DEMON SUMMONER: DESCENDANT OF THE CELESTIAL SOVEREIGN

Chapter 11: A Bloody Crown Beneath the Ruins

The sound of hundreds of dragging footsteps scraped harshly against the cracked asphalt. The humid night air was tainted by slowly falling volcanic ash, covering a sky that had lost its stars. The distance to the Bogor Safe Zone was fifty kilometers. It was a distance that felt like a stretch of hell for those walking without armor.

Eka walked at the very front. Every time his boots struck the asphalt, a stinging pain shocked his leg muscles. He coughed violently. A clump of black blood escaped his lips, staining the dry ground. 

Breaking through to a D-Rank Hunter did save his life from instant death by the Demon General's attack earlier. However, there was a price to pay. In this apocalyptic world, nothing was ever free. His mortal body had just been forced to act as a drainage pipe for an A-Rank Demon's lethal aura. As a result, the blood vessel networks across his neck and arms had ruptured. It left a dark purple spiderweb pattern that pulsed painfully beneath his skin. Every time he took a breath, his internal organs felt like they were being crushed by glowing iron hands.

Hundreds of refugees behind him walked in a terrifying silence. Exhaustion, hunger, and fear locked their vocal cords. Not a single one dared to complain. Their empty gazes were glued to the blood-soaked back of the young man leading them. To these civilians, that young man now felt far more terrifying than any demon hiding behind the apocalyptic fog.

Eka raised his right hand wrapped in a dirty cloth. The long convoy stopped in unison. They had arrived beneath the ruins of a collapsed concrete overpass. It formed a giant artificial cave that protected them from the acid drizzle. Eka leaned his body against a massive concrete pillar. He closed his eyes, trying to stabilize the chaotic circulation of raw Qi in his chest.

Aris and Siti walked closer. Aris was limping heavily. The man's chest was wrapped in a thick layer of ice created by Siti to stop the fatal bleeding from the centipede-wolf Demon's strike. Aris, who had previously been full of B-Rank Hunter arrogance, now lowered his gaze as he stood exactly two meters in front of Eka.

"You want us to rest here?" Aris spoke softly. His voice was hoarse and trembling. The man swallowed hard, glancing at the God-Slaying Sword leaning against Eka's knee with a look of horror. "Siti and I no longer have the capacity to lead this convoy. Siti's Qi is at less than a quarter. And my chest is ruined. From this second on, we surrender absolute command to you."

Eka opened his eyes slowly. His gaze was as cold as the bottom of an abyss. He did not need their acknowledgment or titles, but his purely calculating brain processed the information very quickly. Aris and Siti had become self-aware. They had directly witnessed the silhouettes of two giant monsters emerging from Eka's shadow. The hunter couple knew Eka possessed demon servants with levels far beyond mortal comprehension.

"Yes, we had better rest here. Help me organize the refugees. Make sure they spread out evenly. No one lights a fire," Eka answered flatly. "Anyone who makes a noise and lures a demon to this place, I will cut out their tongue myself."

Aris nodded quickly. He did not argue at all. He immediately pulled Siti's arm to step away and began arranging resting spots for the hundreds of terrified humans.

"Are you truly enjoying your new role as the king of the ants, Trash Vessel?" the Hellhound sneered inside Eka's head. The hell dog's voice sounded incredibly arrogant, echoing against the walls of his skull.

"Save your energy for breathing, big dog," Eka replied coldly in his mind. "If you talk too much, my head hurts more. And you know exactly what will happen to your filthy souls if my heart stops beating."

The Hellhound growled low, suppressing its anger, but the giant demon fell silent. It did not dare argue with the absolute fact of the blood seal forcibly bound by Sabeni.

Eka slumped down onto the rocky asphalt. He unbuttoned his shirt, which was already torn into frayed rags. He stared at the skin on his chest, bruised black from the brutal forced circulation of spiritual energy. Just as he closed his eyes, preparing to channel his remaining Qi to dull the pain, the sound of slow footsteps approached. 

Eka instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword. His eyes snapped open, glaring sharply through the darkness.

An old man stood a few steps away. His shirt was dirty with soil and dried bloodstains. He bowed slightly, offering a half-empty bottle of mineral water and a piece of stale, dusty bread.

"Go away," Eka dismissed him with a deadly tone ready to kill. His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

The old man did not retreat. He smiled faintly. It was a genuine smile that felt incredibly wrong and out of place in a world that had become a slaughterhouse. He stepped forward, kneeling with great difficulty right by Eka's knees.

"My name is Thomas, young man," Old Man Thomas said gently. His voice was hoarse from thirst. He placed the bread and water bottle on the asphalt near Eka's feet. He then reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a piece of clean cloth and some herbal leaves that had been crushed with a stone.

"I don't need your help. Get out of my sight, old man, before I separate your head from your body," Eka warned. His fingers tightened around his sword hilt. In this rotten world, kindness without reason was just a delayed form of betrayal. Eka had already learned that reality at the cost of his own father's life.

Old Man Thomas completely ignored the threat. His trembling, wrinkled hands slowly moved toward Eka's chest. He pressed the crushed herbal leaves directly over the purple bruise on the young man's chest. He then began to bandage the long gash on Eka's shoulder using the clean cloth. His touch was very careful and meticulous, exactly like a grandfather treating a grandson's scraped knee after falling off a bicycle.

Eka froze. His arm muscles tensed hard, ready to slash, but there was something in that warm touch that locked his movements. The distinct smell of crushed herbal leaves flowed into his nasal cavity. A soothing sensation slowly seeped into the skin of his chest, which had been burning intensely moments ago. 

Eka stared closely at Old Man Thomas's wrinkled face. The image of his late father, Andi, suddenly flashed vividly in his mind. The memory of his father's rough hand patting his shoulder when he was a child hit Eka's chest harder than any demon's punch. The wall of ice he had painstakingly built around his heart cracked slightly. The humanity he tried to bury deep down peeked out, searching for a tiny opening.

"Why are you doing this?" Eka asked quietly. His grip on the God-Slaying Sword slowly loosened.

Old Man Thomas smiled again while tying the cloth knot neatly on Eka's shoulder. He looked straight into the eyes of the young man harboring an ocean of trauma.

"Old people like me have no energy left to hold a weapon, son," Old Man Thomas answered in a calm tone. "We are just burdens slowing you down. But seeing a young man destroy his own body until he bleeds just to ensure we can still see the sun tomorrow morning, this is the only way we can pay him back. Your bravery always reminds me of your great father."

Eka's chest instantly felt tight. He lowered his face, staring at the cracked asphalt beneath his boots. "You knew my father?"

Old Man Thomas answered with a small nod. "Of course I knew your father, long before this apocalypse happened. He was a responsible man who always helped the weak. Even after his awakening as a C-Rank Hunter, your father's nature never changed one bit."

Eka did not reply to the old man's words. If he let out a single word about his father, his tears would flow heavily. Eka tried to distract himself. His left hand reached for the water bottle and dry bread given by Old Man Thomas. Eka chewed the dusty bread, forcing it down his parched throat. For some reason, the bland taste of hardened wheat felt far more delicious than the thick demon blood that had been soaking his tongue.

"Bara, come here," Old Man Thomas called, looking over his shoulder.

From behind a concrete pillar near them, a massive young man stepped forward with hesitant steps. He was nearly two meters tall. His arm and chest muscles bulged densely against the tight black t-shirt he wore. Tied to his back was a homemade iron mace wrapped in chains. The young man's physical density automatically radiated the pure aura of a D-Rank Hunter. However, in stark contrast to his giant stature, the young man kept his face aimed at the dirt, looking extremely shy and terrified.

"This is my grandson. His name is Bara," Old Man Thomas introduced him proudly. 

Bara stopped beside his grandfather. He swallowed hard, mustering the courage to look at Eka's face for a second before looking down again in shame.

"Thank you for letting us hide behind you, Brother Eka," Bara stuttered. His giant hands nervously wrung the hem of his own shirt. "I am a D-Rank Hunter. My level is the same as yours. But I always tremble when I see blood. I don't dare step forward when those damn demons attack. I am sorry for just being a useless coward."

Eka looked at Bara with a calculating gaze. This giant young man had an incredibly good physical foundation. His muscle fibers were much denser than Sopian's. If the fear in his head could be destroyed, Bara would become an extremely lethal frontline vanguard. In this maddening world, having a strong and obedient ally was an invaluable logistical advantage.

"Fear is natural for weak humans," Eka said flatly. He downed the water from the plastic bottle until it was empty, then tossed the bottle aside. "But if you keep looking down when an enemy jumps at you, your grandfather will die torn apart right in front of your eyes. Tomorrow, stand near me. Don't close your eyes, and I will teach you how to crush their skulls to pieces."

Bara lifted his face with a quick jerk. The giant young man's eyes shone brightly. Immense admiration and respect instantly blossomed in his chest. He no longer saw Eka as a terrifying killer, but as an absolute role model who would guide him to survive. Bara nodded vigorously, clenching his fists with a new surge of spirit.

The atmosphere under the overpass slowly became quiet. Hundreds of refugees began to close their eyes. They sat leaning against each other, trying to seek warmth from their companions' bodies amidst the blood-freezing night air. Eka rested the back of his head against the concrete wall, placing the God-Slaying Sword on his lap. The pain across his nerves slowly subsided. For the first time since the apocalypse burned Jakarta, Eka felt a tiny sliver of warmth inside his frozen chest cavity.

However, peace and rest in this dying mortal world were nothing but a cheap illusion.

The sound of boots scraping against concrete rapidly approached from above. From a gap in the ruined overpass, Siti jumped down. The B-Rank Hunter landed with bent knees, nearly losing her balance from rushing.

Siti sprinted straight toward Eka's position. Her face was as pale as cotton. Her lips trembled violently. Her breathing was erratic, as if her lungs had forgotten how to pump oxygen. Aris, noticing his lover's panic, immediately limped over with a tense expression.

Eka snapped his eyes open instantly. His killer instinct flared up, sharp as a freshly honed knife. He stood up immediately, gripping his sword hilt tightly. All sleepiness and residual weakness evaporated on the spot.

"What is it?" Eka asked coldly. His eyes glared piercingly through Siti's pupils.

Siti swallowed with great difficulty. She pointed toward the darkness in the south with a violently shaking index finger.

"Eka," Siti's voice cracked into pieces. Pure terror was painted on every word she spoke. "The toll road ahead is completely broken. There is no detour. And at the bottom of the ravine beneath the overpass, I saw hundreds of slimy egg cocoons. It is a C-Rank Demon mutation nest, and they are blocking our only path to Bogor."