Prime Originator

"I can't believe you didn't even spare the tiles, Leon! The tomb was basically dismantled by you!" Aria said with an unbelievable look as they exited the tomb. 

Even if it was a demon's resting place, Leon had desecrated the Arch Demon's tomb to the point that even heavens might frown upon him.

Leon smiled wryly and said, "Since we came for treasure, we should take everything of value, no? It would be a waste to leave them behind, considering we might not get another chance to come here."

"But still..." Aria was concerned if his actions would accumulate bad karmic when she suddenly cried, "Demons!"

"Hm?" Leon immediately shot his gaze in the distance. 

At the same time, a small team of five Lesser Demons with horns noticed them while snooping around on the Nethergrass field ahead of them as if they were scouting.

"Kree!" one of the horned Lesser Demons quickly howled with alarm before they charged altogether.. 

"They're coming!" Leon's eyes flickered before he said, "We can't let any of them get away!"

"Mm!" Aria nodded. 

"Darlene, take care of yourself!" Leon instructed before taking out his bone spear and dashed forward to receive the demons' attacks with Aria. 

Nevertheless, the Lesser Demons were no match for Leon and Aria.

Within ten exchanges, the entire demon party was decimated with their limbs and body parts scattered across the ground and their blood soaking the Nethergrass. 

"These Lesser Demons were probably just scouts," Leon stated as he gave his bloodied spear a strong swipe at the empty air, causing all the blood to fling off it.

"Or the demon army could have divided themselves into parties to search for their own lucky chances," Aria added her opinion before saying, "Either way, it means our location is not far from the official entrance to the secret realm."

"Yeah," Leon nodded and said, "It's a good thing we did not take too long in the Arch Demon-level Tomb. Otherwise, we might not have known this until more demons show up and have us surrounded."

"In other words, we can't stay here," Aria stated before asking for Leon's opinion, "Which direction should we take?"

"Since the demons came from the southern direction, that is most likely the direction of the secret realm's main entrance, I think," Darlene spoke just as Leon was scavenging materials from the demon's corpses. 

Leon paused for a moment before he nodded in agreement, "Darlene is right. The other three directions would be safer than going south."

"North would be the safest bet, but there are some merits to going west or east."

"Wouldn't we run into more demons eventually if we head east or west?" Aria asked before adding, "Since the entrance is in the south, going north would lead us towards the inner region."

"No, we can't be sure of that," Leon refuted Aria's assumption with a shake of his head and said, "There's no telling which part of the secret realm the entrance is opened. As such, heading north could take us further away from the inner region instead."

"But it's still better than getting swarmed by the demons, right? We are greatly outnumbered," Aria raised her concern. 

"That's all the more reason why we should either head east or west. That way, we have a chance of reaching other fellow humans first and regroup with them."

"At the same time, we could warn them about the demons and whittle down the demon's numbers if we encounter more scout-sized parties like this."

"What if we run into a strong party we cannot handle?" Aria inquired. 

"We won't. I will make sure that we won't even come close to us," Leon stated with certainty before adding, "I will be scouting with my ocular technique. Thus, if they're strong, we leave. If they're weak, we fight."

Having said that, Leon pocketed the demons' Tier-4 equipment and weapons before he sat down in a meditative position.

"Give me a moment to refine their blood essence. It shouldn't take long," Leon said before adding, "Take this time to decide whether we want to head east or west. I'll leave the choice up to you." 

"It seems Leon has thoroughly thought it through. In that case, I don't have much else to say," Aria said with a smile before turning to Darlene, "What do you think, Sister Darlene?" 

Darlene glanced up at the sky before furrowing her brows in thought, trying to recall any useful information she had about the secret realm.

Nevertheless, she found nothing that could determine their location. 

"I don't know," Darlene eventually shook her head and said, "Sister Aria can decide."

A few moments later, Leon completed his blood refinement before he surprisingly gained 12 different types of Origin Blood, which directly doubled his cumulative Origin Blood to 24.

Within the demon's blood was impure and mixed with multiple types of blood from other races. 

Nevertheless, Leon did not waste time thinking about this and rose to his feet. 

"I'm done," Leon stated before calmly asking, "Have we decided on a direction?" 

"Mm, we decided on the west," Darlene answered.

"I see. West, it is," Leon nodded before urging, "Let us get going then." 

"Huh? Are we not going to clean up our tracks here first?" Aria asked with surprise. 

Leon glanced at the mess before shaking his head, "No, there's no point. The demons will figure out sooner or later once they enter the tomb." 

"But even if they found out we were here, they won't know which direction we headed off to."

"That makes sense," Aria nodded before her gaze froze in the southern direction

Another small group of demons has rocked up in the region, but none were Greater Demons or stronger, making them easy prey for Leon and Aria. 

"Leon!" 

"I know."

Aria and Leon quickly drew their weapons and rushed into the group of five Lesser Demons to slaughter them.

"Kree—Kuh..."

The Lesser Demons were briefly surprised before they failed to put up much resistance against Leon's overwhelming brute strength and got hacked to death.

After making short work of the demons, Leon cleaned his weapon and said, "The appearance of demons are becoming more frequent. We need to leave now."