The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 414: Not a Satisfying Fight

As Shien, Lucy, and Lia chatted idly, the sky gradually darkened.

By evening, Shien stood up to take his leave and left Lucy’s bedroom.

Lucy watched Shien’s retreating figure, the reluctance on her face hard to conceal.

This made Lia, who was at the side, repeatedly reassess her impression of her sister.

Since confirming the relationship between Shien and Lucy, Lia had been constantly reevaluating her understanding of Lucy.

She had never imagined that one day, Lucy would show such a vulnerable, lovestruck side.

But it had to be said that compared to her perfect past self, this Lucy felt more real.

This made Lia realize that her sister had changed, and that she truly loved Shien.

“Sigh…”

Lia subconsciously wanted to sigh, but quickly stopped herself, shaking her head and trying to dispel the envy and even slight jealousy in her heart.

At this point, Lia no longer wanted to feel jealous of Lucy.

That would make her feel like her past self, without any growth.

(The Kingdom has already decided that I’m the next heir to the throne. Since that’s the case, I should also focus on my own matters.)

Lia was preparing to study statecraft and kingly duties more diligently.

Although, as a direct descendant of the royal family, Lia had been studying the way of the king, otherwise she wouldn’t be so adept at handling government affairs, but Lia had always felt that the throne would belong to Lucy, so she studied, but didn’t put much effort into it.

But now it was different.

(I have to work harder than before.)

Lia gradually filled her heart with this thought.

This was also to be able to resist the Lucica family in the future and prevent them from manipulating her and the Kingdom’s government.

Of course, Lia didn’t realize that thinking this way was, to a certain extent, also accepting her fate in terms of her own marriage.

(I’m not Lucy after all.)

Lia felt bitter in her heart, but she calmly roused Lucy, who was still feeling reluctant, and teased her.

…

On the other side, Shien also left Lucy’s bedroom with some reluctance.

It couldn’t be helped.

“I didn’t even finish…”

Shien muttered words that would make people want to strangle him, sighing as he walked out of the bedroom.

He didn’t notice that a pair of eyes had already started to focus on him.

…

“Is that the Hero?”

In a realm imperceptible to others, Nadue looked at Shien walking within the royal palace, her eyes filled with intense curiosity.

This goddess had finally arrived in the human world, found Shien, and started to observe him.

No one noticed her presence.

Even Shien didn’t realize that a pair of curious eyes were already fixed on him.

Because Nadue had used her power to merge with nature.

Now, she was nature, and nature was her.

Under such circumstances, the beings within nature couldn’t perceive Nadue’s existence.

Nalue could be the atmosphere, a speck of dust on the ground, a drop of dew, a gentle breeze, or a ray of sunlight. She was a true spirit of nature. Unless someone directly launched a devastating attack on this part of nature, Nadue was nature itself, undetectable and untouchable.

In this state, Nadue could easily borrow the power of nature, and even extend her vision to the entire natural world, monitoring every corner of the world.

Therefore, Nadue could observe Shien like this without anyone noticing, without any worry of being discovered.

It could be said that once Nadue entered this state, as long as she didn’t attack, no one could detect her presence.

Including the Six Demon Lords and the other two Great Goddesses.

Therefore, in terms of stealth, mobility, and observation conditions, Nadue was undoubtedly the strongest in the three realms.

As long as she was willing, she could easily go anywhere, evade anyone’s sight, and monitor anyone.

In the war a thousand years ago, before the final battle, it was Nadue who was responsible for gathering intelligence on the Demon Race, finding the location of the Demon King and the Demon Lords, and learning about the deployment of the demon army, allowing the Divine Race and the human race to formulate a complete strategic plan.

Otherwise, the Six Demon Lords wouldn’t have been targeted and defeated individually by the various strong figures of the Divine Race and the human race, and even the Demon King wouldn’t have fallen to the combined forces of the Hero and the Supreme God.

In other words, in the war a thousand years ago, the Goddess of Nature’s contribution to the victory of the Divine Race and the human race was second only to the Hero’s.

In the past, Sara had also been troubled by Nadue’s power. Since she didn’t know when Nadue would be by her side, silently watching her, Sara had often engaged in a battle of wits against thin air, just to guard against the Goddess of Nature’s prying eyes.

Under such circumstances, Nadue wasn’t worried about being discovered by Shien at all, but instead boldly approached him, following him closely and observing him from a close distance.

“Huh?”

Upon approaching, Nadue suddenly let out a soft sound of surprise.

Because she discovered that there was a very strong sense of familiarity emanating from Shien.

It was an aura that was close to nature, even causing nature to feel close to him.

No, not just nature, but the entire world seemed to be drawn to him.

“The world’s protection…?”

Nadue revealed an incredulous expression.

Although nature was a part of the world, it was only a part.

As the embodiment of nature, Nadue had seen beings close to nature before.

The elves, for example, were close to nature and were even born from it.

Although the Goddess of Life played a part in this, her power contributing to the birth of the elves, the elves were still children of nature, strictly speaking, considered Nadue’s children.

Therefore, Nadue was the only god worshipped by the elves, just as Anima was the only god worshipped by the beastmen, and Lildas, the Goddess of Fate, was responsible for guiding humans. The three goddesses were each responsible for one of the three human races.

Moreover, there were also Heroes in the past who received Nadue’s blessing, gaining the protection of nature and becoming beings close to nature. A being close to nature wasn’t rare for Nadue.

But the world’s protection was different.

“The world is the domain of Goddess Omniis, created by the Supreme God. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be anyone who can receive the world’s protection…”

Unless…

“He received Goddess Omniis’s blessing…?”

Nadue’s gaze towards Shien changed.

As one of the highest-ranking members of the Divine Race, Nadue naturally knew what the appearance of the Supreme God’s blessing meant.

It was a blessing that even past Heroes couldn’t obtain, a blessing that no one had ever possessed.

“The Mother Goddess has no interest in the mortal world, so she has never bestowed her blessing on anyone, nor will she…”

Moreover, the Supreme God had been slumbering for a thousand years. It was impossible for her to suddenly wake up, summon a Hero, and bestow her blessing.

There was no need for that, right?

In that case, there was only one possibility for a Hero to receive the Supreme God’s blessing.

That was, when the Divine Race faced a crisis of extinction, through the Hero Summoning Ritual, the last Hero of this era would be summoned, and this Hero would receive the Supreme God’s blessing, becoming the savior of the Divine Race and the world.

That was the last bit of mercy and hope the Supreme God gave to this world.

Now, a Hero carrying mercy and hope had suddenly appeared. Did this mean that the Divine Race was facing an existential crisis?

“But who activated the Hero Summoning?”

Even if they wanted to summon the last Hero, a goddess had to preside over the ritual.

“Moreover, the vast magic power required for the ritual is directly drawn from the world. If it was activated, it would definitely cause anomalies throughout the Divine Realm.”

But so far, there had been no anomalies in the Divine Realm, let alone an existential crisis, not even a sign of it, everything was peaceful.

“What in the world is going on?”

Nadue couldn’t understand.

However, Nadue knew very well that Shien’s appearance was definitely not a coincidence.

Something big was likely happening in secret.

“And this Hero is the center and key to it all.”

Understanding this, the curiosity in Nadue’s eyes turned into seriousness.

At this moment, Nadue made up her mind.

“I have to stay by his side and observe him closely.”

Only in this way could she gradually uncover the truth.

“This is Anima’s purpose for telling me about this, right?”

Clearly, Anima had also sensed something and realized Shien’s importance.

“It seems I’ll have to deal with this Hero for a long time.”

However, only she would know about this interaction.

As she thought about this, Nadue subconsciously followed Shien closely.

And the more she followed, the closer Nadue couldn’t help but get.

The aura of being close to the world around Shien had a natural attraction for Nadue, the Goddess of Nature.

That feeling…

“It’s like being by Mother Goddess’s side…”

Nadue felt both nostalgic and intoxicated.

…

At the same time, in a corner of the Divine Realm, inside a temple, Nien frowned, looking at the screen before her.

On the screen, Shien was walking alone on the path within the royal palace, without anyone by his side.

But Nien knew that there was actually a second person following Shien, observing him.

Yes.

Nien had discovered Nadue, the Goddess of Nature, who shouldn’t have been discovered by anyone.

Nadue would never have imagined that there was someone in this world who could detect her.

Nien murmured,

“As expected, the Divine Race has started to target Shien.”

This wasn’t unexpected for Nien.

Nien knew very well that once Shien’s identity as the Hero was exposed, the Divine Race would definitely not ignore him.

However…

“Why the Goddess of Nature of all people?”

Nien was amused.

Possessing the world’s protection, the Supreme God’s blessing, Shien had a natural attraction for the Goddess of Nature.

“It seems the Divine Race’s most popular and perfect goddess is about to suffer.”

Nien was happy to see this.

Seeing the Divine Race suffer a loss was also a form of amusement for Nien.

However, the fact that her Hero was being targeted by another vixen made Nien unhappy.

“Forget it, she can only have what’s left over.”

“However, I can’t casually summon Shien anymore, lest that Goddess of Nature discover it.”

“Hmm, I need to plan this carefully.”