Category: The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 396: “Congratulations, You’ve Successfully Cornered Yourself.”

“Bang!”

The sound of shattering glass echoed.

Figures suddenly appeared outside the windows, crashing through the glass and quickly surrounding Shien.

“Hum!”

Magic power surged from the figures as they cast their spells.

In an instant, Shien’s feet sank into the floor as if stuck in mud, his legs immobilized. Chains bound his body, and transparent barriers rose around him, trapping him within, immense pressure building up, trying to crush him.

At this moment, at least ten binding and restraining spells were acting on Shien, even magic that sealed his magic power, completely restricting him.

Shien, as if he hadn’t reacted, silently watched this scene, not saying a word. After a while, he turned his head and looked at Barry.

Barry had slowly stood up, his face grim.

“You forced my hand.”

Barry said coldly.

Shien had to admit,

“It seems I overestimated you.” Shien said, his tone unchanged as if he wasn’t aware of his current situation. “I thought the so-called ruthless Iron-Blooded Duke should know very well that I’m not someone you can easily touch now. But it seems you’re not as smart as the rumors say. This is what they call ‘reputation exceeding reality,’ right?”

He really hadn’t expected this Duke to attack him so openly.

Although he had already noticed many magic reactions around the inn, even hostile ones, Shien thought they were Barry’s guards, not an ambush. He thought their hostility was simply due to Barry’s attitude, seeing him as an enemy, not that they would actually dare to attack him.

Who would have thought that Barry would actually attack him?

Knowing that he had a Demon Lord and the Kingdom’s treasure backing him.

Barry didn’t take Shien’s sarcasm seriously.

Having backers?

So what?

“Don’t forget, this is my territory, my domain.” Barry said coldly. “The Old Demon Faction just attacked this place, and the incident has just ended. With a little planning, it’s easy for the Stalim family to make it look like it was the Old Demon Faction who attacked you.”

This was also the reason why Limgir and the others weren’t too afraid of Shien’s arrival and even wanted to attack him.

It wasn’t that they weren’t afraid of the people behind Shien, but here, they had too many ways to escape blame and set things up.

Back in Cosmos, if it weren’t for Airi being by his side, making Limgir and the others wary of acting rashly, they would have already attacked Shien.

No matter how strong the overt deterrence, it was still difficult to guard against covert schemes. This was reality.

Therefore, in other places, Barry wouldn’t dare to offend Shien, but here, in the Stalim Duchy, everything was under his control.

“Don’t blame me. At this point, I don’t want to openly turn against you, but this matter concerns the future of the Stalim family. I have no other choice.” Barry looked directly at Shien. “Tell me the whereabouts of Limgir and the others now, and we’ll let this matter go. We can go our separate ways and forget about the past.”

“Really?” Shien glanced at Barry, ignoring his restraints and his current situation, and said sarcastically, “What if I don’t agree?”

“Then you’ve made an unwise choice.” Barry said with an impassive face. “Actually, we don’t have any deep hatred, just some minor grudges. It shouldn’t have come to this. I believe you understand.”

Indeed, on the surface, Shien and Barry didn’t have any major conflicts.

Although Barry and Limgir had been secretly scheming against Shien, intending to eliminate this thorn in their side who threatened their interests, openly, the only conflict between the Stalim family and Shien was when Barry denied Shien’s contributions during the subjugation of the [Assassination Branch] and his audience with the King.

And that time, Limgir even personally apologized, resolving their conflict.

Therefore, in terms of open conflicts, Shien and Barry only had that one clash.

“As long as you tell me the whereabouts of Limgir and the others and let them return safely, then the grudges between us can be completely forgiven. You can even gain the friendship of our Stalim family.” Barry said, “You know our Stalim family’s position in the Kingdom. With our support, it won’t be long before you become an Earl, an upper-class noble, even a Marquis, a true high-ranking noble, your name remembered for thousands of years.”

Using both threats and inducements, Barry employed all the means he could.

Little did he know that the sarcasm in Shien’s eyes was growing stronger.

“Forgiven?” Shien glanced at his surroundings and at the dozen or so binding spells on him. “I’m already like this, and you still think the grudges can be completely forgiven?”

Shien only wanted to ask,

“Who gave you such confidence to think that this is a grudge that can be forgiven?”

Shien’s calm words made Barry anxious again.

“I said, this is an unwise choice.”

Barry’s tone was terrifyingly grim.

However…

“You’ve indeed made an unwise choice.” Shien looked up at Barry, no longer hiding his contempt. “Congratulations, you’ve successfully cornered yourself.”

As these words left Shien’s mouth, the entire hall was suddenly enveloped by a terrifying pressure.

It was an aura that shook the atmosphere.

It was a magic power that shook the heavens and earth.

“—!”

Including Barry, all the Stalim family members present changed their expressions drastically, their faces turning pale.

They wanted to scream, but found they couldn’t make a sound.

They wanted to escape, but found their legs wouldn’t obey their commands.

Their bodies trembled, their hearts pounded, their minds raced, their bones vibrated, even their blood seemed to stop flowing, as if they had fallen into an icy abyss.

Undoubtedly, this was primal fear.

The next moment, everyone saw it.

“Click…”

“Click…”

With two simultaneous sounds of opening doors, two little girls slowly walked out of two different rooms.

Seeing the two little girls, everyone trembled in fear, as if they had seen demons.

Especially Barry, whose eyes bulged, and an unprecedented fear surged in his heart.

Because Barry had seen one of the two little girls not long ago at the Buztout mansion and knew her identity.

“Not only did you disturb my sleep, but you also dared to touch my person right under my nose. You should be prepared to not leave this place alive, right?”

Airi, holding a pillow in her arms, looked at Barry with an impassive face, causing the fear in Barry’s heart to explode.

At this moment, Barry only wanted to shout,

“Why is the Dragon Demon here…!?”

The Duke had no idea that Airi had also come along.

Barry did receive information that Shien had two young girls with him, but Treece, the captain of the Second Knight Order, had already told him that one of the two little girls was Shien’s younger sister, and the other was likely the vengeful spirit rumored in the Duchy for many years.

This caused Barry, in his haste, to misjudge the situation and not realize that the younger sister Shien mentioned was actually the Dragon Demon in disguise.

In his opinion, one of the highest-ranking members of the Demon Race wouldn’t disguise herself as a mere human’s younger sister, right?

Moreover, since Treece hadn’t specifically described Airi’s appearance, Barry was misled by this information and, unlike Limgir, didn’t realize that one of the little girls beside Shien was the Dragon Demon.

Furthermore, Barry assumed that a being like the Dragon Demon wouldn’t follow Shien around, let alone come to his territory. This Duke, being too clever for his own good, had literally pushed himself into hell.

While Barry was terrified by Airi’s appearance, Lilith, seeing Shien bound by numerous magic spells, showed a strong emotion in her usually calm eyes for the first time.

That emotion was anger.

“Boom!”

An astonishing evil aura erupted from Lilith’s body.

“Bang!”

The evil aura instantly struck the magicians who were restraining Shien, sending them flying with screams, shattering the layers of restraints on Shien, freeing him.

“Ah!”

Barry was also sent flying by the impact of the evil aura, crashing into the wall and letting out a wail.

But this level of pain was just an appetizer.

True hell was still waiting for them.

“Aaaaaaaaaah…!”

“Help… help me…!”

“No…! No…!”

“Aaaaaah…!”

With agonizing screams, the magicians, assaulted by the evil aura, struggled and begged for mercy, their eyes gradually turning bloodshot as they went mad.

“You… you…!?”

Barry, also bathed in the evil aura, clutched his head in pain and looked at Lilith in terror.

According to the information he had gathered, this madness-inducing evil aura was the power of the evil god that caused the destruction of Cosmos.

In other words, this little girl before him was the evil god who had once turned the land into hell and been sealed for nearly ten thousand years.

Now, the evil god’s punishment had befallen him.

“No…! No…! No…!!!”

Feeling his soul gradually falling, Barry let out a final scream.

Then, Barry’s consciousness completely vanished.

The head of the Stalim family had lost himself and his life.

Bali Stalim-> Barry Stalim

Chapter 395: A Mad Dog Losing Its Mind

In the end, Leisha agreed to go to the royal capital with Shien.

Even though, as a wanted criminal of the Kingdom, she should stay far away from the capital to avoid being caught, with Shien around, Leisha wasn’t too worried.

If it were anyone else, they naturally wouldn’t be able to protect Leisha.

After all, Leisha was one of the members of the Old Demon Faction who participated in the large-scale assassination ten years ago, and she even stole important items from the royal palace. If she was discovered by the Kingdom, even the royal family wouldn’t be able to protect her.

If it weren’t for their apprehension about the item Leisha stole, the Kingdom might have already sent the Royal Knights to capture her.

Under such circumstances, anyone who wanted to protect Leisha would be courting death.

But if that person was Shien, it would be different.

Firstly, Shien had Airi by his side.

Secondly, Shien had Lilith by his side.

Thirdly, Shien had Lucy behind him.

Moreover, since his identity as the Hero had been revealed to the Divine Race, Anima and the others likely wouldn’t hesitate to offer him assistance in secret. Would the Kingdom dare to offend someone protected by important figures from the Divine Race, the human race, and the Demon Race?

Naturally, they wouldn’t.

Furthermore, as a Spatial Magic user, Leisha was confident in her abilities. If she couldn’t win, she could just escape. No one could stop her. This trip to the capital, she wasn’t afraid.

Naturally, Shien wasn’t afraid either.

However, it wasn’t because he had people (and they were all women) by his side, behind him, and around him that he was so fearless, but because he was confident that even if Leisha’s presence was discovered, he had a thousand and one ways to escape blame.

Otherwise, did they really think his title of “Scapegoat King” was for nothing?

Besides, Shien wasn’t interested in Leisha.

“I just have my eyes on her maid!”

As long as he said that, there should… probably… maybe… possibly… be no problem, right?

Therefore, before poaching Lasha, Shien could still protect this young lady.

Leisha didn’t know about this. Otherwise, she would definitely turn around and leave, never interacting with Shien again.

Unfortunately, by the time Leisha learned about this, it might be too late.

Just like that, the group accomplished their goal and prepared to return directly to the royal capital.

However, the next day, an unexpected person came to visit Shien.

“What brings you here, Duke Barry?”

Seeing Barry appearing at the door, Shien raised an eyebrow, surprised and amused.

The visitor was the head of the Stalim family, the lord of this territory – Barry Stalim.

Barry appeared here with four high-level knights and looked at Shien with an impassive face.

“I should be the one asking that.” Barry said calmly. “I really didn’t know that Viscount Buztout would come to my territory and even get involved in the Cosmos incident.”

Hearing these words, Shien knew that the visitor wasn’t friendly.

And whether it was a coincidence or not, Shien was alone now.

Airi was sleeping in her room.

Leisha and Lasha, perhaps having sensed the arrival of the Kingdom’s noble in advance, had left the inn using spatial magic to avoid exposing their identities. Their magic power and aura were completely undetectable.

Lilith was also still asleep.

Only Shien, after sensing Barry and several powerful magic auras, woke up from his bed, left his room, and greeted the Duke here.

Shien sat down, looked at Barry standing at the door from across the living room, and said with a smirk, “Just say what you want to say, Duke. There’s no need to beat around the bush.”

These words completely tore away the superficial pretense and politeness, not giving him any face.

Barry’s expression remained impassive, either because he didn’t want to bother with such trivial matters or because he realized that Shien was no longer the adventurer he could easily manipulate.

However, the Duke also walked in unceremoniously.

The four knights behind him immediately followed.

However…

“Bang!”

With a sudden explosive sound, a meteor shower struck, blasting the four knights away. They screamed and collapsed in the corridor outside.

“You…!?”

Barry stopped, his expression finally changing, his eyes filled with shock and anger as he looked at Shien.

Shien maintained his smiling expression and withdrew his hand, which was surging with magic power.

“Sorry, I overstepped.” Shien shrugged. “It seems the attendants beside the Duke don’t understand etiquette, daring to enter someone else’s living room during a meeting between nobles. Such disrespect made me忍不住teach them a lesson on behalf of the Duke. I hope you don’t mind.”

Barry’s face darkened, and anger surged in his heart.

He knew that Shien was trying to intimidate him.

Because of his aggressive approach, Shien realized that he might be an unwelcome guest, so he decided not to give him any face.

He was actually being taught a lesson by a viscount in his own territory?

This was definitely a first for Barry!

And Barry couldn’t do anything to him.

What could he do?

There was a powerful figure from the Demon Race backing Shien. Before figuring out their relationship, no one would dare to offend this viscount openly.

Including Barry.

Barry could only suppress his anger, come to Shien, and sit down.

It had to be said that the Duke was indeed a high-ranking figure. He sat upright, his face cold, his body emanating a ruthless aura that could make ordinary people’s legs turn to jelly.

But Shien naturally wasn’t among them.

“I wonder what brings the Duke to such a place to look for me?”

Shien said casually.

Barry didn’t bother with pleasantries, or rather, he wasn’t in the mood, and went straight to the point.

“I’ve already gathered some information.” Barry said indifferently. “It’s said that Viscount Buztout arrived here before the incident in Cosmos, entered the city, had a conflict with Princess Capeline of the Empire, and even encountered the First Knight Order and the Severed Blade Knights.”

It seemed Barry had indeed learned about the events in Cosmos.

“That’s true.”

Shien didn’t deny it but readily admitted.

“Then I have three questions I hope you can answer.”

Barry narrowed his eyes and said.

“Oh?” Shien seemed interested and asked curiously, “What questions?”

“First.” Barry raised a finger and asked calmly, “Why did you suddenly leave the royal capital and come here?”

“That’s your question?” Shien seemed amused, his tone suggestive. “I was entrusted by the Princess to investigate the Old Demon Faction that appeared in the Stalim Duchy. I already told Captain Treece of the Stalim Family’s Second Knight Order about this when I arrived in the Duchy and reached Jeritte. I also mentioned it to the guards at Cosmos’s gate. Surely, the Duke wouldn’t have missed such information, right?”

Shien’s meaning was simple: he was mocking Barry for asking the obvious.

“Then my second question.” Barry’s expression remained unchanged, not embarrassed at all. He continued to ask, “Since you were in Cosmos when the incident occurred, I’d like to ask, what were you doing at that time?”

“This is another obvious question.” Shien’s tone became even more suggestive as he smiled. “Surely, the Divine Race has already informed you, the Duke and lord of this territory, about what happened in Cosmos through the Kingdom, right?”

Through Anima’s account, the world had learned that the reason Cosmos was destroyed was because an ancient evil god was sealed there, but was released by the Old Demon Faction, causing a disaster.

However, Anima didn’t tell the world how the evil god was dealt with, so everyone thought that the evil god was subdued by Anima, the Goddess of Life, one of the Three Goddesses, and that the citizens of Cosmos were safe thanks to her.

And Shien wasn’t mentioned.

This was to protect Shien’s identity and Lilith’s identity, preventing them from being suspected or exposed.

Therefore, according to the official story, Shien, like the citizens of Cosmos, was transferred outside the city and protected after the incident.

If it weren’t for this, Shien wouldn’t have been able to live so comfortably in this inn. Someone would have come looking for him.

Therefore…

“You’re free to suspect me, Duke, but could you please not ask so many roundabout questions?” Shien, as if he had seen through Barry’s intentions, finally said sarcastically, “Just say what you want to say, Duke.”

These words were almost an outright offense.

“…Then I’ll be blunt.”

Barry was silent for a moment, then looked coldly at Shien and spoke in a deep voice.

“Where are my son, my brother, and my First Knight Order?”

Barry finally revealed his true intention.

Yes.

Barry was here to find people.

“Before the incident, you encountered the First Knight Order and the Severed Blade Knights and even warned them not to approach the area where the evil aura was emanating. I received this information.” Barry said, seemingly suppressing his emotions. “In other words, before the incident, you might have already known about the inside story, but not only did you not leave Cosmos, you even seemed to have approached the center of the incident.”

Barry had gathered this information, which was why he came looking for Shien.

Since Shien knew some inside information from the beginning, Barry naturally wouldn’t believe that this little fox, who had outwitted him more than once, would be so easily transferred out of Cosmos without being involved in the heart of the incident.

Rather than Shien passively leaving the center of the incident, Barry was more inclined to believe that there was some unknown inside story.

And Shien was someone who knew about it, even a participant.

“I want to know what exactly happened that no one knows, and I want to know where my son, my brother, and my most elite knight order are!”

Barry could no longer hide his anxiety.

“Tell me! I want to know everything!”

Barry said these words through gritted teeth.

It was imaginable how much of a blow this incident was to the Duke.

Limgir was the future heir of the Stalim family and the one they placed their hopes on, hoping that he could lead them back to the center of power in the Kingdom.

Yuri was also the strongest member of the Stalim family, the number one expert in the territory, an important pillar of the family, and a symbol of their highest combat power.

And the First Knight Order, needless to say, was the top knight order in the Stalim Duchy, the Stalim family’s most elite warriors, their most important fighting force.

This force had now vanished without a trace. How could Barry not be anxious?

This was definitely a disaster that caused the Stalim family heavy losses, even potentially causing them to fall from grace.

Barry could even imagine how the neighboring countries would be eyeing them covetously, and how the lords of the surrounding territories would be restless, trying to take a bite out of the Stalim family.

This had plunged the entire Stalim family into a nightmare, filled with anxiety and panic these past few days.

Barry was the same, unable to maintain his usual ruthlessness, caught in the greatest anxiety and unease of his life.

If it weren’t for this, Barry wouldn’t have come looking for Shien.

He even suspected that Shien was behind Limgir and the others’ disappearance.

This was the nature of a villain.

Always scheming against others, they naturally assumed that others would also scheme against them.

Shien understood this, and the smile on his face vanished.

“So, I was right?”

Barry sneered, his fists clenching tightly.

Shien only wanted to say,

“I really have too much time on my hands. Why would I bother with someone like you?”

This time, it was Shien’s turn to be expressionless, even muttering to himself.

And Shien’s appearance undoubtedly made Barry even more anxious.

“Answer me!” Barry stared at Shien, his eyes bloodshot, and growled, “Was it you!?”

Clearly, Barry was at his wit’s end.

It was imaginable how much pressure this incident had put on him.

His heir, his pillar of support, his greatest fighting force, and the future hope of his family, all gone in one fell swoop. This made the ruthless Duke, feared by many, start to lose his mind.

Shien no longer bothered with this mad dog.

“Arguing with someone like you is a waste of time.”

Shien stood up and left as if he had completely lost interest.

At this moment, something unexpected happened.

Chapter 394: La la la~~~ (￣￣)

“By the way, Mr. Shien.”

At this moment, Maeve seemed to suddenly remember something important, her expression turning serious as she spoke to Shien.

“Actually, there’s something we want to tell you.”

Maeve said.

“What is it?”

Seeing Maeve’s serious expression, Shien turned his gaze to her.

The next moment, Maeve revealed something that made Shien raise an eyebrow.

“These past few days, while cleaning the battlefield in Cosmos, the beastmen discovered some severed limbs.” Maeve said, “I smelled them, and if I’m not mistaken, they should belong to the leader of the Old Demon Faction’s [Mirage], that demon named Danas, whom you defeated.”

These words silenced everyone, and they all turned their gaze to Maeve.

Elise and Oz didn’t do so, as if they knew what Maeve was going to say, their expressions somewhat grim.

“Danas?” Shien narrowed his eyes, looking at Maeve. “What about him?”

Shien didn’t think that this strategist among the beastmen priests would bring up an irrelevant topic for no reason.

Since Maeve brought it up, it meant that something must have happened.

As expected…

“We collected those severed limbs and discovered that they didn’t belong to a demon, but had the life signs of a magical lifeform.”

Maeve’s words made everyone’s eyes narrow.

Especially Shien’s.

“Magical lifeform…”

Shien murmured.

So, Danas wasn’t a demon, but a magical lifeform?

Wouldn’t that mean…

“The mastermind behind this incident is someone else?”

Leisha was surprised.

If Danas was a magical lifeform, it meant he had a master.

And since he had a master, it was highly likely that this master ordered Danas to lead [Mirage] to Cosmos and cause trouble.

Could it be the mastermind who had been hiding in the shadows?

Everyone pondered.

However, at this moment, Lasha also spoke.

“I don’t think so.”

Lasha’s sudden words stunned everyone.

“Why do you say that?”

Shien also looked at Lasha, asking curiously.

“It’s simple.” Lasha said calmly. “If Danas was truly a magical lifeform, he couldn’t have established an Old Demon Faction branch as a demon.”

Everyone didn’t quite understand Lasha’s words.

Only Airi, frowning, agreed with Lasha.

“There are many factions within the Old Demon Faction. Although they can’t be called comrades, and mostly don’t interfere with each other, they look down on both humans and the Divine Race, considering the current Demon Race traitors, arrogantly believing that the Demon Race should return to how it was a thousand years ago, following the Demon King’s will and not colluding with other races. Such a group wouldn’t allow a magical lifeform to establish an Old Demon Faction branch and let humans use the name of the Old Demon Faction as they please.”

Elise had said before that the mastermind wasn’t a demon, but a human.

If he was Danas’s master, then the Old Demon Faction branch [Mirage] couldn’t have been established.

Even if it were established, within a few days, this branch would be torn to shreds by the other enraged branches of the Old Demon Faction.

Therefore, Danas’s master couldn’t be the human mastermind, but a true member of the Old Demon Faction.

Of course…

“What if Danas hid his identity and didn’t let anyone discover that he was a magical lifeform?”

Leisha offered a different perspective.

But it was Lasha who refuted her, not anyone else.

“He might be able to hide it temporarily, but a magical lifeform is still a magical lifeform. Perhaps others wouldn’t be able to detect its presence, but there’s a subtle connection between magical lifeforms.”

Lasha said indifferently.

“This connection is based on the nature of magic power, similar to resonance, because we are all created by the same type of magic.”

Even if their types and categories were different, some used to create monsters, some to create demons, some to create specific beings, and some randomly generated, the magic used to create magical lifeforms all belonged to the same system – Bio-Creation.

Therefore, there was a subtle resonance and connection between magical lifeforms that others might not notice, but fellow magical lifeforms would.

This was also why Lasha could recognize that the people who committed suicide were all magical lifeforms.

As a fellow magical lifeform, Lasha could instantly identify them.

And apart from magical lifeforms, even messengers of the Goddess of Life like Elise, Oz, and Maeve couldn’t immediately identify a magical lifeform.

Since magical lifeforms were created by imitating demons, monsters, and other beings, identifying them required some time and sharp senses.

And it was obvious that there couldn’t be no magical lifeforms within the Old Demon Faction, and it was impossible that they hadn’t discovered Danas’s true identity.

In other words…

“The master of this magical lifeform isn’t human, but a demon.” Airi said with an impassive face. “That person, along with the human mastermind, has been hiding in the shadows, sending out a magical lifeform as their representative, even creating this replica of themselves with their own magic power, using it to impersonate them and cause this incident.”

These words silenced everyone.

But this wasn’t the only bad news.

“Besides that, we didn’t find any traces of the four Warfighters while cleaning the battlefield. They probably weren’t caught in the evil god’s outburst, but escaped.” Maeve said solemnly, “As for the magical lifeform created in Lady Beatrice’s image, we brought her out and restrained her, but not long ago, we discovered that she suddenly died without saying a word.”

Everyone was speechless.

Lilith’s eyes flickered slightly, and she leaned into Shien’s arms without saying a word.

Elise explained,

“Perhaps because the magic he created to create a demigod wasn’t perfect, or perhaps because the principle of Bio-Creation Magic truly can’t be applied to the Divine Race, the magical lifeform created in Lady Beatrice’s image had a major flaw.”

Therefore, there was definitely a problem with this small Warfighter’s lifespan, and it wasn’t surprising that she suddenly died.

Not to mention a demigod magical lifeform, even ordinary magical lifeforms would have similar problems if there were any errors during their creation.

Bio-Creation Magic wasn’t a power that could be used to create magical lifeforms at will.

At least, creating a satisfactory magical lifeform was by no means easy.

Danas, by collecting Beatrice’s magic power and trying to create a replica of her, was already attempting something very difficult.

Otherwise, all Bio-Creation magicians would frantically collect the magic power of strong individuals and create their replicas.

As mentioned before, creating a satisfactory magical lifeform required many conditions.

Suitable materials, suitable imagination, suitable skills, and talent, all of these were indispensable.

Even Leisha, when creating Lasha, had encountered problems, resulting in Lasha not having any combat ability, right?

If it weren’t for Danas’s maxed-out Bio-Creation Magic and his expertise in this area, coupled with the rare materials he had collected for a long time, using all these materials, it wouldn’t have been so easy for him to successfully create the small Warfighter.

Hadn’t he said that he was already prepared for failure and was planning to spend another few decades to complete the creation of this magical lifeform?

This was evident.

“…So, after all this, we haven’t even caught a single culprit?”

Shien was depressed.

The others felt the same, all somewhat unhappy.

Especially Airi, whose displeasure was written all over her face.

Airi’s purpose in coming to the Stalim Duchy was to subjugate the Old Demon Faction.

Now, they had only dealt with some pawns used to break the seal, and the culprits had disappeared. The Dragon Demon was understandably in a bad mood.

Airi turned to Elise.

“Can’t you use Anima’s power to think of something?” Airi said aggressively. “You used that power to find our traces. You must have done the same thing before, right?”

The implication was to have Elise use the power of the Goddess of Life to search for the life signs of these masterminds and find their whereabouts.

“I-it’s impossible!” Elise quickly shook her head and said with a wronged expression, “That power can only be used to find the source of life signs remaining before me or around me. In other words, I need their life aura as a reference. It’s not searching, but tracking!”

Back then, Elise was able to use this power to “see” Shien and the others because they had just left Jeritte not long ago, and Elise could still find traces of their life aura on the corpses of the magical lifeforms in the graveyard.

But this time, Cosmos was completely flattened, and the masterminds had never appeared. Where could she find any residual life aura?

If it weren’t for this limitation, Elise would have already found Capeline. Why would she still be worried about how to find her?

Anima herself might be able to do it because she was the Goddess of Life, the mother of all humans. Her power itself recorded the life aura of all life she had created. Even without a reference, she could find the location of any human. That was why she could guide Elise to find Oz, Maeve, and the other beastmen. But this also meant that if it wasn’t life created by Anima, she couldn’t do anything.

Coincidentally, demons weren’t created by Anima.

Moreover, the human mastermind had never shown their face, and no one knew who they were. In a vast sea of people, even Anima wouldn’t know who to target, right?

Furthermore…

“Saintess Elise can’t just use the Goddess of Life’s power casually!” Oz said loudly. “This will put a strain on her body, and the farther the target’s location, the stronger their power, and the fainter the remaining life aura, the greater the burden on Elise. If she uses the Goddess of Life’s power recklessly, she could die!”

Oz desperately tried to protect Elise and even glared at Airi.

However, Airi merely glanced at Oz, and he immediately felt a chill run down his spine, almost making him kneel on the ground.

Oz then remembered who the person before him was.

Anima had personally warned the beastmen in a serious tone.

“The little girl with that young human noble is one of the Six Demon Lords, the Dragon Demon of the Demon Race. When you interact with her, be careful not to provoke her, or the consequences will be even more severe than Lilith breaking free from her seal. Do you understand?”

Recalling Anima’s expression and tone at that time, not only Oz, but even Elise and Maeve started to break out in cold sweat.

“Do you have a problem with me, puppy?”

Airi smiled coldly at Oz.

Oz was already drenched in sweat.

Normally, if anyone dared to call him, a noble werewolf and beastmen priest, a puppy, he would have already lost his temper and attacked.

But throwing a punch at this little girl would definitely be suicidal.

“I… I…”

Oz stammered, unable to speak.

Not only Oz, but even Maeve, who was usually calm and composed, froze, unable to offer any help.

As for Elise, she looked like she was about to faint.

Even Leisha and Lasha didn’t dare to speak, closing their mouths.

Until…

“Alright.” Shien said to Airi with annoyance. “Is it fun bullying these little guys in your eyes?”

His reproachful tone and lack of respect towards the Dragon Demon made everyone tremble.

“Hmph.”

However, Airi looked away and snorted softly, seemingly persuaded.

Oz and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Shien, as if he had just intervened in a trivial matter, didn’t even mention it and said directly,

“Since we can’t find them, then forget it.” Shien curled his lip. “Anyway, we’ve made an enemy. I don’t believe they won’t appear before us again in the future. We’ll settle the score then.”

The matter was thus dropped.

“Now that this is over, we’re also preparing to return to the royal capital.” Shien turned to Leisha. “What are your plans, Milady?”

“Me?” Leisha was stunned, thought for a moment, then sighed. “I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.”

The young lady looked lost, as if something had happened during her disappearance, making her unsure of what to do next.

Shien only wanted to say one thing.

(What a great opportunity!)

Shien’s eyes lit up, and he said in a tone that brooked no argument,

“In that case, come with us first.”

Then, Shien added,

“It’s settled then.”

Everyone was speechless.

Shien naturally didn’t care.

After all, he still had his eyes on that all-purpose maid by her side.

He wouldn’t let her slip away! La la la~~~ (￣￣)

Chapter 393: Just Hurry Up and Fight

After that, Anima sought out Shien once more.

This time, Anima not only wanted to make one last attempt to bring Lilith back to the Divine Realm, but also invited Shien to visit.

“Please rest assured, although there are still many questions surrounding the Hero Summoning, there’s no doubt that you are the Hero, and we, the Divine Race, won’t harm the Hero. Please believe this at least.”

Perhaps worried that Shien would have unnecessary doubts and concerns, Anima added these words along with her invitation.

“Of course, I hope to receive Mr. Shien’s assistance. If you can help us investigate the Hero Summoning, the Divine Race will be eternally grateful.”

Anima said these words seriously.

The Goddess of Life’s attitude was sincere, and she humbled herself, showing no arrogance as one of the highest-ranking members of the Divine Race. She treated Shien with courtesy, showing her respect and friendliness towards the Hero.

Shien had also heard that among the Divine Race, the Three Goddesses at the top had very good personalities. Whether it was the Goddess of Fate, the Goddess of Nature, or the Goddess of Life, they were all compassionate and friendly, without any airs.

Therefore, Shien had a good impression of Anima’s sincerity and respect.

Thinking of this, Shien didn’t completely reject her.

“I’ll go if there’s a chance in the future, but right now, I still have some matters to attend to.”

Shien said.

Shien also had many questions about his summoning.

He had always been concerned about whether there was some unknown scheme or conspiracy behind it.

Although Lucy was helping Shien investigate this matter, she was very busy, and since this matter seemed to involve many secrets, there hadn’t been much progress so far.

Therefore, Shien also wanted to take this opportunity to personally visit the Divine Realm and investigate this matter thoroughly.

“In that case, we shall await you in the Divine Realm.”

Anima seemed to have been prepared for rejection when she extended the invitation. Shien’s lack of outright refusal surprised her.

Anima then gave Shien a token, claiming that as long as he carried this token to any temple in the human world, he could go to the Divine Realm.

“So, every temple in the human world has a passage to the Divine Realm?”

Shien took the token and asked curiously.

Anima confirmed Shien’s question.

“Because temples themselves are large sacred places, their layout, structure, and environmental elements can be used as a magic ritual to communicate with the Divine Realm. The deepest part of every temple in the human world has a gate leading to the Divine Realm, unless the temple’s structure doesn’t meet the requirements.”

Anima explained that the reason children of the human race had to go to temples to receive blessings was because the goddesses of the Divine Realm would come to the human world through these gates, choose children with talents matching their domains, and bestow their blessings upon them.

In addition, the temple that sealed Lilith could also communicate with the Divine Realm and open the gate leading there. The purpose was to allow the Divine Race to descend at any time and resolve any problems with the seal. Unfortunately, when the temple manifested in the human world, its structure was damaged, preventing it from communicating with the Divine Realm, which was why Anima needed some time to arrive.

Anima also said that this might have been intentional on the part of the Old Demon Faction.

Otherwise, she could have directly descended from the dark temple and prevented everything, or sent another goddess to handle this matter, and things wouldn’t have become so troublesome.

That being said, although this incident caused a great commotion, the final result wasn’t bad.

Beatrice had successfully returned to her main body, and Lilith was finally whole. This could be considered resolving a huge hidden danger and a problem that had plagued the Divine Race for nearly ten thousand years.

As for Shien, needless to say, his reward was obvious: Lilith herself.

This evil god still couldn’t speak, and her rationality hadn’t fully developed yet.

But seeing how clingy she was, Shien felt that even if he tried to drive her away, she wouldn’t leave.

Anima could only give up helplessly and let Lilith temporarily stay with Shien.

“What do you mean ‘temporarily’?” Airi said directly. “This girl has even entrusted her [True Mark]. Do you still expect her to go back?”

That was the logic.

Anima was speechless.

Finally, Anima could only sigh.

“Forget it. Following a Hero isn’t a rare thing for our Divine Race.”

Anima finally gave up and prepared to leave, returning to deal with the aftermath of this incident, sending people to negotiate with the Kingdom of Mitra and the Ragna Empire, and then returning to the Divine Realm.

Before leaving, Anima seemed to give the uneasy Leisha a meaningful look.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time. If you trespass into the Divine Realm again without permission, it won’t be so easy next time.”

These words made Leisha look awkward.

“So, you disappeared without a trace because you went to the Divine Realm?”

Shien was quite surprised by this.

Who would have thought that Leisha would glare at him resentfully?

“Whose fault do you think this is?”

Leisha’s tone was incredibly resentful and bitter.

“What happened?”

Shien didn’t mind but was curious.

After all, according to Lasha, Leisha disappeared because she seemed to have discovered something while secretly observing Shien, prompting her to leave in a hurry.

And after leaving, this young lady went straight to the Divine Realm. Shien couldn’t help but be curious about what had happened and what she had discovered.

Leisha opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something, but then closed it again.

“…You’ll find out later.”

Leisha said these sullen words and nothing else.

Shien only wanted to say,

“I hate you people who keep secrets. It’s because you guys keep things to yourselves, thinking it’s some kind of unbreakable secret, that the plot drags on so much.”

Shien wanted to knock Leisha on the head.

“Trust me, you’ll be happier not knowing such heavy matters.”

Leisha rolled her eyes and said these seemingly sympathetic words to him, then took Lasha’s hand and turned to leave.

“I’ll be happier?” Shien curled his lip and muttered, “I’d rather make you happy.”

Just you wait.

When his children are old enough to run errands, he’d see if she could still be so stubborn.

…

After that, Anima left.

Leisha stayed, seemingly without any further plans.

Airi was still the same, occasionally appearing out of nowhere, making Leisha nervous, but mostly sleeping.

And Shien, recently, had been feeling a bit melancholic.

Because he discovered that since Leisha’s return, Lasha had been following her around all the time, no longer acting as his attentive, all-purpose maid.

Although Lasha was still in charge of their meals and various chores, the daily wake-up ritual (appearing by his bedside to attend to him, helping him wash and change clothes) was gone, making Shien very sad.

“Big Sister, are you planning to burn bridges after crossing them?”

Shien looked at Lasha with a pitiful expression.

Unfortunately, Lasha wasn’t someone who would fall for this.

“I originally served Mr. Shien as my master because of Milady’s orders. Now that Milady has returned, she is naturally my first priority.”

Lasha said calmly.

This made Shien abandon his pitiful expression and turn to stare intently at Leisha, who was playing with Lilith.

“Ugh…!”

Leisha shuddered.

“?”

Lilith, who wasn’t interested in Leisha’s teasing and had been quietly watching her, tilted her head in confusion.

“N-nothing…” Leisha shook her head, then whispered, feeling a chill, “Why do I feel like someone just had murderous intent towards me, as if wanting to get rid of me and snatch something from me…?”

Could it be that someone else was targeting the things she stole from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Mitra?

She had to be more vigilant recently.

Just like that, while the outside world was in an uproar over the incident in Cosmos, only Shien’s side remained peaceful.

Until Elise appeared.

“It seems you’ve found your precious companions.”

Seeing Oz and Maeve accompanying Elise on their visit, Shien raised an eyebrow and said these words with a smirk.

“Yes, it’s great that everyone is alright.”

Elise looked relieved and joyful.

Oz and Maeve, beside her, also spoke.

“Thanks to Goddess Anima’s guidance, we not only found our companions from the priest group and saved them from the danger of being corrupted by the evil aura, but also found our lost tribesmen.”

Maeve smiled rarely.

“I didn’t expect Lady Beatrice to actually succeed in returning and becoming Goddess Lilith…”

Oz looked at Lilith, who was clinging to Shien, with a complicated expression.

Lilith was the evil god their clan had guarded for a thousand years, and they had suffered quite a bit because of her. Now that the evil god was unsealed and had returned to her original form, they didn’t know if they should be truly happy.

“What are you planning to do next?”

Shien, holding Lilith, asked casually.

Lilith had been unsealed, and Cosmos was destroyed. Where Elise and the beastmen would go next was a big question.

Fortunately, their patron goddess seemed to have made arrangements.

“With Goddess Anima’s coordination and assistance, the Empire no longer pursues this matter and has retreated to its borders. The Kingdom will also rebuild Cosmos.”

Maeve answered Shien’s question.

“Our tribesmen and the beastmen scattered throughout the human world have been contacted. We decided to migrate together and temporarily join the nearest beastmen tribe until Cosmos is rebuilt, then we’ll move back.”

This wasn’t a bad solution.

However…

“We, the beastmen priests, are preparing to investigate the mastermind behind this incident, the one who has been hiding in the shadows and never showed their face.” Oz slammed his fist and said fiercely, “This is also Goddess Anima’s instruction. There’s actually a human who collaborated with the Old Demon Faction and committed such a grave mistake. We must find him.”

Shien strongly agreed with this approach.

Shien himself also had a score to settle with this mastermind.

Although he didn’t know why the mastermind ordered Danas’s magical lifeforms to target him, leaving Beatrice with him and making the magical lifeforms commit suicide, involving him in this incident, as the saying goes, repay kindness with kindness and revenge with revenge. Not to mention himself, just the things that person did to Lilith, he couldn’t feel at ease without finding him and teaching him a lesson.

Moreover…

“Princess Capeline of the Empire and I are friends.” Elise’s tone became subdued. “Now, Princess Capeline is missing. If we want to find her, we might have to investigate along this line.”

This was also a big issue recently.

In this incident, the citizens of Cosmos didn’t suffer much loss or injury, but the Stalim Duchy’s First Knight Order and the Severed Blade Knights led by the second princess were both missing.

Some thought they had perished in the disaster along with the evil beings and Cosmos.

But others held onto hope, unwilling to believe this, and continued to search for them.

“I warned them not to approach the temple. Since they didn’t listen, they deserve what happened to them.”

Shien said without any sympathy.

“You… do you even have a heart?”

Elise was indignant, but after being glared at by Shien, she immediately jumped in fright and hid behind Maeve.

“It’s true…”

The easily frightened saintess muttered these words, making Oz and Maeve smile wryly.

But after the wry smiles, Oz cast an ambiguous gaze at Elise, his eyes filled with affection and love. Maeve noticed this, her face tensing up, as if her mood had soured.

“Hoho…”

Shien noticed this scene and smiled playfully, as if enjoying the drama.

This was a love triangle. Just hurry up and fight.

Shien, gloating, didn’t notice Elise peeking out from behind Maeve, her face slightly flushed as she looked at his mischievous smile.

Oz looked at Elise, Maeve looked at Oz, Shien looked at Oz and Maeve, and Elise secretly looked at Shien. Their gazes intertwined unnoticed, creating a strange scene.

“?”

The innocent little goddess tilted her head in Shien’s arms, her face full of confusion.

Chapter 392: The Perfect Method of Seduction

Shien agreed.

Although he didn’t know what Nien was thinking, nor her true origins, why even the Divine Race didn’t know of her existence as a goddess, and why she didn’t want the other goddesses to know about her, Shien still trusted Nien more than Anima.

Therefore, Shien agreed without much hesitation, making Nien smile with satisfaction.

Indeed, as a goddess with the same appearance as Omniis and comparable beauty to Lucy, the most beautiful human, her smile was truly captivating.

However, the words she said as Shien was leaving made him curious.

“I’ve almost finished learning, and I’ve also found the perfect method of seduction. Just you wait and see. I won’t fall behind anyone, and I definitely won’t be surpassed by your little princess.”

After saying these words, Nien sent Shien away.

Shien naturally didn’t know what these words meant.

When the day came that he understood, he would realize that the greatest enjoyment in life lay in this.

…

The flashback ended.

Looking at Anima, who still seemed to be staring intently at him, Shien faced her calmly.

He didn’t need to feel guilty.

Because this was originally his own business, and whether the Divine Race cared or not didn’t really matter to him.

Therefore, even lying in front of the Goddess of Life didn’t burden Shien’s conscience in the slightest.

The only thing he was slightly concerned about was that more and more people now knew his identity, and these people were all important figures who could decide the course of their respective races.

Anima, needless to say, as one of the Three Goddesses, a pinnacle of the Divine Race, was already preparing to investigate the Hero Summoning.

And according to Nien, Sara was also investigating the Hero Summoning, hoping to understand why a Hero would appear again after a thousand years.

They knew very well that this was a huge hidden danger.

If the world found out, the resulting turmoil would be terrifying.

“Phew…”

Anima, whether she had seen through Shien’s lie or not, exhaled after a while and looked at Airi.

“Since you already know about Mr. Shien, does that mean the Demon Race’s high-ranking officials also know about the Hero’s appearance?”

Anima’s expression was still serious.

Airi, on the other hand, still looked indifferent.

“If the Demon Race’s high-ranking officials knew, do you think the three realms would still be so peaceful?” Airi said calmly, nibbling on a dessert. “If they knew, they would definitely suspect that your Divine Race restarted the Hero Summoning Ritual, intending to use the Hero’s power against the Demon Race.”

“But the Divine Race doesn’t know about this.” Anima frowned. “Since even I don’t know about the Hero’s appearance, it means that no one in the Divine Race knows that the Hero Summoning was restarted. This has nothing to do with us.”

“Does that matter?” Airi retorted. “You claim to be innocent, but do we have to believe you?”

“…I know it’s hard to believe.” Anima was silent for a moment, then sighed. “But there are indeed many mysteries surrounding this. I hope the Demon Race can give us some time to investigate this matter clearly.”

Anima was worried that the Demon Race would become wary of the Divine Race because of this, turn against them, or even start a war.

She knew very well that for the Demon Race, the Hero was an extremely sensitive existence.

Because their power, which they were so proud of, was enough to overwhelm the Divine Race, but it was completely countered by the Hero’s Holy Sword.

Even Lilith’s power, as an evil god, was countered by the Holy Sword, let alone the Demon Race.

Therefore, the Hero and the Divine Race were two completely different kinds of threats.

The Divine Race was just a past enemy.

But the Hero was undoubtedly their natural enemy.

The words “natural enemy” were very sensitive and easily triggered excessive fear and vigilance.

Omniis, the Supreme God, created the Hero Summoning Ritual precisely because the Demon King, Claudis, was her natural enemy. Although she was an omnipotent goddess, indifferent to everything, she couldn’t ignore the Demon King’s existence and even personally intervened a thousand years ago, joining forces with the Hero to fight against the Demon King.

After defeating the Demon King, losing her natural enemy and the only threat to her, Omniis immediately reverted to her indifferent attitude, falling into a deep sleep that lasted for a thousand years and hadn’t ended yet.

The Demon Race’s natural enemy was the Hero.

Heroes of all generations had posed countless threats to the Demon Race, causing them immense losses. Even the Demon King had fallen to the Hero’s Holy Sword. It was evident how vigilant and hostile the Demon Race was towards Heroes.

Even Airi had killed two Heroes without hesitation in the past. If it weren’t for the fact that after the war, the Dragon Demon had realized that violence couldn’t solve everything, and that what people truly desired was peace, her bloodlust would have greatly decreased. If it were the past Airi, upon seeing Shien, the Hero, she would probably be the first to attack, sparing no effort to kill him on the spot.

Therefore, if the Demon Race knew about the Hero’s appearance, they would definitely be enraged and turn their hostility towards the Divine Race.

At that time, even another war breaking out wasn’t impossible.

To prevent things from getting worse, Anima had to quell the potential for conflict.

Of course…

“You should discuss this matter with my sisters.” Airi said, as if she wasn’t interested. “My other sisters don’t know about the Hero’s existence yet, but Sara already knows. With her personality, she will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly.”

“Then…” Airi looked at Anima and smiled. “If it wasn’t your Divine Race’s doing, there’s still room for maneuver. But if it’s confirmed that you’re scheming something, things might not be so easy to resolve.”

These words made the atmosphere heavy.

Anima’s expression was also serious because she knew that Airi was telling the truth.

But from Airi’s words, Anima also received some good news.

That was, although Sara, the supreme ruler of the Demon Race, the Moon Demon, already knew about this matter, she hadn’t become wary of the Divine Race and had chosen to investigate first.

That supreme ruler of the Demon Race definitely didn’t want to see the thousand-year-long peace broken, right?

Moreover, there were clearly some suspicious aspects to the Hero Summoning. If the Divine Race truly had some plan, they definitely wouldn’t let Shien run around causing trouble. With her resourcefulness, the chief of the Demon Lords couldn’t possibly not have noticed these suspicious points.

In other words, Sara also had some doubts about this Hero Summoning.

In that case…

“After I return, I will discuss this with the Goddess of Fate and the Goddess of Nature and properly investigate this matter, giving the Demon Race an explanation.”

Anima assured Airi seriously.

“That’s for the best.” Airi nodded, but also said, “Of course, I’m not interested in these things. I’m only interested in the Hero himself.”

These words made everyone turn their gaze to the side.

There, Shien, looking unconcerned, was playing with Lilith, who also seemed unconcerned.

“Why are you looking at me? Is there something on my face?”

Noticing everyone’s gaze, Shien raised his head, blinking innocently.

This left everyone speechless.

“You… don’t you care about such a big matter at all?”

Leisha, who had been silent since the topic of the Hero Summoning was brought up, couldn’t help but ask.

“Aren’t you curious about how the Divine Race and the Demon Race will deal with your matter?”

As the target of the Hero Summoning, the current Hero, a potential cause of war between the three races and a factor that could break the peace, it wouldn’t be strange at all if Shien was taken away and dealt with by the Demon Race and the Divine Race.

The Demon Race wouldn’t want to see this natural enemy wandering around, not knowing what he would do or if there was some conspiracy behind it. They would definitely want to restrain Shien, even kill him directly.

The Divine Race also wouldn’t want the Hero to cause trouble and provoke the Demon Race. Moreover, since they were completely innocent in this matter, they might even hand Shien over to the Demon Race as a sacrifice to appease them.

Furthermore, both races wanted to investigate the Hero Summoning and its cause, starting with Shien, the person involved. This was very normal.

All these problems would cause Shien’s future life to be completely controlled by the high-ranking officials of the various races. The lightest punishment would be losing his freedom, or even his life.

Yet, under such circumstances, Shien was playing around as if it had nothing to do with him. How carefree could he be?

However, Shien just smiled.

“It can’t be helped. I’m just a small viscount of the Kingdom. The leaders of the two races are discussing important matters. Do I, a small fry, have any say in this?”

Shien’s words were met with a roll of Leisha’s eyes.

“You have no say?” Leisha said with exasperation. “Who do you think the Demon Race is afraid of? Not the Divine Race, but you, the Hero. Now you even have Lilith on your side. Who can ignore your threat?”

Hearing this, Shien smiled knowingly.

Seeing Shien’s expression, Leisha and everyone else present understood.

They understood that Shien was fearless.

As expected…

“See? Don’t you all know this very well?”

Shien’s words, spoken with a smile, left everyone speechless.

Indeed, they knew very well that even if they wanted to do something to this Hero, it wouldn’t be easy.

With Lilith by his side, and even Airi protecting him, what did he have to worry about?

If all else failed, Nien would also intervene.

“If things really come to that, I’ll directly summon you and let you take refuge here, so you don’t have to worry about anything. Do whatever you want boldly.”

These were Nien’s words to Shien.

Moreover, Shien believed that with his current strength and the protection of the Holy Sword, even if he couldn’t win, he could still escape.

Therefore…

“I don’t care about complicated matters. You important figures can decide for yourselves.” Shien said nonchalantly. “I’m just a traveler from another world, playing the noble game, enjoying the scenery, and learning magic. That’s enough for me.”

Leaving these words behind, Shien stood up with Lilith and left.

Leisha and Lasha looked at each other, speechless.

Airi and Anima watched Shien’s retreating figure.

After a while…

“This Hero seems different from the Heroes of the past.”

Anima murmured.

Airi agreed.

“If he weren’t, I wouldn’t be so fond of him.”

Chapter 391: The Correct Posture of a Goddess

“Shouldn’t I congratulate you on acquiring an evil god as a pet, my Hero?”

In the familiar temple, the beautiful goddess stood in the center as usual, looking at Shien, who had been suddenly summoned, with a somewhat displeased and even sarcastic smile.

“…”

Shien remained silent.

He was currently lying on the ground.

The reason was simple: he had been summoned by this annoying goddess the moment he was about to fall onto his bed.

Therefore, Shien, caught off guard, naturally fell flat on his face, momentarily stunned.

Shien silently stood up and looked at the goddess before him with an impassive face.

“W-wait!”

The goddess named Nien froze and quickly said,

“Okay, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have summoned you at that time. Don’t knock me unconscious like last time… Aaaaaaaaaah…!”

Nien’s words were cut short by a scream.

Shien had appeared before her at some point, grabbing her head with one hand, exerting immense force.

“It hurts, it hurts…! Stop… stop it!”

Nien grabbed Shien’s hand, struggling and crying out in pain, tears welling up in her eyes.

Shien, unmoved, maintained his [Clear Mind, Still Water] state, preventing his thoughts from being read, and continued his iron claw technique.

“It seems the lesson I taught you last time wasn’t enough, my Goddess.” Shien said with an impassive face. “In that case, let me give you a more profound lesson, so you know what the correct posture of a goddess is.”

“Posture?” Nien stopped struggling and looked up at Shien, tears in her eyes, but no longer crying out in pain. Instead, she said joyfully, “Let go of me first. Don’t worry, I know what posture you like. I’ve learned it. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”

Shien’s face darkened.

Don’t think I don’t know you’re driving!

And… when did you learn what my favorite posture is?

This is an invasion of privacy!

Shien increased his grip without hesitation.

“Aaaaaah! It’s going to explode! My head is going to explode!”

Nien cried out in pain, her usual sacred and perfect image completely gone, replaced by a pathetic and useless appearance.

“Sigh…”

Shien sighed and released his hand.

“Waaah… so mean…”

Nien clutched her head and took several steps back, muttering as if feeling wronged, making it seem like her character was about to collapse.

“Alright, stop pretending.” Shien said with annoyance. “This isn’t your character. Get back here.”

Hearing this, the wronged expression on Nien’s face instantly vanished.

“Isn’t this the kind of girl you like?”

Nien said, also annoyed.

“Not bad.” Shien crossed his arms, not denying it, and said frankly, “At least bullying weak and soft girls is quite satisfying, much better than those who ignore others’ opinions and forcefully drag them away when they encounter something good or want to rest.”

“You’re still holding a grudge about last time?” Nien gritted her teeth. “You clearly got what you wanted. It’s me who, after doing so much, ended up losing everything, even suffering additional losses. You still have the nerve to hold a grudge against me?”

“Where did you learn all those sayings from my world?” Shien was amused and said with a smirk. “And even if I got what I wanted, it doesn’t mean you didn’t do anything wrong. One thing doesn’t cancel out the other. Don’t try to gloss over it.”

“Who did anything wrong? It was you who did something wrong!” Nien snorted. “If the Goddess of Fate knew you did such things to her most beloved blessed one, you’d be dead.”

“The Goddess cares about this kind of thing?” Shien immediately retorted. “Then does that mean everyone who receives a blessing can’t do the deed?”

“Of course, others can’t compare to that princess you’ve completely devoured.” Nien looked at Shien, as if even [Clear Mind, Still Water] couldn’t hide anything from her. The goddess smiled meaningfully. “How is it? After receiving Lilith’s [True Mark], you must have a lot of questions about your little lover, right?”

Hearing this, the expression on Shien’s face vanished.

Unconsciously, Shien touched his arm, the rune mark hidden beneath his sleeve.

However, that wasn’t the rune mark Lilith had left on Shien’s hand.

The [True Mark] Lilith entrusted to Shien was merged into his left arm.

But right now, Shien was touching his right arm.

Yes.

On Shien’s other hand, there was also a rune mark.

It was the mark left by Lucy when she bit Shien after he received the Buztout family mansion.

At that time, Shien even thought that the princess had cursed him.

But she never mentioned it, only emphasizing one sentence.

“This way, you won’t be able to run away anymore.”

Shien hadn’t understood what that sentence meant before.

But now, he might have some understanding.

“…Is this also a [True Mark]?”

Shien couldn’t help but suspect.

Lucy’s mark was too similar to the [True Mark] Lilith entrusted to him.

Therefore, after learning about the existence and meaning of the [True Mark], Shien was truly surprised and uncertain.

Until this moment, Shien finally received the answer.

“Don’t doubt it. That’s the core of existence known as the [True Mark].” Nien said, seemingly unhappy. “If she hadn’t already entrusted her [True Mark] to you, deciding to share her fate with you, do you think you could have really won over the Kingdom’s treasure, the Goddess of Fate’s favorite, that princess who received all the love, yet was extremely lonely and isolated, just by being shameless?”

Shien was speechless.

He really thought he had won over the princess just by being thick-skinned.

But thinking about it carefully, if she hadn’t given him the opportunity, Shien wouldn’t even have been able to be thick-skinned, right?

Perhaps Lucy herself didn’t expect to lose her virginity after going home with Shien, but her action of going home with him in the first place was problematic, proving that the princess truly didn’t have her guard up against Shien.

Thanks to this, Shien was able to succeed.

But…

“This isn’t right, is it?” Shien frowned. “Lucy is clearly a human, not a goddess. Why would she have something like a [True Mark]?”

Wasn’t that a unique life form of the Divine Race’s goddesses, a manifestation of their immortality?

Why did Lucy, a human, also have a [True Mark]?

It was because of this question that Shien hadn’t been certain whether the mark Lucy left on his hand was truly the core of existence, the [True Mark].

Nien, on the other hand, seemed to know something.

“That princess is special. Although she’s a human, she can also be considered a goddess. Her situation is unprecedented.” Nien said, then reminded him, “Otherwise, why do you think she, a human, could be admired and even accepted by the goddesses of the Divine Realm, almost living in the Divine Realm and becoming a resident there?”

The implication of Nien’s words was that this was precisely because of Lucy’s special nature.

Gods were high and mighty, the objects of people’s faith. Under normal circumstances, how could a mere human live in the Divine Realm and be accepted by the goddesses?

“You can ask your little lover about the rest.” Nien said, stopping there. “I can only tell you that getting the princess’s [True Mark] isn’t just a simple matter. Don’t be surprised when you see her again.”

Hearing this, Shien couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Surprised?

He had already been surprised many times, okay?

That damn slacker princess, entrusting such an important thing to him without even explaining it properly. He’d see how he would deal with her when he got back.

Compared to the correct posture of a goddess, he knew better how to be a proper princess.

“Alright, why did you call me here?” Shien no longer thought about it and said impatiently, “Don’t tell me you just called me here to mock me?”

“Of course, I want to mock you.” Nien said, “You’ve only been in this world for a short time, and you’ve already gotten three [True Marks]. Who else would I mock if not you?”

Shien was stunned.

Three?

Weren’t there only two?

As Shien was stunned, Nien changed the subject.

“However, besides mocking you, I do have some serious business to discuss with you.” Nien’s expression turned serious as she looked directly at Shien. “This time, you revealed your identity while dealing with Lilith, right?”

Shien’s expression turned serious as he nodded.

His identity had indeed been revealed.

Not only to Elise, but also to Anima.

This wasn’t a small matter.

“Although the Moon Demon also knows your identity and has already begun investigating this matter, she is a demon, and it’s not easy for her to investigate the Hero Summoning.” Nien said seriously to Shien, “But it’s different for the Goddess of Life.”

As one of the Three Goddesses, one of the pinnacles of the Divine Race, with Anima’s status and authority, investigating the Hero Summoning wouldn’t be too difficult.

“Of course, she can’t easily discover the truth either. This is a forbidden place that no one but the Supreme God can enter. Only you can arrive here through my summons. Besides that, only one little rat has managed to sneak in through a loophole.”

Nien said pointedly.

“And she will definitely ask you about it, wanting to learn about your summoning from you.”

Shien understood what Nien meant.

“You want me to hide it from the Goddess of Life, not tell her about the Hero Summoning?”

Shien realized.

“That’s right.” Nien admitted. “It’s not time for the Divine Race to know about my existence yet.”

Shien was silent.

 

Chapter 390: “I’m So Sorry, Truly Sorry.”

This day was a difficult one for Cosmos, the Stalim Duchy, and even the Kingdom of Mitra and the Ragna Empire.

Because disaster struck unexpectedly.

Cosmos was destroyed.

The fortress city was gone.

Although the citizens were well-protected and there were no casualties, the disaster and the damage it caused were too much for many to bear.

A historic fortress that had protected the border of the Kingdom of Mitra for nearly a thousand years was destroyed just like that. This was unbelievable and difficult to accept for anyone.

Especially for the Kingdom of Mitra, or rather, the Stalim Duchy. When they heard the news, all the high-ranking officials felt their world turn dark.

When he received the news, Ancil couldn’t help but stand up from his throne, and Barry slammed his fist on his desk, cursing before he couldn’t sit still any longer and prepared the best long-distance carriage to rush over.

The Ragna Empire’s reaction was also intense.

The fortress city that had always blocked their invasion was now gone. How could their reaction not be intense?

But they couldn’t be happy about it.

Because, in the midst of Cosmos’s disaster, their Valkyrie, the Empire’s second princess, along with her Severed Blade Knights, had also gone missing.

This threw the Empire’s high-ranking officials into chaos. The current Emperor was anxious and immediately sent people to investigate the situation overnight.

Both countries were thrown into great turmoil by this incident.

Even the commoners, after learning about the destruction of Cosmos, were shocked and terrified, starting to discuss and speculate, filling both countries with various rumors.

The only fortunate thing was that this time, the two countries wouldn’t suspect each other.

Both sides had suffered great losses, losses they couldn’t easily bear. Under such circumstances, no one would suspect the other party of being behind it.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Divine Realm, through the temples in both countries, conveyed a message to the Kingdom and the Empire.

That was, this incident was actually caused by an ancient seal.

The one who did this was naturally Anima.

After the incident in Cosmos, in order to quell the unrest and potential future problems caused by this incident, Anima had no choice but to reveal the secret of Lilith.

This was also the responsibility of the Divine Race.

The Divine Race wouldn’t easily interfere in human conflicts, but they also wouldn’t allow themselves to become the cause of human conflicts.

After learning the whole story, the two countries finally abandoned their suspicions of each other but began to worry about a series of subsequent problems.

The Kingdom lost a fortress guarding its border, and the Stalim Duchy’s First Knight Order was also missing in action. This was a huge blow to both the Kingdom and the Duchy.

The Empire, on the surface, only lost a princess and her personal knight order, but this princess also inherited the replica Holy Sword and was considered the Empire’s greatest genius in a thousand years, their trump card against the Kingdom’s treasure. Losing her was also a major blow to the Empire.

Naturally, the residents of Cosmos suffered the greatest blow.

They directly lost their homes, their homeland. This was undoubtedly a very serious problem.

Anima stated that since the Divine Race bore some responsibility for this, she, as one of the Three Goddesses, would order the Divine Race to assist the two kingdoms in overcoming this difficulty.

However, Anima herself didn’t return directly to the Divine Realm.

Firstly, Elise had made a request to Anima, hoping that she would bestow her grace and help her find her companions, the beastmen priests and the transferred beastmen.

Anima agreed.

After all, these were her representatives in the human world, her most devout followers, and the beastmen of Cosmos had guarded Lilith’s seal for a thousand years under her orders. She, as their patron goddess, should offer them comfort and rewards.

Secondly, Shien’s situation made Anima quite concerned. She couldn’t go back directly before figuring it out.

Therefore, after that, the group moved to Utrili, the closest city to Cosmos.

There, under Lasha’s arrangements, they checked into a high-class inn and temporarily settled down.

Shien also slept soundly here, only waking up after all his fatigue had dissipated, feeling refreshed once again.

Everything felt like yesterday, as if nothing had happened, which was quite emotional.

Of course, there were some changes around Shien.

The most obvious change was that there was now a very clingy little person by his side.

“Here, Miss Lilith.”

In the dining hall, Lasha held a bowl of soup, scooped a spoonful, and offered it to Lilith.

“Ahh~~~”

Lilith obediently opened her small mouth, enjoying Lasha’s feeding just like before.

However, Lilith was now not only wearing the dignified black robe but also sitting on Shien’s lap, hugging his neck, completely refusing to get off him.

“She’s really attached to you.”

Leisha, watching this scene from the side, couldn’t help but sigh.

Not only Leisha, but all those involved that day, except for Elise, who had gone to reunite with the beastmen priest group under Anima’s guidance, were here, witnessing this scene.

“Since leaving Cosmos, this child hasn’t left his side, has she?”

Airi said, eating her breakfast and curling her lip.

“After all, he’s the one she entrusted her [True Mark] to. It’s understandable.”

Anima also smiled wryly, seeming a bit troubled.

Shien didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

Being clung to by the awesome evil god, holding the soft and fragrant little girl in his arms while eating, was a great enjoyment in life.

Shien even expressed his feelings about life.

“As expected, rescuing a damsel in distress is what a Hero should do. It’s quite classic, and I don’t dislike it.”

These words left everyone speechless.

Only Anima, after observing Lilith seriously for a while, admitted helplessly,

“It seems bringing Goddess Lilith back to the Divine Realm is unlikely.”

This was what troubled Anima.

A fellow goddess whose power surpassed her own, ranking among the top three in the Divine Race and comparable to a Demon Lord, Anima naturally wanted to bring her back to the Divine Realm and enhance their strength.

Back then, the Divine Race had high hopes for Lilith, hoping she could become a force to contend with the Demon Lords and bring them an advantage in the war. Who would have thought that Lilith would lose control on the battlefield, forcing them to seal this top-tier combat power, leaving the entire Divine Race with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Now that this evil god had finally returned to normal, the Divine Race definitely wanted her to return to the Divine Realm, right?

Anima felt the same way. If possible, she really wanted to bring Lilith back.

But when she expressed this intention, Lilith glanced at her.

That glance sent a chill down Anima’s spine, as if she had seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood, almost losing her composure.

If it were anyone other than Anima, being looked at by Lilith like that would probably have driven them mad.

After returning to her main body, Lilith perfectly controlled her power, possessing strength truly comparable to a Demon Lord, and using her power with great ease. Anima, whose strength was inferior to Lilith’s, annoyed her, and naturally suffered a small loss.

From that moment on, Anima knew that Lilith wouldn’t return to the Divine Realm.

She only wanted to follow Shien, whether it was walking, eating, sleeping, or bathing. She would cling to him, and even Lasha couldn’t separate them.

Under such circumstances, Anima didn’t doubt that if she forced it, Lilith wouldn’t hesitate to fight her.

Even though Anima was one of the Three Goddesses, her status much higher than Lilith, a Superior God, and Lilith should obey her orders, Lilith, being an evil god, didn’t care about the Three Goddesses’ commands.

Therefore, Anima realized that it was impossible for her to take Lilith away.

Unless Omniis, the Supreme God, personally ordered it, Lilith, as a member of the Divine Race, might not dare to disobey. Otherwise, let alone the Goddess of Life, even the strongest Goddess of Fate in the three realms probably couldn’t forcefully take her away.

Shien had something to say.

“I’m also helpless, I can’t do anything about it, but this is Lilith’s own will. I’m so sorry, truly sorry.”

Shien said these words with a big smile on his face, without any disguise, making Anima want to beat him up.

Perhaps she couldn’t defeat Lilith, but teaching a Hero who hadn’t fully grown yet a lesson shouldn’t be a problem, right?

But speaking of this, there was another troublesome issue.

“Are you really not hiding anything from me, Mr. Shien?”

Anima stared intently at Shien, although her eyes weren’t open, her serious and intense gaze could be felt.

“You really don’t know why you were summoned to this world, right?”

Anima asked seriously.

Shien also answered.

“I really don’t know, Goddess Anima.”

Shien said helplessly.

However, this was a lie.

Looking at the serious Anima before him, Shien couldn’t help but recall what had happened last night when he returned to his room at the inn, ready to sleep.

***

T/N: After this chapter the free release will be (1 chapter every other day)

If you have any questions or concerns about the names of organizations, abilities, characters, or discrepancies with the previous translator (Otaku translations), please leave a comment on the chapter and I’ll address them in a note in the next chapter to ensure clarity and consistency in the translations.

Chapter 389: The Appearance of the Enemy

“Here it comes!”

Seeing the anomaly in the light source in the sky, everyone on the ground shuddered and held their breath.

Anima even approached Shien and whispered,

“If that child fails, please don’t hesitate.”

Shien naturally understood what she meant.

“A Lilith who has completely lost the possibility of regaining her rationality is just a brutal evil god, a disaster for the world, so you don’t need to have any psychological burden.”

Anima whispered in Shien’s ear, her voice gentle and compassionate, giving him a feeling of maternal acceptance.

However, Shien didn’t respond to Anima’s words.

He himself didn’t know if he could bring himself to destroy the [True Mark] entrusted to him if Beatrice truly failed.

Of course, Shien was still someone who could objectively accept reality.

Therefore, if Beatrice failed, he would accept the consequences and wouldn’t struggle pointlessly because he was unwilling to believe reality or couldn’t give up hope.

However, acceptance was one thing, not struggling pointlessly was another. It didn’t mean that Shien would directly give up and destroy the [True Mark].

Perhaps, at that time, Beatrice would indeed be gone, and Lilith would become a true menace, but as long as he had the [True Mark], Lilith could be reincarnated and resurrected by his side, right?

At that time, perhaps Lilith’s rationality would also be resurrected along with her, and be rejected by her, allowing Beatrice to reappear?

With this in mind, Shien made up his mind.

“If she truly fails, I will kill Lilith here, but I won’t destroy the [True Mark].”

Shien said these words, leaving Anima speechless, and looked at Airi.

Airi, receiving Shien’s gaze, naturally knew what he wanted to say.

“Alright.” Airi said decisively. “I’ll help you when the time comes.”

Shien was relieved.

Relying on his own strength alone, defeating Lilith would be extremely difficult.

But with Airi’s help, it would be much easier.

After their previous confrontation, Shien already knew that Lilith, having lost her rationality, had a serious weakness. Once she started fighting, she would only recklessly unleash her power without restraint or adaptability.

With such a weakness, if he and Airi joined forces, defeating her shouldn’t be impossible.

Thus, everyone stared intently at the light source in the sky, no longer speaking.

The light penetrating from the light source became increasingly brighter, creating swirling dark clouds in the roaring sky.

A beam of light shone down from the vortex of dark clouds, enveloping the light source.

Soon, the light source trembled violently, and at its most intense tremor, it collapsed as if reaching its limit.

The light source, like snow melting under the sun, like scattering snowflakes, gradually disintegrated.

Within, the small goddess with twelve black wings and a robe reappeared.

Everyone present widened their eyes as they looked at the small goddess.

Because they discovered that the once violent and turbulent evil aura now undulated around the small goddess like a silent darkness, appearing extremely docile.

If the previous evil aura was a natural disaster, a storm, a flood, or an avalanche, then the current evil aura was the beautiful scenery after the storm.

Tranquil, peaceful, clear, and mysterious, these were its current portrayals.

Everyone had the same feeling.

“This is a goddess.”

Indeed, this was a goddess.

Sacred and inviolable.

Untainted by the mud.

Aloof from the world.

Beautiful, pure, and natural.

This was the current Lilith.

“Swish!”

Suddenly, Lilith vanished from mid-air.

She transformed into a shadowy figure of darkness, as if traversing the limitations of time and space, instantly appearing before Shien and taking form.

It happened so suddenly that no one could react.

Including Shien, who only felt his vision darken, and then the girl appeared before him.

“Bang!”

The next moment, with a muffled sound, the small goddess collided with Shien.

“Ugh…!”

Shien cried out as he was knocked to the ground.

“Hey!”

“Mr. Shien!”

Leisha and Lasha’s expressions changed simultaneously.

“D-dangerous…!?”

Elise, the most timid, exclaimed and prostrated herself on the ground.

Only Airi and Anima seemed to sense something, one relaxing her face, the other showing joy.

Shien felt a small body hugging him.

He quickly understood what was happening.

His heart finally settled completely, and he looked down at his arms.

There, the small goddess hugged him tightly, her head slightly raised, her brilliant hair fluttering in the wind, her large amethyst eyes staring at him.

Those eyes, as before, were calm and gentle, clearly reflecting Shien’s face, as if he was the only one in her eyes.

“Beatrice?”

Shien wrapped his arms around the small goddess, hesitated for a moment, and called out tentatively.

The goddess continued to stare at him, then after a while, she parted her lips slightly.

“Lilith…”

The voice he had only heard once came from the small goddess.

“My name… Lilith…”

A simple sentence, spoken with difficulty, yet with a pleasant sound.

But these words made Shien smile, and everyone around him also smiled joyfully.

“S-she succeeded!”

Elise was the first to cheer.

“She actually succeeded…”

Leisha still couldn’t believe it.

“Congratulations.”

Lasha said concisely.

“That’s wonderful.”

Anima couldn’t hide the emotion on her face, seemingly relieved by the return of her fellow Divine Race member after ten thousand years.

Even Airi said,

“It seems the strongest evil god has returned.”

The evil god who had once caused the greatest disaster, turning the land into hell, had finally returned to her original form.

This also meant that a goddess comparable to a Demon Lord had appeared in this world.

“I really don’t know if I should be happy about this.”

Airi said these words, but judging from her relaxed expression, she probably didn’t really consider this a bad thing, right?

Unfortunately, the thoughts of others didn’t seem to matter to Beatrice now… no, it should be Lilith.

Lilith just looked at the human man before her, at his heartfelt smile, as if wanting to remember it forever, his face reflected in her amethyst eyes.

The image lingered for a long time.

…

“Hum!”

The transparent barrier enveloping Cosmos slowly vanished.

“Oh my god…”

“Cosmos…”

“Is it gone…?”

The citizens who had fled the city finally saw the situation inside the barrier. Looking at the wasteland reduced to ruins, they were all dumbfounded.

They wouldn’t know what had happened.

They wouldn’t understand the cause and effect of everything.

They could only stand there blankly, not knowing how much time had passed, still unable to recover.

No one noticed that on the summit of a mountain some distance away from Cosmos, a person was standing at the edge of a cliff, taking everything in.

“It seems it’s over.”

A tall woman, dressed only in white, like a ghost, standing barefoot, with fair skin and long, straight black hair, looked displeased, as if her fun had been spoiled.

“In the end, after causing such a big commotion, only a city was destroyed, without any serious casualties. This operation was a complete failure.”

The woman seemed dissatisfied with this result.

A voice replied to her.

“It was indeed a failure, but it wasn’t without serious casualties. My [Mirage] was almost annihilated, all members sacrificed, not a single survivor.”

Saying so, a gentle and refined demon man appeared behind the woman.

If Shien and the others were here, they would definitely be surprised, right?

Because this gentle demon man was Danas, whose head had been cut off by Shien.

Danas, along with his four Warfighters, appeared here nonchalantly.

“I told you before, leaving that rational half behind might lead to unexpected events. You just wouldn’t listen. Now, you’ve done all this work for nothing, my ally.”

Danas spread his hands and said helplessly.

The woman puffed out her cheeks and said with dissatisfaction,

“It’s because the magical lifeforms you lent me were too useless. They let some random noble from the Kingdom of Mitra take the other half, causing the beastmen priests to become enemies with the Kingdom. Who knew they would choose such a troublesome target.”

The woman’s words, though spoken in a petulant tone, sounded incredibly cold.

“You still hate the Hero and his country so much.”

Danas seemed to have no way to deal with the woman’s actions.

“Don’t you hate them?” The woman’s expression changed, and she looked at Danas. “I know you’re not really the leader of [Mirage], right?”

“Wrong. I am indeed the leader of [Mirage]. There’s no doubt about that.” Danas looked at the woman and chuckled. “However, that’s just the identity I use when acting outside. It’s a personal force I established while wandering around.”

“No wonder.” The woman suddenly realized and smiled. “I was wondering why the son of the leader of [Original Demon] would be wandering around with a [Mirage] for no reason.”

“I never thought that this wandering would lead me to you, who was betrayed by the Hero.” Danas smiled. “So, it was quite a fruitful trip, right?”

“Indeed, this time wasn’t completely without gains.” The woman turned her head and looked in the direction of Cosmos. “At least, we learned a good secret.”

“Yes.” The gentle smile on Danas’s face turned cold. “I didn’t expect that even now, a Hero would be summoned to this world.”

“Indeed.” The woman still had a smile on her face, but like Danas, it became cold and ruthless. “How wonderful. We have another target for revenge.”

“Let’s go.” Danas said to the woman. “As we agreed, after this operation, you’ll come to our side.”

“Don’t worry, I remember.” The woman said nonchalantly.

To her, it truly didn’t matter.

“As long as I can destroy the Kingdom of Mitra and the Hero, even if it’s hell, I’ll follow.”

The woman’s voice shook the atmosphere, making the mountain tremble.

“Very good.”

Danas’s cold smile finally softened.

The two then left together, as if they had never appeared.

Chapter 388: “I Am Lilith.”

“—”

This was a realm no one could reach.

This was a world no one could arrive at.

In this realm, in this world, only Beatrice wandered like a soul.

Because this was within Lilith, inside the goddess, the depths of her consciousness, or perhaps the “soul” itself.

And here, Beatrice felt herself becoming hazy, her very existence unstable.

Disintegrating.

Collapsing.

Vanishing.

Unable to hold on.

Although she didn’t feel any discomfort, these feelings continuously surged into Beatrice’s mind, making her understand how dire her current situation was.

It was like being immersed in a deadly poison, yet losing the ability to feel pain. It wasn’t safe, but even more dangerous.

This was how Beatrice felt right now.

With this feeling, Beatrice began to recall her memories.

She couldn’t speak.

She wasn’t mature.

Even though she had existed for nearly ten thousand years, in terms of personality and rationality, although Beatrice had grown, it was in a distorted direction.

She wanted to enhance her rationality, her personality, to fight against the main body that rejected her, but the chaotic nature governed by the main body constantly suppressed her growth, causing her rationality and intellect to develop in a strange direction.

In some areas, she was very knowledgeable and understanding, seemingly more experienced than a centenarian, almost transcendent.

But in other areas, she was ignorant, even more so than a child.

Such a contradictory and distorted mentality had persisted for nearly ten thousand years, sometimes making Beatrice anxious, sometimes driving her to the brink of collapse.

She didn’t know how to complain or blame fate for treating her this way. Therefore, she could only wander the land endlessly to alleviate her anxiety and sense of collapse.

In Beatrice’s memories, there was truly nothing else.

Ever since she was born, as the rational half, she was expelled from the main body, then sealed along with it after the main body caused a great disaster, and then began this extremely long journey of wandering.

During this journey, she had met people who pitied her and took her in.

She had also met people with malicious intentions towards her.

She tried living with the former, but found that they had their own families and lives, with no place for her. She even had trouble communicating with them, a huge gap between them. Therefore, she eventually chose to leave.

She had also been taken away by the latter, sold as a commodity, and even when they tried to do unscrupulous things to her, she didn’t resist. Fortunately, she was still the ruler of darkness and chaos, even if just a powerless rational half. Those who approached her with dark and evil intentions, or even tried to harm her, would eventually go insane and die on the spot.

Beatrice had lived like this for nearly ten thousand years, either being accepted and then leaving due to the feeling of alienation, or attracting evil people who died because of her.

Therefore, from beginning to end, Beatrice was alone.

People called her the “vengeful spirit seeking happiness,” but she didn’t even know what “happiness” was.

She didn’t even know what “unhappiness” was.

Otherwise, when the Old Demon Faction destroyed the spatial node, invaded the manifested temple, and took her away, she wouldn’t have offered no resistance.

That time, for Beatrice, was just an insignificant episode in her long journey.

The only difference was that because someone was targeting the main body’s seal and might release her, Beatrice had a thought.

That was, to make this journey her final destination.

She didn’t want to continue like this anymore.

She didn’t want to wander anymore.

Therefore, even though she knew the final result would be her obliteration, she planned to return to her main body after this, taking advantage of this opportunity.

Until she met that person.

“Hello there.”

These were the first words he said to her when he saw her.

Very ordinary, very common words, without any special significance.

At that time, Beatrice didn’t think she would have much to do with him.

He was just like those people in the past, encountering her, having some connection with her, and then either she would leave on her own, or he would die like those who had perished before him. That was all.

But for some reason, his eyes at that time left a deep impression on Beatrice.

It was a look that seemed to see a big trouble, clearly not wanting to get involved, yet his body and mind went against his will, forcing him to make contact, his eyes full of conflict.

That look made Beatrice curious.

In the past, those who saw Beatrice either looked at her with sympathy and pity, or with desire and darkness. She had never seen such a strange person.

Curious about that look, Beatrice slipped into his bed that night, wanting to take a closer look at his eyes, but because his embrace was too comforting, she fell asleep unconsciously.

Beatrice didn’t know why she felt warmth and comfort in his arms.

She also didn’t know that Shien possessed the Supreme God’s blessing. Otherwise, she might have understood that the reason she felt this way was because Shien, carrying the aura of the Mother of Gods, made her, also a member of the Divine Race, feel as secure as if she were in her parent’s embrace.

But what truly changed Beatrice’s state of mind was what happened the next day.

“Little one, do you want to come with me?”

When he looked directly at her and said these words, Beatrice was quite surprised.

Not because no one had ever said this to her.

In the past, those who took her in and adopted her had said these words.

But their eyes were completely different from his.

Those who wanted to take her in and adopt her in the past only saw her as an abandoned child of unknown origin, taking her into their lives out of sympathy, pity, and fondness.

But this person was different.

His eyes didn’t seem to want to take her to his side, but rather, he intended to enter her side, to intervene in her life, her fate.

These were two completely different things.

The former was asking her to abandon her past and live with them, but Beatrice couldn’t do that, so she left.

The latter, however, was asking her to face her problems directly, and he would intervene and face them with her.

Especially the emotion he occasionally revealed, as if looking at someone who shared a similar fate, made Beatrice feel a different kind of connection compared to those she had met in the past.

Perhaps even he himself didn’t know he had shown such an emotion?

Therefore, at that time, Beatrice nodded.

Not out of a passive choice to go with the flow, but for the first time ever, out of her own volition, true to her heart, she nodded.

From that moment on, everything was destined to change.

Later, Beatrice discovered that he was the Hero, that he possessed the Holy Sword, and that he could not only help her break the seal and return to her main body, but also help her weaken her main body’s power, increasing her chances of success.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”

He clearly wasn’t someone who would say such kind words, but when facing her, he naturally said them.

“Don’t forget, I was the one who gave you the choice to follow me, and I was the one who told you to tell me anything and promised to help you. Since you made the choice, I will definitely see it through.”

For this reason, he even recklessly broke the seal, or rather, knowingly caused trouble and chose to do so. He was truly impulsive and reckless.

However…

“Don’t rush, we still have time. Let’s think carefully about what to do.”

“Okay?”

These words, incredibly, soothed the anxiety and sense of collapse in Beatrice’s heart, and her incomplete rationality suddenly had a thought.

That was, she shouldn’t give up and seek death.

Yes.

Before this, Beatrice’s desire to return was just an act of desperation.

The result she sought wasn’t success, but an end to everything.

In other words, whether she succeeded or failed in the end didn’t matter.

She just didn’t want to continue like this anymore.

It was only then that Beatrice had the thought of wanting to succeed for the first time.

Even though the hope was still slim, Lilith’s very nature made it difficult, even problematic, for her to gain proper rationality and intellect, but Beatrice still wanted to give it a try.

If she failed, then so be it.

But if she succeeded, this time, she would definitely eliminate the alienation she had felt in the past, enter someone’s life, and truly develop her rationality.

Of course, Beatrice now only wanted to enter one person’s life.

That was him—

“I’m Shien. What’s your name?”

These were also his words when they first met.

At that time, her answer was—”Beatrice.”

But this time, she wanted to answer like this.

“I am Lilith.”

“Returned from darkness, born from chaos, with the help of the Hero, I finally gained rationality.”

“Evil god?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“I am a goddess, Goddess Lilith.”

Thus, the girl’s wavering, almost collapsing soul quickly stabilized.

…

“Rumble…”

This was the roar of the sky.

This was the tremor of the earth.

Above Cosmos, within the bright sphere of light, a brilliant radiance pierced through the darkness like sunlight, illuminating the surroundings.

Chapter 387: “She’s a Lot Like Me.”

According to Anima, the Divine Race’s [True Mark] usually wouldn’t manifest externally, and after death, it would immediately conceal itself and slowly move to another location, waiting for reincarnation.

However, this didn’t mean that the [True Mark] couldn’t be discovered.

If enemies had special abilities, knew about the existence of the [True Mark] in advance, and discovered its location, they could completely destroy it, preventing the goddess of the Divine Race from reincarnating.

Therefore, the goddesses of the Divine Race had a custom since ancient times: entrusting their [True Mark] to someone truly trustworthy to protect its safety.

That way, no matter how the goddesses fought, even if they died, they would one day be reincarnated and resurrected near this person.

However, this also meant one thing.

That was, entrusting one’s life and death entirely to this person, even being completely bound to them.

If they trusted the wrong person, giving their [True Mark] to them would be suicide.

Even if they trusted the right person, if that person didn’t have enough power to protect the [True Mark] or their own safety, then if that person died, the goddess would also die along with them, without any chance of survival.

Because of this reason, goddesses of the Divine Race wouldn’t easily entrust their [True Mark]. The more powerful the goddess, the less likely they were to do so.

After all, it was more reassuring and safer to protect themselves than to entrust their lives to others, right?

Therefore, entrusting the [True Mark] usually only happened among weaker or completely non-combatant members of the Divine Race. Goddesses who could fight and protect themselves, or those who didn’t trust others easily, usually wouldn’t do such a thing.

Especially now that the war between the Divine Race and the Demon Race was over, the factors threatening the lives of the Divine Race goddesses had greatly decreased, and even fewer would choose to entrust their [True Mark].

Moreover, once the [True Mark] was entrusted, it couldn’t be taken back and would even completely merge with the other party, unable to be separated. This was a life-altering decision, and nowadays, almost no one would choose to do so.

But Beatrice had entrusted her [True Mark] to Shien.

What did this mean?

It was simple.

“She wants you to take care of the aftermath.”

Airi stated Beatrice’s thoughts bluntly.

“If she fails in the end, you’ll just destroy the [True Mark]. That way, Lilith will completely disappear and won’t pose a threat to this world.”

That was it.

Shien felt a mix of emotions.

He couldn’t help but touch his hand.

On that hand, the rune mark called the [True Mark] wasn’t very obvious. If one didn’t pay attention, it would be hard to notice.

But such a small mark determined the life and death of a goddess comparable to a Demon Lord.

“Phew…”

Shien exhaled, releasing all the complex emotions in his heart, and looked up at the sphere of light in the sky.

No one knew what Shien was thinking.

Except for Lasha, who had been watching him.

“Leave the rest to Miss Beatrice.” Lasha said indifferently, as if unintentionally. “Even if Mr. Shien rushes in now, he won’t be able to help much.”

“…I know.” Shien smiled wryly, but still stared intently at the sphere of light in the sky.

Thinking back, it was quite unbelievable.

“I’m not a good person.”

Shien suddenly said these words involuntarily.

“Although I was inexplicably summoned to this world and given a second life, even receiving the strongest Holy Sword and the strongest cheat, I didn’t actually intend to do anything special.”

Shien’s sudden confession stunned everyone, then they all fell silent.

They didn’t speak, but they all listened attentively.

Whether it was Anima and Elise, who didn’t know Shien’s identity and existence, or Airi, Leisha, and Lasha, who already knew, they all focused their attention and listened carefully.

Because this was the first time they had heard Shien talk about himself, and it was a good opportunity to understand his thoughts and current situation.

Under such circumstances, Shien slowly recounted,

“I don’t have any grand ambitions to save the world.”

“Nor do I have any great ambitions to conquer the world.”

“I don’t know if it’s my original personality, or if my values have changed after dying once and being different from my past life, but I simply objectively accepted the fact that I was alive again. Although I felt curious and emotional, I wasn’t overly joyful or excited.”

Reincarnating into another world and becoming a Hero.

If this happened to others, they would definitely be excited, thrilled, apprehensive, at a loss, even confused for a long time, right?

They would also have all sorts of thoughts, realizing that their lives had completely changed, and eventually become determined to leave their mark and do something in this other world, right?

But Shien didn’t have any of that.

“I’m very adaptable.”

“I also go with the flow.”

“Besides wanting to repay the goddess who summoned and resurrected me, helping her achieve her purpose as the price for my second life, I don’t have anything I want to do.”

“Of course, I don’t feel empty because of this, nor do I think there’s anything wrong with it. Because my thoughts are also very ordinary. I just want to avoid too much trouble, live peacefully in this world, and see some interesting things and events.”

“Honestly, choosing someone like me to be the Hero was probably a mistake.”

Shien said.

“I know myself very well. I’m not a kind person, nor am I someone who considers others. I’m not a good person, but I’m not a bad person either. I’m just a very ordinary and common person.”

Ordinary people were like this. Not everyone was kind, nor did everyone consider others. They only looked out for themselves.

Shien was the same as them, so he always considered himself a very ordinary person.

“If I can help others by doing something effortless, I’ll still do it, since it doesn’t affect me much.”

“However, a little girl was inexplicably left with me, and the people with her all committed suicide. Later events further indicated that she wasn’t an ordinary person. Getting involved with her would definitely be a big trouble.”

“With my usual style, I would definitely avoid such trouble. Even if I couldn’t bring myself to abandon the little girl, I would definitely try to entrust her to someone else and shift the responsibility.”

But in the end, Shien went against his usual style, not only taking Beatrice with him but also willingly helping her, even revealing his identity and breaking the seal despite the potential trouble, offending the beastmen priest group. It was unimaginable.

Shien always thought it was his inexplicable premonition.

But now that he thought about it carefully, if that premonition was truly the guidance of fate, then it wasn’t leading Shien to do something, but allowing him to do what he wanted to do.

Lucy had also said that the premonitions and revelations brought by the blessing of the Goddess of Fate were an ability that “when something that must be resolved by oneself appears, guided by fate, one will eventually encounter the problem itself through various coincidences and chances.”

In other words, if it wasn’t closely related to the person, or something that the person couldn’t ignore due to their personality and had to resolve, the premonitions and revelations wouldn’t appear.

So, what did Beatrice’s matter have to do with Shien?

Why did Shien go against his usual style and actively help Beatrice, even causing so much trouble and creating such a big commotion?

The reason was actually simple.

“She’s a lot like me.”

Shien finally understood this.

“I was inexplicably reincarnated and summoned to this world as the Hero.”

“She was inexplicably born and became an evil god, also coming to this world.”

“The difference is that I was chosen as the Hero and received almost all benefits, while she was chosen as the evil god and received almost all disadvantages, not only being rejected by her own body and power but also inexplicably becoming a ghost.”

“When I went with the flow, she also went with the flow, but my going with the flow was my own choice, while hers was forced. She had to watch helplessly as her other half caused a great disaster and was sealed, and as a result, she was also sealed.”

“And then, I only had one goal, to repay my debt, so I wandered around. She also only had one goal, to return to her main body, but she wandered this land for nearly ten thousand years without seeing any hope.”

Shien said with a hint of sarcasm.

“We are two stark contrasts. We had such similar beginnings, such similar starting points, even our journeys and directions were somewhat similar, but our developments and outcomes were worlds apart.”

“It’s like a warning to me that if I take a wrong step, or if I’m unlucky, her fate will be mine.”

How could Shien not be moved and do something?

But if he waited until he knew all this before taking action, it might have been too late.

Therefore, the revelation of fate appeared, making Shien choose to take Beatrice with him and lend her a hand.

This was the true reason behind everything Shien had done.

At this moment, Shien realized this.

And he had done everything he should do.

In that case…

“You should also return to your starting point, to that beginning, and choose what to do next, little girl.”

Shien said these words to the sphere of light in the sky.

“Don’t fail, okay?”

Shien’s words ended here.

The women, listening to these words, didn’t speak, remaining silent.

As for what they were thinking, only they knew.