NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1282: Ancient Secrets
"Are you the higher ups of the demon race?" Max asked in a calm, steady tone. "Did you find what you were searching for during your invasion?" His question struck a raw chord in the demon ranks. Several demons growled in anger, recognizing the truth behind his words.
Before the old demon could respond, Balthazar stepped forward aggressively. He positioned himself directly in front of the four three-horned demons, lowering himself to one knee with deep reverence. After receiving a silent acknowledgment from the demons behind him, he rose to his feet and faced Max with a twisted grin.
"How dare you speak to our demon kings in such a manner?" Balthazar shouted. His voice boomed across the area with a vicious pride. "Max, consider yourself fortunate. You stand before the four demon kings of our race."
Max raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Four demon kings?" he repeated slowly. "What makes them demon kings? Is it the extra horn on their heads? If their strength is only at the peak of the Divine Rank, then the title is meaningless."
A wave of anger surged through the demon army, but Balthazar held up his hand to silence them. His sneer widened. "You truly know nothing, human. These four demon kings were the first demons to descend into this world. They came chasing the drop of True Origin Devil Blood that fell into your realm. Their power was unmatched, but this mortal world restricts their strength. They are forced to remain at the peak of the Divine Rank. If not for this world's interference, you insignificant mortal creatures could not even imagine the true powers they command."
"The first demons?" Max repeated softly, and for the first time his expression shifted into something far more serious.
A faint tightening appeared around his eyes as several fragments of information pieced themselves together in his mind. If these four were truly the first demons to descend, then they were the ones responsible for destroying the spatial domain of Acaris.
They were the ones who had shattered the Ascension Tunnel of his world long ago, severing the connection between realms and trapping countless beings on the mortal side. The realization sent ripples of cold understanding through him, and he studied the four demon kings with renewed intensity.
The first demon king stepped forward with a heavy, ancient presence. His voice rumbled like distant thunder as he asked, "Human, are you a descendant of those four divine beasts' bloodlines?" His gaze narrowed as if he were attempting to read through Max's soul.
He held an unwavering certainty that Max carried something far beyond normal human potential, something tied directly to the oldest powers related to their arrival on this world.
Max blinked once, clearly confused. "Descendant of the four divine beasts' bloodlines?" he asked with a tilted head. "Are you referring to the Four God Nation and the people who claim descent from them?" His tone held no fear, only curiosity, because he had heard whispers and legends regarding those ancient beasts. Yet hearing demons speak of them in the same breath made the subject far heavier than mere myth.
"Indeed, the so-called Four God Nation," the second demon king replied. His voice was equally ancient but smoother, almost contemplative. "When we descended into this mortal world in search of the True Origin Devil Blood, we immediately sensed that we were not alone. Four other beings had descended at nearly the same time. They possessed astonishing power and bore forms that resembled what you mortals call divine beasts. They were the Azure Dragon, the Black Tortoise, the White Tiger, and the Golden Phoenix. Their presence forced us into conflict, and because of them, we failed to obtain the True Origin Devil Blood we sought."
The third demon king continued, "Those beings struck at us without hesitation, treating us as invaders and corruptors. Their intervention altered the course of our mission entirely. They disrupted the pathways we created and forced us to retreat deeper into the mortal world for thousands of years. Their interference was the reason our demon race could not expand faster."
Max's heart pounded heavily within his chest as he listened. This was not simply history. It was revelation. He had always known that the Four God Nations claimed to be descended from divine beasts, and he had heard stories that ancient beasts once appeared on this world long ago.
However, most people treated those accounts as grand myths passed down by old storytellers. Not even the scholars of the Middle Domain could verify whether the divine beasts truly descended or if they were symbolic representations of powerful ancestors.
But this—this was confirmation.
The ancestors of the Four God Nations were indeed beings from the higher world, true divine beasts whose power rivaled or surpassed the highest ranked demons. The thought sent a tremor through Max's mind, not from fear but from sheer awe.
Although he remained composed outwardly, the revelations reshaped his understanding of the world's history. The idea that these divine beasts had descended alongside the demons thousands of years ago made perfect sense. Their bloodlines, now diluted through generations of mortals, still held traces of divine power that shaped the political and martial structure of this era.
Max looked at the four demon kings again. The connection between their arrival and the destruction of Acaris's Ascension Tunnel became undeniable. If they had clashed with beings as powerful as the divine beasts, then the shockwaves of such battles could easily destroy spatial structures and sever paths to the higher world.
The realization settled deeply within him. The past was far more complicated than he had imagined, and the link between the divine beasts and the demons was steeped in conflict from the very beginning.
"So the True Origin Devil Blood was obtained by the four divine beasts?" Max asked. His voice carried a mix of shock and curiosity as he slowly pieced together the fragments of ancient history revealed before him. If the divine beasts had descended at the same time as the demons, then perhaps they were the ones who secured that drop of terrifying power.