Chapter: Chapter 542
Seeing the suddenly appearing magic array, not only Leticia was dumbfounded, but Kira was also plunged into confusion. She could clearly see that this magic array was targeting Leticia, not the two of them. This meant that only Leticia was considered an enemy.
But that’s really outrageous. Didn’t Leticia just become the Demon King of the Demon Realm? Yet, the Demon King was identified as an invading enemy by her own treasury’s security measures. Is that reasonable?
Actually, it seems, it should be, quite reasonable, right?
“Perhaps it’s because after I changed bodies, there’s no Demon King bloodline for the treasury to sense?” Leticia thought for a moment and came up with a highly probable answer.
Demon King bloodline, on the mortal level, is indeed very powerful. However, compared to a divine body, the gap is not just a little bit. Leticia’s previous body was destroyed by Huang’s self-detonation, and now she is using the divine body gifted to her by that mysterious great god.
And naturally, there is no Demon King bloodline in this body. Being recognized as an enemy by the treasury is not an incomprehensible matter.
However, being targeted by such a magic array is really unpleasant.
“It seems I have to modify the guardian magic here from now on.” Leticia cast a spell on herself and watched the slowly disappearing magic array, muttering softly.
The treasure vault’s access conditions are not limited to just the Demon King bloodline. If the visitor carries a special magical aura, the treasure vault will not regard them as an enemy. And this special magical aura, of course, Leticia would allow.
“That’s quite a considerable undertaking. Sister, don’t get lazy and quit halfway.”
“It’s fine, I can modify it slowly. Anyway, I have a very long lifespan now. Gods don’t seem to die of old age naturally yet, do they?” Leticia crossed her arms, proudly stating that she is now a long-lived species, capable of surviving until the world’s destruction.
Modifying a little each year, it will eventually be completed.
“Then I hope to see you finish modifying all the arrays in this treasure vault before I die of old age. I believe in you.” Kira waved her fist unenthusiastically, expressing her encouragement to Leticia.
The rest of the journey was uneventful. Soon, the two arrived at the lowest level of the treasure vault and saw the prophecy book that Kira had urgently hidden a few days ago.
Compared to when they last saw it, the prophecy book now appeared even more ancient. The burning sensation on her hand told Leticia that this prophecy book of the Demon Realm was the real thing.
Well, that’s good news.
Slowly walking to the prophecy book, Leticia reached out to it. As the runes on her hand flashed, the ancient book instantly transformed into a white light and merged into Leticia’s palm.
Another rune lit up, but this time, the amount of information Leticia received was even more terrifying than the previous two times. The terrifying amount of information caused her eyes to go black momentarily. She felt her consciousness detach from her body and slowly ascend towards the sky.
Her sister’s cries could be faintly heard, but Leticia couldn’t control her consciousness. She could only drift upwards with the flow.
A surging silver river appeared before her. The moment she saw this river, Leticia understood what it was.
Time, this is the river of time.
The mysterious woman from the past had only glanced at the river of time and left behind four prophecy books. Originally, Leticia thought it was a metaphor, but she didn’t expect it to be a literal statement.
Is time truly a river?
Then why am I here? Do I also have to learn from her and gaze into the distance of the river of time?
Obviously, the answer was no. Leticia soon understood why she was here.
Fragmented scenes appeared in her mind. These… were the changes in the world from the end of the divine era until now!
After the gods were sealed one by one, the world seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Many glass beads regained their vitality, and it seemed that everything was developing in a positive direction.
But soon, an accident occurred. The tide of the starry sea, originating from outside the world, crashed against the world that had just recovered its energy, shattering a large number of glass beads. This accident directly plunged the world into a nearly unsolvable dead end.
“A torrent formed by the convergence of stellar energy is enough to destroy a world?” Leticia murmured to herself as she looked at the small spheres being crushed under the starlight.
Can this power really be used to save this world?
Next, she saw the woman she had met before. She appeared before the four remaining worlds and waved her hand. A barrier shimmering with divine radiance appeared between the stellar energy and the four worlds, blocking that fatal blow for the surviving four worlds.
After an unknown amount of time, the commotion in space subsided, and the world’s crisis seemed to be averted. However, it was obvious to everyone that after suffering such a catastrophe, the world had entered its countdown to death.
Even the world itself thought so. Upon judging that it had no future at all, it even began to end itself.
It gradually brought the remaining four worlds closer, seemingly intending to die completely in this manner.
It was precisely at this moment that the woman intervened again, forcibly stopping the world’s self-destruction process. Even Leticia didn’t understand why she did it, as this was the world’s own will, wasn’t it?
But things happened this way. The woman slept in the cracks of the world, using all her power to maintain the stability of the four worlds, waiting for a turning point.
How long ago did these events happen? Leticia couldn’t guess. She only knew that all of this likely happened a very, very long time ago, so long ago that the four major intelligent races of modern times did not even exist.
Then, the scene before her began to fast-forward. Countless years flashed by in an instant before Leticia’s eyes. As the rapidly rotating scenes slowly paused, she saw something familiar.
The Demon King City, the Demon King’s Palace, and a black-haired girl holding a prophecy book.
The girl was wearing a dignified and luxurious black long dress and a black and gold crown that Leticia was extremely familiar with. This crown was now with Leticia, although she didn’t wear it often.
“Grandmother?!” Leticia also recognized the girl’s appearance, as this was her own grandmother!
Compared to the portrait hanging on the wall, her grandmother, who appeared in Leticia’s vision this time, was younger. It was probably when she was still young.
Actually, Leticia didn’t have many memories of her grandmother. Most of her deeds were heard from others. The most brilliant achievement of this Demon King was probably sending a large army to attack the human world.
Before the army could achieve victory, this Demon King died for unknown reasons. Her eldest daughter, Leticia’s mother, inherited the throne and, lacking decisive leadership, continued her mother’s decision, carrying on the war.
And Leticia’s mother’s own abilities were actually quite poor. Even the Demon King bloodline couldn’t save her strength. She was one of the few Demon Kings who failed in all aspects of ability. Her only commendable trait was perhaps being quite beautiful, and before she died, she gave birth to two daughters, preserving the Demon King bloodline.
Yes, that was the extent of Leticia’s mother’s accomplishments. When introducing herself underground, her most frequent self-title was probably “Mother of Empress Leticia of the Demon Clan,”.
After all, she herself had very little presence. As the saying goes, she left quietly, just as she had arrived quietly, with a wave of her sleeve, taking nothing with her.
Leaving behind a Demon King who was arguably the most powerful and intelligent in recent generations, her mother had fulfilled her historical mission. After being assassinated, she died, leaving Leticia with a grand stage.
Ahem, I won’t dig into the past of this mother with such little presence. Leticia was more concerned about why her grandmother appeared here, holding a prophecy book.
This might answer a question in her heart: did her grandmother really attack the humans only for land back then?
Leticia didn’t think so. There was still plenty of idle land in the Demon Realm, and this land was almost endless. Moreover, the human world was not suitable for the long-term survival of demons. What was the use of fighting for such land?
No use!
If Leticia’s mother had made this decision, Leticia would probably believe that her mother had been tricked by someone. But since it was her grandmother’s decision, it forced Leticia to consider the underlying intention.
However, most of the demons who knew the inside story back then had already passed away. The remaining ones also didn’t know what had happened back then to make that Demon King take such action.
And now, this dúvida might be answered.
After looking at the prophecy book for a long time, the former Demon King, with a resemblance to Leticia, finally raised her head. Her eyes, looking towards the sky, were filled with a hint of melancholy, as if she had learned something that made her quite dejected.
“Does the future require this?” Leticia heard her grandmother’s low sigh.
“The key to everything falls upon our Demon Clan… I really don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
The key to everything falls upon the Demon Clan? What does that mean?
What did Grandmother see in the prophecy book?
Leticia wanted to figure this out, but she couldn’t move at all. She could only stand like a post and watch her grandmother begin her clandestine actions.
Inciting a great war, sending a large army to the human world to fight against the other three races. She didn’t inquire much about the war, as if she didn’t care who won or lost.
What she cared about was whether this war could continue, to extend after her death, until her successor’s successor became the Demon King.
“She knew the outcome of this war from the beginning? She even knew she would die before the war ended?”
When the Demon King saw her eldest daughter seemingly falling in love with a man who perhaps wasn’t worth her affection, she smiled, because the prophecy had indeed come true: that Demon King had finally appeared.
Although she might not get to see that Demon King.
The death of the former Demon King had no precursor. The day before, she was on the Demon King’s throne, looking down upon the world. The next day, she was found dead in her bed with no external wounds, indicating no foul play. The best physicians of the Demon Clan could only conclude that Her Majesty the Demon King might have died of natural causes.
But the lifespan of demons was clearly very long. Leticia’s grandmother was at most in her prime when she died, so it couldn’t possibly be natural death!
“For mortals, even a mere glance at the river of time requires an extremely painful price. To be honest, I thought she would die immediately after that attempt.” A voice sounded from behind Leticia.
Leticia turned to look. Behind her was a phantom similar to the one encountered in the Elf clan, except that compared to the one in the Elf clan, her image was more ethereal, and it was difficult to discern without careful observation.
So, you all hiding in the books are able to move freely?
“You met my grandmother?”
“She awakened my dormant consciousness, and I fulfilled her wish.” The phantom nodded. “Letting her glance into the future exhausted my power. I don’t know much about what happened afterward, but from what I see now, she did make the most perfect choice.”
So, this was the cause of Grandmother’s death? She exhausted her life force to glimpse the future?
“Do you know what she saw?” Leticia asked.
“I don’t know, but it can be guessed that she might have seen you. She has paved almost all the paths for you.” The phantom looked at the frozen image of the Demon King, her voice tinged with emotion. “You carry the aura of two of my kin. It seems you are very close to the final truth.”
Leticia had already collected three of the four prophecy books, and the last one would soon be in her hands.
What the phantom said was not wrong.
“I want to ask a question: can the stellar energy that almost washed the world clean be utilized?”
“I do not know the answer to this question. My kin should have told you that we are merely pure combat weapons. However, I think you understand a principle: no matter how terrifying a power is, it is ultimately just power. As long as a suitable method is found, all powers can be utilized.” The phantom replied with a smile. “Time is almost up. We may meet again. Farewell then.”
With that, the phantom disappeared before Leticia like a gentle breeze. As she left, the illusion before Leticia’s eyes began to collapse, and her consciousness rapidly descended. Soon, she felt herself returning to her body.