Prime Originator

After a few moments of silence, the Battle Masters began to nod with voices of agreement as they gazed at the distant village.

With wooden fences made from ordinary blackwood, cut and chiseled down into shape with primitive techniques, there was nothing distinctly impressive or extraordinary about the demon village at a glance.

It was just ordinary and simple, like most regular human villages.

Even so, it was not a reason for the Battle Masters to underestimate the demons while trespassing in their territory.

"What this person said has a point. If we cannot overcome a single village here, what chances do we have against the demons in the secret realm?" a High-rank Battle Master spoke.

"Right," another High-rank Battle Master nodded.

"We've only killed lone stragglers so far. This does not tell us much about the demons' strength. Only by challenging a group of demons will we have a clear understanding."

"Let's make it quick then," an Extremity-rank Battle Master from the Battle God Palace nodded with a frown before turning Young Zion, "What do you think, Young Master?"

"Since it's decided, let's do it. But like you said, we don't have a lot of time. Once the secret realm fully opens, we will not be able to enter if we are not at the designated location," Young Zion stated.

As the most influential power in the Infertile Plains, the Battle God Palace had unwittingly assumed leadership of the entire group.

"Kill them swift."

"Don't give them a chance to retaliate."

Once the Battle Masters received permission, they immediately charged into the demon village with lightning speed for speedy extermination.

At that moment, there were not more than 500 hundred horned demons inside with distinct human features—or rather, they looked no different from other humans if their horns were excluded from the assessment.

They were just tending to their everyday lives, working menial jobs around the home like fetching water, fixing dust nets, repairing broken roads, and bartering with each other for daily necessities and essentials.

However, everything immediately changed when the Battle Masters swooped in for the kill, plunging the entire village into chaos and despair as startled cries of fear and sorrow echoed outward.

"Ahhh, please stop—!"

"Noo, don't kill me—!"

As the rest of the Battle Masters overheard the screams of women and children from outside, they began to question their moral values.

Evidently, the demons were evil, but why do they feel like they were the truly evil people in this case?

As the demons' voices died down into silence, the attack group rejoined the rest of the Battle Master and continued their journey to the secret realm's opening location

However, Leon lagged behind the group and paused in front of the ruined village with mixed feelings while Aria, Duna, and Darlene stuck close to accompany him.

"Young Master Leonhardt?" the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman turned back with a questioning look.

"Don't mind me, senior," Leon shook his head and said, "I will catch up shortly, so there's no need to wait for me."

"Alright then," the One-Eyed Venerable Shaman nodded, not thinking too deeply into the matter, before following the crowd.

Shortly after, Leon strolled through the village, silently inspecting the corpses, the buildings, and the rest of the environment, thereby allowing him to understand their demons' lifestyle.

A few moments later, Leon spoke with knitted brows, "There wasn't a single mature male among these demons, not to mention these horned demons lived not much differently from ordinary human folks…"

"No matter how similar they are, the truth is that the demons are evil and should all be exterminated…" Darlene commented before she hesitated and added, "At least, that is what has always been accepted by everyone."

"Demons were supposedly savages, cruel with barbaric lifestyles, and merciless to humans, but these horned demons appeared quite civilized and cultured. As such, I am not sure anymore. I have mixed feelings while looking at this scene…"

"The Infertile Plains also and always regarded demons as an evil force to be exterminated on sight as well," Darlene inserted softly. "Despising and fearing demons has always seemed to be the natural order of things."

"That isn't limited to just humans. The same actually goes for the demons and even beasts. This is because people are ignorant and have a natural fear of the darkness, of which contains the unknown," Duna said casually with a nonchalant look.

"And when people have these sorts of feelings, the first thing they usually do is resort to destroying it rather than understanding it—because fighting is easy, but communication is hard."

"Just as there are good and evil humans, there are also good and evil demons. But because demons are all aligned with darkness, humans deem them all evil."

"Given the volatile nature of demonic energy, it doesn't make it any easier for demons to respond kindly either."

Having said that much, Leon glanced shortly glanced at her before he asked, "Does this scene make you angry?"

"Why would it?" Duna responded nonchalantly before adding, "What do they have to do with me? I distinguish myself as myself, not a race—even if I consider myself as a devil."

"You see, this is the issue with humans. Demons have strong individual and independent traits, but humans are weak and like to band together and whine a lot."

"For example, if humans killed a demon, only the affected group of demons will retaliate. But if demons killed a human, the entirety of humanity will retaliate," Duna stated casually.

After listening, Aria furrowed her brows and said, "You make it sound as if the world's problems are caused by humans, but you seem to have forgotten that it is because of the demons and beasts that humanity is threatened with extinction."

"I'm not trying to justify beasts and demons killing humans, but do you hear livestock complaining when humans slaughter them for their meat? They can only be food because they weren't strong enough."

"If humans become extinct, it simply proves that they are not strong enough to co-exist alongside beasts and demons. The weak do not have rights." Duna shrugged.