The Shadow Demon connected his own shadow to the shadow beneath the skeleton’s feet, immobilizing him, while the Slime decomposed strong acid for an attack.

Constans was attacked without having done anything. But as a Greater Demon composed entirely of bone, his bones were extremely durable; even soaking in large amounts of strong acid wouldn’t corrode them. Thus, the Slime’s attack had little effect on him.

Lance, being a Nightmare Demon, wasn’t strong in direct combat, but his hypnosis and illusion skills were top-notch. He created illusions before Constans, immersing him within them.

Constans, under relentless assault, stood perfectly still. Then, the three demons swarmed him, unleashing their most lethal attacks.

They no longer had to worry about their magic being detected. This skeleton appeared unremarkable, but demons who reached the Greater Demon level often possessed many unusual abilities. Unaware of this skeleton’s powers, they had to take the initiative.

Although his bones were strong, Constans fell apart under the attack of three Greater Demons. Bones of various sizes were scattered across the ground.

Nearby, Bazel gently patted the cub in his arms. Gradually soothed, the little demon slowly stopped crying. He clutched Bazel’s clothes fearfully, then turned his head to peek timidly at the skeleton.

He’d glance, cry out, hide in Bazel’s arms, but then peek again after a few seconds—very curious, yet very cowardly.

Only when the skeleton was completely dismantled by the demons did he puff up with courage, no longer hiding in Bazel’s clothes.

Instead, he stared tearfully at the bones on the ground, pointed, and shouted, “Papa!”

“He’s not Papa, he’s a skeleton.”

The demons were always trying to get the cub to say Papa, so he thought everything that moved was called Papa, including the Hellhounds, various plants, and this skeleton that emerged from the ground.

Bazel corrected the cub’s naming, then shouted to the others, “Skeleton demons are incredibly resilient! Just breaking him apart won’t kill him!”

Time was extremely urgent now. Their magic fluctuations must have already been sensed by Demon King Eris. The sooner they finished, the sooner they could escape.

Bazel placed the cub on the ground. The little demon was still frightened from the earlier incident and desperately needed comfort, pouting with tears welling up, wanting to be held.

Bazel looked at the cub, took a few steps back, and transformed into his true form. The enormous black dragon nearly blotted out the sky.

The underground palace had been too small; Bazel had needed to shrink his dragon form slightly to avoid breaking the palace ceiling.

Only now, outside, could he unleash his true size.

The giant, terrifying black dragon appeared before the cub. The little demon tilted his head back, staring up, forgetting even to cry. He had seen Bazel’s dragon form in the underground palace, but never this large.

Unlike the sudden appearance of the skeleton, he was very familiar with the black dragon’s scent and deeply dependent on the four demons who were always with him. Seeing such a large dragon only elicited a look of wonder.

The giant dragon extended a claw, carefully enclosing the cub within his grasp. He controlled his strength perfectly; the little one was like being placed in a black cage—neither too cramped nor so loose he could fall through the gaps.

“Get on!” the dragon’s voice boomed.

The three demons, having lived together for ages, immediately leaped onto his other claw.

A torrent of black dragon breath, radiating scorching heat, surged from Bazel’s mouth towards the skeleton on the ground. This was Bazel’s strongest breath, capable of incinerating all things.

In an instant, the scattered bones, along with the surrounding Withered Bone Trees, turned to ash. The ground soil was scorched and melted by the high temperature, and the bones on the ground became charred black and brittle.

Bazel didn’t linger. He immediately beat his dragon wings, carrying his companions and the cub away, turning to flee.

Get out of the Forest of Calamity first; the farther away, the better.

The black dragon flew swiftly.

The Forest of Calamity, which would have taken several days to traverse on foot, was already nearing its edge in the blink of an eye.

Back where the charred black bones lay scattered on the ground, soon after they left, one small bone twitched. It began to move continuously. Other bones did the same, drawn by some force, gradually converging in one place, reforming into a blackened skeleton.

The racial talent of skeleton demons was their powerful life force. And Constans, as the strongest Greater Demon of his race, possessed near-immortality—a fact known only to the Demon King.

Recalling the little demon he had just seen, who looked strikingly similar to the Demon King, plus the fact those demons attacked on sight—there was definitely something fishy going on.

They must be the culprits who stole the egg. But hadn’t the Demon King lost a demon egg? That demon egg had actually hatched?

Since he couldn’t figure it out, Constans stopped thinking about it. He reached for the signal flare hidden inside his skullcap… right, the flare had been burned to ashes.

Constans, left with nothing but his own bones, froze for a few seconds. Then, he broke off a small piece from his toe bone.

Usually incredibly hard, the bone had become very brittle after being scorched by dragon breath. A light pinch turned it to powder. He infused magic into it and tossed it towards the sky.

The magic-infused bone powder flew skyward like fireworks, exploding high above into a blue skull shape. The massive explosion reverberated throughout the entire forest, and the faintly glowing blue skull in the night sky was exceptionally conspicuous.

The fireworks were fleeting, but the skull fireworks didn’t disappear. Instead, it reformed into a giant blue arrow, pointing in the direction Bazel and the others had fled.

Every demon in the Forest of Calamity saw it.

Bazel and his companions heard the explosion, looked back, and saw the skull and arrow. The arrow was pointing directly at them! And judging by the location of the skull firework, that skeleton hadn’t died?!

Bazel, usually very confident in his abilities, cursed under his breath, his dragon face darkening, as he banked sharply, flying in another direction.

Who could have imagined he would actually fail today? What was wrong with that skeleton? Even his black dragon breath couldn’t kill him!

In the southern part of the forest, the black goat Baph saw the signal in the sky and immediately ordered all demons with wings to fly towards the arrow’s direction, while other demons advanced on the ground.

In the northern part of the forest, the demon legions composed of nobles also changed direction simultaneously.

Upon seeing the signal, black bat-like wings unfurled behind Eris, and he vanished from his spot in an instant. He was the farthest away, yet his speed was the fastest.

When he reached Constans’s location, the Demon King landed and looked at the scorched surroundings, immediately asking, “Found?”

The charred Constans nodded, his teeth clicking together.

The Demon King understood what he was saying. Hearing that a cub resembling him had been taken by a black dragon and his accomplices, he immediately recalled the magic fluctuations he had sensed earlier.

Those four demons were lackeys of the previous Demon King. They had been on the run ever since the previous Demon King was sealed. He hadn’t intended to bother with them today, having more important matters, but they actually dared…

The Demon King’s expression turned icy. He could still sense the black dragon’s magic fluctuations at this moment and immediately unfurled his wings, flying in that direction.

The four demons could likewise sense the Demon King rapidly closing in on them. His speed was clearly faster than the black dragon’s.

Seeing they would be caught before long, Bazel said anxiously, “Take Baobao and go! I’ll stay behind to cover our retreat!”

In terms of strength, Bazel was indeed the strongest among them, but even he couldn’t beat the Demon King. Staying behind meant certain death at the hands of the enraged Demon King.

Lance bit his lip, then said resolutely, “We stay together! Now that the Demon King knows we stole his cub, even if you cover the retreat, we can’t possibly escape. We might as well all stay; perhaps there’s a slim chance of survival.”

Bode nodded. “Wherever Baobao is, I’ll be there. Besides, where can we run? The entire Demon Realm is the Demon King’s territory.”

Nick: “We spent a long time hatching Baobao; we’re all his fathers! Plus, with Baobao in our hands, the Demon King might hold back. Maybe we can escape then.”

“Hmph.”

A cold snort made the demons, still discussing their next move, instantly freeze rigid.

That voice was all too familiar—it was Eris’s voice!

Bazel turned his head and saw that Eris had somehow silently flown above him. Those dark golden vertical pupils, so similar to the cub’s, were utterly cold, looking at him as if staring at a dead thing.

“You wish to bargain with me?”

Before Bazel could even speak, his massive body was suddenly bound by a black chain swirling with dark energy. Even his dragon form couldn’t break free, and it was rapidly draining his magic.

The immense magic within the black dragon was instantly absorbed. He could no longer maintain his dragon form, reverting to his humanoid shape and plummeting from the sky. The black chain shrank simultaneously as he transformed, still binding him tightly.

The other three demons suffered the same fate. Sitting on Bazel’s dragon claws, their magic was also drained by black chains.

The four demons fell rapidly from the sky, bound. But at this moment, they had no mind to worry about themselves, looking around frantically.

Where was Baobao?

Falling from this height would only injure them at most. But Baobao was fragile! His wings weren’t fully developed; he couldn’t possibly fly in these conditions! He would die if he fell!

Right now, they were only worried about the cub’s safety, forgetting that the little demon’s biological father was right here.

The little fellow, sitting inside the dragon claw, had initially found it novel, looking around everywhere. But it was a small space with nothing interesting.

The little demon quickly lost interest and started feeling uncomfortable. His bottom felt a bit bumpy, and the wind was strong, making the cub scrunch up his face.

He wanted to call the other demons; he didn’t want to sit here anymore; he wanted to be held! But the moment he opened his mouth, wind rushed in.

Little demon: “Wawa wa.”

He seemed to have discovered a new game, opening his mouth to let the wind rush in, puffing up his cheeks, involuntarily making “wawa” sounds.

Just as he was having fun, the place beneath his bottom suddenly vanished. The tiny cub was flying in the open sky!

He instinctively flapped his wings twice, but the wind at this altitude was too fierce. The more he flapped, the more his wings hurt. He didn’t know how to use air currents to fly yet and could only flail wildly in the air.

And the other demons were gone too.

The little demon waved his arms and legs frantically, trying to grab onto something. And then he grabbed onto a familiar yet unfamiliar demon.

The other’s aura was incredibly familiar, even more so than the four demons’, as if long ago, he could sense this aura every moment. Yet, it was unfamiliar because he had never seen this demon before. The one holding him high in the sky was not one of the four demons he knew.

Eris held the cub. The big and small demons, looking remarkably similar, stared at each other.

Nestled in the other’s arms, the little demon forgot he was still high in the air, only feeling that the other’s aura was so comforting it made him want to nuzzle closer.

And so he did. He wrapped his tail around the other’s wrist, then rested his head against his chest, rubbing affectionately.

“Papa.”