As the Demon King, Mohe has forged her "invincible" name over many long years, and she can craft "Demon King's Blood" through time-consuming efforts.
This can be considered a product of "alchemy." Her original body can be counted as the highest product of alchemy, a crystallization of magic, alchemy, and wisdom, embodying all the Demon King has accumulated. Demon King's Blood is among the most crucial components. The constitution of each drop can cause significant changes in Mohe's strength, and she spent several years to create just one drop. Naturally, as her strength advances, the production and formation of Demon King's Blood become faster. If she absorbs this drop now, she can become considerably more powerful,
but this might not be the best option. If she uses this drop of Demon King's Blood to deal with Lisidorwei and then retrieves her left hand, it would be a tremendous gain, restoring approximately one-thirteenth of her original state, which would be very terrifying.
At that time, upon swallowing Lisidorwei polluted by Demon King's Blood, her time to ascend the Demon King's throne again would be greatly shortened, possibly within a few years.
Of course, the risk is enormous; if Lisidorwei does not fall into the trap... she herself might face the risk of being killed by Lisidorwei. Then it would be another decade of restart.
Moreover, the most crucial issue is...
"I'm rather curious, Lisidorwei betrayed me because of you. And now, in such a dire situation, why do you humans still trust Lisidorwei and let her guard my left hand? Isn't that strange?"
Indeed, the Hero A·Gedora is now so downcast. As a betrayer who came for the Hero, Lisidorwei should find it hard to gain trust. According to human thinking, dealing with Lisidorwei and then raising her would already be considered quite good.
Doro heard Mohe's words, remained silent for a long time, and finally said, "Someone will make a deal with Lisidorwei, those dying nobles."
"I see."
Mohe already understood as she heard this, mocking disdainfully: "You humans are indeed vile. Clearly, Lisidorwei's eternity is false, clearly, the immortality she bestows is ugly, yet to survive, you human nobles are truly unscrupulous... I seem to recall someone proposed such a transaction with me back then. If I had agreed, would your human society have first fallen into chaos?"
"...I cannot deny that."
Eighteen-year-old A·Gedora didn't consider many things, while now, thirty-two-year-old Doro couldn't help but think whether certain weakness in the Demon King back then would have led to a different outcome.
At this thought, Doro involuntarily looked towards Mohe's eyes, attempting to find some trace of regret—yet there was none.
In those eyes, not only was there no regret, but not even a hint of "what a pity."
Her gaze only held mockery and pride.
"So, that's what you humans are like!"
The girl sighed, "You humans are such feeble creatures; this is why I want to dominate this world and destroy humanity. Truly pathetic beings."
Is it really okay to say this in front of me? Considering I am also human.
This Demon King has always been like this since he was very young, hearing about the Demon King's name; she was always so proud.
If only I could be like her...
"In any case, Hero, if you really don't plan to do anything, then I will start acting within these few days. I had originally thought you actually sensed something and came here; not doing anything truly helps a lot."
She prepares various things in that house.
"Sensed something... maybe. I don't know how I ended up here, only remember wandering in intoxication, arriving in this small town. Perhaps it's destiny's choice."
"Destiny, huh..."
Mohe remained silent, clearly not very fond of this idea. What exactly is meant by destiny's choice, she cares not in the slightest, even though a prophecy predicted long ago that a Hero would appear to defeat her, the Demon King, and in fact, it indeed happened.
But she does not believe it was due to destiny. From the heart, she does not believe she was "defeated."
She isn't dead yet, being alive means not losing.
"Oh, by the way, since I'm about to stir things up, you'd best leave here soon. I don't know why exactly you're dispirited, but if you're planning to hide your identity... once I retrieve my left hand, many will come here. You might not be able to stay hidden."
Doro was momentarily stunned, "Shouldn't you be more delighted if I die?"
"If you really would die."
By evening, Mohe donned her maid outfit again, straightening her attire in front of the mirror: "If you're going to the tavern, wait a bit before you go. I don't want people to know you live with me."
"Didn't you have no intention to hide when we strolled around?"
Mohe fiddles with the bow tie on her collar, "That's different. Tavern guests tend to gossip a lot, they're all bored old men who only know how to tell dirty jokes all day long, you're one of them. Although I don't dislike it, too much gossip can be bothersome."
Sometimes, Doro couldn't really understand what this Demon King was thinking. She was clearly about to leave this city, and while Doro didn't know her exact plans, perhaps... it wasn't anything good. It's possible this entire town would be destroyed.
Although her left hand was in that big city recently.
Yet she still maintained her perfect persona, truly leaving people puzzled.
"I'm not drinking tonight."
Mohe nodded: "You can stay here, but don't touch my things. If something goes missing... never mind, you probably wouldn't do that."
She left just like that.
Would the Hero do anything in his own home? Mohe wasn't particularly interested. If the other party wanted to cause destruction, the simplest method was to kill him directly. He wouldn't show any mercy to the Demon King. If such a thing existed, she wouldn't have been cut into thirteen pieces.
The tavern's uncles —
Eternal life was considered a gift, and because of this, the Vampire Lisidorwei was trusted by humans. Perhaps humans didn't trust her that much; they just wanted to obtain the true power of eternity from her eternally-symbolic left hand, allowing those nobles to gain true eternity.
This was a transaction.
But then...
In that case, why not give eternal life to all the uncles present?
Today's beer was much tastier than expected, and many middle-aged uncles felt much younger after drinking it, as if they were teenagers again.
And today's drink was particularly intoxicating.
Until they left the tavern and returned home.
Abnormalities began to appear, and information started to ferment.
At this moment, Mohe had already returned home, starting to organize various items.
"The information will ferment in at most two days. I'm leaving today. If you're worried about being discovered, you better leave today as well. Lisidorwei will definitely come here after receiving the news."
Mohe spoke of urgency, yet her actions were very leisurely, even taking the time to fold her clothes neatly.
Doro knew her plan had already begun. The Demon King had started her plan to reclaim her left hand. Once she succeeded, she would next seek other items on her body.
And even if losing the left hand made humans more vigilant and prevented her plots, the Demon King, having retrieved her left hand, might only need ten or twenty years to restore herself to her original state with her own power. At that time, he might not even be dead yet.
This truly was a... frightening message. With this calculation, peace might only last twenty or thirty years at most before the Demon Race made a comeback.
But what does that have to do with him?
The mission as a Hero was already completed. He had long been stripped of the Hero title, and the sword had been taken by someone else. It was none of his business.
He should find a place to hide.
"If you like drinking your life away, I have some brewing recipes here, not your human brewing techniques." Mohe took out a recipe, densely filled with words, "You can earn some money, get an estate, hire some servants to plant some raw materials, then brew, and you can peacefully become a drunkard. It's not a bad thing."
Doro took the recipe, freezing momentarily, his throat moving up and down. He finally asked the question he hadn't asked before: "Why are you so good to me?"
"Is this considered good to you?" Mohe frowned, "It's just to keep you from meddling. I know you well, you would repay kindness with gratitude, and although you're down and out now, you're not going to bite the hand that feeds you, right? Giving you benefits is advantageous to me."
What is this? Giving me benefits for a return?
Of course! That's the natural thing! He would certainly repay the kindness of others... But, but such a simple matter, even the Demon King knows it, why... why didn't people in the past think so?
He stared directly at Mohe: "I... I may not be good at such matters, managing an estate or whatever, it's really quite difficult for me, I've never really managed anything before."
"You have to learn anyway, like the dirty jokes you tell in the tavern, you used to respect those around you, right? Wasn't that Snow Elf always by your side?" Mohe said without turning her head, until she stuffed everything into a small cloth bag, she finally turned to look at Doro.
The girl tiptoed and patted Doro's shoulder: "Even though you're down and out now, Doro, have some confidence in yourself. You're the one who defeated me and cut me into thirteen pieces. That's a glory you should be proud of for a lifetime. I don't allow you to talk like this. You should live engraved with this honor. Next time, if I see you at the tavern, I hope to hear stories about what kind of enemies you've defeated, not those idle chats about vases. Although you do speak well enough."
Saying that, the girl left the home she had lived in for many years without looking back.