The little demon stared at the brightly colored scenery around him, feeling hungrier the more he looked. He habitually started sucking on the tip of his own tail.

“Let’s stop for a bit, Baobao’s hungry,” Bazel called out.

They had become quite familiar with Baobao’s little gestures: sucking his tail meant hunger, rubbing his face meant sleepiness, and staring intently meant he needed to do his ‘big business’.

Although they were rushing, feeding Baobao was also important.

Nick retrieved the sleeping female Hellhound from his shadow. Bode took a small bowl to milk her, then fed the cub spoonful by spoonful.

The little demon was very distracted during his meal today; there were too many novel things around. He sat on Bazel’s lap, opening his mouth for the spoon while looking all around.

Nearby, a small, emerald-green blade of grass danced in the wind. After finishing a spoonful of milk, the cub, eyes fixed on the wriggling grass, reached out to grab it.

But just before he could touch the grass, the tip of a blue tentacle reached out, blocking the little one’s chubby hand.

The next moment, the small green grass suddenly stretched out—it was actually a long green worm! The worm sprayed green liquid from its mouthparts at the top, splashing onto Bode’s tentacle.

Quite a bit also splattered onto the ground. The surrounding flowers, grass, and soil corroded instantly with a sizzling sound, melting away in the blink of an eye.

The little one was stunned, forgetting even to drink his milk. He craned his neck to look at the small patch of melted ground, where even a pit had formed. He seemed to realize this was something bad and immediately pointed at the speckled green poison on Bode’s tentacle, starting to cry softly.

Nick quickly ran over and stomped the worm dead.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! Look, I’m perfectly fine.” Bode immediately wiped the poison off his tentacle and held it up for the cub to see.

As a Greater Demon with corrosive abilities, Bode could decompose strong acids within his body and had a natural resistance to poisons. Such a small worm was nothing to him; it hadn’t even broken his skin.

The little demon looked at Bode’s tentacle while pouting and crying. Seeing both tentacles were perfectly fine as usual, he finally stopped crying, sniffling as he opened his mouth wide to continue drinking milk.

After eating his fill, the little guy was still a bit subdued from the earlier incident. He leaned against Bazel’s chest, playing with his buttons, no longer looking at the scenery.

They didn’t linger after the cub finished his milk and immediately started traveling again. The tiny cub wore only a thin, open-crotch baby outfit.

It was already dusk, and the weather was turning cool. The little demon seemed to feel cold too, snuggling into Bazel’s arms, resting his head against Bazel’s neck.

His two small hands pulled at Bazel’s collar, trying to pull the clothes open and wrap himself inside, but the buttons were sturdy, and he couldn’t get them undone after fiddling for a long time.

Only then did Bazel realize the cub was cold. He asked Nick for one of his own coats. It was a long robe with a hood. He used the hood to cover the cub’s head and wrapped the rest around the cub’s entire body, bundling the little one up securely.

The hood was too big, almost covering the cub’s entire face. The little demon craned his neck hard but still couldn’t see anything.

Warm clothes, a familiar embrace, and a slight swaying motion—the cub had been struggling with the hood, trying to pull it off, but fell asleep before succeeding.

Bazel held the small black bundle. Sensing the little one had quieted down, he lifted the hood to peek inside, saw Baobao was asleep, and gently covered him again. The black dragon tightened his grip on the small bundle, as if holding his most precious treasure.

The demons traveled on in silence. They wouldn’t stop to rest until they reached a safe town.

The magic elements in the Forest of Calamity were chaotic. They had chosen this place as a hiding spot precisely because the mixed elements could mask their own magic.

By the same token, if other demons didn’t use magic, they couldn’t detect them either.

While the demons hurried along, the skeleton demon Constans, who had begun his search from the west side of the Forest of Calamity, was also heading towards them. Of course, neither party had detected the other yet.

The Forest of Calamity teemed with demonic beasts and plants, many of them carnivorous. They would immediately enter hunting mode upon smelling blood and flesh. But skeleton soldiers had no blood or flesh, only bony frames.

Demonic plants wouldn’t even look twice at such meatless skeletons. Demonic beasts might grab a few skeletons to gnaw on, but the skeleton soldiers were numerous.

If a comrade was snatched by a beast for gnawing, they could use their numbers and extreme resilience to wear down the beast and rescue their companion. As long as the bones weren’t ground to powder, a skeleton soldier wouldn’t die.

Only Constans himself could move freely through the Forest of Calamity, being, like Lance and the others, a Greater Demon.

So, he left his numerous subordinates behind and explored deeper into the forest first. His troops included mid-rank and high-rank soldiers, but the Forest of Calamity contained Greater Demon-level beasts.

If encountered, his subordinates alone couldn’t handle them. Thus, he scouted ahead to clear some obstacles.

Perhaps due to good luck, Constans, entering the Forest of Calamity ahead of the others, hadn’t encountered a single Greater Demon-level beast. Consequently, he hadn’t needed to use any magic, silently pressing forward.

Despite being just a skeleton, his travel speed was incredibly fast. In just half a day, he had left his troops far behind. It was only when he remembered he needed to wait for his subordinates and rendezvous with them that he realized he had run a bit too far.

The runaway skeleton decided to wait for his subordinates right there.

He crouched under a tree to wait. However, the Withered Bone Tree behind him didn’t seem to welcome him, whipping him with its branches as if annoyed by his presence.

The good-natured Constans silently moved away. Seeing he was surrounded by Withered Bone Trees, he decided to find an unobtrusive spot where he could also rest.

So, he dug a pit in the ground, buried himself in it, extended one bony hand to smooth the earth over, preventing other beasts from tripping, then retracted his hand and lay down in the dirt to rest.

–

In the middle of the night, the little demon woke up.

He was usually still groggy right after waking, needing several minutes of staring blankly to become fully alert.

He yawned, wanting to rub his eyes, only to find his entire body was wrapped up and he couldn’t get his hands out.

So, the little demon continued to stare blankly.

“Baobao’s finally awake?” Bazel noticed the moment the cub moved.

The cub had slept for quite a long time this round; Bazel had been about to wake him.

“Drank so much milk before sleeping, perfect timing to wake up and pee.”

Bazel removed the black coat, felt around, and found it warm and dry, not having been used as a map. He breathed a sigh of relief. Then he crouched down, positioning himself to hold the little one.

The other three demons scanned the surroundings warily. Although they couldn’t feel any magic fluctuations, nighttime was prime hunting time for some demonic beasts.

They had to be extremely careful. If attacked by a powerful beast they couldn’t escape, they’d have to use magic, which would definitely lead to discovery.

The little demon squinted, mouth open, looking adorably dazed as he brewed the urge to pee. Something flickered in the corner of his eye.

He smacked his lips, eyes widening slightly, slowly turning his head in that direction.

The soil next to Bazel shifted slightly, as if something was about to break through. This spot was in Bazel’s blind spot, and the other three demons had their backs to them, checking the surroundings.

So, only the little demon noticed the movement on the ground.

Although curious about what it was, the incident from the daytime had left a deep impression on the little demon. So, he just stared blankly, showing no intention of crawling over to dig at the soil for a closer look.

Soon, the soil stopped moving. The little demon slowly turned his head back and continued peeing.

After finishing his business, he turned his head again to look back at the spot. The soil moved slightly again. The little demon tilted his head, continuing to stare.

Suddenly, the next second, a white bony hand shot out from the soil!

The not-yet-fully-awake little demon was startled by the hand suddenly emerging from the ground. His whole body jumped, leaning backward, and the back of his head bumped against Bazel’s chest.

“Waaah~~~”

The little demon burst into frightened tears.

Ignoring the bump on the back of his head, he frantically turned, grabbed Bazel’s clothes, buried his head in his chest, and cried his heart out.

Too scary!

The little demon, only a few days old, had never seen anything so terrifying.

It really scared the cub to death!

Bazel barely felt the bump, thanks to his thick hide, but hearing the cub’s cries, he reflexively hugged him tighter and patted his back. “There there, Baobao, why are you suddenly crying?”

As he looked down, he suddenly realized something and slowly turned his head to the side.

Before, only the soil was moving in his blind spot, unseen. Now, the bony hand was fully extended, and Bazel saw it clearly.

“What the–?! What the hell is that thing!” Bazel immediately shielded Baobao and jumped back.

The skeleton hand that shot out of the ground seemed to freeze for a moment, then slowly began climbing out of the dirt. To the other demons, the process looked rather creepy.

In the pitch-black night, surrounded by pale white Withered Bone Trees, a skeleton climbed out of the earth—why did this scene feel so similar to those scary fairy tales Lance used to tell them out of boredom?

The other demons had immediately turned and run over upon hearing the cries, and they too saw the skeleton climbing out.

The faces of the demons instantly turned incomparably grim. Who could have guessed a skeleton would be hiding underground? Not only did they encounter it, but it had also seen the cub!

Constans had joined the Demon King’s ranks a few hundred years ago and wasn’t familiar with these four demons who had been active thousands of years prior.

Although neither side showed any magic fluctuations, as fellow Greater Demons, they could naturally sense that the other’s power level was equal to their own.

Seeing the skeleton keep staring towards the cub after climbing out, the four demons exchanged a look, reaching a tacit understanding, and began to act.

Bazel held the crying cub, comforting him, staying out of the fight.

The other three demons attacked the skeleton together. It had seen the cub; this one could not be left alive.

They’d already been discovered anyway. Might as well kill him first.