Chapter 116
Wasn't it said that the Seven Gods were dead?!
How did this old ancestor suddenly appear?
And how did Veris know?!
Vesper felt dizzy and for a moment didn't know whether to be shocked that Veris had already touched the realm of gods, or to be shocked that the old ancestor had suddenly come back to life.
However, Veris didn't want to say more, but simply asked the question he had asked at the beginning.
"The Demon Clan no longer has a royal family. You can leave the Demon King's Forest. Are you willing?"
What was there for Vesper to hesitate about? He nodded hastily, a fawning smile appearing on his face. He couldn't help but rub his hands together. "I have no objection to what you want to do. Demons, demons have nothing to do with me. You can take all my royal blood and bones if you want!"
Trapped in the Demon King's Abyss for three hundred years, looking up, one sees a dark, blood-red sky no different from that of the old Icarus, and the descendants they come into contact with are all more deformed than the last.
At first, Vesper thought of having a lot of offspring to strengthen the demon race, since that's what humans did.
He was saddened to discover that he could not give birth.
After several attempts, Vesper gave up, because he hadn't had much hope to begin with.
After hearing his words, Veris smiled slightly and said, "There are two more things."
Vesper quickly focused his attention to listen.
"First, I want to take away the other soul from your body. He relied on the cursed stone tablet to move around in the bodies of demons. Now that I have knocked down the stone tablet, he must still be in your body."
As Veris spoke, a dark light flashed in his eyes. At the moment the stone tablet was pushed over, he captured the soul of his deceased friend with unprecedented clarity.
However, Vesper was, after all, a member of the royal family of the demons, with an extraordinary physique. He could not forcibly seize the soul. After a hundred years of wandering, Hill's soul and the demon's body had a very high compatibility. Once it entered, it was like a stone thrown into the sea, no, like salt thrown into the sea. It melted away without a trace in an instant.
Upon hearing this, Vesper nodded vigorously again. In fact, he had also been struggling with the soul inside his body, thinking that he would find a way to tear the soul out later.
Now that Veris has generously helped him, he is more than grateful.
Veris's smile deepened; Vesper's understanding clearly pleased him. He then said one last thing: "I need you to put on a show and have a good fight with that hero outside. Don't hold back; all the demons from the Demon King's Abyss must participate."
Seeing Vesper's expression freeze, Veris's smile faded slightly, and his tone left no room for doubt: "Whether you live or die, it doesn't matter."
"Who...who do you want to kill?" was Vesper's first reaction.
Veris's lips curled into a straight line, and he said casually, "Why would I specifically want to kill anyone? If I wanted to kill someone, would I need to use your hand?"
When Vesper heard this, he thought it made perfect sense. With Veris's current strength, he couldn't even defeat ten of them, so why would he bother to deal with a few humans?
So he readily agreed, and his eyes even showed a hint of the sharpness he once had when he led the demons to wreak havoc. He had indeed become somewhat lax in recent years due to the curse of the Demon King and the Hero, but the number of heroes who died in the Demon King's Abyss was still countless.
In the last heroic expedition, only one Lamb survived.
He scoffed inwardly.
With the curse lifted, the Demon King's Palace could no longer contain Vesper. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Veris quickly left via the teleportation array. Before leaving, he sent a message to the dragon. Upon receiving the message, the dragon waved to the two demons, transformed, and revealed its form as a giant dragon. Its enormous body blotted out the sky and covered the entire Demon King's Abyss.
The chaotic battle ceased for a moment, and Arnold and the others stared in shock at the giant dragon in the sky. That dragon... it looked so familiar to them.
Allen almost couldn't help but tremble.
All the monsters in the abyss bowed their heads, for they were the most powerful monster bloodline in the world.
As the dragon flapped its wings, a pale golden light appeared on its back. Immediately, a figure stood on the dragon's back, not giving them a single glance, but simply raising a hand to brush the dust off its robes. The dragon then turned around and left the Demon King's Abyss.
This unexpected turn of events left all the humans and demons present stunned.
Until Frodien and the Seven Guardians received the Demon King's instructions.
—For the brave, pursue them to the death.
Frodien and the Seven Guardians' expressions changed drastically in an instant.
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The news that the hero had reached the Demon King's Abyss was naturally known to the royal palace and the archbishops.
Of course, this only applies to these few individuals.
Copperfield was only slightly worried about Murphy, a student he had once taught, but Murphy had only studied with him for a year, and a year's worth of teacher-student relationship was as fragile as a gust of wind.
Fikris was worried about his favorite student, Astor. Astor was a natural-born warrior, but not very bright. He was sure that Astor would make it all the way to the Demon King's Abyss unscathed. He figured that Fikris's repeated admonitions before Astor set off had some effect—no matter what, listen to Arnold. Arnold is a good-hearted person and won't harm you.
Finney was extremely anxious, praying for a long time every day, begging his ancestors to protect the holy descendant.
Granvar didn't care at all. The heroes and the others had nothing to do with him. Whether they won or lost was just something to talk about during his free time... Damn it, why is work so painful!
As for Garcia, unlike all his colleagues, he keenly sensed something was amiss.
But he didn't tell his colleagues; instead, he went to the palace and found Lortheran.
Now that Lortheran has begun to hand over government affairs to Ethan, he has a little more free time each day and has time to entertain Garcia.
They sat in a small pavilion in the garden. Lortheran leaned back in his chair, his eyes half-closed, making it impossible to discern his attitude.
Garcia's already cautious mood became even more tense.
"They escaped from Rift Sand City and entered the Demon King's Abyss in just two or three days. In such a short time, they didn't even need to rest..."
Upon hearing his words, Lortheran slightly opened his eyes, a cryptic smile playing on his lips: "Resting? In the Demon King's Forest, where would you find a place to rest?"
Garcia: "Even in the wild, you need to catch your breath after being trapped for so long."
Lortheran shook his head: "What kind of place is the Demon King's Forest? The longer you stay, the worse the situation will become. The Demon King's Forest is filled with mutated demonic energy, and the human body can't withstand it... Never mind, we'll send someone to pick them up when the time comes."
Garcia gaped, his face full of bewilderment. He was confused by the first half of the statement and shocked by the second half. Heroes had always left the Demon King's Forest on their own after sealing the Demon King. Whether they could escape unscathed after this great battle was probably the real test. His Majesty the King actually wanted to send someone to meet them.
Now that he'd said it, Garcia didn't think he meant having someone wait for him at the border of the Demon King's Forest.
It seems they've actually gone to the Demon King's Abyss to take these people away... This is something that's never happened before.
The shock on his face was too obvious. Lortheran opened his eyes, glanced at him, and after a moment turned his gaze away, picked up a pastry from the table and threw it into his mouth. His tone was somewhat vague: "You're getting senile. Even for the sake of the only holy descendant of the Elven race, the future Elven King, we can't just sit idly by. Anyway, I've already made arrangements, and I estimate that things will be resolved in the next day or two."
Garcia suddenly realized, "That's right, the elf in Arnold's team is the future Elf King. If something happens to the Elf King, the feud between the elves and the humans will be huge."
Moreover, it was the Pope's will that the elven saints go to follow Arnold.
For a moment, his eyes were filled with doubt and uncertainty. Then he heard Lortheran mutter, "Hey, do you think Veris might take this opportunity to start a war with the elves and wipe them out? Their most useful mage is being held captive at the High Church. With Veris's formation and Sylvain around, he won't be able to escape. They can surround the elven forest and kill them all."
Garcia was terrified, his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground, too afraid to speak. But he couldn't help but think along the lines of Lortheran's words, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
No, no, no, this won't do!
The elves and dwarves are inherently in a state of mutual restraint; if one side is destroyed, the dwarves will certainly be in turmoil!
Lortheran didn't immediately rouse him; he simply pondered.
He was a little confused, not quite understanding why Garcia would lie on the ground when he was nervous, but the confusion was only for a moment, and he continued to think about the feasibility of the idea that had just come to him.
Hmm... It seems like it really could work.
He had been annoyed by the elves' bad temper for a long time, but no matter how bad their temper was, they were only acting arrogantly on their own territory. Occasionally a few would show up, but after Finney's warning, most of them would tuck their tails between their legs.
Moreover, that small plot of land in the Elf Forest is unnecessary, really unnecessary. That so-called Elf Mother Tree is something only the Elf race values like their own lifeblood.
Lortheran considered the potential consequences of slaughtering the elves and had to abandon the idea.
He looked up and waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, I was just saying. Look how scared you are. Do you think I'm that kind of person?"
Garcia shakily sat back down, inwardly groaning. This founding king was a man of his word, the epitome of someone who would fight or kill when necessary. And judging from his demeanor just now, how could he have said it was just a casual remark?
They must be really serious about it!
Lortheran sat up slightly and brought up another matter: "When Arnold returns, he will definitely be rewarded. What are your thoughts?"
Garcia was bewildered. What could he possibly think? No, what could he possibly think? Of course, he would leave it to His Majesty the King to decide.
"No, no..." he said softly.
Lortheran thought for a moment and said, "In this way, the title of the nation's first knight shall be conferred, with the Pope presiding and the Holy Son personally crowning him."
Upon hearing this, Garcia nearly knelt down again. This was an unprecedented honor!
The nation's foremost knight, the Pope, the Holy Son!
Would the Holy Son be willing to go for the coronation?! *cough cough* With His Holiness the Pope there, he'd probably go, but he definitely wouldn't.
That Holy Son, looking at some young man who doesn't care about gender, seems to want to strip the Pope bare as soon as he gets close, drag him to the execution chamber to serve for ten or fifteen days, and then crown Arnold? If he remembers correctly, Arnold seems to... greatly admire the Pope.
Garcia stammered, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty... please reconsider..."
He can preside over it! Letting Ethan be the crowning prince is quite a grand affair. Back in the day, Lamb was crowned by his brother, with his father presiding.
Having ruled the country for several years, Lortheran was much more familiar with the current customs and etiquette than before. He leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "The presiding officials, the coroners, the attendants, the witnesses—I would say you shouldn't have made it so complicated. Now look what you've done. Where are you going to find so many people?"
"Hmph, Sylvain, he's probably furious." He spoke with obvious schadenfreude.
Garcia disagreed with his gloating, but after thinking for a while, his expression changed.
"In previous award ceremonies, the number of attendees was sufficient..."
Lortheran suppressed his gloating smile and glanced at him: "Arnold can only be a member of the Church."
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Author's note: I probably won't be writing about a hero fighting a demon king... Although Arnold has been criticized by several people for not being strong enough, it's all relative.
The last person to say that was the young king, so of course he looked down on the [droopy-eared rabbit head].
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