Brain bloom

"Wait?!" The ancient demon king suddenly exclaimed, sounding quite anxious.

"Ok?"

This seemingly insignificant detail left the two elders looking at each other in bewilderment, as if things had gone beyond their expectations.

The ancient hero was no longer calm, and asked himself in a hoarse voice, "Mist... could it be the Calamity Mist? No, that's not right."

"Yes, no, that's not right. While the ominous mist is troublesome, it shouldn't obscure the timeline. Could there be some other trouble that manifests in the form of 'mist'?"

"Hmm, what the Time Spirit sees must be a huge event... but so huge that even accurate time prediction is impossible... perhaps, it's the Calamity Mist raised by the Seasonal Beings?"

"No way, even a Calamity Mist of that level wouldn't be enough to... The Four Seasons One himself is a possibility. Could it be... Darkness?"

"Impossible. At most, they will just stand by and watch; they won't bring disaster themselves."

The two of them discussed many very in-depth topics, the secrets and details of which far exceeded Melia's understanding, making her somewhat impatient.

"Uncle, King of Ancient Demons, what do you mean by that?"

Volume 1 #308: Secret Talks in the Realm of Demons (Part 2)

"The Time Spirits are a species that can predict some major events, most of which are disasters. If the recent disaster is indeed the primordial evil, then what the Time Spirits see is only a desolate world."

"but……"

“But what I saw was not…” Melia’s brows furrowed, like a ball of yarn that had been crumpled by a cat.

The ancient demon king, Fernanda, and Senshi had ventured deep into the ruins beneath Silvermoon City and witnessed the traveling souls' attempt to awaken the primordial evil. Therefore, upon hearing that "the Time Spirit prophesied calamity," almost everyone subconsciously assumed that the calamity prophesied by the Time Spirit was precisely the primordial evil.

This is not surprising, as Hodge has also come forward to reveal what he is doing.

But unexpectedly, the problem didn't end there...

There is a bigger problem, one that transcends the original evil.

What else could appear in the form of a wisp of black mist? Something powerful enough to override the flow of time? The ancient hero fell into deep thought, as did the ancient Demon King…

Suddenly—a glint flashed in its eagle eyes as it stealthily glanced at its own daughter…

But there's no reason...

The ancient demon king shook his head, banishing the thought.

At the same time, instead of wanting to think about those troublesome things, they simply whispered to their best friend, reading each other's lips.

"Little Melia...did you come to play with me?"

“I wanted to too… but I’m obviously here to ask for reinforcements, to get your father to take down Hodge. I brought a hefty price, but your father won’t agree, sob…”

"The price isn't enough?"

"No, I'm late. Hodge is cunning; he made a deal with your father beforehand to keep it from making a move. Sigh."

This completely threw the plan into chaos. The Ancient Demon King was supposed to be humanity's last line of defense, but he was a man of principle; he would trade for enough souls…

Originally, Melia was planning to invite the ancient dragon Fernanda, who tore apart the truth, the coffin carrier Sen Shi, and the ancient demon king to form a magnificent triumvirate of true gods to crush everything.

He patted her head sympathetically: "What about the others in the Demon Realm? Maybe they can help you?"

Even with her friend's comfort, Melia still felt bitter and slowly recounted her difficulties.

“My father, although he defeated many powerful figures back then, also had many powerful figures who resented him… Besides, many people in your Demon Realm live in seclusion and don’t want to go out and fight.”

At this point, Yuan immediately pointed to himself, conveying meaning even without lip-reading.

"I'll help you."

"No way, you should just stay here and be a pretty face. I don't want to cause any cracks in your relationship. Don't worry, the human world can also execute Plan B. We can have the coffin carrier and Fernanda oversee things, and then we can gather all our strength to bomb Hodge, but we're not that confident."

"Can we win like this?"

She looked troubled, and after a long silence, she slowly said, "It's hard to say."

On this trip, besides requesting the Ancient Demon King and borrowing the portal to the Demon Realm, she also specifically inquired about Hodge. She learned that the evil god was extremely ancient, powerful, and also incredibly cunning.

It seems the other side also has some trump cards up its sleeve, daring to so brazenly oppose the human world. Even more troublesome is that its ally is the "traveling soul" hidden deep within the world…

Melia also harbored a selfish motive: she wanted to deplete the Holy Coffin Kingdom's national strength as much as possible, so that she would have more confidence in the future to invite the coffin carriers back to the Chaos Land.

But the current situation is far from ideal.

"In any case, the awakening of primordial evil is the first thing we must face right now," the Ancient Demon King said in a deep voice, breaking the silence. "But I can't help you, because I've made a deal with Hodge."

"I understand..."

"And you, don't go looking for trouble!" The ancient demon king, unusually adopting a fatherly demeanor, reprimanded him.

Yuan was puzzled as to why her little scheme had been so easily seen through. She did have a plan: to secretly fight Hodge to give herself some satisfaction... even if it cost her her life, it didn't matter.

"In short, we in the Demon Realm are probably unable to contribute, and can only borrow your teleportation portal."

"I understand."

Melia sighed, feeling disappointed but helpless.

Besides having made a deal, the ancient Demon King had other reasons for not interfering in this matter. In fact, the demon nobility was numerous, forming another powerful force, but this force could not be lent out.

The demon nobles, loyal to the owl, were secretly preparing something. Time was of the essence, and not a single moment could be wasted, so the demon realm truly had no way to lend a hand.

Fortunately, the human world still has a powerful reliance—at least that's what the ancient Demon King thinks.

"Where is the person who brought the coffin? With things so serious, how can she possibly sit still?"

"do not know……"

"You gave her my feather as payment, didn't you?"

Yes, that's true, it was back when we first met.

The Ancient Demon King stretched out his wings and spoke to the feathers formed from spiritual energy: "Is the one on the other side the Coffin Bringer? I am your friend, the Ancient Demon King Ron Stolt."

A moment of silence followed, everyone waiting expectantly.

"But I am a dandelion... oh no, I am one of the oldest flowers—"

"Oh... wrong person, sorry." The ancient demon king retracted his wings.

Incidentally—in a pastry shop, Dandelion, who was waiting in vain for Mori, was completely bewildered when the staff decorated with owl feathers suddenly made a sound, startling her.

The ancient demon king looked at Melia.

"Is there any way to contact the person who delivered the coffin? Your human world needs her."

“Hmm, but she’s ignoring me…” Melia lowered her head. She had actually tried to contact Sen Shi several times using her communication pen, but hadn’t received a reply. Similarly, the people of the Holy Coffin Kingdom were also experiencing the same problem; their magical communication devices were not responding.

This doesn't seem right.

Adding to this the black mist that the Time Sprite saw, enough to obscure the flow of time, everyone felt a sense of unease without realizing it.

“Um… I don’t want to be idle, so how about I go find her? I heard she went to a human gathering yesterday, so she probably won’t go too far today.” Yuan suggested, while playing with Fufu.

"This... you must not provoke the Sea God."

"Okay, I'll be good, I won't go then..." Yuan muttered softly, "Tsk, a mere sea god..."

"Don't pout and look unhappy! Silly daughter, of course I know you're stronger than it, but can you withstand this kind of torment? Never mind, it's fine if you go find the coffin carrier. This matter really can't be neglected."

The ancient demon king thought this arrangement was excellent.

If they go to search for the forest and find it, they can receive the protection of the true god, and the human world can basically settle down. If they don't find it, at least they'll have something to do and won't be thinking of confronting the sea god head-on.

Volume 1 #309: The Intricate Language of Flowers

This conversation, which was neither long nor short, has come to a temporary end.

Unlike the others, Gu Yingxiong wasn't directly involved, so he quietly left the ancient demon king's cave. He had been away from the human world for a long time, long past the age of fighting with passion, and didn't have much affection for the human world.

The task of resisting the sea god naturally fell on the shoulders of the inhabitants of the human world.

“Little Melia, aren’t you going back?” Wish suddenly asked. “When I came here, I noticed that the Evil Mist was starting to stir.”

"A commotion?" Melia had not received any similar news yet.

"I come from Silver Ring City and am suffering from the Evil Mist."

"...How could this be? So fast?" Melia immediately stood up, unable to maintain her composure any longer. "Yesterday we received news and began to gather mages...how did the situation deteriorate so much today..."

"Perhaps because the sea god made many preparations in advance."

"As expected... the disappearance of the ominous fog worldwide was to gather strength."

She quickly regained some composure and began to analyze the situation using the way of thinking she had inherited from her father.

"While the powerful were gathered together, the once-hidden Calamity Mist seized the opportunity to launch an attack... The Sea God had indeed made many preparations, knowing our movements with such precision."

"That?"

"Looks like we need to speed things up—shall we go together?"

Yuan shook her head: "You go back first, I'll leave later, I can't keep you in vain."

Without hesitation, Melia stepped forward and gave her close friend a deep hug for a few seconds, whispering "thank you" in her ear before turning and leaving. Unlike her leisurely mood, she carried a heavy responsibility on her shoulders.

Watching the young banshee leave, the ancient demon king returned to his usual weary state.

And you, are you willing?

"I... I'll go tidy up first."

Leaving the desolate palace of the ancient Demon King, she hurried to her room. It took considerable effort to create a suitable container and water in the barren Demon Realm, and she carefully tended to the Casablanca flowers.

This is a precious gift from the Four Seasons; keep it at home.

As for the owl-shaped glass ornament, Yuan carefully placed it beside her pillow. Just like when she was a child, that owl always stood here, silently watching over her suffering daughter.

When Yuan was about to leave, the ancient demon king did not forget to give him some instructions.

"Remember, don't provoke the sea god."

"Ah."

"Contact me every hour. Also, isn't it winter in the human world now? Wear an extra layer..."

There was no rush. She simply smiled and picked up the earnest owl, savoring this ordinary father-daughter moment before her departure. She also had some interesting stories to share with her father.