Chapter 176: Demon Man: Mamen Reappears

Moments later.

Flesh and flame merged into a lifelike severed claw, though it looked grotesque—its overall color had turned pale white, no longer the previous crimson; on its palm grew eyes and a mouth, the eyes spinning wildly, the mouth writhing with fleshy motion, revealing sharp, gleaming white teeth within, exuding a chilling terror.

“Great Abalam! Your faithful servant offers you a gift!”

Kneeling in profound reverence, Jialei immediately severed his own wrist; crimson blood flowed, tracing winding paths across the floor, all drawn into the severed claw.

Feasting on the blood, the claw’s color faintly regained a hint of hue, its mouth twitching.

“Kale!”

“My faithful servant, take me away from here—I need better recovery.”

“When I stand beside the Demon King and earn great merit, becoming a Great Demon, you shall enjoy boundless wealth!”

Kale lowered his head, responding only with a fervent voice: “Yes! Great Abalam! Your servant shall take you away at once.”

On his lowered face, a mocking smile flickered faintly.

Demon?

Wealth?

What I want is eternal health and longevity! No—also immense power!

Like the one who reduced you to this state!

But you… seem unable to provide it…

But it doesn’t matter—as long as I become a demon, as long as I… become you!

Kale concealed his expression, reached out, picked up the severed claw, and tucked it into his chest, ascending upward.

He had known from the start what a demon truly was—yet God did not answer, not even saving his mother, that poor woman suffering from cancer; this left him disillusioned with God.

Since God was dead, why not try a demon?

He did not wish to die in agony before faith, like his mother—so a demon who granted every request was a perfect choice.

Now that the demon had fallen from his pedestal, he would take it for himself.

He would gamble—bet that this demon was weakened to the extreme—so he would go to the church and switch hands!

When he emerged and headed straight for the town’s church…

Behind him, Louis and Jiali floated in the corner, closely following.

“Louis, shall we kill him?”

“No—I want to see what this Kale intends, and what other cards this Abalam has yet to reveal. After all, a demon’s true form manifesting in the mortal world is no trivial matter.”

“Abalam’s manifestation was too easy—there must be something hidden.”

Louis explained to Jiali.

These were indeed his concerns: as far as he knew, due to God’s interference, no demon could manifest its true form in the mortal world easily; most often, they merely channeled partial power or sent a Huashen through arrays and sacrifices.

And this process was easily disrupted—which was precisely why exorcisms by priests were so simple.

According to the Joker Demon, over the years, not a single demon had ever successfully manifested its true form in the mortal world.

Yes, all knowledge about demon manifestations came from the Joker Demon—there was no choice; constantly burned by toxic fire, the Joker Demon was utterly depleted, its only Huashen unwilling to be lost.

Naturally, it had to reveal certain things in exchange for Louis’s “tolerance.”

Thus, this Abalam manifestation clearly concealed deeper motives.

Coupled with Louis’s intention to fish, he did not let Jiali conduct a sweeping search—instead, he performed a perfunctory inspection and left immediately.

“Come, follow him and see.”

The two used concealment techniques to trail him.

Abalam was indeed extremely weak—he could no longer detect Louis as easily as before.

Along the way, Louis saw many townspeople running in panic, gathering belongings, driving away from the town; a group of adults, led by the local sheriff, marched toward the forest.

Clearly, no one was blind—such a commotion had drawn everyone’s attention.

Louis paid no mind—he had already called Michael; this place was not far from Calabasas City, and with their speed, they should arrive soon.

Following Kale, Louis’s expression grew increasingly astonished.

Because this fool was heading straight for the church!

At this moment, the severed claw seemed to sense something amiss, trying to speak—but Kale pushed open the door without hesitation.

Gazing at the upright cross, Kale knelt down.

“Kale! You—”

Kale said nothing; seeing the claw smoking, he knew his plan was correct, smiled, pulled out a dagger, and began slicing his left wrist—even finding a saw inside the church.

Who knew how a saw ended up in a church? Perhaps one could ask Father Manli.

Creak… creak… creak…

“Aaaah!!”

Each cut was excruciating, piercing deep into his bones—but Kale feared nothing except failing to fulfill his wish.

“Kale! Kale!”

“What do you want? I can grant you anything!”

“God is a liar—you know the demon’s honesty…” Abalam’s voice grew louder, more sincere—but Louis, seated on a bench inside the church, found it laughable.

Demon’s honesty.

That was a terrible joke.

Still, this Kale was ruthless—were all heretics this mentally twisted?

Louis now knew exactly what he intended.

To graft a demon’s claw.

Too bold!

Louis did not stop him—such a self-initiated experiment was too rare; why interfere?

Moreover, he was deeply curious: could a demon’s limb be grafted onto a human? Would it work? What side effects? How much power would remain?

This topic was fascinating.

Plop!

Blood gushed from his wrist; seeing this, Kale panicked, grabbed the claw, and was about to attach it—then remembered something, picked up the holy water Father Manli had prepared, and poured it over the wound.

He didn’t know if the holy water summoned by Father Manli, that traitor to God, had any effect—but now, Kale was clearly grasping at straws.

The next moment, he fused the claw to his wrist; as expected, the claw began reacting with his flesh, burning.

Sizzle—sizzle—sizzle—

His entire arm’s skin and muscle writhed violently!

“Aaaahhhhh!!”

A piercing scream echoed throughout the church.

Under God’s gaze, the demon’s claw gradually merged with human flesh.

Whoosh!

Kale roared to the heavens, his left eye engulfed in darkness, sinister and malevolent; his skin turned pale red, muscles swelled in chunks, and even below, a second set of organs began growing.

With every breath, he felt magic power surge from the claw into his entire body, a searing heat of flame spreading everywhere.

“Power—this is power! I feel… better than ever!”

Kale sighed, then glanced at the altar—the statue of God suddenly felt unbearable, prickling his skin like needles.

Hoo!

A fireball erupted, striking the statue’s head and exploding it into rubble.

As the statue’s head shattered, the needle-like pain faded; Kale smiled. “Next… Huh? Abalam, you’re… like this?”

His face showed confusion and surprise.

“But I don’t need you anymore—your task is mine now!”

“I will replace you and become the Great Demon! Hahaha!”

Laughing maniacally, Kale walked toward the door.

But as he walked, he stopped.

At the doorway, Louis and Jiali stared at him, expressionless.

!!!

Kale froze stiff.

Every neuron screamed at him: Run! Flee!

Having just witnessed that battle, Kale knew—he had zero chance against these two.

Why?

Weren’t you gone?

I just gained power—and you appear now?

Gulp—

“Let me go… please?”

He forced a smile; the demon’s rage vanished from his mind, human pragmatism reclaimed control.

“Of course—just obey me.”

Louis smiled.

Kale nodded frantically.

…

Moments later.

In the church, Caleb spoke of the messages and knowledge drawn from Abalam’s soul, while Louis made his judgments.

First.

Caleb has indeed succeeded—but not completely. Abalam is not dead; its soul hides within Caleb’s body, and is most likely spying right now.

Second, this entity’s descent was flawed—it involved a familiar figure: Mamen.

Yes, the very one who made Louis confirm this world had hell, demons, and high-tier combatants—the first to give Louis a true sense of mortal peril.

Though back then, it probably didn’t even know who Louis was.

This incident occurred because Abalam was one of Mamen’s demons. Mamen governs the most opulent palace in hell and, as one of the Demon Kings, commands the demon legions. Abalam serves as one of the palace’s attendant demons and also holds the rank of deputy legion commander.

Over the years, Mamen has sought to enter the mortal realm, scattering power and projections across it—but success has been rare.

So it devised a new strategy.

The rich lead the poor.

The first to descend paves the way for others.

By having its subordinate demons descend in true form first, they could assist Mamen’s mortal emissaries to perform the summoning ritual more effectively and safely.

Moreover, they could establish a forward base and assemble a demon legion in preparation for Mamen’s arrival.

Once Mamen arrived, it could immediately deploy them as the vanguard legion to begin conquering the world.

Abalam was roughly a trusted subordinate, and with its talent for seducing young girls, it was placed on the list of demons to descend first.

After years of effort, to avoid detection by the Church, it established only a small cult in a remote town, carefully concealing its miracles—until it miraculously discovered Nuel, this special girl.

Combined with the souls of sacrificed girls over the years, a reinforced ritual array gifted by a mysterious individual, and Mamen’s Demon King magic power.

Only then did the portal open.

It descended into the mortal world.

(End of Chapter)