Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

The process of capturing the goddess went quite smoothly; however, nothing developed according to what the Human leadership had envisioned.

After the goddess was captured, the goddess’s Favored Clan still insisted that the goddess was truly the goddess.

This act of the Humans—imprisoning the goddess without permission—was a kind of blasphemy. The Angels demanded that the Humans immediately release the goddess and accept the goddess’s punishment, otherwise they would show no mercy.

This plan existed precisely in order to prove that the goddess was not the goddess.

The Human leadership naturally would not hand the goddess back so easily; while negotiating terms with the Angels, they simultaneously made full preparations for war.

Incidentally, the technology of the Nine-Life Cat Demon became ever more mature during this period.

computer particles could enter the human body in the form of compounds. By issuing certain commands, those who controlled Magic Power at the external end could in turn control the computer particles inside the body, and by combining this with earlier virtual reality technology, they could artificially create illusions inside a person’s brain to train the soldier’s mind.

Since vast amounts of complex information had to be processed to ensure the safety of the soldiers, the Humans created an artificial intelligence AI—[Nine-Life Cat Demon].

The technology called ”Nine-Life Cat Demon” was soon applied to the development of Magic as well.

The technologies of maze construction, operation, and so on only made explosive progress after continual innovation based on Nine-Life Cat Demon.

What was unexpected was that a unique Magic Power enrichment phenomenon appeared inside the mazes.

It began with a minor malfunction that made the computer particles display more properties similar to other elements; Magic Power became more viscous and easier to combine.

Subsequently, Magic Power acquired a unique Water Ball–shaped entity.

They appeared in clumps in every corner of the maze, wandering aimlessly, devouring nearby Magic Power and dividing. They were like the earliest forms of life.

Because this behavioral pattern resembled the Slimes that often appear in certain games, this phenomenon was also called the ”Slime” phenomenon.

Researchers could not determine whether the ”Slimes” possessed their own will; however, because they were composed of a large number of computer particles, they had extremely efficient learning capacity. As long as you input a specific instruction and let them process a certain situation once, the next time, even without an instruction, they could respond appropriately based on prior experience.

Quite interesting.

However, before research into the Slime phenomenon could go deeper, it was abruptly called to a halt by the top brass.

In the past, the creation of life had been an enduring topic, but after the adoption of faith in Luca, many people held a particular reverence for life.

A ”Slime” phenomenon displaying such ”signs of life” might cause them to open Pandora’s Magic Box.

Therefore, the leadership ultimately called a stop to this research.

Only one plan was approved: using this Special property to create an entirely new AI—[Light of God Destruction].

As long as the method of imposing Despair memories on people was taught to [Light of God Destruction], it could then ceaselessly inflict terrifying Despair upon every Human it encountered.

This plan aimed to cultivate a group of Death Soldiers who did not fear Death, as a contingency.

And at the time, this decision seemed to be the right one.

Because the Humans were slow to return the goddess, the goddess’s Favored Clan, the Angels, passed through the Teleportation Gate, launched an Attack on the Humans, and demanded the goddess back.

They unleashed a blitzkrieg-style offensive, destroying the Human governing center with Thunderbolt speed and, for the first time, demonstrating to the Humans the might of the Angels.

The Humans did not cower; the Death Soldiers they had cultivated severely wounded several Angels, winning back a round for the Humans.

Such small-scale victories could not conceal the overall disadvantage.

Yet, under the operation of a massive propaganda machine, this small-scale victory was still hyped up as Humanity’s first great triumph against an alien civilization, and was widely publicized.

”Alien civilizations are nothing special either.”

”The so-called goddess is nothing but a fraud.”

”Humans will definitely be able to break the blockade of alien civilizations and lead technology to an even higher level.”

”When we possess technology equal to that of God, we are God.”

...

Commentary of this sort poured forth in an endless stream.

Within the Human leadership, however, minds were very clear: at their current technological level, it would likely be very difficult to deal with the goddess’s Favored Clan. Because of this, numerous internal divisions arose among the Human leadership.

Some believed that war would spur the emergence of more new technologies; the Humans had been in an era of unification and peace for a very long time, and perhaps the cessation of war was itself a reason for technological stagnation—this war was an extremely rare opportunity;

Some believed that all kinds of technologies were also rapidly developing during peacetime; this was not a problem of war or no war, and war would only bring suffering—we should return the goddess, beg their forgiveness, and end the war;

Some believed that even if they handed the goddess back now, it was already too late; this operation would definitely become a huge handle by which they would forever be suppressed by the goddess’s civilization...

Fengte had originally maintained a fairly neutral stance, but under the persuasion of one person after another, his position increasingly tilted toward going to war with the Angels.

”At this point, there is no going back.

The goddess is merely a disguise of a higher civilization; if we cannot settle the goddess, Human technology will never be able to develop.

This concerns the future of us Humans.

We should first find a way to drive back the Angels... no, we must prove that we possess the ability to resist the Angels, only then can we completely execute their counterfeit goddess.

They are not Luca’s descendants; they are not of our bloodline.

But they are also life.

If they are life, then we abide by the rules of mutual competition.

We have not violated any of Luca’s teachings.

Natural selection, survival of the fittest.

If we can defeat them, then we prove the superiority of us Luca’s descendants. If we cannot, then we can only attempt to adapt.

I believe more people would rather be rampaging Tyrant Kings of the earth than cowering rats hiding in trees.

The only thing that can wipe out a Tyrant King is a natural disaster.

And for Humans as we are now, there is no longer any such thing as a natural disaster.”

Fengte’s impassioned speech did not immediately move everyone, but it did truly win over a portion of the neutral camp.

The Main War Faction won out over the other factions by a slim margin.

The Humans decided to accept the Angels’ challenge and resist to the end.

Yet the disparity in strength soon made countless combat personnel come face-to-face with Despair.

The Angels wielded Holy Light as their weapon, combining both Healing and offensive power, and they possessed pure white wings that allowed them to soar the skies. The Humans, on the other hand, could only rely on bulky Armor and gigantic warships to fight, and in terms of agility were far inferior to the Angels.

Battle after battle ended in hasty, disastrous defeat for the Humans.

Some among the Human Main War Faction therefore began to waver, believing that confronting the Angels was an exceedingly foolish decision.

If no method could be found to counter the Angels, the Humans might well be heading toward complete and final defeat.