Chapter 188
Zeke was taken aback by the sudden influx of information.
'An Archmage with the surname Nirvana?'
He finally realized her identity.
"Could it be that you are the founder of the Nirvana clan, Hoshgar-nim?"
Hoshgar tilted her head at Zeke's words.
"clan? I've never left a successor."
"The Nirvana clan is not based on blood ties. It is the most prominent mage clan, gathering talented individuals, raising them as mages, and bestowing upon them the name Nirvana."
Hoshgar scratched her cheek and pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"I think I did create something similar before I went into seclusion."
Surprisingly, Hoshgar truly was the founder of the Nirvana clan.
'She seemed to know Terakan well. If they were comrades who fought together in the Liberation War, it would make sense.'
The three major transcendent families of the continent, Draker, Nirvana, and Ishtar, had first come into prominence during the Liberation War and the subsequent Golden Age.
The Ishtar clan had moved to the southern border region and established their own territory, while the Nirvana clan had based themselves on the Aten Peninsula in the Northern Continent, traveling between the islands of the Stormy Sea and maintaining contact with the Eastern Empire.
The mages of Nirvana, who had continued to this day, were different from the mages of Delfoa and the magic towers that led the continent's magic community.
They did not particularly submit papers to the magic academia or publish new magic theories.
The mages of Nirvana solely pursued the world of magic in the direction they desired and did whatever it took to achieve that goal.
'That's why the mages of Nirvana are so unpredictable. But they are stronger than any other mage group.'
Zeke hadn't been on such good terms with the mages of Nirvana in his past life.
When the Continental War broke out, the Empire had swallowed up Midland and the Central Kingdom and pushed up to the Northern Continent.
When the Northern Allied Forces, centered around Himonas, were preparing for war with the Empire, Nirvana declared neutrality.
They drew a line, saying they would not get involved in the war between the Empire and the Northern Continent.
At that time, Zeke had visited the Nirvana clan as an envoy of Himonas.
He spent quite a long time trying to persuade them, but ultimately failed to change their minds.
'The Nirvana guys won't listen to anything they're not interested in. They're crazy.'
Zeke came to his senses and asked Hoshgar,
"Hoshgar-nim, what do you mean by the prophecy of destruction?"
He had heard it mentioned in passing through Bahamut's memories, but he didn't know the exact details.
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and spoke,
"There was a dragon who prophesied the destruction of the world."
Zeke knew which dragon she was talking about.
'Chronos.'
The contracted dragon of the Hero King Kaisir, the dragon who had helped the Sword Saint Saturn Draker create the True Dragon Swordsmanship and prophesied the future with the power of time.
Hoshgar continued,
"According to that dragon's prophecy, we prepared for war. At first, the kingdoms didn't believe us, but when the gates opened and monsters and magical beasts poured out, they hurriedly started building defenses."
"What are gates?"
"They're a bit different from portals... It's hard to explain. I'll just show you."
Hoshgar flicked her hand.
A three-dimensional image appeared in the air.
Rumble!
A giant hole appeared between the sky and the earth.
And something started to come out of the black hole.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A large magical beast, as huge as a moving mountain, walked out of the hole.
After the large magical beast came out in a line, it was followed by medium-sized magical beasts, monster legions, and even what appeared to be lower-ranking demons.
Zeke gaped at the image.
"That hole is a gate?"
"Yes, a passage connecting the demon world and the phenomenal world. An anomaly that escapes the law of karma."
"You're saying that hole is connected to the demon world?"
"Yes, although high-ranking demons can't come out, magical beasts and lower-ranking demons living in the demon world could use it to travel to the phenomenal world. But even lower-ranking demons can't be ignored. Each one of them possesses power equivalent to or greater than a blue knight."
There were thousands of lower-ranking demons visible in the image alone.
'Thousands of blue knight level? Oh my god.'
If the lower-ranking demons were this strong, it was hard to imagine how powerful the mid-ranking and high-ranking demons were.
Zeke thought of Arataso, sealed in his sword.
Since he called himself a high-ranking demon, his true power, if unleashed in the demon world, must be at least that of a black knight.
Zeke asked Hoshgar a question that had been on his mind for a while,
"Then, did the dragons create those gates? To borrow the power of the demon world to destroy humanity?"
Hoshgar's eyes widened at Zeke's words.
Then, she sighed in disbelief and said,
"What are you talking about? Why would dragons open the gates? It's hard enough to stop those guys together."
"Didn't the dragons start the Liberation War? If the dragons didn't create those gates, then who did?"
Hoshgar's body trembled slightly, and her dragon eyes flashed.
"What did you just say? The dragons started the Liberation War?"
Zeke sensed that Hoshgar's reaction was unusual.
He quickly took out a book from his inventory that he had previously stored, containing the legend of the Dragon Slayer and the history of the Liberation War.
Hoshgar, suppressing her anger, received the book from Zeke.
"Reading."
Suddenly, the book floated in the air, and as it flipped open with a fluttering sound, the letters began to glow.
Hoshgar's dragon eyes also glowed along with it.
A moment later, the book that had been floating in the air fell to the floor with a thud.
Hoshgar, who had been sitting, clenched her teeth and stood up.
Rumble!
The entire space, including the drawing-room and the mansion, began to shake.
A red light flickered in Hoshgar's dragon eyes.
"How dare they... distort this war like this?"
Zeke also knew that the Draker clan was censoring and controlling the legend of the Dragon Slayer.
However, seeing the person involved become so enraged, it seemed that it wasn't simply a matter of the content being abridged.
Hoshgar shouted in a voice filled with fury,
"Evil Dragon Bahamut? These crazy bastards! If it weren't for Bahamut, the phenomenal world itself would have disappeared, and these ungrateful humans!"
Hoshgar, a Dragonian, spoke of humans as if they were a different race.
Zeke waited for Hoshgar to calm down.
Hoshgar jumped around the drawing-room, spewing curses at humans like a madwoman. Only after downing three cups of strong espresso in a row did she finally calm down and sit back in her seat.
"Whew. Sorry. I got a little carried away."
"No, please don't mind it."
If an Archmage could quell her anger with just a few curses and some shaking of the ground, it was a small price to pay.
His former master, the hermit of the forest, Nigel, would only calm down after his anger caused the ground to cave in and a mountain to split in two.
The Forest of Forgotten Ones was a place cursed by an ancient curse, consisting of endlessly stretching flooded lands. If it weren't for that curse, the trees would have been uprooted and turned into wasteland due to his master's temper.
Hoshgar put down her espresso cup and said to Zeke,
"That book is completely wrong. The Liberation War isn't about being liberated from dragons."
"Then what is it about being liberated from?"
Hoshgar gritted her teeth and said,
"What else could it be? Those damn constellations, of course."
"Huh?"
Zeke reflexively asked back at the completely unexpected answer.
He continued slowly,
"By constellations, do you mean the constellations I know? The thirteen constellations of the zodiac...?"
"No, not those guys. The ones below."
"By the ones below, do you mean the demons of the demon world?"
"Demons. The concepts of good and evil are created from a human perspective, so the meaning is a bit different, but it does refer to them. The constellations banished to the demon world."
"You mean the Liberation War was a war to break free from those constellations?"
"Yes. They tempted humans and made them their slaves, and with that power, they deceived the law of karma and intervened in the phenomenal world. As a result, the humans of the seven kingdoms were divided, fought, hated each other, and killed each other repeatedly."
"What did the demons do that for?"
"What else? They wanted to crawl back up here."
"To the phenomenal world?"
"Yes. The demon world is an incomplete world that exists between the phenomenal world and the distant abyss. The constellations banished there create safe zones with their powers to maintain their existence in that incomplete world, and they increase their followers to protect their territories. But even so, it's an unstable and incomplete world. That's why they always want to return to the phenomenal world."
"But even high-ranking demons can't come to the phenomenal world. Is it possible for demons who are constellations to come up?"
"Originally, it's impossible. But they devised a scheme. They found a way to deceive karma and stay in the phenomenal world."
Hearing Hoshgar's words, Zeke remembered what Richmond had told him before.
"A dragon's body?"
"That's right. If they corrupt a dragon, devour its soul, and take over its body, even a constellation can exist in the phenomenal world. If they gather a lot of human souls, establish their territory, and regain their power, they can even draw on the power of the demon world."
Zeke's expression hardened at Hoshgar's words.
"Oh my god, then could it be that the role of the Dragon Slayer is..."
Hoshgar's expression also darkened.
She slowly opened her mouth.
"To give peace to the dragon whose body has been taken over by a fallen constellation. That is the role of the Dragon Slayers."
Zeke finally understood the meaning of Terakan Draker's battle against the Red Dragon while riding a Pegasus.
Still with a hardened expression, he asked Hoshgar,
"Then was Bahamut, known as the Evil Dragon, also controlled by a demon?"
Hoshgar tightly clenched her lips.
Then, with a sigh, she began to speak.
"Bahamut... was never corrupted. He chose to devour the Demon King's soul himself and die at the hands of his contractor to protect everyone."
"The Demon King?"
"Yes. The leader of the fallen constellations, the rotten bastard who wanted to rule the phenomenal world. Those foolish humans awakened the sealed Demon King. Because of that, I lost my dearest friend."
"Oh my god."
Zeke was speechless after learning the truth about the Liberation War.
The hidden truth was that Bahamut, recorded as the enemy of humanity and the Dragon of Destruction who tried to destroy the continent, had actually sacrificed himself to save everyone from the Demon King.
Hoshgar gnashed her teeth, her dragon eyes flashing.
"Those ungrateful humans. Bahamut didn't have to go that far to save the phenomenal world. But he made that choice. Because of that damn Terakan."
A murderous aura far greater than before emanated from Hoshgar.
The materialized killing intent pierced his skin like thousands, tens of thousands of needles.
Zeke had felt something similar before.
'Arthur Draker's Astral Sword.'
The Astral Sword, which could be created upon reaching the Black Knight realm, was the ultimate technique that could kill an enemy with willpower alone.
However, Hoshgar, despite not being a knight, created a materialized killing intent similar to the Astral Sword. It was a testament to her majesty as an Archmage.
Suddenly, the killing intent that had filled the drawing-room disappeared in an instant.
She apologized to Zeke with an embarrassed expression.
"Sorry. I got carried away again without realizing it."
Then, she looked at Zeke and tilted her head.
"Huh? Come to think of it, you're completely fine even after directly facing my power. Amazing. You really are strong."
At first glance, it sounded arrogant, but Hoshgar was genuinely impressed with Zeke's abilities. Moreover, she was fully qualified to say such things, so Zeke nodded gratefully.
As Zeke reacted, she was about to say more, but she clapped her hands and shook her head.
"Look at me, getting distracted. I haven't even said what I really need to tell you."
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and continued,
"Anyway, we thought we had prevented the destruction according to Chronos' prophecy, the dragon's prophecy. But that wasn't the case."
"It wasn't?"
"Yes. We were mistaken, Chronos' prophecy wasn't over."
"Wasn't the Demon King stopped by Bahamut's sacrifice?"
"No, that's true. But the Demon King wasn't completely destroyed."
"What do you mean?"
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and said,
"Have you ever heard of the King in Yellow?"