The world reacted slowly.
Not with riots.
Not with gratitude.
With hesitation.
People reread laws. Questioned leaders. Watched each other more closely—not out of fear, but uncertainty.
Without gods to blame, every decision suddenly felt heavier.
---
In the southern continent, former council members disappeared quietly—not erased, not punished.
Ignored.
Their names stopped being spoken. Their influence evaporated. Power moved away from them naturally, like water finding a lower ground.
Elowen watched reports scroll past the tower's displays.
"They didn't beg," she said softly. "They didn't even curse you."
"They couldn't," the Demon King replied. "There was no one else to accuse."
---
Elsewhere, consequences took different forms.
A kingdom collapsed under its own lies, unable to explain decades of corruption.
Another stabilized after admitting failure publicly.
Some regions fractured—but did not fall.
Freedom was uneven.
And honest.
---
The assistant approached, tone careful.
"My King… resistance is forming again."
"Religious?" the Demon King asked.
"No," the assistant replied. "Ideological."
Groups began to rise—not worshipping gods, not opposing the tower.
But rejecting authority itself.
"They believe any stabilizing force is control," the assistant continued. "Even yours."
Elowen frowned. "But you barely interfere."
"That's the problem," the Demon King said. "They have nothing to fight except the idea of limits."
---
In the western territories, banners rose bearing no symbol.
Only words.
NO WATCHERS
NO KINGS
NO ANCHORS
They rejected gods.
They rejected the tower.
They rejected reality anchors.
They demanded absolute freedom.
---
Elowen's voice trembled. "If they break the anchors—"
"The world destabilizes," the Demon King finished.
"Yes."
He looked out at the distant lands.
"They want freedom without cost."
The assistant bowed slightly. "How do we respond?"
The Demon King was silent for a moment.
"Not yet," he said. "Let them try."
Elowen looked up sharply. "That's dangerous."
"So is ignorance," he replied.
---
Far beyond reality, the observer watched the development closely.
A free world rejecting even stability.
A variable too familiar.
HIGH-RISK PATTERN DETECTED
The observer did not intervene.
It waited.
Because this was a test no system could solve for them.
---
The Demon King turned away from the balcony.
"Prepare containment contingencies," he said. "Not suppression."
The assistant nodded.
Elowen hugged herself.
"…I don't think they know what they're asking for."
The Demon King looked back once.
"They never do."