After a full month in the jagged western mountains, Li Yu was finally ready to head down. He had planned to pack up his camp at first light and venture into the newly reshaped Demon Realm to see what Queen Morrigan and Vespera had accomplished.

  But the universe, it seemed, had a different schedule.

  Night had fallen and was painting the jagged peaks in shades of pitch black and deep violet. Li Yu sat by a small crackling campfire and was roasting a simple skewer of beast meat.

  Over the past month, a few desperate scavengers and wandering mercenaries had passed through the outer edges of the mountains. Li Yu had ignored them and they also gave his camp a wide berth. Strangers were dangerous in such places and everyone went about their own business.

  But tonight someone was walking directly toward the fire. There was no attempt at stealth. The footsteps were steady, unhurried and crunching against the loose gravel and ash. Li Yu didn't immediately turn around. He focused his newly enhanced spiritual sense outward and swept over the approaching figure.

  On the surface, the man appeared to be just a rugged, heavily scarred demon mercenary wearing patched leather armor and carrying a notched broadsword on his back. His cultivation base felt entirely ordinary and was perhaps late Core Formation. Just another strong wanderer in the wastelands.

  However, Li Yu’s soul was anything but ordinary. Housing four distinct Nascent Souls, his spiritual perception operated on a level far beyond his actual cultivation realm. As his divine sense washed over the mercenary, it pierced the veil. Deeply buried beneath that perfect, ordinary facade, his spiritual sense snagged on the actual pressure.

  It was a gravity that did not belong to that cultivation level. Instantly, a cold chill raced down Li Yu's spine. His mind flashed back to the Black Pass. Of the palm that scrubbed the tens of thousands of lives from existence in a single silent flash of erasure.

  Li Yu slowly set his skewer down on the stone. He didn't summon his Star Crusher staff, knowing that drawing a weapon against the entity approaching him was a laughable gesture.

  "You can drop the illusion," Li Yu said calmly but his heart was beginning to hammer against his ribs. "I know who you are. Demon Lord."

  The footsteps stopped. For a long moment the only sound was the crackle of the campfire. Then, a soft, genuinely surprised chuckle echoed through the dark ravine. The scarred demon mercenary blurred. The patched leather armor, the notched broadsword and the rugged face dissolved like mist burning away in the morning sun.

  In his place stood a human sized figure wearing a simple, flowing robe of grey cloth. He had pale skin, long black hair and an appearance that resembled a quiet, melancholic scholar. He possessed no horns, no fangs and no outward signs of demonic heritage. Demon Lord Malos.

  Malos tilted his head at Li Yu. His dark and bottomless eyes locked onto Li Yu.

  'Fascinating,' Malos thought, a spark of genuine intrigue cutting through the thick fog of his eternal apathy. 'I layered that disguise quite well. Even another Demon Lord would have needed to scrutinize me closely to see through the veil. Yet this boy's spiritual sense pierced it so quickly. His soul is incredibly strong. Unnaturally so.'

  "I must admit, I am impressed," Malos said. His voice was soft and carried the cultured cadence of a poet rather than a mass murderer. He stepped fully into the light of the campfire. "I have never used that particular appearance before. Tell me, how did you know?"

  Li Yu finally turned around to face him. He remained seated on his stone bench and was forcing his muscles to relax. Li Yu didn’t know why he didn’t try to escape as soon as he found out. His thoughts conflicted and his mind ran crazily in those split seconds. However, something within him told him escaping wouldn’t have worked. It was better to stay and talk. So Li Yu listened to his instincts.

  "I remember the pressure," Li Yu said directly and was keeping his eyes locked on the Demon Lord. "I was at the Black Pass. My spiritual sense recognized your aura before you even got close back then. It was blaring back then so I was able to detect you from far away. Today, I didn’t know until you got this close."

  "Ah," Malos murmured with a look of mild realization crossing his pale face. "The Black Pass. Yes, that was a rather noisy day. I suppose congratulations are in order for your survival. You must have run very fast."

  "I did," Li Yu said. He didn't want to engage in pleasantries with a being who treated genocide like swatting flies. "Let's get straight to the point. What are you doing here?"

  Malos sighed at his question. It was a long and weary sound. Without answering him, Malos instead casually took a seat on a boulder across the fire from Li Yu. He didn't radiate any killing intent. He simply looked like a tired traveler resting his feet.

  "I was simply wandering," Malos replied while staring into the dancing flames. "Walking without a destination. The world has been in an uproar lately and the noise is giving me a headache. I happened to appear in these mountains by pure chance."

  Malos looked up from the fire with his dark eyes meeting Li Yu's. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a small, fascinated smile. "Though... it looks like my chronic boredom might finally be cured. I am looking right at you, young man and I cannot see through you at all. Do you know what that means? How rare that is?"

  Li Yu remained completely on edge. His Ocean of Qi was churning. The Fisherman, the Koi, the Whale and Muddy were all alert within his soul space.

  "You're a Demon Lord," Li Yu said coldly. "I've just reached Divine Transformation. There is nothing about me you can't see through."

  "Oh, I can see your cultivation," Malos corrected gently while waving a pale hand. "I can perceive the terrifying density of your physical vessel. But I cannot see you. I cannot see your shape in the grand tapestry."

  Malos leaned forward and was resting his elbows on his knees. He looked entirely friendly, like a curious scholar examining a rare artifact. He genuinely wanted to know what kind of person Li Yu was. But as he looked at the young man, he saw the rigid posture, the guarded eyes and the absolute lack of trust.

  "You are too on guard," Malos noted with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "You look at me and you see the palm that crushed the Black Pass. You expect me to strike you down for a perceived slight or demand your secrets. I am not interested in such things and nor am I such a brute."

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  "History has taught me to be cautious," Li Yu retorted.

  "Fair enough," Malos conceded. "Words are cheap in our world. Trust requires collateral. And I look to earn yours."

  Suddenly, Malos did something that defied all logic. He reached a pale hand up to his own chest. Pinched between his thumb and forefinger was a glowing dark silver light. It was a literal fragment of his soul.

  Li Yu’s eyes widened in shock and his breath hitched. A cultivator voluntarily taking out a bit of their own soul was not common. It was vulnerable and even a Demon Lord could be hurt by someone much weaker.

  "I am not scheming against you," Malos said smoothly while holding a bit of his soul out over the campfire. "I really did just happen to be here. But perhaps it isn't just chance. Perhaps it is fate. So, to ensure we can have a pleasant, uninterrupted conversation without you plotting your escape, let us enter into a mutual contract of secrecy."

  Malos flicked his finger. The soul floated across the fire and was hovering inches from Li Yu’s chest.

  "Neither of us can reveal the secrets discussed between us. But I will also offer a gesture of good faith. I will put myself on the losing end of the contract. The stipulation will state that I am incapable of causing you harm."

  Li Yu stared at the glowing soul and his mind racing.

  ‘This was a trap. It had to be a trap. Why would this entity willingly bind their own hands against someone so much weaker? But if it is a trap, would someone like this need to trap me? Couldn’t he just kill me?’ Li Yu thought it through and couldn’t understand Malos’s reasoning.

  "What's the catch?" Li Yu demanded while refusing to touch the soul . "What if I agree to this and then I decide to use the contract against you? What if I pull out a weapon and try to kill you while you are bound by your own soul not to strike back?"

  Malos looked at Li Yu. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. It wasn't a mocking or cruel laugh. It was a rich, genuine laugh of pure amusement that echoed off the jagged mountains.

  "Young man," Malos smiled. His dark eyes crinkled with morbid delight. "If you, a newly ascended Divine Transformation cultivator, can somehow find a way to kill me... I would welcome the death with open arms. It would be the most exciting thing to happen to me in three thousand years."

  Li Yu searched the Demon Lord's face. He looked for deception, for a hidden trap in the wording, for a flicker of malice. He found none. There was only a crushing weariness hiding behind a mask of amusement.

  "Fine," Li Yu breathed.

  He reached out and tapped the glowing soul and channeled the contract technique he knew. Instantly the soul sank into Li Yu’s chest and established the vow of secrecy. Li Yu could feel the restriction placed upon the Demon Lord. Malos truly could not harm him now. He still didn’t understand what the Demon Lord gained from this but at least now he didn’t need to think of how the Demon Lord would kill him.

  Malos sighed contentedly and was now leaning back against the boulder. He looked incredibly amused by the whole situation. Li Yu was still struggling to process the fact that he had just entered such a contract with a Demon Lord out of the blue. He couldn’t command Malos in any way. It was only to ensure his own protection against schemes.

  "There, now what is your name?" Malos smiled.

  “Li Yu.” Li Yu answered him.

  "Now we can share secrets freely and without the tedious dance of paranoia. And since I forced the contract upon you, I shall go first." Malos continued.

  Malos looked up at the stars above the ravine.

  "I was not born a demon of royal blood or anything like that." Malos began with his voice taking on a reflective and quiet tone. "I was not born with guidance from the start or endless resources. I was born in the dirt, just like the millions of scavengers fighting for scraps. But I was born with a singular, unique gift. A mutation of the soul."

  Li Yu listened to the story while keeping his face neutral. His curiosity was thoroughly piqued though. Why was this man telling him this and was this the reason they entered into a contract just now?

  "Foresight," Malos revealed to Li Yu. He paused and let the word hang in the quiet night air.

  "You can see the future?" Li Yu asked with his brows furrowing. Li Yu had heard of such things but had never met someone who could actually do it. It was usually a forbidden technique or something that came with a great price.

  "Vague visions," Malos corrected. He was now holding his hand out toward the fire. "Flashes of cause and effect. I can look at a person and see the vague branching paths of their destiny. Sometimes I can see the moment of their death, the height of their triumph and the betrayals waiting in the shadows. And I can see it for myself, as well. It’s not all the time and I can’t choose what I see either. However, it is usually enough. Beings stronger than me would be more clouded and treasures that hold more value would be the same. I am not all knowing and I can’t see everything."

  Malos slowly lowered his hand back down and his eyes darkened with melancholy.

  "It is the ultimate cheat, is it not?" Malos asked rhetorically. "I used it to survive. When I saw it, I would take advantage of it. Knowing exactly which ancient ruins held traps and which held supreme inheritances. I knew which allies would stab me in the back, so I slaughtered them before they could draw their blades. I navigated the meat grinder of the Demon Realm with near perfect clarity. That gift is what took me from the dirt and placed me on the throne of a Demon Lord."

  "But it came with a price?" Li Yu guessed suddenly as he was seeing the absolute exhaustion in the man's posture.

  "One of the heaviest prices of all," Malos whispered. "It is tiresome. Endless, crushing monotony. Imagine reading a book where you already know every twist, every death and every victory before you even turn the page. There is no suspense. There is no thrill of battle or exploration because I already know if I will win or lose. Knowing the future has systematically stripped every ounce of joy, surprise and passion from my existence."

  Malos looked at Li Yu and for a moment the fearsome Demon Lord just looked like a sad and hollow old man.

  "I am sometimes afraid to do things because I can see towards its end. For example, perhaps I would have fallen in love with a princess long ago but then I saw the time of her death, her pains and her sufferings. That love never materialized because I could only see her death when I looked at her." Malos confessed. "However, the biggest issue is boredom. A deep, soul rotting boredom that makes me want to tear the sky down just to see if the heavens will scream in a way I haven't predicted."

  Li Yu thought back to the Black Pass. ‘’I was bored. Your noise woke me up.’ The massacre wasn't an act of strategic warfare. It was a man throwing a rock into a pond just to watch the ripples. Perhaps he saw that by doing that, it would lead him towards something else. Perhaps he saved himself or someone else by doing so.’

  "If you know everything," Li Yu asked, "then why did you approach my camp? Didn't you already know how this conversation would go?"

  Malos’s smile returned to his face. It was bright and entirely genuine.

  "That is exactly why I am here and talking to you now." Malos said while leaning forward. His eyes were shining with a rare and precious excitement. Malos pointed a pale finger directly at Li Yu's chest.

  "When I look at you," Malos breathed, "I saw nothing. I cannot see your future at all, Li Yu. Not a single thread. You are a complete blank spot in the tapestry of fate."

  Li Yu blinked and was surprised by the revelation.

  "I have spent millennia surrounded by open books," Malos said softly. "Perhaps, by walking alongside a closed one, I can find some of the joyfulness I lost somewhere along the way to becoming who I am now. Perhaps I can finally be surprised again."

  The campfire popped and was sending a shower of orange sparks up into the night sky. Li Yu looked across the flames at the Demon Lord. He had spent the last month isolating himself to understand his own power and preparing to face the dangers of the Demon Realm alone.

  Instead, he found himself sitting by a campfire, bound by a soul contract to an slightly omniscient and bored person who just wanted to tag along for a ride.

  ‘The reason for him doing this is so mundane but I suppose it's not mundane to him. It is important enough for him to pursue it to this great extent. I guess there is nothing I can do but let him stay for as long as he wants. It’s not like I can force him away even if I wanted to.’ Li Yu resigned himself to the fact that he would now have a Demon Lord for a traveling companion.