Chapter 121: A den of Demons

At Zephyr’s question, Onicus’s expression darkened further, turning as black as the bottom of a pot.

"A den of those filthy demons!"

It exclaimed, its voice trembling.

"I checked the surrounding area, and this entire place is crawling with demons! It’s enormous, almost like a large castle, but I couldn’t figure out why so many demons have gathered here... And that’s not all. I also saw numerous young slaves being held in several rooms, treated horribly. The whole scene was absolutely disgusting!"

Zephyr’s brows furrowed at its words. By now, his psychokinesis had already spread throughout the entire structure, allowing him to gauge the sheer size of the place.

Onicus was right.

It was a massive castle.

As he probed his surroundings, he sensed countless presences scattered throughout the place. Some seemed rather weak and very ordinary, while others possessed eerie mana. He could feel them moving through different areas. Many of those presences were even tangled together in ways he had no particular desire to investigate further after hearing what Onicus had just said.

Zephyr’s expression grew heavier as he listened. Amid the constant footsteps, distant voices, and general commotion echoing through the castle, he caught the many sounds of laughter and sobbing.

"This..."

Before he could say anything more, Onicus flew over and landed on his shoulder. The small dragon’s expression was grim.

"We have to do something! Whatever is going on in this place, it’s definitely not good!"

Onicus paused, fixing Zephyr with an intense stare as though trying to make him understand the gravity of the situation.

"You said before that you would kill the demons if they turned out to be evil. Now that you’ve sensed just how vile they are, you can’t just leave them alone, can you?"

Zephyr remained silent for a moment.

Then, he gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment.

He had thought he had already seen and heard just about everything there was to experience in the prison. Apparently, he had been wrong. The world beyond those walls was far larger than he had ever imagined, and there were still countless evil things he had yet to discover.

No matter how Lucien had ended up teleporting them to this place, one thing was certain: it was his job to clean up this place before Lucien woke up.

Besides, considering that he had killed a researcher from the Association before they left, Zephyr doubted they would be returning there anytime soon. For the time being, they needed somewhere to stay, and this castle seemed as good a place as any.

Of course, that would only be the case after he dealt with the demons and properly understood just what this place was.

And that’s how, when the master of the castle—a powerful Demon General who had gone out to mock Demon General Drak for once again getting beaten up by the Demon Lord—finally returned, he was blown away by the scene that greeted him.

His once-bustling castle was now steeped in the thick stench of blood. Demon corpses lay scattered across the floors, their lifeless bodies strewn haphazardly throughout the halls. The silence that hung over the castle was almost suffocating, a stark contrast to the noise and commotion that had filled it only hours earlier.

And amid the carnage stood a single figure.

Tall, imposing, and utterly emotionless.

As though the slaughter surrounding him had been nothing more than a mildly tedious chore, the human stood among the sea of corpses, his expression indifferent and his gaze as calm as ever.

Zephyr had sensed the newcomer’s presence the moment he had crossed the castle gates. Now, as the approaching footsteps finally reached the central hall, he slowly turned to face the figure behind him.

Zephyr was furious.

So furious that even after slaughtering countless demons, his hands still trembled with barely contained rage. Yet the more anger churned within him, the calmer his expression became. By now, there was not a trace of emotion left on his face, only a chilling indifference that made his bloodstained figure all the more terrifying.

Earlier, after hearing Onicus’s account and sensing his surroundings, Zephyr had ventured deeper into the castle. What he discovered was far worse than anything he had imagined. The horrors hidden within those walls were beyond disgusting. Demons were violating helpless people of various races, beating them mercilessly, and even mutilating them to use their severed body parts as decorations.

Humans made up the largest group among the victims. According to Onicus, they were most likely slaves whom the demons had captured after conquering and destroying their realms, just as they had destroyed Onicus’s race in the past. The little dragon had wept at the thought, bitterly remarking that it was a blessing that its entire race had perished without having to endure such humiliation and torture.

The first time Zephyr came across a group of humans being assaulted by several demons, he immediately restrained their tormentors with his psychokinesis and turned to the victims, telling them they were free to leave.

But none of them moved.

They merely stared at him with vacant eyes, offering no response whatsoever. There was no relief, no joy, not even the faintest flicker of hope. It was as though the suffering they had endured had hollowed them out completely, leaving nothing behind but empty shells.

Zephyr could not see, but Onicus could. It was Onicus who told him that they had lost the will to live after enduring so much suffering. They had been broken to the point that even the thought of freedom meant little to them anymore. No matter what Zephyr said, they probably would not respond.

And, for a moment, Zephyr could only remain silent.

Then he turned back to the demons and began slaughtering them. Only then did the people he had rescued react. Some broke down in tears, their quiet sobs filling the room as they listened to Zephyr, their hollow gazes following his every movement.

Hearing their cries and sobs, Zephyr knew that not a single demon in the castle deserved to live.

He moved through its halls without sparing any of them, leaving no corner untouched and no demon alive. By the time he had finished, the once-bustling castle had fallen into a deathly silence, its halls drenched in blood and littered with corpses.

Throughout the slaughter, the people he had rescued continued to follow him, witnessing the end of the demons who had tormented them. With nowhere else to go, they eventually gathered in the grand hall, where Zephyr had stopped to calm his raging emotions.

It was there that one of them finally gathered the courage to speak. The master of the castle was still away, they explained, but he would eventually return. He was a Demon General, a being so powerful that no one could hope to defeat him. Zephyr needed to escape before it was too late.

Zephyr listened quietly before telling them to find somewhere safe to hide within the castle. He assured them that they had nothing to worry about and that they should leave the matter to him.

After everything they had endured, the last thing they needed was to worry about what would happen to him.

Besides, even if the Demon General was powerful, Zephyr was no longer weak himself.

And he had no intention of letting the man live.

After all, the castle’s master was the one who had allowed such filth to exist beneath his roof. Not only had he allowed the other demons to carry out these atrocities, but he had also participated in them himself.

So he waited in the grand hall, surrounded by the corpses of the demons he had killed, his expression as calm as ever.

Until, at last, the master of the castle arrived.

Before Zephyr could speak, Onicus reacted. The little dragon, which had watched him slaughter demons for so long and had even laughed as it witnessed the carnage, suddenly let out a furious scream.

"This bastard! He’s one of those pieces of shit who attacked my race?! I’m going to tear him apart!"

With that, Onicus immediately lunged at the Demon General. Unfortunately, its small body passed straight through him without making contact. Enraged, the little dragon tried again and again, each attempt ending in the same frustrating result.

Hearing Onicus’s furious cries, which only he could hear, Zephyr narrowed his eyes dangerously toward the figure standing before him. He could sense that the man had a pair of wings on his back, and his body was trembling, seemingly with rage.

Zephyr’s voice was ice-cold.

"You’re finally back."

Demon General Hosy was so furious that he almost laughed.

Yet beneath his overwhelming rage, a sense of wariness lingered. The power radiating from Zephyr was pitifully weak, almost insignificant. After all, Gaya System had said it would conceal Zephyr’s true strength from everyone except those he chose to reveal it to. As a result, Hosy couldn’t understand how a human who seemed so weak had managed to enter his castle and slaughter so many of his people.

Even so, he did not immediately attack. Instead, he remained still, his attention fixed on Zephyr as his instincts warned him that something was wrong.

If this human were truly as weak as his aura suggested, he would never have made it this far. The moment he stepped into the castle, he should have been captured or killed.