When the plot-skips players into the game world

The Antlers fled, retreating back into the "storeroom."

But it wasn't his storeroom, it was Aleister's storeroom.

He resurrected the remaining two corpses to protect himself.

And he petrified the door to the storeroom, preparing to stay there until the ritual ended.

Unfortunately, the resurrected corpses had been stripped of the capabilities of the four domains, unable to use the powers of the Paths of Love, Beauty, Wisdom, and Transcendence. These two corpses presumably belonged to "Red" and the monk, corresponding to the Path of Love and the Path of Wisdom, respectively.

This meant that the two corpses were merely capable of moving.

But actually, it wasn't a big problem. The door had been sealed, and no one but the Giants would come here... If the Giants arrived, he would send the corpses over to let them consume.

"At most, there are still three survivors..."

The Antlers muttered softly, "Grey can't possibly survive. Therefore, the ritual has actually ended already.

"I just need to stay here, survive until the end, and that will suffice."

Under no circumstances could he imagine the possibility of Mr. Grey surviving under Aleister's attack.

For a Demon that is weak in reason, limited in intelligence, and prone to insanity, chasing an assassin who can run fast and is adept at hiding is probably just like a cat chasing a mouse, merely arousing the thrill of the hunt. And a Shadow Demon could also grant him the ability to perceive through the shadows... Therefore, Grey's stealth is ineffective against him.

"I hope Grey can hold on for a longer time."

The Antlers wished ill upon others with evident schadenfreude in his voice, "After all, you young people have plenty of opportunities, it's better to leave such chances to me..."

He is indeed a Demon, truly terrifying, he sighed to himself.

Although in the view of the Demon Scholar, a Demon is nothing but a dangerous, humanoid wild beast.

But from the perspective of other professions... at least at a lower energy level, a Demon parasitized by an Upper-Level Demon is far more dangerous than a Demon Scholar.

According to the knowledge of demonology that Antlers traded from the Noble Red Society, a first energy level Demon can exert at least one-tenth the power of an Upper-Level Demon or one-third of a lower-level Demon; with the deals they struck with Demons, their strength could further increase.

Demons serve as excellent mediums, gradually shaping their bodies into forms more suitable for Demons' use.

For Demons, a Demon is their "armor" that helps them bypass weaknesses, and a "house" that allows them to manifest in the Material Realm without relying on contracts. A truly valuable asset.

Unless necessary, Demons are reluctant to kill the Demons they are parasitizing.

Therefore, Demons can step by step relinquish control over their own bodies, exchanging their autonomy for increasingly powerful strengths through deals. As their energy level rises, their bodies would be continuously enhanced, allowing them to gradually develop skills to borrow more of the Demons' power in advance or to permanently twist their own bodies into Demon-like forms.

Until a Demon Scholar advances into a Demon Incarnation, transforming into an Upper-Level Demon and gaining eternal life, purely in terms of combat ability, a Demon Scholar is always no match for a Demon of the same level. Just as how a Legal Mage would find it difficult to combat an Inspector of the same level.

After all, spellcasters tend to be weaker in skirmish combat in the early stages.

However, when it comes to the relationship with demons, Demon Scholars are always collaborators with demons. The higher-level Demon Scholars are almost in a slave-master relationship with lesser demons and lower demons.

Yet Demons always come out on the bottom.

What they need to transcend is the fate of being controlled by the demons themselves.

That Aleister was obviously the type to be enslaved by a Shadow Demon.

The voice that Aleister issued in the waiting room couldn't possibly have been that of a human. Judging from the tone and intonation, it should have been the noise made by the Shadow Demon that was controlling his body. Stay tuned for updates on empire

At that time, Knight had judged that he must have been stronger than a normal person infested by a Shadow Demon because he had no one to teach him. It's likely that he sold more souls in his past life to exchange for greater strength.

Based on his rate of transactions, it was estimated that he would become an empty shell consumed by the Shadow Demon before reaching the third energy level.

But Knight had underestimated him.

—When that hound appeared, Knight immediately gave up on probing and turned to run.

Because Knight recognized that hound. It was a signature attack method of a Shadow Demon, also an incarnation of it.

Knight was friends with Vice Chairman Boka of the Lohar Society. Boka was also a member of the Noble Red Society, and he was the one who introduced The Association to him.

Boka was a high-level Demon Scholar, and Knight had seen him use very powerful upper-level ritual spells.

"Devouring Shadow Hound" is a ritual that summons the form of a shadow hound for a temporary time, unleashing only one attack before it is sent back.

Looking like an agile hunting dog, the shadow hound's mouth could open wider than a person's height, and it could swallow a person whole with just one bite. If it jumped and attacked, it could take back to the Dream Realm's shadowy domain the part it had bitten off upon landing. This was equivalent to erasing that part of the body completely... If it happened to swallow a whole person in one bite, it could drag them directly into the Dream Realm.

The biggest difference between Phantom Demons and species from the Material Realm is that all Phantom Demons can physically enter the Dream Realm. Humans cannot—which means the instant a human is dragged into the Dream Realm, they will die unable to resist.

If such a strike could precisely hit a strong being of the fifth energy level and swallow it whole without ripping apart before leaving, then even a strong being of the fifth energy level could be killed in one blow.

This is a classic Transcendence path spell.

It focuses on overcoming strength with weakness, by preparing in advance and paying the time and material costs, taking the risk of possibly missing or the devouring failing, to conduct complicated rituals, gambling on the chance for that one fatal blow.

And at that time, Vice Chairman Boka had bet correctly— the Arbiter, stronger than all of them, was taken away by the Shadow Demon without a trace. Not even a mark was left behind.

If Aleister could summon the shadow hound...

It would mean that the Shadow Demon's power could already manifest through him to the outside world. As a container for the Shadow Demon, yet allowing the Shadow Demon's power to flow to the outside, it means that the container is already leaking.

As a Demon, he was only one step away from losing control. Those Phantom Demon Eggs close to losing control looked the same.

"...No matter, the victory will ultimately be mine."

Knight comforted himself.

This promotion would only hasten Aleister's death... His will had already been worn out, nearly to nothing, and this promotion would be the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

He faintly heard that Thunder seemed to have let the Knight escape. But in Antlers's view, the Knight probably couldn't get away either.

The only one who could survive was himself, hiding here.

So when Aleister advanced and was wholly consumed by the Shadow Demon, this ritual would essentially be his victory alone.

The place he was currently in was the storeroom where Aleister first appeared. It was an excellent hiding spot that Antlers had found after much difficulty.

His judgment was simple—their squad was complete with three, and Aleister had appeared alone. Therefore, the storeroom with two bodies had to be the one where Aleister came from.

It was a blind spot in thinking.

Aleister would either chase the Knight or go in search of the Holy Lance. In a situation where time was the essence, no one would think to backtrack, especially the spot they'd reached through a long detour.

"Only seventeen minutes left."

Antlers murmured under his breath, "Soon, it will be soon..."

Despite not having a pocket watch, as a Transcendent of the Path of Dusk, he was very sensitive to the passage of time.

"—What will be soon?"

A vague, deep voice suddenly came from outside the door.

This made Antlers hold his breath immediately.

A tremendous fear gripped his heart—even though he knew all this was just a dream, the incomprehensible yet imminent sense of danger still instinctively made him feel suffocated.

He tried hard to suppress the fear in his heart and calmed himself down.

Without a word and without hesitation, he raised his hand to use the last of his magic to petrify the door once more.

—In the dim light, it was hard to see that Antlers's right index finger wore a bone ring.

He had crafted it himself, made from the skull of a baby, a magical artifact.

It enabled Antlers to omit the first-level spell's incantation and complete the casting instantly. That was also why his rank was slightly lower than Red and Thunder's, yet he would sit in the first position.

Previously, Antlers deliberately complained to Mr. Grey about "not having a Bone Staff" and recited the full incantation slowly when petrifying the door. His intent was to hide his ability to cast spells instantly and set a trap for Mr. Grey. If Grey thought he had seen through his cards and decided to make a move on him, he would give Mr. Grey a surprise.

However, unexpectedly, Thunder, who had passed out for some unknown reason, suddenly woke up.

Compared to the Knight and that unknown spellcaster, Thunder was much more of a threat. Hence, Antlers was forced to reveal his hand, attempting to ambush Thunder and petrify him instantly.

But somehow, Thunder reacted—rather than reacting, it was more like anticipation.

The speed of the petrification spell was faster than a bullet; by the time one saw it, it was already too late to avoid.

It was strange, why could Thunder sense that he was about to use the petrification spell on him?

Antlers, who wasn't good at combat, couldn't figure out what flaw he had exposed. At this point, there was no need for him to continue hiding... all he could do was seal the door.

The bronze door, which required a robust young warrior to exert all his strength just to push open when unlocked, was beyond anyone's ability to open after Antlers had soldered the keyhole, handle, and door cracks closed.

As long as he disappointed Aleister, he should leave. After all, there was no need for Aleister to kill him, as Aleister had already successfully advanced...

But just then, a loud bang resounded.

It was as if something struck the bronze door—a solid bronze door, tremendously sturdy, was penetrated with a single blow.

—This was a door of the Holy Temple, not a mere bronze plate!

Antlers's heart beat violently, and he couldn't help but exclaim aloud, "Have you gone mad?! This will draw the Giants over!"

Then the low and sinister voice of Aleister came from outside, "Then open the door, Mr...."

Before his words even finished, another loud bang came, the ground shook, and dust rose.

This time Antlers saw clearly that it was a huge spiral spear made of shadow. Even the blessed door of the Holy Temple could not withstand the full force attack of the Shadow Demon. One more hit would likely create a big hole.

"—You're mad, you Demon!"

Antlers raised his hand without hesitation and shot a petrification beam at the hole in the door.

However, the third strike did not come.

Just when Antlers thought he had succeeded in petrifying his foe, he prepared to send a corpse to scout, "Go see..."

"I'm here..."

A low, hoarse voice, right behind him, whispered in his ear, "What did you want him to... go see?"

When had this happened—

Suddenly, numerous sharp barbed spikes with backwards-facing hooks pierced through Antlers's back, lifting his body off the ground as they extended forward and upward, dripping with blood.

"Ugh..."

The severe pain left Antlers's mind blank.

He could hardly comprehend what had happened when he saw a massive black spiral spear puncture through from his back, tearing through his chest and abdomen, and appear before his eyes.

"Is this what you wanted to see?"

The evil and raspy voice of the Shadow Demon echoed.

Then amid its maniacal laughter and Antlers's piercing screams, Antlers was torn to pieces by the Shadow Demon, starting from his limbs.