Chapter 172

But Zanze frowned: "You are wrong... According to what you said before about this guy, I think she should leave her scent and declare ownership of this place."

"Huh? Is that so?"

"I think so."

"How does Lord Zanze know?"

"Intuition." There is no basis, but Zanze is still inexplicably sure, and his eyes are staring straight at Linie.

"...Really?" It is a bit difficult to understand the reason for his affirmation, but Philen also feels that... this is definitely preempted: "Good trick."

When the girls discussed these strange issues, although Ash wanted Linie to restrain herself, he finally just told them not to quarrel, and then touched Zanze's head to let Philen relax.

Then, he took Fulilian to the reception room next door.

Although there is also a reception room in this spacious room, Ash knew... they could not talk at ease here.

...............................

In the newly prepared reception room

After a long silence, Fulilian stared at Ash with a slightly frowned brow, her eyes showing a trace of seriousness, and slowly brought the topic back on track:

"I know you must be wondering why Celia and the big demons you know didn't say anything, and didn't mention what I said before?"

"Why?"

"Ling. Meng... Celia + Ai Yimiao has been staying in the ruins. Those big demons are active in the north for a long time, and occasionally wander in the central part, but basically they like to stay alone. What do you think is the difference between them and me?"

"You are lazier?" He gave the answer without thinking, which he thought was the biggest difference.

"No!" Fulilian frowned and firmly denied.

"..." Ash didn't say anything, but just stared at her expressionlessly, which made her feel a little uncomfortable.

Finally, Fulilian imitated him and silently made a move of moving an air box, and then said solemnly:

"Put this aside for now, you know, right? In the thousand years before you disappeared, I have been exploring ancient ruins everywhere. Do you think I really did it for those basically useless magic?"

"What else could it be? How long do you think I have known you?" He looked helpless, and even because she said such words seriously, he couldn't help but roll his eyes: "Can you not say such things at this time, it is obvious that no one will believe it?"

"......." Fulilian, who just wanted to make her behavior more noble, immediately pouted with an unhappy face, ignored his doubts, and emphasized to herself: "-Actually, I am exploring the secrets of the ancient times!"

"Hey...you still have this hobby? I thought you would only collect useless magic." Ash's mouth corners slightly raised, with a hint of ridicule.

"Can you please stop saying things that will make both of us unhappy?"

"I hope you won't say things that no one will believe at this time."

"You're the one who spread it!" Fulilian glared at him fiercely, and angrily pushed all the responsibility onto him.

If it were normal, he would have to refute her a few more times, but now Ash finally stopped trying to expose her: "Okay, even if it's my fault, can you just say what you want to say directly, without laying so much groundwork?"

"..." Fulilian pursed her lips unhappily, and then she got to the point a little more:

"Have you noticed that the structure of this world is actually not very natural."

"Two races that are obviously on the same continent and hostile to each other, whose cultures are completely incommunicable, and who have no peace agreement or anything like that, can coexist for an indescribably long time; even if there are countless opportunities to destroy each other, every time they face a crisis, , a hero will emerge from the human race to save the world, or save humanity... Is this what you mean? "

"....You actually discovered it?"

It took her a long time to notice it. It was a world-wide shocking rumor. It was discovered by this "young man", which made Fulilian couldn't help but be surprised: "When did you notice it?"

"When I was a teenager?"

"........Actually, I discovered it before I was ten years old!"

I wanted to show off my discovery, but I found that I was the slow one. Fulilian, who didn't want to lose face in front of him anyway, stood up expressionlessly after a long silence, looking high and mighty.

Ash looked at her and couldn't help laughing: "So amazing, so amazing, worthy of Fulilian."

Because Philen had been emphasizing what to praise for getting up early, he also lied to his conscience during the process and reached out to touch her head without exposing it again.

"Hmm~!" Although she knew that the other party was just flattering her, Fulilian, who always accepted the service and praise with peace of mind when she got up early, naturally raised her head proudly and continued:

"In fact, more than 700 years ago, when I was exploring ancient ruins, I saw a stone tablet written in ancient Elvish."

"... Even you said it was ancient?"

"What do you want to say? I warn you that if you talk nonsense, I will cry in front of you."

"... Sorry."

"Also, don't keep touching my hair."

After threatening with an expressionless face, Fulilian slapped away his hand that had not yet let go of her head and continued her unfinished topic.

Originally, she really just wanted to find ruins that had not been discovered, so there would often be some burial magic books in them.

And such ruins can be said to be everywhere on the continent.

After a long search, she, who has a long life, discovered by chance that there was a stone tablet written by ancient elves under a ruin or a hidden island in the southern continent, which also described the secrets of this world.

...............................

...............................

The date recorded on the ancient stone tablet cannot be verified for the time being. After all, the calendars and chronology used by different countries are different, so even if the date is clearly written on it, Fulilian cannot confirm which country's date it is.

But it clearly records that among the demon kings who knew not how long ago, there was a demon king who wanted to achieve coexistence completely.

Moreover, unlike the previous generation of demon kings, who intend to understand humans by killing, that relatively unique demon king even intends to completely conquer humans instead of understanding them.

Compared with a complete massacre, conquest would be much easier... If the previous generation of demon kings or the previous generation of demon kings had a different idea, they would have ruled humans long ago.

After all, if you keep killing, the other party will have no choice but to resist, which will lead to a fight to the death, and the difficulty and intensity will increase.

From the perspective of human nature, if the conquered are given hope and opportunities to survive, the other party may be more inclined to surrender rather than continue to resist. This psychological effect has been reflected in many conquest events in history.

Therefore, the demon king easily relied on the demon clan, which is stronger than any human country, and easily obtained the first vassal state under coercion and inducement.

Since there is only one continent, you only need to push forward all the way, so with the continuous increase of vassal states, the process is getting smoother and smoother, until... the sword of the brave bestowed by the goddess is pulled out.

".... She was originally an ordinary village girl, but not long after she pulled out the sword, she fought several great demons alone, and finally killed them and the demon king, causing the newly formed empire of demons and humans to collapse in a blink of an eye without a leader; but after that, the hero lost his memory of that period and turned back into a village girl."

Flilian did not hide the history found in the ruins, and even looked at him intently at the end: "The author also pointed out at the end that the Goddess Church completely destroyed this part of history for some reason after that, and even the stone statue of the village girl was not allowed to remain."

".... Is there such a thing? No wonder the sword has never been pulled out in the history books I read."

"I don't know whether the content on the stone tablet is true or false, but this is the only way to explain the current situation of this world."

The strange situation on this continent is indeed very unnatural. Even a slow-witted person like Fulilian gradually realized the problem after discovering the stone tablet.

If the two races were completely isolated on the Liuwenbahua and Jiugouwutongba, and there was no external force or internal motivation to keep them peaceful, then the repeated conflicts between them would eventually lead to the destruction of one or both sides after so many years.

But every time when humans reach a critical moment, many brave men will emerge to turn the tide; this strange situation, although it can maintain long-term coexistence, is obviously unnatural.

After all, no one knows how many years have passed since the mythological era. Why can those brave men successfully save humans every time?

Once is a coincidence, twice is an accident, then three, four, and five times? These, coupled with the magic monopolized by the goddess, make it difficult for people not to suspect that the goddess has some strange intentions for this world.

...............................

At the beginning, Fulilian didn't quite believe the stone tablet that seemed to be groundless.

However, as time went on, she felt more and more that it might be true. If not, it would be difficult to explain the current situation of the world. Even if it is better to believe it than not, you have to believe it.

This made her stare at Ash, and said in a serious tone: "You are so smart, you should understand what this means, right?"

"I know what you want to say, but you probably don't know what the real enemy of the demons is."

"Humans?" Fulilian frowned slightly and asked in confusion.

"How is it possible? It's the goddess." Ash shook his head and directly said the truth that only the great demons knew.

"Are you crazy?" She widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief, but she tried to calm herself down: ".... Even if it is the goddess of the enemy of the demons, it doesn't have to be you who takes action, right? Do you think you still have a chance to win against the goddess?"

"You have to give it a try, don't you?"

"Why?!"

"Why?" Ash didn't quite understand the reason for her surprise.

Fulilian narrowed her eyes and scolded: "Don't lie, don't I know you? I don't remember that you are the kind of person who has ideals and ambitions, and even worries about the future to that extent."

".... Am I that bad in your impression?"

"Not that bad, but if you want to rule the world or something... I don't think you have such a strong desire for power. You might do it for fun, but saving the world and implementing a specific plan are definitely not your style."

At least in Fulilian's heart, he doesn't care about the world that much, let alone the kind of person who would worry so much that he hopes to achieve unprecedented unity and peace by ruling the world.

Ash could understand her doubts, and nodded: "... Indeed, in addition to personal desires, there is also a part of the problem of being loyal to someone who has entrusted you with a task, right?"

"Who?"

"The Omniscient One and the Hero of the South."

"... Didn't they die a long time ago?"

"Of course it happened before they died."

"..." Fulilian fell silent for the nth time today, as if digesting this shocking news: "Why would they ask you to do such a thing? And it sounds like a completely impossible task."

"At least from the current situation, this is not an impossible task, and they think I may be the one who can break the status quo."

"But this is too risky. The power of the goddess is beyond our imagination. Are you really sure?"

"To be honest, if it is the goddess, I really lack information, and I don't have it either."

". ...Then you still dare to control the empire now? ? "Flillian frowned, her eyes full of confusion: "We have plenty of time, why do we have to control the empire so quickly? There is no rush to wait for another thousand years, right?"

"At least from the current situation, it is not completely under control, at most it is only the capital and part of the territory, and...even if I didn't do it before, the result would not change."

"What do you mean?"

"The goddess probably dotes on me, but after the counterattack against the empire, the holy sword is probably pulled out."

"....Really?" Flillian's expression was dull for a moment, and she said in disbelief: "Is the target you?"

"I hope not."

"....Who else can it be besides you?"

"To be honest, I've been thinking about this question too."

"——Isn't it obvious that it's you!"

His pretending to be unclear made Flillian couldn't help but slam the table.

But the conversation was deadlocked again, because Flillian wanted to say something else, but she couldn't find the lines she should say.

...............................

Although the atmosphere was slightly relaxed due to Ash's teasing, the heavy reality was like a boulder that stood in front of her, unable to be crossed or avoided.

Fulilian stared at the cup of tea in front of her for a long time. For the nth time today, she took the initiative to break the silence: "Perhaps, from the beginning, you shouldn't have set foot in the so-called kingdom..."

"What are you talking about? I'm not bragging. At least tens of millions of people have been sheltered and away from war and famine. Even if it may fail in the end, at least millions of people have survived. What's wrong with that?"

"I know... So even if you are a demon, I have never really doubted your qualifications to be king." Although it was a bit embarrassing for her to admit this, it was indeed Fulilian's true feelings.

Although every time she thought of the fact that she admired the wise king so much... and praised him in front of him from time to time, Fulilian's expression gradually became weird.

An expression that was too weird, even out of her control.

The face was twisted by complex emotions, and even Ash was shocked when he saw it: "What's that expression on your face?"

"... It's all your fault."

"What's wrong with me?"

"Anyway!" She skipped the difficult things and asked mercilessly:

"--What if you die? Can the demons under your command really coexist with humans? Will it really not become a new hell on earth? In the final analysis! Wait for a few thousand years, and the accumulated power, with your..."

"I have considered this issue." Ash interrupted her: "But even if we can wait, Philen and the others can't wait that long."

"Philen...?" The sudden appearance of this name made Fulilian a little confused for a moment.

"I really don't want them to die in front of me. I want to break the limit of human lifespan."

"That kind of thing is not..."

"Perhaps we can only start with the goddess. If we gather the power of the whole world, the magic of the world, and the magicians and warriors of the world, we may still be able to fight against the goddess... Of course, I mainly want to solve it myself, but only when the situation is completely stabilized, I will have time to do those things myself, so I attacked the imperial city in advance."

"Ash... Why are you a demon, but your thoughts are similar to those of humans? You are unwilling to accept death? If that's the case, why did you contact humans in the first place?"

Flillian looked at him in surprise, but couldn't help frowning and puzzled, and there was some indescribable irritation.