[You blow the Abyss Horn within the blood sacrifice magic formation. The deep, imposing sound of the horn reverberates in the cave for a long time.]

[The magic formation beneath your feet suddenly erupts with dense blood-red light. The glow sweeps over your body, as if conducting some kind of identity verification…]

[Moments later, the blood light fades. You are still standing where you were. The transmission you had imagined does not occur.]

[You realize that with a human body you cannot be recognized by the magic formation. Only demons can use the Abyss Horn to activate the magic formation’s transmission…]

[Do you wish to go back the way you came?]

Lin Xun curled his lip and opened the Shell Slots.

There was still a humanoid demon shell left, obtained from the Star Cage, called Abyss Goat-Horn Demon.

“Good thing I didn’t throw this trash shell away. Looks like it finally has a use…”

There had been five demons imprisoned in the Star Cage in total, originally all prepared as experiment materials for the Polar Star Society.

Unfortunately, that high-ranking demon, Abyss Ancient Destruction Demon, was too large to possess, so Lin Xun had only kept the relatively decent-looking one among the four lesser demons, the Abyss Goat-Horn Demon.

[You possess the shell of Abyss Goat-Horn Demon!]

[You once again blow the Abyss Horn…]

[The magic formation beneath your feet suddenly erupts with dense blood-red light. The glow sweeps over your body, as if conducting some kind of identity verification…]

[This time the blood-red light does not fade. Instead, it flickers and spreads to cover your entire body…]

[Transmitting…]

[…]

[…]

[Transmission error!]

Lin Xun’s eyes widened. Before he could even feel pleased about having activated the magic formation’s transmission, he saw the message ‘Transmission error.’

The font of the prompt text was blood-red from top to bottom, clearly not a good sign.

“What the hell do you mean, transmission error? This shell is obviously a demon body.”

[…]

[You feel the world spin around you, and then your entire body is suddenly wrapped in some unknown soft substance…]

[You snap your eyes open. Darkness fills your vision and a rank, fishy stench fills your nose.]

[Your humanoid body is curled up, knees hugged to your chest, crammed into a large mass of hot, soft matter…]

[Judging from touch and temperature, you suspect you are inside some kind of living creature. Not within a digestive organ, but in the flesh or perhaps in an excretory organ.]

The corner of Lin Xun’s mouth twitched. Just where had he been sent?

[Just as you are about to switch shells and cleave open the flesh binding you, you hear an impassioned voice speaking from beyond the layers of flesh…]

[…]

[…The most critical moment of the great revival of the Abyss is upon us right now!]

[The Abyss Child, born from the sacrifice of countless demon flesh and blood essence, is the key opportunity for the revival of the Abyss!]

[The impassioned speech pauses, then deafening cheers and roars erupt like a crashing tide.]

[These cheers and roars are definitely not sounds that humans could produce. They sound more like beasts… or rather, demons!]

[Do you wish to immediately tear open the binding flesh and emerge into the outside world?]

“Could it be…”

Lin Xun quickly snapped out of it. Carefully reading the text in front of him, he could not help but connect it to a certain possibility and immediately pressed ‘No’.

[The impassioned speech rings out once more…]

[To all demon lords and great demon lords present, and to the various demon gods who have cast their gaze upon this moment…]

[The lives of your countless vassals will not be sacrificed in vain. Their deaths will bring about the sacred revival of the demon race!]

[The dark years of being enslaved, penned, and slaughtered like livestock by humans are about to become history…]

[The birth of the Abyss Child not only heralds the revival of the Abyss, but also heralds the demon race’s return to the surface!]

[He will lead you to destroy the chief of evil gods, Omniscient True Knowledge, to slaughter all evil humans, and to make demons once again the masters of this world!]

[Now, let all demons… witness the birth of the Abyss Child!]

[As the speech ends, thunderous cheers resound once more, and the flesh surrounding you begins to squeeze and writhe violently!]

[You are involuntarily pushed in some direction within the darkness…]

[Suddenly, you see a sliver of light. The flesh before you splits open on its own, and crimson firelight spills in through the crack…]

[You have no control over your body as you are squeezed out through the fissure in one go.]

[The piercing brightness makes you instinctively shield your eyes…]

[When you finally adjust to the light and lower your claws from your face, you see where you are…]

[This is a vast, brightly lit hall. You are atop a strange altar.]

[Beside this altar stands a tall stone stele, carved with bizarre text.]

[Suspended above your head is a massive spherical sack of flesh. With your ‘birth,’ the flesh sac rapidly withers and dries up.]

[Standing before you is a creature with pitch-black skin. It has curved horns on its head and holds a bone scepter in its hand. Its feet are hooves like those of cattle or sheep, and behind it extends a tail covered in bone spurs.]

[You have discovered Abyss Decay-Curse Demon Shaman!]

[In the hall at the foot of the altar stand countless similar creatures. Some are massive and hulking like hillocks, some are small and thin like children, and some are exceptionally beautiful like women…]

[Their forms vary greatly, but all bear obvious demon traits. Judging from the pressure they exude, none of them are low-ranking demons. At the very least, they are demon lords with demigod strength, or even great demon lords…]

[Yet at this moment, over a hundred demons, including the Abyss Decay-Curse Demon Shaman in front of you, are all staring fixedly at you with the same expression.]

[They stare wide-eyed, their gazes full of shock, as if they have seen a ghost.]

[You hear the Demon Shaman before you muttering, How can this be? How can this be?]

[This is clearly just a lowest-ranking Goat-Horn Demon. You cannot be the Abyss Child. You cannot be the Abyss Child!]

[It rubs its eyes as if to double check your identity…]

[At that moment, the demons in the hall below the altar erupt in shouts and roars!]

[Shaman, did your ritual go wrong?!]

[Of course the ritual went wrong! What on earth is this thing that was born?! A Goat-Horn Demon?]

[After sacrificing so many vassal lives to nurture this so-called Abyss Child, what we end up with is this lowest-ranking Goat-Horn Demon?]

[The entire race’s strength has been gathered, and countless vassal lives have been consumed over long ages to fully prepare for this Birth Ritual…]

[For the Shaman to make a mistake during the Birth Ritual, does this mean the demon race is fated to hide forever in underground caves and the dark Abyss…]

[Kill this despicable Goat-Horn Demon, and the Shaman as well. You are the sinner of the demon race. Even if the demon gods were to forgive you, I would never forgive you… pay with your life!]

[Yes, kill this Goat-Horn Demon, then kill the Shaman. Only blood can repay the lives of countless vassals!]

[The expression on the Demon Shaman’s face shifts repeatedly, his complexion turning green one moment and white the next. He clearly never expected such an outcome…]

[Apostle, what is your next move?]

[1. Slaughter them all. There are over a hundred high-ranking demons in the hall beneath the altar. Their entire bodies are full of treasures and are the most sought-after magical materials among scholars. How could you leave this treasure mountain empty-handed? Kill them all and you will become the richest man in the auxiliary capital!]

[2. Run for your life. Facing over a hundred demon lords, even if you have the strength to duel any top demigod on your own, you do not have the slightest chance of victory here. Do not let huge profits cloud your judgment. Fleeing is what you should be doing right now.]

[3. Assume another’s identity. With so many demon lords around, your chances of escaping are extremely slim. Your only way out is to take on the identity of the Abyss Child. Of course, you must not reveal your identity as the True God’s Envoy, or you will die an even more miserable death.]

All three option texts were blood-red and still trembling.

Lin Xun could not help grinding his teeth. “You damned cursed game. Transmission error, huh? The moment I arrive you throw me into a deathtrap like this.”

He could only swiftly press the third option.

[…]

[Before you can act, the Demon Shaman swings his bone staff and roars!]

[Silence! Silence!]

[The bone staff emits a powerful magical wave that momentarily halts the uproar in the hall below the altar.]

[The Demon Shaman seizes the opportunity to shout that the Abyss Child’s Birth Ritual has been prepared for ages and is the most critical step in reviving the great Abyss. There is no way he would be negligent and make a mistake in such a ritual!]

[Every step before the ritual was carried out had been checked in meticulous detail. It is impossible for there to be any error!]

[Have you never considered another possibility?]

[No one has ever seen what the Abyss Child actually looks like!]

[Perhaps the Abyss Child is meant to appear in the form of a low-ranking demon. Perhaps this Goat-Horn Demon is the genuine Abyss Child!]

[At these words, the demons in the hall below the altar only roar even more discontentedly.]

[The scene before them was clearly the Demon Shaman making a mistake during the ritual. They would never believe such a clumsy excuse.]

[The Demon Shaman takes quite some time to calm the hall again. He raises his bone staff high and shouts…]

[He has a way to prove that this Goat-Horn Demon is not an ordinary low-ranking demon but a genuine Abyss Child!]

[As he speaks, he looks at you with a solemn gaze and continues…]

[All demons know that low-ranking herbivorous demons like Goat-Horn Demons are like cattle and sheep. Aside from serving as food or labor, they have no other use.]

[Goat-Horn Demons have almost no intelligence. They cannot speak and their strength is meager. They have no possibility of advancement.]

[But that only applies to ordinary Goat-Horn Demons. If this low-ranking demon is the Abyss Child, then he will inevitably be different from the common Goat-Horn Demons!]

[You are all eager to deny the birth of the Abyss Child before you have even witnessed the traits that set him apart…]

[Do you wish for the demon race’s final chance at revival to vanish? Do you wish for the great Abyss to remain forever in a chaotic state?!]

[The Demon Shaman’s words finally manage to stabilize the situation for the time being.]

[He then shouts loudly that they will now let the Abyss Child prove his identity, prove that he is not a low-ranking demon, prove that he is not merely a Goat-Horn Demon!]

[The Demon Shaman’s words radiate a powerful confidence, and this confidence infects many demons in the hall. They stare wide-eyed at you, waiting for you, who sit dazed on the floor, to prove your identity.]

[Yet you notice that although the Demon Shaman’s tone seems full of confidence, his gaze toward you is extremely tense, the tendons bulging on the claw that grips his bone staff…]

[You immediately understand that deep down, the Demon Shaman does not believe you are truly the Abyss Child either.]

[All the demon lords below the altar fix their gazes on you. The intense pressure makes you somewhat uncomfortable.]

[You know that if you fail to display what the Abyss Child should be, what awaits you will be the wrath of countless demons.]

[Just as you are at a loss of what to do, you suddenly catch sight of the tall stone stele beside the altar.]

[You noticed this stele carved with countless words from the moment of your ‘birth,’ but had not yet had a chance to read what was written upon it…]

[You quickly skim the two lines of text on the stele and immediately form a plan…]

[You suddenly rise to your feet and sternly rebuke the demon lords in the hall below the altar…]

[All demons are devout believers, children of the great Abyss. So why do you not kneel when you behold the Abyss Child?!]

[Now… kneel at once! Beg that I might forgive your discourtesy!]

[The many demons below the altar stare at you in shock, looking at one another in disbelief…]

[They have never seen a Goat-Horn Demon speak, just as humans have never seen cattle and sheep speak.]

[Your performance shakes the convictions of quite a few demons. However, asking them to kneel to a low-ranking demon at the bottom of the food chain and acknowledge you as the Abyss Child is far from enough with just this display!]

[You let out a cold laugh, glance sidelong at the stele, and loudly recite the words recorded upon it.]

[In the beginning of the world, the Abyss was the only god. All things in existence were born of the Abyss!]

[At that time, the sole rulers of the world were the demon race who worshiped the Abyss, while intelligent beings such as humans and the dragon race were all slaves to the demons.]

[All demons believed this rule would last forever…]

[But then the chief of evil gods, the source of Disorder, Omniscient True Knowledge, crossed the endless starry sky and descended!]

[Omniscient True Knowledge is an extremely evil god. After descending, without any negotiation, He launched a divine war against the great Abyss!]

[Flames of war blazed beneath the dark Abyss. The land of peace above turned into a field of corpses…]

[After an endlessly prolonged divine war, the Abyss was defeated by the evil god and fell…]

[Yet the fall of the Abyss was not the end, but the beginning of everything!]

[At the moment of its fall, the Abyss released all of its divinity. Part of that divinity was left behind for the chief of evil gods to devour, casting Him into slumber.]

[Another part left this world and roamed the starry sky, seeking a chance to rise again…]

[You pause at this point, stunned that the true history is actually like this. You had not anticipated it at all. If this is the real history then…]

[The words recorded on the stele have not ended yet, and you continue to loudly recite them…]