Chapter 37: Finally Meeting

As Taro passed through Demon Mountain, he suddenly fainted.

The sensation was like jumping from a slow-moving bicycle onto a high-speed train! Bang! The impact made his head spin and his vision blur. He lost consciousness right there.

Not long after, Taro's awareness slowly returned.

He stood up from the ground, not opening his eyes—since there was nothing to see anyway. After losing his sight, his sixth sense had grown unusually sharp, allowing him to clearly feel several unknown energy signatures not far from him.

These energies radiated faint malice, like that of the demons he had encountered!

"Am I still in the Demon Realm?"

Taro's heart sank, but as he focused on his senses, he realized he couldn't detect the powerful presence of the Black Demon King. His eyelids twitched involuntarily when he sensed something familiar and far away—a very special energy that he knew well: the Ki of the Korin!

This was the human world! He had returned!

Taro's ears twitched.

Tap, tap, tap...

Boom, boom, boom...

It was the sound of footsteps, two distinct sets, walking side by side.

One was heavy and strong, the other seemed feminine.

The energy felt weak, probably demonic.

Taro heard one of the voices speak.

"Are you the human that Shula-sama mentioned… the one who came out of the Demon Realm?" It was a woman's voice, or rather, the voice of a female demon.

"I never expected that a human would fall into the Demon Realm, let alone make it out of Shula-sama's Demon Mountain!" said another voice, that of a large, imposing male demon.

Taro turned to face them and said.

"Was the mechanism on Demon Mountain set by your Shula-sama?"

He thought to himself, the Asura in the anime seemed like a weak fighter, a mere side character, yet he had the ability to leave behind such a trap in this treacherous Demon Realm, one that even the Red and Black Demon Kings couldn't destroy?

"Of course! Do you think Asura-sama's power is something a human like you can fathom?" The large male demon huffed.

"Alright, Gola. Stop wasting time. Take him to meet Asura-sama." The female demon said.

The large demon paused, then turned to Taro and said.

"Come on, follow me."

Taro stood still and opened his milky, unfocused eyes.

At this moment, his left eye had lost all sight after using the forbidden technique "Izanagi" for survival.

The left half of his vision was a dark red, just like when his eyes were closed, while the right eye could only make out a dark, blurry silhouette. He could feel he was likely in a vast cave with dim light.

After a brief moment of thought, Taro took a step and followed the two demon energies ahead.

For now, he decided to follow them. At least, from his perception, the strongest energy he felt seemed to be at a level close to his own base power—limited at best. Compared to the Red and Black Demon Kings of the Demon Realm, this one was on a completely different scale.

"Could it be… that his power has waned because of the trap on Demon Mountain? Is that the reason for his current state?"

Taro silently contemplated as he followed the two demons closely. Soon, the dim half of his vision brightened noticeably—

"I never thought anyone would make it out of Demon Mountain." Said a clear male voice. Taro's ears perked up—it was the strongest energy signature he had felt.

"Your eyes… are they alright? Gola, Melee, you two go down for now." The voice continued. It was Shula, the demon he had sensed.

"Yes." the female demon and the large demon both stepped back.

"Now that we've met, what do you want to do?" Taro opened his milky, unfocused eyes and faced the source of Asura's voice.

Shula immediately noticed Taro's strange eyes: the left one was a dark yellow, as though it had died, and the right was a bizarre, blurry, four-pointed windmill-shaped pupil.

"Such strange eyes." Shula murmured, examining Taro for a while.

Taro closed his eyes again. Although he couldn't see, he was constantly observing his surroundings through all his other senses: his keen sense of smell detecting every trace of scent in the air, the fine touch of his skin sensing the smallest air currents, and his ears carefully picking up every tiny sound…

"You're very cautious, human." Shula smiled, watching the human who kept his eyes shut. "You can't see? How did you make it here from that place? Don't tell me you accidentally stumbled in."

"It seems you know quite a bit about that place." Taro replied indifferently.

Shula chuckled and said. "Because I used to live there." Noticing that Taro was listening intently, Asura continued slowly.

"You must have accidentally entered the Demon Realm from somewhere else, right? Heh… the kind of place you encountered, though rare on Earth, is not the only one."

He gestured towards the direction of the cave tunnel where Taro had come from, then realizing Taro couldn't see, he said.

"The Demon Mountain you came from used to be a similar passage. It's a spatial portal, connecting the Earth and the Demon Realm. But looking at how you struggled to return to the human world, that portal you entered was probably one of those that would disappear once disturbed."

"In other words, the portal you sealed here is a relatively stable one?"

"Heh... That's right. Back then, my mother, an ordinary human, accidentally entered the Demon Realm through here and met my father, who was a demon. That's how I was born."

"So… being half-human, half-demon, you've suffered from both human and demon disdain since childhood. Once you gained power, you sealed the very portal that led to your tragic fate. You, as a unique being, neither human nor demon, then remained in this dark cave, isolated from both worlds, even though they're not far, yet unreachable. As for the Red Demon Queen and Black Demon King, they never realized that, while you sealed this portal, you left behind a backdoor that could allow those with human blood to pass through. I imagine... you thought that perhaps other humans, like your mother, might accidentally enter the Demon Realm, and this backdoor could give them a chance, even if only one in a million, to return to the human world… Am I right?"

Taro spoke slowly, continuing Shula's line of thought.

"Oh? A sharp mind. Interesting." Shula said, surprised, glancing at Taro.

This kind of cliché scene from a low-tier divine drama…

Taro asked calmly.

"What do you mean by that?"

Shula sneered for some reason.

"There's one thing you got wrong. It's not that I want to give this door any kind of hope... but rather to provide a path for those I don't need.

He continued.

"Do you know why Demon Mountain is black? It's because I poured my human blood into it. Every time the Black Demon King attacks the mountain, he's actually helping my human form grow stronger. As for those humans you spoke of, if their power is weak, I have no interest in them. But if they're too strong… Heh, sorry, they'll be dissolved by my human blood, becoming part of my new body."

"Oh, so this body you have now is purely demonic? No wonder your energy feels so weak—why are you doing this? From your tone, I can sense your dissatisfaction and resentment toward your half-human, half-demon identity. Yet, you're still trying to cultivate a new human body?" Taro asked, his expression unchanged.

"You don't need to worry about that!" Shula's voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a slight eerie chill."But I find myself wondering... why am I telling you all this... things I never intended to share?

"Didn't you realize that from the beginning?" Taro smiled faintly, once again opening his eyes. The four-pointed Shuriken shape in his right eye gradually faded, replaced by dark, dull pupils.

"Hmph... hypnosis? Or some other little trick? Although it's no big deal for you to hear it, aren't you afraid that by doing this, I could just kill you? You've managed to escape from the Demon Realm with difficulty, but because of your arrogance, you might lose your life right here!" Shula squinted his eyes and let out a cold laugh.

"Heh, no need to say more. Come on, you were planning to fight me all along, weren't you? Let's get it over with." Taro smiled, assuming a fighting stance.

"Hmph..." Shula narrowed his eyes, showing a slight smile.

---

From the depths of Shula's cave realm, Taro shot into the sky.

"What an interesting human." Shula murmured from the cave entrance, watching Taro shrink in the distance as he flew upward. He then turned and entered deeper into the cave. The heavy door slowly closed behind him, sealing the deep, endless darkness inside.

The cold wind of the high altitude brushed against Taro's face. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on the faint aura of the Cat at Korin Tower. With a long exhale, Taro suddenly shot off with a sharp "bang"!

The high mountains, vast rivers, and dense forests all rushed past him.

"Hmm?"

While flying, Taro furrowed his brows slightly.

Having lost his sight, Taro's sixth sense had become exceptionally sharp, allowing him to vaguely sense a faint, distant presence. Something was "targeting" him, closing in fast.

He was sure he didn't recognize this aura.

Thoughts raced through his mind, but Taro's body didn't falter for a moment, cutting through the sky like a blade!

The Bukujutsu Technique powered by his nine-fold Muken was a far cry from when he first traveled to Korin Tower. It took just half a day, and Taro could already feel the presence of the Cat Immortal from the tower growing closer.

Whoosh!

Taro sharply changed direction, flying straight up toward the sky.

"Following me all this time."

"Who could it be? If it weren't for my blindness enhancing my senses, I wouldn't even have noticed such a small tail following me."

"When did they start following me?"

Taro's mind raced as he continued to soar towards Korin Tower's temple.

Whoosh—

The Cat stood at the edge of the temple, watching the figure shoot past from below, without stopping. It quickly ran to the edge of the railing and looked up, only seeing Taro's gradually fading feet.

"Eh, isn't that Taro? Where is he going? Is he heading to the Divine Temple? Is he going to meet the God?"

It clicked its tongue, thinking to itself,

"Taro's aura and his speed... something's off."

Meanwhile, Taro showed no sign of slowing down as he ascended further, as if he was flying towards the very edge of the sky, ready to break through Earth's atmosphere. The higher he went, the thinner the air became, the temperature dropping sharply as a chill seeped into his body.

But at the same time, Taro could feel the distant presence in the sky approaching him ever more closely.

The God stood at the edge of the Lookout, watching the young human flying past, floating before him. His emotions were complex as he slowly said.

"At last, we meet... Taro."