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After Roubaul made his decision, he posed a question to everyone present.
"Where do the Demons in your understanding come from?"
Everyone, including Noah, gave the same answer without exception: according to legend, Demons were created by the Dark Mage Zeref. Since their main bodies were magic books written with Demonic Script, they were also called "Demons from the Books of Zeref."
Roubaul shook his head, and his next words surprised everyone.
"You're all wrong."
"The existence of Demons is even more ancient than the long-standing Dragon race. Zeref's Demons are merely imitations and modifications created from 'true Demons.'"
It was an unexpected answer.
Demons weren't originally created by the Dark Mage! And they existed even before the ancient Dragon race.
Noah suddenly understood why the normal cultivation method for Devil Slayer Magic had been lost, to the point where it could only be passed down through methods similar to "power transfer."
It was most likely related to those "true Demons."
Noah heard the unspoken meaning in Roubaul's words. "Senior, do you mean that the Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods aren't creations of the Dark Mage, but true Demons?"
Roubaul cast an appreciative glance at Noah, nodded, and continued, "Demons reside in the 'Black Abyss' outside our world."
"They constantly plot to devour our world, but due to the world's self-protection, Demons are isolated, preventing them from fully manifesting."
"However, Demons can still tempt those with darkness in their hearts, using them as a bridge to cast their clones into our world. Although a clone only possesses at most one-third of the main body's strength, it's still powerful enough."
According to Roubaul, the Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods were the eighteen rulers of the "Black Abyss." They were:
Wind Howl, Flame Prison, Poison Kiss,
Steel Body, Thunder Core, Ice Crown,
Blood Feast, Soul Scale, Abyss Eye,
Sand Time, Illusion Cocoon, Shadow Eclipse,
Wheel of Fate, Frenzy String, Battle Bond,
Time Scar, Chaos Vortex, Door of Nothingness.
Every Demon God of War possessed extraordinary abilities, and each wielded their own unique Magic Power. Their wickedness and ambition were greater than the last.
Roubaul's introduction made Noah recall the Celestial Spirit World.
Legend had it that the twelve zodiac spirits weren't the pinnacle of Celestial Spirits; there was a king who ruled the Celestial Spirit World, towering above them. That king was known as the "Celestial Spirit King."
Noah had this confirmed by one of Lucy's Gold Key Celestial Spirits, Taurus the Bull.
Interestingly, the situation of the Celestial Spirit King was somewhat similar to the Demon rulers of the "Black Abyss." They both possessed immense power but were unable to manifest in Earth Land due to a barrier.
They could only enter by other means, after reducing their own strength.
The world's self-protection… As Noah pondered, Mystogan asked Roubaul, "You know such details; you haven't encountered a Black Abyss Demon, have you?"
"I killed a clone of one of them, but the information about the 'Black Abyss' was told to me by Zeref." Roubaul tilted his head slightly, seemingly reminiscing.
"You know the Dark Mage?!"
Almost in unison, everyone present stared wide-eyed. Compared to the little-known Demon rulers of the "Black Abyss," the name "Dark Mage" was far more captivating.
Especially Jellal, who'd once tried to resurrect the Dark Mage using the R-System. For him, the reason he'd gone down such a dark path was "Zeref's spirit" promising him "freedom."
There were a few too many surprising things today. Noah thought he'd adapted, but reality told him his threshold could be raised further.
So he needed to find something fun to relax.
And the agitated Jellal was undoubtedly a good candidate for amusement.
"Senior, can the Dark Mage's R-System really resurrect the dead?" Noah pointed at Jellal. "This guy was planning to use that Magic to resurrect the Dark Mage."
Roubaul looked at Jellal in surprise. He hadn't expected someone who looked exactly like Mystogan to have such a crazy idea.
"First, the R-System is a failed Magic."
"Second, if he could truly die, Zeref would calmly accept death and never think about resurrection."
"Impossible! Zeref's spirit personally told me the R-System could resurrect him!" Roubaul's words pierced Jellal's heart like a sharp thorn. Anxious, he could only try to suppress the terrible thoughts in his mind by shouting.
Roubaul looked at Jellal with pity, his tone calm. "Although the last time I met Zeref was four hundred years ago during a Magic knowledge exchange, I can tell you clearly."
"Your plan to resurrect Zeref is doomed to fail, not because of failed Magic, nor because someone will stop you, but because… Zeref has never died!"
Zeref, the progenitor of Dark Magic, a genius scholar, known as the Dark Mage whom no one had surpassed in four hundred years—if such a person were still alive, it wouldn't seem impossible.
Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Jellal's back. He'd never even considered this hypothesis before.
If Zeref wasn't dead, then all his actions over the years—hurting comrades, deceiving those who cared for and trusted him, all for the sake of resurrecting the Dark Mage—wouldn't he be as ridiculous as a clown in a circus?
"Impossible, impossible!"
His hysterical shouts, however, revealed nothing but Jellal's tension and panic.
Suddenly, he saw a figure, dark as a cloud of smoke, floating closer to him. Jellal couldn't help but smile. "Look, Zeref's spirit is right here, he's beside me!"
Feeling the pitiful gazes around him, Jellal remembered something and suddenly burst into laughter. "I forgot, until now, only I could communicate with Zeref's spirit. How could you mediocre people ever see him…"
Watching the deranged Jellal, Hoteye, who'd been quiet till now, couldn't help but speak. "Jellal, we see him, and we see him very clearly."
"That's not a spirit; that's a living person."
Jellal immediately denied Hoteye's words. How could someone on the same side as him agree with outsiders to deceive him! How hateful!
But when he looked at "Zeref's spirit" again, Jellal was stunned.
The familiar ghost was now strangely twisting, and a pale-skinned hand emerged from it. In a flash, "Zeref's spirit" completely changed its appearance.
"Jellal, do you understand now?"
Ultear stood before Jellal, and the voice that came from her was the gloomy male voice Jellal was familiar with, but it immediately changed back to her original voice. "The Dark Mage's spirit you've been communicating with all these years was all me in disguise."
His assistant, with whom he'd collaborated for years, confessed willingly.
At this moment, Jellal's nerves completely collapsed.