Chapter 364: Worse Than the Demon King ( 364 )

Glacia narrowed her eyes at Ridan.

"There’s no way they’re all still alive by now. Come on, Ridan. You’re supposed to be a genius. Those elven secrets for youth and long life only work properly on High Elves, Elves, and Dark Elves. Even if they used them on humans, it would only extend their lifespan by a hundred or two hundred years." She snorted. "No way they’d be able to live for more than a thousand years."

Ridan glanced at Glacia with a look of utter disbelief, couldn’t believe she was this naive. "You really have a lizard brain, huh, pervert brat?"

"W... what!?" Glacia’s face flushed with a mix of surprise and anger, her icy aura flaring briefly.

"Heh~ This is why I don’t need another dumbass on our team. It’s enough for me with just this human here." He glanced up at the sky before looking back at Hazuki.

"Tell me, Glacia..."

"What?" Glacia bit her lower lip while narrowing her glare at Ridan.

Ridan’s face turned serious. "Did you hear any news, or celebrations from the human nation a thousand years ago about heroes defeating the Demon King or something like that?"

Glacia pursed her lips, raising one finger to her chin as she looked up thoughtfully.

"Hmm... I believe the last thing I heard about was the hero party and the expedition force, full assembly of powerful chosen adventurers, elite knights, and veteran soldiers going to stop the Demon King. They were fighting the Demon King’s army with the main mission to defeat the Demon King and his allies."

"So..." Ridan crossed his arms and glanced at Glacia. "What happened after that?"

Glacia tapped her chin again. "Err... you know how long wars can take, especially fighting the Demon Army and the strongest Demon King. So from what I heard, the hero party and the subjugation army managed to fend off and push the Demon Army back to their border."

"That’s all?" Ridan looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"How would I know? It’s not like I lived in the human nation back then!" Glacia puffed her cheeks and glared at Ridan.

"Ugh! What a dumbass. Were you hibernating during that whole time? Huh? Sleeping through history like some lazy lizard?"

"No!" Glacia hissed. "But we in the dragon nation had nothing to do with the other races’ wars. It’s not like the Demon Army could fight us, even if the Dark Dragon clan sided with them. You forgot there’s a White Dragon clan on our side? And dragons aren’t easy to defeat, that’s why we didn’t care that much."

"So... all those thousand years, you didn’t hear any news about it?"

Glacia exhaled and put one finger to her lips, thinking carefully.

"I don’t know much, but from what I know, after the hero and the subjugation army managed to fend them off, I believe they continued to push toward the Demon Continent. Perhaps they managed to kill the Demon King, since after that year, there were no more demon army invasions in any land."

Ridan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Any other information you could share?"

"Hmm." Glacia tapped her foot in the snow, recalling. "I don’t know much, but you also know that all the races came together during the demon invasion. They supported each other, became allies, and made agreements about their borders, promising not to wage war on each other afterward."

She paused and continued. "A few years after the hero subjugation army fended off the demon army, there was a war between the Halfling Nation and the Dwarven Nation. It lasted... hmm... I believe more than ten years?"

Ridan glanced at her. "Really? Just them?"

"Ah... now that you mention it, after the old king died, well, of course from old age...the new king started a war inside their kingdom as well. Punishing and killing the side of the nobles who opposed him... I believe that’s been ongoing for years. But I didn’t dive too much into the details."

Ridan let out a long exhale before his eyes turned serious.

"That means the hero party was able to defeat the Demon King and probably ended the Demon King’s curse."

"Huh? What curse?" Glacia glanced up at Ridan.

Ridan glanced at the frozen Hazuki before looking up at the sky, floating slowly.

"Looks like what I’ve been guessing all along might be true..."

"What? Don’t leave me hanging with half-explained details!" Glacia protested.

"You know about the curse of the Demon King, right?"

"Huh? Curse of what?" Glacia tilted her head, confused.

"There’s a record I read a thousand years ago, before I was killed by those summoned hero party. It mentioned... a curse that comes with killing the Demon King, and what you gain afterward."

"What do you mean?"

Ridan looked up at the sky and mumbled softly. "Maybe this is the reason why this dumbass Hazuki was brought to this world, not summoned as a hero like the others... He’s not part of the current batch summoned by the Human Kingdom, Halfling Kingdom, Elven Kingdom, or Dwarven Kingdom."

"Ugh! Stop leaving my questions hanging!" Glacia stomped her foot.

"The curse and gain for killing the Demon King. After the hero manages to kill and defeat the Demon King, they gain one wish. A guaranteed wish. If you ask other heroes about it, many might wish to return to where they came from, and some might request to be rich."

He glanced at Glacia with serious eyes.

"What do you think Kenjirou would request personally? Knowing how obsessed he was with power and becoming strong, and how he refused to die early..."

Glacia’s eyes widened before she mumbled softly.

"To live longer than elves..."

"No..." Ridan said with a worried exhale.

"Immortality."

Ridan clasped both hands behind his back before floating and landing on top of the frozen Hazuki.

Once he landed, he pinched his forehead.

"But immortality comes with a price. Any wish granted comes with a price. The greater the desire, the heavier the consequence. The universe doesn’t give without taking something in return."

"What do you mean?" Glacia asked, her expression growing concerned.

"Any wish related to the seven sins. Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, carries a corresponding burden. And you know that. What price comes with immortality? Eternal life means watching everyone you know wither and die. It means being unable to die even when you want to. It means becoming a prisoner of your own existence."

He looked at her seriously. "And the wish that comes with the heaviest curse? Immortality. And knowing how Kenjirou was before, I know he wouldn’t be able to resist it. He’d want it more than anything else, and he’d never refuse, no matter the cost. He’d want more power, more control, more everything... And that hunger would consume him until he became something worse than the Demon King he killed."

( End Of Chapter )