my vampire paradigm

On the north side of the forest where the large trees started to end, there was a makeshift campsite that had been built. It was mostly made of the hard dark red rock surface.

It looked like brickwork, only darker in colour, and was a little less organised and symmetrical than humans would build stuff. But it was large in size and there were several different buildings in the camp.

"Open the gate!" One of the demons shouted at the top of his voice. He was walking, dragging a large heavy bag along the ground. The end of it was soaked in a dark colour.

As the doors opened, he entered the base and jumped to where one of the demons at a type of desk was.

"Add them to my tally!" The red crystal demon said, as he swung the sack and slammed it on the table. The top of the sack opened up and round objects started to roll out from the bag.

"Oh, you got quite the catch I see. I'm surprised that there is still this many." The demon behind the counter said, as he lifted up the round object and looked at it directly in its eyes.

What was in the bag were heads, and all of them had the same look of the skull part being at the top. They were all the heads of Skullys.

As the demon behind the counter started to count them, he threw the heads behind him and they landed in a large pile. It was a pit of Skully heads, along with creatures and more. It was practically a tower of the dead in the camp itself.

It reached an incredible height that made it look like a small hill, even though it was made with only the small parts of the creatures and Skullys they had killed.

When the demon finished counting, he waved his hand, and a red system-like display appeared in front of him.

"Zexer, that is a total of 24 points, you are doing well, and have moved up to 8th place."

"Only 8th!" The demon shouted in anger. "I worked so hard, are there still so many Skullys left out there?"

The demon didn't seem to care about Zexer's anger, that was until something strange had occurred. The ranking of Zexer on the system screen… suddenly he had gone from 8th place to 7th.

"That's strange?" Zexer said. "Your ranking list just changed."

"You mean, someone just handed in more than me? Wait, that's impossible, there's no one even behind me." Zexer said.

"No, your ranking has moved up… and the only way for that to happen, is if the demon who had more points than you died."

The demon behind the counter wasn't just any demon, in fact he was a demon general of the Durum type race. His body was more crystallised with the hard red crystals compared to the others.

On his back, they extended out further as well, and it was hard to imagine how one would be able to stand up with so much weight on his back. Due to his sheer strength though, he could move about like it was weightless to him.

The general, who went by the name Lexor, was in charge of this hunting ground and had been in charge of it for a long time now. The occurrence he had seen now, was a rare one.

It was common for the rankings to disappear at the bottom end of the spectrum. That was where the weaker demons, or the stupider ones, would get fooled by the Skullys working together and die.

However, those that had large amounts of points were skilled, and were some of the best of the Durums. So it was rare to see the top of the ranking change. Looking at the scoreboard even closer, that's when he started to notice something.

The rankings hadn't just changed at that moment, they were constantly changing. Not just at the top, but all over the place, Lexor was seeing rankings change and names just disappear.

"What is going on!" Lexor stood up from his seat.

Running to the front, he could see a few Durums that would help around the base running toward him.

"Sir… we are getting reports that our demons are dying left and right in the hunting grounds… We haven't been able to gather much information, only one has survived so far, and wasn't able to see much of anything.

"However, our systems are showing that multiple Durums are dying."

It was a strange occurrence, one that had never happened before. Making Lexor wonder if one of the champions had betrayed them, or perhaps one had escaped. Bringing up his system again, he was checking to see if there was any information, but there was no word from the demon king, the king of the Durums.

"Tell everyone that the hunt is suspended immediately. Send out Kilbog in the meantime, and tell him to take care of anything he sees that is not a Durum. That should be enough to deal with the situation, if it's not, in the meantime, we need to gather everyone."I think you should take a look at

Zexer, who was standing by the side and seeing the reaction the general had, knew this was a big deal.

"Wait, you're sending out Kilbog, and cancelling the hunt? You've never done this before. Do you really think it's such a big issue if a couple of us are killed." Zexer said.

From behind, he could feel the ground shaking. It was one after the other, the sound of large heavy footsteps. When turning his head, he could see it, a Yak. It was another demon race.

One of the giant types, it was larger than the wall gate with its head towering over it. Black skin covered its body, and its head was large in size, nearly as big as its body. It had two large tusks, like that of an elephant, coming out from the side of its mouth.

"Kilbog, get out and deal with the situation."

Hearing the order, the large Yak demon started to run, and when it reached the gate it bent its knees down, jumping over it in one go. It continued to run, pushing the tree branches and stomping on the giant vines, crushing them as it entered the forest.

"If Kilbog can't handle the situation, then we have real trouble on our hands." Lexor said.

Quinn and the others had exited out of the large tree. He still had next to no direction of where to go. Since the clones had yet to come out of the forest.

'It seems like there are a lot more demons in this hunting game than I thought.' Quinn thought. 'I wonder when their attention will be caught, and if it's enough to bring that demon king over to me.'

Looking up ahead, they all could hear something coming towards them, the heavy footsteps.

"What is that?" Anon said, looking around.

Tuni decided to run forward climbing through the trees ahead of everyone, and a second later he came back swinging with horror on his face.

"Bad news, they sent a Yak demon out! This is the first time they've done something like this in the hunting games, right?" Tuni shouted.

Quinn was wondering what type of demon this was, to cause this type of reaction, but with his eyesight he could soon see why Tuni was so afraid. Hurling through the forest straight at them was the large figure, breaking away everything in its path.

It ran right through a tree trunk, leaving a large hole in its centre as it bulldozed its way toward them, and it was fast on its feet as well.

'Is that… the demon king?' Quinn thought. 'Let's take a look.'

Getting in a low stance, Quinn placed his fist by his hip, he coated it in blood aura, enhanced his body with the first stage of Qi, then added an outer shell of the third stage.

Next, using the god slayer equipment, he was forming the blood forest punch. If it was the demon king, then a good surprise attack like this would allow him to get the upper hand at least.

"Arghh!" Quinn grunted, as he threw his fist out with all his strength, not holding back. The blood forest fist went flying out, and suddenly the Yak demon fell to the floor, no longer with its head.

In front of Anon and the others, they could see a large hole through the tree branches in a straight path, right where the Yak's head was before. Now, there was no head, and only the dead Yak on the ground.𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕓.𝕔𝕠𝓜[Greater Demon blood has been absorbed]

[A new demon race has been discovered]

[Demon Race: Yak]

[The blood absorbed is not at a high enough level to evolve blood aura]

Quinn stood there looking at the system message. He had put all his strength into his punch, just in case the one rushing toward him was one of the Demon Kings but now he knew that wasn't the case at all. 

The Durum type demons he had been taking out in the forest were lesser demons, a rank above a regular demon. In this case, the large Yak type, although it was a new type of demon it was at the Greater Demon level.

The same level as the giant hand Quinn had seen. There were still the Demon generals and the Demon kings above those as well. 

'Still, not all has been lost, it appears that I am coming across the different types of demon races sooner than I thought. The Durum and the Yak are two new types and if I meet those demon generals and absorb them I will be over half way to completing my quest.'

After jumping from his position, Quinn leapt a great distance in the forest and kicked his foot in the air using the special boots. It looked like he could do a limitless jump or one was walking on air because he essentially was and had landed right where the dead body was. 

This was where the three Skullys were currently at as well. They had rushed toward the Yak demon as soon as they saw its body fall. They were still in disbelief thinking that it would move, but when it was clearly missing its head, with blood pouring out of the top, they knew that it certainly was dead.

Moving his head in closer, Anon was trying to look at certain traits of the demon in front of him. 

"This is a Yak right? I'm sure of it." Anon said. 

"It's hard to tell completely without the head." Ekeke replied. "Usually the tusks on the head would be a sure way to tell, but to be honest, what else could it be?" 

All three of the Skullys thought back to the Yaks that they had faced. When fights broke out all over the world, everyone had dealt with all sorts of different types of demons. 

Although they hadn't seen a Yak demon in the area for a long time, they could still remember their devastating power. On top of that, their hard skin and durability. They would continue to move forward to charge and fight no matter how injured they were. 

They almost seemed like unkillable gods in their eyes, yet, here one had been defeated in front of them, and it was with a hit that the others couldn't even see. 

Anon himself was giving a side eye at Quinn, trying to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.

'I knew he was strong, and I had a thought that he might have the strength to back up his words when he said he wanted to take out Immortui, but deep down it was hard to believe. Now though, it's clear. 

'He at least has the same strength as some of the champions… but isn't it really strange why have we never heard of someone like this? And wouldn't the demons have taken him out.' 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕓.𝕔𝕠𝑀

Anon desperately wanted to ask, or know why he had fallen out of the sky like so into the hunting grounds, but there was a chance knowing the truth could put a damper on the relationship between the two.

At the camp that had been set up outside the base, Lexor, the demon general that was in charge of the whole situation was continuing to have a look at the system that was set up. Every one of the demons had a tracker that was linked to the computer system they were using.

That's when he could see it… that Kilbog had been killed. 

'He was only sent in around 15 minutes ago.' Lexor thought. 'And he has already been killed, just what level of enemy are we dealing with here… is it even something that I can take on?'

One might think that Immortui would have warned the other demons of what was going on after having received the report that Quinn had entered, but this was not Immortui's way. 

In the first place, although the demon kings did as he asked, those that weren't close to him, those other than the two that were by his side, were free to do what they wanted in the world. 

If the demon kings were to die, then it was simple, it meant that they weren't strong enough. Whoever killed them, Immortui would just try to best them, and if he did, then they would become the replacement for the demon king, essentially creating a new demon king. 

This is what Immortui always did, use those that used to be his enemy and if they were strong enough, somehow allow them to join his power. Even though the demons were a branch of Immortui's power, they were all individuals, they all had the choice not to listen to him, it had just turned out the way it was over time.

"Has everyone gathered!" Lexor shouted. 

In front of him, those at the base, which numbered around fifty demons, as well as those that were part of the hunting ground, which were around a hundred in number had returned, although a hundred had been sent out, a hundred hadn't returned, it was closer to 70. 

Checking all of the numbers, the nervousness on Lexor's face was still showing.

'There are less than I thought, how could so many have died before we realised anything… were they really killed so fast? Is this one being's doing or a surge in power of the Skullys' 

"I am sure you are annoyed that the hunt has been called off, but this is an emergency measure, so much so, that a report has even been sent to our Demon king." Lexor announced.

At first, all of the demons were annoyed and complaining and muttering under their breath, wondering why the hunt had to be called off. The news had yet to reach everyone, but now they had heard that the Demon king had been informed, they knew that it was far more serious than they imagined. 

"I heard that quite a few of those taking part in the hunt died this time." 

"Really? But doesn't some of the weak bunch die anyway?"

"Yeah, some, can't you tell by looking around, quite a few of us have been taken out." 

"So have the Skullys teamed up? They've tried that before, but I thought that was all part of the game. Then we just team up and take them out." 

"It wasn't a Skully… it's something else." Another one mentioned. "Before I came here I saw them. They had flesh all over their body and were wearing armour that was glowing with power. It happened so fast… the other two that were with me had been taken out." 

"Wait a moment!" Lexor said, as he overheard the conversation that had occurred. "You saw who did this? Why haven't you reported this?"

"It's because I just arrived here now, when you told us the hunt was over, it was on the way over here." 

Lexor had already heard about the attacker from one survivor, but they had seen nothing, so then how did this Durum see something and still survive?

"Why… are you alive, if you looked at him… why are you alive?" Lexor asked. 

"I don't know, I just ran, and when I turned around I could see him looking at me." 

Panic started to set in Lexor's heart.

"You idiot, they let you live because they were following you, and you have led them right to us!"

Right then, crashing in the middle of the two, was a small human figure, wearing full armour, and full of flesh.

Back deep in the forest, Quinn smiled. 

"It looks like I found what I was looking for."