At the time, Shrekheimer, who had been engaged in a bloody battle with the black dragon, had managed to barely extricate himself from a life-or-death crisis. No matter how high-ranking a cleric he was, he was no match for a dragon from the very beginning. He had only been able to endure because the cramped indoor space prevented the black dragon from unleashing its full might; had it not been for that, he would have already departed from this world.
Having narrowly escaped, Shrekheimer headed straight for High Pontiff Epicross. His intention was to protect the most important Covenant Stone. But what he witnessed upon arriving was none other than the cold corpse of High Pontiff Epicross, whose head had been severed.
Thanks to that, he had been able to witness, without filter, the very moment humanity's Covenant Stone was stolen. He had hidden away, powerless, shedding tears of blood. Recalling that moment, Shrekheimer clenched both fists tightly.
"I must, I must reclaim the Covenant Stone. To that end, persuading that otherworldly swordsman is the most urgent priority."
The fact that the Covenant Stone had already been seized had already spread widely among the soldiers of each kingdom. Therefore, to reverse the rapidly deteriorating war situation, the re-recapture of the Covenant Stone was essential.
"With his abilities, he will surely be able to retrieve the Covenant Stone from the dragons' hands."
He silently turned his steps toward his own quarters. With the resolve to win Dokgo Seong over by any means necessary and reclaim the Covenant Stone...
During the time Dokgo Seong's body was recovering, Shrekheimer treated him with utmost zeal and sincerity. Dokgo Seong, who had despaired at the sense of loss from losing his martial arts, had barely managed to pull himself together and began to take an interest in the new world he had found himself in.
"Then this continent called Truvenia is separated from the Central Plains to an unimaginable degree."
"That is correct. An immense temporal and spatial rift that cannot be measured by mere distance exists between the two continents. Although we were able to successfully achieve dimensional travel, even if we were to use the same method again, whether we could return is unknown. Dimensional shifting magic is just that—an art with an exceedingly low success rate."
"Hmm."
Dokgo Seong let out a groan. According to his words, it would not be wrong to say that there was no path for him to return to the Central Plains at all.
'Besides, even if I returned with this mangled body, there would be no chance whatsoever of taking revenge on that detestable Sajunhwan bastard.'
Dokgo Seong gave a bitter smile and looked Shrekheimer straight in the eye. Having regained his senses, he had been rather antagonistic toward Shrekheimer.
"Then what is the reason you brought me to this place? And I wish to know why you treat me with such utmost devotion as well."
"That is a very long story. Allow me to explain from now on."
Having once been in charge of educating trainees, Shrekheimer knew well what needed to be told to an outsider first. Dokgo Seong, watching the shape of his mouth, was dumbfounded.
'Damn it. Based on his tone alone, it's as if I'm talking to an old hometown friend. Did he say translation magic? Are there really such strange spells?'
The tone reaching his ears was clearly the dialect of the Yangzhou region, mixed with its unique accent. But watching Shrekheimer's lip movements, there was no doubt he was speaking an entirely different language.
Dokgo Seong, who was well-versed in the art of lip-reading, could easily realize this fact.
"First, this continent of Truvenia where we live is a world created by Lord God Berhazel, who governs the entire universe."
From Shrekheimer's mouth, the founding myth of Truvenia began to flow forth continuously. True to his nature as a deeply devout priest, Shrekheimer explained things from a cleric's perspective. He attributed all glory to Lord God Berhazel. It was somewhat uncomfortable for Dokgo Seong, a martial artist who staked his life on the sword, to accept, but because Shrekheimer had shown him such sincerity, he endured and listened on.
"So, to summarize your words, on this continent of Truvenia, various demi-human races live alongside humans, and a hundred years ago, a great war for the very survival of the races broke out between humans and a demi-human race called orcs."
"That is correct."
From his explanation, Dokgo Seong learned much. In short, this was not a place that a martial artist could ever understand. The two had lived in far too different worlds for easy comprehension. First and foremost, what Dokgo Seong found most incomprehensible was the monster called an orc.
According to Shrekheimer, the monsters with stout bodies and pig heads were orcs. From the perspective of a Central Plains native, they were nothing more than insignificant creatures. The fact that hordes of such insignificant creatures had fought on equal terms with humans for a full hundred years was not something Dokgo Seong could easily understand.
"But you must believe it. Although orcs are somewhat inferior to humans in strength and stamina, they instead possess terrifying growth rates and reproductive abilities. Most orcs grow to the point where they can participate in battle and hunting by roughly one year of age. They are incomparable to humans, who cannot even hold weapons until they reach fifteen."
"This is truly unbelievable. To think that insignificant creatures exist which dare threaten humanity..."
"But it is the truth. Especially orcs—they are so fertile that they give birth to litters of around ten young. Therefore, provided sufficient food, their numbers can increase exponentially. Enough to fully replenish the numbers consumed in battle."
"..."
"Due to these characteristics of the orc race, humanity faced a crisis so dire that they had to resign themselves to annihilation. It was a time when the war was devolving into indiscriminate battles of attrition. Orcs had ample capacity to replace the warriors lost on the battlefield, but for humans, that was a difficult prospect. Therefore, at that time, humans lost most of their territory and had to continue endless retreats. It was truly an unimaginably dark situation."
It was said that Shrekheimer had participated in the war as a young boy priest at the time. Therefore, he was able to explain the horrific situation of that time clearly and logically to Dokgo Seong.
"At that time, those detestable orcs held feasts with the dead and prisoners right before our eyes, trapped as we were inside the castle. Watching living people being roasted alive over fire, we thought that human history had finally come to a complete end."
"Are you saying that these orcs eat people?"
"That is correct. During the racial war, taking prisoners was an utterly useless endeavor. Those creatures even eat their own kin to survive the winter. Therefore, whenever they captured humans, they would always roast them alive to use as food. But we could not do the same. Because we did not eat orcs, we had no choice but to kill them immediately upon capture. However, that too was short-lived; once our food situation became extremely dire, the soldiers eventually had no choice but to eat orc meat as well."
As if recalling that time, deep emotion began to settle in Shrekheimer's aged eyes. But Dokgo Seong was thinking something else entirely at that moment.
'What would orc meat taste like? In the Central Plains, pork from piglets nursed on human milk is regarded as the finest delicacy. If so, then an orc raised eating human flesh...'
Dokgo Seong's line of thought could continue no further, cut short by Shrekheimer's subsequent impassioned voice.
"Then a savior appeared to us humans. The strongest across the entire continent, the Grand Sword Master, Emperor Crosen, finally revealed himself."
"Crosen?"
"That is correct. The strongest figure in the past century of human history, and the era's greatest tempestuous legend who brought about the most controversies and disputes."
From Shrekheimer's increasingly impassioned voice, Dokgo Seong could clearly tell how much he revered Emperor Crosen.
"Thanks to his exploits, the war situation was reversed in an instant. He is truly an unequaled figure who will not appear twice in Truvenia's thousand-year history, and one who could be called a hero without the slightest exaggeration."
"What on earth did he do..."
Glancing at Dokgo Seong, Shrekheimer silently began his explanation.
"To understand his achievement, there is something you must know first. It concerns the Covenant Stones of each race."
Shrekheimer divulged to Dokgo Seong, without omission, the secrets of the Covenant Stones handed down to each race by Berhazel. It was a myth that these mysterious gems, which governed the harmony of each race, ensured that as long as they remained in the race's possession, that race would receive the eternal protection of Lord God Berhazel anywhere and at any time. This, too, was not something Dokgo Seong could easily accept.
"Remarkable. To think that a gem with such a history exists..."
"By now, the Covenant Stone is a supreme treasure that no race would exchange for anything else. Therefore, even while suffering repeated crushing defeats, both sides guarded this Covenant Stone with their very lives. Yet Emperor Crosen achieved the grand feat of wresting away the orcs' Covenant Stone. He infiltrated through the defenses of thousands of hand-picked orc warriors."
"Hmm."
Dokgo Seong let out a groan. He simply could not believe that a single gem governed the prosperity of each race, but seeing Shrekheimer's solemn expression, he could not bring himself to object.
"At the time, he was the monarch of the Crosena Kingdom. Here, it is not uncommon for a nation's name to become that of its monarch. Therefore, no one knows his true name. But the fact that his swordsmanship alone had no equal in all of Truvenia—everyone here still knows this well."
At the moment of utter desperation. It is told that he led the elite knights of the Crosena Kingdom under his command and infiltrated deep into the heart of the orc tribe. Into an impregnable iron fortress guarded by thousands of orc royal guards. What followed soon after was a desperate, bloody battle. But the elite knights of Crosena, personally trained by Emperor Crosen, annihilated the orc royal guards after a fierce struggle and were able to seize the Covenant Stone that had been hidden away.
"This was the most important event that determined the course of the war."
The orcs' Covenant Stone had been seized by the unequaled hero, Emperor Crosen. That this overturned the previously losing war situation was an undeniable fact that no one could dispute.
To have the Covenant Stone stolen. This meant that they could no longer receive Berhazel's protection. With that alone, the morale of the orc warriors plummeted uncontrollably. Because orcs possessed underdeveloped intelligence, the significance they placed on the Covenant Stone could be considered nearly absolute. The orc warriors had been infinitely brave and cruel. But ever since losing the Covenant Stone, the orcs had degenerated into nothing more than utterly primitive, simple monsters.
This news soon spread widely across the battlefield, and contrary to the orcs, the morale of the human soldiers soared to heights beyond measure.
"Soldiers, the protection of Berhazel is now with us. This grace is ours alone to enjoy. Let us eradicate every last one of these orc scum excluded from Berhazel's protection."
The grand feat of Emperor Crosen. United as one by him, the human soldiers pushed back the orc tribe overwhelmingly, unlike anything seen before. Naturally, at the very forefront of that army, his knights unfailingly led the charge. After that, the war dragged on for another twenty long years. After desperate bloody battles, humanity was finally able to annihilate the orc main force. In the final bloody battle on the Flore Great Plains, the orcs lost an army numbering one hundred thousand and were forced to retreat in utter devastation.
The orcs had lost many of their kin, with only an extreme few surviving. They had no choice but to flee west into the barren Felusia Mountains to survive. The territory that had been under orc rule was finally incorporated as new land for humanity. Having explained this entire process, Shrekheimer wore an expression of some sorrow.
"And so, the continent of Truvenia was able to regain its peace once more. But that peace did not last long. Two subsequent catastrophes. They brought damage that could rightly be called fatal to the human world."
According to Shrekheimer's words, the continent of Truvenia had become humanity's stage alone. In other words, it would be no exaggeration to say that humanity's victory was solely thanks to Emperor Crosen. He was just that great a figure, and could also be called one shrouded in mystery.
"Emperor Crosen's origins, and where he learned his swordsmanship, have never been revealed. According to those around him, it was revealed that he was a being from another dimension who had come here through a dimensional rift that had opened by chance. Beyond that, nothing is known, but we suspect that he is likely from the place called the Central Plains where you were."
Dokgo Seong's brows furrowed deeply.
"Are you saying that this man called Emperor Crosen is a warrior from our Central Plains?"
"It seems so. As evidence, there exist countless Sword Masters in the place called the Central Plains, and we have witnessed this fact with our own eyes."
Dokgo Seong looked up with doubtful eyes.
"Sword Master?"
"We refer to martial artists who, through long training, possess the ability to condense mana into their swords and armor. Aura Blade. In other words, those who can wield the ultimate technique of infusing their swords with mana to cut through steel as if it were nothing are collectively called Sword Masters here."
'I wonder if he means Sword Qi or Sword Gang.'
Dokgo Seong, who had fallen into thought for a moment, soon took an interest in the hero from fifty years ago, Emperor Crosen. The possibility that he might be an expert from the Central Plains suddenly piqued his curiosity.