As days flowed into weeks and months cascaded into the arrival of a new year, Aden maintained his nocturnal rituals, unwavering in his routine. Unbeknownst to him, the observant servant's daughter continued her clandestine observations of his every move. Initially confined to his nightly wanderings, her curiosity gradually extended to his every action, casting an ever more scrutinizing eye on his behavior.
However, what the girl remained unaware of was that Aden, or rather Xander, had taken note of her covert surveillance. His acute awareness, honed through years of his past life and astute perception, didn't fail to detect the constant shadow that trailed him. Every flicker of her curiosity, every clandestine follow, didn't escape his notice.
Yet, there was no sense of alarm within him. As long as her curiosity didn't metamorphose into malice or hostility, Xander chose to permit her silent observations to continue unabated. He recognized the intrigue that enveloped the girl, an intrigue driven by innocent curiosity rather than ill intent.
In the quiet dance of night and day, amidst the routines and the passing of seasons, a silent understanding took root between them—one of unspoken acknowledgment. While the girl remained oblivious to the fact that Aden was indeed Xander, the observant former demon lord chose to remain passive, allowing the girl to satisfy her curiosity, unthreatened by her silent observations as long as they bore no malice.
Later he gets to know, that when he emerged from this ethereal space, he was startled to realize that two decades had slipped away in the mortal realm. The news that greeted him upon his return was grim—an insidious shadow had spread across the realm.
In this span of time, the world had changed, and the echoes of war reverberated across nations. Rumors, like wildfire, had swept through the realms, declaring the demise of the demon lord.
The initial peace that settled after the presumed fall of the demon lord proved to be deceptive. Far from subsiding, the tensions escalated, giving birth to conflicts that engulfed the entire realm.
In the wake of this perceived vulnerability, a sinister tranquility blanketed the once tumultuous world. However, this calm was but a thin veil hiding a storm brewing beneath.
The aftermath of the demon realm's chaos lingered, leaving scars that marred the geopolitical landscape. As whispers of the demon lord's demise echoed, opportunistic nations seized this perceived weakness, thrusting the world into the throes of conflict once more.
Before Xander's rebirth, the collective might of the realms had been focused on the demon realm, a united front against the perceived threat. However, with the rumors of the demon lord's demise, the unity fractured. Some realms, taking advantage of the perceived weakness in the absence of the once-feared leader, seized the opportunity to expand their territories.
A chain reaction ensued, triggering wars across borders. Xess, his current homeland, in particular, found itself caught in the crossfire of neighboring nations seeking to exploit the aftermath of the demon realm invasion. The scars of the past were not forgotten, and the region once ravaged by the demon lord's forces became a coveted battleground for those with expansionist ambitions.
The vulnerability left in the wake of the demon realm's supposed fall became a catalyst for aggression, a pretext for countries to settle past grievances with newfound fervor.
The realm that once united against the demon realm's threat now splintered into factions, each vying for dominance and retribution. The peace that had settled like a fragile dew was shattered, replaced by the cacophony of war drums and the cries of conflict.
An eerie tranquility had settled over the demon realm. The usual tumult and chaos that characterized its existence had ebbed away, leaving behind an unsettling silence.
Once a domain wrought with ceaseless strife and turmoil, the demon realm now lay shrouded in an unsettling calm. The absence of the demon lord, rumored to be the harbinger of chaos and upheaval, cast a pall of uncertainty over the realm's denizens.
For a realm accustomed to the drumbeat of conflict and the tumultuous clashes of power, this sudden hush was an anomaly. The absence of the demon lord's malevolent presence had stifled the usual machinations that drove the realm, plunging it into an uncharacteristic lull.
Amidst the upheaval and chaos that engulfed the mortal realms, Xander's thoughts veered not towards the wars ravaging the world, but instead fixated on the perplexing silence emanating from his own realm—the demon realm.
Disregarding the turmoil in the mortal world, Xander's concern was rooted in the disconcerting absence of any move to nominate a new demon lord. In the intricate web of demon politics, the customary swift action to fill the void left by a fallen ruler was conspicuously absent.
"What the hell are they doing?" Xander muttered to himself, his brow furrowed in frustration. The lack of initiative or any semblance of order in his realm irked him more than the turmoil brewing in the mortal lands.
In the hierarchy of the demon realm, the absence of a ruler spelled vulnerability, inviting chaos and discord. The customary process of nominating a new demon lord should have commenced swiftly, yet the realm seemed suspended in stasis—a state that unnerved Xander more than any external threat.
The deafening silence from his own realm gnawed at him, sparking an urgency within him that eclipsed the indifference he harbored towards the wars consuming the mortal world.
As the former ruler, he couldn't fathom the inertia that gripped his demon kin, fueling his determination to unveil the mysteries shrouding his realm's inaction and to restore the order that should have been underway without the goddess noticing.