Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

The giant dragon’s surveillance magic has limited scope, prioritizing the observation of people or events most likely to influence history, which is understandable.

Unless someone can continuously influence the entire world from birth to death, the dragon’s surveillance magic will eventually depart from him.

However, this leads to the difficulty in explaining why someone would make such choices at a particular historical point if changes in their mentality, invisibly to the dragon, lead to personal behavioral changes that subsequently impact history.

Yang Yu cannot judge whether the dragon’s surveillance method is right or wrong.

No one knows what will happen in the future.

When the dragons observe and record the world, there is no way to accurately judge what kind of impact specific individuals might have on the world at any given time in the future.

They can only rely on past experiences to select some possible darlings of the era and record as much as possible.

Perhaps, the dragons have seen the conclusion of heroes becoming mundane several times; thus, when they saw Lox retreat from the limelight, they shifted their focus without hesitation.

It’s a pity that this shift seemed to have missed something important.

Yang Yu can see that during the years Hero Lox has been in seclusion, some changes have indeed occurred.

Does Lox really not know that the Kingdom is using him?

Not necessarily.

However, after losing the Demon King as a target, Lox seemed to no longer resemble a hero.

After killing a former companion again, Hero Lox seemed somewhat self-destructive.

Lox knows that if things continue like this, many people will die because of the war, but he also doesn’t know what to do.

Yang Yu has seen more than once that after a military meeting conducted in the name of justice, Lox would bury his hands in his hair and grasp tightly in anguish.

Many people believe that Lox has the ability to resolve all matters with a single sentence, but Lox knows better than anyone that even if he can stop the war with a single sentence, it is only temporary.

Lox, who used to be decisive and bold against the Demon King, is now bewildered beyond recognition.

Yang Yu kept a close watch on Lox, fearing that the past dragon might avert its gaze again and hoping to find some qualities in Lox that had changed to reassess the current Lox.

However, Yang Yu’s efforts were in vain.

On the surface, Lox remained the shiny and glamorous hero who saved the world, but behind the scenes, he gradually sank into confusion and often drowned his sorrows in drink.

It was as if he wore a thick mask, preventing anyone from seeing what he was really thinking.

Only when he saw the children of his companions would Lox occasionally show a genuine smile.

The boy had a pair of bright eyes with star-like patterns in them, looking very much like his deceased father.

The child’s father and mother were both companions of the hero, and the uncle in front of the boy was indeed the hero who saved the world. Yet, the boy was blissfully unaware, thinking only that the uncle was kind and gentle to him.

So, the boy clung to Lox and even hoped several times that Lox would marry his mother and become his real father.

Every time, Lox could only respond with a wry smile.

Yet, Lox truly treated the boy like his own son, tirelessly accompanying him as he grew up and answering all his questions.

As time passed and he spent more time with the boy, Lox began to cheer up, and a hint of brightness seemed to return to his eyes.

Until news arrived that extinguished the light in Lox’s eyes once again.

—His former companion, Amon, had fallen.

Amon accepted demonic power and fell from a hybrid angel to a fallen angel, losing his self-awareness and becoming an unstoppable war machine.

This news hit Lox like a thunderclap, causing him to suddenly fall seriously ill.

Yang Yu knew that the Dark Age was about to begin.

And this came barely thirteen years after the Demon King was repelled.

Amon’s rampage across the continent triggered an endless series of butterfly effects.

Country C and Country D, having allied, relentlessly consumed small countries and oppressed various peoples, ultimately causing backlash.

Displaced people from various countries united while the two countries’ leadership was preoccupied with Amon, sweeping through numerous important cities and then establishing their own nations, each declaring independence.

In just three months, the two large countries completely collapsed, splitting into eleven smaller countries.

In the technologically advanced Country A, countless members of the Demon Clan lay in waiting.

These demons gradually climbed through the ranks using their knowledge, eventually seizing core technologies in Country A and orchestrating a coup during Amon’s rampage.

However, the Demon-led regime faced fierce resistance from the citizens of Country A, leading to a civil war there.

The situation was most absurd in Country B, which tried to counter the rising nations by attracting adventurers from all over the world with various welfare benefits.

While the benefits could barely be maintained in victorious wartime, they could not keep up with the demands following defeat.

The powerful adventurers from across the world were hard to manage; before arriving, most had formed specific teams, and the majority cared only about their teams’ interests, putting national interests on the back burner.

On the battlefield, it was common to see several teams fighting each other over unequal distribution of benefits.

Could one really expect these chaotic adventurers to achieve successive victories?

Country B wanted to properly guide them, but where were the powerful figures who could manage so many adventurers? Those unique S-Class adventure groups were unreliable.

Country B, desperately trying to convert recruited adventurers into fighting forces and pouring money into maintaining high welfare standards, ultimately led to inflation.

As prices soared, even before the civilians could revolt with cries of ”Can someone birthed noble even exist?” the adventurers felt unfairly treated and remarkably united, ransacking the royal and noble families of Country B.

Some ruthless adventurers didn’t even spare the royal and noble members but captured them and sold them as slaves.

After the adventurers left, they left behind a country in ruins, and those shouting for equality soon found themselves with an impoverished nation in their hands...

If not for Amon’s invasion of their nation when they had no high-level power to resist him, these civilians might have established a republic from scratch, working to become a rich and powerful nation.

The incident in Country B also indirectly facilitated the establishment of the world’s monetary system.

In conclusion, under the influence of Amon’s fall, the geopolitical landscape changed dramatically.

An era filled with scattered small nations and constant warfare was thus established.

Regrettably, these small countries had no intention of a united front against the fallen angel Amon, as their very existence was somewhat tied to him.

After all, believing that the Hero would eventually defeat Amon, almost every nation watched with schadenfreude as others were invaded by Amon, then opportunistically invaded those nations alongside Amon to gain some benefits.

And the hero’s homeland, Country E, often faced Amon’s invasions and became a regular target for intrusion by other countries.

With its vast lands and relatively stable lives of its residents, who else would they invade?