Chapter 1024: The Smiling Monster

"Well, let's head inside first," Krune told Hazak after that as the Cloud Whale slowly flew, arriving before the prison's entrance as he used his Sonic Radar. Thanks to his increased strength and his unceasing daily training, his Sonic Radar was leaps and bounds better than when he first arrived at Layer 2.

Now, he was completely able to see through the entire prison, able to judge the material strength of the walls, scan through the people and demons within, and obtain a precise three-dimensional image of everything.

On top of that, having used it enough times, he no longer had to think about what he perceived through Sonic Radar. Everything was instinct now. His brain didn't even need to process most of the information he perceived. Everything was already in him as muscle memory.

So in an instant, Krune saw two figures seated at the topmost floor of the prison. Their body density was a cut above the rest, dense to the extent his Sonic Radar was unable to fully penetrate through their bodies.

Upon seeing their figures, Krune determined that it was Raka and the rectangular-faced man that he met when he first arrived at the city.

Krune gazed at Hazak and asked, "What do you plan to do with the demons held captive within the prison?"

"I will only do what is beneficial to you, Sir Pestlor," Hazak replied. "We demons don't have a sense of camaraderie in the first place. So, I don't actually care about their well-being."

"Then, there's a middle-aged old man inside. I want you to fight him. Don't kill him, but sever his limbs first," Krune ordered, watching Hazak nod in response as he drove the Cloud Whale towards the prison's entrance.

There was enough security at the place. Plus, there wasn't enough of a gap to just drive the Cloud Whale through. So, Krune had no choice but to deactivate the Cloud Whale. Coincidentally, he had deactivated it right when it touched the ground.

So, they weren't even detected by the guards that otherwise would have had he deactivated it in the air, causing them to fall to the ground. The moment the Cloud Whale vanished, the two landed on the ground, instantly accelerating to the peak.

They passed through the door and headed up the stairs, undetected by the guards. Rather, a couple of seconds later, intense gales were created, causing everyone to scream in surprise.

"Who the heck are you?" Raka frowned as she hurriedly picked up her weapon, glaring at the two individuals that burst through the doors, standing before them with imposing momentum.

"You sure you don't remember me?" Krune smiled, pointing at himself. "You even took my tablet and armor. While at it, you also tortured me pretty horribly."

"Y-You were alive?" Raka finally realized it as she exchanged glances with her master, the rectangular-faced man. The two of them shot a glance at Hazak, shuddering upon looking at its appearance.

Hazak looked different from a regular Red Demon. It was more imposing, sporting scales on its skin that glistened with different colors while viewed from different angles. It was not to mention that Hazak's horns were huge compared to other Red Demons.

Overall, the sheer presence it exuded was beyond what any Red Demon had ever emitted. With a solemn tone, Raka gazed at Krune, stealthily pressing a button on her wristwatch as she asked, "What do you want?"

"Let's see." Krune tilted his head to the side, thinking about it as he said, "I believe I already told you what I wanted. Anyways, let's first hurt you a bit and talk after that, shall we?"

Dreams of the Heart—Ocean Turbulence!

Walking on the street were a couple of friends, soldiers that had braved through the battlefield as one unit. Currently, they were enjoying their day off, resting while recovering their energy. Suddenly, the air turned humid while they heard the sounds akin to the ocean waves.

"What is this?" Just as they wondered, there was a sharp reflection of sunlight, causing them to squint in response. Immediately, they turned in the direction it was from, their mouths agape as they noticed the prison had now turned into a giant ice pillar.

The pillar reached so high that practically everyone from the area was able to see.

Inside the prison, Raka trembled from the cold, shivering a little as she looked at Krune in fear like he was a monster. However, she didn't have the chance to say anything as Krune's figure flickered. In the next moment, his fist met her face, sending her flying towards the walls, crashing into it as the ice blocked her from going beyond.

"Raka!" The rectangular-faced man shouted in alarm when Hazak appeared before him, gently extending a hand forward. Suddenly, his palm parted way to reveal a mouth that grinned, shooting out a tongue from within. The tongue directly pierced through the rectangular-faced man's stomach, drawing out a lot of blood.

"Damn you, demon!" Cursing, he grabbed his Demon Arms, a war axe. He clenched its hilt hard, feeding it his blood, causing his physical abilities to receive a boost. Immediately, he and Hazak began to exchange blows one after another, creating enough shockwaves that all the surrounding ice began to shatter.

Raka got up with a start, coughing as her nose bled. She noticed Krune remaining in the same place as before, as if waiting for her to get up. She then noticed Krune's right-hand flicker once. Immediately, something pierced her left arm, causing her to flinch, screaming in shock.

She gazed at her left, noticing a palm-sized Cloud Whale piercing her arm. Plus, it seemed to be injecting something into her body, turning her hand numb. Raka pulled out the Cloud Whale, intending to throw it away when it exploded, spilling out a bunch of Frozen Blood onto her hands, freezing it.

Krune's right hand flickered once again as another palm-sized Cloud Whale pierced through her thigh, injecting Frozen Blood into her once again. And right when she was about to pull it out yet again, it exploded, spilling all the Frozen Blood onto her, causing her to shudder from the cold as a layer of ice formed on her.

With that, she looked at Krune, afraid of the monster that she had failed to dispose of properly.