High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1373: Chapter 120: Origin of the Demon

”Isn’t it different?”

Mr. Wu retorted, then said: ”The lineage of Northern District Wizards founded by Korma, every time they cast a magic spell, they consume the life of a frog... They ’eat’ frogs, it’s not impossible for them to ’devour’ the lives of other wizards as well.”

Zheng Qing opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but he suddenly remembered an encounter a few weeks ago, after leaving the Sakura Pub with Jiang Yu. An out-of-control Northern District Wizard grabbed a Trickster with Bear Man bloodline beside him and drained his life force with magic power.

Right in front of him and Jiang Yu.

Mr. Wu sipped a little tea, glanced sideways at the young cost student whose face turned pale, seemingly seeing the images in his mind, paused before speaking again:

”A bit earlier... those Tricksters from the North District. The Mage Alliance has legally recognized their status as wizards. But how do you think they live? Profit-driven merchants can drive them into the Silent Forest, exchanging lives for rare Magic Potions; fame-seeking wizards put them on the experiment table, staining their reports with fresh blood.”

”The straightforward slaughtering of Demons may seem brutal and terrifying, but the insidious and merciless actions of the wizards themselves are not a bit less cruel than the Demons.”

”Poisonous words, smiles bearing daggers, ghastly white teeth baring open, spitting out blood-stained residues... If this isn’t devouring people, what is it?”

”The Wizard World is a world where wizards devour each other; the history of the Wizard World is a history of wizards constantly devouring each other... This statement is not an exaggeration at all.”

Mr. Wu’s words indeed sounded terrifying.

However, Zheng Qing unexpectedly didn’t feel the horrification he had felt before—he had encountered similar views before. A cannibalistic society, he had also heard it mentioned by a certain Mr. Zhou Lusheng in his diary.

But.

”It’s different,” the young cost student murmured, insisting quietly in front of Mr. Wu: ”Demons eat wizards out of physiological needs... The plight of the Northern District Wizards is due to social factors... What exactly are Demons, Mr. Wu!”

He repeated the question he had asked earlier.

But clearly, he was not looking for the same generic answer.

Mr. Wu threw the small teapot in his hand into the void, where it vanished out of sight, then he raised his hand and patted Zheng Qing’s shoulder.

”What do you think Demons are?” Mr. Wu countered, but without waiting for the young man’s response, he directly added: ”To answer this question, one needs a perspective that’s broader and deeper in history.”

While speaking, Zheng Qing’s vision suddenly darkened.

When he saw the light again, he and Mr. Wu were sitting in a void, in front of them was the boundless universe and starry sky, without any distinct directions, nor any trace of sound.

So silent that he could clearly hear each heartbeat, even the gurgling sound of blood pumping into his veins.

”Look over there!”

Zheng Qing followed the direction pointed by Mr. Wu’s hand, initially thinking it was a brilliant starry sky, but soon, he noticed it was merely a mass of billions of glowing spheres, akin to piled salmon roe.

At the moment he perceived the light emitted from those spheres, Zheng Qing’s eyesight was shrouded in a layer of blood-red hue, endless knowledge surged into his eyes from the void.

And deep within his soul, a seed of ’Order’ was throbbing, germinating, and growing.

Yes, he distinctly felt the growth of that ’Order’ seed.

A misty halo of light burst forth from Zheng Qing’s side.

Mr. Wu used a barrier to block Zheng Qing’s line of sight to the billion-light orb.

The tremor surrounding the ’Order’ seed quietly dissipated.

Zheng Qing felt his soul deeply exhale in relief.

”Yog-Sothoth,” Mr. Wu’s voice arose beside the young wizard, calm yet extraordinarily clear: ”The Omniscient and All-Seeing One, the Unity of All Things... Holds the same rank as Gauze Nicholas, both positioned between legendary wizards and ancient wizards. They transcend this universe and the known dimensions, their true forms spanning countless timespaces.”

”They are wizards.”

Zheng Qing nodded his head.

Undoubtedly, although the Mage Alliance dislikes those existences in the Deeps of Starry Sky, any book published by the Alliance that could be referred to for their information labels their wizard identities.

”... When Gauze Nicholas and Yog-Sothoth surpassed the rank of Big Wizard, they chose not to control their true forms, instead stepping into the Starry Sky with their true forms, gathering the endless brilliance of the deeps as sustenance for their further growth. From that moment on, they embarked on a path starkly different from the orthodox wizards.”

”They do not converge a single speck of their true form’s brilliance; an ordinary wizard merely glancing at them would be overwhelmed by the infinite knowledge carried by their true forms. The luckier ones turn into madmen. The less fortunate turn to ashes.”

”What do you think, compared to demons, who is more terrifying?”

Zheng Qing tugged at the corner of his mouth—these aren’t beings on the same dimension, how could there be any comparison! It’s like comparing the Third Reich to a roadside robber!

Compared to the existences deep in the Starry Sky, those demons that consume flesh and blood are as adorable as the fluffy Grey Wolf.

”Back to your original question... what is a demon?”

”A demon is a group of monsters struggling in the Abyss and Hell. The true native demons are very few; the ones you know—Nikita, Faceless Monster and so on—are actually followers of the true demons.”

”The real demons have no physical form, no face, and even lack the ’concept of existence’. They steal the identities of the living, twist the actions of the living, and whisper in the ears of their followers, mocking every rational being.”

”This is why, when wizards are bitten by those followers, they fall into depravity.”

”That’s a conceptual erosion.”

”In fact, biting and spreading is just the mildest form of ’erosion’... Often, demons attach themselves to various inconspicuous objects. Just by a wizard touching it and fulfilling certain conditions, the demon can leave a seed in them, which then germinates and grows at the right time.”

”Doesn’t this sound very familiar?”

Zheng Qing fervently nodded his head, it’s not just familiar, it’s absolutely undeniable.

Those existences in the Deeps of the Starry Sky, whether Gauze Nicholas, Yog-Sothoth, or Satoguya, with whom Zheng Qing had the most dealings, all have the behavior of gathering followers and whispering in their followers’ ears to spread their own existence.

”They,” the young state-supported student said hoarsely, inadvertently glancing at that dazzling brilliance: ”Are they, as the rumors say, the ancestors of demons?”

Mr. Wu shook his head.

”No,” he held up a finger: ”They are not the Demon Ancestor, but the Demon Ancestor is one of them.”