How long has it been since I came into existence?

  The last status message I received marked nine days since my birth, but that was then. Time has passed since, and yet, I have no way to measure exactly how long I’ve lived. How many days have gone by? How much closer am I to evolution?

  I want to know. No, I need to know.

  Our kin has grown in strength, evolving from mere Demon Larvae to formidable Lesser Demons. And at the heart of it all stands me, the nucleus of our clan, leading them forward as a Level 9 Demon Larva, just one step away from my long-awaited evolution.

  And yet, a maddening thought gnaws at me.

  Why haven’t we encountered any opposition? Not a single rival Demon Larva group. No hostile creatures lurking in the distance. Nothing.

  The silence is suffocating.

  It feels as if the world itself conspires against me, withholding the final push I need to ascend.

  Why now? Why, when I am standing at the very threshold of evolution, does the world suddenly turn passive? Have the enemies fled from me? Have they decided to ignore me altogether?

  Why?!

  Why?!

  Error!

  You Have Wandered Into a Hostile Land!

  Error!

  Error!

  Error!

  You Have Entered the Territory of a Demon Noble!

  A relentless flood of notifications bombarded my mind, flashing with urgent finality.

  And I wasn’t the only one affected.

  The Lesser Demons and the Demon Larvae surrounding me reacted as well, their movements stiffening, their bodies tensing as they absorbed the same distressing revelation.

  Where did we go wrong?

  The system had never sounded such an alarm before. To warrant this kind of response… had we made a grave mistake?

  A Demon Noble…

  I forced myself to analyze the situation. A methodical, step-by-step breakdown was needed if I was to determine where the misstep had occurred.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  First, my surroundings.

  The landscape remained unchanged, an endless expanse of barren plains drenched in crimson, as though the earth itself bled. The sky, as always, loomed with oppressive, swirling clouds, thick with the scent of death.

  No. This had nothing to do with location. Or… did it?

  To test my theory, I cautiously retreated the way we had come.

  You Have Left the Demon Noble’s Territory!

  You Have Returned to a No Man’s Land!

  A realization struck me. This wasn’t a mistake… This was a boundary. A line we had unknowingly crossed.

  To confirm, I commanded one of the Lesser Demons to take a step forward. The moment it did, the message flared up once more.

  You Have Entered the Territory of a Demon Noble!

  So it was no accident. There was an invisible threshold, a domain belonging to a being of significantly higher rank.

  Now, the real question arose, what should we do?

  I turned my gaze to my Lesser Demons. This was their moment. They had evolved, grown stronger, and now I wanted to see if their minds had evolved as well.

  I have held on to the spotlight for too long, taking reign of every action and decision made in the pack.

  Now I wanted to see for myself, open the floor for the evolved Demons to voice out their opinions, take up the spotlight and beautify their evolution with a personality of their own.

  So...

  Would they hesitate? Would they show fear?

  Would they decide to turn back and remain in the stagnant, uneventful No Man’s Land?

  Or would they embrace risk, knowing that with high risk comes high reward?

  This was their decision to make, their time to prove to me that evolution did not just affect them physically.

  If it were up to me, I would press forward without a second thought. Not out of recklessness, but because I understood the nature of opportunity. Danger and reward walked hand in hand, and I was no stranger to such a trade-off.

  But this wasn’t just about me.

  This was about them.

  Their decisions, their instincts, I wanted to see them in action.

  The silence stretched between us as I waited. Would any of them step forward? Would one of them prove themselves capable of strategic thought?

  Finally, one did.

  "Oba, I think we should continue forward into the Demon Noble’s territory."

  A rush of satisfaction coursed through me.

  Yes!

  I had hoped at least one among them would understand the nature of power. The Ashborn Demon who spoke had not disappointed me.

  I tilted my elongated eye sockets in approval, nodding in silent agreement.

  You wouldn’t expect a creature with its appearance to exhibit such sharp reasoning, yet here it stood, proving that I had underestimated it.

  Another lesson learned? To never judge by appearance alone.

  "The Oba has agreed," the Mirefiend Demon announced. "So it's decided. To the Demon Noble’s territory, we go!"

  With that, we moved forward as one.

  The warning messages flared up again as if making a desperate attempt to dissuade us, but we paid them no mind. Our decision was final.

  Yet, as we ventured deeper, something struck me as off.

  The decision had been made too easily. There was no discussion. No counterarguments.

  Was this loyalty? Or was it blind obedience?

  Their willingness to follow me without question was admirable, but also… troubling.

  What use was a follower who could not think for themselves?

  Would they charge into a losing battle simply because I led them there?

  I needed more than just empty husks, I needed individuals capable of reasoning.

  Had I been alone and received such a warning, I would not have ignored it. As much as I valued the philosophy of risk and reward, I wasn’t foolish enough to challenge an entity far beyond my capabilities.

  But I wasn’t alone now, was I?

  I had a pack. Lesser Demons at my side, and an army of Level 9 Demon Larvae trailing behind me. Numbers, that was our advantage to utilize in battle.

  Whatever threat lay ahead, we would face it together.

  And we would prevail.