And unlike the Demon Kings before him, this one had a distinct love for battle.
As a result, under his guidance, demons placed great value on their personal strength.
The phrase "survival of the strongest" was formalized during that period. And after so much ti, it had eventually beco the foundational principle of survival in the Demon Realm.
From all these indicators, anyone would conclude that this Demon King had been powerful, rational, and worthy of every glowing word used to describe him.
But from Anos’s firsthand account—after learning the truth—Illiya now knew that this Demon King was not only detached from governance but also extrely childish and had an unusual obsession with showing off to others.
It was precisely because of his behavior that, during that era, the Demon Realm had made countless enemies across the continent.
While the strength of the demons during that ti was partially thanks to him, the greater reason was that so many external forces wanted to beat them down that they were left with no choice but to beco strong in self-defense.
In short, Illiya’s worldview had been completely shattered.
After learning the whole truth, Illiya felt it might’ve been better if he’d never known.
At least then, he could’ve kept so beautiful mories intact in his mind.
But what’s done was done. There was no way for him to cast a mory-erasing spell on himself just to forget this particular experience.
Well, technically he could—but there was no point.
Elves had never been the kind to run away from reality. So, as a mber of the elven race, he would not run away from this particularly painful truth.
After Anos finished rattling off everything he wanted to say, he felt noticeably lighter—his mood had clearly improved a bit.
Until now, he hadn’t had anyone he could really talk to about these things. In his view, much of it was completely incomprehensible, yet to others—especially those from the demon race—it all seed so utterly natural and reasonable.
That kind of reaction was inevitable, given the vast difference in how they naturally thought and processed the world.
So, right from the start, Anos had already resolved to bury all his complaints deep in his heart and say nothing of them.
It wasn’t that talking about these matters with fellow demons was impossible.
He could talk about them—but every ti he did, the expected sense of release or satisfaction never ca.
Instead, he only felt more stifled, even frustrated.
Eventually, as ti passed, he simply stopped trying to bring them up anymore—after all, the things that seed so absurd to him appeared perfectly normal in the eyes of the demons.
Because demons simply couldn’t understand what exactly was so ridiculous about any of it.
But this ti was different.
Illiya wasn’t from the Demon Realm. He had co from the outside. And more than that—he was an elf.
On this world, the relationship between elves and demons was actually quite decent.
It wasn’t like those fantasy novels from the original world, where the two races were locked in a never-ending battle to the death.
In fact, within the demon realm’s own historical archives, Anos had found records suggesting that the elven race’s strength should never be underestimated.
Even Phenex, the previous Demon King, had once been beaten up by the elves.
So, discussing these complaint-worthy, logic-defying events with an elf posed no real risks.
Elves were trustworthy.
That was why, today, Anos had pulled Illiya aside to rant about all these things he couldn’t understand.
And sure enough, Anos saw exactly the expression he had been hoping for—shock—appear on Illiya’s face.
No matter how well one might manage their facial expressions, upon hearing that kind of story, even the calst person would inevitably crack.
This was the very sa experience he himself had gone through in the past.
And now, seeing soone else encounter the sa kind of emotional whiplash he once experienced... Anos suddenly felt even better.
The old ancestors used to say that happiness is built on the suffering of others—and sure enough, they were absolutely right.
Anos thoughtfully left a mont of silence, allowing Illiya ti to fully digest everything he had just shared.
It wasn’t that he had revealed any state secrets or hugely critical pieces of information—it was just that the content was simply too absurd to handle in one go.
No matter how good one’s ntal state was, receiving such a sudden contradiction to everything one had believed for years was bound to cause at least a brief "sage ti" of stunned disbelief.
After a while, once Anos figured that Illiya had probably digested most of it, he spoke up again in a teasing tone.
"Hard to accept, isn’t it? When I first read these things in the historical texts of the Demon Realm, I was completely speechless too. I never imagined that the previous Demon King’s style would be like that. All the previous kings were so... normal. Why did the last one have to be a genetic mutation or sothing?"
Illiya, still reeling from the true version of history, silently deleted all his previously held information about the Demon King Phenex and replaced it with the intelligence shared by Anos.
After completing this ntal data update, Illiya finally had the capacity to start listening to Anos’s words in earnest.
He forced himself to perk up, focusing his attention so it wouldn’t wander.
His eyes locked onto the Demon King standing in front of him, determined not to miss even the slightest microexpression.
Only after completing all his ntal preparations did Illiya finally feel safe enough to truly listen.
All of this was because he was afraid that a certain Demon King might once again "speak wildly."
He was just a small, weak, and helpless elf—why should he have to endure such things?
Fortunately, this ti Anos didn’t say anything shocking. His questions were perfectly normal and proper.
Only then did Illiya truly relax.
"I really didn’t expect the previous Demon King to have that kind of personality," Illiya said. "Hearing what you just shared—I have to admit, I was shocked. After all, the records about His Majesty the forr Demon King that circulate across the continent are all glowing with praise, without exception. As ti passed, those accounts naturally beca the publicly accepted ’truth.’"
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