32 – The final session
"How can you tell I am an otherworlder?"
"First, you are aware since I have been around for ages, you're not the first one I cross paths with, right?
Second, your behavior and speech pattern isn't exactly like what we're used to around here.
And third, auntie Nyarla is a friend of mine. Although we generally talk only once a year, the fact that you mentioned her name obviously let me deduce your identity."
Ok, Sherlock. I gave myself away on that one. Well it's not like it makes any difference for me. Her knowing this is not exactly a game changer.
"Fine. Can we move on to the next topic please? The war. Who started it? The Mazoku or the Humans?"
"Bzzzt. Once again, wrong question. To fully understand it let's go back in time again. A bit sooner though. 3000 years ago to be specific."
3000 years ago was a time known as the age of myths. To try and describe it as easy as possible, that era signaled the destruction of countries, reducing the spirits forest to ash and even killing the gods.
The world was thrown into chaos. More so for the mazoku. The country of the mazoku, Yorheaven, was filled with intense rivalry between the Four Evil Faction leaders, Sorcerer King Mistuf, and other powerful demons. This was advantageous to humans and spirits who feared the day that the demons would be united which would disrupt the war's balance. Therefore, the human army continued to sow seeds of doubt between various rulers and exhausted the demons by pitting them against each other.
Until one day the Originator Demon King surfaced. A being known for extreme brutality and power. He subdued the entire factions and by sheer force unified the Mazoku. However his extreme bloodlust led him wanting dominance over all the races.
Typical scenario. You get too much power and eventually you get drunk with it.
"So you see, Edel, the war was instigated by the Gods, but eventually the Originator Demon King was the one that spreaded fear into everyone's hearts."
"Even if it was so long ago? Why didn't things calm down when he was killed? Or better yet, what kind of hero killed him?"
"He could not be killed. And no hero ever matched his strength. The one that faced him and stopped his reign was…"
Remia took a pause and then pointed towards me.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I think you know where I'm getting at. The Ice Age Dragon. However since he could not be killed, the Ice Age Dragon ended him by splitting him apart.
Today, there are multiple Demon Kings that desire to claim the Mazoku throne. Although one of them is officially in charge…"
"It's basically a faction war again."
"Mhm. You can say that with each generation each Demon Lord inherited a fragment of the Originator:
Demon King of the Sword,
Demon King of the Mind,
Demon King of the Heart,
Demon King of Madness,
Demon King of the Soul,
Demon King of the Eyes,
Demon King of the Body.”
“Ok, but there are a few things I don’t understand. For example, why did the Ice Age Dragon step in? And if the Originator was stopped, why is the war still ongoing?”
“I couldn’t say for sure. Edelweiss, the Ice Age Dragon was known as The Dragon Queen during her time and was a cataclysmically powerful being. Her motives are shrouded in mystery. She could have ruled the world if she wanted, but chose not to.
As for why the war is still ongoing… I’m afraid that if the other side is not exterminated the fighting will not end. No……
Even if the mazoku perish, human beings will just make a new enemy again. The human heart can not be trusted because it can be easily corrupted. This also caused the other races to wage war.”
“One more question. You said the Gods instigated this. Why?”
“Don’t get me wrong. Not all Gods are bad. But there was a group that felt like constant creation was boring. What I will say next is only a legend, so take it with a grain of salt. The Old Gods sparked this conflict in their quest to secure the Arcana Sun, an artifact capable of granting ultimate power and the title of the One True God.
The Old Gods enlisted their creations in the war. The stronger races engaged in frequent skirmishes, resulting in significant alterations to the landscape, and causing the reduction of wildlife. As Gods are forbidden from fighting each other, they hoped that all this power that was generated would make the Arcana Sun surface, even if it meant the destruction of this world. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. The rest is as I told you.”
This is a lot to take in. Honestly if I was back in Japan this story would probably make me a lot of money if I were to write a light novel based on it. But this is real life. Given all this, I can’t say that the shitty king that summoned us is the final one to blame, however…
“What’s your opinion on Liserg, the king of Eglantine?”
“Hmm… he serves under the Empress, but unlike her, he is an incompetent madman who is unfit to be a ruler but no one close to him can see the warning signs.”
I could though. Unlike those 4 idiots I sensed that something wasn’t right to begin with.
“Despite being married to a beautiful woman, raising children and being a king, he never seemed to get any joy out of life. He was a very sad person. He frankly didn't seem to care about the welfare of his people and left it to his ministers and the other nobles. This created a deep system of corruption and allowed things like that black market slave system to continue, even if the Empress ordered such things to be abolished.”
“Alright. That pretty much answers everything I need to know. Remia, I think I want to be alone with my thoughts for now.”
“That’s fine by me, but are you sure? We still have some minutes left for today’s session.”
“Yeah. It’s enough for me.”
Honestly… I need to take all this into account. My main goal was to get away from that kingdom. But now knowing all this and knowing the fact that I can’t go back home… what do I do next? What do I want to achieve by living in this world? Back in Japan my goal was to indulge in reading and one day inherit my fathers’ dojo but obviously a goal like that was not possible here. I need to carefully plan my next move.