Why must the devil be Defeated?-Chapter 1109 - 973: Hope

"..."

The unbearable past surfaced in her mind, causing Artemis’s face to turn deeply somber, her hands clenched tightly like they did back then, yet they trembled slightly.

It was a past she was unwilling to mention no matter what.

It was the only time in her millennia-long life where she acted on instinct, betrayed her duty, and utterly disgraced herself.

Faced with the world’s greatest evil, the strongest enemy, the most terrifying demonic presence, she, determined to uphold justice and order, ended up fleeing so disgracefully that it couldn’t be described as anything less than humiliating.

As a Goddess, Artemis’s dignity and her pride as the Guardian of justice and order became laughable during that incident.

"Artemis..."

Nadura cast her a worried glance from the side.

She also didn’t know what the outcome was when Artemis challenged the Demon King.

She only received news that Artemis had stormed into the enemy’s stronghold, even infiltrated the Demon King’s castle, getting a chance to confront and challenge the Demon King directly.

As for how it turned out... At that time, neither she, Lidas, nor Anima held any hope.

In fact, they were mentally prepared for the idea that Artemis would die completely after this battle.

The opponent was the Demon King, the true supreme being that even the Supreme God couldn’t defeat, a manifestation of power, the very symbol of destruction, embodying the concept of "strength."

Artemis couldn’t win, and would likely face a catastrophic fate.

Ordinarily, a Goddess of the Divine Race couldn’t truly die; as long as the True Seal remained, they could revive countless times.

But when facing the Demon King, an existence perfectly countering the Divine Race, rendering the all-knowing powers of the Supreme God ineffective, these rules were useless.

If she were to die by the hands of the Demon King, the True Seal would certainly be destroyed by the Demon King who could nullify the Goddess’s powers.

Thus, the Divine Race’s greatest nemesis was the Demon King, the most feared enemy, even for the Three Great Goddesses.

If Artemis died by the Demon King’s hand, she would never be able to return, vanishing from this world forever.

At that time, Nadura and the Three Great Goddesses had already made mental preparations and resolutions for such an outcome.

Little did they expect, Artemis came back.

And when she returned, her condition could only be described as utterly wretched.

As if she had witnessed a real hell, her body wouldn’t stop trembling, her face was ashen, even tears wouldn’t stop flowing—such an appearance shouldn’t belong to the Goddess known as Artemis.

And after that, Artemis seemed to lose all vitality, not stepping out of the Divine Race’s camp for several centuries, not even stepping out of her residence, until the Hero was summoned once more. It was as if she found hope, found something to rely on, and finally emerged again.

This was what Nadura knew.

As for what Artemis saw in the Demon King’s castle, or how she managed to escape, these were facts Nadura was completely unaware of.

Artemis also refused to mention those times, always left speechless when the topic arose, staying silent for a long time before forcing a smile to brush it off.

Perhaps, Lidas and Anima telling Shane this was to see if he could ask Artemis anything about it?

Now, Artemis was once again showing signs of having her scars uncovered.

This caused Nadura to worry involuntarily.

"What’s wrong?"

Shane furrowed his brow, looking at Artemis in confusion.

He naturally knew nothing about it.

"...Nothing."

Artemis remained silent for a long while before responding with difficulty.

However, under Shane’s gaze and glancing at Lilith who tilted her head beside her, Artemis uncharacteristically didn’t brush off the matter further.

Of course, Artemis didn’t want to mention her disgraceful past.

But, upon reflecting on it further, Artemis realized that the Demon King’s behavior at the time was indeed peculiar.

Therefore...

"I cannot assert what kind of existence the Demon King truly is."

Artemis, reminiscing, furrowed her brow deeply and spoke in a puzzled and serious tone.

"But thinking back now, the Demon King at that time was indeed rather odd."

This statement instantly drew everyone’s attention.

"What do you mean by odd?"

Shane pursued the question.

Artemis hesitated for a moment before saying, not very confidently,

"She seemed very tired, and it seemed she had some particular obsession with the Hero. When I first burst in front of her, she seemed to think I was the Hero and was expecting something. When she realized I wasn’t the Hero, she immediately lost interest, as if she lost all energy, not wanting to move a muscle."

Yes, that was indeed the case.

The Demon King’s behavior at that time gave Artemis such an impression.

Artemis even said self-mockingly,

"You all say I challenged the Demon King, but I don’t feel that it was a challenge at all. It was merely a wake-up call for my foolishness in thinking I could challenge her. The fact that I escaped intact was entirely because she had no interest in me and spared me. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have made it out of that castle."

Artemis’s words caused everyone present to furrow their brows.

You Lin murmured softly,

"If that’s the case, does it mean there’s indeed something about His Majesty the Demon King that nobody knows about?"

This has become quite clear.

Whether it is the records on the stone tablet or the impressions provided by Artemis, they all differ significantly from what the world knows about the Demon King.

The demons have also mentioned that the Demon King was someone who cared deeply for them, even someone like Helimis was willing to consider her safety by deliberately crafting the Demon Roar Chain, a treasured artifact of the Demon Clan. This shows that deep within, there is a gentleness that others cannot perceive.

But...

"If that is truly the case, then why did the Demon King start a war?"

Sophie spoke these words with sincere puzzlement.

This is also the biggest question in everyone’s hearts.

Why did that Demon King start a war?

If it wasn’t for conquest, plunder, entertainment, or to enjoy despair and pain, then what was the reason behind all this? 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

This wasn’t something done on a whim.

The war between the God and Demon Clans lasted tens of thousands of years, taking up most of the history of Omni Potanssen. It has been an ongoing slaughter since the birth of the Life Species.

Thanks to this, in the history of Omni Potanssen, apart from the Super Ancient Era where only the Demon King and the Supreme God existed, all other history is war, war, and war.

True peace has only emerged in this millennium; compared to the tens of thousands of years of war history, it’s a very small piece of time.

In such circumstances, what exactly was the reason that the Demon King would start a war that lasted tens of thousands of years?

Not because she was an evil being, bringing terror and calamity to the world with her demonic nature, then what was it?

"Could it be that she really had some kind of burden..."

You Lin was hesitantly about to say something, but was interrupted by Artemis.

"At this point, what’s the use of bringing that up?" Artemis said coldly, "Regardless of her reasons, she has harmed the world for tens of thousands of years, causing the creatures of the world to suffer from this war for tens of thousands of years, leading countless lives to be spent in sorrow and pain. This is an undeniable fact."

Yes.

This is an undeniable fact.

No matter the reasons, the Demon King indeed did all this.

Since she did all this, she is guilty.

"Indeed, discussing this now is meaningless," Nadura sighed, "The Demon King has already passed, the war is over, what we face now are new threats, new enemies, and it has nothing to do with the Demon King. Let’s not discuss this anymore."

These words somewhat eased the heavy and oppressive atmosphere at the scene.

No one present had any objections to this.

As Nadura said, discussing all this now, what purpose does it serve?

The Demon King is dead, the war that lasted tens of thousands of years has ended. Whatever stories or hidden truths there were, it’s too late to pursue them now.

Instead of delving into such pasts and unknown truths, what they should focus on now are the present threats.

Demon Danas.

The newly risen Primordial Demon.

This is the current enemy.

As for the Demon King, all of her past is now history.

At this point, probing into these matters is nothing but asking for trouble.

Only Shane was clearly aware that this is absolutely not something insignificant.

Perhaps, though the Demon King has passed, Danas’ true goal is to resurrect her.

Although he hasn’t succeeded yet, he is collecting conditions, collecting all factors.

In this way, even if the Demon King is not yet resurrected, she remains a huge threat.

Moreover, the notion that just because the Demon King has gone, her past should become history is something Shane cannot agree with.

All along, various disputes and events have occurred one after another, seemingly unrelated to the Demon King. In reality, the influence of the Demon King still lingers in this era.

If that weren’t the case, why would the previous Three Clans Summit see the peaks of each race being trapped?

If that weren’t the case, why would the gap between worlds continue to constrain the Divine Race until recently?

All these are due to the power left behind by the Demon King.

Everything in this world can ultimately be traced back to the Demon King and the Supreme God.

Even though they no longer appear, the people are still influenced by their existence, restricted by their power, living under their influence.

Even the mighty Goddess of Fate, when faced with matters related to the Demon King, becomes utterly deflated.

The enemies know this well, hence they have been trying various methods to collect items related to the Demon King, to study the power related to the Demon King.

Meanwhile, the only existence that could restrain the Demon King, the supreme Goddess, has no interest in any of this.

As a result, this side has been in an overwhelmingly disadvantageous position.

Ignoring the influence of the Demon King, ignoring all about the Demon King, in the future, will only result in reaping what one sows.

"...I need to do something."

Shane could strongly feel that he must take action.

But what exactly should he do?

"I hope that before the worst situation arises, I can successfully acquire enough power to face everything."

Shane sighed, with such hopes.