Chapter 115
The words fell like a thunderclap. Vesper's pupils contracted, and he stared blankly at Veris. Then he lowered his head and looked at his palms in disbelief.
What does that mean? Is there a second soul inside his body?
Vesper felt a chill run through his body, and for a moment he even felt dizzy. Having two souls within him was no ordinary matter. The fact that he hadn't noticed it for so many years was enough to prove that the other soul's ability had become so powerful that he couldn't fathom it.
Moreover, even though Veris's words made it so clear, he remained completely oblivious.
He could hardly bear to think any further.
Veris noticed his fear, rubbed his palms together, and said, "I've come to ask you something."
The Demon King looked at him with a cold expression, his mood probably not pleasant.
Veris disregarded his feelings and said directly, "The demon race no longer has a royal family. You may leave the Demon King's Forest."
What! ?
The second thunderbolt struck, and Vesper almost lost his footing, taking a step back and collapsing onto the throne. This cold, desolate Demon King's palace had been repeatedly mentioned by Florin as something he wanted to renovate over the years, but Vesper had always refused.
It was nothing more than a prison, and no matter how magnificently it was renovated, inside it was nothing more than a throne accompanying him.
Perhaps those magnificent palaces will end up being enjoyed by those ugly and incompetent people.
Out of sight, out of mind; in this empty and unobstructed palace, Vesper has been quite comfortable all these years.
But without comparison, there is no harm. Between staying in this cold and empty Demon King's Palace and leaving the Demon King's Abyss, Vesper would naturally choose the latter. He had not left the Demon King's Abyss for many years and wanted to see what the Demon King's Forest looked like now, even though he knew in his heart that it probably wasn't very good.
But what did Veris say? Leave the Demon King's Forest?
It's not the Demon King's Abyss, it's the Demon King's Forest!
Leaving the Demon King's Forest would mean that he could now freely explore the tens of thousands of acres of land in Icarus!
Vesper's chest heaved violently, as if thunder was roaring in his head. His lips moved a few times before he couldn't help but ask, "Are you... telling the truth?"
Don't think Veris is trying to fool him. He's already experienced Veris's ability to make things up easily!
Veris gave him a strange look and said, "Why would I lie to you? You've been sealed away for so long, don't you know why?"
Vesper stared blankly, shaking his head in bewilderment. He had almost blurted out that it was Lortheran's curse, but seeing Veris's expression, his mind raced faster than ever. Since Veris had asked that question, it couldn't be Lortheran's fault. No, there must be a reason related to Lortheran, but it certainly wasn't the most important reason.
Seeing his old friend shake his head, Veris pondered for a moment before saying, "The curse of Lortheran is one aspect."
"There are a few other reasons. You established seven protectors; do you still remember your original intention?"
Vesper was bewildered again. When did this all happen? What happened to the seven guardians? It seemed like this was arranged when he became the Demon King... Why?
A look of trying hard to recall flashed across his face.
Veris wasn't in a hurry. When his expression suddenly changed, he knew what Veris had thought of.
Vesper became the Demon King before the new era, when the Seven Gods had not yet fallen. Vesper established the Seven Guardians. How could he not have had ulterior motives?
But it was precisely this little scheme that killed him.
An unbelievable guess popped into Vesper's mind.
He trembled. Although he had lived for hundreds of years, he looked young, but in his heart he already felt that he was old and frail. His movements were slow, unlike the vigor of Veris.
At this moment, the old demon king spoke incredulously: "It's... the Seven Gods?"
Back then, he was so full of vigor and ambition, thinking that if there were seven gods in the sky, he would create seven protectors. As for his ancestral demon among the seven gods, well, wouldn't we only see them after death? We'll talk about things after death!
“The environment of Demon King Forest is different from the environment of the whole of Icarus. Don’t you have any guesses?” Veris continued.
Before Vesper could answer, he sighed softly: "The demon race is a self-contained system, originally a race comparable to the human race. Unfortunately, their beliefs are mixed and they lack education. Then you emerged from the demon race, and it was thought that you had the hope of leading the demon race to progress, but then the seven gods fell one after another."
Around the time the Seven Gods fell, the Demon King Vesper was incredibly powerful, leading the demons to wreak havoc in the north, killing countless people. The demons' reputation for bloodthirst spread far and wide. At that time, Lortheran was still in the central region and was very disgusted by it, saying that he would definitely teach these bloodthirsty demons a lesson.
On a whim, he massacred villages and cities, and the conflict between the demon race and the human race became extremely intense. The demonic energy that had mutated in the killing spree eroded the north. During this period, the Demon King Vesper established seven guardians. Even the names he initially gave to the seven guardians were closely related to the seven gods. Everyone could see his arrogance and domineering nature.
When bloodlust overwhelmed reason, the demons, like a pack of uncontrollable savage beasts, ravaged the entire north.
Veris's voice was calm: "The sky over Icarus back then was dark and reddish, you should remember that, right?"
Vesper's face was pale. If it were the Demon King Vesper of yesteryear, he would have arrogantly said, "So what?" But the current Vesper had long since lost all his spirit through hundreds of years of imprisonment and the repeated humiliations of the so-called Demon King and Hero tales.
Unable to live or die, watching his once valiant kinsmen gradually become deformed, impulsive, and easily angered, his heart had long since turned cold.
But he never really thought about the high spirits he had back then. No, he did have memories, but he was just reminiscing about those free days and never thought about the huge crisis behind them.
In the beginning, humans and demons... were never enemies...
Just like the humans, dwarves, and elves of today, although they are different races, they can still live together on the land of Icarus and exchange goods.
The sky over old Icarus was dark and ominous. Vesper rarely looked up at the sky, but in his hazy memory, he clearly remembered that all the scenes of high spirits were under such a strange sky, filled with the smell of blood, making it seem as if their great achievements had dyed the sky red.
In that case, the gods who rule the heavens would probably be furious.
They laughed dismissively.
Seeing that he was speechless, Veris said, "The most fundamental problem is the mutation of demonic energy, which is corrupting the demon race."
Where would primordial demonic energy have such power? After all, the demon race and the human race started on the same starting line.
However, in the day and night of slaughter, the demon race underwent a mutation. The mutated demonic energy, like a plague, eroded the entire sky. Especially after the Great Wilderness, the gods of heaven and earth were already burdened with sins, and even with some means, they could not be restored to their original state.
Decades passed, and the human race was replaced, forgetting the beautiful skies they once knew.
"Lotheran restored Icarus and dispelled the demonic energy, but the demonic energy could not be destroyed by him. He later forced you to the location of the Demon King's Forest, which was your old lair at the time. He made a curse on you and asked me to take action, dispelling the demonic energy that covered the entire sky and compressing it all within the territory of the Demon King's Forest."
Veris spoke at length in one breath.
Vesper closed his eyes and said in a hoarse voice, "So, what does this have to do with the Seven Protectors?"
The young man in the hall smiled, the meaning of which was unclear. He said, "Isn't the Demon King Forest now a microcosm of Icarus back then?"
Upon hearing this, Vesper's eyes widened in horror, and his already swaying body looked even more vulnerable.
"But back in Icarus, there was no king. What role do you think you should play?"
“I don’t know,” Vesper said, trying to calm himself down.
Back in the day, Icarus was ruled by the Seven Gods, and various forces were fighting each other on the ground. Apart from the positions of the Seven Gods, it seems to have nothing to do with the current plans of Demon King Lin!
“You are… a resident of Icarus.”
Veris's voice, like a nightmare, reverberated in Vesper's ears.
"The Seven Gods may die, but you will be trapped on this land forever."
“You are not the ruler, you are the enslaved. You must be wondering what about the demons you rule. But haven’t you seen it yourself? They spend their days in revelry, fighting and mating, becoming more and more degenerate.”
"In less than fifty years, they have all become beasts. So, the seven gods have fallen, and the seven guardians will surely die as well. But you will not die, because with you, the demon race can live on forever."
Veris's voice sounded like that of a true devil: "Whatever the outcome, you will not die, because you are a demon, you are royalty, and in the Demon King's Forest, you are the symbol of the inhabitants. As long as you are in the Demon King's Forest, you will never die."
"Visper".
"Pure-blooded demons are becoming increasingly rare."
Vesper was completely exhausted and almost collapsed on the throne. His eyes were unfocused. He didn't care about reviving the demon race. What he feared most was the future that Veris had told him.
As long as he stays in the Demon King's Forest, he will never die. He clearly feels the aging of his soul and knows he should be dying of old age, but his body still clings to life, causing him pain and delaying his death.
He thought that Veris would one day become fed up with the demons, and he even instructed the demons to go south and cause trouble from time to time, which almost became a common occurrence among humans as the "Demon King's Forest Uprising".
"This is not the curse of Lortheran."
Veris lowered his brows and eyes, casually brushing the dust off his clothes, and said, "This is the curse of the gods. They may not even be aware of it. Perhaps some of them have only heard about what you have done and are slightly displeased. Perhaps some gods are furious, but for other reasons, they cannot take action, so they have made such a curse."
In order to punish the arrogant demons, and also... to annoy them.
Veris scoffed inwardly.
With demons protecting the northern cold front, he had no reason to touch them.
For many years, Demon King Forest has been like a garbage dump in his mind. He throws all the dirty and bad things into Demon King Forest, including demonic curses, poisonous gas, and demonic energy.
The existence of the demon race is due to both historical reasons and its own advantages.
Vesper remained in a daze for a long time. After a long while, he closed his eyes and asked, "And what about you? What were your conditions for promising me to leave the Demon King's Forest?"
As the last member of the royal family, would Veris let him leave the Demon King's Forest? Wasn't he afraid that Veris would go on a killing spree among humans?
“The demon race needs a new king,” Veris said softly.
But it was no less than a third thunderclap.
"And the lands of the demons should also be incorporated into Icarus's territory."
He wasn't referring to the Kingdom of Lortheran. Although Vesper was old, he wasn't stupid. He quickly and keenly sensed something, and because of Vesper's first words, his mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.
Yes, with a new king in charge, he could leave; that was all he could think of.
But shouldn't the demon lands be incorporated into Icarus's territory? Could it be—
He was suddenly startled: "You've already found a way to eliminate demonic energy?" The words were a question, but he already believed it to be 70% true.
Veris smiled slightly, and the fourth thunderbolt struck: "The Ancestral God has reappeared. Taking back these filthy things left over on the continent and stuffing them back into Hell is just a piece of cake."
Ancestor God?
The ancestor god of the demon clan?
Wouldn't that be—
Vesper's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
The legendary progenitor of demons, the god of death who rules over hell, is said to have existed longer than any god, truly coexisting with the world—
His name is Sylvain.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Seemingly younger, but actually older.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
