary food can't keep up with his body's consumption.
Since he refuses to eat humans, Raizen can only slowly head toward death.
By contrast, these low-level demons ruled by instinct naturally crave entering the Human World to satisfy their desires.
Most low-level demons can't fly, so they had actually piled themselves into a hill-like demon ladder.
The smarter demons watched from the side, waiting to join in after the ones below got into the Human World safely and confirmed there were no traps.
When Sensui entered the Demon World, he casually took out a few of them, then went to a barren mountain to fight with the three who caught up—Kuwabara and company.
The remaining demons' luck ended there; they had to face that massive fireball.
The fireball plunged straight into the base of the demon pile and erupted all at once. A beautiful mushroom cloud blossomed, and all the demons were swallowed by the flames.
That shot gave Charles an immediate sense of cathartic relief. The moment that feeling surfaced, he hastily cautioned himself.
He had no desire to start resembling that Crimson Demon girl with a few screws loose.
Stella stretched a bit and said, "So this is the Demon World you mentioned, Charles? It really does feel much better to move around here. Where are we headed next?"
Charles thought it over. The original storyline didn't have much on the Demon World, and there didn't seem to be many places worth a special visit.
In the end he said, "If anything, there's only one person here I want to meet. Let's head toward where he is while we explore this world."
While the two spoke, Charles also sensed a powerful demonic aura coming from the entrance.
It was so strong it could be clearly felt across a stretch of hyperspace, which also meant its owner didn't have good control over his own aura.
Stella looked over as well and said, "Is that…?"
Confirming Stella's guess, Charles said, "It's Yusuke Urameshi. The opening of the Demon World gateway awakened his demon blood. He's reincarnated as a demon now."
Stella sighed and said, "I couldn't sense it before—demons in this world really are strange!
No wonder you didn't step in to save him; you already knew this would happen!"
Previously Stella had simply trusted Charles's judgment; only now did she understand the reason he'd merely watched.
Stella went on, "Yusuke shouldn't lose to Sensui now, right? It looks like his power has already surpassed Sensui's!
But it's really unfair—just awakening another race's bloodline and suddenly gaining power this strong!"
Hearing that, Charles couldn't help but sigh a bit as well.
After reincarnating as a demon, Yusuke's demonic power immediately broke past S-class, indeed above Sensui.
But having gained such power so abruptly, how much Yusuke could control and translate into actual might remained unknown.
Otherwise, in the original plot, Raizen wouldn't have needed to take over to steamroll Sensui.
As for the 'unfairness' Stella mentioned, Charles could only say she hadn't seen anything yet!
That said, he didn't feel it was terribly unfair the way Stella did.
Charles had long understood that absolute fairness doesn't exist. Even Stella herself, with her Dragon God possession ability, was destined to be strong—born surpassing countless Slayers.
It isn't just bloodline; talent, constitution, even luck—all differ. So Charles didn't see innate excellence as unfair; he simply admired more those who climbed step by step through effort.
After all, when it comes to cheats, the one Charles runs is already strong enough.
What's more, Yusuke's peak was definitely not his demon form.
In the original plot, during the later Demon World Unification Tournament, Yusuke met Yomi, one of the three Demon World kings, in the semifinals.
In that battle, Yusuke truly transcended the influence of demon blood. He not only reverted from demon form to human but also unleashed a fighting aura akin to Sacred Energy.
In that state he didn't defeat Yomi, but he injured him badly enough that Yomi ultimately failed to take the championship.
What took him to that point was precisely the battle resolve he still didn't understand now.
As Charles and Stella talked, that demonic aura drew closer. At last, a great bird with cyan plumage flew out of the entrance, heading straight for Sensui and the three fighting him in the distance.
Charles could clearly see the almost-congealed demonic aura around Yusuke on the Spirit World Beast's back, along with his confident expression.
And just as Charles expected, Yusuke's rough control over his power left him only evenly matched with Sensui.
However, Sensui's ability to condense Sacred Energy into a ki-steel battle suit was somewhat similar to Charles's Dragon Flame Battle Gear, causing several of Yusuke's attacks to bounce off.
Very soon, Charles observed that Yusuke's aura and appearance had both changed.
Yusuke's hair lengthened rapidly and turned silver. His pupils became dark red, and black demonic markings spread across his body.
The demonic aura he'd been letting run wild drew back, and the rampaging power within him turned docile.
After that, "Yusuke" seemed like a different person altogether and began to thrash Sensui.
Charles of course knew what had happened: the one controlling Yusuke's body now wasn't Yusuke, but his blood father—the strongest being in this world, Raizen.
"Battle God Raizen, huh!" Charles sighed, his interest in this legendary demon growing.
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