Chapter 23: Shiden. Fulan. Maki.

Mark watched some videos regarding the Hunters and Demons. He learned much.

As he had expected, firearms didn't work against Demons at all and were useless inside dungeons. Physical and Mental Resistance of Demons made it mostly useless.

Mostly.

Of course, some extremely powerful firearms still did work.

Nukes could utterly decimate a demon, but demons were only rarely seen outside Dungeons, and those Demons were all Unique Demons.

Entering a Dungeon with a Nuke was impossible, as the Gate completely destroyed any weapon at that level of destructive might upon entry. To be exact, the Demon World's Will did.

Mark also saw a video of a Demon accidentally falling outside a Dungeon. That made him grimace slightly.

If normal Flame Demon or Ice Demon tried to move out of the Dungeons, they would be flamed to death, or lightning might strike them to death naturally.

Mark knew this Hunter World had its own Will. A strong will.

The only reason it didn't destroy the Dungeon Demons was because it couldn't sense the Dungeons.

Mark himself would already have been destroyed in both body and soul had he not been one of the 'Unique Demons.' He had been walking all around without a Dungeon covering him, after all.

Yes, he had the Dungeon Heart Seed demonic trick, and that made him much different from other Demons.

It made him capable of walking out of dungeons—it was a product of his unique demonic bloodline. Dona was his Dungeon.

Mark also learned other things.

Indeed, A-Rank Hunters were strong. They were like small, walking bombs.

Smiling at the comparison, Mark rather liked how the people of this world actually created a way of gauging a Demon's strength.

Tier 0 Demons like him were never a bother for Hunters who were prepared to enter Dungeons with trained party members to help them. Demonlings could be outsmarted and destroyed in multiple ways if humans used their abilities wittily.

They were considered equal to C-Rank Hunters—Weakest Hunters, but even that was an overstatement. They were also compared to mortals with powerful handguns—of course, guns couldn't hurt them, but their destructive might was nearly equal.

Tier 1 Demons were considered actual threats who could give a deadly fight to B Rank Hunters.

They were said to have a destructive might equal to truly heavy artillery. Only with a good B-Rank party would a Tier 1 be killable—or even fightable.

As for Tier 2 Demons?

They were the stuff of nightmares, and even A-Rank Hunters could barely stand a fight against them.

Truly, these creatures each had multiple abilities, and they were too versatile.

Too fierce. seaʀᴄh thё Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

A-Rank Hunters who fought them compared them to small bombs that could blast multiple times. The biggest caveat to add was that their physical and mental resistance was truly deadly.

They really were deadly in comparison to Mark himself, a Tier 0 Demon who could barely be compared to handguns. He wouldn't stand a chance against a Tier 1 Demon, not to mention a Tier 2.

"And there are Tier 2 level powers all over this World…" Mark decided to become as cautious as possible while he was here. He couldn't afford to be arrogant.

But he did see a trend. Hunters were… inferior to Demons.

Even if the Hunters exhausted the demons, as long as one of them died and their soul was eaten, the exhaustion would vanish from the demon, and it could revitalize itself. Hunters always struggled after that.

Demons were too fierce.

As he was scrolling down the phone, Mark's eyes focused on something else.

A piece of viral news was currently burning a hole in the internet.

"Sangrok Sports High School of the Seohwul Area saw the appearance of an abrupt Gate right after the suicide of student Seo Jin Hu!"

No wonder there was media there. So he had appeared in a suicide scene.

"The three students—Sanae Maki, Park Fulan, and Yamura Shiden—had been allowed freedom after the traumatic events and will be cared for by a therapist. They will not be moved into custody and will remain at school for another day."

Mark took note of that.

"The images of the creature, red, imposing, with dark horns, carrying another of its ilk on its back, is going viral all over the world with the moniker Red School Demon—"

Chuckling at the weird name, he listened intently, but then, his expression changed.

"A-Rank Hunter, Ice God Hanmo, is visiting Seohwul Area in order to hunt the 'Red School Demon' and is expected to arrive in a day or two."

Mark's expression changed entirely.

An A-Rank Hunter?!

That was a Tier 2!

No fucking way…

Sweat trickled down his back.

Unlike Demons, a Hunter only had a single supernatural ability, but there were too many Hunters in the world, and they worked in teams.

Not to mention, their physical and mental stats were not bad compared to a Demon of the same tier. They just lacked Resistance.

Again.

They didn't have any Resistance, but their body strength was much the same as their equals.

If that A-Rank caught him, he was done for!

Another news appeared, which made Mark even more worried.

"Currently, C-Rank Hunters, Thunder Strike Min-Su, and his wife, Su Miyu, are tracking down the demon and are moving downstream of the Mo River."

"Su Miyu's tracking superpower is showing a route towards the Fragrance City, and the Hunters are warning the citizens of the city to be alert. Try to move out of the city if possible. The Red School Demon is expected to be inside it soon if he is already not there, to begin with."

"Shit!" Mark cursed and immediately stood up.

Taking the unconscious Dona on his back, he ran down the stairs, followed the scent of the truck driver that he had remembered, entered the room with his scent, and, glad that he was asleep, opened the door forcefully.

It did make noise but the old man didn't wake up.

Lucky for the man.

Mark took some clothes from the old man's wardrobe and dressed himself up.

He also dressed Dona up in simple robes—she looked amazing, but he had no time to linger on her appearance—and wore a simple cloth himself that covered his face.

Then, he took the truck's key, entered the elevator, and headed for the basement.

Entering the truck, putting Dona in seat belts, and covering her face with a cloth, followed by his own, he whirred the truck to action.

It moved out of the basement, and he soon saw the night sky above, followed by yellow moonlight.

Face covered, clothed in a simple shirt and pants, Mark didn't look too inhuman; that's why the public panic wouldn't lead to the Hunters discovering him.

Who was he kidding? Barely anyone noticed a truck driver at night.

The huge headlights and the darkness of the night hid his demon identity.

"But if the Hunters can track me… it will be troublesome…" Mark muttered.

Using the mobile phone, he tracked the location of the Sangrok Sports High School and headed right back towards it.

Nobody would expect the demon to return. He was going to take Shiden's power. Using that, he could change his own shape and mix into human society much more easily.

That was extremely useful.

The ability to change the shape, form, and structure of anything he touches.

THAT WAS STRONG. And he wanted it.

Within just a quarter of an hour, Mark could see the school, which was still lit up with lights all around.

The floodlights beside a playground illuminated his red hands.

Carrying Dona, he avoided the news reporters and cameras still foiling around in the front and walked to the back of the school.

Mosquitoes buzzed around his ankles, and he ruthlessly stepped on the discarded tins, papers, and grass.

Taking a calming breath, he climbed up using a pipeline and crawled into a classroom through the open window. It was dark all around, and the benches, chalk, and blackboard all gave him a sense of calm.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The number of humans around this school at the moment was not that high; he could track down the one he wanted easily using smell, and immediately, he ran for them.

Shiden. He wanted only that person.

Sanae Maki, the woman of the trio, had a pungent smell of perfume. He remembered it.

With a cold smile on his face, he turned around a corridor, and the dark hallways turned to brightly lit ones. He saw three students huddled up against each other.

Shiden. Fulan. Maki.

As long as he had Shiden's ability, he could change his own form, shape, and everything to resemble a human, and no one would ever know he was a demon. He was going to have it, and from then on, his life was going to be much, much easier.

Mark smirked.

Against the darkness, his form was as intimidating as a demon's. The shadow of a horned figure stretched across the hallway, hidden from the three students.