The Demon Emperor was Saint Emperor

Chapter 196: Secrets of the Demon Realm

"You... knew all along?"

Ilya was stunned for a while, slightly embarrassed as she spoke softly. Given her personality, she seldom felt embarrassed, but this less-than-honorable concealment had hurt her pride.

"Just how much hidden strength does your Demon Realm have? Why did you keep it from me?"

Lynn continued questioning with a stern face. He detested deception more than anything, and to him, withholding the truth was a form of deceit, no matter the intention behind it.

"Well... we were afraid you’d refuse outright if we told you everything upfront, so... we..."

The little loli spoke hesitantly, clearly an accomplice in this.

"This is deception on your part. Therefore, everything I promised you before can be considered void. If you can’t provide a satisfactory explanation, I’ll just take advantage of Modor and go on a killing spree before heading back, and don’t call me again unless necessary; I don’t want the Light God to misunderstand."

Lynn leaned back in his chair, lightly tapping the table with one hand, demanding an explanation. He wasn’t bluffing the two Demon Kings; he genuinely intended it.

The information they had previously provided was too lacking. The numbers and strength of enemy demons were entirely unknown. Staying in the Demon Realm under such conditions was risky, and he still didn’t know how dangerous it truly was.

"So... big sis, should we tell him?"

The little loli turned to Ilya, seeking her opinion.

Among their seven sisters, the most authoritative were the eldest sister and the Greedy Sister. As long as one of them made a decision, the other six Demon Kings would acknowledge it.

"At this point, there’s nothing to hide. It’ll come out sooner or later anyway..."

Ilya didn’t hesitate much, sighed, and made a decision.

Originally, they intended to string Lynn along until he was too deeply involved in the Demon Realm to easily extricate himself, or perhaps wait until those demons returned to reveal everything.

But somehow, Lynn found out ahead of time. To keep him stable, they had to give him a proper explanation.

It’s quite strange, really. By right, the Miracle World shouldn’t have any knowledge of the Demon Realm’s situation. The Demon Emperor had just arrived in the Demon Realm not long ago. Where did he hear these rumors?

"Ahem, then I’ll go ahead and explain..."

The little loli cleared her throat, sitting obediently in her chair, ready to clarify the situation for Lynn.

"Actually, the strong demons in the Demon Realm now are just part of what the Abyssal Demon Race oversees. In other worlds, there are four branches that separated from the Demon Realm."

"Under the Guardian Demon God’s command are the Chaos Demon Race and the Dark Demon Race, and together they’ve occupied twelve worlds similar to the Miracle World."

"On the other side, the Destruction Demon God oversees the Purgatory Demon Race and the Yellow Springs Demon Race. They’ve destroyed seventeen Great Worlds and are currently attacking the eighteenth one."

"As for our main Demon Realm, because our Abyssal Demon Race isn’t entirely under the sole command of either the Guardian Demon God or the Destruction Demon God, we’re theoretically independent. But behind the scenes, the two Demon God Kings have always been in contention, sometimes with the Destruction Demon God in control for thousands of years, and sometimes the Guardian Demon God."

"Now, our Demon Realm is merely the lower realm where the Demon Gods reside, the origin place of the Demon Race, and the ancestral realm for all major Demon Races. But don’t underestimate us, Your Excellency Demon Emperor. As the progenitor Demon Race, the Abyssal Demons are the strongest among the five Supreme Demon Races. If it weren’t for stumbling upon the Miracle World, protected by numerous Deities, by our strength alone, we could have advanced much further."

The little loli paused, allowing Lynn some time to digest the information, but he wasn’t appreciative, raising his hand to signal her to continue.

Lynn didn’t care about the structure of the Demon Race or the status of the Demon Realm; he just wanted to know what he was up against.

If the supposedly five Supreme Demon Races had similar strengths, then there was no point in staying.

Consider it: outside there could be four other Demon Emperors and twenty-eight Demon Kings—it’s simply unmanageable to fight against them all.

Could even be counterattacked!

Back then, when he defeated the Demon Dragon Emperor, it was with the collective effort of all elite players, plus the Demon Dragon Emperor intentionally took it easy. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain. Lynn personally leaned towards a tie being the most likely scenario—not in the old sense of half a pound being eight ounces, but in the current sense of him being only half a pound and the Demon Dragon Emperor being eight ounces...

After all, the Demon Dragon Emperor was the ultimate final boss of the game "Miracle," a unique existence in a decade of the game’s operation, whereas he was merely one among billions of players. From a game design perspective, he was unlikely to be stronger than the Demon Dragon Emperor.

Yet, Lynn had a feeling that, theoretically, the Demon Dragon Emperor should be stronger than him, but in an actual battle, it would likely end in a draw.

He couldn’t single-handedly slay the Demon Dragon Emperor, nor could the Demon Dragon Emperor take him down in one go.

But now, besides the Abyssal Demons, there were Chaos Demons, Dark Demons, Purgatory Demons, and Yellow Springs Demons outside...

Even if the Chaos Demon and Dark Demon races might be allies, the remaining two races were nothing to take lightly. Moreover, who could be certain if they were really allies? Even if they were, who knew how strong their alliances were?

"Oh, right, I know what you’re most concerned about, Your Excellency Demon Emperor! Let me tell you, there’s no other Demon Emperor outside. In our entire Demon Realm, including its subdivisions, there’s only one recognized Demon Emperor. Even from Pride to Lust, there are only seven Demon Kings, no more beyond these."

"So you don’t need to worry about facing two or four Demon Emperors. There’s only you, Your Excellency. Nor should you worry about there being twenty-eight Demon Kings, because there are only the seven of us with official king titles, though outside there are Demon King level powerhouses, let alone twenty-eight, even eighty-two wouldn’t cover it..."

The little loli was still babbling on, while Lynn’s brows furrowed further.

No other Demon Emperor is indeed good news, but aren’t there too many Demon King-level powerhouses?

Not just eighty-two, she said...

"So, exactly how many are there?"

Lynn asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Not many, only three hundred sixty-six,"

The little loli said with a chuckle.

Lynn: "..."

Is your definition of ’not exceeding eighty-two’ really three hundred sixty-six?

Well, technically, yes.

Just like when Lynn was poor, earning only eighteen hundred a month, and others would say that’s less than a hundred thousand.

Eighteen hundred hasn’t reached a hundred thousand, has it?

No, it hasn’t—so there’s no fault in that logic.