We kept walking. The landscape around us was monotonous.

  — "And how do you even get into our world?" I asked, kicking a small stone.

  — "Like I’d tell you!" the demon snapped.

  In that same microsecond, Mira’s sword, hovering in the air, froze a millimeter from the top of his head. The demon swallowed hard.

  — "Well... we’re going the same way anyway," he muttered, suddenly more polite. "Through contracts. Pacts. Agreements. You humans are always seeking power from the outside, not realizing there’s always a price to pay. Some idiots summoned me, asking for wealth and power. I tricked them and simply inhabited this pathetic vessel."

  He walked up close to me and started sniffing suspiciously.

  — "You smell strange, kid. Not human."

  Before I could answer, he took a sudden swing, clearly hoping to test the durability of my jaw. I intercepted his hand. The bones beneath my palm began to crackle. The demon’s fingers straightened from the pain, and obeying some primal instinct, I simply bit them.

  CRUNCH.

  I spat a couple of severed phalanges into the road dust. The demon wailed, clutching his mangled hand to his chest.

  — "WHY YOU... You look like such a weakling!"

  — "Listen," I said, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. "Who’s the strongest among you?"

  The demon instantly forgot his pain and proudly poked his chest with his remaining finger. — "ME!"

  I stopped and looked at him. — "What? You said yourself that the Demon of War destroyed an entire city."

  — "THAT’S ONLY BECAUSE SHE DEVELOPED HER VESSEL!" he shrieked.

  — "What’s that got to do with it?"

  — "I WAS ONLY BORN YESTERDAY! We have a choice: either take a form similar to our true essence or inhabit someone. I chose a vessel, but I haven't had time to 'level up' this pathetic body. You humans are so frail... I should have possessed a beastman or an elf."

  — "Wow," I noted his expertise. "You seem to know your way around local demographics."

  — "What, you think I’m stupid?! I’m smarter than the two of you put together!"

  I pondered that. He was a strange one. A Demon of Poverty... shouldn't he be quiet, haggard, and gloomy? Instead, this guy screams, boasts, and picks fights. The content didn't match the label.

  — "Alright, I’ll ask one more time: who is the STRONGEST?" I decided to end this circus.

  The demon started to open his mouth for another grand speech, but I wasn't listening. I lunged toward a nearby stunted tree, ripped it out by the roots, returned, and in one motion drove the trunk straight through the demon’s chest.

  He choked on a scream. I didn't pull the tree out; I simply started pouring my mana into it, forcing the roots to grow rapidly inside his body.

  — "Listen closely," I leaned into his face. "You’re immortal, sure. But what happens if a tree grows through your lungs, spine, and legs? You won't be able to move a finger. Better yet—I’ll bury you so deep you’ll be begging for a real death for centuries."

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  I let go of the tree. The demon stood staggering, branches protruding from his chest and live roots pulsating under his skin.

  — "Fine, fine!" he wheezed. "I’ll tell you!"

  I stepped back. Mira approached as well, watching our "ikebana" with interest.

  — "The strongest..." the demon paused for a second, and for the first time, terror flickered in his eyes. "The First Generation demons."

  — "Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "You have a class hierarchy too?"

  — "The Primal Fears," he whispered. "The ones who were here before you learned how to build huts. Death... Silence... The Dark..."

  — "And how many classes are there in total?" I asked as we bypassed some rubble.

  — "Three," the demon said. "First, second, and third generations. Third is all the material fears—the small stuff."

  — "Got it. And the Demon of War? How much stronger is she than you?"

  — "HOW DARE YOU COMPARE—" He started to boil over but quickly remembered the tree in his chest and quieted down. "Probably on par. She technically finished me off in Hell once, but that doesn't count."

  — "And why did you all decide to crawl out right now?"

  — "Well, it built up..." the demon shrugged. "We’ve appeared before; it’s just that not everyone knows how to consistently squeeze into your world."

  We reached the foot of a mountain. Mira stopped and pointed upward toward the snowy peaks. — "A beastman clan lives up there. The Demon of War is there. Zen, teleport us to the top."

  The Demon of Poverty’s eyes went wide. — "What? Teleport? That’s impossible..."

  SNAP.

  The world blinked. We were in the air directly above a mountain village. — "WHA-A-A-AT?!" the demon screamed, dangling his legs.

  Below, among ruined huts, a girl was finishing off the last beastman. She sensed us, snapped her head up, and with a superhuman leap, soared into the sky to match our height.

  The girl swung her leg, planning to smash Mira into the rocks. But the shield from our bundle jumped into my sister’s hands instantly.

  CLANG!

  The strike hit dead center. My shield worked perfectly—it simply "ate" all the kinetic energy without even flinching. The girl hissed and unleashed a barrage of strikes on Mira, but my sister just stayed behind the shield, absorbing the madness.

  Suddenly, the girl’s body flickered and... split in two. As if a shadow had detached from her and become flesh. The second copy lunged straight at me. She swung for a massive blow to my head.

  I didn't wait. With a sharp flick of my hand, I froze her legs, literally fusing them into the stone of the ledge we had landed on. Our fists were supposed to meet in an epic clash, but I’m not stupid enough to go head-to-head.

  I shifted my trajectory slightly. Her fist whistled past, and I intercepted her forearm, squeezing. The bones under the skin snapped. The demoness shrieked, but immediately clawed at my throat with her other hand and headbutted me with all her might.

  THUD.

  She recoiled. Her vision swam.

  — "What did you expect?" I rubbed my forehead. "My head is way harder than yours."

  She growled and started dividing again. Now there were ten of them.

  — "Really?" I sighed. "It’s obvious that with every split, your strikes get weaker. You’re going for quantity, but you’re losing quality. Boring."

  She approached, her eyes burning with madness. — "RAGE!" she screamed.

  I felt a mental strike—an attempt to force someone else's malice onto me. Nice try. It won't work on me.

  Bony hands erupted from the ground, trying to grab my legs. I jumped, creating an air wave mid-flight that simply scattered all ten copies in different directions.

  When the dust settled, only two copies remained on their feet. The one unsuccessfully pounding Mira’s shield was barely moving. Mira lazily swung her sword, cleaving her torso in two. Only the last one remained.

  Something changed in her movements. She was no longer attacking mindlessly. — "Wait... is she copying us?" I looked closer. "Learning on the fly?"

  Mira lightning-fast severed her leg. The demoness recoiled on one, and a new limb instantly sprouted where the stump was.

  — "Dangerous creature," I noted. "If we leave her alive, she’ll become invincible in an hour."

  She divided again, trying to encircle us.

  I didn't give her the chance. A dash—and I was already there. My strikes were precise. I hacked off her arms and legs, and before they could regrow, I instantly encased them in stone. Just to be sure, I heated the stone, literally welding it to her flesh.

  Meanwhile, Mira simply "erased" everything standing before her with fire.

  The Demon of Poverty, watching this from behind a nearby boulder, decided it was a great time to escape. He had almost vanished when I appeared behind his back.

  POP.

  I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and teleported him back, throwing him down next to the "sealed" Demon of War.

  — "Where do you think you’re going?" I asked.