Why must the devil be Defeated?-Chapter 1108 - 972: Challenge

"If the Demon King isn’t evil, then what is it?"

No one answered Artemis’s question, and no one could possibly answer it.

Because this might be a question even the Supreme God does not know the answer to.

Who has the fortune to witness the true face of the Demon King, who can render even the almighty Goddess powerless and completely nullify the Supreme God’s strength?

The Demons?

Or the "her" mentioned in the stone tablet records?

The crowd’s emotions grew increasingly complex, even a bit irritable.

It was then that Shane gave Artemis a glance and posed a question.

"Didn’t you challenge the Demon King once?" Shane asked directly, "As someone who, like most Heroes throughout generations, directly challenged the Demon King, you should know what kind of existence that is, right?"

Shane’s words left Artemis momentarily stunned.

Her deeply buried memories finally resurfaced once again in her mind.

...

————"Justice."

————"Order."

These were the two concepts Artemis carried when she was born into the world, things she must uphold throughout her life.

This was the meaning of her existence.

This was the principle of her life.

Those who knew of her existence believed her rigorous adherence to justice and maintenance of order was a flaw of her being a Transcendent Level Existence, thinking this was a price she had to pay for having such overwhelming power.

Just like her sister, whose name she frequently heard but never formally met, the strongest Evil God in the Divine Race; perhaps from birth, her mind was destined to have abnormal parts.

But Artemis never thought this was a bad thing.

Indeed, she treated justice and order as things to be upheld all her life, without any coercion and without any discontent, instead feeling fulfilled from this existential purpose and realizing a clear mission.

Because justice can bring peace, order can bring stability, people’s smiles are maintained by these two things; if lost, the world would lose the thing named "happiness."

In light of this, Artemis had long resolved to uphold justice and establish order.

For justice, she could become a sword, cutting through all inequities in the world.

For order, she could become a shield, blocking all malice.

This was not only for the sake of the people but also for herself, for things named "principles" and "mission."

This is the Goddess who presides over justice and order — Artemis.

Naturally, to this Goddess, the Demon King was the greatest evil in the world.

It was the Demon King who caused countless tragedies in this world.

It was the Demon King who incited wars, harmed countless lives, and raised a butcher’s blade against the Supreme God who created the world, intending to subjugate this world belonging to the Supreme God.

This without doubt was evil.

Since it was evil, it had to be annihilated, it had to be eradicated.

This notion had long existed in Artemis’s heart.

At the very beginning, knowing of the Demon King’s existence and knowing what it had done, Artemis immediately thought of confronting and eradicating this greatest evil.

Unfortunately, the Three Great Goddesses stopped her.

"No, you can’t go."

"That’s the Demon King, it’s an existence you cannot contend with."

"You might be strong, but you are ultimately a lower-level creation of the Mother Goddess, whereas the opponent is the powerful Demon King, an existence even the Mother Goddess fears and finds dangerous — you cannot go to your death."

Fate Goddess Lidas, Life Goddess Anima, Nature Goddess Nadura.

These figures, at the pinnacle of the Divine Race, akin to bosses of all Goddesses, personally stopped Artemis.

"If you really want to defeat the Demon King, go find the Hero."

"The Demon King is our nemesis, but the Hero is the nemesis of the Demon King."

"Only the Hero can truly defeat the Demon King."

This was the advice from the Three Great Goddesses, and the common knowledge known to the entire Divine Race.

The Humans from the Otherworld summoned to save the world, filled with a sense of justice and mission — "Heroes."

Artemis was already aware of their existence, and she felt a sense of joy as if meeting a soulmate.

They were Humans just like her, walking the path of upholding justice and order.

They were perfect heroes in spirit and mind, Artemis always felt very happy interacting with them.

It’s said that the most fundamental reason the Divine Race was born into this world was to cultivate Heroes, assist Heroes, allow Heroes to grow, and ultimately achieve the goal of defeating the Demon King and saving the world.

Artemis had no complaints about this, even being a goddess who very much supported this within the Divine Race.

As long as it was for Heroes, she was willing to do anything for them.

Because she understood, the stronger the Heroes became, the more aid the world would receive.

The stronger they became, the more people would receive their help.

The stronger they became, the more people would receive their salvation.

Thus many tragedies, many calamities, could be prevented.

Therefore, without any complaints, Artemis cooperated very actively with the Three Great Goddesses, always accompanying Heroes, helping them grow.

And it must be said, the Heroes were indeed very promising, not only with surprisingly great talent but also growing at an extraordinary rate.

The journey normal people needed a lifetime to complete, they could achieve in just a few years, which among other Races was simply unimaginable.

Even the weakest Hero could ultimately reach Legendary Level, and using the Holy Sword, could even battle at Limit Level — and reaching such a realm only took a mere few years.

Artemis personally witnessed a small number of Heroes breaking through themselves, achieving transcendence, eventually becoming existences comparable to her.

They were just so excellent, so powerful, so satisfactory, that if the Three Great Goddesses were willing to bestow blessings, Artemis surely would make every Hero her Blessing, paving the road for their entire lives.

However, such excellent and powerful existences, ultimately, one after another, after challenging the Demon King...fell.

The Hero who reached the Legendary level fell on his path of growth.

The Hero who reached the Limit level fell before reaching Transcendence.

And the Heroes who reached the Transcendence level all fell at the feet of the Demon King.

Not a single one of them succeeded.

Not a single one of them could defeat the Demon King.

One... two... three... four... one after another, dozens of Heroes all fell.

Naturally, every time a Hero fell, Artemis’ heart would ache intensely, feel the pain once more, and then have to wait for the next Hero’s summons.

But the frequency of a Hero being summoned is only about once every few hundred years.

During these hundreds of years, the world would have to suffer from war, be tormented by the Demon Clan, always struggling to survive amid smoke and bloodshed, endless and unable to find relief.

In such circumstances, every time a Hero fell, Artemis felt not only heartache and sadness but also had to watch helplessly as the world endured suffering for hundreds of years.

Pure evil, still spreading across the land.

How could she endure this?

How could she restrain herself?

Thus, after the fall of yet another unknown Hero, Artemis finally chose not to endure anymore.

"Stop! Artemis!"

"Don’t go!"

"You will die!"

The frantic cries of the Fate Goddess, Life Goddess, and Nature Goddess resounded from behind.

But this time, Artemis did not stop, nor did she turn back, and she directly defied her superiors, heading straight for the enemy’s stronghold.

Countless demons appeared to stop her, but they were beheaded by her silver-white dual swords.

Powerful demons came one after another to stop her, eventually being forcefully shaken off by her.

In this, it was not only her strength but also considerable luck that resulted in this outcome.

Artemis realized there would not be a second chance like this, and she decided to stake everything, to cut down the world’s greatest evil with her sword, and bring peace to the world.

With such resolve, Artemis entered the Demon King’s castle.

Then, Artemis successfully saw the Demon King.

And at that moment, Artemis finally understood.

She understood what it meant to be — "Demon."

"...Aren’t you a Hero?"

When this overly pleasing voice reached Artemis’ ears, she couldn’t respond immediately.

Her entire body was rigid, unable to move.

Her face was deathly pale, her heart in turmoil.

She stared intently at that figure seated on the throne, bathed in the sole light streaming down from a skylight, and only felt a lethal chill crawling and wandering all over her body.

The hands gripping her sword were already trembling uncontrollably, unable to lift it.

Clearly, that presence was merely sitting there in silence.

Clearly, that presence emitted no aura whatsoever.

But as a Goddess, her instincts told Artemis that this presence before her was something she could never defeat.

No.

Rather, it was something capable of unilaterally devouring her, gnawing at her, tearing her apart, and trampling all that she was beneath it.

It was not an enemy.

It was a natural predator.

Unbeatable, upon encountering, one must turn and flee, or they will surely become the prey, the food of that predator.

"Ah..."

The determination for victory in Artemis’ heart crumbled, leaving only intense despair.

However, the presence seated upon the throne seemed oblivious to her expression, murmured softly.

"Not a Hero... not a Hero..."

That murmuring voice was filled with exhaustion, filled with sorrow.

Unfortunately, Artemis at that moment could not comprehend the emotion in this voice.

She could vaguely hear words like these.

"Why is it not a Hero who came?"

"When will the next Hero arrive?"

"How long... do I have to wait... until..."

These words were not directed at Artemis, merely self-talk from the other party.

But the exhaustion and sorrow in those words grew denser.

Until a certain moment, the Demon King finally spoke.

"...I have no interest in a non-Hero existence, you may leave."

When these words entered Artemis’ ears, she felt as though she had received an amnesty.

This feeling filled her with humiliation, and also despair.

"Ah... ah ah ah ah ah...!"

Later, Artemis left, or rather, fled in panic.

The panic and cries of that time probably marked a disgrace and humiliation that Artemis could never forget in her life.

But this was the ultimate outcome for the only person, outside of the Heroes, who challenged the Demon King face to face.