If Wizards were the eternal enemies of demons, then Black Prison was their ancient nightmare.
Black Prison was a prison established by Wizards for demons, originally called 'Wizard Alliance First Prison'. This prison was hidden deep within the Silent Forest. Hundreds of demons were imprisoned there every year, but not a single one ever came out alive.
This prison was like a black hole, devouring all information.
Thus, it was fearfully called 'Black Prison' by the demons.
When the Wizards learned of this, they simply changed the prison's name to 'Black Prison' to deter the demons active in the outside world.
And now, the Little Wizard who emerged from Black Prison stood in the cabin.
The Captain of the Mist rested his chin on his hand, smiling as he watched her.
She was a little girl of six or seven, exquisitely beautiful and very cute; her large, dark eyes were bright and sparkling. She looked at the tall Captain and smiled happily, completely unaware of how terrifying the demon before her was.
"She came from Black Prison?" The Captain tilted his head and glanced at the female demon.
"Yes," Nikita lowered her head.
"They say it's a bottomless abyss. How did she crawl out?" The Captain pinched the Little Wizard's cheek, asking with great interest.
"Her mother was a Black Prison guard."
"Why protect her?"
"When I was still a Wizard, her mother was my mentor," Nikita answered quickly. She knew she had to convince the man in front of her; these sentences had been brewing in her mind for days: "She was corroded by the primordial demon blood and would transform sooner or later. My mentor knew the consequences of her remaining at the University, so she entrusted me to take her away. I owe my mentor my life, so I must protect her."
"That's ridiculous," the Captain of the Mist shook his head.
Nikita knew what he meant.
For a demon, keeping a promise to its food was indeed a very ridiculous thing.
Perhaps, deep down, she still harbored a sliver of unrealistic hope.
"Why not return to the Lich King's territory?" The Captain stood up, tossing his white cloak onto the armchair.
"I went back," Nikita replied hoarsely, "but she still hasn't transformed. The Old Liches want to put her on the experimental table, the Little Liches want to eat her, and even my companions are restless around her."
"Why come here?"
"My teacher told me that she would only survive if she boarded this ship."
"Didn't your teacher tell you the rules for boarding?" The Captain's bluish-black lips curled up.
"Rules?" The female demon looked at the Captain blankly. "Isn't the Captain's word the rule?"
"While I appreciate your flattery, I must tell you that the rules for boarding were set by His Majesty the Sea Monster King," the Captain wagged his finger, pointing at the two prey in front of him, a bloodthirsty smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: "Everyone who boards must bring their own sacrifice."
Nikita's heart tightened instantly. She looked at the Captain, her face devoid of color.
"Sacrifice!" Her voice was hoarse with terror.
A sacrifice was an item used in rituals.
Wizards typically used sandalwood, Talismans, fine wine, and delicacies for their rituals; more solemn ceremonies would also offer three kinds of animals. For them, rituals were mostly a ceremony to commemorate ancestors, only occasionally serving as a bridge for Yin and Yang communication.
However, demon rituals were entirely different.
Demons had a long history of Legacy. Their ancestors believed that the world originated from a great True Spirit, and every life was a bloodline of the True Spirit. The True Spirit, the Dominator, controlled the fortunes and misfortunes of every one of His bloodlines. Wizards were the fire-stealers of the True Spirit, rebellious sons, and the flesh and blood of Wizards were the best offerings to the True Spirit.
Before every feast, demons would perform a simple ritual. And after every ritual, a grand banquet would be held. For fresh flesh and blood were the feast of the True Spirit, and also the delicacies of the demons.
"So I need to choose a suitable sacrifice from among you," the Captain of the Mist looked at them both gently, his dark red eyes showing no fluctuation whatsoever: "First, your names."
He snapped his fingers, and the dark oil lamp on the table immediately emitted a green flame.
An old elf with a pointed head, round ears, and a grizzled beard slowly crawled out of the darkness, climbed onto the table, trembling, and spread out a grayish-white animal skin map.
In the center of the drawing was a black scale, as if drawn with charcoal from embers, with rough edges and a simple structure. The animal skin was covered with dark red runes, flickering with a faint red glow in the dimly lit cabin.
Nikita's lips moved, her mind a blank.
Sacrifice meant death.
Counting from when she became a street waif at six years old, this was the closest she had ever been to death.
"Zhou Zhou," the Little Wizard beside her pursed her lips and timidly stated her name.
The old elf roughly pulled her small hand, pricked her arm with its black fingernail, and dipped its finger in the flowing blood, writing the words 'Zhou Zhou' in the blank space on the left side of the scale.
"The character 'Zhou' is composed of 'mouth' and 'use'. A long, long time ago, it represented a superior human sacrifice," the Captain stood with his back to them, admiring the brilliant scene outside through the narrow window in the cabin.
Behind him, the Little Wizard covered her arm, quietly sobbing.
The old elf poked the dazed female demon beside it with its long finger.
"Nikita," the female demon murmured.
Her name was filled into the right side of the scale.
The green flame on the oil lamp flared up, shining on the old elf's weathered face, making it appear particularly grim.
"Now, both of you recite a passage from the 'Fuwei Shangxiang Sutra' before His Majesty the Sea Monster King's shrine," the old elf said hoarsely, pointing to a small, black, stump-like object on the table.
The 'Fuwei Shangxiang Sutra' was a scripture that demons had to chant before banquets and rituals. It was said to be the True Spirit's admonitions recorded by an ancient Demon King. Demons who did not obey the precepts would lose the True Spirit's blessing.
Nikita was very familiar with these prayers.
The old elf chanted a line in its peculiar tone, and Nikita and Zhou Zhou followed, reciting a line.
..."Drink with a large dipper, to pray for long life; long life with a hunched back, to guide and to hope. Longevity is auspicious, to bring great fortune… Alas, alas, may you partake of this offering!"
The entire sutra was less than three hundred words, and the chanting was completed in under five minutes.
The dark red runes on the grayish-white animal skin map, as the chanting's echoes lingered, burst forth with dazzling red light, casting the figures of everyone in the cabin onto the bulkhead, appearing ferocious and distorted.
In the red light, Zhou Zhou's small hand tightly clutched Nikita's robe.
Nikita sat on the floor, hugging her arms, burying her head deep in her knees.
…
Breaking into the Silent Forest, to live.
Escaping from the Silent Forest, to live.
Breaking into the Lich King's territory, to live.
Escaping from the Lich King's territory, to live.
Struggling for so long.
Was it finally going to end?
…
On the grayish-white animal skin map, the scale swayed back and forth erratically.
The old elf frantically asked the Captain for advice. The Captain grabbed its ear and threw it out the window into the sea.
"You two choose one yourselves," the Captain wiped his hands with a clean white silk handkerchief, then threw the handkerchief out the window as well.
On the table, the green oil lamp flickered a few times, finally extinguishing. A pale blue smoke curled upwards, lingering endlessly in the small cabin.
"If we can't live together, then let's live together," Zhou Zhou whispered into her ear, "I haven't changed yet, I can't eat people."
The female demon looked up at the Little Wizard. Zhou Zhou bared her teeth, her eyes sparkling.
Brief memories flooded her like a tide.
"Sister, this uncle is so ugly!" In the Lich King's territory, the Little Wizard pointed at Nikita's Lich teacher, leaning close to her ear and whispering.
"When I grow up, I'll catch a bunch of Little Wizards for you! Eat one, throw one away!" Standing by the bonfire, the Little Wizard waved her small hand with an old-fashioned air.
"Sister, if you're hungry, just bite your finger and you won't be hungry anymore," during their escape, facing her who hadn't had a drop of water, the Little Wizard comforted her.
The female demon burst into tears.
"Truly a captivating scent," the Captain of the Mist turned his head to look inside the cabin. He took a deep breath, his expression intoxicated, his tone becoming increasingly gentle: "Emitting fear and despair, yet still attempting to struggle, even if it's just a sliver of light, tightly grasping it and refusing to let go."
"Perhaps your teacher knew you could still see a glimmer of light, which is why she sent you here."
Nikita felt a bone-chilling coldness.
"Now you can let go."
Nikita was in tears.
She knew she was about to fall into the deepest darkness.
The Captain looked at her gently.
Watching Nikita sobbing, chewing.
Watching the thin trails of blood slide from the corners of her mouth.
Watching them merge into one in despair.
The blood at the corners of her mouth was sweet and warm.
But Nikita's stomach began to grow cold.
This coldness would soon spread throughout her body, and it would remain cold forever.