Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 28 [The Hunter and the Reddish-brown Sage of Sitica]

Kanas Plain, Valak Underground City.

White stone pillars surround the Black Stone Temple, and leather battle banners painted with outstretched ravens flutter at the top of long poles. Only seven or eight tumbleweeds roll by in the empty arena.

Caw! Caw caw! Seven or eight demonic crows stood atop the flagpole, looking down at what lay below.

At the entrance of the scorched volcanic rock temple, only three adventurers remained, carrying their spoils onto a wagon, intending to transport them back to Fallenthorn City.

"Phew! Finally finished moving everything!" The swordsman, who looked like a squad leader, wiped his sweat and dust off his hands. "Damn it, we're behind. Most of them should have already returned to Fallenthorn City."

"We're not the last to leave; half of us are still here! The level 11 [Flame Thorn] is still covering our retreat in the dungeon, so what's the rush?" The bearded mage chuckled.

A gust of wind swept by, and the horses in front of the carriage suddenly neighed, staring in terror at two figures in the dust on the horizon, as if they had seen something extremely terrifying.

"What's going on..." The crossbowmen in the troop quickly ran to the front of the wagon and calmed the frightened horses.

Two figures flickered in the dust, appearing and disappearing like ghosts. The next moment, with a sudden step, the two emerged from the dust.

They were two strange figures, clad in blood-red, studded leather light armor and covered by black robes. Half their faces were visible beneath black hoods, barely discernible as a man and a woman, with beeswax-like dark brown skin and amber eyes like a leopard's. The man wore a blood-red face-covering scarf, while the woman wore a deep purple veil adorned with scattered gold threads.

The man in black robes carried a huge, exquisitely crafted ebony trunk, large enough to fit two people. Its edges were inlaid with gold; it resembled a suitcase, yet was extravagantly ornate.

"Hey! You two... were you joining the siege later?" The swordsman captain looked up, his hands pausing for a moment. "We're too late! Demon King Valak intercepted the supply convoy, and we don't have enough food. Half of us have already retreated."

"How long has it been?" the man in red armor and black robes asked hoarsely.

"What?" the swordsman captain asked.

"Besiege the underground city of Kana," the woman in red armor and black robes added.

"It's been almost a month, hasn't it?" the swordsman captain recalled, glancing at his teammates for confirmation.

"Yes, it's been a month." The teammate nodded.

"Oh," the man in red armor and black robes replied casually, raising his right hand.

The swordsman captain opened his mouth wide, slowly lowered his head, and watched as the opponent's claws, covered by a black exoskeleton, sank deep into his chest cavity.

puff.

A blood-stained, black claw was slowly pulled from his chest, clutching a still-convulsing, blood-red heart.

The swordsman captain slowly knelt down, leaned forward, and collapsed with a thud. It was as if he were kneeling before the Kanas Plain, until his entire body was on the ground, his soul surrendering to the power of immortality. Before his blood could even flow, it was instantly absorbed by the loose soil.

"Captain!?" The crossbowmen and mages exclaimed, instinctively reaching for their weapons. However, before their fingers touched the crossbows and staffs, a flash of dark, cold light appeared, and a chill ran down their throats.

Half a second later, the two men collapsed to the ground, clutching their throats and struggling. Their vocal cords, trachea, and arteries had been severed, and blood splattered everywhere like flames.

The woman in red armor and black robes flicked the blood from her claws.

"One month." The man in red armor and black robes casually tossed the heart to the ground, flicked his claws, and watched the blood seep into the loose soil, being completely absorbed by the Kanas Plain itself. "How could the Lord of Kanas tolerate them for a month? Does killing them require cutting off their food supply?"

“The king of the crows wants them alive,” said the woman in red armor and black robes. “Cutting off their food will wear them down and make them easier to capture alive.”

"What's the point of keeping them alive?" the man in red armor and black robes asked. "To torture and amuse yourself?"

“Perhaps,” the woman in the purple veil nodded, “or perhaps the Lord of Kana has his own ideas. After all, he is also known as the Reddish-brown Sage.”

The horses neighed in terror, dragging the empty cart, now without its master, wildly galloping across the wasteland. But without the protection of powerful adventurers, ordinary horses in the Kanas wasteland were nothing more than moving pieces of meat.

The shadow cast by the eagle from high above circled around it, gradually enlarging from a small dot until it completely obscured the horse.

Whoosh! With a striking crimson gust of wind, the horse had half its ribs torn off, and the horse and carriage were overturned by the dragon vulture's immense force. Its leg was broken, and half of its ribs and internal organs were exposed as it struggled on the barren, loose soil.

call!
The reddish-brown predator folded its massive wings and landed on the still whimpering horse, opening its fanged beak to tear at its fresh entrails.

Caw caw! Caw caw caw! The demon crows on top of the flagpole swarmed up, fighting like thugs to steal the scraps of meat that the dragon vultures had splashed out while they were feeding. Some of them landed on the three adventurers' corpses, pecking at the flesh and blood from their wounds and the eyes of the corpses.

Ignoring the brutal feast behind them, the two simply carried the large ebony and gold-inlaid chest and stepped into the igneous rock temple.

A massive white stone stood at the front of the temple, with offerings scattered sparsely before it, made by adventurers praying for good fortune. A huge crested raven perched on the stone, striding arrogantly, its blood-red eyes as dazzling as rubies.

Unlike other ordinary demonic crows that compete to peck at the corpses of adventurers outside, it looked down at the two strange figures in front of it with a cold gaze.

"Lord of Kana." The two strange men in red armor and black robes knelt respectfully on one knee and bowed to the giant crested demon raven. "Our master, Sitika, sends you greetings from the distant eastern desert."

"Send two demonized beings to see me?" the Feathered Crow asked coldly. "Are you looking down on me?"

“I wouldn’t dare… If I were here specifically to pay my respects to you, I would have been accompanied by several high-ranking demons and dozens of demonized beings as a sign of respect,” the woman in black explained. “This hunting mission was to hunt down an exile, led by a high-ranking demon commander. I didn’t want to bother you. But the exile escaped to the vicinity of your territory, and the incident happened so suddenly that we had to cross the Kana Plain.”

“Therefore, the commander sent us ahead of time to pay our respects to the monarch and convey the sincere greetings of the master of Situka.” The man in black robes picked up the large box in his hand. “In addition, I brought you a small gift, a specialty from the eastern desert. It’s not very precious, just a small token of the master of Situka’s appreciation.”

"Come in." The crested raven spread its wings and fluttered towards the underground passage.

The two followed the demon crow through the underground passage.

As they passed through the insect maze of the Fifth Ring Road, the magical beasts and carnivorous plants and animals retreated slightly when they faced the two.

Although they weren't as terrified as when facing demons, the monsters still dared not attack the two under the intimidation of the crested demon raven.

The crude buildings of the Fourth Ring Road are like insect nests, with countless tower-like earthen and stone structures dotted with holes large enough for one person to crawl through. Pale, worm-like cave dwellers crawl within them, carrying picks and hammers to dig and carve.

The Rot Root Balls cannot withstand extreme high temperatures, and the Cave Dwellers prey on them, so the Fourth Ring is basically inhabited only by Cave Dwellers. Dozens of small Cave Dwellers, barely reaching a person's calf, comically carried freshly dug ore blocks, lining up to pass in front of the two Demonized Ones, sorting the raw ore containing various metallic minerals and pushing it into different warehouses or throwing it into the furnace.

Cave dweller scouts hung upside down from the ceiling, crawling between the ceiling and the cavern with their slimy, arthropod limbs. Below, a furnace burned enchanted materials from the Fifth Ring, interspersed with the corpses of seven or eight adventurers. Several helmeted cave dwellers scooped up fuel with shovel-sized claws and tossed it into the furnace's fuel vent. Pale enchanted flames spewed from the vent.

Dozens of strong, enormous stone-shelled cave dwellers surrounded the furnace. The cave dwellers were pale, humanoid worm-like creatures with bean-sized eyes that were almost blind. They sensed the heat and outline of the iron billet with receptors in their narrow nostrils, explored its shape with three tentacle tongues in their large mouths, and pounded the pig iron back and forth with their huge, rock-covered carapaces.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Pale demonic fire roared in the furnace, accompanied by the wild sound of hammering iron. One after another, crude yet sturdy and durable demon-quenched greatswords gradually took shape. The red-hot cast iron broadswords covered with fist marks were thrown into the armory, gleaming with the unique blurry blue light of demon-quenched weapons in the darkness.

Compared to a normal insect hive, the number of cave dweller warriors and shamans in the fourth ring of the Kana dungeon seemed to be much smaller, requiring them to reproduce for a while longer to replenish their numbers. The two demonized beings exchanged a glance but did not ask any further questions.

When the crested crow passed by, the cave dwellers all knelt down and bowed in respect.

“Master. God.” They spoke in a muffled, sticky voice, “Lord of Kana. Luka, Kakara.”

"Luka! Kakara!" they cried out, the beasts' pious prayers.

"Get back to work," the crested raven cackled impatiently, leading its two guests away from the work area.

After passing through the fourth ring, the third ring officially enters the demon race's underground world. The high dome is supported by dozens of huge black stone towers, surrounded by a magnificent, garden-like, dark blue ecosystem.

Bioluminescent fungi and plants shimmered on the dome, fireflies gnawed at star mushrooms, and moon spiders preyed on fireflies. Strange, serpentine monsters glided beneath the dome, their ribcages unfurled, occasionally snatching a moon spider away.

In a nearby blackstone fortress, some dilapidated tents remained, resembling traces of human adventurers. However, the fortress was empty, save for seven or eight rotten root orbs rolling around, fighting over a few bloodstained broken swords in the camp.

One of the rotten root balls kicked its other brethren away, then triumphantly hoisted the broken sword, which was slightly too big for it, and ran into the nearby bushes.

The two strange men in black robes with dark brown skin stared at the broken sword and the ruined camp, then looked up at the feathered crow that was leading the way.

Valak's corrupted minions peered down at the two outsiders from the windows of Blackrock Tower and Blackrock Fortress, like ghosts from hell, laughing, whispering, and discussing something.

With a creak and a clang, the drawbridge gate leading to the second ring of the distant igneous city wall slammed shut, opening the gate to the inner ring of the underground city for them.

The heavily armored caveman knights, each over three people tall, patrolled the city, carrying massive blades the size of two people. Some high-ranking demonized beings trusted by Valak also resided in the second-ring city, strolling around and exchanging pleasantries. Upon seeing the Feathered Crow, they all bowed in respect.

The sounds of surging burrower nests and the soft rustling of eggs hatching echoed from beneath the second ring. Clearly, Valak wasn't foolish enough to abandon the entire burrower hive in the fourth ring. The Burrower Queen resided deep within the heavily guarded second ring, where a terrifying army was poised to hatch at any moment.

A dozen or so high-ranking demons, dressed in luxurious casual robes, some with horns on their heads, some with long tail feathers, and some with scales on their faces, sat on benches by the street, reading books, playing complex, unknown instruments, and dancing lightly to soft, cheerful music. They set up easels and paints to depict the scenery of the dungeon, or sipped tea from exquisite teacups and chatted idly, moving small wooden chess pieces on the table, playing some kind of strategy game.

These demons were clearly of high status, possibly Valak's trusted subordinates. When they saw the Feathered Ravens arrive, they did not bow and pay their respects like the demonized ones, but simply nodded gently and obediently.

The demon crow nodded and continued forward.

At the heart of the dungeon is a magnificent tower that pierces the dome. Eight demon warriors stand guard at the entrance, clad in various shapes of blood-brown armor and cloaks bearing the emblem of winged demon ravens. They hold all sorts of brutal weapons in their uniform, sharp claw-shaped gauntlets, and their dark eyes beneath the armor watch the two figures behind the winged demon ravens.

The magnificent halls and corridors were filled with oil paintings, most of which depicted the magnificent reddish-brown landscape of the Kanas Plain, or the lush green gardens of the underground city's dome. Interspersed among them were portraits of high-ranking demon meritorious officials, as well as some interesting animal portraits of magical beasts—the most numerous of which were demonic crows.

Four armored demon warriors slammed open the doors to the throne room. In the enormous hall behind the doors, a man with reddish-brown hair, wearing a half-armored robe, lay lazily on the intricately carved deep blue throne. His head was resting on the left armrest, his legs were draped over the right armrest, and he reached into the fruit bowl on the small table in front of the throne, picked up a berry, and popped it into his mouth.

He might look twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, or even over a hundred years old. Time rarely leaves many marks on powerful demon individuals, especially a spirited monarch.

Beside the throne lay a raven-shaped helmet with a bird's beak and a blood-rust-colored suit of armor, and on the weapon rack were two leaf-shaped blades of different lengths.

With a flutter, the crested raven flew to a perch on a branch beside the throne, cawing loudly.

Valak tossed a berry to the crow, which snatched it with its beak and swallowed it.

"Homage to the Lord of Kana, the Crimson Sage, the King of the Blood-Rusted Crows!" The two demonized beings knelt on one knee and bowed in submission.

“The matter arose suddenly, and we didn’t have time to prepare a better gift. We only brought you some local specialties from the Garwana Desert. We are truly sorry. We will make up for this rudeness when we visit again next time.” The man in black robes opened the large ebony chest in his hands.

A cold, white mist filled the box, revealing large platters of grapes, various bright berries, and large, bright yellow fruits with their skins still on.

“These are some fruits from the oases of the eastern desert. I’ve heard that you, Lord of Kanas, enjoy fruit, so here are some local specialties as a small token of my appreciation,” the woman explained. “The temperature difference between day and night in the desert is enormous, and the fruits are sweet; perhaps they will be to your liking.”

“Oh, that’s thoughtful.” Valak beckoned with his finger, and a fully armored demon warrior emerged from the shadows on the side of the throne room, carrying a large, gilded ebony chest and presenting it to Valak. The chest was engraved with cooling and buffering magic arrays, which held a specific catalyst in place to ensure that each delicate berry remained fresh and intact during the long journey.

Valak casually grabbed a few berries, popped them into his mouth, and licked the blood-red berry juice off his fingers with relish.

The crested raven on the perch cawed loudly.

"Would you like to try some, sweetie?" Valak casually picked up a berry and tossed it to the raven, lazily looking at the two people in front of him. "You two came to see me for more than just a coincidence, didn't you?"

“Yes.” The man in black robes nodded. “We are on a hunting mission, and our target—the exile—has escaped into your territory… Perhaps you have any information about her.”

"Who?" Valak sucked on the juice on his fingers, glancing sideways at the two demonized beings below.

“Talia Ronoway, the exiled princess of the Demon Kingdom of the Northern Rondoran Mountains,” the woman in black said.

"Huh? When did Rondoran fall?" Valak scratched his head.

The two black-robed demons remained silent for a moment.

"Haven't you seen her?" the man in the black robe asked.

“Never seen it before.” Valak lay on his throne, raised his forearm covered in crimson scales, and tore open the thick, tough skin of the bright yellow fruit in the box with his bare hands, peeling out the large, sweet chunks of flesh and stuffing them into his mouth. “I’m different from other monarchs; I don’t like to meddle in other people’s business. What happens outside is none of my concern. If that girl from Ronoway comes to my territory, I’ll kill her.”

“You must be joking. You’d notice even an ant in the Kanas plain within two days,” the woman in black said. “We saw that exile flee into your territory with our own eyes.”

"Are you accusing me of lying, Sitika's servant?" Valak chewed the fruit slowly.

"We dare not!" The two demonized beings trembled and knelt down abruptly. "We are so sorry, it was our foolishness and ignorance that caused you such a misunderstanding! Our absurd words have misled you, sir!"

"This is my territory. Even if your master comes here in person, he'd better think twice before he speaks." Valak lazily tossed a piece of fruit to the crested raven. "So you intend to cross my territory?"

“Yes…” the two replied in a low voice, “Please… allow us to pass through the Kana Plain and head towards the border of the Erdrik Empire—according to the footprints, Talia Ronove seems to have met another person and traveled together across the Kana Plain, heading towards the Alliance stronghold and the Imperial border.”

"Hmm? Who is the other person?" Valak leaned on the armrest of the throne and slowly sat up straight.

“We don’t know for now,” the woman in black replied. “She seems to have met her companion somewhere in an abandoned ancient site at the border of the Kanas Plain and the Jawara Hills.”

“Hmm…” Valak stroked his chin. “Since the gifts you brought me are to my liking, I will allow you to cross the Kanas Plain. Also, the fruit is good. Here’s a word of advice: don’t get too close to the Imperial border.”

"Yes! Thank you for the grace of the Lord of Kana!" The two demonized beings nodded and bowed.

Suddenly, a shrill and terrifying scream came from underground, as if someone was being tortured inhumanely somewhere underground.

The two black-robed demons looked at each other awkwardly, feeling as if they had stumbled upon Valak's sadistic tendencies.

Torturing prisoners of war isn't exactly a niche hobby among demons, but it's usually not done in front of visiting guests. Torturing prisoners together is something only close demon friends do, and their relationship with Valak is clearly not that good.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can get out of here." Valak waved his hand. "Marin, send them out."

The demon warrior nodded and led the two demonized beings out of the throne room. The heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

Valak rose from his throne, casually closed the crate full of fruit, and walked toward the room behind the throne room.

Caw caw! Seeing its master about to leave, the crested raven spread its wings and chased after him.

……

In the inner ring of the Valak underground city, deep underground, in a dimly lit dungeon.

Pale, demonic torches flickered in the corridor, casting shadows on the prison bars.

Augusta... or rather, Augusta's remains, were hung in the dimly lit cell.

His limbs had been severed, and rusty iron hooks hung from the rough, bloody cut surfaces, chaining him to the wall in a savage and horrific manner.

He was still alive, still breathing slightly, but in this state, he could hardly be called a human being.

Screams echoed through the corridor. Valak's caveman jailers were wielding brutal greatswords, severing the limbs of other captured adventurers alive and hanging them up in the same manner.

Several demonized wizards assisted by administering unrefined healing potions to the prisoners whose limbs had been severed, forcibly stopping the bleeding and stabilizing their condition. However, the special healing potions did not regenerate the limbs; they merely turned the living people into a horrifying, stick-like figure.

The monarch didn't have many specific requirements for this task, such as "not eating the prisoners' severed limbs." The cave dwellers weren't very intelligent creatures; they were more like wild beasts. So, some cave dweller jailers simply opened their massive, fanged mouths and gnawed off the prisoners' arms and legs alive.

Clang! The sound of a metal elevator hitting the ground echoed at the end of the corridor, followed by a series of respectful greetings and the cheerful cawing of the demon crow.

Augusta trembled, gasped for breath, and struggled to move her stump, but to no avail.

Clang! The metal gate opened.

Flutter! A creature's weight suddenly appeared above Augusta's head, its two bird claws pacing merrily on his head, and then—

"Ah!" Augusta screamed as blood gushed from his empty right eye socket.

Caw caw! The crested raven flapped its wings, carrying Augusta's right eyeball in its beak, and flew back to its master's shoulder at the cell door.

"Oh, what delicious treat have you found for yourself, sweetie?" The figure at the door stroked the huge demonic raven on his shoulder. "So clever, you knew this was prepared for you?"

Augusta trembled.

“Kill me…” he gasped, “just like you killed my parents.”

"Who are your parents?" Valak looked with great interest at the mangled body on the wall in front of him.

“David and Elisa Augusta,” he uttered with difficulty.

“Never heard of it. Probably some trash who died in the Fifth Ring.” Valak teased the demonic raven on his shoulder. “Didn’t you choose to enter the dungeon yourselves? I even hung your skulls at the entrance. Who told you not to listen to advice—greed drove you to suicide. I was just lying at home taking a nap, how come I’m being blamed for such a big crime?”

Augusta was panting.

“You’re just as stupid and greedy as your parents. If you were like the other adventurers, knowing when to quit while you’re ahead and running away, I probably wouldn’t have had a chance to capture you alive. How arrogant.” He waved his hand. “A level eleven adventurer doesn’t deserve to challenge me—you’d barely qualify when you’re level seventeen—and of course, you won’t have that chance then.”

Two caveman jailers crawled in and removed Augusta's chains.

His mangled body crashed heavily to the ground, like a maggot, and was dragged by iron chains towards some place outside the cell.

"What...what are you going to do?" Augusta's face was being slammed and scraped against the filthy ground that reeked of blood.

"My fellow demons call me the Crimson Sage because I often study some... great technologies from the ruins of the gods." Valak walked slowly ahead, while Augusta, dragged behind by the caveman jailer, could barely lift her head to see an elegant figure moving forward in the darkness.

"Demons possess special spiritual energy and can use sacrificial rituals involving demonic beasts to grant humans characteristics and abilities similar to those beasts. This ritual is called demonization."

“Kill me, and I will not accept your demonization, nor will I ever pledge allegiance to you,” Augusta growled with difficulty.

"A reward of demonic transformation? Dream on!" Valak laughed. "Ever since that demonic assassin betrayed me more than twenty years ago, I will never again bestow demonic transformation as such a careless reward!"

"The principle of demonization is to extract the spiritual energy form from the body of a living magical beast and infuse it into a human body." The demonic raven on Valak's shoulder cawed loudly. "Spiritual energy is a magical thing that can store and remember forms. Therefore, after the spiritual energy of a magical beast is extracted in a special way, it records the characteristics and form of the magical beast like a scroll. I call it the [Spiritual Energy Record]."

“However, the spiritual energy in the bodies of ordinary humans is very thin, making it difficult to form a complete human form [spiritual energy record].” Valak pondered, “But… high-level adventurers of level seven and above have modified their bodies with a large number of magical potions and strengthened their bodies with various magic arrays, and are already full of abundant spiritual energy, enough to form a complete spiritual energy record.”

"In other words, by extracting psionic records from the bodies of living high-level adventurers and infusing them into the bodies of magical beasts, it is possible to create powerful, intelligent, humanoid servants."

“I suspect that the Cave Dwellers were a servant race created by the gods of the Age of Gods by infusing human-formed psionic energy into the bodies of ordinary underground worms. They were used for mining and construction during the Age of Gods.” Valak waved excitedly at the darkness, like a proud conductor.

"After all that effort, time, and acting, we finally managed to capture a group of high-level adventurers of level seven or above. It wasn't for nothing that I sacrificed such a large ecological area of ​​the Third Ring Road—oh well, we can rebuild it later."

Whoosh! The pale demonic flame torch was lit in the darkness, illuminating the magnificent magic array in the vast underground space ahead.

"The Erdrick Empire can now mass-produce precious Bloodsteel weapons. They want to forge a Blood Army, an army of immortals capable of plundering lives. With the help of a large number of Bloodsteel weapons and elite soldiers trained by the Alliance, they want to flatten the Demon Realm, kill all the Demon Kings, reclaim the territory of the ancient empire, and eventually conquer the entire continent."

“To face such a threat, I’m afraid I can no longer afford to be lazy.” Valak walked around the room with his hands behind his back, checking the state of the magic circle in front of him. “I must create a force that can rival the Blood Immortal Army—create a Nightmare Legion! Create a terrifying race from humanity’s darkest nightmares, just like the ancient gods!”

He took the crested demon raven from his shoulder and gently placed it on the magic circle's position.

“My biosynthesis with the Ravens is extremely high… I can easily command Ravens far beyond the scope of a ruler, as if they were my hands, my eyes, my claws, and my wings.” He grinned maliciously. “What could be more suitable as the foundation of my legion than the Ravens?”

"My darling, be prepared." He chuckled. "You will become the first [Crowman] in the world. I have already built the aviary for the Crowman Legion. You will be their leader, killing for me, plundering for me, conquering for me, dominating the skies for me, and crushing the Blood Immortal Army of the Empire!"

"The gods have departed, and the ancient demons are the new gods!" He spread his arms, grabbed the chain, and swung it with terrifying force, slamming Augusta into the groove on the other side of the magic circle!
“I’ve been thinking about how to use this energy source.” Valak took out a bright ethereal crystal from his pocket. “My years of research on the ruins of the Age of Gods have finally paid off. I’ve replicated a creation array from one of the artificial intelligence races found in the ruins. Now, all I need is a suitable energy source—”

He reluctantly stroked his only piece of ether crystal and pressed it into the center of the magic circle!

Whoosh! A burst of light flashed! Augusta's remains were instantly torn apart by the light, and some scattered, shimmering fragments were absorbed into the magic circle's patterns, spun around, and then flowed into the body of the Feathered Raven!
The caveman jailer at the entrance screamed, turned and prostrated himself on the ground, burying his huge, pale head and beady eyes in the corner of the wall, curling up with only his buttocks covered by armor showing.

Amid Valak's maniacal laughter, the radiance gradually faded, and in the place where the demonic raven had been, stood a bizarre humanoid creature.

It was covered in stiff black feathers, half-human and half-raven, limping along, dragging steel-like claws, with a sharp beak hanging down, and slowly opening its blood-red eyes.

"Gah... Ah, la, wah." It babbled like a newborn baby, slowly bending down and kneeling before Valak.

“Master…” it cackled, clumsily mimicking the way the two demonized beings had addressed Valak, “Homage to…Lord of Kana…Red-brown Sage…King of the Blood-Rusty Crows.”

　My eyes are a bit sore today, so I bought some eye drops. I posted the new chapter early and need to go to bed early too. Everyone should pay attention to their eye health; avoid sitting for long periods or staring at the screen for extended periods, and take a break every few hours.

　　I'm always touched by everyone's love, encouragement, and support in the comments section. I also want to reciprocate your enthusiasm every time I see donations and monthly tickets. However, due to my personal writing style, I want to design storyboards, visuals, a smooth plot rhythm, and detailed character movements, just like in a film or anime. For everyone's smooth reading experience, I don't want to randomly cut chapters. In short, this chapter has over 8,000 words. Thank you all for your support.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)