The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 861: “Who Is It?”

Actually, the Demon Race wasn’t under much suspicion by the higher-ups.

Because, as individuals standing at the apex of this world, they clearly understood what kind of incredible power was required to replicate a miracle like the [Hero Summoning].

Supreme God Omnis was a truly omnipotent goddess, capable of such a feat.

But the others?

As Lildas said, even she couldn’t recreate the grand ritual of [Hero Summoning].

As the being closest to omnipotence, if even the Goddess of Fate, Lildas, admitted she couldn’t do it, then who else in this world could?

The Demon Race?

They were a race known for their strength, not for creating miracles!

Therefore, amidst all the speculation, the discerning knew that suspecting the Demon Race was more a result of conspiracy theories and instigation by those with ulterior motives.

Those who truly understood wouldn’t suspect the Demon Race of replicating the Supreme God’s grand ritual of [Hero Summoning]. They would only suspect whether the Demon Race had interfered with the already sealed [Hero Summoning], utilizing the existing ritual to summon the Hero to this world.

But the assurances of the three goddesses denied this possibility.

The Supreme God had personally sealed the [Hero Summoning] at the border of the Divine Realm, and with the Supreme God’s barrier in place, even many goddesses of the Divine Race couldn’t enter. How could the Demon Race infiltrate the Divine Realm, sneak into the sealed land, and access the grand ritual of [Hero Summoning]?

If the Demon King were still alive, she could indeed do it. But with the Demon King’s demise, there was no longer any being who could ignore the Supreme God’s power and casually interfere with a miracle like the [Hero Summoning].

Therefore, instead of suspecting the Demon Race of summoning the Hero, many important figures suspected the Divine Race of secretly restarting the [Hero Summoning] ritual.

However, the Divine Race also swore in the name of the Supreme God, denying this.

This indicated that within the scope of the Divine Race’s investigation, no goddess had indeed accessed the grand ritual of [Hero Summoning].

In other words, although the Divine Race’s suspicion couldn’t be completely cleared, it could be significantly reduced.

The conclusion was that neither the Divine Race nor the Demon Race had anything to do with the [Hero Summoning].

This caused many human leaders and experts to whisper amongst themselves, creating a slight commotion in the Hall of Glory.

“Silence!” Ancil immediately shouted, restoring silence to the hall.

At the same time, the dwarf sitting not far from Ancil spoke.

“Don’t make things so complicated!”

With a gruff voice, King Nats of the Dwarves finally spoke.

As if impatient with the tedious proceedings, he said directly, “Since the Hero himself is here, why not just ask him who summoned him to this world?”

Nats’s words caused everyone to focus their attention on Shien.

Shien raised an eyebrow but remained silent.

Because someone had already echoed Nats’s statement.

“I agree. Just ask him directly.”

A sneer came from the speaker.

It was a beastman warrior sitting beside King Nats.

He wore bulky, crude black full-body armor, his body covered in fur, and his face had only one eye, making him look rather terrifying.

His words made Shien frown, and he turned to look at Lucy beside him.

Lucy, noticing Shien’s gaze, whispered an explanation.

“He is Grueler of the Beastmen Race.”

These words made Shien narrow his eyes.

Grueler. Elise had mentioned this name to Shien before.

The reason was simple.

He was the strongest warrior of the Beastmen Race, the leader of the strongest beastmen tribe, level ninety-nine, having always suppressed Nobu, keeping him in second place among the beastmen.

It was said that he wasn’t a pure-blooded beastman, neither a strong tiger-man or werewolf, nor an agile cat-man or rabbit-man, but a mixed-blood born from multiple beastmen clans, a beastman who had experienced atavism.

No one could tell which clan he belonged to now, but he possessed the characteristics of all beastmen clans.

He had the strong physique and power of a tiger-man.

He had the ferocity and swiftness of a werewolf.

He had the agility and adaptability of a cat-man.

He even possessed the sense of smell of a dog-man and the tenacious vitality of a pig-man.

He embodied the characteristics of all beastmen clans, becoming a hybrid whose clan affiliation couldn’t be determined.

Undoubtedly, he possessed the greatest strength and highest potential among the entire Beastmen Race, considered someone who would eventually reach Limit Level.

Some called him the Beast King.

Some called him the most incredible being in the history of the Beastmen Race.

His birth even attracted Anima’s attention; he almost became her blessed one.

Unfortunately, Grueler’s personality was too domineering and even ruthless, his aggression and hostility too strong. He had killed someone at the age of three and usurped the leadership of his tribe at the age of ten. From then on, he constantly waged wars against other beastmen tribes, conquering countless tribes in less than thirty years, forcibly making his own tribe the strongest.

This aggression and hostility weren’t to Anima’s liking.

Therefore, Anima had descended once and met Grueler, ultimately leaving behind these words:

“He cannot become a being that respects life.”

Thus, this hybrid beastman with the bearing of a king missed the blessing of the Goddess of Life.

It was said that because of this, on the first day he became the tribe leader, this hybrid beastman secretly ordered a ban on all tribe members praying to the Goddess of Life, and all statues of her were also secretly destroyed.

This showed how vindictive and narrow-minded this Beast King was.

The goddess who blessed him seemed to be a high-ranking Evil God of the Divine Race.

Therefore, Grueler acted recklessly.

At this moment, this hybrid beastman seemed to be preparing to target Shien.

“Hero, tell us, who is dissatisfied with the current state of this world, summoning you to disrupt the peace?”

Grueler’s words were laced with sarcasm.

His insincere smile was undeniably provocative.

Shien glanced at him, smiling but remaining silent.

“Don’t tell me you don’t want to say? Our dear Hero?” Grueler sneered repeatedly. “Then we might have to suspect that you and the one who summoned you have some scheme, some secret plot.”

These words made many people present look at each other, their eyes flickering.

Of course, many also showed displeasure.

Those were the people who had a relatively good relationship with Shien.

Especially Elise and the others, who not only glared at Grueler angrily.

They already had a bad impression of this ruthless Beast King, and now that he was inexplicably provoking Shien, they naturally felt indignant.

However…

“This is a misunderstanding,” Shien said to Grueler with a smile.

“I was just wondering if I could resort to violence at such a formal occasion.”

Hearing Shien’s words, the sneer on Grueler’s face froze.

There was no helping it.

Shien might as well have pointed at his nose and said, “I want to hit you.”

A glint of ferocity flashed in Grueler’s eyes.

But he didn’t say anything, only exchanging glances with King Nats beside him.

Seeing this, Nats spoke again.

“The leaders of the three races are all present here today. This is the second Tripartite Conference in a thousand years. Anyone who dares to resort to violence here, even the Hero, wouldn’t be able to justify it.”

These pointed words told many that the Dwarf King seemed to be on the same side as Grueler.

Perhaps these two were the representatives of those factions present who had ulterior motives regarding Shien’s identity?

In any case, no one could sense any respect for the Hero from them.

Moreover, they didn’t even seem to respect the goddesses.

This made many goddesses frown.

Especially Anima and Nadue, their brows furrowed deeply.

As the highest objects of faith for the Beastmen and Dwarves, respectively, and the goddesses responsible for guiding these two races, Anima and Nadue seemed dissatisfied with the kings of their respective races.

But goddesses were only responsible for guiding and protecting, not for excessively interfering with individual will. Therefore, although they frowned, they didn’t say anything.

Only Shien gave the two a meaningful look.

Then, he looked away.

“Indeed, at this occasion, even I don’t want to cause trouble and make things difficult for everyone.”

Shien said calmly.

“Well, I came here today hoping to resolve the disputes caused by me once and for all, and return Omnipotence to its original state.”

“I’m not a good person, but I’ve never intended to actively stir up conflict.”

“There are many people I care about here.”

“So, just this once, I will cooperate with you all.”

Saying this, Shien stood up.

“I know you all have doubts about my summoning.”

“Some are worrying unnecessarily.”

“Some are concerned about whether there’s a conspiracy behind this.”

“But today, I want to tell you all.”

“The reason I was summoned isn’t to start a war, nor is it due to some conspiracy, but because there’s an enemy in this world that needs me to deal with.”

Shien looked around at everyone present and smiled faintly.

“Why don’t you all guess who this enemy, the one that requires a Hero to deal with, is?”

Hearing this, everyone was stunned at first.

Then, everyone’s expression changed.

Chapter 862: “I Received a Blessing.”

Who was the enemy that required a Hero to deal with?

This question, even an ordinary commoner, or even a child under ten, could answer.

—The “Demon King.”

The enemy that required a Hero to deal with was the Demon King.

Not the Demon Race, nor the Demon Lords, but the Demon King herself.

Because even the entire Demon Race and all the Demon Lords combined couldn’t compare to the threat posed by a single Demon King.

The Divine Race was helpless against her.

Even the Supreme God couldn’t do anything to her.

The true strongest being in this world, past, present, and future, an eternally unchanging fact.

It was to deal with her that the Supreme God created the grand ritual of [Hero Summoning]. This was common knowledge.

Of course, the world didn’t know that the birth of the Hero was also due to a miracle of the Supreme God.

To fulfill the concept of “Hero” and cultivate a natural enemy for the Demon King, a being capable of defeating her, the Supreme God created countless other worlds, using them as soil to nurture beings called Heroes.

Therefore, everything about the Hero, be it their birth, existence, or summoning, was for one purpose.

To defeat the Demon King.

Now that Shien had said such words, what would everyone think?

“Are you saying that you were summoned to defeat the Demon King?”

Nats asked gravely.

“That’s absurd!” Grueler scoffed. “The Demon King has already been defeated!”

Indeed.

The Demon King had already been defeated.

But Shien said he was summoned to defeat the Demon King?

Wasn’t this absurd?

Not only Nats and Grueler, who were targeting Shien for various reasons, but even supporters like Lucy, Lia, Harvis, Capeline, Elise, and Sophie were shocked by Shien’s statement.

Naturally, the Divine Race goddesses’ expressions also changed.

On the other hand, the six Demon Lords, Sara and her sisters, exchanged glances and surprisingly chose to remain silent.

This reaction, in the eyes of some observant individuals, made their hearts race.

Could it be that the Demon King actually hadn’t…?

No!

Impossible!

Many were startled by their own audacious thoughts and quickly dismissed them.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t imagine it, but they didn’t dare to.

Artemis couldn’t help but speak up.

“What are you trying to say? Please explain clearly!”

Artemis’s tone carried a hint of anxiety.

Shien’s statement was simply too concerning.

Shien didn’t keep them in suspense.

“This is what the being who summoned me to this world told me.”

With this opening remark, Shien began explaining the [Original Demon]’s [Second Demon King Creation Plan] and [Seventh Demon Lord Creation Plan].

Not many people present knew about these plans.

After all, neither plan had been revealed by [Original Demon].

Even the [Demonic Refining Ritual] was only known to a very small number of people in the Human and Divine Races, besides the Demon Race.

The [Demonic Refining Ritual] that took place in the Atlus Gorge was only exposed because of Shien and Airi.

Before that, the magic ritual known as the [Demonic Refining Ritual] had only occurred in the Demon Realm and the Tegor Forest.

Therefore, at that time, even the kingdom, encountering the [Demonic Refining Ritual] for the first time, lacked information and couldn’t determine the cause of the incident.

It wasn’t until Airi explained it to Shien that he learned about the existence of the [Demonic Refining Ritual] and the [Original Demon].

Then came the [Second Demon King Creation Plan] and [Seventh Demon Lord Creation Plan].

Besides the Demon Race, who had been fighting against [Original Demon], the other two races were unaware of these two plans.

Because the [Demonic Refining Ritual] had occurred multiple times in the Tegor Forest, the Elven Race might know some information, and Nadue, as the Goddess of Nature who could observe the world, also knew something about it. But the specifics were never revealed by the Demon Race.

This time, at this conference, Shien revealed all this information.

There were two reasons.

Firstly, the [Original Demon]’s movements had become increasingly noticeable and frequent, their Demon Lord Creation Plan likely nearing completion. They would definitely take large-scale action next, endangering the entire world. Therefore, to prevent the Human and Divine Races from being caught off guard due to lack of information, after relaying the message through Shafney, Shien received permission from the Demon Lords to reveal this information.

Secondly, it was a good excuse.

Nien’s existence couldn’t be exposed yet.

At least, she had repeatedly stated that she didn’t want her existence to be known.

Therefore, at this occasion, when mentioning his summoning, Shien couldn’t reveal the details.

Moreover, Nien’s reason for summoning him was particularly ambiguous. Even if Shien revealed it, probably no one would believe him.

Therefore, regarding the reason for his summoning, Shien chose to use the explanation Nien had used before.

That was, to deal with the Old Demon Faction, to deal with [Original Demon], the underground force attempting to create a new Demon King.

The result was obvious.

After learning about the existence of [Original Demon] and the [Second Demon King Creation Plan] and [Seventh Demon Lord Creation Plan], everyone present looked at each other in shock and uncertainty.

Even Nats and Grueler fell silent, speechless, stunned by the information Shien revealed.

Including the Divine Race goddesses, they were all shocked by the information Shien suddenly revealed.

“The creation of a second Demon King…”

Lildas’s eyes gradually turned serious.

“Is this true? Moon Demon Sara!”

Artemis even stood up.

Everyone else turned their attention to the Demon Lords.

Seeing this, the Demon Lords’ expressions remained surprisingly calm.

“Indeed, some unrealistic individuals have proposed some impractical ideas.” Sara said calmly, “But rest assured, they won’t succeed.”

“Do they really think a second Demon King can be born in this world?” Shafney also said sarcastically. “They don’t even believe it themselves, do they?”

“Regarding the rebirth of the Demon King, you can all rest assured that it will absolutely never happen.” Lid also spoke, saying seriously, “However, the creation of a seventh Demon Lord by the Old Demon Faction group known as [Original Demon] is a possibility.”

“We’ve never taken that so-called [Second Demon King Creation Plan] seriously.” Kamina scoffed. “Even that [Seventh Demon Lord Creation Plan] is like child’s play.”

Millu immediately nodded repeatedly.

Although she didn’t know what everyone was talking about, following her sisters was always right.

Finally, even Airi spoke noncommittally,

“Just a Demon Lord. Even if one is truly born, it won’t pose a fatal threat.”

Indeed, Demon Lords were strong, very strong, even capable of single-handedly defeating the entire Human Race, even overwhelming transcendent existences like the Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Nature, the epitome of brute force.

But in this world, there were six other Demon Lords.

The Divine Race also had Lildas, Artemis, and the three Goddesses of Time.

A Demon Lord, although strong, wasn’t invincible.

Only the Demon King was truly invincible.

And even the Demon King could be defeated by the Hero’s Holy Sword.

Therefore…

“From the looks of it, the reason Hero Shien was summoned was as a precaution.” Sara said seemingly casually. “Even though we believe a new Demon King is impossible, the one who summoned Hero Shien might have other ideas, ultimately recreating the miracle of [Hero Summoning].”

Saying this, Sara looked at Shien.

“Isn’t that right, Hero?”

Sara asked this with a smirk.

Shien suddenly felt uncomfortable.

For some reason, he felt like Sara had seen through everything.

Even the other Demon Lords showed more or less meaningful expressions, making Shien feel like they knew something.

On the other hand, the Divine Race goddesses exchanged glances, completely bewildered.

Finally, even Lildas couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Then who summoned you?”

Lildas finally asked the question she was most concerned about.

This was also the question everyone was concerned about.

Who was it?

Who could bypass the Supreme God’s barrier, access the grand ritual of [Hero Summoning], and successfully activate this miraculous ritual in secret?

This question was incredibly important to both the Divine Race and the Human Race.

Only the Demon Lords still chose to remain silent.

Under such circumstances…

“At their request, I won’t reveal who summoned me.”

Shien said calmly.

Hearing this, the human faction leaders, led by Nats and Grueler, were about to protest.

But Shien didn’t give them a chance.

“I can only tell you that at the same time I was summoned, I received a blessing.”

As if trying to suppress all the dissenting voices in the hall, Shien glanced around and dropped a bombshell.

“I received—[the Supreme God’s Blessing].”

When these words echoed through the hall, reaching everyone’s ears, the entire hall fell silent.

A deathly silence.

At this moment, all the human faction leaders and experts showed the same expression.

Shock.

“Wh-!?”

At the same time, the goddesses, led by Artemis, were also shocked.

“Supreme God… Mother Goddess’s blessing…?”

Artemis murmured, seemingly unable to believe her ears.

Only Lildas, Anima, and Nadue smiled wryly.

Among the Divine Race, only these three knew about this matter.

Shien had just dropped a bombshell.

His purpose was simple.

“That’s all I can say.”

Shien declared to everyone with a smile.

“If you still intend to pursue this matter, you better think carefully.”

With that, Shien stopped speaking and sat down.

And for a long time, no one in the entire Hall of Glory spoke.

A long, long time…