Chapter 194: Birth of the New King

Nicholas, stand up! Stand up!

Sali frantically activated the gem on his staff, issuing command after command to Nicholas.

However, Nicholas had already been bitten in half by the Demon King Beast.

He lay motionless on the ground.

The runes on his body had lost their glow, blood pooling everywhere, and his eyes had gone completely dim, like an extinguished candle flame.

“This…”

Sali’s face turned deathly pale as his pupils shrank sharply.

Cold reality stared him in the face—his strongest trump card had lost.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the ferocious Demon King Beast before him.

Its crimson eyes locked onto him with killing intent as cold as the deepest winter, making his entire body tremble.

“Wait! We can talk! I’ll discuss anything! As long as you spare my life, I will offer all the resources of the ancient families!”

“Where did all that arrogance go?” Sashaya mocked. “You really are quick to change your tune. You’re completely different from a few minutes ago.”

“I was wrong!”

Sali was already quite old.

Compared to other demons, he had lived a long life.

But the higher one stood, the more afraid of death they became.

When death truly arrived, he felt he had not lived nearly enough.

“I am willing to recognize you as the Demon King of the Desolate Fallen Continent.

I will fully support you in establishing a royal court and invest all our resources into it!

I ask for nothing in return.

Just let me live, and I will give everything!”

The Demon King Beast stopped in front of Sali.

“I will never act against you again.

If you’re worried, I can immediately relinquish my position as Patriarch of the Shadow Family and exile myself from the Desolate Fallen Continent.

From now on, I will never set foot in this land again!”

Sali saw a glimmer of hope and forced a smile onto his face.

“This is an extremely good deal!

Think about it carefully.

Even if you kill me here, it won’t be easy to integrate the resources of the ancient families.

But if I remain alive, all it takes is a few orders—”

“Ahhh!”

The Shadow Family patriarch’s body stiffened.

His voice cut off abruptly.

He slowly lowered his head and saw that the Demon King Beast’s tail had already pierced through his aged body, creating a massive hole.

How unwilling…

Sali wanted to say more, but unfortunately his final words never left his mouth.

He collapsed and stopped breathing.

“Lord Sali…”

Hels watched Sali die miserably right in front of him.

He collapsed weakly to the ground in terror, his gold-rimmed glasses falling into the pool of blood.

The usual elegance on his face was completely gone.

He slowly looked up.

The black flames on the Demon King Beast gradually dissipated, revealing a pink-haired girl standing before him.

“Hels, do you have anything left to say?”

Via raised Desolate Fire and pointed it at Hels.

“I…”

Hels lowered his head.

Since she had not even spared Sali, there was no reason she would spare him.

Even if he pushed all the blame onto Sali, it would only anger her further.

When he had served under Ville, he had genuinely admired this Demon King who rose from nothing, though a trace of jealousy had also existed in his heart.

After receiving Sali’s orders, his feelings had been complicated—both conflicted and secretly delighted.

If back then he had not followed Sali’s command and had instead told Ville everything, would today’s situation have turned out differently?

Unfortunately, there were no “if onlys.”

Hels smiled bitterly and slowly stood up.

Death was inevitable.

If even Nicholas could not win, there was no chance for him.

Today he was destined to die.

The only choice left was whether he would die with dignity.

“No need for you to do it.”

After saying this, the former aide to the Demon King brought his fingers together and swiftly slashed them across his own throat, ending his life by his own hand.

“Demon King, you clearly could have killed him yourself.

Why did you just watch him commit suicide?” Desolate Fire asked curiously.

“Never mind.

At least he still had some backbone and didn’t dirty my hands.”

Via lowered Desolate Fire.

The battle was finally over.

“Demon King! Demon King!!”

Kurei jumped down from Albion and ran excitedly toward Via.

“Congratulations on your victory, Demon King!!” Melu followed right behind her.

The two demon maids surrounded Via, their faces blooming with bright smiles.

Little Ha also bounced around Via, meowing loudly.

“Meow meow meow!” She offered her heartfelt blessings to the new Demon King.

“Thank you, all of you,” Via replied happily.

“There should be no more disputes now.

Via, you are the new Demon King of the Desolate Fallen Continent,” Sashaya walked up to Via.

“Not bad at all.

I got to watch a truly entertaining show.

I was originally wondering how to deal with the ancient families, but Sali conveniently used Nicholas to wipe them all out in one go and saved me the trouble.”

Via looked at the corpses of the ancient family members and sighed.

This Sali really had not taken the other ancient families seriously at all.

When pushed into a corner, he had sacrificed them all to Nicholas.

If someone like him had truly controlled Nicholas and become the Demon King of the Desolate Fallen Continent, it would have been a great calamity for the demon race.

“It’s truly unbelievable, Via.

You can still maintain your sanity and talk to me normally.

You turned into a Demon King Beast earlier, yet you managed to return to human form,” Sashaya said.

“Truly worthy of my father’s bloodline, I suppose…

It even surprised me,” Via said as she looked at her own hands.

She found the whole thing incredible.

During the battle, she had plundered all the Abyssal Force in the space—including the power Nicholas had forcibly extracted—making it all hers.

As a result, her strength had grown even greater.

“You should have reached Legendary tier by now, right?” Sashaya asked.

“Yes.

I was close before, but now I’ve officially broken through to Legendary tier.

Not bad.

The speed of this power growth is really something.

In my previous life, I had already reached Legendary tier by the age of seventeen.” Via smiled.

“This life is actually two years slower.”

“Are you showing off to me?”

Sashaya sounded a bit displeased, but she knew that if the Demon King wasn’t powerful, she wouldn’t have joined the royal court either.

“Perform well from now on, Via.

Show me just how far you can lead the demon race.”

After the brutal battle at Starlight Palace, a new Demon King was born.

The wind carried this news swiftly to every corner of the Desolate Fallen Continent.

All demonkind would soon know the name of the new king—

Via Shirleyford.