The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 649: Gains? An Uncertain Situation

“Whoa…!”

As Shien Buztout stepped out of his room, a small figure crashed into his arms, startling him.

“Lilith?”

Shien recognized the small figure. It was Lilith, clinging tightly to him, her large eyes filled with relief, worry, and self-blame.

Shien understood.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” he said, gently stroking Lilith’s head.

As Lasha said, this little goddess seemed to blame herself for not being able to help or protect Shien that day.

But for Shien, Lilith being safe and sound was more important than anything.

Seeing Lilith swallowed by her own evil aura that day had terrified him. This little goddess held an extremely important place in his heart.

That was why he lost control, unsealed his Holy Sword, pushed [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] to its limit, and used all his means.

Thinking back, Shien felt he had been too impulsive. Mara, although she used some method to restrain Lilith, could only restrain her, not harm her.

And it was true.

Mara sacrificed a replica of Lilith’s other half, temporarily wielding Lilith’s power and controlling her evil aura, but she couldn’t use Lilith’s power to harm her.

Her intention was only to make Lilith’s power go berserk and buy some time. Once Lilith regained control, she would break free.

Shien had indeed been impulsive. But he didn’t regret it. Although it led to his identity being exposed and the inevitable troubles that would follow, so what?

As he always said, Shien considered himself an ordinary person, not like those protagonists in novels who could calmly analyze everything from a god’s perspective.

If he had such a strong mentality, he would have achieved something in his previous life.

Therefore, Shien didn’t regret it.

Lilith, still blaming herself, clung tightly to Shien, refusing to let go.

Shien could only let her be, then, taking Lasha with him, he left the room.

Upon leaving, he saw two other people.

“You’re finally awake, Hero,” Leisha said, sitting in the living room, drinking tea, and looking at Shien with a sarcastic smile, “Are you alright?”

Diere was also there, sitting across from Leisha, also drinking tea. Seeing Shien, she put down her cup and looked relieved.

“Sorry for making you worry,” Shien shrugged, walking towards the two girls.

Then, he immediately looked at Diere.

“Are you okay?” Shien asked, looking her over, “Lasha told me you were injured.”

“Just minor injuries,” Diere said indifferently, “Wolram Raifurut didn’t use lethal force, seemingly wanting to enjoy torturing me.”

“Torture…” Shien narrowed his eyes, “I should have taken care of that trash when I destroyed the Raifurut family, knowing he would show up.”

“You did take care of him,” Leisha glanced at Shien, “But it was just his clone. He has many.”

During this month in the Imperial Capital, Leisha had also used her abilities to learn about Wolram’s Unique Skill.

“If he hadn’t messed up and been used and discarded by Mara, it wouldn’t have been so easy to eliminate him completely.”

Wolram had brought his demise upon himself.

Perhaps, the moment he targeted Diere, his fate was sealed, possibly due to the interference of the [Goddess of Fate’s Blessing].

There was no point in discussing him further.

“By the way,” Shien remembered something and asked Diere, “Did you find your horn after that?”

Shien hadn’t forgotten that this was Diere’s purpose for coming to the Imperial Capital.

She wanted to find the horn that was cut off by her mother.

Now, this goal seemed to have come to naught.

“My horn is probably gone,” Diere’s eyes flickered as she said softly, “Mara seemed to have used my horn for something that day.”

Since Mara ascended into the sky and kept bombarding the Imperial Palace with a death aura storm, no one, including Shien, saw what she did.

Diere didn’t know that Mara used her horn as a substitute for herself, creating a clone for the sacrifice, and Shien didn’t know what Mara did to suddenly gain transcendent power.

However, with the sensing ability of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree], Shien could sense that Mara had performed a large-scale magic ritual, using its power to trap Lilith and fulfill the prophecy in the Empire’s legend.

The sky was indeed shrouded in darkness, and the earth turned crimson. Shien couldn’t have missed these.

Then, something was awakened on this land and fell into Mara’s hands.

“The Branch of Rejuvenation… huh?”

Shien murmured softly.

Perhaps that mysterious supreme treasure, the Branch of Rejuvenation, was the reason why Mara suddenly gained transcendent power.

“Can that treasure allow one to surpass the limits of life and achieve Transcendence?”

Shien didn’t know for sure.

But he knew that Mara had definitely achieved some goal.

Fortunately, he had killed her.

But where was the Branch of Rejuvenation now?

As Shien pondered this, he returned to the original question.

“So, you couldn’t find your horn?”

Shien asked regretfully.

If Diere’s horn was truly lost, it would be a great loss for her, right?

After all, it was very likely the only way for her to control her Unique Skill.

If it couldn’t be found, it would be a great loss.

However, as Shien felt regretful, Diere shook her head.

“The original horn is indeed gone, but I did gain something.”

“Gained something?” Shien was stunned.

“Don’t worry about it,” Diere said after a moment of thought, “I’m still confirming it. I’ll tell you after I’m sure.”

Diere seemed uncertain about something.

“Alright,” Shien nodded, “If there’s any problem, tell me immediately. This time, I won’t allow you to act recklessly on your own.”

Hearing this, Diere looked up at Shien’s serious expression, then nodded firmly after a while, showing her understanding.

At this time, Leisha spoke again.

“Compared to this, there’s a more troublesome matter to deal with, right?” Leisha said, resting her chin on her hand, looking at Shien with a smirk, “Don’t forget, your identity has been completely exposed.”

Her gloating look made Shien want to punch her.

But before he could, Lasha also spoke.

“The Demon Race’s recent movements are concerning,” Lasha said calmly, “If Master Shien plans to go out, please be careful.”

“I know,” Shien curled his lip, seemingly unconcerned.

However, Shien took these words to heart.

Now that his identity was exposed, he had to pay attention to the Demon Race’s movements.

“I wonder how that dragon girl who returned to the Demon Realm is doing now.”

Shien sighed.

With his identity exposed, if the Demon Race took any action, that little girl would probably also do something, right?

He wondered what she would do.

Shien couldn’t help but recall the passionate kiss they shared on the roof of the treehouse on his last night in the Elven Homeland.

Thinking of this, Shien missed that dragon girl.

“It hasn’t even been a few days since we parted…”

Shien smiled wryly.

It hadn’t even been a few days, and that girl probably wouldn’t have thought that his identity would be exposed so soon after she left.

Life was truly unpredictable.

“I’ll deal with the Demon Race later,” Shien said, “Now, I want to go to the Imperial Palace.”

According to Lasha, the situation at the Imperial Palace didn’t seem very good.

Especially Harvis, whose current condition was terrible, making Capeline very worried.

Shien wanted to go there and see.

As the “hosts,” perhaps they might have discovered something after cleaning up the battlefield.

Diere didn’t object, remaining silent.

Leisha also didn’t seem very concerned, glancing at Shien, then at Lasha, seemingly lost in thought.

Lilith clung to Shien, unwilling to leave. After some coaxing, she was finally taken by Lasha.

So, Shien left the Bigusler residence and headed towards the Imperial Palace.

Chapter 650: The Demon Race’s Prying Eyes

“Hmm?”

As Shien Buztout left the Bigusler residence, he noticed something was amiss.

No, not just the surroundings, but the entire Imperial Capital.

Looking around, he saw that except for the Bigusler residence and a few other major noble houses, most buildings were damaged.

Some had collapsed halfway, some had corners missing, and some were completely reduced to rubble, making the entire noble district look like a construction site.

People were working around these buildings, using magic to repair and renovate them, creating a bustling atmosphere of post-disaster reconstruction.

This wasn’t strange.

What was strange was the occasional sweeps of magic power in the air.

“Detection magic?”

Shien pondered.

The magic power sweeping through the air was a sign of detection magic being cast.

Someone was investigating the Imperial Capital.

Moreover, judging by the magic power fluctuations, the caster was a powerful expert, and there was more than one.

Shien had a feeling.

“Are they looking for me?”

This was the only reason Shien could think of. In the current Imperial Capital, besides himself, only the eleven missing Demon Lord Larvae were worth such a large-scale magic detection.

But if they were searching for the larvae, the magic detection should be more overt.

These magic power fluctuations, however, were subtle, telling Shien that the casters didn’t want to be discovered.

Such secretive behavior meant that it wasn’t the Imperial Knights searching for the Demon Lord Larvae, but someone else looking for him.

“Is it a reconnaissance unit from another country, or the Demon Race?”

Shien pondered, leaning towards the latter. Compared to other human nations, the Demon Race would be more eager to find him.

“They’re quite fast,” Shien sighed.

He knew that his appearance as the Hero must have unnerved some in the Demon Race.

After a thousand years, their nemesis had returned. And with the Demon King already vanquished, why would he reappear in this world?

Was it a plot by the God Race? Or was someone targeting the Demon Race?

There would definitely be many who thought so.

Therefore, those demons who were more sensitive, cautious, or wary and hostile towards Heroes wouldn’t be able to sit still.

“I wonder if any Demon Lord is behind this.”

Shien thought, but he wasn’t afraid.

With the automatic evasion effect of [Inner Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] against detection magic, trying to find him with magic was a fool’s errand.

Shien was detected by the High Priest’s [Corridor of Death] before because it targeted life force, and Shien’s [Inner Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] was weaker when not actively concealing himself. Moreover, he had barged in abruptly, unintentionally triggering the detection magic’s “radar.”

This time, Shien wouldn’t expose himself.

He knew he shouldn’t appear openly in the streets.

Therefore, he immediately entered a concealed state, maximizing the effect of [Inner Awareness of Heaven’s Decree].

Unless they had an extremely powerful detection Unique Skill or Special Skill, it would be impossible to find him with magic.

But these phenomena served as a warning to Shien.

He was being targeted by many.

And if he wasn’t careful, the peace that had lasted for a thousand years might truly be broken.

If not for the Imperial Capital’s recent devastation and ongoing reconstruction, and the Imperial Knights searching for the Demon Lord Larvae and stabilizing order, the Empire would definitely retaliate against the Demon Race’s blatant use of detection magic.

This showed how sensitive the Hero’s existence was to the Demon Race.

“I might have to talk to Sara and Lildas directly this time,” Shien muttered, teleporting away.

For now, he would deal with the aftermath in the Empire. Only after cleaning up this mess could he do other things.

…

Imperial Capital, Imperial Palace.

At this moment, numerous Imperial Knights and court magicians were busy repairing the palace.

After three days, the palace was naturally far from being fully repaired. Even with magic and magic tools, it would take months to fully restore it, considering its size and the need to set up barriers, magic systems, and ritual grounds.

However, after three days of work, at least the palace was no longer just a pile of rubble. Some important facilities had been prioritized and rebuilt, including a bedchamber.

Capeline was here, handling various matters.

As the only remaining member of the royal family, all the trivial matters of the Empire fell on her shoulders.

The reconstruction of the Imperial Capital, the search for the Demon Lord Larvae, the resettlement of the citizens and treatment of the injured, the pursuit of the defectors led by Saliro… all of these tasks required Capeline’s personal attention.

Moreover, the chaotic situation outside the Imperial Capital also needed her attention.

Mara’s large-scale magic ritual had affected the entire Empire. Not to mention the panic caused by the celestial phenomena, the ritual itself, after being activated, had far-reaching consequences.

For example, there were many underground facilities like the secret base Shien destroyed, dug by people kidnapped from all over the world to carve the ritual magic circle, almost covering the entire Empire. After the ritual was activated, these places collapsed, significantly impacting the local environment.

The monsters within the Empire were also disturbed by the ritual, many charging out of their habitats and attacking various cities.

Moreover, the activation of the ritual affected the flow of magic power and magic sources within the Empire, causing all sorts of problems and giving Capeline a headache.

Even worse, under these circumstances, Capeline also had to guard against external threats.

Who knew if any country would try to take advantage of the chaos and attack the Empire?

Who knew if any evil organizations would infiltrate and cause trouble?

All these situations and considerations overwhelmed Capeline.

“If only Brother were here…” Capeline bit her lip.

If it were Harvis, he would calmly analyze the situation, perfectly grasp the situation, and handle everything efficiently.

Compared to the intelligent Harvis, Capeline was better at military command.

However, her father had gone mad and was found dead in his bedchamber after the battle, probably killed by Mara. Her brother’s condition was critical, his survival uncertain.

Her other siblings were either dead or injured due to Mara’s persecution, unable to help.

Therefore, Capeline, dealing with these political affairs she wasn’t good at, naturally felt exhausted.

“With the situation so unstable, what will happen to the Empire’s future…?”

Capeline was lost.

Until a figure appeared before her.

“Such a gloomy face doesn’t suit you, Your Highness.”

As this teasing voice reached Capeline’s ears, she already saw the newcomer’s face.

“You…!”

Capeline stood up in surprise and joy.

“It seems you’re in trouble,” Shien said, looking at Capeline and smiling.

“Let’s not waste time. Take me to see Harvis first.”

Hearing this, Capeline took a deep breath and nodded firmly.

…

Imperial Capital, Temple.

This was one of the few buildings in the Imperial Capital that remained intact after the terrifying shockwave a few days ago.

As the representative of the God Race in the Human Realm, the Temple didn’t participate in the recent internal conflict, but remained safe thanks to its high-level barrier.

Harvis had been brought here.

Since only the clergy in the Temple had the opportunity to learn Divine and Restoration Magic created by the God Race, bringing people here, at the very least, guaranteed the best care for various illnesses and injuries.

Harvis was here, receiving treatment from the priests.

Unfortunately, after three days of treatment, his condition hadn’t improved.

He lay unconscious on a bed in a luxurious room, his face pale, as if he were already dead, motionless.

Shien, led by Capeline, arrived and saw Harvis like this.

“This is truly…”

Seeing Harvis’s condition, Shien finally understood why everyone said he wasn’t doing well.

His situation was indeed very bad.