The maid squad is too strong, what use is there for me, the Demon King?

Bai Lin, wrapped in the blanket that Gray had forcibly stuffed into her head, nodded.

Is this what they call a heart-to-heart talk?

Although there was a slight interruption, Bai Lin returned to the previous question.

What were you thinking about just now? Can you tell me?

Bai Lin was very concerned about this issue because when she suddenly entered the room, she saw Gray's expression, which was tinged with sadness and confusion.

In Bai Lin's memory, Gray had always been strong and confident.

"I am atomic"

The magnificent scene of the sky filled with purple-black magical light had long been deeply etched into Bai Lin's heart.

Bai Lin was self-aware enough to know that Gray, who could unleash such a terrifying move, was far stronger than he had been back then. The reason he was able to exchange a couple of blows was because Gray hadn't used his full strength. That "I am atomic" move was probably not Gray's limit either.

I've now reached pseudo-Tenth Rank, and soon I'll be able to firmly establish myself at the Tenth Rank.

But that's the feeling she had.

Even if he trained for thousands more years and reached the peak of the tenth rank, he still couldn't match Gray. Even if he went all out, he would only get beaten up on the ground.

And why would Gray, in this state, show a sorrowful expression? What could possibly worry him?

"As expected, it's still because of the hero?" Bai Lin asked.

Gray nodded, which was taken as tacit agreement.

"But why is the hero so powerful? Enough to kill you?"

In Bai Lin's eyes, Gray was already a monster.

What level of skill would the hero need to reach to defeat Gray?

“She doesn’t have that power yet, and she might not even attack me,” Gray replied. “My situation is already considered good. Although she doesn’t know I’m the Demon Lord, I consider our relationship to be quite good…”

Bai Lin didn't know Philippa, but judging from Gray's description...

"Isn't this great? You have such great strength and you've also gotten along well with the hero. There shouldn't be any problems, right?" Bai Lin asked a series of questions.

However, Bai Lin, this girl who is thousands of years old, does not have a detailed understanding of the conflict between humans and demons, or the issues between the Demon King and the Hero. This is the extent that an outsider can understand.

Gray sighed softly and said, "Before me, there were 52 Demon Lords. Without exception, all 52 Demon Lords died at the hands of a hero. Do you think I will be the special one?"

Bai Lin believes that Gray is quite special, but the situation is indeed not optimistic.

"But the hero defeats the Demon King because the Demon King and his demon race intend to destroy humanity, right? Do you have such thoughts?"

Gray shook his head slightly: "I never intended to do that."

Having received the answer, Bai Lin immediately pressed on, "Then the hero has no reason to kill you, and you haven't revealed your identity as the Demon King. Is everything alright now?"

Gray smiled helplessly: "That would be good. That way I can rest easy. Apart from fighting the Demon Order, I can live a normal life, get married, have children, and have seventeen or eighteen big fat boys."

Upon hearing this, Bai Lin immediately thought of himself.

Seventeen or eighteen? That's a bit...

Given their clan's reproductive capacity, it's already difficult for them to give birth to even one child, let alone seventeen or eighteen...

Bai Lin suddenly shouted, "I will try my best!"

Looking at Bai Lin's serious face, Gray chuckled: "You don't need to work so hard, there are others to share the burden."

Bai Lin puffed out, "No way, I don't want to share too much of the burden with others."

Bai Lin still wants to have Gray all to herself, but that's impossible now.

Gray understood what Bai Lin meant; it was the so-called competition for favor.

Having many wives inevitably brings problems. Keeping the harem from falling into chaos is already difficult enough, but preventing the concubines from vying for the emperor's favor is even more challenging...

I admire anyone who can do that.

Yes, this is something that will give Gray a headache later.

The decision to start a harem has already been made; this is an unavoidable issue.

But until then...

"It's not that simple," Gray sighed. "Do you think previous Demon Lords haven't faced similar situations?"

Bai Lin was startled upon hearing this: "Tell me in detail?"

Gray continued, "That was a long time ago."

The tenth Demon King, that 'sage,' was a similar case.

To Gray's surprise, he had heard of Bai Lin, the "sage."

Bai Lin muttered, "He's a pretty famous demon king. They say he invented all sorts of magic and items, but I don't know anything else about him."

Gray nodded: "Yes."

This 'sage' only led the demons to protect their territory during his tenure, and never invaded the human realm.

In the end, he still fell to the sword of the hero.

That was the most unusual time; the only time the Demon King died defending against a human attack rather than attacking humans.

"So, the current situation is no different from that of the 'Sage' back then?" Bai Lin asked, somewhat flustered.

Will Gray repeat the same mistake?

Gray added, "Well... there is a difference. At least the 'sage' didn't get along well with the hero, but that doesn't have much of an impact. Even if the current hero gets along well with me, what about the next one, and the one after that? I don't think I can get along well with every hero. One day I'll have to face off against the hero."

"Then, what should we do?" Bai Lin certainly didn't want anything to happen to Gray.

"So we're still looking for a solution. There should be a buffer period of several years. It's not urgent."

Gray is now in a situation where he's like a blind cat trying to catch a dead mouse.

I'll leave it to fate; after all, I have absolutely no information and don't know where to start.

"That's it!" Bai Lin had a flash of inspiration: "You're already strong enough. It will take the hero quite a while to catch up with you. As long as you continue to improve, the hero will get stronger, and you will get stronger too. Then you won't be afraid of the hero anymore!"

The Achilles paradox, right? You can only approach, but never catch up with, the tortoise.

The problem with this paradox is that it doesn't include a time limit. It simply divides the time before catching the tortoise into infinitely many time periods to try and catch up, which is meaningless.

The two situations are different; I am not a tortoise, and the hero is not Achilles.

Theoretically speaking, as long as one's advancement speed is slightly faster than or equal to that of a hero, one can live a worry-free life.

Seeing that Bai Lin thought she had come up with a good idea, Gray was reluctant to shatter her illusion, but he still spoke up.

“I haven’t told anyone yet, it’s a secret, but I’m telling you today.” After a slight pause, Gray continued, “I can’t go any further.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Lin was taken aback, and his smile froze.

Gray continued to explain, "It's reached its limit; it can't improve any further. However, it's not that its talent has reached its limit, but rather that it's being restricted by something else, preventing it from advancing to the next magic rank."

As for the reason, Gray looked out the window at the night sky.

He does seem to have some clues.