The Damned Demon

The boldness of the wager drew sharp intakes of breath and murmurs of disbelief.

Evelyn gasped silently, her demeanor shocked, while Lila leaned forward, her lips pursed in a mix of passionate admiration and incredulity, "Oooh, how bold," she voiced the thought that likely occupied many minds in the room.

Who in their right mind would even stake the main Radem of their family which was not only the most important symbol of a hunter family's strength and status but also the only object to ensure the continuity of that family's power down the generations.

The Sterling Family was one of the oldest families in the world, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that their family Radem was one of the world's most precious and priceless objects.

Max broke into a confident smile and leaned forward, his voice robust and reassuring, "Since it's you, I have no doubt you will live up to your promise, Derek."

Albert nodded with a thoughtful hum, "As Derek had once explained, if Mars becomes breathable, then we can create a strong military base there and station as many Hunters as we can. That way, most of the quests would be directed towards Mars compared to Earth, and the common people would be safe from demons." His vision painted a picture of a new kind of warfare, one that strategically relocated the battlefield to safeguard Earth's populace.

Evelyn, however, remained visibly unconvinced, her sharp gaze reflecting her concerns, "Even if this great ambition plan comes to fruition, what guarantee do you have that the devils won't keep directing those demons to our world? It's not like we can ask the angels for confirmation. The best we can do is pray. Isn't it unwise to take such a huge gamble?" Her skepticism was a cold splash of reality against the fiery optimism of the plan.

Albert responded with a dismissive shake of his head, a small gesture packed with assurance, "We already have enough data and proven research that the quests we receive depend on the number of hunters in an area. If there are no hunters within a 1000-kilometer radius, we barely get any quests. So if this radius was 100 or 1000 times or higher? There shouldn't be any quest. Why, you ask? It's obvious. The demons won't get even a paltry amount of refined mana or rewards by simply butchering common people. Just like us, they have to kill those who are similar in strength to gain any benefit. Since they are desperate for life crystals, they wouldn't even bother taking a quest where they won't receive any benefits. I doubt the devils would also want to waste their time sending their minions to places where they stand to gain nothing."

Evelyn, still skeptical and uneasy, shook her head slowly, "This just sounds a bit too—"

Max interrupted, his voice carrying a note of certainty, "It's not like we are doing this right away. We can first send small batches of Hunters and test our theory. If everything works as we expect it to, we will just gradually send the rest. Since we have already installed powerful teleportation portals, it's not like these hunters can't get back to our world in time in case of an emergency. The great advantage we have over the demons is our resources, which our beautiful world offers. It's high time we took advantage of these resources to starve the demons and make them die out by directing them all to Mars," He finished with a cruel smirk.

Derek, sensing the shift in momentum, nodded thoughtfully at Evelyn before addressing the council with renewed fervor, "He is right. We can gradually weaken the demons since they will be forced to fight the best of us but gain no useful resources. Once the entire demon world weakens as a whole, we will no longer have to worry about these evil things and our home world will be safer than ever."

He then turned to Hiroto, seeking the elder's approval or at least his acquiescence, "We will never have to worry about our world getting taken over or destroyed by darkness. It might take some time, but we can finally trigger the 'Final Reckoning' quest once they are weak enough, and just a lone Peak S Ranker like our prodigy Arthur here can destroy the entire demon world on his own. We can finally have eternal peace."

Rachel and Arthur had their eyes widened, feeling stumped.

What did they just hear? Trigger the impossible Final Reckoning quest? Destroy the entire demon world?

No other person in this world would ever dare to imagine the destruction of the demon world and forever be free of their menace and evil.

Demons also had something similar to the Final Reckoning quest where the demon king would try to take over Earth and kill every human being. But every demon king, no matter how powerful they were, failed because of how impossibly difficult it was.

The only reason they even bothered to try was not because they were foolish but because they were too greedy and desperate to make Earth their own and take advantage of its rich atmosphere and resources.

However, the humans never even bothered to take up the Final Reckoning quest since it was just a suicidal quest, and it was ridiculous to think of destroying an entire world filled with terrifying demons.

People here were already trying their best to live a peaceful life and protect themselves against the demons and never had the luxury to think of removing the threat of demons.

Even the strongest Hunter would meet the same fate as every demon king that came here to take over Earth.

But…if all the demons get weakened and their Soul Devourers die off, then…it wouldn't really be impossible to destroy the demon world.

Still, wouldn't it take at least a few centuries? Yet why did it seem like her father was talking about doing it within this century?

Should she even tell this to Asher? What if a demon like him takes advantage of this insider information and prepares some counter-strategies? Can she betray humanity like that? There was finally a chance to end this war that had been going on for an eternity and her father wasn't known to make empty promises.

But…without Asher, can she ever learn the truth about what happened to Cedric? It did seem like he definitely knew something, but he wouldn't let her know unless she proved more useful to him.

Can she forever live without knowing the truth?

Rachel pressed her lips together as she felt her heart becoming heavy, not knowing what to do.

Hiroto's eyes, calm as ancient waters, fixed intently on Derek as he spoke, "You seem to be greatly dedicated to this mission to eradicate demons for good. No president of this association had ever dreamed of it. If you manage to live up to your promise, then humanity will live in a new era of peace where we won't be plagued by demons. No country in this world would stand against this idea," he declared, his voice deep and resonating through the chamber.

Evelyn exhaled softly, a mixture of resignation and skepticism in her posture. Upon seeing Albert's subtle smug glance, she clicked her tongue softly, her resistance waning in the face of overwhelming support from even the Judge.

There was no point in arguing about this anymore.

Hiroto continued, his tone becoming more somber as his eyes briefly dimmed, "But we can't afford to be disappointed. Cedric's matter already dealt a severe blow to not only this world but to each one of us personally. He was supposed to be our guiding light... a young man filled with promises, but it seems he was too good to be true in the end." His voice echoed a hint of heavy emotion.

Derek nodded solemnly while around the table, the other members except for Albert who remained passive exchanged glances, the memory of Cedric triggering certain shadows for each of them.

Arthur's expression grew complex, reflecting his internal struggle with the council's haunted past. If only Cedric had never met his sister, she would still be here, and his father wouldn't have looked so broken all the time.

He even resigned from the Guardian Council as the 6th member, probably out of regret and pain.

However, through his peripheral vision, he saw Rachel's hand tense into a fist before relaxing, though her face looked composed.

Hiroto pressed on, "We no longer have the Oracle with us to warn us of impending doom or threats, just like how they warned us about Cedric. But the demons have the Moon Guardian, who has suddenly made his return. Even if he is very old, there is no telling if he still has the power to see threads of fate. He might already know the future of what we are planning here. Without the Oracle, the balance is gone, and we have lost the advantage in this matter."

Evelyn sighed again as this was one of the main reasons why she was being very careful with all this. Thankfully, the Judge seems to have not forgotten about it. As expected of him.

Arthur's expression became grave as he heard the name 'Moon Guardian'. The only Hunter who survived a fight against the terrifying Moon Guardian was none other than the Judge himself during his younger days!

It was one of the reasons why he had such huge respect for the Judge and why everyone held him in such high esteem.

"That is why you can't have an entire year. You will only have six months. If you can make an ordinary person walk on Mars without any extra apparatus within that time, then you will have this council's full support for your two projects. We can't afford to waste any more time in a matter like this. This way, at least the demons won't have enough time to counter us, even if they somehow learn about this. So the question here is... will you be able to do it?" Hiroto challenged, his narrowed eyes piercing through to Derek's resolve.

Rachel felt that her dad might concede since the Judge wasn't providing any leeway and felt maybe it was for the better.

But her eyes widened when her dad gave a calm smile and said with a sharp look of determination, "Consider it done."