The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　All in all, all in all.

　This is not something St. Mary's College should be concerned with.

　Of course, St. Mary's College wouldn't really ignore it; they would still investigate secretly, but they wouldn't do it openly.

　This has always been the guiding principle of St. Marian Academy. In terms of its positioning, it is more like a "reclusive" behind-the-scenes organization, always hiding behind the scenes and never stepping into the limelight.

　Whether or not a person is born due to natural disasters, man-made calamities, or widespread suffering depends entirely on who is in power at the time.

　Because, in principle, St. Marian Academy should not intervene even if the world is engulfed in war.

　From the moment St. Mary's College indirectly became involved in the war, it had already violated its principles.

　The reason for this was simply that the principal at the time was Arte.

　Of course, since she is still the principal, St. Marian Academy has been violating its principles all along.

　As it stands, it no longer resembles a reclusive organization. Over the years, St. Marian Academy has not only established dueling arenas all over the world, but its principal, Cynthia St. Arte, has also been tirelessly working to mediate wars.

　Therefore, she actually had a nickname behind the scenes: "mediator".

　It's just that very few people mention it to her.

　Today, St. Marian Academy has even spearheaded the establishment of the Magic Alliance.

　Although the Magic League's organizational structure is still relatively loose, it was originally a special organization established in an emergency to deal with future crises.

　It inherently possesses the property that its internal structure will gradually tighten as external threats increase.

　Therefore, any high-ranking official who knows even a little bit of the inside story can foresee the future potential of the Magic Alliance.

　Once the Magic Alliance transforms from a relatively loose organization into a highly centralized one.

　As the dominant force, St. Mary's Academy's status naturally rose accordingly.

　If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight.

　The Magic League is also destined to stand at the forefront of human power and fight against a completely unpredictable future.

　By then, St. Mary's Academy will no longer be able to remain hidden in the shadows.

　Therefore, the academy has actually been preparing for future uncertainties.

　First, we need to further refine the organizational structure of the "Hidden Serpent" and the "Wisdom Serpent," clarify the composition of the personnel within the organization, strengthen their sense of identification with the organization, and make them "one of us."

　Secondly, they will cooperate fully with the "Valkyrie" forces, with Dark Dimon at the center.

　At least in matters related to dueling, St. Marian Academy has already forged a deep bond with the Valkyrie faction.

　Of course, Dark Deemon's personal faction is not distinguished from the Valkyrie's faction here.

　In a substantive sense, there is no need to make a distinction.

　As for the Valkyrie faction itself, it has actually been undergoing "purification" during this period.

　What is "purification"? It is "de-kingdomization".

　The Valkyrie herself had no rebellious intentions, but given the prevailing trend, everyone knew that the monarchical system centered on the king could no longer continue.

　At this time, it is crucial to consolidate one's own power.

　Within their own sphere of influence, a high degree of centralization is what everyone is doing.

　This is just like the "Sun and Moon Kingdom" that Dark saw in his dream.

　When the gods are resurrected, the religious forces centered on faith in the gods will inevitably rise above imperial power.

　These are all inevitable consequences of global development.

　It is entirely possible that one day in the future, the Kingdom of Yunic may suddenly become a divine kingdom or split into many parts.

　Under such circumstances, the Holy Church should theoretically have a "promising future".

　But their actual performance was not like that.

　According to Dak's analysis of information obtained from various sources, the Holy Church is actually in a hurry.

　But upon closer examination, this becomes quite reasonable. After all, although the Holy Church has always worshipped a God called "Holy," "Holy" does not actually exist.

　Or rather, it did not exist before the gods were revived.

　Therefore, although they believe in "holiness," the Pope is actually the pinnacle of the religion.

　All members of the Holy Church revere the Pope.

　If a god claiming to be "Saint" suddenly appears in a certain year and month, the Holy Church will surely undergo the greatest change in its history.

　First, there's the end of the Pope's reign.

　The person who will rule the entire Holy Church will become a "divine messenger" ruled by "Holiness," rather than the Pope.

　As a result, countless families and forces that have attached themselves to the Holy Church will inevitably be reshuffled.

　However, this doesn't mean that it's good if the concept of "holy" never appears. This is because the Holy Church is a sect that takes "holy" as its sole belief.

　If the gods were resurrected, the god known as "Saint" would not appear.

　Believers will inevitably doubt whether the "holy" truly exists.

　They will face the choice of continuing to believe in "holy" or converting to other gods.

　In fact, the Holy Church has been passed down to this day.

　Although the existence of "Saints" is clearly recorded in church documents, the practice of "compiling documents" continues to this day. Therefore, even Pope Patrice Sis himself could not be 100% certain whether "Saints" truly existed.

　So this is a very awkward situation.

　Because it is impossible to determine whether the "Saint" truly exists.

　Therefore, there have been significant disagreements within the Holy Church during this period.

　Many contradictions that were forcibly suppressed in the past because of their religious nature have now erupted.

　This had thrown the entire Holy Church into chaos. Therefore, the Holy Church was relatively quiet for a few days during this period.

　But to everyone's surprise, before the internal dispute was resolved, external troubles arose.

　And it's a major annual production like "The Return of the Demon King"!

　When Pope Patrice Sith heard the news during his report, he was completely stunned.

　He personally presided over the "Demon King's Execution Ceremony".

　He personally sent the soul of the "Third Demon King" into the underworld. He wasn't bewildered that the "Third Demon King" could return to the mortal world from the underworld.

　After all, we've reached that era now, an era where it's not impossible for the underworld to merge with the mortal world tomorrow.

　So even if the "Third Demon King" really did return to the mortal world, he wouldn't be particularly surprised.

　But the problem is, it was just a soul that was created from the empty shell of the Demon King's body!

　How could a soul possibly possess the memories of the "Demon King" himself? His Holiness the Pope initially did not believe it.

　But after watching the projection of "the Demon King returning from the underworld," he had no choice but to believe it.

　Because he is someone who has "seen the underworld with his own eyes".

　The saying goes, "Nine parts truth, one part falsehood."

　Almost all the information shown in that projection was true!

　The more knowledgeable someone is about the information presented in the projection, the more likely they are to believe it to be real.

　Therefore, while outside opinions were still debating whether the projection was real or fake, His Holiness the Pope had already confirmed its authenticity.

　He immediately summoned Archbishop Calenoris.

　The birth of the "Third Demon King" is a truth that the Holy Church must never reveal.

　Therefore, even if they insist, they absolutely cannot admit that the "Demon King's Return" is true.

　Pope Sith's meaning was clear: even if it was a real demon king, it had to be made to look like a fake one!

　"However, the truth cannot be hidden!"

　Inside the palace, King Austin Clarissa looked at the newspaper with a solemn expression.

　He certainly didn't learn the news from today's newspaper. In fact, when the first projection of "The Demon King Returns from the Underworld" appeared before him, he confirmed its authenticity.

　There is no other reason.

　He is also someone who has "seen the underworld with his own eyes"!

　……

　Humans are always prone to being deceived by their own eyes.

　Neither the Pope nor the King has escaped this rule. Although the "Return of the Demon King" was indeed real, the projection was actually fake. However, what St. Marian Academy wanted to convey has clearly been conveyed.

　His reaction differed slightly from that of Pope Sith.

　King Austin's fear of the Demon King was clearly deeper than that of His Holiness the Pope. This was largely due to the fact that he himself did not possess the strength to rival the Demon King.

　Therefore, once he understood the truth about the "Demon King's return," he immediately put aside many things he was planning and shifted his focus to the "hunt" for the Demon King.

　His reaction was even stronger than the Pope's. He even forgot to appease the public.

　It wasn't until the next day, after public opinion had run rampant, that he suddenly realized what was happening and hurriedly began to "maintain stability."

　How to maintain stability

　Naturally, this meant cooperating with the Holy Church and denying the authenticity of the projection. Because the matter was of great importance, His Majesty the King entrusted this task to the eldest prince, Charles, who was "retired at home."

　Furthermore, he transferred Noah Sharp, one of the twelve outstanding talents he valued, to Charles's side.

　In this way, even if Charles is useless, he won't mess up the mission.

　As for the "search and arrest" tasks outside of maintaining stability, they were naturally handed over to other trusted confidants.

　After all, that's the really important task.

　At this turbulent time, the Duke's mansion was not idle either. Principal Arte had spoken with Arvid.

　Therefore, the Duke's mansion was not affected by public opinion from the very beginning.

　They avoided discussing whether the Demon King had returned, but in action they aligned with the Holy Church and the Royal Family, immediately launching a search for the "Third Demon King."

　After the war ended, these three forces surprisingly reached a high degree of consensus on a certain issue.

　With these three major forces serving as "models," other forces, large and small, naturally followed suit.

　They might not be able to tell if the projection was real or fake, but they could discern the prevailing winds in the capital.

　The three largest forces in the entire kingdom mobilized simultaneously. Even if they remained hidden in the shadows, the truth could not be concealed forever.

　Not long at all.

　Those forces, large and small, confirmed the truth of the matter by observing the movements of those three forces.

　then.

　Those remnants of the demon race who had been hiding in the kingdom for various reasons were instantly wiped out.

　War is cruel, especially war between different races. "If we can't find the Demon King, we'll annihilate all the demons." This was a phrase that human generals often uttered before the war ended.

　The reason is that the "immortal demon king" can be reborn using a demonic vessel. And humanity has almost completely eradicated the demon race.

　However, due to various reasons, it was later unable to continue. This was due not only to the fact that the demons had become more difficult to find after breaking up into smaller groups, but also to pressure from public opinion within the human community.

　Ultimately, considering that the demons had ceased to be a threat and that the cost of continuing the extermination strategy was simply too high, this strategy was temporarily halted, giving the demons a glimmer of hope.

　But with the "Return of the Demon King," the "Demon Extermination Plan," which had been temporarily suspended, seems to have been brought up again, both openly and secretly.

　As a result, the pressure on those hidden demons suddenly intensified.

　Under this pressure, some of the remaining demons will surely take desperate measures.

　They did some reckless things. And so, unrest broke out again.

Chapter 1376 Darkdemon and the Evil God (4k)

　In November, the temperature plummeted.

　The festive atmosphere of Halloween was quickly dispelled by the chilling winds of "The Return of the Demon King".

　Newspapers covered in dense text flew higher and higher in the increasingly noisy wind.