Twenty Years Later.
In the Elsella Elven Kingdom.
For Orsaga, it was just another day of idling around, eating, drinking, and waiting for death to come slowly.
After taking part in the operation that attacked Augustus, it took him several months to fully absorb all the gains from that endeavor.
The benefits weren't small either—his strength had advanced yet again.
Though to be honest, the so-called "advancement" was rather limited.
His strength should have already advanced to the Greater-Rank Demon level during his last metamorphosis. However, due to interference from the world's will, the Rank-up ultimately failed, leaving him stuck at the peak of High-Rank Demon. He had hit a bottleneck.
Whether it was his bloodline purity, soul strength, or physical durability—they had all reached their current limits.
It was like a pool already filled to the brim.
Maybe there was still room to sprinkle on a few extra drops.
But unless he broke through to a higher Rank, there would be no real, leap-like progress without some decisive factor.
At this moment, the reason he hadn't immediately returned to the Abyss to pursue a Rank-up and instead continued to linger in this world, indulging in pleasures and leisure, was mainly because he wanted to accumulate more—whether knowledge or evolution points, it didn't matter. As long as it was useful, it would help pave an easier road ahead.
All of this was premised on the fact that he felt no real sense of danger. It was precisely because of that security that he could afford to drift through his days half-heartedly, slowly collecting what he needed.
Strictly speaking, aside from a few minor actions when he first descended into this world, and his appearance during the assault on Augustus, Orsaga had maintained an extremely low profile ever since.
If you exclude the acts of eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, spreading diseases, bullying, beating civilians, spending money like water, and his day-to-day activities of punishing the good and rewarding the wicked... he could almost be considered a law-abiding citizen.
Thinking about this, he couldn't help but pick up a mirror, admiring his handsome and charming reflection. Nodding with satisfaction, he thought to himself:
'Still the same handsome demon I've always been. Never lost sight of who I am. The Abyss truly struck gold when it got me.'
---
"What are you doing?"
Beside him, Golarial took a bite of fruit, her expression full of confusion as she looked at his self-satisfied smirk.
Even after knowing him for many years, many of Orsaga's actions still left her completely baffled.
Sometimes, he came across as cautious and rational.
Other times, it was as if his brain simply stopped functioning, and he would do something utterly ridiculous.
Still, she didn't find it unpleasant. On the contrary—it was rather interesting.
As an immortal being, she had long grown bored of monotony. Someone like Orsaga, by contrast, was... refreshing.
That was one of the main reasons she stuck around him.
After all, someone like her, who had lived for thousands of years, with unmatched beauty, noble origins, and formidable strength—was notoriously hard to impress when it came to finding a partner.
Getting her to chase after someone? Practically impossible.
In this regard, Golarial could only be considered a failure.
Ever since she'd met Orsaga again ten years ago and brought him back to the Elsella Kingdom, she had quietly revealed some of her feelings.
But she had never heard any sweet words from him.
Never felt any warmth of affection coming from Orsaga.
Never received a clear response.
If anything, all she could sense was a vague possessiveness on his part.
While she had voiced her dissatisfaction before, all of it had been blatantly ignored by Orsaga.
So to this day, she still hadn't figured out what he really thought about her—or perhaps, even he didn't know?
That question had long weighed on her heart.
And the truth was, she wasn't wrong.
Orsaga genuinely didn't understand what he felt about Golarial.
As a pure-blooded demon—although his birth had been influenced by a trace of human thinking, and his moral compass had been altered by it—in the end, it was still his demonic nature that reigned supreme.
If Trina hadn't betrayed him back then, maybe he could've preserved a little more of his humanity. But that's not how things turned out.
By now, he had personally extinguished the seed of humanity that once existed in his heart.
Love? He couldn't feel it. The best he could manage was distinguishing between liking and loathing.
---
After striking a few more poses in front of the mirror, Orsaga leisurely replied to Golarial's earlier question.
"I was just pondering... how can someone be this handsome."
"You're shameless."
Golarial rolled her eyes at him.
"I appreciate the compliment."
He wasn't joking either. In the Abyss, shameless was often a compliment.
After a bit more playful banter, Golarial walked over to the windowsill. Looking out over the city at the anxious expressions on the faces of the citizens, she hesitated before speaking.
"In a few days... I may need to head out for a while."
"Doing what?"
Orsaga asked casually.
Golarial didn't shy away. "The Kingdom of Calia nearby is on the brink of collapse under the onslaught of the demon tide. I need to go help."
Orsaga simply shook his head. "If I recall, not too long ago, that kingdom fell into chaos because their god died, right?"
"Already riddled with internal strife—and now a demon tide?"
"The situation's rotted beyond saving. Whether you go or not won't change the outcome. Your help will make almost no difference."
Golarial stayed silent for a moment.
She didn't try to argue, silently acknowledging that he had a point.
Still, she wasn't willing to just stand by and watch. With a hint of defiance, she said, "Back when things weren't so bad, I could afford to stand on the sidelines. But now that it's creeping up on the Elsella Kingdom itself, I have to do something."
After hearing her, Orsaga calmly set down the mirror and replied, "Even so, it's pointless. This world is nearing its end. Whether you struggle or not, it's all just flailing before the fall."
Some might judge Golarial for staying uninvolved when the threat wasn't on their doorstep yet, but Orsaga considered her mindset perfectly reasonable.
He was selfish too, after all.
Golarial bit her lip and looked down, not willing to accept his words—but unable to refute them.
Orsaga continued, "I can feel it clearly. My brethren, those stationed outside this world, have gained the upper hand in their war against the gods. Their power is flooding into this world. The increasing number of Polluted Zones and spatial rifts in the material plane prove it. The influence of the Abyss is growing."
"The final curtain is drawing near. If nothing unexpected happens, once the main body of Demon lord descends into this world, everything here will be reduced to ashes."
Although he had never openly confessed his true identity to Golarial, neither had he hidden his nature or his methods.
He knew very well that after all these years, she must have figured out something—she just hadn't said it out loud.
Golarial wasn't stupid.
She was, in fact, remarkably clever—a good woman.
Which was why Orsaga no longer bothered with excuses.
He simply laid the truth bare.
Shattering whatever self-delusions she might still be clinging to.
____
T/N:
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