Chapter 114
The curse and the seal vanished the moment Veris seemingly toppled the stone tablet. The curse that had trapped Vesper for nearly three hundred years disappeared so easily.
At this moment, he realized for the first time the terrifying extent of the power of this person, whom he had once feared but only placed on the same level as Lortheran.
It could be said that even if he felt powerless now, he could still easily deal with the hero. However, after so many years, he had long lost his initial spirit. Since the final result was the same anyway, why fight to the death? However, he would not tell the hero this truth, and the hero would not understand it either.
When the blood of the heroes' party members from fifty years ago was once again poured into the soil of the Demon King's Abyss, Vesper felt more and more that such a game was meaningless.
Lortheran wanted to trap him simply to restrain the demon race, but after more than two hundred years of development, the demon race had not only failed to make any progress, but had instead become increasingly degenerate. Of his seven protectors, only two or three were worth considering.
To this day, Vesper can no longer distinguish whether it is their demon race's faith that sustains the existence of the Demon Progenitor, or whether the existence of the Demon Progenitor allows their race to survive.
The god who governs death will not disappear even without demons, because as long as living beings exist, there will be death.
Of the seven great gods, aside from the god of love worshipped by the entire human race, the only other one who can be worshipped is the demon.
Vesper suddenly remembered the sacrificial items related to the god Yannis that were discovered a few years ago during the riots in the Demon Forest.
To be honest, he was startled when he found out. He didn't care about worshipping some random little god, since it wasn't real. But that was Yannis, the god who was vaguely the leader among the seven gods. When Yannis's remnants appeared, his first reaction was—who the hell wanted to harm him!
If we lure Veris here, Demon King Lin will be in deep trouble!
Veris has been in charge of the church for so many years, and he is particularly harsh in dealing with heretics. Once they are discovered, there is almost no chance of survival. Of course, there is a second outcome, but what is the difference between that outcome and death? He was brainwashed into a devout Orlando believer, humble and respectful, righteous and kind, but he completely lost some of his evil emotions. He is more like a puppet of the church than a person.
But for Veris, and even from the perspective of humanity, that outcome was the best possible one. The Pope had cleansed this sinner of his evil thoughts and sins, and endowed him with fine qualities such as integrity and kindness.
In short, Vesper, the old demon king who had been lurking in the Demon King's Palace for many years, rarely took action and dealt with those heretics swiftly and decisively. At that time, Florian was still wandering around the capital. Vesper was assisted by the Seven Guardians.
The Seven Protectors didn't think that much at the time; they just felt that the old demon king couldn't tolerate any trouble.
At that time, the Seven Mystic Realms had just ended. The other gods were killed one after another, and Yannis also fell into silence. When he received the news that the Demon King Forest's faith had been completely destroyed overnight, he was powerless to do anything about it.
Then Salem and Phoenix were swept aside by Veris, and Yannis lost even the ability to mount a final counterattack.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so powerless in the Young King's Secret Realm.
He probably couldn't understand until his death why the belief in the gods in the Demon King's Forest—which had been gradually growing and expanding—had vanished overnight.
As for Vesper, the idea of Veris and Yannis fighting was something only a monster could come up with. Even though he had previously considered Veris to be about the same strength as Lortheran, that was more than two hundred years ago.
You have to understand, Veris has actually lived for over three hundred years. More than two hundred years ago, he was able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the first hero who sealed him and placed a curse on him. Now, Veris's methods are probably beyond even his imagination.
Compared to his secluded existence in a corner of the Demon King's Forest, Veris possesses the resources of the entire continent of Icarus. Whether it's the relics and treasures of the past or the secret spells passed down through generations, they could kill him ten or eight times over.
Vesper is old, but not so senile as to think that Veris will lose to Yannis.
Even if a god who died hundreds of years ago was once glorious, the current kings of the human race and the popes who govern the human race's faith are all popular and respected. What does that god amount to?
Upon hearing the long-lost, familiar voice of Veris, Vesper felt a mix of emotions, as if the guillotine hanging over his neck was finally about to fall.
The sounds of fighting came from the main square, and the light of the magic circle illuminated the entire Demon King Abyss. The old Demon King sat on his throne, squinting as he looked out, but he could not see anything.
He wasn't there to see how the heroes dealt with the rampaging monsters; those monsters were originally sent by him to fight the heroes. He was watching to see if Veris would make a move.
Veris's magic circle is highly recognizable, not because of its color, but because his magical elements possess divine power.
Not finding what he was looking for, Vesper became visibly irritated. When he looked up and saw the guardians lying on the ground looking like dead wild boars, he was instantly enraged and threw the half-dead guardians away with a wave of his hand.
He stood up and paced restlessly before the throne.
He could have gone out to fight, but... no, he would never leave unless Veris forced him out.
Vesper thought, his neck stiff.
On the main square, following the Demon King's orders, the monsters pounced on the heroes like madmen. Seeing this, Florin quickly turned and ran, but the faint command from his bloodline made his escape even more determined.
As a pure-blooded demon, Frodien still had room to resist the old demon king's orders.
Other hybrid demon races don't behave this way.
A massive melee erupted instantly.
Frodien originally thought that Veris would help, after all, it was Veris who solved the sand crater that trapped the hero. Now that the demons are in a great battle, given Veris's abilities, he should be able to solve it in the time it takes to start with a magic circle.
This is the difference in strength. The monsters and demons that the heroes struggled to deal with were as easy as crushing lice for Veris.
However, he was wrong. He saw the seven guardians and the dragon standing next to the stone tablet, with Veris also on the side, glancing from time to time at the demons who were fighting in the middle of the battle.
Frodien quickly ran over.
In fact, when the monsters started their uprising, he remembered the time when Lamm fought the Demon King. Many pure-blooded demons died in that battle, which was also a large-scale melee. He guessed that the old Demon King always dealt with the heroes in the same way: letting the monsters and demons go first, wearing down the heroes until they died, and only those who fought their way out could fight the old Demon King.
He couldn't help but shiver, feeling as if the entire city was spinning, as if he were experiencing something extraordinary, returning to that bloody night more than fifty years ago. But experiencing it a second time, he didn't know what to do. Perhaps he should lead the demons to besiege the hero, but he didn't want to; he cherished his life.
So he immediately ran to Veris, full of expectation and making no attempt to hide his defection, and asked Veris obsequiously what to do next.
The Seven Protectors stared at him in astonishment, seemingly not expecting that this Great Protector had already betrayed the Demon King.
Frodiene glanced at him.
Don't think he didn't see it. The Seventh Protector, who looks like he has thick eyebrows and big eyes, was also fawning over him just now. They are all traitors, so what's the difference between them?
Veris glanced at the chaotic fight that had erupted on one side of the square not far away, sighed slightly, and said, "You all just watch from here. You don't need to do anything. Those who are meant to live will live, and those who are meant to die can't be saved anyway."
His accordion had already been thrown into the spatial magic, and now his hands were empty. He remained calm and composed, showing no sign of having uttered such startling words. He continued, "I'll go see Vesper."
After saying that, he walked towards the Demon King's palace.
The two demons and the dragon were left staring at each other in bewilderment.
Does this mean they were allowed to watch the game?
But even disregarding the hero's status, just because Veris and the hero are both human, Veris shouldn't just stand by and do nothing, right?
Long frowned, and after a long while, he suddenly became wise: "These people have been training for so long. If they can't even beat this, they deserve to die."
Florian hesitated, then the Seventh Guardian looked at him and asked, "When did the Grand Guardian get in touch with the Pope?"
"We're all demons, no need for all that beating around the bush," Florian glanced at him and said, "Of course, it was before I became the Grand Protector."
The Seventh Protector was slightly taken aback. That must have been more than fifty years ago, when his father was still alive and he wasn't the Seventh Protector.
Veris didn't bother listening to the conversation in the square. He quickly went down the stairs and saw the half-dead demons at the end of the stairs. He raised his hand and, as if cleaning up trash, purified them.
The pale golden light wasn't strong, but it was enough to stop Vesper, who was pacing anxiously inside the hall, from his tracks. He turned around abruptly and stared intently at the entrance of the hall. What was coming had finally arrived.
He vaguely realized that this time, the curse was probably really over.
Soon, he saw a familiar yet unfamiliar young man appear, whose robes were very simple—considering his status as pope.
The young man's hair was pressed down by his oversized hat, but his face was still familiar.
Veris looked up, smiled slightly, as if reminiscing about old times: "Long time no see, Vesper."
The Demon King's cold face showed no joy as he stared at Veris: "What are you doing here?"
This was what he most wanted to know. In the past, when heroes came, Veris might have followed, but he would never come to him in person like he did today.
It couldn't be to mock him; if they wanted to mock him, they would have done so during the first time the hero defeated the demon king.
Veris raised his hand and took off his hat. His face was as pale as ever, but his smile remained unchanged. He said, "I've come to verify something."
The Demon King still didn't believe it. If Veris wanted to verify something, why wait until today?
"How much do you know about the babies Lamb took away back then?"
Upon hearing Veris's question, Vesper's previously wary expression changed. His pupils trembled slightly, as if he were processing something. After a long while, he finally said, "You...don't know?"
With Veris's tight control over the faith of all believers, how could he not know about the Demon King's Forest? No, how could he not know about Lamb?
Veris was not angry upon hearing this, but simply sighed: "You're right. If they were my followers, I would be the first to receive the news. But they are not my followers."
"Therefore, I have no way of knowing those past events."
Vesper's expression twitched a few times, as if he were lost in thought. He still couldn't believe it. He remembered the previous generation's hero, but perhaps because he was getting old, his memory was very blurry. He only remembered that the hero was a young man with golden-brown hair, a calm demeanor, who silently completed his mission and then left.
After a while, Vesper felt a headache coming on, but he still said, "That baby shouldn't have appeared, but it did."
Veris remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
So he closed his eyes and waited for the pain to subside before continuing, "The demon race, like the dragon race, also has the ability to revert to their ancestral forms. That baby was born into a bad family, but his father happened to exhibit the ancestral bloodline... The ancestral bloodline is my brother."
Veris's expression finally changed; he was somewhat surprised.
Vesper's brother, isn't he of royal blood?
The Demon King's expression was grim. He sat back on his throne, swaying slightly. After a while, he said, "Where did Lamb find that child... I have no recollection of it at all, I just remember it happened."
“How could Lamb not be a believer?” he couldn’t help but ask after he finished speaking.
Veris narrowed his eyes, but still smiled: "Because the soul inside him at that time was not my believer."
"Just like now, the one inside you is not a follower of the devil."
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Author's note: See you tomorrow...probably [sprinkling flowers]
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