Chapter 208 Obsidian

Everyone stared in stunned silence at the image released from the crystal: it was none other than Izhaks in his demonic form.

The massive demon in the image seemed to be standing on a scorched earth riddled with cracks. Red, burning ground lay beneath his feet, and behind him was a twisted, chaotic gate, seemingly leading to an endless abyss of darkness. The demon was covered in wounds, molten iron dripping from them onto the ground. The iconic broken horn and physique left no doubt that it was Izhaks.

Around the image, countless other demons, equally wounded, could be seen. These demons, like knights loyal to the death in dire straits, guarded their leader. The background in the distance was blurry, making it impossible to tell where the image had been recorded.

"I once almost ruled the entire world," the "Izhaks" in the image boomed. "My failure means nothing... a new demon will take over the artifact I left behind, and once again wield the power to rule the world! I have buried my infinite power and wisdom in the Obsidian Plains. Within a thousand years, a new demon king will be born, take my scepter, and destroy your weak and broken world!"

Then, the image flashed, and the "Izhaks" in the image, along with the last hundreds or thousands of demons remaining by his side, turned and leaped into the gate leading to endless darkness, as if unwilling to be defeated by such weak creatures as humans, and voluntarily choosing to exile themselves to another dimension forever.

The image was only this long, followed by indistinguishable, chaotic scenes.

Everyone on the scene looked at each other. Vivian, after holding it back for a long time, couldn't help but say, "I think... that looks like the big guy."

Izhaks had no fewer question marks over his head than anyone else. He scratched his shiny bald head in confusion. "But I don't remember saying those things before I left... and I don't remember having any artifacts or anything like that. I was beaten so badly back then, who would have had the time to plan a thousand years later to find an heir?"

Nangong Wuyue, while teaching Dou Dou to spin in place in the water, looked up and asked, "Do you really not have a long-lost older or younger brother or something?"

Izhaks responded with a roll of his eyes. Clearly, it was rare enough to have one such fierce person like him in tens of thousands of years. Even the most heroic mother couldn't necessarily give birth to two troublemaking demon kings at the same time. Lanina next to him also frowned. "I feel like the person in the image... has a problem. Although the image is very similar, and the details of the speaking and movements are also very close, I always feel like there's a difference from the King. There's a difference in temperament... and in aura. Also, the demon's movements in the image are slightly stiff, giving the feeling that it's very deliberate."

"An impostor?" Vivian raised an eyebrow. "Who could have done it?"

"It's hard to say," Lanina spread her hands. "I don't see the point. Impersonating a 'dead' demon king to leave this last will and testament brings no benefit. The only advantage is to throw the Allied Forces into a period of confusion, but the confusion won't last long. Even if the Allied Forces' beliefs are firm, they wouldn't stay in the demon world for a thousand years just because of a 'prophecy'. And even if it's said to be an impostor... that demon in the image does resemble the King somewhat, making one very suspicious of its identity."

"A demon who looks almost exactly like Izhaks, leaving behind such a thing," Hao Ren stroked his chin, looking at the crystal with interest. "It seems the big guy's lingering prestige is really something. Does this one have the ambition to appear as a new demon king in a few years, so he's creating public opinion in advance?"

No one said anything, because the strangeness of the situation left them with no good place to start guessing. But after holding it back for a while, Lily suddenly had a connection again. She suddenly clapped her hands happily. "Hey, hey, I found a suspicious point!"

Everyone immediately stared at the husky. The latter didn't play coy and pointed at the crystal to ask, "Who do you think was holding the crystal to record the video at the time?"

Everyone: "..."

"You spent so long thinking and only came up with this?" Vivian said, between laughter and tears. "Does it matter who was holding the crystal to record the video?"

"Yes, it does," Lily said earnestly. "Would you hire a photographer to film you when you're about to commit suicide? The scene on the screen looks like a battlefield. In this situation, there's still a cameraman holding the equipment to film the big guy's heroic death photo. Don't you think it's weird? Did a photography enthusiast just happen to pass by—and look at this last shot."

As Lily spoke, she had Lanina play the scene again and asked everyone to pay attention to the scene when Izhaks led the demons into the gate of darkness. "Pay attention here. The screen jumped up a bit, and then immediately came down—this proves that the crystal wasn't placed on the ground at the time, but was being held by someone. The screen jumped up because the person holding the crystal had a cramp in their hand, or maybe it was to show the passionate emotions..."

At the end of the scene, the gate of darkness slowly closed, but the image continued for a while. Lily also had an explanation for this: "Obviously, the person in charge of filming was still outside the portal and didn't go in..."

Vivian was stunned. "The big dog's unconventional way of thinking... is quite useful sometimes."

Hao Ren didn't expect Lily to be able to think about the problem from this direction. He rubbed Lily's hair. "So, what's your conclusion?"

"Staged," Lily nodded. "First of all, it can be confirmed that this image has a director. All the people in it are actors. Secondly, the place where the video was recorded should be somewhere in the demon space. The long shot is so blurry probably to hide the real filming location. Thirdly, the person who left these things behind should be someone who was by the big guy's side back then: he's very familiar with the big guy, and he can get this crystal. And more importantly, he also found a demon who looks almost exactly like the big guy to play the main role. This person is very cunning."

Hao Ren really admired Lily's way of thinking. He quickly took out a bag of spicy sticks to reward the girl. Izhaks began to seriously think about who among his subordinates back then fit these characteristics—especially which of the Flame Demon lords looked relatively similar to him. The expression on his face changed, and he quickly had a few suspects.

But those suspects should have died in the middle of the war.

Unless their deaths were fake...

"In any case, this matter must be investigated," Hao Ren decided. "It's really too unethical to do this kind of thing after a person 'dies'. We can't let the big guy die in peace..."

As soon as Hao Ren finished speaking, Lanina glared at him fiercely, while Vivian kept poking Hao Ren's arm next to him. "If you can't talk, can't you just shut up!"

"Speaking of which, we can guess these things. Can't the people of the Allied Forces guess it too?" Nangong Wuyue asked curiously. "Will they also see from the details in the image that it was staged?"

"Not necessarily," Izhaks grinned. "At least they shouldn't have thought of this yet. Our world is different from Earth. We don't have the concept of staged photos here—let alone suicide livestreaming..."

Finally, Izhaks stood up. "In any case, I must investigate this matter to see who is using my 'funeral affairs' to do these things."

"Do you have any plans?" Hao Ren looked up at Izhaks.

Izhaks lowered his head and pondered for a moment. "I've decided to go to Cardothus."

Lily was immediately happy when she heard a new place name. "Where's Cardothus?!"

Nangong Wuyue next to him sighed. "I hope it's not drier than this place... I can't stand the environment of the demon space anymore."

Izhaks laughed. "Don't worry, Cardothus is a very suitable place for you—it's human territory, the most prosperous gathering place in the human world."

Hao Ren was very surprised. He thought that if Izhaks wanted to investigate the "impostor", he would naturally go to the other eight demon planes to look for clues, but he didn't expect the next stop to be a human kingdom. "You're going to the human kingdom to look for clues? Aren't we going to find the demon who looks like you?"

"Sometimes it's better to take a different path," Lanina had already guessed Izhaks's thoughts and explained on his behalf. "There are ten demon planes, and each one is vast and ruled by powerful demon kings under high pressure. It's too dangerous to investigate news in those places. On the other hand, Cardothus is the human world's base camp. Although the various races in the human world have internal wars, they are all enemies of the demon planes as a whole. Therefore, they have established the largest distribution center in Cardothus space as a hub. There are special warlock temples and various institutions that study demon space. Every day, they send countless spies to investigate the situation in the demon planes. We can learn about the general situation of other demon spaces through them, without having to put ourselves in danger. It may be difficult for humans to see the deep secrets of the demon world from those news, but we are senior demons, and we may be able to find some clues from the warlocks of Cardothus."

"And the most important thing," Izhaks grinned, "our group is too conspicuous in the demon plane."

"Okay," Hao Ren clapped his hands. "Let's go to Cardothus! But speaking of which... how do we get there?"

"That's simple," Izhaks pointed to the obsidian that could be seen everywhere. "First, dig up a few pieces of obsidian and make a portal..."