Chapter 766: Doubts of Immortality
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 766: Doubts of Immortality
The radiance of the massive magic stone overhead flickered, dimming and brightening in turns.
The precious botanical garden was finally stripped of every trace of greenery; it looked as though a magnitude-ten earthquake and a violent storm had ravaged the place, leaving not a single patch of intact ground to stand on.
In a corner where the metal walls were twisted and cracked, Zagu slumped dejectedly.
Blood pooled around him. In this moment, he possessed none of the height, glory, majesty, or power befitting the First Demon General. Like any other pathetic wretch facing death, his vacant eyes stared into the void, filled with bewilderment, pain, rage... and disbelief.
Even now, with the crimson-gold greatsword buried deep in his body, incinerating his final sparks of life—even with those two pure white blades driven in to the hilt, severing his every means of resistance—he still found it hard to believe.
He had actually lost.
In his prime, at the peak of the Fifth-Tier Realm, with over a century of experience and skill, he had been hunting two humans who were heavily injured, far below his level, and already bitten multiple times by the hunting dogs he’d unleashed during the preceding series of battles and crises... and yet, he had lost.
Moreover, he had lost in a direct confrontation—in a manner so pathetic, so humiliating, and so ridiculous.
It was unacceptable.
If he hadn't chosen such a "safe" method, if he had personally engaged these two humans from the very beginning instead of giving them the chance to level up under pressure or trigger a death-defying power-up... would the result have been different?
No, that outcome was still unpredictable.
Even though these two humans were inferior to him in terms of raw power and realm, their sheer lethality in certain aspects had far exceeded his imagination.
Lord Divine Will, what kind of monsters... did you send me to kill?
"How are you feeling?"
At that moment, Muen—the very man Zagu was secretly branding a monster—was grimacing as he popped his shoulder back into place.
Zagu’s spear had nearly shattered half his body; fortunately, this physical form—tempered and honed by that damned old loli—was sturdy enough to take a beating, preventing him from becoming "half-a-Muen."
After confirming that he was still a safe distance away from actual death, Muen turned to ask Ariel with genuine concern:
"You're not so close to death that you need me to save you again, are you?"
"Piss off!"
Ariel, who was in a foul mood and currently had her back turned while wrapping bandages around a chest that had just lost another two centimeters in diameter, snapped:
"Keep looking and I'll gouge your dog eyes out!"
"Tsk, it's not like I haven't seen it before."
Muen wanted to mutter that under his breath. However, to prevent Ariel from charging over to punch him and aggravating her own injuries, he kindly kept the thought to himself.
I really am a good person.
Once he had performed a rudimentary reset of his bones, Muen didn't focus entirely on his recovery. Injuries could be dealt with slowly, but there were some things that required immediate attention.
"You can still talk, right?"
Muen approached Zagu and crouched down, staring at him.
Zagu's pupils were beginning to dilate, but they could still reflect Muen's figure. He was the First Demon General, after all; even with such catastrophic injuries, his powerful physique allowed him to linger on the brink of death for a while longer.
This was why Muen hadn't let Ariel finish him off with a fire.
"Can you answer my questions?"
"..."
"Don't give me that 'why should I answer you' look. This isn't a request; it's a threat."
Muen placed his hand gently on Zagu's shoulder, flashing the bright, cheerful smile of a blond older brother.
"You know, don't you? My Black Flame can devour even souls."
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes."
In truth, it would be simpler to use the darkness to devour Zagu's soul, but Muen worried that the information gained would be fragmented, just like it had been with other demons. That would be a waste. Thus, direct questioning was better, even if the intel gained might be limited.
Muen paused for a moment before speaking. "Actually, my question isn't that complicated. I just want to know what you meant earlier when you said the Demon Race's view of death is different from ours."
"That's all you're asking?"
Ariel, who was eavesdropping, turned her head and said disdainfully, "Why aren't you asking about Divine Will's weaknesses, or how we can find the secrets of this tower faster?"
"It's not that I'm only asking this, it's that I can only ask this."
Muen shrugged helplessly. "I have countless questions, but unfortunately, based on the intel I have, most demons—and even those associated with them—have terrifying blood curses placed upon them. The moment they answer something that crosses the line, they are consumed by the curse. Therefore, my questions cannot touch upon core secrets. Am I right, Lord Zagu?"
If not for these troublesome restrictions, Muen would have used his Black Flame to dig up far more useful information long ago. This proved that the Black Flame wasn't omnipotent, or rather, that highly sophisticated countermeasures against soul-searching had existed since a thousand years ago.
The Demon Race were remnants from a millennium ago; it wasn't surprising they possessed such methods.
"Cough... cough cough."
Zagu rolled his eyes with difficulty, his voice weak. "Since you know... then why... why ask?"
"The fact that you mentioned it earlier suggests it isn't a core factor. Or, even if it is, it can be spoken of for some reason. Of course, my greatest hope is that as the First Demon General, you might be exempt from the blood curse... but that's probably impossible."
Muen looked Zagu in the eye. "Tell me, why exactly do those low demons have no fear of death?"
Muen recalled the mountains of corpses and seas of blood he had seen at the Empire's defense lines.
Those low demons had acted like a swarm of insects from the stories of his past life, charging fearlessly at the towering walls, wave after wave, using their own bodies to pave a bloody path to the top.
But low demons weren't like an insect swarm that birthed billions.
Their numbers were limited, only a few million. The entire population of the Demon Race might only equal a few of the Empire's major cities. In terms of population, they should have been less able to afford a war of attrition than the Empire.
They were unintelligent, acting mostly on instinct. But it was precisely because of instinct that they shouldn't have acted that way, right? After all, the fear of death is the greatest instinct of any living being.
Most importantly, they only seemed to lack a fear of death. They still feared other things—like the high-class demons overseeing them, the pressure emanating from Divine Will and the Grand Dukes, or... that Black Sun that had once frightened away a million-strong army.
To feel fear, yet not fear the greatest terror in the world—it was strange.
"Heh... it's simple..."
Zagu gave a bizarre smile and said nonchalantly, "Because of... immortality."
"Immortality?"
A sharp glint flashed in Muen's eyes.
He had heard those words before.
On that city wall, a veteran who had been seduced by the demons into becoming an internal agent had explained his betrayal... because of so-called "immortality."
The demons promised him "immortality," so he betrayed his comrades, his superiors, and his kin.
It wasn't hard to understand. But that was only if "immortality" actually existed.
However, it made sense why Zagu hadn't been consumed by the blood curse yet. The Demon Race used this concept to lure humans into defecting, which meant this "word"—despite being close to some truth of the Demon Race—was allowed to bypass the strictures of the curse.
"Acting all mysterious, like some big-shot moth."
Ariel kicked Zagu hard, her voice full of disdain. "Immortality? A race whose entire history spans barely a thousand years... what right do you have to talk about immortality?"
"Ariel is right."
Muen nodded. Even now, he didn't believe the Demon Race truly possessed immortality.
If they were truly immortal, wouldn't every demon be a thousand-year-old monster? If that were the case, the Empire wouldn't even bother resisting; they might as well lie down and enjoy it.
But what if the immortality the demons spoke of wasn't "true" immortality?
"Or rather, it's not immortality in the literal, pure sense, but something close to it. Am I right, Lord Zagu?"
"Heh... who knows..." Zagu stopped there. It seemed that if he said any more, he would suffer some unpleasant consequences.
But his pupils instinctively flickered downward.
Muen looked down and realized Zagu’s gaze was fixed on his wrist.
The Ancient Artifact: Eternal Cycle.
The immortality Zagu spoke of seemed to be related to it.
Immortality.
A Demon Race that did not fear death.
An Ancient Artifact called the Eternal Cycle.
There seemed to be a hidden thread connecting these things, forming a secret that ran through the entire Demon Race.
He was just one step away—one step away from finding the end of that thread.
"Since even the low demons don't fear death, why do you seem so afraid of it?" Muen suddenly asked. "If the Demon Race truly has this 'immortality,' wouldn't someone like you, the First Demon General, be even more entitled to enjoy that eternal span of time? Don't tell me the low demons were promised immortality while you weren't?"
"No..."
Zagu spoke with profound meaning. "You're wrong. What I fear isn't... death. It's... loss."
"Loss?"
Muen frowned.
Doesn't death mean losing everything? Is there a difference between the two?
Or was there a difference specifically for Zagu?
Many questions remained. That tiny thread was hidden behind these jumbled pieces of information. Perhaps with just one more question, he could tie them all together.
But Muen could ask no more.
"Farewell... Muen Campbell."
Zagu said his goodbye, and his aura rapidly faded.
The blurred shadows in his eyes vanished, and finally, with a slight tilt of his head, the First Demon General—the strongest beneath the Grand Dukes, a man who had climbed his way up through mountains of corpses and held his position for a century—died... quite unremarkably.
"Farewell, Zagu."
Muen bid him goodbye in return, a final mark of respect for his enemy.