Chapter 43: One Time Sacrifice
Night fell suddenly, and before they knew it, the sun was already rising in the east. Daylan and the others prepared themselves just as they had discussed earlier—they needed to get stronger.
Unlike the lower-ranked demonic monsters—ranks E to C—which were limited to a single breed, B-rank demons came in various forms.
Imps were the weakest among them, followed by mid-tier demons and then the high-tier ones. A- and S-rank demons also existed in different breeds, but they were considered the rulers of the underworld.
The others waited on Daylan as he accessed his orb, making sure it was intact and not going to leave him half-way dead like it had previously done.
"Honestly, no one truly knows how the demonic monsters came to be. According to history, the Trials were once undertaken by only a select few—until one of my forefathers, Cupid, bargained with the gods to make everyone worthy of their glory. The gods agreed, but it cost him his life. Nearly two centuries after his sacrifice, the demonic monsters began to appear."
"So he's the reason behind all those Cupid statues?" Daylan muttered as he accessed the orb, pressing his hand against his chest.
"Yeah. But not many people actually give him the respect he deserves—it's like he's been completely forgotten."
What they were about to face were real-life imps—far stronger than the ones in the simulation. But if they got the chance to face mid-tier B-ranks, it would be a great opportunity, even if defeating them would come at a high cost.
Before long, Daylan had activated Dark Spiral enough times to notice that his orb never stopped absorbing the surrounding darkness. It gave the impression that the orb was finally growing larger—especially as the dark ink within his body began to lighten, almost fading away.
Without a moment's hesitation, they stepped outside the house at Astara's command, hailed a Courage, and headed deep into the wilderness of the northern district, beyond the walls.
Daylan and Astara had been to a place quite similar to the one before them—only this time, the mist and fog were much denser than where he had first encountered a ghoul.