"Hero, are you alright?"

A·Gedora turned around and saw the stunningly beautiful girl of the world. He gripped the sword in his hand tightly, "Charlette... I..."

Charlette held A·Gedora's trembling hand, "Hero, this has already happened this time. Even though it is immensely regrettable, we must continue to move forward. We bear the mission of defeating the Demon King — You only need to remember, the stronger one is, the more they must understand how to control their power. The more powerful one is, the more cautiously they must treat their strength. A strong individual's careless step can bring great impact to the world. This is the lesson we must learn from this event."

Her expression was gentle and holy, "We must forever remember this incident. I will shoulder this weight together with you."

Doro opened his eyes.

The supposed wine of the Wine God from Mohe did have something to it, making him dream of past events. It had been a long time since he dreamt of the past.

He remembered what he dreamed of.

He once faced a situation similar to the present one.

A certain member of the Demon Race had tied the lives of a town with his own life, yet he continued the slaughter, bearing a great resemblance to the current scene. Back then, A·Gedora did the "right" thing.

He killed that member of the Demon Race.

Killed him as quickly as possible.

Prevented the further expansion of the slaughter and confined the loss within a town.

At the time the incident happened, he didn't feel so deeply affected, although he felt guilty, although he felt pain, he knew that was the only "right" answer.

Until a few children caught up with them.

The journey of the Hero wasn't particularly swift, yet for a few children, catching up exhausted their last bit of strength.

When the Demon Race entangled the town, a few playful boys and girls were "adventuring" outside. So they didn't fall into such a conspiracy and caught up with the group of Heroes, hitting A·Gedora with immature, scarred hands. Biting onto A·Gedora's leg with their teeth.

And then they died.

What supported them to pursue the group of Heroes, A·Gedora didn't know. What brought them before him, without saying a word, just to give him a punch or a bite, he also didn't know.

If it had to be said, the death of a few children really had no meaning for the great undertaking of the Hero, it was something that could be completely ignored. But for the first time, he understood the responsibility of the Hero.

The so-called Hero — could never place lives on a balance. To save more people, sacrificing a few could only mean sacrificing oneself, and should only be oneself, otherwise the Hero is nothing but a mediocre person, nothing but a despicable and selfish person.

From the beginning, he shouldn't have let such a predicament appear before him; he should have a means to break such forced choices.

As Charlette said, he forever remembered that incident.

He doesn't know if Charlette remembered her words while swinging the butcher's knife at the Lizardman Kingdom, if she was cautious enough with her power, if the decisions she made were after careful pondering and shouldering everything. But Charlette now is incorrect, which doesn't mean her past words were incorrect.

If it were replaced with other members of the Hero's team, they might have brought down the Sky Fortress. But only Hero A·Gedora wouldn't.

He wouldn't allow any innocent side to be sacrificed.

So, the one to be sacrificed could only be himself.

From the start, Demon King Mohe probably had a way to deal with such matters... perhaps as she said, she had long prepared a perfect plan that could completely collapse the alliance, could completely put him under her control — why she gave up, Doro didn't know.

But Doro knew, this time the Demon King's price would be terrifying.

So when Mohe asked, "What would you like to trade with me?"

He had already made up his mind.

From Doro's perspective, Mohe might as well propose a trade like, "You have to become a part of the Demon Race."

He imagines the expression on the girl before him saying, "I can turn from the Demon Race into a Human, can't you turn from a Human into the Demon Race?"

So he also prepared for this; once the trade was completed and he resolved this matter, the Hero's Sword would slash through his body — although he didn't know if the Hero's Sword would still obey his commands if he became a part of the Demon Race.

"I want to completely thwart Adeline's vision."

"Is that so? What about the Alchemist Association? They've already moved here as a whole. Making them retreat now would be very dire."

Doro closed his eyes and said, "That's something everyone should jointly endure — Adeline said that most in the Alchemist Association are innocent, but while enjoying the benefits Adeline fought for, they didn't stand out to oppose, so when facing the results Adeline brought, they should have no complaints either. It's cruel, but I will bear it."

Mohe stared at Doro for a while, then clapped enthusiastically, the smile on her face unprecedentedly bright: "That's more like it~ My dear Hero~ At this moment, the person in front of me is undoubtedly not the drunkard named Doro, but A·Gedora, who once slew the Demon King. Your essence hasn't changed~ Just like back then when you slaughtered my subordinates with a pained expression and still came before me, you have the resolve to carry out the killings~ Ah~ Even in this human body of mine, I find myself mesmerized by you~"

She praised A·Gedora like a loyal disciple: "Then, let me completely solve this matter for you~ As for the requisite price, let me think, you must marry Lisidorwei. Only then can you truly draw a line, right?"

Marry Lisidorwei?

Is this her condition?

Doro was stunned.

He certainly knew what such an action implied, in a way it would be aligning with the Demon King, a matter of grave significance, yet such a request...

"Lisidorwei undoubtedly likes you, and you? How do you feel about her? If you find her disagreeable, I won't force you, in any case, you should know the meaning of this action. If you have some liking for her, I think marriage shouldn't be an issue, right? You're over thirty, you should have a 'home'."

"Is this enough for you?"

"Of course."

Doro hesitated for a moment: "When this is over, I will propose to Lisidorwei."

"Very good."

Mohe extended her hand, clasping Doro's hand.

"In that case, the deal is sealed."

"The deal is sealed."

Mohe immediately displayed a smile of successful scheming: "Soon, you'll realize you still fell for my trick, you still lost, and lost badly."

Doro was taken aback: "What?"

"Do you know how to solve this matter?"

Doro shook his head.

"You just need to do nothing to solve this issue!"

"Huh?"

Mohe looked at Doro triumphantly: "You heard right~ The way to solve this matter is to do nothing~ Didn't I say? I originally intended to entice you to crash the Sky Fortress, but in reality, if we leave as Adeline said, doing nothing, her plot won't be executed."

"You, you mean..." Doro's mind raced, "The Star Tear is fake?"

Mohe rolled her eyes at Doro: "What are you saying, how could the Star Tear be fake? Are you looking down on me or Adeline? After all, she bears the title of the Source of Miracles, standing at the pinnacle of this world's alchemy. Can't she tell if it's fake?"

"Then why..."

"Because our dear Miss Adeline didn't listen to me properly~"

Doro still couldn't comprehend; he didn't believe Adeline and Mohe would neglect any detail in their dealings.

Looking at Doro's expression, Mohe was a bit displeased: "What kind of look is that? I'm serious~"

She said with a cheerful smile: "When I handed the Star Tear to Adeline, I already told her, when I made this alchemy item, I harbored sorrow and compassion for the destroyed, thus shedding tears, giving birth to the alchemy item named Star Tear—she obviously thought I was lying, but in truth, I was being honest."

Doro was numb; if it were him, he'd also think it was false. If you truly felt sorrow and compassion, you wouldn't really drop the Star Tear.

"Your gaze is rather rude! Do you want to hear this, or not? If not, get out!"

"I'm listening."

"In any case, as you've heard, this alchemy item called Star Tear, though powerful and destructive, can only hang in the sky for Adeline, who has made all the preparations. She can't really let it fall. After all, she considers the transfer of souls to alchemy dolls as complete preparation. When you're set on doing something, if it won't cause destruction, your heart won't feel any compassion or sorrow, right? She might at most feel pain for her Alchemist Association's property. But that item needs sorrow and compassion to drive it~"

Doro couldn't understand.

Why would an alchemy item that needs sorrow and compassion to operate be such a weapon of destruction?

What was the Demon King thinking when creating this?

"Quite contradictory, right? Mr. Doro~" Mohe said smugly, "Contradiction is where aesthetics lie! Mr. Doro, if you understand more about aesthetics and art, you'll know this contradiction mirrors my inner self, it's the pursuit of my aesthetics; the Star Tear is a perfect creation~ Only when she does nothing to prevent and genuinely holds compassion for the beings about to be destroyed, can the Star Tear possibly descend. It naturally has another name—'The Inevitable Lament'."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.