Traveling through the second dimension, the joy system encourages me to laugh heartily!

"But Your Grace, please don't misunderstand, I didn't force them."

Who told those people to be so obsessed with me, crying and shouting that they would stay by my side forever and swearing to become one with me?

"I was just kindly helping them fulfill their lifelong wish. Besides, those people didn't lose anything, you see—"

As she spoke, she pointed to a snake-man servant by the door who was wiping silverware with his head down. "They now possess power far greater than they did in their human days, they age more slowly, and they are even free from the torment of illness. Isn't this a blessing?"

"Isn't using charm to deprive someone of their mind and right to choose also considered coercion?"

Chen Ming incisively exposed the hypocrisy in her words.

He knew all too well that once ordinary humans encountered the powerful allure of the Serpent Demons, their will would crumble, and they would naturally, like moths drawn to a candle flame, blindly and fanatically offer up everything, including their lives and souls. This was not voluntary at all, but the most vicious form of mind control.

Of course, the charm ability of the Serpent Demons is not omnipotent; it is usually only effective on targets who are weak-willed, greedy, or obsessed.

With Chen Ming's powerful mental strength, he could completely ignore this level of temptation.

"Hehehe..."

Upon hearing this, Mina, the Serpent Demon, let out a string of silvery laughter. "Please don't look at me with such a terrifying gaze. To be honest, I have no intention of fighting you... Besides, I should thank you. Thanks to you for helping me kill that troublesome Gurudo, it saved me a lot of trouble..."

"Gurudo, so that's the name of that beetle demon."

"Yeah, that idiot with all his strength."

Mina curled her lip in disdain, then looked at Chen Ming with interest, her vertical pupils flashing with a probing light:

"By the way, my name is Mina, you can also call me Snake... Oh dear, it's quite surprising, isn't it? The Goddess actually made an exception and sent you, the 'angel,' down to hunt us down this time? Has the rule changed?"

She deliberately emphasized the word "rules" in an attempt to extract information from Chen Ming.

"Who knows?"

Chen Ming remained outwardly calm, but Mina's words undoubtedly revealed an important piece of information that he was extremely interested in—"Only the brave can completely slay the demons," which seemed to be part of the underlying "rules" of this world!

Therefore, it must be that some being "formulated" such rules and also granted the demon race immortality.

This intelligence confirmed Chen Ming's previous conjecture—this world is very likely a large-scale "faith farm" built by a god to collect faith power.

In order to ensure that the power of faith is produced continuously and periodically, the entity behind the scenes deliberately set up a cyclical script in which the Demon King is resurrected every two hundred years, and then "bestows" the power of human "heroes" to defeat the Demon King.

In this way, new generations of humans can continuously experience "divine grace," firmly remembering and believing in that deity...

Since the original story is not yet finished, Chen Ming's understanding of the world background is incomplete, so many truths can only be inferred based on existing clues.

Mina's casual remark undoubtedly provided strong corroborating evidence for his speculation.

Seeing that Chen Ming wouldn't talk to her about the rules, Mina could only sigh with feigned resentment, lightly touching her chest with her slender hand. She then changed the subject, starting to talk about the most practical benefits:

"Well, whatever... Actually, I'm not like those other fools whose minds are only filled with killing and resurrecting the Demon King. I don't want the Demon King to be resurrected. After all, if the Demon King really is resurrected, all of us demons who are 'nourishment' will perish. I don't want to die! This world is so interesting, I haven't had enough fun yet!"

She raised her eerie purple vertical pupils and looked at Chen Ming with "sincerity":

"So, how about we make a deal? If you agree to let me go, I'll tell you everything I know about the other demons! Their real names, their disguises, their special abilities, their hidden weaknesses, and their respective strongholds... How about that? Isn't that a good deal? You can easily find and take care of them!"

Chen Ming naturally knew that Mina's words were partly true and partly false.

The condition for the Demon King's resurrection is that at least three Life Fruits must be offered. Once the Demon King is resurrected, he will absorb all the demons. The consciousness of the demon who offered the most Life Fruits will become the dominant one in the new Demon King's consciousness!

If you don't want to disappear completely, the best way is not to hide, but to create more life fruits than any other demon race and strive to become the dominant consciousness.

In other words, the demons are both nourishment for the Demon King and, to some extent, his reserves. The so-called "not wanting to die" is nothing but a lie.

Mina's words seemed reasonable, but Chen Ming knew she was lying—the instincts of the demon race made her crave power, and she also wanted to resurrect the Demon King, or even become the Demon King herself!

With her powerful allure and penetrating abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for her to collect and condense the souls needed for the three Fruits of Life after controlling a portion of the nobles.

Her real challenge lies in eliminating the other demons who are her rivals—her actual combat ability is not top-tier among the eight demon clans, so she can only use others to do her dirty work…

In the original story, the male protagonist, Lugo Tuhad, was once deceived by her rhetoric, which cleared away most of the obstacles for her.

Chen Ming naturally wouldn't fall for that trick again.

"A trade? Wouldn't that be too easy on you?"

Chen Ming scoffed, his tone filled with disdain, "You told me this information because you plan to use me to eliminate your rivals for the 'Demon King's throne,' right? Besides, your little bit of information is worthless to me. I've already obtained the most detailed information about the other demons from the Goddess!"

Upon hearing this, Mina's smile froze for a moment, then she put on an exaggeratedly hurt expression:

"This is outrageous! The goddess actually provided detailed information? This... this is a serious violation! How can anyone directly help someone cheat like this! Since that's the case, I have no choice but to use my last trump card..."

Her voice suddenly turned icy: "In the mansions of most nobles in the capital, there are 'snake servants' that I have carefully arranged to lurk. They may be inconspicuous maids, grooms, cooks, or even personal guards of some nobles... As soon as I die, the magic preset within them will be triggered immediately, plunging them into a state of complete berserk rage, indiscriminately killing people in their respective mansions..."

As Mina spoke, she slowly backed away, her body beginning to blur, as if she were about to merge into the shadows:

"Next, I will turn and flee. If you want to kill me, go ahead. But be prepared that most of the nobles and their families in the capital will suffer heavy casualties! And this is just the beginning. Once the ruling center of the country suffers such a heavy blow, the entire Kingdom of Alban will fall into an unprecedented power vacuum and chaos, with civil war, division, foreign invasion... Countless people will be displaced and die in war and famine."

She glanced at Chen Ming one last time, her tone tinged with mockery: "Angel representing justice and salvation, you wouldn't want to see the entire kingdom plunged into chaos because of your momentary 'righteous act,' would you? Using my life to save the safety of millions, isn't that the choice you should make?"

She attempted to use the fate of the entire nation as a hostage to manipulate Chen Ming's decision-making.

However, Chen Ming simply raised his hand slowly, and an ordinary longsword materialized in his palm. His gaze remained unwavering, instead carrying a detachment that transcended worldly morality.

"You seem to have misunderstood something..."

"Shh-!"

A dazzling sword light, condensed to its fullest extent and containing the concept of "true damage," flashed by.

Chen Mingping's calm voice rang out: "Who told you that I would be bound by such a threat?"

Even if he really wanted to protect humanity, he wouldn't release the demons because of the hostages, because doing so would only lead to more people dying at the hands of the demons in the future!

Mina's composed, threatening smile froze instantly.

She looked down in disbelief at her chest.

There, a huge void had appeared out of nowhere, its edges as smooth as a mirror, as if it had been directly "erased" by some kind of rule. Her core, which contained the power of the demon race, had also been completely destroyed and annihilated by that sword strike just now.

The serpent demon's body began to slowly dissipate from bottom to top, like a weathered sand sculpture, turning into specks of black dust.

However, even at the very last moment of her life, she maintained a serene smile on her face.

"Sigh...what a heartless man, actually trying to kill a beauty like me..."

From a purely rational perspective, Mina, the Serpent Demon, is indeed extremely alluring, with a voluptuous figure that possesses a fatal attraction for ordinary men.

However, the sheer number of "power banks" on the information panel that was identified already spoke volumes.

Therefore, Chen Ming remained unmoved, calmly watching the serpent demon race about to completely dissipate:

"I'm sorry, because the girls I know are much more attractive than you."

Do such women exist?

From Mina's gradually fading figure, intermittent laughter, yet carrying a knowing tone, could be heard.

"Hehehe, I get it, it must be the goddess... Indeed, in terms of status, power, and even the form of existence, she is far beyond my reach... It's only natural that she is more charming than me..."

Her tone suddenly turned somewhat self-deprecating and surprised: "After planning this for so long, I never expected that I would be leaving so early this time..."

"This time? In other words, you've already clashed with humans many times, and not just you, but presumably all demons have. So that's why your demon race is constantly reborn? No wonder you're willing to die to resurrect the Demon King..."

As far as Chen Ming knew, there were many puzzling oddities in the ancient documents and epic records about the demon race that had been passed down in this world. Even though the records of each era differed slightly due to the different recorders, one could always find descriptions of demons with almost identical appearances, abilities, and titles in scrolls from different eras.

Although historical records clearly state that many demons have been successfully eliminated by heroes of the past.

However, why do the same demons keep appearing?

Are the demons slain by heroes in the past and the demons existing in the world now different individuals who inherited the same name and power, or are they the same person at all?

These questions now have answers.

"Once the core of our existence is shattered, we will leave this world. But when the time comes, we will be reborn into this world, which can be considered a rebirth..."

Mina's voice grew weaker and weaker, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet it still carried that nonchalant tone.

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming felt that it was similar to the way the male protagonist, Lu Ge, was reincarnated. Both of them had their souls taken back by the goddess after death, their memories of their previous lives were preserved, and then they were put into the world to live another life.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the demons would take similar steps.

"In that case, I think your strategy for dealing with the hero is flawed. Despite repeated failures, each attack seems to be purely a matter of brute force. Are not all demons incapable of learning?"

At least in the records of this country, humanity has not gone extinct even once in hundreds of years.

Conversely, since the demons and the demon king have been suffering defeats, they should be summarizing their experiences and lessons learned, and devising strategies to deal with the heroes.

"You're wrong. In fact, we demons have never failed, and we've always achieved our goals, even thousands of years ago. That's why this world has been able to continue... Wait, didn't the goddess tell you the truth?"

Mina's body had already dissipated, leaving only a phantom head, which looked at Chen Ming with suspicion.

Her statement that "the demon race has consistently achieved its goals" further confirms that Chen Ming's guess was correct.

If humans have no need for faith, then create a need. Let the demons bring fear and despair, and humans will naturally pray to the gods and offer their purest faith...

Having understood the truth, Chen Ming also cleared up the other party's doubts:

"The goddess did not tell me about the past; she only revealed the future to me—if things continue as they are, the Demon King will surely be resurrected and will eventually die at the hands of this generation's hero, Epona. However, after that, the world will not usher in peace; instead, it will be completely destroyed by the hero who loses control of his power after slaying the Demon King and goes mad... My purpose in descending to earth is to change this future."

"Oh dear... so that's how it is!"

Mina's voice, filled with a sudden realization, began to fade rapidly. "The change in rules, the descent of angels—were they all to deal with the unexpected? I understand..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Mina's last remaining wispy consciousness vanished completely, leaving no trace.

An invisible gloom seemed to have quietly dissipated from the capital.

After dealing with the serpent demons, Chen Ming teleported to the sky above Earl Granfelt's mansion and began chanting a spell!

"...Burn away the filth and purify this realm—the Lava Purgatory!"

Chapter 248: Tia Viconi's Date

As Chen Ming uttered his last syllable, [Lava Purgatory] was completely detonated!

Centered on the Earl of Granfelt's mansion, the surrounding earth cracked wildly like a fragile eggshell, with countless bottomless fissures spreading out instantly! Blinding, scorching red light of lava burst wildly from every crack, as if the earth had been torn open with countless scalding gashes, greedily devouring everything on the ground.

Those meticulously crafted Nebian-style buildings, beautiful courtyards, and precious trees... were as fragile as paper in the face of this destructive magic, instantly swallowed, melted, and decomposed by the golden-red magma gushing from below, emitting a chilling "sizzling" sound.

In just a few breaths, the once luxurious and magnificent Earl's mansion and its surrounding area were transformed into a violently churning, scorching sea of ​​lava!

This terrifying high-temperature inferno completely purified and annihilated all the remaining snake people in the mansion, as well as any traces of filth related to the demon race, leaving not even ashes behind.

After completing the cleanup work, Chen Ming instantly teleported back to the Half-Mountain Manor.

As for the snake servants lurking throughout the capital who threatened Mina before her death, Chen Ming has entrusted them entirely to [Crimson] to handle.

If those snake servants dare to appear outdoors, they will be instantly locked onto by the omnipresent "Sky Eye" global surveillance network. What follows will be a precise and deadly beam of light strike from the near-Earth orbit space fortress—these snake servants are ultimately just demons, and do not possess the rule-based immortality of the eight great demon races, so they can be easily destroyed by conventional weapons.

Moreover, most nobles in this world possess a certain amount of magic. Faced with a sudden attack from a single snake servant, they should still have a chance to hold out for a while and escape to a relatively open outdoor area.

As long as they escape outdoors, there is a very high chance of being rescued; this is all Chen Ming can do to help.

Perhaps because of the deaths of three demons, the remaining demons seemed to sense an unprecedented threat, so they temporarily went into hiding, disappearing from the sight of human society, and there were no further signs of large-scale action.

Chen Ming, who returned to the hillside manor, was not in a hurry about this situation.

He indulged in delicious food when it was time to eat, cultivated diligently when it was time to cultivate, and played and frolicked with the girls in the manor when it was time to play. He lived a leisurely and fulfilling life.

In any case, with [Crimson] monitoring every corner of the globe 24/7, no anomaly can escape the "Sky Eye's" notice. If the demons dare to show themselves again, they will be detected and locked down immediately.

……

Time flies like an arrow, and the changing seasons unfold before our eyes.

Looking back, a whole year has passed since I slew the serpent demon...

During this year, Chen Ming was not entirely immersed in pleasure. Beneath the relaxed and joyful exterior, he never stopped silently improving his strength, especially in the training of magic, where he never slacked off in the slightest.

After acquiring the S-rank skill [Multiple Chanting], he was able to construct and run a massive amount of magic simultaneously, and his magic training efficiency has been steadily increasing by about 3 times every year!

If we measure his immense magical power by the total mass of matter that [Realistic Manifestation] can create at once, then that number has expanded to an astronomical level—equivalent to the total mass of 891 Jupiters!

That's roughly equivalent to 85% of the Sun's mass!

Chen Ming's magical power is so vast that it is approaching the level of a star, enough to create a small planetary system out of thin air in an instant! This power has long surpassed the limits that mortals can understand.

In addition to the increase in total magic power, the accumulation of Pleasure Divine Power has also reached a very considerable amount.

Alice, Mega, Memi, Susie, Sophie, Lilia, and Arlene all have a tenfold bonus when their affection level is full.

在过去这一年里，她们分别给陈铭提供了103456点、102789点、104123点、101567点、104987点、103210点和102008点的欢愉神力！

Adding to the original 1177860 points, his total Joyful Divine Power has now reached 1900000 points!