To think he'd discover something like this on his hunt.
Qiren stared up at the black-wood tree. Its branches spread wide, brittle leaves rattling softly in the wind.
The trunk was split open, a panicked demon fused inside—converted into a memorial of twisted bark. A soulless husk.
Yes.
It truly was soulless.
He didn't know how or why, but in this moment he could clearly sense the difference between himself, Mei Mei, and this unknown thing before him.
Life flowed within him and his creation.
Not here.
This thing was hollow—severed from the world.
Abyssal Rift…
The term surfaced unbidden.
Yet he felt no miasma leaking from the tree's shadow.
Instead, an image flashed through his mind—
A large juvenile wyrm he had once defeated by destroying its soul. A body that still moved, still possessed vitality—yet was empty. A husk without essence.
The circumstances were different…
But the absence felt the same.
Qiren's eyes widened as a cold unease crawled up his spine.
Could it be that this demon—
He swallowed.
Had it teleported?
The world fell silent.
Crackling flames. Buzzing insects. Distant birds.
All frozen for several heartbeats.
In all his time within the Abyss, he had never felt something like this—danger, fear, hatred, and confusion knotted into a single oppressive pressure.
Had it been capable of this from the start?
What had it done to trigger such a response from the tree?
If he had gotten closer—would he have been dragged into that desert as well?
How did a weak demon like that slip from his grasp?
He'd had it.
It had been in the palm of his hand.
A toy—something he would've fed to his spawn or offered to Yīnluò.
His thoughts churned as his expression twisted between confusion and rage.
When I touched it… I saw it running through that desert, right?
But those weren't my eyes.
!!
Qiren snapped back to the tree.
His gaze scanned the wooden fingers—and found what was missing.
The soul contract.
Wherever it ran, it had taken the contract with it.
"Damn it," he snarled. "If it crosses three kilometers, it'll be too late!"
He slapped his rift talisman against the statue.
A mixed thread of energy materialized from the charm, plunging straight through the wooden body as Qiren's consciousness followed it.
Amethyst sandstorms.
Countless hidden trees.
He ignored them all.
His focus narrowed into a single line.
He entered another trunk—
Everything went black.
Yet he could still sense the other end of the twin talismans.
He forced his will forward.
Added Clause:
In half a second, all previous rules are forfeit.
Any being within fifty meters of this contract shall die.
Their souls shall become the property of the demon—Qiren.
He shouted as the words engraved themselves into ash.
The contract shifted.
The wind screamed.
His consciousness convulsed—
—and was violently expelled in a blinding flash.
"Argh!!!"
Qiren's body was hurled backward as lightning surged through the rift talisman. He smashed into the cliffside, tearing through twenty meters of stone.
"AAAAHH—!"
He clawed at his own body as electric currents erupted beneath his skin, sparks bursting outward from his flesh.
My whole body is searing—!
He convulsed, teeth grinding as agony ripped through every nerve.
I need to stop this… blood—blood—I need blood—
The words barely formed past his lips, reduced to a broken rasp.
Papa! Papa!
Mei Mei screamed into his mind as she wriggled free from the rubble, her small body trembling. Cracks webbed across her exoskeleton, fragments flaking away as she dragged herself forward.
Papa! Get up! Get up!
She squeezed through a gap between stones, weak and unsteady.
Qiren groaned, his senses snapping onto her injuries.
Blood… fresh blood…
His trembling fingers twitched, forcing themselves to move.
"Papa…?" Mei Mei's voice wavered. She stood before him, her form shadowed by his taloned hands.
He grabbed her.
She froze.
Fear flooded her mind—not of him, but for him.
His grip tightened as instinct screamed.
Blood. I need blood. If I can—
"I—no—" Qiren choked, teeth bared as his body shook violently. "Mei Mei… I can't—"
Pain surged again, sharper this time, tearing a hoarse cry from his throat.
Eat.
Her thought was soft. Resolute.
Papa… eat me.
His head snapped up.
"No," he snarled weakly. "You're—"
I'm already hurt everywhere, she replied quickly, forcing brightness into her thoughts.
This helps me too. You'll heal… and I won't have to work anymore. I was never cut out for the tunnels anyway, right? Even if I was, I'm too badly injured now.
Her voice wavered at the end.
He knew.
Even through the haze, he knew she was lying.
Her injuries weren't severe. Painful, yes—but not fatal. She was saying it only to ease his hesitation.
His hands trembled harder.
"…Mei Mei," he whispered, his voice breaking. "You're truly my favorite."
He bent down.
Her body shifted.
A girl with long black hair and large almond eyes replaced her worm form. Qiren felt a knife sink deeper into his heart—the girl looked like a fusion of his past self and Mei Mei.
Her lower half remained a black tail, coiling around his back and pulling him closer—a vivid illusion meant to wound him even more.
His fangs sank into her flesh.
SKREEEEEE—!!
Her screech ripped across the hillside, echoing through shattered stone and broken earth.
Hot blood flooded his mouth.
Power surged.
The agony wracking his body began to recede as the lightning beneath his skin dulled to a faint crackle. His breathing steadied—ragged, feral, but alive.
Mei Mei's cries trembled with pain—but she did not pull away.
She endured.
Because he needed her.
And Qiren hated himself for it.
He was too unprepared.
If he'd had blood on him.
If he'd known about that tree.
If he hadn't—
He gritted his bloodied teeth.
If he hadn't grown overconfident from small victories, the old him would have been more cautious.
"Hahaha…" He laughed weakly, staring up at the ceiling.
Mei Mei's remains lay scattered at his sides.
It was funny—one moment, he had believed himself the strongest being in this region.
He could kill souls, raise armies with enough Qi, and possessed the knowledge to forge iron weapons—skipping the Stone Age most juvenile demons were trapped in.
Yet in a single second, one reckless alteration to his contract—something struck back at him. It sent him flying into a hill, shattered his bones, and electrocuted his body with divine radiance.
Qiren coughed, his eyes long since returned to normal.
"I'm sorry, Mei…" he whispered. "It wasn't enough. I've wasted your sacrifice as well~"
He chuckled.
No—
His subconscious laughed.
His lips had not moved.
His gaze lifted—and he saw himself.
"Even after she gave her life for you, you'll die like this," his ego said.
"How pathetic. You could've resisted the pain for a moment—told Mei Mei to go hunt for you."
It shook its head.
"But you were too kind."
It smirked.
"You're always too kind."
??
Qiren raised an eyebrow.
His ego stepped closer and knelt beside him.
"Don't give me that confused look. We both know what I'm talking about."
It picked up Mei Mei's remains.
"Ever since you arrived here, you've claimed to be a demon—yet I've never once seen it. Or am I missing something? Does a demon let attacks go unanswered? Does a demon make friends?"
It tilted its head.
"Why didn't you kill the fledglings you flew with? Or the hundreds of hatchlings below?"
"You could've done it and found your karmic wheel earlier—gained even more Qi and Karma reserves."
Qiren listened, frowning—only feeding into his ego's taunting.
"Even if you awakened nothing special, you would've harvested emotions regardless—fear, pain, sorrow, fury, rage. You could've savored them all."
It leaned closer.
"Imagine it—shoving pain directly into their hearts or vital organs. Would their bodies rupture? Would they shut down? Or would they turn into cursed objects like those berries you used~?"
The ego shoved a piece of Mei Mei into his mouth. Qiren tried to look away, but it held him still.
"That reminds me—have you ever experimented with what could hold your curses?"
"Argh… ghh…"
"You had plenty of opportunities in Parchment Valley. You could've detached your head, set up a bad-luck warding ritual, infused it with collected emotions—or even memories."
It leaned closer.
"Imagine that. Instead of signing contracts with demons we both know probably died in their first week down here, you could've shared your memories with them—created psychological clones."
Qiren swallowed.
"What if it doesn't work like that?" he panted. "What if giving up memories works the same as emotional units? I could've uploaded everything into a demon—but what happens to me? Would I become a blank-slate genius?"
The ego shoved another piece into his mouth.
"That's the thing about hypothetical situations," it said. "You wouldn't know unless you tried."
It smirked.
"What makes a memory—experience, truth, or delusion? You know I'm false. One of your many humanoid figments. A delusion to keep you company as you die."
Its smile widened.
"I'm real. I have my own memories and experiences. I am already you—but I am not you. We speak the same, think the same… yet you'll never know my principles, just as I'll never be you."
"So why not try?" it whispered.
"Give me your memories."
"If you lost them all, you'd die quietly—blank and silent—letting your subconscious sink into the boundless depths of your mind."
It paused.
"But you won't. You're too caring. At best, you'd give up half and wait—searching for gaps in your thoughts. Then you'd hesitate."
Its eyes narrowed.
"Afraid of imposing everything on me."
"Wouldn't that make me selfish?" Qiren rasped. "Doesn't that mean I'm just not trusting you? Maybe I'm scared you'd take my place. For all I know, you could be a mental demon—or a heart demon."
The ego shook its head.
"True selfishness is sparing yourself pain—your death, your disappointment. So what if I were a heart demon? If I inherited your feelings, your emotions… you'd be at peace."
"Maybe this time you'd pass through the Emerald Gates. Meet the Jade Emperor."
Its smile widened.
"And I'd become the demon you always pretended to be."
"The first thing I'd do is fish through the Azure Streams. I'd gather the bones below—use them as anchors back to their worlds."
"If you came from Earth… what about them?"
"Could I build a teleportation array to reach your home world?"
It leaned closer.
"If I could, I'd lie low. Find a human. Confirm the era. Then I'd move through the suburbs—family by family—killing slowly. Growing my reign through fear, murder, and curses."
A pause.
"Why?"
It bent nearer, its voice almost gentle.
"A true demon deserves to have fun too… wouldn't they?"
"Maybe I'd let the entire planet burn—use it until I found another world."
"A parallel universe. A Chaos Plane. Lands claimed by mortals and gods alike."
"Something."
"I'd live until I stood above everything."
It smiled.
"That's what a demon should strive for~"