83 A War Between Continents
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Even though I was still four years old, I couldn’t help but feel intrigue and curiosity about the war, including all the bloodshed and stuff that had happened there. Obviously, that wasn’t something that parents should tell their children. However, I wanted to know the truth, or well, the truth regarding this. I knew that the information I would obtain might be too much, but my parents were willing to reveal such a truth to me because they loved me.
I knew that I might be acting pushy but… I wanted to know.
My parents and Aquarina’s parents had given a brief introduction to what had happened back then, how they slayed the demon generals and pushed forward against the demon armies.
With the help of the kingdoms from Gallatea, or more specfically, the biggest one named the Uegenne Kingdom, they were able to make the demons leave the continent…
However…
“Like any war, we had to fight to survive and protect our people… even if it meant taking the lives of these soldiers, thousands of them… However, they were prepared for it. After all, soldiers are prepared to die,” mother said.
“As we defeated the generals, prompting the demon army to finally fall back, an all-out attack against the Demon Continent began…” father continued.
“At first, we really didn’t think too hard about it. We thought it was the natural course of action. We now had to slay the Demon King to end this constant struggle against the demon forces, but this also ended up making us go… a bit too far,” mother said, sighing.
…..
“The Holy Kingdom ended up pushing themselves too ahead of their own established boundaries. The fanatics from the church of gods showed off their true colors, while the aristocrats also began to show their true intentions, colluding with them who seek to conquer this new land for the extraction of resources like Demonite, a highly magical material that only grows in the Demon Continent…” father narrated.
“The conquest was not only for the sake of bringing peace and saving humanity… it was also for the sake of making money and growing rich out of mining Demonite. The aristocrats and the church colluded together and manipulated us, using our strength to destroy the demon fortresses, convincing us that it was the good thing to do to weaken the Demon King’s army…” mother said. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
“I don’t really want to say we were manipulated. At the end, we still did it willingly. I am at fault for all of this and more…” father said, seemingly ending the explanation. My mother patted his shoulder as she also seemed to be engulfed in sorrow. My mother, who always showed herself to be super serious and mature, was now filled with a certain sorrow I couldn’t completely fathom. On the other hand, my father, who always showed himself to be a valiant and strong warrior, was also saddened, as if destroyed by remembering a past, a very traumatic past.
“We… were foolish. We could have done something… we could have helped those people, but instead of that, we left the Kingdom Alliance and the Church to deal with the aftermath,” Shade lamented with a sigh.
“Each time we defeated a fortress, many demon cities filled with… people, were left unprotected. They were all swallowed by the armies behind us as we continued our charge. At that time, I was filled with rage and the desire for revenge. Many of our companions had given their lives for the war at that point. I had lost many friends, even other Heroes died while we battled the powerful demon generals…” Nepheline said with a sigh.
“The loss of our companions drove us to the brink of insanity. Consumed by wrath and the desire to end this malicious war once and for all, we ended up charging recklessly without looking back… at the massacre that unfolded behind our backs, sponsored by ourselves,” father lamented with a long sigh.
“When we realized it… it was already too late,” mother murmured.
“W-What? What happened?” I asked.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
At my question, everyone fell silent. Aquarina suddenly grabbed my hand, tightly grasping it. She seemed concerned, worried about the answer. I knew what might have happened.
Seeing how the aristocrats from the Kingdom Alliance desired the precious resources such as Demonite from the Demon Continent, and how the Church of the Gods was so brainwashed and fanatical that they despised demons, going so far as to treat them no less than monsters… I can see what might have happened. I can see it clearly… I’ve already participated in battles before. I’ve participated in war, and had died myself. Although my previous life was short, I’ve also faced some of the most horrendous sides of human beings.
“That’s what Hell spoke about. The massacres,” my mother said.
“The Kingdom Alliance and the Church used our names to slay all demons for the “greater good”… we were fine with slaying the demons that fought against us in the war, those soldiers willingly came to war to die the same way our soldiers did… that’s how war worked, after all,” father added.
“But it wasn’t fair to kill the citizens of those demon settlements. We thought that they would be taken care of in another way, not… by being… exterminated.” At this point, mother’s eyes were brimming with tears.
“A bloodbath like we had never seen before. The number of innocent demon people killed couldn’t even compare to the paltry number of demon soldiers we had slain. The population of civilians in the Demon Continent was surprisingly big. The Demon King and the demon generals nourished them and taught them how to survive. Civilizations were being born there, people, children, families… they didn’t participate in the war, but they were the thing our foes were protecting, the thing they risked their lives for. They were the reason why they charged forward against our continent beforehand to slay us so we wouldn’t be a threat to the Demon King,” father added, his voice slightly wavering.
“At the end, Demons are not monsters like the humans love to talk about. They’re people, the same people as us. They were born from the world and are said to be their children. They come in all shapes and sizes as they develop all sorts of appearances representing nature at its purest form. This is why they’re often called monstrous as they possess even greater animalistic traits than beastkin. However, they’re also even more connected to nature than elves,” mother said.
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