Is this really a Game?!

The base of the demons was peaceful as usual. They had some problems these last couple of weeks as many of their brethren had died. They sent out fewer patrols now, but each was larger than before and it seemed to work since no casualties have appeared for the last 2 weeks.

The demons led a relatively simple life on the mountain. They would go out to hunt and kill other enemies before staying in the base and meditating and drawing in mana in order to strengthen themselves.

Demons, just like any other living creature, could draw in mana to their body and get exp that way.

It was a very safe way to train and become stronger but was incredibly slow compared to just killing other beings of a similar level and getting Soul Power ( exp on Earth, Soul Power everywhere else ).

In the entire universe, there were rarely any species or organizations that resorted to such a method to level up.

In the old days, back when the system didn't exist, people would grow stronger by absorbing mana to their bodies and strengthening it. There were many different ways of doing so, and some had even survived till now and people could study those scripts.

But those kinds of methods usually took a long time to master and to increase one's power, which led to more and more people simply killing one another in order to grow stronger.

The system had been present in the universe for a long, long time now, and many even doubted that there existed a time when the universe was without it.

The demons went out to do their rounds, some patrols returned, some went out to patrol, and there were those that started preparing food for others and more.

Everything was as usual, until…

Thud

Thud

Two dead bodies were thrown inside the base and placed near the gate without anyone noticing.

Blood and body parts could be seen near the base, the blood leaving a trail all the way to the inside of the base. The body parts were thrown around, seemingly torn off and discarded.

Only about 30 mins had passed before an angry growl was heard outside the base.

The growl continued growing stronger until the whole base was able to hear it.

Before the guards at the gate could see a figure, their heads separated from their bodies and flew through the air.

The fox had come back, just like Wolf and the others had thought, with more food to give to the two foxes. After seeing that they weren't there, the fox was at first confused but then enraged after spotting the trail of blood.

The two foxes were merely mid-level Tier I monsters and weren't particularly strong, especially since they were injured.

The fox followed the blood trail, it came across bits of flesh and some bones along the way, which worked to make it angrier by the second.

Finally, the fox arrived in front of the demon base. It started at the trail of blood that ended a couple of meters away from the base before its fur started rising, the fox had entered a kind of enraged state where its mana started releasing fully.

The two guards were dead and the fox entered the base. It was able to see the dead bodies of the two foxes that had been thrown on the ground as if they were trash.

The fox was further enraged by this and started moving.

It started a slaughter inside the base, none of the demons could defend themselves against the powerful fox as the latter ripped them apart.

Even Reign and the others who were spectating from afar gulped as they saw the display. If they were the ones fighting against the fox, they would be in a much better state, but it would still be a nightmare to win against.

The whole base had woken up and an alarm sounded from it. All the demons quickly dropped whatever they were doing and got ready for battle, but it was for naught as none was able to stand against the powerful fox for more than 5 seconds.

Besides being incredibly fast, the fox was cunning and would always attack the weak points of an enemy. The demons had their throats slit open, their groins cut off, hands, feet…

The fox was merciless as it ran around killing the demons while also letting some stay alive as they tried crawling away to safety.

Suddenly

A spear fell down from the sky and embedded itself in the ground in front of the fox.

A figure soon followed after the spear.

Boom!

A cloud of dust rose in the air as the figure crashed down on the ground.

After a couple of seconds, Reign and the others could see the figure.

An ash demon who had small horns growing on the top of his head presented himself in front of the fox. The 2.2-meter-long spear in his hand was twirled around as he stared at the fox with hostility.

"To suddenly come here and start killing my men, what the hell do you think you are doing, you dumb fox?!" The demon shouted in anger before stabbing the fox with his spear.

The fox quickly moved and dodged the attack before retaliating. It quickly charged at the demon and jumped, ready to cut open his face with its claws.

The demon, however, quickly responded.

His third eye opened and a small beam of red energy was released.

The beam was launched straight at the claw and head of the fox. The small monster widened its eyes the moment the demon's third eye had opened and used its tail to grab at a nearby house and pull itself over there, dodging the red beam.

The beam, however, didn't stop, it continued further and penetrated three demons and multiple buildings before ending.

The demon clicked his tongue in frustration as he stared at the fox. Not only did the fox miss, but he had unintentionally killed 3 of his people with that one attack.

He didn't care that much, however. These demons were simply those he was in charge off, you cared very little for their wellbeing, but since he was banished here after causing a bunch of trouble deeper inside the mountain range, he had to take care of them and protect the demons before more of them rose to Tier II and they had control over the mountain.

That was the mission that the higher-ups of the ash demons had given him after he caused a lot of trouble. He was a demon that could open the third eye and was considered to be quite talented, but after a squabble he had with another talented demon, he killed him and was punished by being sent over here.

The demon was outraged a couple of weeks ago after he had found out that a large number of demons were gone. After asking the demons that were in charge of making teams and commanding them for patrols, he found out that the demons simply left to patrol and never came back, they just assumed they died in battle.

The demon, Arash, was so angry after hearing those words that he killed those in charge right away and promoted some new demons. He called for a meeting and was once again shocked to find that more than a hundred demons had been gone in a matter of weeks.

No matter how dangerous the mountain was, there was no way that over a hundred would die so quickly just from going out to patrol. Arash was certain that somebody was targeting his demons and decided to make the patrol teams larger.

Everything after that was well, his demons didn't die anymore and he thought the problem was solved, only to be attacked by another powerful Tier II monster today.

He knew the fox as it had participated in the battle between Tier II monsters all those months ago. The fox was one of the most troublesome monsters on the mountain and Arash would gladly not fight it, but he had no choice.

The monster had come to his base and started slaughtering his people, he couldn't just let that slide. Luckily, they were inside his base, and there was no way he would die inside the base.

Suddenly the whole base started shaking before five pillars rose from the ground. The pillar vibrated before they all started shining an eerie red light that suddenly covered the whole base.

It was an array, one that would boost the stats of the demons while suppressing enemies.

Of course, the suppression effect was nothing special and it barely did anything to the fox, but it was enough to tilt the favor to Arash.

The other demons all ran to safety as they knew that joining a battle between two Tier II beings was not something they could do. They wouldn't last a couple of seconds near the two monsters and would die for nothing.

The fox stared at the demon apprehensively before Arash smirked and attacked.