Gray took one final breath before stepping into the portal.
HUMMMMMMMMM!
The instant his foot crossed the crimson boundary, the world around him completely disappeared.
Gray’s body was suspended inside an endless darkness as terrifying amounts of Demonic Energy rushed past him.
WHOOSH!
The pressure was incredible.
Even with his current cultivation, Gray felt as though countless mountains were pressing against his body.
His hair was blown backward, his clothes fluttered violently, and yet, his body remained completely stable.
’So this is what traveling through an interplanar portal feels like...’
Gray narrowed his eyes.
He couldn’t see anything... couldn’t even feel the presence of the world he had just left. It was as if there was only darkness.
And then...
A light appeared in the distance.
At first, it was tiny, taking the appearance of a small crimson dot inside the endless darkness.
But it quickly grew larger.
Larger.
And larger... until it became a gigantic crimson opening.
BOOOOOOM!
Gray’s body was violently thrown out.
"Whoa!"
He stumbled forward and landed on solid ground.
His shoes scraped against black stone.
SKRRRT!
Gray quickly regained his balance.
He looked up.
And then...
He froze.
"..."
For several seconds, he didn’t say anything.
His eyes slowly widened.
The Underworld.
This was the Underworld.
The first thing Gray noticed was the sky.
There was no beautiful blue sky like the one above the Royal Capital.
There wasn’t even a sun.
Instead, the entire sky was covered by an enormous dark-red moon.
It hung unnaturally low in the heavens, almost as if someone had taken a gigantic crimson eye and placed it directly above the world.
Around it stretched endless layers of dark clouds.
Crimson lightning occasionally flashed between them.
BOOM!
The thunder rolled across the horizon, but there was something even stranger.
The sky itself seemed alive.
Dark-red streams of energy slowly moved through the clouds, resembling veins spreading across the heavens.
Gray stared upward.
’This place...’
He slowly turned his head.
"...is insane."
The land stretched endlessly into the distance.
Black mountains pierced the horizon.
Some were shaped like enormous claws reaching toward the heavens.
Others looked like the skulls of gigantic beasts.
Between the mountains were vast valleys filled with crimson fog.
Rivers of glowing red liquid flowed through the land, cutting across the black earth like burning wounds.
Far away, Gray could even see a gigantic waterfall.
Except instead of water...
It was blood.
A river of blood poured from the top of a mountain, falling hundreds of meters before crashing into a massive lake below.
BOOOOOOM!
The sound reached him several seconds later.
Gray’s eyelids twitched.
’...What the hell.’
He had seen countless descriptions of the Underworld in the novel.
But reading about something and standing inside it were two completely different experiences.
The air itself felt different.
Demonic Energy filled every inch of the atmosphere.
It was so dense that Gray could almost see it.
Black mist drifted across the ground.
Crimson sparks floated through the air.
Every breath he took carried a small amount of Demonic Energy into his body.
His Mana Core instinctively reacted.
Buzz...
Gray’s eyes narrowed.
’My Mana is being suppressed.’
The environment itself was hostile toward Mana.
For a normal human mage, remaining here for a long time would be extremely dangerous.
Their Mana recovery would become slower, their spells would become harder to cast, and eventually, their bodies would become exhausted.
And if they stayed long enough...
The Demonic Energy would begin corrupting their bodies.
Gray smiled.
’Good thing I’m not normal.’
His gaze swept across the surroundings.
There were creatures everywhere.
Some looked almost human.
Others didn’t.
A group of demons walked across the black road several hundred meters away.
One had two massive horns growing from his forehead.
Another had crimson scales covering half of his body.
A third possessed four arms and carried an enormous axe over his shoulder.
There were also smaller creatures crawling around the rocky ground.
Goblin-like demons.
Wolf demons.
Bird-like monsters.
Even enormous insects with glowing red eyes.
Everywhere Gray looked...
There was life.
In the distance, Gray spotted a massive city.
Black towers rose into the sky; bridges connected enormous buildings, with red lights illuminating the streets, flying creatures travelling between the huge towers.
Demons walked through the streets as if this were an ordinary city.
Gray could tell their identity apart, as some looked like merchants, others were clearly soldiers... and some even looked like they were some kind of adventurers.
But still... some...
Were dragging corpses behind them.
Gray stared at the city.
’So this is the Underworld.’
The place where humanity had spent thousands of years imagining demons as nothing more than mindless monsters.
Yet the truth was far more complicated.
The Underworld had kingdoms, cities, noble houses, military forces, trade routes, old clans... and countless factions.
It’s just like the human world... but for demons.
And so, there were even demons who had never killed a human in their entire lives.
Of course...
There were also demons who had slaughtered entire cities for entertainment.
Gray wasn’t naive enough to believe the Underworld was peaceful.
The strong ruled, the weak suffered, and bloodshed was an ordinary part of life.
But unlike the human kingdoms...
The Underworld didn’t bother hiding the truth.
Gray took another breath.
His eyes slowly became sharper.
’First thing first.’
He looked down at himself.
Standing here as a human was suicidal, not ONLY because every demon would immediately attack him.
But because a human appearing in the Underworld was simply too suspicious.
Especially a human with his appearance.
He would stand out immediately.
’And I don’t feel like explaining why I’m here.’
Gray sighed.
"Alright."
He raised his hand.
A faint black light gathered around his fingertips.
Hummm...
Slowly, his appearance began changing.
His silver-black hair darkened, his ears became slightly pointed, and two small black horns slowly emerged from his forehead.
His skin became slightly paler.
His eyes changed as well.
The pupils became narrow and crimson.
A faint demonic aura spread from his body.
His clothes changed into a dark-red and black outfit, giving him the appearance of an ordinary Underworld traveler.
Then...
Two enormous black wings appeared behind his back.
Gray looked over his shoulder.
The wings slowly opened.
Fwoosh!
He stared at them.
"...Incubus."
He remembered the identity he had chosen.
A mid-level demon.
An Incubus.
A species known for their high intelligence, beautiful appearances, powerful souls, and natural affinity toward charm and spiritual techniques.
More importantly...
They weren’t strange enough to attract attention.
Gray didn’t want to disguise himself as some terrifying Demon Lord.
That would be asking for trouble.
He wanted to be ordinary, at least by Underworld standards.
Gray raised his hand and touched one of his horns.
His face had changed enough that even someone familiar with him would have difficulty recognizing him.
His demonic aura was also perfectly natural.
Not too strong or weak, exactly what one would expect from a mid-level demon.
’Perfect.’
He glanced at his reflection in a nearby pool of dark-red water.
A handsome young Incubus stared back at him.
Crimson eyes.
Black hair.
Two curved horns.
Pale skin.
A pair of enormous black wings.
Gray stared at himself.
"...Damn."
He couldn’t help smiling.
"I look good."
He adjusted his collar.
’The title Incubus In Human Form is finally becoming useful.’
He had obtained the title back when he was still in the human world.
At the time, he had thought the title was nothing more than a funny name.
Now...
It was almost perfect.
Gray released his aura once more.
The terrifying pressure belonging to his true cultivation was completely hidden.
To anyone sensing him now...
He was nothing more than a mid-level demon.
Perhaps slightly stronger than average, but nothing worth paying attention to.
’As long as I don’t reveal my true strength, nobody should notice anything.’
Gray looked toward the distant city.
"Alright..."
He spread his wings slightly.
The crimson moon illuminated his face.
"Let’s see what kind of place this Underworld really is."
He stepped onto the black road, heading over to the city.
’This is probably a good place to start.’
He needed information.
Lots of information.
He knew the general structure of the Underworld from the original story, but knowing the story and knowing his current location were two completely different things.
The Underworld was enormous.
There were countless territories controlled by different Demon Kings, Demon Emperors, clans, tribes, and other factions.
If he wandered around without knowing where he was...
He might accidentally walk into someone’s territory, and knowing his luck, that someone would probably be a powerhouse.
’First, I need somewhere to stay.’
Gray approached one of the merchants.
The merchant was a fat demon with two short horns and a large purple nose.
He was sitting behind a wooden stall filled with strange fruits.
Gray stopped in front of him.
"Excuse me."
The demon raised his head.
"Hm?"
Gray gave him a friendly smile.
"Do you know where the nearest inn is?"
The merchant blinked, then he pointed toward the distant city.
"There’s plenty inside the city. Just follow the main road and enter through the eastern gate. You’ll find several inns around the market district."
Gray nodded.
"Thanks."
He was about to leave when another thought entered his mind.
"Actually, one more thing."
The merchant raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"What currency do you use here?"
Silence.
"..."
The merchant stared at Gray.
Gray stared back.
A few seconds passed.
The demon’s expression slowly became strange.
"...You’re asking what currency we use?"
"Yes."
"You’re an Incubus."
"Correct."
"And you don’t know what currency we use?"
Gray’s smile froze for half a second.
’Fuck.’
He had forgotten something extremely basic.
Of course an ordinary demon would know the local currency.
He needed an excuse.
Fortunately...
The merchant seemed to have reached his own conclusion.
"Ah."
His eyes suddenly widened.
"You must be from one of the isolated territories."
Gray’s eyebrows rose.
"...Something like that."
"I knew it."
The merchant laughed.
"There are plenty of strange demon tribes deep in the Underworld. Some of them don’t use Demon Cash at all."
Gray nodded slowly.
’Good.’
The merchant continued speaking.
"Some tribes trade using human souls."
Gray’s eyes twitched.
’Human souls?’
"Others trade using the bodies of powerful creatures, especially magical beasts. A few old clans even use blood crystals as currency."
He pointed toward a small pouch hanging from his waist.
"But most civilized regions use Demon Cash."
Gray looked at the pouch.
"Demon Cash?"
"Yes."
The merchant pulled out a black coin.
It was roughly the size of a normal human coin, but unlike ordinary money, the surface was covered in strange crimson patterns.
He tossed it toward Gray.
Gray caught it.
The moment the coin touched his palm...
He felt a faint pulse of Demonic Energy.
Thump.
His eyes narrowed.
’Interesting.’
The coin wasn’t made from ordinary metal.
It contained condensed Demonic Energy.
The merchant noticed Gray examining it.
"That’s one Demon Cash."
Gray turned the coin between his fingers.
"And how much is one worth?"
The merchant shrugged.
"One."
Gray stared at him.
"..."
The merchant stared back.
"...What?"
"Nothing."
Gray sighed internally.
’That explanation was useless.’
Still, he now knew something important.
The Underworld had an actual currency system.
Demon Cash.
And apparently, other forms of payment existed as well.
Souls.
Bodies.
Blood crystals.
’So the economy here is basically exactly what you’d expect from a demon civilization.’
Gray handed the coin back.
"Where do I get Demon Cash?"
The merchant pointed toward the city.
"Exchange houses. Banks. Adventurer Guilds. Merchants. Pretty much anywhere."
"Can I exchange human currency?"
The merchant’s eyes widened again.
"You have human money?"
"...Yes."
The merchant laughed.
"Don’t worry. Human cash still has some value, especially in border territories, but don’t expect to buy anything expensive with it."
Gray nodded.
’Good to know.’
He gave the merchant another polite smile.
"Thanks for the information."
He turned around.
"Wait."
Gray stopped.
The merchant narrowed his eyes.
"You said you were an Incubus from an isolated territory, right?"
Gray slowly turned around.
"Yes."
"Then you should be careful."
"About what?"
The merchant pointed toward the city.
"This city isn’t as peaceful as it looks."
Gray raised an eyebrow.
The merchant lowered his voice.
"There are several powerful clans living here, and outsiders who don’t know the rules tend to disappear."
Gray smiled.
"I’ll keep that in mind."
The merchant looked at him for another moment.
Then his eyes moved toward Gray’s wings.
"Although..."
He scratched his chin.
"You should be fine."
"Why?"
"You’re an Incubus."
The merchant grinned.
"Pretty faces tend to get special treatment around here."
Gray’s expression became blank.
"...I see."
He turned around again.
’This disguise might be more useful than I thought.’
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