A purge to root out every knight under their command who might possibly sympathize with Emperor Crossen.
Without exception, the yoke of unbeliever was placed upon them, and they were handed over to the Inquisition. The verdict of the Inquisition, already in league with the monarchs, was all too obvious.
“I hereby proclaim death by burning.”
Thus, countless knights vanished like dew upon the execution grounds through religious trials. The judgment of the Order was far too severe. Not only the knights deemed unbelievers, but even the soldiers under their command were shown not the slightest mercy. Public killings that could only be called massacres began. And at the hands of the very lords to whom they had devoted their loyalty until only recently…
Once the purge was complete, their blades soon turned toward Emperor Crossen.
The conflict between the two sides thus grew increasingly uncontrollable. It was a time when civil war among humans was on the verge of erupting. But at the final moment, Emperor Crossen presented a proper compromise. He had never dreamed that his words would cause such a grave upheaval.
“Very well. If you cannot tolerate my beliefs, then I shall leave. To seek the freedom to leave faith—or the lack of it—to each person’s will. There, we shall preserve our convictions.”
By then, the people of the Kingdom of Crosena, men and women, young and old alike, had come forward in support of Emperor Crossen. To them, Emperor Crossen was a benevolent and wise ruler who worried more for the safety of his people than for his own body… They did not hesitate to pack their belongings and abandon the beloved homeland where they had lived for so long in order to follow him. Among them were great numbers of those who had escaped the Inquisition and those who revered Emperor Crossen. Their numbers swelled exponentially, until they approached nearly one-tenth of the entire population of the Truvenia Continent. Bolstered by their support, Emperor Crossen proposed that they migrate to the newly discovered continent.
“We shall go to Arcadia.”
The continent of Arcadia. A new continent first discovered only fifty years earlier, it was an unknown land located extremely far from Truvenia. What its climate was like, what monsters lived there, what crops could be grown there, and so on—everything about it was shrouded in mystery. That was only natural, for the continent of Arcadia was a distant land nearly a hundred days away from Truvenia by sea. Though it had been discovered by chance by sailors during the war of conquest, nothing was known about it. Nothing except the fact that it possessed land comparable in size to the continent of Truvenia… Emperor Crossen intended to lead his followers and pioneer that very new continent. For no other reason than to preserve his convictions.
“At the time, the Berhazel Order had no choice but to accept that proposal. It could not be helped. First, the Order had no knight skilled enough to subdue Emperor Crossen. Even if all the captains of the royal guard orders from every nation had gathered and attacked him together, they could not have defeated him. Moreover, they had already lost countless soldiers in the battles against the orcs, and on top of that, they had purged innumerable knights through religious strife. They simply could not bring themselves to try to stop him.”
The negotiations were finally settled. Emperor Crossen hurried preparations to depart with the countless people who followed him. He intended to establish a new nation that granted freedom of faith.
Countless people were mobilized and began building ships. With the shipbuilding technology of the time, constructing vessels capable of a voyage lasting a hundred days was no easy task, but the people believed in one thing alone: the emperor. As soon as the ships were completed, people boarded them and began the long voyage across the sea toward the continent of Arcadia. To protect them, Emperor Crossen had no choice but to remain there until the very end with his knights.
“With Emperor Crossen’s decision to leave, it seemed that peace had finally come to the Truvenia Continent. But even though the man who could be called the seed of conflict had disappeared, the problem did not end there. For many knights who occupied key positions in the armies of the various nations followed him.”
The number of knights who followed Emperor Crossen was beyond imagination. That was how deeply many knights of conviction had resented the arrogance of the Berhazel Order. The problem was that, as a result, the military strength of each kingdom was dramatically weakened. The knights Emperor Crossen took with him were not beings who could be trained in a day or two. Recalling that process, Shrekheimer let out another long sigh.
“It was an act of cutting away one’s own flesh. For no one could have guessed that, in such circumstances, the Dark Demon King Naidelhark would rise.”
“The Dark Demon King?”
Shrekheimer, who had been absorbed in his own story, abruptly came to his senses at Dokgo Seong’s question. It had been the most turbulent period in Truvenia’s thousand-year history, and he had become completely immersed in it. Looking out the window to judge the time, Shrekheimer gave Dokgo Seong a faint smile.
“I shall tell you the rest of the story tomorrow. I had not realized so much time had passed.”
“I am fine. Continue the story.”
Shrekheimer shook his head.
“You are a patient. You need rest, so sleep deeply today. As for the reason you were invited here, you will likely hear it by tomorrow.”
“I want to hear it now.”
Unfortunately, Dokgo Seong’s opinion was not accepted. The translation magic Shrekheimer had cast had reached the end of its effect. With communication cut off, there was nothing more Dokgo Seong could do. The history of this place, Truvenia, was so fascinating that it made him impatient. But now, he too had no choice but to wait until tomorrow.
“Please rest well. I shall come again tomorrow morning.”
Even if the meaning was not conveyed, Dokgo Seong could easily guess his intent. Seeing Dokgo Seong nod, Shrekheimer glanced at him once, then turned away without hesitation. The story he had to tell him still remained so vast that its end was nowhere in sight.
The next morning. Dokgo Seong had been awake since daybreak, waiting to hear the story left unfinished the day before. Seeing Dokgo Seong waiting for him, Shrekheimer smiled faintly and cast the translation magic.
“Now I shall explain the second great disaster that befell the human realm. It was the very situation I described to you yesterday: a time when humanity’s strength had been weakened to the extreme. The War of Darkness, later recorded by historians as the great calamity of the Bloody Moon, occurred under those circumstances. The invasion of the Dark Legion had begun.”
“The Dark Legion?”
“The undead army of the Demon Realm. Their invasion had begun.”
Unlike the previous day’s story, today’s was not something Dokgo Seong could readily understand. It was because beings he had never once seen kept being mentioned. To him, a martial artist of the murim, undead was merely a word referring to things like jiangshi. Yet such things as jiangshi had plunged the human realm into even greater chaos than the orc armies. Still, he resolved not to grow impatient and to listen closely to Shrekheimer’s words. At the very least, this man was the one best suited to explain the situation of this continent to him.
“The Dark Legion was granted power by Naidelhark, the Demon King of the Demon Realm who governs death. He manifested in this land by incarnating within the body of a necromancer who supported him.”
“Necromancer?”
“It is a term for a summoner. Primarily, high-ranking black mages are capable of casting summoning arts.”
According to Shrekheimer, that Demon King called Naidelhark had appeared in the human realm. Then, gathering the power of darkness on a massive scale, he attempted to bring the continent of Truvenia under his command. The human realm, which had already lost much of its strength due to racial war and religious conflict, was forced to endure yet another arduous struggle because of him.
“Because of that war, Truvenia suffered a tremendous loss, losing half its population.”
The battle against the Dark Demon King Naidelhark. It was so desperate that it swept away half the population of the Truvenia Continent. The timing was unfortunate, for it was precisely when human strength was at its weakest, and the defensive forces of each kingdom collapsed all too futilely. The demonic creatures of the Demon Realm and the undead legions summoned by Naidelhark overwhelmingly drove back the weakened human armies, advancing without obstruction. The capitals of venerable kingdoms with long traditions turned into seas of fire overnight, and citizens were slaughtered everywhere. The worst crisis in Truvenia’s history had arrived.
“We cannot simply let ourselves be destroyed like this.”
To overcome the situation, all the kingdoms of the Truvenia Continent finally united as one. The allied forces that had scattered after Emperor Crossen’s departure gathered once more. Thus began the great war upon which the fate of humanity rested.
“At the time, Naidelhark sought by any means to obtain the humans’ Oathstone. Conversely, we struggled with all our might to protect it. The war continued for a long time, with countless attacks and defenses, advances and retreats. Numerous heroes and warriors shed their blood, and soldiers beyond counting fell like dew upon the battlefield. But the strength of humans united as one was indeed formidable. The tide of battle, which had seemed completely hopeless at first, gradually began to turn. In the end, Demon King Naidelhark could not help but grow impatient.”
Naidelhark knew better than anyone that the reason humans could display such power was the Oathstone. Therefore, to overturn the situation, Naidelhark assembled the entirety of the dark army. After gathering hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers, he headed for the Kingdom of Icarot, where the Oathstone was kept. His intention was to seize the Oathstone and break humanity’s morale.
“At the time, the allied forces also scraped together every soldier they could mobilize to protect the Oathstone. And on the Plains of Icarot, the two armies fought a historic battle over the fate of humanity. In that siege, humans had to pay countless sacrifices. But perhaps those sacrifices were not in vain, for in the end, we were finally able to defeat Demon King Naidelhark. Of course, that was also thanks to Lord Berhazel’s care.”
It was a battle record one ought naturally to be proud of. Yet Dokgo Seong keenly noticed a grave look hovering between Shrekheimer’s brows.
“Judging by your expression, it seems there is some hidden story behind that victory.”
As if struck at the heart of the matter, Shrekheimer gave a bitter smile. For some reason, it was a matter he wished to hide from Dokgo Seong, an outsider.
Ironically, it was that very war that broke the once-soaring influence of the Berhazel Order. To supply their own forces, the undead army massacred every human in the regions they occupied without leaving a single one alive. Even nursing infants. And those remains became skeletons and zombie soldiers, took up swords, and joined the undead army. A tragedy truly too horrific to behold had unfolded across the continent of Truvenia.
Yet even in the desperate battle against the Dark Legion, the chief god Berhazel gave humans no aid. Countless priests prayed through the nights for salvation, but the god gave no answer. The driving force that repelled the army of darkness was, instead, the sacrifice of countless humans. Nameless heroes and soldiers beyond number died gloriously on the battlefield, helping to drive back the army of darkness. In the end, Shrekheimer resolved to reveal everything without concealment.
“You are perceptive. That is correct. If not for support from the continent of Arcadia, not a single human on the Truvenia Continent would have survived at the time.”
Emperor Crossen and his followers had boarded crude ships and departed for the continent of Arcadia. No one thought they would succeed in pioneering it. According to sailors, it was known to be crawling with ferocious monsters beyond imagination. But they succeeded magnificently in pioneering the land. They drove back the monsters that attacked without rest and managed to establish a nation.
The climate there was said to be perfect for cultivating crops. With ample sunlight and plentiful rainfall, the pioneering nation was able to lay its foundations in a short time. Then one day, grievous news reached them… A monarch of a destroyed kingdom had risked his life to cross the sea and tell them of Truvenia’s situation.
“Truvenia is now in a crisis like a candle before the wind. Please help us. Even at this very moment, countless people are being massacred, so please…”
Upon hearing those words, Emperor Crossen summoned his knight order without another word. It was the very knight order that had created a legend in the battles against the orcs. When they heard that their motherland was in peril, the soldiers who had been pioneering the new continent also volunteered en masse as reinforcements. Though that motherland had cast them away, they could not simply stand by and watch its destruction.
In an instant, a great army of one hundred thousand gathered. Leaving behind only the bare minimum of guards needed to protect the pioneer city, Emperor Crossen personally led the army and boarded the ships. The very ships they had used to come here. Thus, the reinforcements from Arcadia set foot once more in Truvenia. It was precisely when the Truvenia Continent was facing a crisis of survival. The Siege of Icarot, which could be called the final decisive battle, was about to begin.
The Arcadian reinforcements were thrown into battle before they could even recover their exhausted bodies and minds from the long voyage. And thus began the fated Siege of Icarot.
“The losses suffered by the Arcadian reinforcements at the time were tremendous. Of the Arcadian reinforcements, estimated at around one hundred thousand, fewer than half survived. The sacrifices were that great. Even the Knight Order of Crosena, composed mostly of Sword Masters, buried half its number on the battlefield…”
But thanks to their sacrifice, the Siege of Icarot was able to end in victory for humanity. The soldiers of Arcadia repaid the grudge of being driven to a harsh and unforgiving new continent with the grace of giving their very lives instead.