The neck broke as an orb floated into the air. Just like before, the moment the souls appeared, the demons began drooling heavily, their eyes filled with greed and desire.

Only this time, Nuk did not swallow the soul.

Instead, he stepped back.

In less than two seconds, the demons could no longer resist as they charged toward it.

Seeing this, Nuk became exhilarated.

He knew he did not possess all the advantages the main body once had. Heck, he might even die if he tried following the exact same path as the original Void.

But there was still one thing he possessed from the very beginning.

Intelligence.

So instead of swallowing the soul himself and waiting for the demons to begin fighting one another…

Why not use that single soul to start the battle earlier?

Once more souls appeared from the deaths that followed, the demons would naturally understand.

"Kill him… you… them… all…"

Killing their own kind granted souls.

So naturally, the demons immediately began attacking and devouring one another.

Now all Nuk had to do was move around the battlefield and reap the rewards from the sidelines.

Kill weakened demons.

Devour as many souls as possible.

And most importantly…

Avoid getting trapped in the center of the battlefield.

As long as he had freedom to move, even a short amount of time would be enough.

Rrrkkk!

Shssiii!

The fight had already begun as demons tore into one another, ripping off limbs and crushing bodies apart.

Instantly, hundreds of souls floated into the air as Nuk laughed.

"Interesting…" Nuk grinned before baring his fangs and charging forward.

Badum. Badum.

His heart pounded violently within his chest as the excitement of the Demon Race nearly overflowed from him.

Nuk rushed through the battlefield, devouring soul after soul while simultaneously picking off weaker demons one after another.

As the war for survival erupted across the island, the same thing began happening on the surrounding islands as demons roared and slaughtered each other mercilessly.

Time passed slowly as the magma sea gradually rose higher, instantly incinerating the corpses lying below and forcing the demons further and further upward toward the gigantic mountains that seemed to stretch endlessly into the sky.

With the available space shrinking, the intensity of the battle increased severalfold as the death rate skyrocketed.

Nuk blurred across the battlefield.

The moment a demon died and its soul floated upward, Nuk would immediately seize and devour it while killing any nearby demons in the process.

Soon, his body count began piling up.

10.

11.

1,000.

4,000.

8,900.

62,666.

The sweet sensation of killing…

The feedback from growing stronger…

It drove Nuk completely insane.

His crimson eyes glowed wildly.

"Hahaha! What a sweet feeling… such a beautiful embrace. I love it… I love it sooo much!" Nuk roared excitedly as he delivered a spinning kick that decapitated a demon.

He landed softly before grabbing the floating soul and smiling.

Looking closely at the glowing orb resting in his palm, he felt an indescribable hunger rising within him.

The soul radiated a calm and soothing aura.

Yet to a demon…

It was irresistible.

His body craved it endlessly as saliva dripped from his mouth.

The black scales covering his body had long disappeared beneath the thick layers of blood staining him crimson.

"Come… attack me."

Nuk spread his arms wide as he stood before a massive army of dark creatures.

All of them were demons.

And all of them were far stronger than they had been when they first hatched from their eggs.

Yet because of this single demon…

This gigantic army containing billions of demons had paused.

How terrifying had Nuk become?

He never cared.

Never hesitated.

Never grew tired.

He simply kept killing.

Again and again and again.

Trigger.

At the back of the army, one demon suddenly groaned as the soles of its feet began burning.

The magma sea was rising even faster now.

The army merely paused briefly before continuing its slaughter as countless demons rushed toward Nuk once more.

Instead of fleeing up the mountain to survive, Nuk remained where he was.

He had never cared.

Intelligent or not…

At this very moment, he was revealing exactly what he truly was.

A primordial demon.

Nuk leapt directly into the army.

But like a tidal wave swallowing everything whole, he quickly vanished beneath the sea of bodies as blood exploded across the battlefield.

Organs…

Bones…

Mutilated corpses…

Everything scattered everywhere.

Hours passed before the surviving demons finally reached the top of the mountain, where a bottomless glowing crimson pit could now be seen.

At this point, their numbers had dropped drastically.

From billions…

To merely millions.

Nuk stood at the very front as he stared into the glowing abyss below.

He could feel his body urging him to jump.

Once he entered…

He would transform.

Without hesitation, Nuk jumped.

His speed increased rapidly as he descended.

The moment the other demons saw Nuk take action, they followed immediately as millions of Rank 0 demons plunged into the pit.

But they were not the only ones.

Across the infinite First Layer of the Abyss, demons from countless islands also leapt into their own crimson pits.

Yet the fewer demons an island possessed…

The stronger those demons were.

And on a few rare islands…

There were less than a thousand survivors remaining.

But on one particular island…

Only a single demon remained alive.

"Jejejejeje… so there were other survivors? I thought I killed them all," the humanoid demon muttered as his tail slowly swayed from left to right.

He glanced toward the distant islands where countless demons were still diving into the pits below.

"Alas… I still need more," the demon said with a grin before jumping into the hole himself.

Finally, after every demon across the islands had descended into the mountain pits…

The magma sea rose completely.

And all remaining land vanished beneath it.

Nuk fell for a long while before everything suddenly turned dark.

Then...

He entered a thick, warm liquid.

His body was constantly washed over again and again as his strength steadily increased.

Soon, however, the comforting sensation disappeared and was replaced by intense heat.

Nuk slowly opened his eyes.

What greeted him was an endless land filled with dark trees stripped of leaves, towering black grass, caves, mountains, hills, and countless magma rivers, magma lakes, and magma ponds scattered across the landscape.

He was still a few meters in the air, and with every passing moment, the burning heat lessened as his body rapidly adapted to the environment.

Twisting his body midair, Nuk landed heavily, one knee buckling slightly before he slowly stood back up.

Nuk took a deep breath.

His form radiated power as faint blue sparks flickered across his dark scales.

But he was not alone.

The sky beneath the giant crimson sun was gradually blackened by endless descending figures.

Each one…

A demon that had survived the First Abyss.

As Nuk observed the closest demons around him, he became rather entertained.

They were stronger.

Far stronger than the demons from his previous battlefield.

Nuk's aura radiated the strength of a Middle Rank 0 demon.

Meanwhile, most of the surrounding demons possessed similar strength levels.

Especially the final one..

A humanoid demon radiating the aura of a High Rank 0 existence.

Bang!

The demon landed heavily as waves of force erupted from its body, causing the surrounding ground to crack apart.

Unlike Nuk's dark-blue scales, this demon possessed black and deep purple scales.

For Nuk, his scales felt like heavy armor wrapped around his body.

But for this demon…

Its scales resembled a perfectly fitted battle suit.

"Tch… stronger ones…" Nuk muttered softly.

Pah!

The demon's tail smashed against the ground, instantly shattering the earth several meters around him.

Seeing this, Nuk unexpectedly felt excited.

Among all the demons present…

This was the only High Rank 0 demon.

But then again…

Why wouldn't it be?

After all, it had been the sole survivor among billions of demons on its island.

The demons that landed near Nuk and the High Rank 0 demon subconsciously moved away from them.

Demons naturally feared and respected strength.

And this demon…

It was terrifying.

Its High Rank 0 aura spread outward, forcing some of the newly born demons onto the ground.

Soon, multiple Peak Rank 0 auras flared up across the distance.

The older demons living within the Second Layer of the Abyss had awakened upon sensing the arrival of the hatchlings.

To them, this meant easy souls.

A chance to reach the limit of Rank 0.

A chance to break through into Rank 1.

And they would not hesitate to seize that opportunity.

And so…

The violent Second Layer of the Abyss awakened once more for its greatest feast of souls.