Two years had gone by since their final clash with the Demon Lord’s army. Many things had happened during that ti.
In the first year, Alex and Fran spent their ti training deep underground, honing their skills.
They both understood that hiding while doing nothing was not sustainable, and the Demon Lord might find them later, so the least they could do was strengthen themselves by mastering the Gaia Rings to their limits.
In the second year, they felt the ground shake as if an earthquake had hit. It was so intense that they thought the underground caverns would collapse.
So entrances that led to the underground rivers collapsed due from the quake, but both of them were fine.
For the first ti in two years, they had finally decided to scout the surface world to check what was happening.
To their surprise, there was no longer a forest.
Just as they expected, the Demon Lord had run out of patience and burned everything to the ground.
Not wanting to expose themselves, Fran summoned a few wisps and had them explore the surroundings to check the situation.
To their surprise, they saw the Demon Lord sitting cross-legged at the center of the forest.
The mont he sensed the wisp, he imdiately opened his eyes, making Fran jump back in fright. Her senses were connected to the wisp, so it felt like he had directly looked at her.
"Co out. Let’s talk," the Demon Lord said. "I won’t hurt the two of you."
Alex and Fran weren’t born yesterday, so they didn’t even bother to reply and simply went into hiding.
Fran left the wisps around the Demon Lord to monitor his movents.
They would see him chew on so jerky and drink water from ti to ti.
As for what kind of jerky he was eating, Alex and Fran didn’t want to know.
The wisps explored several places in the forest, and after a thorough search, they had confird that the only demon remaining was the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord talked to the wisp from ti to ti, telling it stories about the Demon Realm.
About the reason why the Demons decided to invade the human world, and his goal to make peace with the humans after gaining enough fertile land to support his people.
He talked calmly and exuded an atmosphere of friendliness.
If not for the fact that he was the one responsible for killing their party mbers, Alex and Fran might have been moved by his words.
But they also understood that even if the Demon Lord really wanted to be friends with them, the fact still remained that there were only two thods to escape the Shadow Forest.
One was to forcefully destroy the barrier, which was nearly impossible with the Elves guarding the periter.
The other was for Alex and Fran to die, fulfilling the condition that had allowed the barrier to manifest.
So, the two returned to their underground shelter, leaving the wisp monitor the Demon Lord, who seed to have a lifeti of stories to tell.
Another year passed, and this stalemate was finally broken when the Demon Lord stopped talking.
He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, and from the look of it, he had either died, fell asleep, or in a very deep state of ditation.
Alex and Fran continued to monitor him for a few more days, but the Demon Lord remained on his spot, neither eating nor drinking.
After talking with each other, the two decided not to risk it and continued to hide.
Months passed since the Demon Lord had spoken or opened his eyes.
"Is he dead?" Fran asked.
"I don’t know," Alex replied. "But it’s already been months since he last made any movent."
The two felt very conflicted.
They wanted to check the Demon Lord’s condition and see if he was really dead.
Best-case scenario, he was truly dead.
The worst-case scenoria, he was rely saving all his strength for one last hurrah to kill the two of them.
"He doesn’t seem to be breathing," Fran comnted as the wisp ca closer to get a better look of the Demon Lord.
"We can’t risk it, Fran," Alex shook his head. "He is stronger than the two of us combined. One wrong move, and both of us are dead."
Even after training underground for two years, he believed that they were still not a match against the Demon Lord in a direct battle.
Demons had the uncanny ability to thrive even in the most barren of places, and they were also known for cannibalizing each other.
So even mutated and gained powers that made them especially dangerous.
Alex and Fran had learned all of these information from Ron, back when he was still alive.
In the end, Alex and Fran decided to wait for one more year before going back to the surface.
Even if the Demon Lord was still alive, they believed that by then, they would finally have the chance to win against him.
In their third year of hiding, Alex and Fran finally returned to the surface.
The Demon Lord had still not moved all this ti, and the two finally decided to check if he was really dead or not.
Fran raised her hands towards the heavens and began to chant.
"O wandering stars that sleep beyond the firmant,
Hear my call and answer my will."
"Tear through the veil of the skies,
Burn away false dominion,
And return all things to ash."
"teor Fall!"
A rain of blazing rocks descended right above the Demon Lord’s head.
This was the most efficient way to check if he was dead or alive. It could be cast from a long distance, allowing Alex and Fran to escape if he was rely playing dead to lure them in.
Just as the first teor was about to fall, the Demon Lord finally opened his eyes and screeched madly, unleashing a crescent blade that was as red as blood that easily sliced through the falling teors and cut them in half.
Loud explosions reverberated across the sky as all of Fran’s teors were destroyed.
"I knew it!" Fran shook her fist. "You’re still alive, you bastard!"
The Demon Lord charged at the two with bloodshot eyes, his hands extended like claws wanting to rip them to shreds.
Gone was his friendly and calm look back when he told them stories about the Demon Realm.
Fortunately, Alex and Fran weren’t deceived by his act and had already prepared counterasures for when he was still alive.
The first thing Alex did was run away, using his fastest speed, while Fran hid inside his clothes.
His speed was already impressive in the past, and after three years of training, he had maxed his speed to the limits.
"You can’t run anymore!" Vanaac shouted. "Do you think I’ve been doing nothing for the past two years?!"
As if to prove his words, the Demon Lord raised his hand toward the sky before clenching it into a fist.
"Blood Domain Compress!"
A magic circle encompassed nearly the entirety of the shadow forest. A mont later, this domain shrank rapidly until the space was only a square kiloter wide.
"You can no longer run from !" the Demon Lord laughed. "Today is the day both of you will die! Today is the day I regain my freedom!"
Alex, knowing that he no longer had anywhere to hide, stopped in his tracks and faced the Demon Lord, who looked very confident in his victory.
"Good. Now you also have nowhere to hide," Alex said before taking out his dagger.
Fran peeked out from Alex’s shirt,and sneered at the Demon Lord, who didn’t know that they had co to the surface with the intention of ending this battle once and for all.
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