Chapter 2 — First Blood in the Demon World
The air reeked of smoke and iron.
Fang Yuan opened his eyes. Cold. Sharp. A tiny spark of curiosity flickered in the depths of his eternal mind. Around him, the village lay in ruin. Roofs caved under flames, walls charred black, and scattered corpses of humans and demons alike littered the streets.
He did not flinch. He did not mourn.
Curiosity, not compassion, guided his first step.
His boots crunched over shards of wood and stone. Every sound echoed in his ears. A small boy, no more than ten, crawled behind a half-burned house, eyes wide, face smeared with soot and blood.
Fang Yuan paused, studying him.
Weak. Mortal. A tool.
The boy whimpered and held up a makeshift dagger. Fang Yuan cocked his head. The dagger wouldn't even scratch him if he wanted. But that wasn't the point.
The point was observation.
"Don't scream. You'll attract the demons again," Fang Yuan said, voice calm, almost casual.
The boy froze. His dagger trembled. Fang Yuan tilted his head. Good. Fear is an excellent tool. It keeps humans predictable.
He crouched slightly. One step, one movement…
Suddenly, movement from the shadows — something fast, something wrong. Fang Yuan's eyes sharpened. His first real test of this world.
A demon lunged from the charred alley, fangs bared, claws aimed for the boy.
Fang Yuan didn't hesitate.
With a flick of his hand, he activated the Mahoraga adaptation instinct. The air around him rippled as if the world itself obeyed him. In an instant, his reflexes accelerated.
He grabbed the demon's arm mid-lunge, twisted, and snapped the joint with a sharp crack. The creature shrieked, stumbling back. Fang Yuan's eyes glinted blue in the firelight as he applied a calculated amount of force. Enough to incapacitate, enough to warn.
The boy stared. Fang Yuan ignored him.
Not my concern.
The demon struggled, clawing at him again. Fang Yuan's hand moved like water. Every movement precise, every reaction adapted from the creature's attack patterns. The Mahoraga ability calculated, predicted, evolved.
A single strike shattered the demon's skull. Blood sprayed. Fang Yuan wiped his hand on his robe.
First blood.
He turned back to the boy. "Follow me, and do exactly what I say. Move wrong, and you die."
The boy hesitated, but Fang Yuan's gaze cut through him like a blade. Obedience was easy when fear outweighed hope.
They moved through the ruins. Fang Yuan noted everything: escape routes, possible ambushes, remaining demons, and any weapon he could exploit. Every small detail became a variable in his mental map.
Hours passed. Fang Yuan walked calmly through destruction, while the boy trailed silently.
Then he saw them. A pair of demons, far larger than the first, crouched atop a ruined shrine. Their red eyes glowed in the twilight, bodies slick with black ichor. Fang Yuan tilted his head slightly.
Interesting. This world has variety. Some creatures are worth attention.
He smiled, only slightly. Not a human smile. A predator's.
The larger demon growled, testing the limits of his senses. Fang Yuan flexed his fingers. The Mahoraga adaptation began humming faintly in his mind. He could feel the creature's strength, its speed, its tendencies.
Yes… this will be fun.
He stepped forward casually, as if strolling through a market rather than approaching two monsters bigger than a horse.
The demons tensed. Fang Yuan stopped. A few words whispered in the boy's mind: Stay quiet, stay still, survive.
The first strike came from the smaller demon. Fang Yuan sidestepped without moving his feet. Adaptation calculated its trajectory before the attack even started. The demon stumbled past him.
His counter was fluid and brutal. A hand grab, a throw, a calculated strike to a weak joint, and the smaller demon fell twitching. The larger one roared, enraged.
Fang Yuan adjusted. Faster, sharper, predicting its attacks before they happened. Mahoraga's instinct grew. This world's laws would bend to him, not the other way around.
Within moments, both demons were down, incapacitated, not destroyed — for now. Every action was a lesson. Every motion, a data point.
The boy, still trembling, glanced at him. Fang Yuan's gaze flicked. Curious, mortal. Useful, if alive.
"You will learn one thing today," Fang Yuan said, voice calm. "The world doesn't care about mercy. Survival is all that matters. Remember that."
He turned, walking further into the burning village. The smell of smoke, blood, and death clung to him, but he didn't flinch. He inhaled, cataloged, adapted.
This world is simple. Weak humans. Predictable demons. Rules that can be bent.
Perfect.
The first trial had begun. And Fang Yuan had already begun reshaping it in his mind.
This was no playground. This was a furnace. And he was the fire.