Death... and me

"Over three thousand Stage Four and Five Demon Beasts disappeared?" A Void Tempering Realm Demon Beast asked in the core region. Roan selected a demon beast territory where he could find a great variety of demon beasts. With that being said, it was also one of the most important territories for the demon beasts in this specific country. That's why there were quite a lot of Transition Realm demon beasts and a few Void Tempering Realm ones.

The one who talked was a Winged Abyssinian, a type of cat demon beast. It went by the name of Netako. It's just that it had reached the Void Tempering Realm a long time ago.

The demon bird informing him nodded in response. "Yes, Senior Netako."

Netako didn't seem to care much about it, though. "It was somewhat close to the border between us and the nearest humanoid race city, wasn't it? The cultivators from there should have gathered to go out hunting. Why should I care? It also serves as training for our own demon beasts." As a demon beast forest, it obviously had millions of demon beasts. Just a measly three thousand wouldn't make any difference.

Of course, the demon bird didn't stop there. "It wouldn't be a problem if it had happened over a big period of time. However, all of them were gone in just a week."

"A week?" Netako's attention was finally piqued after that. "If they're really all Stage Four and Five, then that's quite a big number. I thought that happened over a period of several months." One must remember that a demon beast territory wouldn't have only Stage Four and Five Demon Beasts. Among the millions of demon beasts present there, the majority were obviously Stage Two. Naturally, the higher their level was, the rarer they were. Why Stage Two? That's because, just like the humanoid races, demon beasts were already born at that level in the Realm of Gods.

Netako then asked, "Have you found the reason for that?"

The demon bird immediately nodded, explaining, "Yes. It's due to a big group of cultivators. They're beating the demon beasts up and bringing them away. After that, they simply disappear without a trace."

"Didn't you follow them?" Netako found it strange. Since this demon beast could talk to him, it obviously was in the Transition Realm at the very least.

"I tried... but I immediately felt the presence of a Divine Sense at the same level as me," the demon bird answered. "That's why I came to tell you and the others about it. I'm responsible for that side of Tinlin Forest, after all. At the moment, just three thousand demon beasts of that level won't make any difference to my region. However, if it continues, then demon beasts from other regions of our forest will start moving away from their homes. It would disrupt the balance."

The Divine Sense he felt was from Roan. Roan's Divine Sense in the Initial Stage of the Transition Realm was 10 kilometers, much higher than average ones at the same level. Because of that, Roan saw the demon bird, but the demon bird didn't find him. It only felt his Divine Sense.

Netako finally nodded. "You did the right thing. We have told the humanoid races of this country to not send anyone at the Elemental Transformation Realm or higher into our Tinlin Forest. Since they sent someone to protect those cultivators, they might be planning something. I'll call Hariado to go with me."

The demon bird nodded and immediately left after that.

Netako then left his nest and flew to another region of the demon beast forest's core region. With his Void Tempering Realm cultivation, it didn't take more than a few minutes for him to arrive at a big mountain. "Hariado, it's me, Netako. I know you're there. Come out." As mentioned in the past, Void Tempering Realm cultivators and above can't miss each other even if they wanted to. That's because their natural spatial detection made the area around other Void Tempering Realm and above look like black holes in their senses.

Below, Netako could see tens of thousands of silver winged vultures of various sizes. Obviously, their sizes were related to their cultivation. Netako could see at least a few tens of them at Stage Eight. Usually, these vultures would attack anyone who got close to their mountain. Then again, Netako's cultivation was so high that they instinctively didn't dare to get close.

"Why did you come here? You know I'm not the type to stay awake during the day." Suddenly, a voice answered Netako's call. Following that, a gigantic Silver-winged Vulture flew from the top of the mountain, quickly appearing in front of Netako. "You better have a good reason, or I'll make you give me some of your Winged Abyssinian Nectar."

"Hmph!" Netako snorted in response. "That's not something for you guys to put your hands on." The nectar that his race produced didn't really have any good properties for cultivation. However, it was one of the most delicious things to drink out there. The Winged Abyssinians considered it of extreme importance for their race.

Netako then went back to the main issue. "Anyways, there's something weird happening." Following that, he used his Divine Sense to explain the situation to Hariado.

"Hmm? The humanoid races should know very well that cultivators at the Elemental Transformation Realm and above shouldn't enter our forest without permission." Hariado also found it strange. Aefer was, after all, a continent mostly controlled by demon beasts.

Netako nodded in response. "That's why I came here to call you. The southwest side of the Tinlin Forest is under our care. Well, not that we need to do anything most of the time. Anyways, I came to get you just in case."

Hariado didn't deny the call. "Alright, give me a moment." Hariado then used his Divine Sense to talk with the Transition Realm vultures of his mountain before he turned his attention back to Netako. "Alright, we can go now."

Netako didn't waste time. "Let's get over with it so that we can come back fast."