Via currently had no idea about the state of the demons, as she had been “dead” for many years.
Now that she had encountered Kurei, this was the perfect opportunity to ask.
The main region where demons were active was called the Desolate Fallen Continent, located in the south of the Theia Continent, extremely close to a mysterious area known as the Thousand Sea Abyss.
The ruins of the Demon King’s Castle were situated in the northern part of the Desolate Fallen Continent, quite near human territory.
Demon King Ville had chosen to build his royal castle here precisely to use it as a stronghold, with his sword pointed toward the human world.
It was only a pity that his ambition had not been fulfilled.
“Where should I begin…”
Kurei pondered for a moment.
“Lord Demon King, after you chose to fake your death, the royal court under your command was disbanded. The Desolate Fallen Continent entered a long period of chaos, and even mutual warfare broke out.”
“As expected.”
Via was not surprised.
From long ago, numerous large and small factions had existed within the Desolate Fallen Continent; the demons were never truly united.
Only after the Demon King rose to power did the various factions temporarily set aside open conflicts in accordance with the ancient order passed down from primordial times, forming the royal court and serving together under the Demon King.
However, this order was extremely fragile, barely held together solely by the existence of this Demon King.
If the Demon King died, fragmentation would reemerge until the next Demon King appeared.
Thus, after Demon King Ville’s death, the demons had never again launched an external war against the humans.
“I heard some people planned to select a new Demon King within the Desolate Fallen Continent, reform the royal court, and complete the hegemony you left unfinished. But I don’t know the details,” Kurei replied. “You know I’ve never really cared about that sort of thing!”
“Someone actually wants to take my place?”
Via was rather curious—who, after her death, wanted to ascend to the position of King of Demons?
The throne of Demon King was actually something of a hot potato.
On the surface, commanding the demons sounded extremely glorious.
But the many great factions were far from pushovers. In the extremely harsh environment of the Desolate Fallen Continent, they had survived for countless eras, with foundations deep beyond imagination.
In the past, she had spent considerable effort merely mediating conflicts between the major factions.
Several times, internal war among demons had nearly broken out.
In a certain sense, she, the King of Demons of the Desolate Fallen Continent, had been more like a neutral arbiter chosen by the great factions under mutual deterrence to maintain balance.
“Lord Demon King, what are your plans?” Kurei asked curiously. “Will you announce your return to the entire Desolate Fallen Continent right now?”
“…No.”
Via shook her head.
How could she possibly return to the Desolate Fallen Continent now?
Her strength was still far from sufficient—she hadn’t even reached the Transcendent tier.
Within the Desolate Fallen Continent, there were real powerhouses at the Legendary tier, above Transcendent.
If a Legendary-tier expert came looking for her, wouldn’t she shatter at a single touch?
She definitely needed to develop properly for a while longer.
“I currently have other plans. Kurei, I do intend to return in the future, but not now.”
“What a shame. Only the salary Lord Demon King offered was the highest—paid on time, triple pay for overtime, and stable holidays. All the other bosses are so stingy…”
Kurei sounded truly regretful.
……
……
“Captain, this is bad!”
In the encampment stationed by the Holy Land, a holy knight rushed hurriedly to the captain.
“We’ve received an emergency distress signal from deep within the ruins of the Demon King’s Castle!”
“An emergency distress signal?”
The holy knight captain frowned.
The Holy Land currently had no teams inside the Demon King’s Castle ruins—it shouldn’t be from their side.
Was it from the Saint Luo Empire?
“The emergency distress signal—is it from the Saint Luo Empire’s side?”
“No, sir! The Saint Luo Empire’s team withdrew from the Demon King’s Castle ruins three days ago!” the holy knight reported.
“Then could it be…?”
An ominous premonition rose in the holy knight captain’s heart.
Because aside from the Holy Land and the Saint Luo Empire, recently Avalon Academy had also come to the Demon King’s Castle ruins to conduct an exploration activity.
“Captain, the signal was sent by Avalon Academy!” the holy knight reported.
“What?”
The holy knight captain’s unease was confirmed.
“Captain, what’s going on…?”
Sophie, having just finished treating the wounded, entered the room. She was about to report to the captain when she saw this scene.
“Miss Sophie, things have gone terribly wrong,” the holy knight captain said with a furrowed brow. “Avalon Academy ventured deep into the Demon King’s Castle ruins, encountered danger, and sent a distress signal to us!”
“Avalon Academy’s exploration activity was supposed to be conducted only in the outer areas of the Demon King’s Castle ruins. Why would a signal come from the extremely dangerous depths?” Sophie could not understand.
“We don’t know the details either. For now, all we can confirm is this one piece of information,” the reporting holy knight said gravely. “Captain, what should we do?”
“…We move out.”
After a moment of thought, the holy knight captain gave his answer.
“We cannot ignore our fellow humans trapped in crisis.”
“But…”
“No buts!”
The holy knight captain knew what his subordinate wanted to say and immediately cut him off.
“If we cannot save our fellow humans in difficulty, how can we spread the holy faith? Moreover, you and I both graduated from Avalon Academy together. We surely cannot just watch as the future heroes of humanity die in this land of evil, can we?”
“…Yes, Captain. We should rescue them after all!” The holy knight agreed with the captain’s choice.
“Miss Sophie, if possible, please assist us. The depths of the Demon King’s Castle ruins still harbor much abyssal aura—we will need your purification ability.” The holy knight captain turned to Sophie.
“Understood.” Sophie nodded in agreement.
…
Deep within the Demon King’s Castle ruins.
The Holy Land’s knight order was arduously advancing toward the source of the distress signal.
“Hah!!”
The holy knight captain led the charge, swinging his battle axe into a magical beast corrupted by abyssal aura. The other holy knights coordinated attacks from the sides.
Sophie used her bloodline abilities to release sacred arts upon all the fighting holy knights, protecting them from abyssal corruption.
“We’ll be there soon—hold on a little longer!” the holy knight captain shouted to the others after defeating the beast.
The holy knights raised their hands in response to their captain.
“Thank goodness Via didn’t come. She won’t be in danger…”
Sophie suddenly thought of her younger sister. She felt relieved—her sister’s timid personality meant she wouldn’t participate in this activity.
However, as if sensing something, she abruptly stopped in her tracks.
“Miss Sophie, what’s wrong?” The holy knight captain turned back, looking puzzled at the red-haired girl.
“Something’s not right…”
Sophie’s breathing quickened.
“Via is deep within the Demon King’s Castle ruins.”