Fantasy Family Simulator (FFS)

Haytes squinted his eyes as he asked, "Who is this 'it' you're talking about? I suggest you tell us everything you know!"

As he spoke, Haytes took a step to the side, increasing the distance between himself and Rhett, while casting a more suspicious gaze towards Rhett. It was obvious now—what Rhett had just used was the Essence of Vibration. There was no way Haytes could be mistaken about that. But the original Veras was a Water Saint Magus; how could he possibly wield the Essence of Vibration? Who was this person that looked exactly like him?

"It... it's a demon, it... argh..." Gunas's chest heaved like a bellows as he spoke, struggling to catch his breath. The blood vessels in his eyes grew even more dense, and veins snaked up his exposed neck and arms like wriggling blood-red worms.

Rhett and Haytes both sensed that something was very wrong and immediately went on high alert, ready to defend against whatever might happen. Haytes cautiously asked, "Gunas, what's happening to you? Do you need me to fetch a Light Saint Magus to heal you?"

"Ugh... argh!"

Gunas struggled to raise his arm, but before he could finish his sentence, his entire body convulsed violently, as if he were having a seizure. His eyes were now completely filled with blood.

"Is it the Blood Demon that's corrupted you?" Rhett asked, seeing that Gunas's condition was deteriorating rapidly. There was no time left to interrogate him slowly, so he asked the most pressing question on his mind.

"The Blood Demon?" Haytes reacted swiftly upon hearing the term, narrowing his eyes as he turned to Rhett. "You're not Veras! Who are you really? And what is this Blood Demon?"

"I'll explain that later," Rhett replied, casting a quick glance at Haytes before focusing on Gunas again. Gunas's throat was trembling along with his body, and when he heard Rhett mention the Blood Demon, his eyes widened in alarm. He struggled to point at Rhett, but all he could produce were incoherent grunts.

The next moment, a blood mist exploded outward.

Blood and flesh splattered across the room, and the once-living Saint-level alchemist perished in a grotesque and horrifying manner.

"Gunas!" Haytes shouted instinctively.

Even Rhett hadn't anticipated such a sudden turn of events. His expression grew grim as he stared at the scene before him, his breath slowing. However, as the blood mist began to dissipate, it suddenly contracted rapidly, condensing into a blood-red silhouette. Judging by its shape, with thin wings and sharp mandibles, Rhett immediately recognized it as a blood-colored bat!

"A Blood Sprite?!" Rhett's pupils contracted as he instinctively drew upon the Essence of Gravity, channeling the elemental forces into a powerful gravitational field.

Boom!

A dull sound echoed from within the blood mist. In Haytes's stunned gaze, the blood-colored bat was instantly enveloped by the yellowish glow of the earth element, and the entire space around it twisted and trembled like a spiraling vortex. In that instant, every speck of dust, every drop of blood, and even the chunks of flesh were frozen in midair. The blood-colored bat, which had just taken shape, was now thrashing wildly as if bound by invisible chains, letting out piercing shrieks of frustration but unable to break free.

"What is that creature? Is it the Blood Demon you mentioned?" Haytes shouted, raising his wand defensively as he fired a deadly ice spike towards the creature.

"I'm not sure!" Rhett responded, pretending to see the creature for the first time, his expression serious. "But whatever it is, it's not something good. Let's destroy it together!"

Haytes, despite his growing mistrust of Rhett, could tell from the situation that the creature needed to be eliminated, so he cursed under his breath and joined the attack on the blood-colored bat.

More and more water elements converged towards the creature, freezing the walls, the floor, the dust, and even the blood in the room. The extreme cold of the ice spike began to freeze the entire space, and Rhett had to activate the Essence of Condensation, forming a protective layer of hardened armor around his body to avoid being affected by the freezing temperature.

"Screeech!"

Sensing imminent danger, the blood-colored bat's wings fluttered violently, emitting an intense blood-red light from deep within its body. It unleashed a terrifying surge of malevolent energy, threatening to break free and flood the entire room.

The twisting gravitational field quaked under the pressure, its yellowish glow flickering as it struggled to contain the onslaught of blood energy. The field wavered and threatened to collapse, but it held firm, pushing back against the blood energy and steadily reclaiming dominance. The blood energy receded bit by bit until the bat was once again trapped, its strength significantly diminished.

Rhett recognized this malevolent energy—he had encountered a similar force before when facing the Pale Knight. Though this energy was much more concentrated and potent, he knew it shared the same origin as the power within the blood-colored bat.

"We can't let it escape!" Rhett shouted, his voice resolute.

By now, the gravitational field had been entirely dispersed by the blood energy, but Rhett was determined to capture the creature. He had realized that the blood-colored bat was not as powerful as the one described in his text simulations. He suspected that its short evolution time had left it too weak to harness the full power of the "Blood Source" energy.

As Rhett poured more of his mental energy into the air, the earth elements coalesced once more, creating a fearsome gravitational force that spread throughout the room. The blood-colored bat, sensing the immense pressure, shot a hateful glance at Rhett before darting upward, moving at a speed so fast it was almost a blur.

"Where do you think you're going?" Rhett muttered coldly, compressing the earth elements into a sharp spike that he launched at the bat's chest.

With a crash, the bat smashed through the ceiling, revealing a hidden passage.

The blood-colored bat darted into the passage and vanished from Rhett's sight, its presence rapidly fading.

"Damn it!"

Rhett's eyes flashed with frustration. The blood-colored bat's speed had indeed been astounding, just as described in the text simulation where it had escaped with the Blood God Cult leader right under his nose. But he hadn't expected it to be capable of such speed even a thousand years ago.

Haytes was still reeling from the encounter, his eyes filled with confusion. As a Saint, he had never believed there were secrets in the world beyond his understanding. Even if there were, they were relics of history, long extinct. Yet today's events had completely shattered his perception. In just a few minutes, he had witnessed a series of incidents that defied everything he knew. The Veras he thought he knew had become an Earth Saint Magus, Gunas had died horribly in his own alchemy lab, possibly manipulated by some unknown creature...

Haytes's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. He didn't know what to say, what to do, or even how to process the chaotic scene before him. He just stood there, staring at the wreckage in stunned silence.

Rhett glanced at the corpse on the ground, then at Haytes, and said softly, "It's a shame the Golden Blood Academy's headmaster has been lost. We won't be able to get any answers from him. But don't worry, I'll do my best to find the culprit and avenge him. And... avenge your Tower Master as well."

"Right, right, you're not Veras..." Haytes snapped back to reality, his eyes locking onto Rhett's familiar yet now foreign face as he regained his composure. "Who are you really? And how did the Tower Master die?"

"Time will reveal who I am," Rhett replied. "But I can assure you, the death of the Circle Tower's master is closely linked to Gunas and that blood-colored bat."

Technically, Rhett wasn't lying. If the Blood Demon hadn't targeted this world, the original Veras wouldn't have taken down the Circle Tower's master in a mutual kill. So yes, there was indeed a "close connection"...

Without waiting for Haytes to respond, Rhett ended the conversation abruptly. He merged with the elements, transforming into a stream of sand as he swiftly exited the palace in pursuit.

He had detected a faint trace of the blood energy and followed it into the sky. But after only a few hundred meters, the trail vanished like smoke in the wind.

"Hmm? Lost the trail?" Rhett frowned, clenching his fist in frustration as he cursed under his breath.

But then, something stirred within him. He looked up, sensing a familiar presence flash overhead. In an instant, he shot upward, piercing through the clouds.

It was dusk, and the golden sun bathed the surroundings in a warm glow, turning the clouds into a sea of gold, lazily drifting like waves in slow motion.

Rhett stood atop the cloud sea, scanning the area before calling out coldly, "Shadow Demon emissary, show yourself..."

The clouds churned as his voice echoed, and a mass of shadows twisted and expanded, forming into a demonic figure with horns on its head, wings on its back, and tendrils like vines writhing over its body.

"You got it wrong. I'm not just a Shadow Demon emissary; I'm a descendant of the mighty Shadow Demon!"

The shadowy creature corrected Rhett's mistake as it appeared, its tendrils lashing at the air. After making its point, it looked Rhett over and said with admiration, "I knew I was right about you. Your strength is impressive, not only driving away the Blood Demon fragment but also sensing the trace of my presence. Choosing to work with you was indeed the right decision!"

"So that blood-colored bat was a fragment of the Blood Demon?" Rhett asked with a frown. "Does that mean the Blood Demon's will constantly monitors this world, able to communicate with others through that bat?"

"Of course not!" the shadowy creature shook its head. "The Blood Demon doesn't have that kind of power. Even sending a fragment of its essence here is incredibly difficult, let alone sensing this world's situation. In fact, it can't even sense the state of its fragment unless the fragment is completely destroyed or this world is so thoroughly ravaged that a spatial rift opens up, allowing the Blood Demon to perceive what's happening here."

Rhett let out a silent sigh of relief. It seemed that even though the Infernal Realm was powerful, its influence couldn't extend directly here due to the great distance.

"And what about the Shadow Demon?" Rhett asked out of curiosity.

"Our Shadow Demon abilities are unique. Due to the difference in our energy source, we're not as adept at invading worlds as the Blood Demon is," the shadowy creature admitted grudgingly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't spend most of my time in hibernation, nor would I need to seek cooperation with you humans. If I could maintain my peak strength, I'd have scoured the world myself to hunt down the Blood Demon fragment..."

"Then where do you hibernate?" Rhett asked, intrigued by the Shadow Demon's abilities.

"Heh, that I can't tell you. But don't bother trying to find me, because even when we Shadow Demons hibernate, we retain consciousness. Hibernation is just a way for us to better maintain our state," the shadowy creature chuckled. "Actually, I came to the Greyrune Kingdom before you and began investigating the situation here. I always suspected the Golden Blood Academy's headmaster, but I don't have a human identity, and I wasn't confident I could capture the Blood Demon fragment, so I never acted."

"Are you saying you were present when I was fighting the blood-colored bat?"

"Not exactly. I had gone elsewhere," the shadowy creature smirked. "But by coincidence, when I returned to the area, I saw the Blood Demon fragment, severely injured, and I captured it without breaking a sweat!"

Rhett's eyes lit up. "Where is it? Let me see."

"Haha, as you wish..." The shadowy creature was in high spirits, and a black, irregular crystal appeared before it. As a stream of shadow energy flowed into the crystal, a small opening appeared. Rhett eagerly peered inside, seeing what seemed like a deep, dark space. But before he could discern anything more, the opening closed, and the shadowy creature let out a furious roar:

"No! Why?! That damn Blood Demon, how could it afford to sacrifice so much?!"

The shadowy creature suddenly went berserk, its tendrils thrashing wildly as if in a frenzy, whipping up powerful winds that scattered the surrounding cloud sea. Around the black crystal, a blood-red feather appeared—there was no sign of the blood-colored bat!

From the shadowy creature's enraged state and the current situation, Rhett easily deduced that it had been tricked...

"What use is that blood-red feather?" Rhett asked, his curiosity piqued.

The shadowy creature didn't respond immediately, continuing its tantrum for another half-minute before finally calming down. As its tendrils drooped, it lifted the blood-red feather with one tendril and spoke in a low, angered tone:

"This feather is part of the Blood Demon's essence relic. It can perfectly simulate the Blood Demon's aura, making it an excellent tool for survival and escape. In the past, it would never use such a thing lightly, but it's clear now that the Blood Demon is fully committed to devouring your world! No doubt, that feather's disguise is what fooled me earlier..."

"What's an essence relic?" Rhett asked, intrigued by yet another unfamiliar term. It sounded like something powerful, and he wanted to know more.

"It's an artifact that has fused with the essence of a world, granting it extraordinary abilities far beyond ordinary weapons. You don't need to know more than that. After all, your world's essence is far too weak compared to the Infernal Realm's, and it lacks the foundation to produce such relics..." the shadowy creature explained briefly before sighing. "It's a shame we let the Blood Demon fragment escape. Now that it's on guard, capturing it next time won't be as easy."