The magic cards I made are absolutely flawless!

Until she noticed that her pupils, reflected on the black water, had turned the same gold as her brother's.

She screamed in despair.

……

The officers hesitated, unsure whether they should do anything about this ninth-tier demon whose emotions had become frighteningly unstable.

Originally, the only one present who could deal with a ninth-order demon was the Holy Maiden of Light, Ludwig.

But now it seems that it's not just her emotions that are in danger.

The incredible changes that just happened to her seem to indicate that this ninth-tier great demon—the Protector of Talomatti—has obtained all the power of the Demon King Delois!

If war breaks out, they may not only face a demon king, but also a final stage demon king that is even more terrifying than the original demon king, Delois.

However, Talomatti seemed completely unable to see them.

After a period of venting, things seemed to return to calm.

She silently picked up her brother's body and began walking out of the palace.

The officers of the Holy Kingdom felt caught in a dilemma.

If we let the Demon King walk out of the Holy Capital Palace like this today...

What will become of the dignity of their Holy Kingdom and the dignity of its soldiers?!

The only one who can represent the Holy Kingdom now is Ludwig, the Holy Maiden of Light, who has remained silent since earlier.

Finally, as if remaining silent would mean letting Talotati go, Ludwig gritted his teeth and shouted out:

"Talomati! What on earth is going on...?"

Talomatti paused slightly, then continued walking.

"I do not know."

She may have responded to her words out of Ludwig’s previous goodwill, but Talomatti’s voice had lost all its vitality.

"And what about you? What are your plans?"

Ludwig pressed on.

Without a doubt, Talomatti is now the new Demon King of the Demon Realm.

Every decision she makes, every move she makes, will affect the world.

"I."

Talomatti had intended to respond to Ludwig in a rather cold tone, as the current situation was not a good time to negotiate with the Saints.

—Because she felt her mind was completely blank, and she couldn't think clearly about anything.

But at that moment, she suddenly realized the heavy burden and responsibility that should not have been on her shoulders, and she also remembered her brother's last trust in her.

“I will not harm the people of the Holy Kingdom. I swear to the goddess of reincarnation and destiny.”

"As for the current situation, I'm just as confused as you are. We'll all get the answers when Len wakes up, so please don't ask me anymore."

"Right now, all I know is that I want to take my brother home..."

Talomatti's voice finally choked up.

This revealed the truth that she wasn't as tough as she seemed.

At this moment, in the eyes of any Holy Kingdom officer, she did not resemble a demon king at all.

They don't even deserve to be called demons.

She was just a girl who had lost her brother.

That's it.

"Ugh, what's wrong with you demons one by one?"

Ludwig clutched his head in anguish, ruffling his smooth hair and complaining bitterly.

After letting Talomatti continue for a while, Ludwig seemed to have finally made a decision.

"No one is to divulge the events that took place in the palace today! Until His Majesty Lenn wakes up. Do not obstruct the Demon King Talomatti. I will inform the other lords on the path to the Demon Realm."

Even though Ludwig knew that such an order wouldn't silence everyone.

But at least it won't allow the powerful and wealthy to cause trouble immediately, or alarm the other ninth-tier experts.

"Thank you."

Talomatti uttered those words as if reciting them silently.

Holding her brother's body, her figure gradually disappeared into the darkness behind the main gate of the palace.

……

Dekan witnessed Delois's final moments in silence.

He probably understood the significance of the goddess letting him witness this scene.

After his death, Delois was probably summoned by the goddess Tike and, together with her, witnessed the end of the Holy Kingdom.

The goddess Tike simply hoped that even though Dekan was living a new life, he could still witness some of his important memories.

In the end, Lenn survived, and he will surely pardon Ray, and Morpheus will die peacefully of old age instead of from illness.

Talomatti will return to the Demon Realm and become the new Demon King.

He is a supreme demon king who surpasses Delois and is truly omnipotent and invincible.

But even without watching any further, Dekan already knew the final outcome.

Because that was what his master had told him from the very beginning—about her fate.

More than a decade after Delois's death.

The powerful figures from both the Demon Realm and the Holy Kingdom were defeated in the tenth-tier Shadow World, the [Battlefield of Heavenly Annihilation].

The reason why the Demon Realm was destroyed and turned into a plague-ridden land where all living beings in the mortal world are wiped out is the calamity caused by the failure of the Tenth-Order Shadow World.

The Holy Kingdom, having lost its central leadership, disintegrated. The strategically important northern region, primarily the territory of Kran, became the precursor to the Saron Empire. Other Holy Kingdom lords became kings, splitting the kingdom into numerous smaller kingdoms.

And so it ended.

A glorious era of holy kingdoms and demon realms.

The curtain has finally fallen.

******

Author's Note:

Volume 6 is finished! Doesn't it feel like a grand finale again? Actually, starting from Volume 5, each major chapter felt like an ending.

Tomorrow we'll begin the final volume, volume seven! The plot holes should be mostly filled by now! If I write quickly, I might be able to finish it in about ten days with extra chapters, and then start the free side stories! But seriously, my sleep schedule has become weird again…

P.S.: Just to clarify, because there was no update yesterday, normally there should be four standard chapters in two days, which is four 2000-word chapters, totaling 8000 words. This extra 10,000-word chapter is only 2000 words more than the regular update, so it only counts as one extra chapter.

[Announcement: Volume VII is now free]

In one sentence:

[Volume 7 will be free up to the final chapters; you won't need to spend any more Cat Coins to read the ending and all the epilogues.]

I hope you enjoy watching this, and I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. Thank you all for your continued support!

******

The following are the author's words:

Xi once said that there's no such thing as "if you can't pay it off in this book, you can pay it off in the next book" when it's a bounty; the book in which the bounty is owed must be paid off in that book. Therefore, for the possibility of "still owed chapters after completion" due to excessive bounties, my promised solution is to convert them into illustrations or free bonus chapters.

Everything was going according to plan until I tested positive last month. My symptoms and aftereffects became very severe, which led me to take more than ten days of sick leave intermittently.

As everyone knows, I never skip any chapters that are supposed to be updated when I take leave; every time I take leave, I add 2 to the number of chapters I owe. So, after more than ten days of adding 2... the number of chapters I owe skyrocketed to a point that even left me a little bewildered.

Even though I've been writing like crazy every day these past few days, the current balance of chapters returned/total owed is 88/199, meaning I still owe 111 chapters.

After finishing Volume 6, I calculated that Volume 7, the final volume, would be around 100,000 words long. No matter how many extra chapters I add, I'd still owe about 200,000 words of free epilogue. However, most of the epilogue will be lighthearted slice-of-life stories. Based on my current estimate, and assuming quality, it will likely only total around 100,000 words.

As for illustrations, a brand new set of official character illustrations is currently being drawn for this book, as well as several illustrations corresponding to scenes in the book.

I always take initiative when commissioning artwork; even without a reward, I'll actively seek out commissions... However, the completion time for these character illustrations and artworks can be quite long, and most won't be available until the story is finished. Therefore, if I use illustrations to pay off outstanding chapters, it might take until everyone forgets about them... which I feel is inappropriate. The final conclusion is: illustrations, regardless of quantity, will not count as outstanding chapters; the debt of outstanding chapters will still be repaid with chapters.

So, the way to pay off the bounty is to move into the free chapters phase early. I'll be releasing the entire seventh volume as free chapters, so no more subscription fees are needed. I'll probably lose a few tens of thousands of yuan in royalties, which I'll use to atone for taking consecutive days off last month...

I'm incompetent, so this is the only way I can repay my debt to the readers...

377 Delois's Enlightenment

On the other side of the dark sky, in the distant night sky that stretches as far as the eye can see, countless twinkling stars and sparks dance and weave among them.

Disregarding everything, focusing intently and working tirelessly.

When he came to his senses, Dekan found that the scene he was standing in had changed back from the Holy Kingdom to that mottled and colorful starry world.

According to his understanding, this world is a boundary between the living and the dead, a place where neither should be visited.

Or perhaps it belongs only to the realm of the goddess Tikkuri.

She may have been waiting here for thousands of years, even tens of thousands of years.

With loving eyes, she watches over the cycle of life in all things, waiting for this land to be reborn again and again.

Having witnessed the final fate of the Holy Kingdom, Dekan calculated the time and felt that this Shadow World should also be coming to an end.

But he found that he still looked like a spirit.

It also made him realize more clearly—

I was able to come to this realm not only because I received her protection and was summoned by her.

More importantly, I was truly in a life-or-death situation to be able to come to this realm.

To be or not to be, that is the question!

Based on previous experiences in the Shadow World, once all the tasks are successfully completed, he will naturally be sent back to the real world after playing in the Shadow World until the time runs out.