The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

[“Something like this actually happened in the deserted Demon King City!” by netizen: My Mother Is Shocked]

“…What is this?”

In the heart of the royal palace located in Teli City, the Fear Kingdom's prosperous capital, Davis, one of the king's advisers, let out a puzzled voice as he looked at the article's title displayed on the tablet in his hand.

Although such a title was a rare sight, looking at the written words, Davis felt that the article shouldn't contain any noteworthy news.
The article's author probably only made such an eye-catching title to earn the clicks of bored people.

Under normal circumstances, Davis wouldn't have bothered reading such an article.
However, the tablet he currently held was something Flaman Agaras, the current Fear Kingdom's king and the Heavenly King of Fire, had passed to him.
Hence, even if Davis felt that the article wasn't anything noteworthy, he still had to ask why Flaman wanted to show him such a thing.

“Just read it.”

However, the tall and bearded Flaman did not provide any explanations in response to his favorite adviser.
Instead, he had Davis read the article displayed on the tablet.

Although Davis felt a little frustrated by this situation, he had no choice but to read the article he had deemed a waste of time.
He couldn't help it since he was only Flaman's adviser.
Although Flaman treated him well, if he angered the Heavenly King of Fire, even a minor punishment in the king's eyes would put Davis through hell.

After all, the reason why Davis was willing to support Flaman was that he lacked combat power.
Moreover, as he had fully devoted himself to being an aide, his combat power was far below the average of demons of his age.
The corporal punishment Flaman doled out might not be much to the average demon, but such punishment would probably put Davis at the brink of death.

Thus, Davis began earnestly reading the article.
The start of the article was just like he expected—filled with useless words meant to attract attention.
It was a summary of what was now common knowledge about Demon King City.
However, the quality of the writing was surprisingly good.
The author had introduced Demon King City's history in a unique and intriguing manner, so Davis didn't grow bored even though he already knew about the content.

However, when Davis reached the article's latter half, his expression gradually grew serious.
The latter half of the article talked about matters relating to Grant Morax, the former Demon King.
Apart from the information that everyone could find on the public network, the article also revealed information that even Davis had never known about.

For example, the reason why even the Four Heavenly Kings could not destroy the radioactive crystal in the middle of Demon King City was because the Demon King's magic protected it.
Because of this, anyone weaker than that of the Demon King could not destroy the crystal.
Moreover, the article also stated that the previous generation's Hero didn't actually kill Grant Morax.
Instead, the Hero only imprisoned his physical body using the War God's Lock.
Thus, Grant Morax's soul managed to escape and hide within the radioactive crystal!

“…Could this be a fabrication?”

Davis found the article's content to be both reasonable and dubious.
After all, he was the retainer of one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Yet, how could the author of this article know about information that even he did not know? Moreover, the author had even revealed information about the former Demon King in such a blatant manner.
Was this author not afraid that Grant Morax's soul would come to seek trouble with him afterward?

After all, if things were as written in the article, Grant Morax definitely wasn't hiding in the radioactive crystal for fun.
Instead, the former Demon King must be looking to resurrect himself.

Thinking up to this point, Davis started feeling a little passionate.
If the former Demon King could resurrect himself, he might be able to lead the demon race into invading the human realm.
In that case, maybe the fact that Grant Morax was still alive wasn't bad news after all? Ever since news of the new Hero appearing in the human realm appeared, Davis had long since felt uneasy about the demon realm's future.

However, when Davis continued scrolling down and reached the article's final section, his calm composure finally cracked.
Even his hands had trembled, causing him to nearly drop Flaman's crystal tablet.

The article's final section no longer talked about the radioactive crystal or Grant Morax.
Instead, there was only a picture there.

The image showed the main hall of Demon King City's castle.
However, the black crystal that had remained standing in the middle of the hall for the past 300 years was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, taking its place was a bunch of crystal shards of varying sizes.

“This…” Davis fell silent for a long moment.
Then, he looked toward Flaman and solemnly asked, “Could this be edited?”

“No.
This article was initially posted around two hours ago by a LINKS user going by 'Milu Times.' However, I know you're not one to browse social media, so I called you here to take a look at it,” Flaman said in a calm voice.
Although his bulky and muscular appearance made him look like a rash person, those who knew him would know that he was the calmest out of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“Things have already blown up on LINKS.
Everyone knows that even Wintas failed to deal with that crystal.
In other words, the only person who should be capable of destroying that crystal should be the Demon King.
If what's stated in this article is true, then this conjecture can be further solidified,” Flaman said.

Retrieving his tablet from Davis's hands, Flaman continued, “You don't need to concern yourself over the photo's validity, either.
Countless people have already gone to verify it for us.
You can find people taking photos of Demon King City all over LINKS right now.
It is a fact that the black crystal in Demon King City has been destroyed.
The radiation in the city has also disappeared.”

“I see… It seems my intelligence gathering has fallen behind.” Davis felt his head aching.
He was someone who disliked browsing LINKS.
However, if the user “Milu Times” continued publishing new information on LINKS in the future, then he would have to start paying more attention to the social media platform from now on lest he fell behind again.
“But this also means that…the new Demon King has appeared, right?”

“Indeed.
Since the human realm's Hero has already appeared, it is only natural that the Demon King on our side appears as well,” Flaman said as he nodded and smiled.
The appearance of the new Demon King signified that the demon realm could begin a new invasion of the human realm.
Ever since he visited the human realm a few years ago, he had already become fed up with the demon realm's polluted mana.
He couldn't wait to invade and take over the human realm.
“So, Davis, visit the military and tell them to start preparing.
Our Fear Kingdom must secure the first strike this…?”

Before Flaman could finish his sentence, his phone on the table started ringing.
After glancing at it and seeing the word “Heris” displayed on the screen, he picked it up and answered the call without minding Davis's presence.
He even set the call to hands-free mode.

This was Flaman's habit.
If there were no outsiders in the room, he would typically answer his calls in hands-free mode.
According to him, conversing in this manner made it feel more like he was talking to another person.

Davis had also long since gotten used to Flaman's actions, so he didn't feel anything about this situation.
Davis also knew that Heris was Flaman's daughter.
He even knew that Heris had listened to and believed the words of an unreliable diviner a few days ago and eagerly left for Demon King City to witness the birth of the new Demon King…

Hm?