Chapter 167: The Abyssal Altar

This world also had Velociraptors, and this Flesh-Ripper Dragon was a close relative of them.
Flesh-Ripper Dragons were also small dinosaurs, delicate in size yet agile in movement, making them highly cunning carnivores. They usually lived in dense shrubs and lush forests, digging burrows to reside in, with some even creating underground tunnels near the surface to hunt and survive there.
Donald wasn’t sure if there was some unknown connection between the two worlds that explained the presence of similar dinosaur-like creatures. But if such fierce beasts appeared in large numbers near his territory, they would surely pose a great threat. So he wouldn’t let them go unchallenged.
After dealing with this Flesh-Ripper Dragon, Donald immediately abandoned the dead-end path, leaving a sentinel behind as a marker, then joined Uther and entered another passage.
This passage had already been explored by the Owl, and most of the two new paths ahead had also been traversed. So far, aside from a few small insect-eating creatures, no dangerous situations had been encountered.
Soon, both paths reached their ends—one led to another fork, while the other led to a vast underground space.
After some thought, Donald chose to head in the latter direction.
“If those Black-Scaled Lizard People were able to escape to the surface under the pursuit of demons, it means their gathering place can’t be too far from the surface passages. So this must be the cave where they once lived, and the passage to that Abyssal Plane should be nearby!”
Donald was quite confident in his speculation.
Demons generally concentrated in the southern continent, with only a few small passages to the Abyss in the northern lands. Demons only appeared here every few years, so the several major disasters in history had never affected Celt. After all, demons sought the souls of humans and other creatures, and the north had always been sparsely populated. It wasn’t until the rise of the Celt Kingdom over the past few hundred years that things changed, coupled with the cold climate that demons disliked. Thus, even though there were a few natural small-dimensional passages, few large groups of demons chose to land here.
After all, for long-lived demonic creatures, a few hundred years wasn’t much time. In their minds, the north remained the barren land it had always been, unlike the prosperous southern continent, with populations counted in hundreds of millions.

It is estimated that in previous years, the traces of demons seen in the Celts were merely a few low-level minor demons coming to try their luck, which is why they were easily eliminated by people. As for the larger abyssal passages on the continent, the demons there are usually extremely powerful, and human warriors are stationed there year-round to prevent higher-level demons from entering human territory and causing massacres.

After advancing a further distance, Donald and the other person gradually detected traces of demons. There was a messy row of footprints similar in size to those of human children, but with hard, horn-like protrusions at the toes. Judging from the footprints, there seemed to be about a few of these demon creatures, and judging by their size, they were likely minor demons that posed little threat to them.

Minor demons, commonly known as little demons, are the most representative of low-level demons at the bottom of the abyssal hierarchy. Due to their weak strength, they are naturally timid, which is also the origin of their name. Little demons are better at deception and trickery, unlike other more violent and chaotic powerful demons. Of course, when they have the upper hand, they show their brutal side when facing the weak.

Do not underestimate a little demon that is only half the height of an adult. As demonic creatures, they possess three times the strength of ordinary humans. Only trained veterans who have been to battle can kill a little demon alone in a direct confrontation; most ordinary militia members need two or three people to deal with one.

Little demons also have certain spell-like abilities. Thanks to their origins in the abyss, they have natural resistance to fire elements and strong resistance to poisons. Most little demons have some ability to control fire, though most can only release weakened versions of Burning Hands or fire arrows. A few can unleash a powerful spell-like attack equivalent to a third-level Fireball spell, and such little demons are usually spontaneously chosen as leaders by their peers.

When Donald and the other person reached the end of the second fork in the road, the owl he had sent had already discovered the traces of those little demons.

In that vast underground cave, several dark figures were searching among the rocks near the exit of the passage, seemingly hoping to find something.

As the owl got closer, Donald noticed that these creatures were only half human tall, with dark skin tinged red—typical demon colors. They had a pair of deformed, small bat wings on their backs, sharp horns on their heads, and a thin tail at the back.

They were indeed the little demons most commonly found in the abyssal plane according to legends.

Apart from these little demons, owls flying in other directions toward the cave also spotted demons. Donald immediately went into the cave with Uther, heading toward where the nearest little demons were. The ceiling of this underground cave was hundreds of feet above the ground, and the explored area was at least several hundred acres large, so Donald and Uther could move swiftly without any hindrance—ten times faster than before in the underground passages. In just a few moments, they arrived near the little demons. With their skills, it was no problem for Donald and Uther to deal with those little demons; they were subdued in an instant without even making a sound. The demons spoke Abyssal language, but many clever ones could also speak the common human language. In the Abyss, little demons belonged to the slave class, so they were often cunning and fawning. Mastering more skills allowed them to survive better under the rule of higher-ranking demons. After subduing these little demons, Donald created a silence barrier and then ordered Uther to wake them up. When the little demons woke up and saw two humans there, they immediately started screaming loudly. But seeing that the humans not only didn’t stop them but also allowed them to call for their kind, these clever demons realized they must be fearless. “I know some of you can understand the common human language. Now I ask you: if anyone answers me satisfactorily, I’ll let them go!” “First question: how many demons are here?” As soon as Donald spoke, the little demons’ eyes darted around, acting untruthfully as if they didn’t understand him, with none answering. “Is no one going to answer?” he asked, then nodded at Uther. Uther immediately raised his sword and beheaded one of the little demons, then stepped forward to extract its heart core. Seeing the humans so cruel, killing one of their own in an instant, the remaining little demons panicked and begged for mercy. Indeed, these untrustworthy creatures could understand human language. According to the books, although demons were cunning and cruel, they were most afraid of the strong and would adapt their behavior like sly goblin merchants. A single act of intimidation was enough to scare these little demons. “There are many of us,” the little demons’ arithmetic skills were clearly poor. Only one of them counted on his fingers: “There are more than ten times twenty, just like the Mage Lord and Pachi!”

Ten times twenty? That’s over two hundred!
“Very good! Your name is Pachi, right? You answered that question well. The next question is: which one among the demons who came this time is the strongest?”
After getting the exact number of demons, Donald continued.
Once again, the little demon named Pachi rushed to answer, “It’s Baron Jadri!” After saying that name, the other little demons clearly showed fear—out of instinctive respect for the powerful. “A demon noble?”
Donald was intrigued and pressed further, asking detailed questions about that demon baron.
In the end, he learned that although the demon baron was a noble, he was merely a descendant of some abyssal lord. He had only obtained the title by exploiting that relationship; his strength wasn’t as great as that of those demon nobles who had risen through sheer merit. His strength was roughly at the peak of the silver rank.
Only then did he feel relieved.
You see, typical demon lords who could earn noble titles or acquire territories in the abyss usually had at least gold-rank strength. Compared to those gold demons, Baron Jadri, who was one rank lower, was clearly much weaker. Even with the strength boost from being a demon, he was undoubtedly much easier to deal with.
Half an hour later, after running out of questions, Donald had gathered all the necessary information about the demons. He then gave Uther a signal.
Seeing this, the few little demons, still unaware of what was happening, showed terrified expressions. Before they could escape, Uther swiftly killed them all with a single sword strike each.
Only little demon Pachi remained.
Looking at the frightened little demon, Donald smiled and said, “I never go back on my word. Your answers satisfied me. You may go!” But his smile, in Pachi’s eyes, resembled that of a true demon. Even though Donald had said he would let it go, Pachi didn’t dare move an inch.
Only after the two humans left for a while did Pachi look around. Seeing no signs of danger, it quickly fled in the opposite direction.
Based on the information obtained from the little demons and the owl’s reconnaissance, Donald and the other person headed toward the abyssal passage.
Along the way, Donald took a little demon’s core and had the Book of Truth examine it.

In general, the power cores of humanoid demons are located in their hearts, which is different from the fact that most of the magic cores in Warcraft are found in the brains. Demon cores are also excellent materials for mages, similar to Warcraft crystal cores. However, demon cores contain mostly fire and evil energy, so their applications are not as diverse as those of the numerous Warcraft crystal cores.

In fact, for the Book of Truth, their effects are even more powerful than those of Warcraft crystal cores, because demon cores are not only the source of demons’ power but also hold their soul origins. It can be said that a large part of a demon’s soul power is stored in its core, which is primarily used to store energy—something that Warcraft crystal cores, which only retain a trace of soul imprint, cannot compare to.

Nevertheless, demon cores are extremely difficult to obtain. When faced with enemies they cannot defeat, demons usually choose to explode their own cores, causing their souls to be rejected by the main world and returned to the Abyssal Plane, where new demon offspring are born. Although these new demons lack memories of their past, it is still better than dying completely or falling into the hands of human mages.

Based on the conclusions from the Book of Summoning, Donald did a simple calculation and found that approximately three hundred complete demon cores could suffice to gather the soul power needed to summon a hero. This efficiency is dozens of times higher than that of harvesting soul fragments by killing orcs!