Have I been betrayed once again?
No... that’s not right.
Doro stood there, gazing at the grown figure in front of him, with golden and silver pupils exuding demonic charisma—Mohe. He looked at the devastated ground, at the King of Dragons whose life was ceaselessly ebbing away, and at his own lifeless counterfeit—an entity he once acknowledged. He never imagined this short-lived existence would fight to exhaustion for this world, maintaining a ready-to-attack stance even after death.
He watched the myriad scenes reflected to him by Mohe.
He knew Mohe was playing with his ntality.
But why?
Wasn’t this what he thought from the beginning?
Because Mohe is the Demon King, so the Demon King must absolutely not be trusted. Precisely because there is absolutely no need to trust the Demon King, he must be absolutely certain the Demon King harbors deceit, resolutely determined to kill her at the slightest hint of anything amiss... Wasn’t this the decision he made to stay by the Demon King’s side?
But when exactly?
When did he start trusting Mohe?
Was it when she resurrected Frodonick into Rose? Was it when she clearly made two Magic Swords for himself and Ah Xion yet did not activate them? Was it when she ventured alone to Kenku Island? Was it during the Butuo City incident? Was it during the Elf affair?
Ah... we’ve been through so much already.
In the ti spent reuniting with Mohe, this girl who is the Demon King gave him the strength to stand again. If the current Doro were to look back a year, he’d find the old feelings very unfamiliar, like it was long overdue—the once decadent, drunken man has long since ceased to drink.
He doesn’t know when it started; his mind was filled with thoughts about Mohe.
If it were Mohe, what would she do?
If he wanted to understand Mohe better, what should he do?
If he could beco the sa existence as Mohe, if he could truly understand Mohe, wouldn’t he, as an eternal being, be able to watch over her forever?
Ah... I like Mohe, I love Mohe.
At this mont, Doro understood. Even as the world wails, even as the world suffers, it is now that Doro realizes why he could never truly fall for Lisidorwei—because he had unknowingly fallen in love with the woman before him: this demonic, eternally incomprehensible, cruel, sinister, cunning Demon King who entrapped him so thoroughly.
She hates him.
Unlike the Heroes’ party mbers who did all sorts of things to him, Doro doesn’t want to probe into their hearts. But the one thing he’s sure of is that in the emotions those girls held toward him, there was absolutely no "hatred." Their betrayal, devoid of hatred, is what hurts the most.
But Mohe hates him.
Hates the one who defeated her, who killed her...
That’s why she was so gentle and sweet to him, and it was this mix of gentleness and sweetness with hatred that truly made Doro fall in love with her.
How ridiculous? How tragic?
There’s nothing wrong with the contempt and mockery on Mohe’s face, for it highlights the pitiful nature of this man nad Doro.
At this mont, he finally understood the aning behind Mohe’s actions.
She has never changed; the one who has been changing is him.
She was telling him.
About the stance between them.
She was using this fact to tell him—what exists between them is not the kindness of warmth; what exists between them is only...
The difference between the strong and the weak.
The strong have the freedom of caprice, the strong have the power to dominate all... He has violence, but Mohe has intellectual violence. That is why he cannot stop these things from happening. And if not for the self-sacrifice of the King of Dragons, he wouldn’t know what has happened in this world. But was the King of Dragons’ sacrifice sothing Mohe anticipated?
She must have t the King of Dragons. She left behind this species, perhaps just for this mont.
But that no longer matters.
The only thing he needs to reassess is one.
"Don’t you think you’ve lost?" Doro’s face twisted into a sinister smile. He strongly felt his love, strongly felt his hatred; these two entirely contradictory emotions surged within him, "You don’t think my strength is truly above yours. You believe you shouldn’t be controlled by , right? So you say, that’s child’s play because a battle between adults always involves bloodshed, right?"
Mohe’s smile gradually beca as ferocious, and all projections vanished: "Yes! That’s right! My dear Hero! You’re indeed very clever! What I want to tell you is exactly this! To obtain sothing, one must pay a price; for an eternal life, this is no price— Do you think I would pay such a price?"
"If you were to die, then you would pay a price."
Finally, the two drew close once more.
In their eyes was each other’s reflection.
Doro recalled the ti when the Hero squad was challenging the Demon King. Back then, Mohe was also walking toward him like this.
It turns out nothing has changed, that the past several decades were all aningless. For Mohe, for himself, it was just a brief intermission, a continuation of the previous war, a war that required all major races to truly stake their lives, make sacrifices, and build on lives—a war with imnse sacrifices.
"Then let’s fight. Mohe, I will make you fail once again. This ti, you will have no chance to resist."
"The strong don’t speak with words."
Almost simultaneously, Doro and Mohe’s fists smashed into each other’s faces.
The earth shattered inch by inch.
The ground, nearly the size of a city, under that initial punch, cracked like a spiderweb, shattering into countless stone fragnts. The creatures within this area had no ti to wail before being crushed by such power.
The body of the King of Dragons, Feiker’s body shattered simultaneously.
Just from this scene alone, it was hard to tell if the destruction caused by the tentacles in the sky was greater for the world, or if the battle between these two would truly bring about world destruction.
"I’m stronger! Mohe! You are no match for !"
"You’re just a bit taller, a bit larger, Doro, you don’t think in a battle at our level that matters, do you?"
Both wiped away the blood from their lips, gold and crimson intertwined.
At this level, at the level of the Demon King and the Human King, what does a battle look like?
Just like the scenes the Hero squad saw in the past, just like those battles in the past.
The earth was as fragile as cotton, the sky as if it were within reach, the vast world seed unable to contain the bodies of the two, even though they were only the size of ordinary people, smaller than ants to the world.
Only throwing punches, only enduring each other’s attacks.
Any flashy thods are a waste of energy, any moves are aningless, lacking even less technique than a street brawl, just a punch from you, a kick from .
Without any defense, just bearing the opponent’s achievents, the undying nature, eternal nature constantly repairs their bodies, the imnse power continuously causes destruction, and the terrifying invasive tentacles, when accidentally caught in this battle, would instantly be shattered into a vacuum.
This is more exaggerated than any battles before.
Compared to the battle then, it could only be considered the first half, a warm-up of sorts, whereas the second half now—it is the truly bloody war that one must win no matter what.
How did Doro fall in love with him, Mohe does not know. In the long years, no one has ever loved him, so fawned over him, even though they appeared fearless, but Mohe knew their fear inside. Why would this guy, clearly his nesis, love him?
Mohe still doesn’t understand humans.
Even though she herself has beco human, even though she surrounds herself with many humans to observe.
Yet she still doesn’t understand.
But it doesn’t matter, she doesn’t need to know why Doro likes her, she only knows, she does not like Doro, she has never been defeated.
So was the battle against the ominous, so was the battle against the Goddess—no one ever "killed" her.
It was the first ti in her life she felt "fear." It was the first ti in her long life of immortality, she felt death approaching.
She felt "hate" for the first ti.
She hated Doro.
From that mont of death, she cursed Doro, as the source of the Curse, she cursed that she would definitely seek revenge on Doro.
Over a dozen years—
How short is that ti?
How many years has she lived? She couldn’t even rember, but the mories of these past years are so clear, the feelings of these years are so long. If yearning for soone ans love, from this perspective, perhaps she does love Doro. She thought so much of Doro.
It was the first ti she felt the flow of ti so vividly, treasuring every minute, every second.
When she saw Doro in the tavern, she was flustered, she was not ready yet. Hadn’t retrieved her power yet.
Upon discovering that Doro wasn’t eternal, she was nervous, afraid he would die of old age before she exacted revenge, she constantly adjusted her plans... all because of this man.
Fortunately, the outco is good.
Fortunately, at this mont.
Her fist collided with Doro’s again.
She wouldn’t lose.
She won’t lose.
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