“Isn’t there any other way for you to prevent overpopulation, but in an honorable way?” Sudirja asked.
“We were actually destined to be like Antasen. Nature designed us as the natural enemies of demons. But after the experiment involving our 15th king failed, we conducted another one, which also failed—eventually leading to our fragmentation along with five neighboring nations,” Pandi explained.
“So humans have long been doing things that harm nature, if you're saying that nature destined you to be the demons’ natural enemies?” William asked.
“Yes, that’s true. Actually, the oldest demon king is demon King Somo, while demon King Semar is the youngest. However, in terms of power scale, demon King Somo is the weakest; and the strongest among the twelve demon kings is demon King Semar,” Pandi elaborated.
“So that means there are currently thirteen demon kings,” Dion pondered.
“You’re including the demon named Bagong as a demon king too?” Pandi asked.
“No, I haven’t included Bagong on the list. If I do, then the total number of demon kings becomes fourteen,” Dion clarified.
The five Gavian knights were shocked—they hadn’t expected that the number of demon kings had grown to fourteen. Surprised, yes, but also curious about the new demon king.
“Who’s the new demon king filling the fourteenth position?” one of the Gavian knights asked.
“After Demon King Somo was defeated by King of Aryapanggulu kingdom, his son—Sukmo Lawu—gave rise to a new demon. And what caused the core of that new demon’s birth… was a shadow exister like me and William who got sent to this world as a demon—Jack Heritson,” Dion explained.
“Now that makes sense,” Pandi nodded slowly.
“So what’s the name of Sukmo Lawu’s child?” another Gavian knight asked.
“Rogo Geni,” Dion replied.
“Your name is William, right?” Pandi looked toward William.
“Yes,” William answered.
“If you appeared in my village during the battle against Sukmo Lawu’s strongest form, does that mean my village is where Rogo Geni was born?” Pandi asked.
“If that location was your village before the fragthesization, then yes,” William confirmed.
“Then we must head to the palace immediately!” one of the Gavian knights shouted.
They continued on their journey until they saw a leaf—a lotus leaf floating on the water. It was massive, blue, and glowing with golden light. Of course, it was a vehicle. And naturally, it was made of Domerite metal. They stepped onto it, and suddenly, their view shifted into that of a gigantic sewer tunnel, surrounded by thousands of homes. Not homes of the Gavian race, but houses fit for human habitation.
“William, make sure not to be rude!” Dion warned.
“It’s okay. Our king is good-humored toward guests,” one of the Gavian knights reassured him.
William and his group felt tremors in the ground. Their breath caught in their throats as they stood, but they knew—they weren’t among enemies. Some of them considered declining the invitation, but the rice had already turned to porridge.
From the enormous sewer, an eye emerged. Everyone terrified. A Gavian figure rose from the water in that massive tunnel: its skin was jet black, its body 420 meters wide and 535 meters tall when standing.
“Oh, forgive me if I scared you,” the Gavian said, bowing on all fours in an apologetic pose.
“He’s huge…” William whispered.
William didn’t realize—even if he whispered, as long as there was warm air leaving his mouth, the Gavian could read the words without sound. Yes, because Gavians have thermal vision.
“Thank you for the compliment,” the Gavian chuckled.
“Your Majesty, we’ve brought our guests,” the five Gavian knights announced.
“Good, thank you for your cooperation,” the Gavian replied.
“Your Majesty!” William exclaimed in surprise.
“Apologies for not introducing myself. I am Andrian, king of the Ghaviles Kingdom,” Andrian declared.
William and his group felt another tremor, though it was weaker than the one Andrian had caused.
Three pairs of eyes appeared from the tunnel, followed by three Gavian figures emerging from the water. They stood 80 meters tall, Their body width is 35 meters—though one had a slimmer figure.
“I am the eldest prince and crown prince of the Ghaviles Kingdom, Prince Dadang,” the Gavian on the right declared.
“I am the princess of the Ghaviles Kingdom, Princess Darmi,” the slimmer Gavian declared.
“I am the youngest prince of the Ghaviles Kingdom, Prince Ujang,” the Gavian in the middle declared.
“William Harvey, shadow exister sent to this world four days ago,” William declared.
“Dion Franklin, shadow exister sent to this world eighty years ago,” Dion followed.
“Donov Raschgud, formerly Donovich Ruschtev. Shadow exister sent to this world fifty years ago and now king of the Raschgud Kingdom,” King Donov declared.
“Prince and crown prince of the Rosmer Kingdom, Dein Rosmer,” Prince Dein declared.
“Eldwäs Rosmer, formerly Eldwäs Schromigien. Shadow exister sent to this world sixty-five years ago and now king of the Rosmer Kingdom,” King Eldwäs added.
“Uves Venure, formerly Uves Fwedefico. Shadow exister sent to this world seventy-seven years ago and now king of the Venure Kingdom,” King Uves declared.
“Randiman Rogobanyu, crown prince of the Rogobanyu Kingdom,” Randiman declared.
“Arga Bimajati, knight of the Aryapanggulu Kingdom and duke of the Bimajati territory,” Arga declared.
“Arjuna Wisangga, knight of the Aryapanggulu Kingdom and Marquess of the Wisangga territory,” Arjuna declared.
“Sudirja Aryapanggulu, formerly William Harvey. Shadow exister sent to this world four days ago from my original time nexus, and visitor from another time nexus; now king of the Aryapanggulu Kingdom,” Sudirja declared.
William was shocked. He tried not to believe it, but facts are facts—his mind just couldn’t process it. The one who had saved him from the Sidran Gasra tragedy… was himself.
“Huh… You’re me!?” William said in disbelief.
Sudirja, seeing his past self unaware of the truth, could only shake his head. He hadn’t expected his counterpart in this time nexus to be so dense. Even when he first met Randiman, he had already mentioned it.
“Well, if it’s the ears that are deaf, we could just use writing. But this? His brain is deaf. As far as I know, before I was sent to this world, I didn’t eat that much MSG,” Sudirja mocked.
“What the—”
“Stop fighting! We’re in another kingdom, you know!” Dion scolded.
William gave in—arguing would just waste time and energy.
“How old are you, King Andrian?” William asked.
“Ninety thousand five hundred years,” King Andrian replied.
“Aren’t you supposed to enter the mandatory combat at the age of ninety thousand?” William asked.
“William!” Dion snapped.
“Your brain’s already deaf—don’t let your manners be deaf too!” Sudirja smacked William on the head.
“It’s alright, I’m not mad,” King Andrian chuckled.
“My father already went through it,” Prince Dadang added.
“No one could kill me in the gladiator arena. My opponents all died by my hand. That went on for five hundred years,” King Andrian said.
“Your Majesty, I have something to report,” one of the Gavian knights announced.
“What is it?” King Andrian asked.
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