Dekan's Daily Life and Delois's Dream

"Phew, looks like I'm in for a busy time this time."

Dekan put down his book, sat up, and stretched as if using all his strength.

He had already skimmed through the book; it was Delois's working notes.

It mainly records many points that Delois felt confused about or had potential problems during the transformation process.

In many places, Dekan felt he could understand them naturally, as if they were things he had done himself.

There were also a few topics that even Dekan found daunting, with no idea how to approach them or even solve them.

More information and help are needed.

The first objective of this mission requires Dekan to understand the supreme magical barrier of the Demon Realm and increase the completion rate of the modification to over 50%.

Upon arriving at the Devil King Tomb in the Shadow World, Dekan saw a quest notification indicating that the current completion rate had reached 47%.

However, according to Delois's work log, he had been in the Devil King Tomb for several years, studying there day and night, and had hardly ever stepped out of the Devil King Tomb.

Now, Dekan needs not only a process of learning and understanding Delois's current achievements, but also...

Only then can work resume.

Logically speaking, even if Dekan were given a year, he probably wouldn't be able to meet the requirements of the Shadow World mission objective 1.

Fortunately, he had seen the final version of the Devil King Tomb in the present world, and roughly knew some directions that even Delois was not yet certain about.

"However, based on Delois's current work records, increasing the mission completion rate by three percent will take at least a month... and possibly three or four months..."

Dekan muttered to himself.

However, this Shadow World only lasts for three months in total.

If Dekan wants to return to the Holy Kingdom, it will take at least another month on the journey.

Dekan always felt there was something wrong with the progress.

But now is not the time to dwell on the difficulties; we need to find ways to solve them!

Dekan sat up and looked around.

This transitional Devil King Tomb was now more clearly visible.

The grassland wasn't actually that open.

In the distance, numerous open-air testing grounds of various shapes had been built, with magical instruments and materials that Dekan had never seen before scattered around. The complexity of these objects far exceeded the scale of the projects Dekan had undertaken to dismantle the [Artificial Shadow World Initiator] and repair the [Space Portal], both of which were worthy of being called ninth-tier magical instruments.

At the center of this cemetery, the tombstones of the demon kings of past generations have, unsurprisingly, been stacked into a black Stone Stele Throne.

It was as if the demon who created this masterpiece was completely above all other demon kings.

The throne is now surrounded by thick stacks of books and notes.

In front of the throne was a spacious magical workbench exclusively for Delois, with two obsidian carved chairs on the side that looked smaller than the throne.

In one of the chairs, Eve was sitting, intently making something.

Dekan frowned; he had a feeling that Eve was holding looked a lot like the tools used to make Magic Card in the real world.

However, these tools seemed too old-fashioned, making it difficult for Eve to proceed with the creation process.

His clumsy yet earnest manner made Dekan laugh, and his brows quickly relaxed.

The other empty chair opposite Eve appears to belong to Talomati.

After all, given Delois's personality, he would only allow his absolutely trusted companions to enter such a heavily guarded place as the Devil King Tomb.

Since Talomati isn't in the Devil King Tomb, he's probably busy with something else somewhere else right now.

"Teacher, are you awake?"

Noticing the commotion on Dekan's side, Eve peeked out, quickly put down her work, stood up, and jogged over.

It seemed like the work she was doing was already almost a failure; she was just making last-ditch efforts and struggling to salvage the situation.

Just then, Dekan woke up, so she simply tossed aside her doomed work and went to Dekan.

"Teacher, you don't seem to have fully recovered from your dream yet. What kind of wonderful dream did you have?"

She put her hands behind her back, leaned slightly forward, and said to Dekan with a smile.

"Hmm, still a little sleepy, time to get to work."

Dekan touched his forehead, realizing that he probably still hadn't managed to shift his mindset.

Delois is currently under a prolonged period of high pressure, much like Dekan is about to need to work frantically to meet the mission objectives.

Dekan's expression now was noticeably more relaxed than Delois's before he fell asleep.

However, perhaps Delois really did have a beautiful dream on this day, a dream in which the story of the Holy Kingdom was as wonderful and perfect as it is in the real world. Who knows?

"It was indeed a beautiful dream. I dreamt that you became a magnificent emperor, with a power that even I had to rely on. You also had human friends, besides me and Talomati, whom you could completely trust."

Dekan stood up as he spoke.

"Really? Teacher, you weren't dreaming about your next life, were you?"

Eve chuckled and scratched the back of her head, clearly pleased with Dekan's words.

Even though it was a dream, the fact that I was so strong in my teacher's dream shows that my teacher approves of me.

Who knows?

Dekan raised the book in his hand and waved it, intending to avoid the topic.

Saying more wouldn't hurt, but it's pointless.

The most urgent task now is to understand the intelligence surrounding this current timeline.

He's currently very confused about many things, such as what he just saw—why does the Demon Realm have tools for creating Magic Card?

Of course, being able to meet a companion so quickly put Dekan at ease.

"But Eve, you've really gotten stronger."

Dekan stared at Eve for a moment, his expression unchanged, but his feelings were somewhat complicated.

He discovered that Eve's Magic Power seemed to have become extremely powerful.

At least far stronger than I am now.

For Dekan, it had only been half a year since he returned to the mortal world and hadn't seen Eve. In the blink of an eye, she had already surpassed his master.

It has probably reached the seventh or even eighth rank.

However, Dekan wasn't feeling resentful; absolutely not.

Keep in mind that in the previous timeline of the Shadow World, Eve was only at level five.

She has grown to this point in her life, and who knows how many years have passed.

Having reunited with Eve from ten thousand years ago, Dekan initially wanted to start by discussing some lighthearted information, but now he had to worry about the timeline issue.

So Dekan looked at Eve and the first thing he asked was:

"Eve, Lunn, and the others alright?"

"Hmm... Lunn Lenn is quite old now, but his health should be alright."

Eve thought for a moment and then began to answer.

"Lei has been missing for a long time."

"Only Morpheus's health isn't very good..."

"But teacher, why are you suddenly asking me this? Didn't Sister Talomati just tell us about Morpheus's serious illness a while ago?"

After answering Dekan's question, Eve still raised her own doubts.

Although she didn't doubt Delois, her way of interacting with her teacher was always to speak her mind and ask questions if she didn't understand.

As long as you tell the truth, even if it offends the teacher, the teacher will never make things difficult for you.

"I just dreamt about them..."

Dekan frowned slightly and answered absentmindedly.

The timeline isn't the worst-case scenario; it seems his old friends are still around.

But they really are getting old.

Although Lunn was in his later years, at least he was doing well, which put Dekan at ease.

As for Lei... his disappearance is normal and shouldn't be a big problem.

Only Morpheus worries Dekan greatly.

Judging from Eve's words, Lunn is probably in his seventies or eighties now.

This time, at least twenty years have passed since the last time in the Shadow World.

So Ray and Morpheus are probably in their sixties or seventies.

For people of this age, any serious illness can be fatal.

Moreover, medical care in the Holy Kingdom was not advanced and lagged far behind that of the modern world.

Diseases that are not difficult to cure in the modern world may be incurable in the Holy Kingdom era.

Seeing Dekan fall silent, Eve seemed to see right through him.

"Teacher, you must be very worried about them. I suggest you stop what you're doing and go see them. After all, human lifespan passes by in the blink of an eye."

Eve spoke gently from the side.

This made Dekan look at her with a slight sense of wonder.

Although she still possessed the body of a demon, she seemed to have completely acquired the heart of a human.

Moreover, Eve no longer seems afraid of Delois at all.

Even after spending six months with Dekan, Eve wouldn't have shared so many heartfelt words with him in the past.

"I'll return to the Holy Kingdom once I've finished this phase of my work."

Dekan lowered his eyebrows and smiled slightly, speaking as if to himself.

Only after completing the initial task can you learn the details of Task Objective 2.

Delois has probably wanted to return to the Holy Kingdom for a long time.

But he knew he had a more important mission, so he had to stay in the Devil King Tomb and work desperately.

For Dekan, however, he has a duty to protect the world from natural disasters.

Successfully completing the ninth-tier Shadow World was more important to him than anything else.

Suddenly, even Dekan realized that he could no longer play freely in the Shadow World without realizing it.

More importantly, understanding the Devil King Tomb is also of absolute importance to the present world.

Because this may be the true trump card that the present world uses to fight against the tenth-tier Shadow World.

Dekan clenched his fist.

Despite their different feelings and motivations, he always seemed to empathize with Delois.

Even if he desperately wanted to return to the Holy Kingdom to see Morpheus, he had to deal with the most urgent matter at hand before doing anything of paramount importance.

"I really want to go back to the Holy Kingdom, to be with my teacher and Sister Talomati."

Eve muttered under her breath, sounding somewhat distressed.

However, Dekan ignored her requests and instead bombarded her with questions, not allowing her to raise any doubts until he had finished asking them.

Although Dekan's demands sounded somewhat unreasonable.

But Eve knew that whatever her teacher did, he must have his reasons.

And so it went, question and answer.

Whatever Dekan asked, she quickly told Dekan everything she knew.

Soon, Dekan also roughly figured out the current situation in the Demon Realm.

During the years that Delois spent in the Devil King Tomb, Eve basically studied under him.

Now, twenty-four years have passed since the decisive battle on the northern border of the Holy Kingdom, Eve has become an eighth-order Great Demon.

He is also a true successor to the Demon King.

As for Delois's current status as a Demon King... Dekan had somewhat anticipated it, but he was still somewhat speechless.

Fortunately, the Shadow World didn't broadcast it live this time, otherwise his personal reputation might have suffered another major blow.

In the Demon Realm, the position of Demon King is not hereditary.

It is often inherited by the strongest demon of the time, or by a demon who can command respect.

In the tradition of the Demon Realm, in order to reduce unnecessary chaos, the previous Demon King would often hold a vote to determine a successor before abdicating, with the election being conducted by the Demon King and the ninth-order Great Demons.

According to the rules of the past, the Demon King himself has five votes, while each of the other ninth-rank Great Demons has a maximum of three votes and a minimum of one vote, depending on their order of precedence.

If any mad demon covets the throne and disobeys the rules of the sacred Demon King selection ceremony, not only will the Demon King do his utmost to eliminate the rebels before abdicating, but other ninth-tier great demons who hold opposing views will also join the attack.

Moreover, even if there were an outrageously powerful or incredibly resourceful rebel who bewitched many of the opposition among the ninth-tier demons and even forcibly killed the Demon King, he would still be rejected and suppressed by the Devil King Tomb for defying the Demon King's throne in the final step.

Unless he can demolish the Devil King Tomb as well.

Then the other demons had no choice but to acknowledge him as the strongest.

Therefore, all Demon Kings throughout history have been born through a Demon King Selection Ritual. This is an inviolable rule and common knowledge among demons.

... except for the current Demon King Delois.

He is indeed a demon king of a new concept.

Former Demon King?

He has already committed suicide; Delois even issued a disclaimer.

Ninth-order Great Demon?

Those who were unwilling to follow Delois were all sent by Delois to join the previous Demon King.

As for the Devil King Tomb?

Thirty years ago, Delois had already made it know who its true master was.

On the day Delois finally ascended to the throne of the Demon King, the entire Demon Realm did not fall into panic; instead, most demons began to celebrate.

They wholeheartedly agreed that this great demon, who was utterly insane, wicked, and evil, had become the true Demon King.

Compared to the renowned Holy Emperor Lunn of the Holy Kingdom, the demons more readily agree that Delois is the strongest demon king, unprecedented and unparalleled.

Delois's ascension to the throne was, to some extent, a popular choice.

Of course, it's a characteristic of the demon race.

Even many young demons believe that if Delois had become the Demon King earlier, the Holy Kingdom would not have been able to withstand the invasion of the Demon Realm during that Holy War.

Only the demons who knew the secrets of that time understood that Delois was 80% responsible for the Demon Realm's defeat!

But since Delois ascended to the throne, no one has dared to mention that Delois was the great traitor of the Demon Realm back then.

Just sing praises, that's all.

Eve, the successor designated by Delois, was regarded as the successor to the Demon King by the ninth-tier Great Demons at a very early stage.

From now on, the Demon King selection ceremony will be nothing more than a formality.

No one dared to cast a dissenting vote.

Besides the current acting Demon King Talomati and the First Army Corps Commander Purser, who were ninth-tier Great Demons who had firmly supported Delois since the time of the previous Demon King, there were other ninth-tier Great Demons who were respectful to Eve simply out of fear of Delois.

If Delois were to pass away one day, they might not maintain the same attitude towards Eve.

Therefore, Eve knows very well how to deal with other demons.

She made it clear early on that the other ninth-tier demons needed to feel awe towards her, even if it wasn't because of her background.

Even though Eve always acts like a lamb in front of Delois, she is already the Delois II who makes the demons tremble with fear.

He even possesses a more regal bearing than the true Demon King Delois and the acting Demon King Talomati.

However, Eve's current status in the Demon Realm is not entirely due to her power; she also possesses talents comparable to Delois.

The demons all believed that if she ever reached the ninth rank, she would surely become the strongest demon in the Demon Realm, second only to Delois.

Even Talomati, Delois's own sister, is far weaker than Eve in the same tier.

Although Talomati, who is now a ninth-order Great Demon, may also become a Demon King, he is the only acting Demon King or regent designated by Delois.

But she had no interest in power in the Demon Realm; she was merely helping her brother.

Furthermore, she and Eve are like sisters; besides taking care of and supporting Eve, she does nothing else.