Chapter 1104: Off Track
Upon witnessing Team Zenith's reactions, Nightdemon grew somewhat awkward.
The members of Team Zenith, presenting a united front, refused to be embarrassed by what they had said, which made Nightdemon feel as though he ought to be instead.
Zhang Lie rolled his eyes without saying anything. It was hardly as though he could help an outsider against his team, and shameless though the members of Team Zenith were, they were his teammates...
Nightdemon, as a clone of the king of chaos, had the strength of a superior king. From the very beginning, all he interacted with had been combatants as strong as superior kings, and those combatants, knowing of the king of chaos' prowess, were inordinately respectful.
Even those that failed to respect the king of chaos had the pride and dignity of the strong, and they didn't deign to such shameless behavior.
Strictly speaking, the members of Team Zenith weren't particularly shameless; they just came from a different background, and had more experience with a wider variety of people.
They didn't believe in pretenses of formality, either. To them, only Zhang Lie was worthy of respect. The king of chaos sounded very strong, but he hadn't interacted with the members of Team Zenith, and they had no reason to respect him as yet—particularly when it seemed that Zhang Lie could send him flying with a single punch.
Nightdemon raised his head to the sky and laughed loud and long. "Haha, you fellows really are interesting! I'm looking forward to your participation in the banquet."
Was Nightdemon trying to dispel his embarrassment with a loud burst of laughter? It was essentially like doing something even more awkward to cover up the original awkwardness, then making the other party feel awkward instead.
Nightdemon asked again, "What exactly did I misunderstand?"
Sun Xiaowu replied, "Just like in a novel in which a father forces his son to kill his mother to strip him of his humanity..."
Nightdemon shrugged. "As I've said, you're all misunderstanding."
Even Zhang Lie, who had been a bystander all this time, couldn't help but ask, "Exactly what are we misunderstanding?"
Nightdemon replied, "You've got it all wrong from the start. The king of keys isn't an alien or a genetic lifeform. He's not a human."
The king of keys wasn't a human?
Nightdemon continued, "And if that's the case, then how could the king of keys have any humanity to begin with?"
Zhang Lie recalled how the guide who had escorted him to the first superior kings' meeting introduced the king of keys. He had hazarded a few guesses as to the king of keys' identity. Thinking back to what Nightdemon just said, he intuited the king of keys' true form. "The king of keys isn't a person, but rather the will of the world made manifest."
Nightdemon nodded. "The king of keys is an unusual existence, distinct from the king of black fog, who was once a person that became a superior king and then melded with his will of the world. In contrast, the king of keys started out as a will of the world, a freak existence, but also a necessary one."
"A necessary existence?"
Nightdemon continued, "The king of keys is the trump card of the will of this realm, the amalgamation of the original wills of the three thousand worlds."
The first half of this revelation wasn't particularly surprising to Zhang Lie, who already knew that the king of keys was somehow a special existence, but the second half shocked him. The king of keys was a trump card left by the will of the realm?
Nightdemon continued, "The king of keys is indeed an incredibly special existence, and this is partly why I've left him be for so long despite his nascent similarity to the death spirit king.
.
The death spirit king wants to devour the three thousand worlds, whereas the king of keys wants to reforge it."
Zhang Lie frowned. "Even so, I remain unmoved. The king of keys interfered in the war between us and the superior kings of antiquity, and he has to pay a commensurate price.
In addition, he even attempted to destroy the Zongming world and the home base of humanity, the draconian world. I'm not going to allow him to let him do as he pleases in the future."
Sun Mengmeng agreed. "Even if the king of keys were the physical manifestation of the third realm, we'd still attack him."
Yang Ze added, "Our ancestors have fought against heaven and earth, deities and demons, for tens of thousands of years. It's part of our culture by now."
Nightdemon nodded. "It looks like you're all very confident."
"We're simply doing what's reasonable."
Nightdemon continued, "The king of keys might be the will of this realm's trump card, but the will of the realm has fragmented since its conception.
Considering that this realm has now been divided into three thousand worlds, the king of keys is essentially nothing but a fragment of his original self. His death won't affect the third realm, as splintered as it is."
Zhang Lie frowned. "In other words, the king of keys' will is already divorced from that of the three thousand worlds?"
Nightdemon spread his arms. "Otherwise, do you think we'd be able to talk here in such a relaxed fashion?"
If the king of keys were able to act as the will of the third realm, it would be his domain. He would easily be able to spy on their conversation, among other things.
Nightdemon continued, "The king of keys is a fragment of the will of the realm. He has no humanity, no greed, no personality."
This flummoxed Zhang Lie, who had once been deliberately targeted by the will of the world.
Nightdemon shrugged. "Perhaps a complete will of the world might be able to develop some semblance of humanity eventually, but what do you think a fragment can manage?"
Zhang Lie replied, "In that case, what's the point of scheming against us? Just for fun?"
"It's an act of emulation."
Zhang Lie understood what Nightdemon was getting at. "He's trying to emulate a lifeform? Why?"
Nightdemon shrugged. "A fragment of the will of the realm though he might be, he kept his core mandate: to rebuild this realm and unite it once more."
Yang Ze murmured, "Emulating a lifeform to rebuild the realm? I'm even more confused now."
Nightdemon spread his arms again. "That's why I said that he's already going down the wrong path."
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