The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 751: “Let’s Wait and See.”

“What?” Shien looked at Airi, surprised.

Under his gaze, the complex emotions in Airi’s eyes gradually surfaced on her face. However, she still pressed on with her question.

“You’re a human from another world, a world we can’t reach, right?” Airi looked at Shien, “I heard that all Heroes summoned to this world died in their original world, and their past memories are mostly erased, correct?”

This wasn’t a secret. After tens of thousands of years of fighting against Heroes, the Demon Race had long since learned the secrets of the Hero summoning.

Therefore, Airi knew that besides the necessary parts that formed their personality and common sense, Heroes basically lost all memories related to their past lives.

Including Shien.

That being said…

“Why are you suddenly concerned about this?” Shien asked, puzzled.

“Is it strange?” The complex emotions on Airi’s face faded, replaced by a calm demeanor. “I’m just wondering if you, having lost those memories, truly understand what kind of person you are.”

Shien frowned, then replied frankly, “I don’t quite understand what you mean. Is there something wrong with me?”

“Is there nothing wrong?” Airi countered, “Aren’t you curious about what kind of life you lived in your original world, whether you were happy, or if there was anyone you cared about?”

Hearing this, Shien fell silent, his confusion growing. He felt Airi had a hidden meaning, as if she knew something or wanted to ask something, but knew she couldn’t, yet she still asked. His intuition told him that Airi’s current attitude was strange. No, it should be said that the topic she brought up seemed very important to him. This was just a gut feeling, but Shien’s intuition was no longer something he could ignore. Not to mention that [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] enhanced his sixth sense, and the [Supreme God’s Blessing] contained the blessing of the Goddess of Fate, which granted premonitions. He couldn’t ignore his instincts and intuition.

This made him want to ask Airi if something had happened.

But Airi simply stared at him, making him unable to voice his questions.

So, Shien thought for a moment and decided to answer her question seriously.

“I’ve thought about what you said,” he said, meeting Airi’s gaze and pondering, “But regardless, I already died in my original world, and my memories are gone. Now that I have a second life, shouldn’t I live it to the fullest?”

Shien’s answer wasn’t just to appease Airi, but his genuine thoughts. It wasn’t that he didn’t care about his past life at all, but he didn’t dwell on it either.

“Without memories, I don’t have any real feelings about my past life. Since I’m already dead and have come to this world, what’s the point of thinking about things that are no longer relevant to me?”

This was Shien’s true thought, and how he lived his life.

“…You’re quite open-minded,” Airi said after a long silence, then sighed, “I’ve met many Heroes, but this is the first time I’ve seen one so decisive and detached.”

“Is that a compliment?” Shien asked helplessly, “I feel like you’re calling me cold and heartless.”

From Shien’s description, while he could be called decisive and detached, he could also be seen as completely unconcerned about his past life, discarding those people, events, and things he had forgotten, even though they hadn’t forgotten him. Comparing him to past Heroes was practically telling him directly that those Heroes cared about these things, while he was heartless.

Of course, Airi wasn’t criticizing him. She believed his adaptability was a good thing. As a Demon Lord who had lived for tens of thousands of years, she had seen many Heroes become depressed and even die because of their obsession with their forgotten past lives. Such Heroes were merely puppets controlled by their past, unable to integrate into this world, pursuing the past instead of the present or the future. Such Heroes were easily broken on the battlefield, dying tragically at the hands of the Demon King or even Demon Lords.

Why was Mitra considered the strongest Hero in history? Besides his exceptional potential and his powerful Holy Sword, it was mainly because of his strong will, allowing him to let go of his past and live in the present. Although, in his later years, even Mitra couldn’t escape this fate, his body weakened by the Demon King’s final attack, and his heart broken by the Elven Queen’s rejection, eventually marrying a maid and living a peaceful yet melancholic life, at least, he had his moments of glory.

Airi, belonging to this world and having special feelings for Shien, naturally hoped he wouldn’t become like that, both for his sake and for her own. If he could let go of his past, she would fully support him.

The problem was…

“What if your past life isn’t irrelevant to your current one?” Airi couldn’t help but ask.

“Huh?” Shien was stunned.

“Shien, actually, you are…”

Unable to control her emotions, Airi almost blurted out something she shouldn’t have.

But just as she was about to speak, something unexpected happened.

“Weng!”

Shien’s body was suddenly enveloped by an invisible force.

“This is…!?” Airi’s expression changed drastically, and she reached out towards Shien.

But she grasped nothing.

“Swoosh!” Shien vanished, leaving behind the sleeping Lilith.

“Boom!” Lilith instantly woke up, as if sensing something, a violent, chaotic evil aura erupting from her.

“Boom!” Airi was also shocked, looking at the vanished Shien, her magic power surging uncontrollably.

Two Transcendent Level powers soared into the sky, shaking the heavens and the earth, the very air trembling, and Central City shook violently, the ground cracking.

Countless demons panicked, some releasing their magic power and rushing into the sky, others collapsing in terror, creating chaos.

If this continued, Central City might be destroyed by these two terrifying forces.

At this critical moment, several powers comparable to Airi and Lilith erupted.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” Five world-destroying magic powers emerged from the Supreme Castle.

In the next second, figures appeared as if teleporting.

It was the Demon Lords.

“What’s wrong, Airi?” Lid, having transformed into a giant beast several meters tall, landed heavily on the ground, roaring.

“Lilith!” Millu, seeing the panicked Lilith, teleported to her side.

“What happened?” Kamina also asked, her aura powerful.

As for Sara and Shafney, they immediately noticed the problem.

“Where’s Shien?” Shafney’s beautiful face changed slightly.

“This feeling…” Sara looked around, as if sensing something, her expression serious.

“Lady Sara!”

“Master Shafney!”

“Master!”

“Your Highness!” After a few seconds, the demon executives in the Supreme Castle were also alerted, appearing one after another. The surrounding demons also rushed towards the plaza before the Supreme Castle, filling the area.

However, the Demon Lords ignored them.

“What happened, Airi?” Led by Sara, some restrained the almost berserk Lilith, while others questioned the agitated Airi.

“…Sorry,” Airi took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, “Shien seems to have been taken away.”

These words made everyone’s expressions change.

“T-Taken away?” The demon executives were also shocked and stunned.

“Who!?” Kamina asked anxiously for the first time, “Who took him!?”

“Could it be him?” Shafney thought of the Half-Demon, anger appearing on her face as she gritted her teeth, “He’s courting death!”

The Demon Lords were shocked and enraged, all losing their composure because of Shien.

Even Kamina, who had been hostile towards him before.

Only Airi calmed down.

“No, it’s not him. That guy isn’t capable of silently taking my person away right under my nose,” she said coldly.

“Then who?” Lid asked in a deep voice, “Who could take Shien away without you and Lilith even noticing?”

Airi naturally couldn’t answer this question.

Until Sara, who had been pondering, looked up.

“I think I know who did it,” she said, her eyes flickering, “If it’s really as I suspect, then it would explain why Shien was summoned to this world as the Hero.”

“What?” The Demon Lords looked at Sara in surprise.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Sara shook her head, “Don’t worry, that Hero has heaven’s luck and Mother’s treasure on him, he definitely won’t die, and he might even return soon.”

She looked up at the full moon, her voice reaching everyone’s ears.

“Let’s wait and see.”

Chapter 752: The Truth

“——”

It was the familiar sensation of the world spinning, a dizziness that made Shien lose consciousness for a few seconds, like being tossed into unseen currents, drifting aimlessly.

Fortunately, the feeling was brief.

As his dizziness faded, Shien looked up and saw a familiar building.

It was the solemn and sacred temple, the same sight he saw when he first arrived in this world.

And in the center of the temple, that eternally beautiful figure stood, a helpless look on her face.

“So, my existence has been exposed,” the goddess, Nien, murmured, seemingly displeased.

Shien stared at her, speechless. It had been a long time since he last saw her.

“Don’t blame me,” Nien, as always, saw through his thoughts, her expression still helpless, “If I could, I wouldn’t have done this.”

Before this, Nien had been excitedly preparing to “learn” something and then “do” something with Shien. But then she suddenly disappeared without a trace, making Shien suspicious.

But Nien had to temporarily reduce contact with him.

“The God Race has started investigating the Hero summoning. Although Anima, the Goddess of Life, isn’t troublesome, she’s been patiently investigating. I have to monitor her, which already takes a lot of effort. And then, that troublesome Moon Demon also started investigating, without anyone noticing, and I was careless, it seems she discovered something. I had no choice but to completely disappear, not daring to show myself.”

Nien sighed repeatedly.

“Who would have thought that Moon Demon could actually investigate to this extent? Since that’s the case, even if I’m unwilling, I have to act.”

In other words, by bringing Shien here so abruptly, Nien had exposed her existence to Sara.

Her existence was no longer a secret.

Of course…

“Stop talking to yourself about things I don’t understand,” Shien protested, “At least explain the situation to me.”

Shien’s displeasure was obvious. No, it wasn’t just displeasure, but a mix of complex emotions, leading to frustration. Things had changed drastically since they last met. He had not only grown stronger, but also learned some secrets unknown to most, such as the true reason for the God Race’s birth: to cultivate Heroes; that the Human Race was created in the image of Heroes; the existence of an incomplete Demon Lord; and the story of the first Hero.

Perhaps sensing his thoughts, the helpless look on Nien’s face gradually disappeared, replaced by calmness and indifference, just like when Shien was first summoned, before his reincarnation, when he first met her.

“I know you have many questions,” Nien said calmly, “But if possible, I don’t want you to know too much.”

“Why?” Shien stared at her, “Are you playing the riddle game again?”

Nien’s deliberate concealment irritated him.

Nien sighed softly. “Don’t overthink it,” she murmured, “I’m not trying to hide it from you. It’s just that, for me, it’s not a topic I can casually talk about.”

“Not a topic you can casually talk about?” Shien was taken aback.

“Yes,” Nien said coldly and indifferently, “Just thinking about it makes me want to destroy everything. How can I casually talk about such a topic?”

Shien was speechless, his heart pounding. He could sense that Nien was serious, not joking. She truly had the urge to destroy everything, but she was suppressing it.

“Because even if I do that, it won’t change anything,” Nien said self-deprecatingly, “Even if the world is destroyed, I will still be me, a goddess who shouldn’t exist, forced to bear the greatest pain, bound to the [Hero Summoning], a large-scale, cross-world summoning ritual, merged with the ritual itself.”

Nien’s words shocked Shien.

“A goddess who shouldn’t exist, merged with the Hero Summoning itself?” He stared at her in astonishment.

Meeting his shocked gaze, Nien smiled, a calm, indifferent smile.

“You heard right. I am the [Hero Summoning], the largest ritual in Omnipotence, and the goddess merged with it, an existence unknown to anyone except the Supreme God and the Demon King, a being who shouldn’t exist.”

Saying this, she explained,

“I could summon you to this world because I am the [Hero Summoning] ritual itself. After a thousand years of accumulation, having unknowingly absorbed enough of the world’s magic power, the ritual, or rather, I myself, was activated.”

“The Supreme God’s blessing was also bestowed upon you by me, because it was something the Supreme God placed deep within the ritual, meant for the last Hero, only to be activated when the God Race faced annihilation. But I took it and gave it to you.”

“It can be said that you are the miracle I personally summoned, a Hero who belongs only to me.”

As she spoke, mysterious runes suddenly appeared on Nien’s body, runes as profound as the universe’s truths, as complex as the secrets of chaos, making one’s mind reel and their vision blur just by looking at them.

They were runes of the ritual, etched onto the goddess Nien, the greatest miracle and mystery in this world – the [Hero Summoning].

“I can summon you here at any time using this ritual,” Nien said, spreading her arms and showcasing herself as the “ritual,” her tone sarcastic, “I am the Hero Summoning, and the Hero Summoning is me. Therefore, my connection with the Hero is the strongest. Wherever he is, I can see him, find him, and even read his mind.”

“At the same time, because it’s a cross-world magic ritual, I can also observe and monitor the world itself through it.”

“This is the Supreme God Omnis’s greatest masterpiece after the creation of the world.”

“How about it? Impressive, right?” Nien’s sarcasm intensified.

Shien looked at her with a complex expression.

“…I have a question,” he said, suppressing his emotions, “Why do you have the same name as the first Hero?”

Nien’s movements paused slightly, then she calmed down.

“Although I don’t really want to answer this question, since I’ve dragged you here, if I don’t answer some of your questions, you probably won’t let this go, right?” She looked at Shien, “Then I’ll answer you.”

The runes on her body dimmed and disappeared.

Then, she said,

“The reason I have this name is simple. It’s because the Supreme God is obsessed with it.”

Nien’s words made Shien frown in confusion.

“Obsessed?” What did that mean?

“Let me tell you a story,” Nien said, seeing his confusion, sighing softly.

“A long, long time ago, before the God Race, the Human Race, and the Demon Race were born, there were only two beings in the world.”

“One was the omnipotent Goddess, and the other the destructive Demon King. They were natural enemies, constantly fighting.”

“The sky shattered from their collisions.”

“The earth crumbled under their power.”

“The world was destroyed several times, reborn and destroyed again and again, shattered by the battle between these two supreme beings.”

“Until the omnipotent Goddess began to create other worlds, ordinary worlds without power or mystery, not connected to Omnipotence.”

Hearing this, Shien couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Wait!” he said cautiously, “Are you talking about the world I used to live in?”

“More accurately, the worlds where you Heroes used to live,” Nien said with a smirk, “Indeed, those worlds were also created by Omnis, as a breeding ground for a ‘third person,’ a being to oppose the Goddess and the Demon King, the Hero.”

As mentioned before, this world could only accommodate two transcendent beings, no room for a third.

Then, where did Heroes, the natural enemies of both the Goddess and the Demon King, come from?

“The omnipotent Goddess saw the possibility of this third being, and with her omnipotence, she learned about the concept of ‘Hero,’ knowing that although she was countered by the Demon King, she also countered the Hero, and the Hero, in turn, countered the Demon King.”

However, this world couldn’t nurture a third transcendent being, not allowing the birth of a “third person.”

“Therefore, Omnis decided to create other worlds as a breeding ground for Heroes.”

This was the truth behind the existence of other worlds.