Chapter 94: Matters of the Demons

Like Rod, Lilith also stood motionless in place, her expression constantly changing. Ever since that phantom disappeared, she had remained in that state, with no change at all even now.
If anyone paid close attention, they would hear her muttering repeatedly, “He’s still alive! He’s still here!” Clearly, the two words left by that phantom had caused her immense shock.
Cold winds blew constantly around them, seemingly helping them regain their composure. Finally, after a long while, Rod came to his senses. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand, his expression grave, and carefully placed it back in the box, sealing it again!
“The Netherworld!” he murmured. Must he go there? Where exactly is it? What exactly is going on among the demons? It seems there has been a huge change among them; otherwise, his father wouldn’t have given such instructions in the letter! It seems the demons may truly be divided, otherwise, they wouldn’t have waited a thousand years before coming back!
Although this letter revealed a lot to him, Rod found himself with even more questions. What exactly had happened to the demons to cause such a crisis? What was the status of the trolls among them? Was he perhaps a member of the troll race? According to his father, it seemed he indeed was! More importantly, from this letter, he learned a very important piece of information: his father seemed to still be alive! But where was he now? Why did that phantom say he needed to wait for him to rescue him? There were too many uncertainties, leaving Rod completely confused.
Also, could the “secret organization” his father mentioned be the infamous organization known as “Dark” in the continent? What were their identities, to the point that even the demons feared them? Everything became increasingly mysterious. Especially since the place he was in now was also where his father had been before—it seemed he and Lilith were acquaintances.
Turning to look at Lilith beside him, he saw that she was also in a daze, seemingly greatly affected by the information just received.
“Are you… okay?” Rod couldn’t help but ask, looking at the stunned Lilith.

“No… it’s fine. I didn’t expect it, hehe… I never thought you’d be his descendant. Is this karma? No wonder I felt such familiarity!” With a complex look in her eyes, Lilith said with a bitter smile, seemingly reminiscing about something. Her gaze toward Rod also softened at that moment, filled with countless emotions.

“Do you know about this? What exactly is the Netherworld? What happened to the demons? Why did they ally with your dragon race to attack the continent?” With so many doubts in mind, Rod had no choice but to ask Lilith.

“The Netherworld! That place is very far from here! It’s extremely powerful! I can’t believe he came from there. No wonder!” Upon mentioning the Netherworld, the woman fell into deep thought again, murmuring to herself with a self-mocking look in her eyes.

“The Netherworld is the sacred land of the demons, located deep within the Heart of Darkness, at the very core of their stronghold. It’s the habitat of the demon royalty and the trolls, as well as the place where demons worship. Everyone there is among the best of the demons! You’re not qualified to go there yet! Even gods find it difficult to enter! You’re still too far away!

Thousands of years ago, the demons were defeated by the humans of the continent and were forced to retreat deep into the Heart of Darkness. But how easy is it to enter the Heart of Darkness? There are countless powerful beings there, and mighty magical beasts are everywhere. The demons aren’t even a match for them! Even if all those old demons stepped forward, after nearly a decade of fierce battles, they could only manage to secure a place to live. Our dragon race is also one of the races that live there! The demons reside right beside us!” As if recalling something, Lilith’s gaze became somewhat distant, and she spoke slowly, filled with nostalgia.

“Even within the Heart of Darkness, our dragon race can barely be considered one of the top forces. There are too many powerful races there, beyond your imagination. Even with my current godly strength, it still means nothing there! Take the Netherworld of the demons for example—almost everyone there has the ability to kill me!” With a self-mocking smile, Lilith continued.

Hearing these words, Rod’s heart skipped a beat, and his face showed an expression of disbelief! He never expected that the depths of the Source of Darkness could be so powerful—being at the advanced stage of the divine realm was nothing there! Such strength would definitely be considered among the top in the continent. Yet despite his surprise, Rod did not interrupt Lilith’s speech but simply listened quietly.

“This world is vast. I’ve told you—there are many things you don’t know. Do you think there are no strong ones on your continent? It’s just that those old monsters don’t show up. Divine realm? Are they strong? In front of those old monsters, they’re nothing!” The woman said mockingly, sensing Rod’s astonished expression.

“As the demons stabilized and developed over thousands of years, their strength surpassed everyone’s imagination. In just a thousand years, they rose to become a premier force, a powerful race, with the Netherworld becoming a renowned entity! Even our dragon race can’t compete with them! Just when everyone thought the demons would break out of the underworld and invade the continent, a huge upheaval occurred among them! That day, a massive civil war broke out among the demons, splitting them into three groups.

The fundamental reason was differing opinions—some wanted to return to the continent and regain their glory, while others, after a thousand years of stability, decided to retreat to the Source of Darkness and avoid worldly conflicts. They were fed up! So the two factions engaged in fierce battles, eventually giving rise to a third faction: the neutral ones. It was their presence that stabilized the various forces; otherwise, the demons might have faced extinction that time!

From then on, the demons were divided into three. Those old monsters reappeared before the world to stabilize the internal chaos, and the Netherworld demonstrated terrifying strength that shocked all parties!

However, despite resolving the critical threat, the demons’ strength suffered a severe blow after splitting into three, leading to another period of decline. After another thousand years, the pro-war faction grew stronger. Under their influence, our dragon race also split into two factions—some were drawn in by them, and they also allied with people from several other factions to start a huge conspiracy!

“Have they attacked the continent? I never thought we’d have to wait until this day. With the brewing of Qia Nian, perhaps the continent is truly in danger now! Although it’s just one faction, their power is immense, and with the help of several other dark races, the balance of the continent might change! They’re attacking the continent just to regain their former glory!”

“It seems they’ve already taken control of the army of demons. I never thought they’d succeed. Perhaps chaos has already ensued within the Source of Darkness—the demons’ attack has disrupted the original balance!” Lilith said in a low voice, frowning as she gazed at the distant sky.

“When do we set off for the Source of Darkness?” Rod asked, frowning. The situation seemed worse than he had imagined!

“The Source of Darkness?” Hearing Rod’s question, Lilith laughed as if it were a joke. “This very place is the Source of Darkness. There are three paths leading to it from the continent: the first is the Collins Forest outside, the second is this Void Space, and the third is the Sacred Land of Divine Sorrow! There’s also a dark space there that leads to the Source of Darkness! Of the three paths, this one is the simplest, with the fewest enemies encountered. It was through here that the demons first entered. The Void Space is originally part of the Source of Darkness! Of course, this place is also guarded by us dragons! Sognar, me, and those old guys are all guardians here. We’re just sinners of our families, sealed away to stay here forever. If he hadn’t helped break the seal back then, I might still be trapped inside that confined seal like those old guys. Even Sognar was freed only because you accidentally broke the seal! Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to come out unless in a crisis!”

“Is it really here?” Rod’s eyes widened in disbelief. This was the simplest path? Now he understood why no one had been able to enter the Source of Darkness for thousands of years—the difficulty was evident, not to mention the gravity here and those monstrous demons, which made it so hard.

“The Source of Darkness isn’t something anyone can enter just by wanting to. This place and the Sacred Land of Divine Sorrow are two ruined spaces left over from the ancient war between gods and demons thousands of years ago. They exist independently outside the continent! What did you think?” Faced with Rod’s shock, Lilith remained quite calm as she spoke slowly.

Taking a deep breath, Rod forced a wry smile. He hadn’t expected things to be so complicated, and it seemed these guys were still under seals. As for the person who saved him, as mentioned by Lilith, Rod guessed it might be his own father—otherwise, she wouldn’t have had that expression earlier.
“Get ready properly. There’s still a long way to go to the depths of the Source of Darkness! It’s time to take care of some matters. Those old guys aren’t stable either; it’s time to put things in order! You’ll get to see true strongmen too!” Taking another deep breath and gazing into the distance, Lilith spoke slowly after a moment, her eyes flashing with a terrifying coldness that chilled to the bone.
Rod knew she was referring to that shadow from earlier. Perhaps things really were about to get unstable! Nodding, he turned and headed out of the cave. There were many things he needed to process. Watching Rod leave, Lilith’s expression behind him was incredibly complex: “I hope you can reach the divine level before entering there. Otherwise, you truly aren’t qualified to go there. A troll race? It seems the demon race is about to undergo major changes. Can you fulfill the wish he couldn’t?” Then she stood there, muttering to herself.