Dokgo Seong turned a curious gaze toward Shrekheimer.
“I would like to know more about him.”
“I shall explain from here.”
According to Shrekheimer’s explanation, Emperor Crosen at the time possessed such formidable swordsmanship that no one could withstand him. It was said that among all the Sword Masters existing on the continent of Truvenia then, not a single one could match Emperor Crosen, so one could well imagine the level of his skill.
“People at the time believed he was an envoy sent by Lord Berhazel. They thought it was simply impossible for a human to possess that level of swordsmanship.”
Naturally, when Emperor Crosen first arrived here, he could scarcely communicate with the people of this land. Because of that, differences in customs inevitably caused misunderstandings wherever he went. In the end, despite his tremendous swordsmanship, he began living as a mercenary in order to survive. Moreover, because knights seeking fame challenged him to duels almost every day, he had no choice but to fight constantly, and it was said that in countless duels, he never suffered a single defeat. As a result, he received the endless jealousy of knights from every nation. Had it not always been said that envy comes before admiration for the outstanding?
With no respectable title to his name, and being merely a lowly mercenary, perhaps it was only natural. But one day, by chance, he had an encounter that would completely overturn his fate.
“At the time, in the capital of the Icarotte Empire where he was staying, the king of Crosena, a kingdom on the frontier, was also residing. Back then, the Kingdom of Crosena had been utterly destroyed by orc attacks. The royal family, who had barely escaped, placed themselves under the protection of the Icarotte Empire together with the surviving knights. And then, by chance, the exiled king of Crosena witnessed Emperor Crosen’s duel.”
Emperor Crosen’s swordsmanship was so extraordinary that one could hardly believe it belonged to a human. It was said that the king of Crosena was spellbound by his skill.
“The only person who can revive our fallen homeland is this man.”
The elderly king of Crosena made an extremely difficult decision in order to rebuild his kingdom, which had been occupied by orcs. He handed over to Emperor Crosen both his beautiful daughter and the throne of the Kingdom of Crosena. It was said that the ministers of the Icarotte Empire were utterly shocked by the king of Crosena’s decision, which could only be called unprecedented.
No matter how exceptional his abilities were, to hand over a princess and the position of sovereign of a nation to some lowborn mercenary riffraff... Though it was a fallen kingdom, there had never been such a thing before. Yet the king of Crosena pushed the matter forward without so much as twitching an eyebrow. As a result, Emperor Crosen was able to officially inherit the Kingdom of Crosena.
It was said that the name Crosen was given to him at that time.
“Most likely, no one here in Truvenia knows the emperor’s real name.”
At the time, everyone mocked the decision, but it did not take long for the king of Crosena’s judgment to prove outstanding. Once Emperor Crosen learned the language of this land, his true worth was revealed. Not only was his swordsmanship exceptional, but his ability to command knights was in no way inferior. At the time, the exiled Crosena possessed about five hundred knights. Of course, since they could not be properly paid stipends, their morale had fallen as low as it could go. There were even knights who deserted under cover of night...
It was said that Emperor Crosen displayed remarkable skill and instantly captured the hearts of those five hundred knights. What followed was the transmission of his own unique training methods to them. The purpose was to rebuild the fallen Kingdom of Crosena, just as he had promised.
“On our continent of Truvenia, people at the time believed that Sword Masters were beings bestowed by the gods. That was how difficult it was to become one. Countless knights trained at the risk of their lives to achieve that goal, but only a few ever succeeded in becoming Sword Masters. Emperor Crosen shattered that fixed belief.”
Icarotte, the strongest nation in Truvenia at the time, possessed a total of around two hundred Sword Masters. Confident that their power alone was enough to destroy an entire kingdom, the Kingdom of Icarotte had been able to maintain its position as Truvenia’s greatest power for a very long time. Yet that sturdy iron fortress collapsed all at once because of Emperor Crosen alone. Half of the knights who trained using Emperor Crosen’s secret methods reached the realm of Sword Master in just ten years.
“At the time, Icarotte and the other kingdoms were all astonished by that fact. Though the knights of the Kingdom of Crosena were indeed renowned for their swordsmanship, raising two hundred and fifty Sword Masters in just ten years was, back then, nothing short of a miracle.”
Having acquired knightly forces that surpassed the Kingdom of Icarotte in one stroke, Emperor Crosen finally led all the knights under his command to the battlefield. Though the number of soldiers was small, the strength of the knight order he possessed was alone enough to destroy an entire kingdom.
It was just when all-out war with the orcs was about to begin. Wars for survival between races broke out everywhere. In that war, Emperor Crosen’s knight order displayed power that no one else could match.
“The might of the knight order trained by Emperor Crosen at the time surpassed imagination. In just one week, they annihilated twenty thousand orcs and reclaimed all the territory of the fallen Kingdom of Crosena...”
After that, Emperor Crosen’s path was extraordinarily smooth. Once word spread of his lofty skills and tremendous achievements, hot-blooded youths of the Kingdom of Crosena who had been hiding from the orcs flocked to join his army. Nor was this limited to the Kingdom of Crosena. Even defeated soldiers and knights from countless kingdoms destroyed by the orcs joined him on a massive scale. They made serving Emperor Crosen their highest goal. For he alone could avenge their families and their homelands upon the orcs who had destroyed them...
As volunteers poured in, the strength of Crosena’s army grew by leaps and bounds. It was even said that the ferocious orc warriors, who feared no death, would flee with their tails between their legs at the mere sight of the Kingdom of Crosena’s insignia... Thus, through the former king’s outstanding choice, the Kingdom of Crosena was rising into a powerful nation surpassing the Icarotte Empire, which had until then been the strongest.
“At the time, the situation was overwhelmingly unfavorable for humans. Countless kingdoms were destroyed by the orcs, who far surpassed them in population, and people died endlessly. Yet even amid all that, only the army of the Kingdom of Crosena continued to win against the orcs without hesitation.”
However, no matter how strong Crosena’s army was, it could not overcome the overall disadvantage. Therefore, Emperor Crosen made a decisive choice to turn the tide of war. He resolved to take carefully selected knights and infiltrate the orcs’ main camp in order to seize their Oath Stone.
“As I have already told you, Emperor Crosen’s plan ended in success. As he intended, the soldiers, their morale soaring, pushed the orcs back overwhelmingly unlike before, and at last they were able to crown the final Siege of Flowre with victory. But the problem did not end there. As the price for defying Lord Berhazel’s will and starting a racial war, we humans had to suffer catastrophes beyond imagination. Three times, no less...”
“Catastrophes?”
The sun was sinking low, but their conversation showed no sign of ending. If there was anything fortunate for them, it was that Shrekheimer, being a high-ranking priest, could maintain the translation magic for a long time. Dokgo Seong had even forgotten to sleep and was deeply absorbed in Shrekheimer’s story. Though it was the history of a distant foreign land, it was not without meaning for him.
“Through the war of conquest, Emperor Crosen emerged as the undisputed hero of humanity. But no one knew that the problem would begin there. Even after the war ended, conflict continued without cease.”
Shrekheimer recalled the struggle that could be called the ugliest in human history thereafter.
The period immediately after the racial war ended was the age when the authority of the Church of Berhazel enjoyed its absolute peak. Therefore, believing in any god other than Berhazel was considered the gravest of crimes at the time, and if discovered, one could be summarily executed without even a trial. Those who did not believe in any god were, without exception, included as well.
“The problem began with the fact that Emperor Crosen, the hero of humanity, was an unbeliever who did not believe in god.”
Unbelievers. Those who did not believe in god, but sought to carve out their own paths relying solely on their own abilities. They denied Berhazel, the chief god, and tried to resolve everything through their own will alone. The origin of those unbelievers was Emperor Crosen.
“It is foolish beyond measure. Our fate is something we must carve out for ourselves. Seeking god is a matter to consider only after that.”
Emperor Crosen mocked the circumstances of the era, when everything was dependent solely on divine mercy. He simply could not understand the idea that his fate was controlled by a god who did not even exist—at least from his perspective. Therefore, he first spread his beliefs among the knights of the Kingdom of Crosena. The conviction that one should carve out one’s own fate through effort and strength alone, without relying on god, soon spread widely among the knights of Crosena.
They already trusted their sovereign, Emperor Crosen, even more than they trusted Berhazel, the chief god. Through his teachings, the knights of Crosena focused not on piety but on developing their own swordsmanship and abilities, and as a result, they were able to achieve rapid improvement. Thus, they came to play a decisive role in winning the racial war.
“Now it is done.”
After the racial war was completely over and he had gained confidence, Emperor Crosen stepped forward to openly proclaim his beliefs. It was the moment when someone publicly declaring unbelief appeared on the continent of Truvenia.
“I do not believe in the god Berhazel. I believe only in my own ability and effort.”
His statement caused an enormous stir at the time. There was no way the Church of Berhazel, nor the devout monarchs of the various kingdoms, would simply overlook his words. That was when the Church of Berhazel’s power was at its greatest, and when the act of denying god was regarded as the gravest crime. Because of this statement, conflict between Emperor Crosen and the Church of Berhazel became inevitable. Having heard the matter up to that point, Dokgo Seong shook his head as if dumbfounded.
“I cannot understand it. To try to expel a man who had achieved such military feats over a mere matter like that...”
Shrekheimer gave a bitter smile.
“At the time, it was by no means a simple matter.”
Though he deeply revered Emperor Crosen, he too was a devout believer of Berhazel. Because of that, he had even felt somewhat disappointed toward Emperor Crosen for making such a declaration... The real problem was that the jealousy of the monarchs of each nation played the greatest role in driving Emperor Crosen out.
“The monarchs of the time were extremely wary of Emperor Crosen. Since the common soldiers revered him almost as a god, it was only natural that they would be uncomfortable with him.”
His military achievements were so tremendous that they could not possibly be ignored. On top of that, even the soldiers of their own nations were deeply fascinated by Emperor Crosen’s great deeds. Therefore, the wariness each monarch felt toward Emperor Crosen was beyond imagination. If by any chance the opinion arose that all the kingdoms on the continent should be united into one, and Emperor Crosen should be enthroned as the emperor of that unified empire, they would be utterly helpless. If that happened, they would have no way to stop the tide. The common soldiers already respected Emperor Crosen more than the monarchs of their own countries. In such circumstances, Emperor Crosen’s bombshell declaration had burst forth, so for the monarchs of every nation, it must have been something they could not openly ask for, yet secretly welcomed...
At last, the judgment of the Church of Berhazel was handed down. It was also a judgment that had the full support of the monarchs of every nation.
“Crosen, sovereign of the Kingdom of Crosena, has committed the grave sin of denying god. Therefore, all the military achievements he has established shall be nullified, and he shall be brought to trial.”
It was obvious that if he were brought to trial, he would immediately be burned at the stake. Of course, there was no way Emperor Crosen and the knights who followed him would meekly submit to trial. Through the war of conquest, the Kingdom of Crosena had come to possess military power that could never be ignored. Crosena’s military strength was enough to easily surpass all the power of the Icarotte Empire, the strongest nation until then. When Emperor Crosen refused to comply, the monarchs of the various kingdoms decided to unite all the military forces they possessed and oppose Emperor Crosen’s army. The continent of Truvenia was finally rushing toward an extreme confrontation between believers and unbelievers.
Before waging war, putting one’s own house in order was, no matter the continent, the most urgent task. Therefore, before launching full-scale war, the monarchs of each nation began a massive purge.