It was an eradication work to get rid of all the knights under their command that would possibly sympathize with Crossen Magnus. They were all bridled with the t.i.tle of Unbeliever, and they were committed for religious trial. The result was obvious since the monarchs and the religious courthouse was in the same boat.
“Proclaim the burning on the stake.”
Countless number of knights were executed through the religious trial and disappeared. The judgement from the church was extremely strict. Forgiveness was not given to the knights labelled as Unbelievers, and this included the soldiers under their command. This could only be considered a ma.s.sacre, but the public killings began. This was done by their own monarch, whom they had given all their loyalties to… After the eradication work was done, they focused their blades on Crossen Magnus. The conflict between both sides got out of control as it continued. The conflict between humans was about to detonate in the spring. However at the last moment, Crossen Magnus put forth an appropriate compromise. He would have never thought that his proclamation would cause such unrest. Even in his wildest dream, Crossen Magnus didn’t think this would happen.
“Alright. I’ll leave if you cannot accept my beliefs. Whether you believe or not believe in G.o.d, I intend to go a separate way to find freedom. At his place, we will protect our beliefs.”
Already the Crossena kingdom’s subjects, men and women of all ages, were ready to step forward for Crossen Magnus. Crossen Magnus was a benevolent ruler that worried about the subjects’ safety more than his body… They had become attached to their homeland where they had lived for a long time, but they didn’t hesitate to pack up their baggage to follow Crossen Magnus. The number grew so fast that it almost approached 10 percent of the entire population on the Truvania continent. Crossen Magnus drew strength from the people who had joined him, and he submitted an opinion that they should immigrate the new continent that was discovered not too long ago.
“We are going to Arcadia.”
Arcadia continent. It was a newly discovered continent that was found only 50 years ago. It was an unknown continent that was very far away from the Truvania continent. They had no idea what the weather was like, what kind of monsters lived there, what kind of crop can be grown etc. Every aspect of the continent was veiled. The Arcadia continent was far from Truvania continent, and it would take about 100 days on boat to get there. During the race wars, a sailor accidentally found the place, but not much information was known. It was only known that the land ma.s.s was comparable to Truvania continent… Crossen Magnus departed for the new continent with his followers to protect his beliefs.
“At the time, the Belhazel church could only accept his suggestion. It couldn’t be helped. First, the church did not have any knights that could subdue Crossen Magnus. Even if each country gathered the leaders of royal knights, they wouldn’t be able to beat Crossen Magnus. Furthermore, they had already lost many soldier while battling the orcs, and many knights were purged from the religious strife. They didn’t even dare to block him. ”
The negotiation was finally settled. Crossen Magnus hurriedly got ready to depart with the numerous people who were his followers. He wanted to raise a new country where one would be given religious freedom. Many people were mobilized to start building boats. With their ship construction techniques, it wasn’t easy to construct a boat that could sail for 100 days, but the people solely believed in the Magnus. Right after the boats were completed, the people’s bodies were loaded on board and they started sailing towards the distant Arcadia continent. To protect the people, Crossen Magnus and his knights stayed behind in place until the last moment.
“It seemed like Truvania continent finally found peace after Crossen Magnus decided to leave. However even though the seed of conflict disappeared, the problem didn’t end there. The reason being most of the knights from each country who held important posts left with him.”
The number of knights who followed Crossen Magnus was beyond imagination. The knights with honor was dissatisfied with the self-righteous Belhazel church. The knights that left with Crossen Magnus weren’t existences that could be trained in a day or two. Shrekheimer sighed again after he recalled that process again.
” It was like carving your own flesh and eating it. Moreover, no one could have guessed that the Demon King of the Night Nidelhark would arise.”
“What do you mean by Demon King of the Night.”
Shrekheimer was carried away in his own story, but Dok-gosong’s question woke him up. In Truvania’s 1000 year history, this was the most turbulent period so he was lost in it. After looking out the window to check the time, Shrekheimer smiled at Dok-gosong.
“I’ll tell you the back story tomorrow. I didn’t realize this much time had pa.s.sed.”
“I’m ok. So please continue with the story.
Shrekheimer shook his head in denial.
“You are a patient. You need to rest in bed, so please get a good night’s sleep tonight. You’ll probably hear the reason why you were invited to this place.”
“I want to hear about it right now.”
Sadly he wasn’t receptive to Dok-gosong’s suggestions. The effectiveness of the translation magic that Shrekheimer used was diminished. Since the communication method was halted, Dok-gosong had no choice. The history of the Truvania continent was so entertaining that he was anxious(TLN: to hear more about it). Still he couldn’t do anything so he promised to meet again tomorrow.
“Rest well. I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
Even thought the meaning didn’t get transferred, Dok-gosong could guess the intent. After seeing Dok-gosong nod his head, Shrekheimer turned his body without any regret. There were still endless amount of story to tell him.
Next morning. Dok-gosong woke up at the crack of dawn to listen to the unfinished story from yesterday. Shrekheimer, who saw Dok-gosong waiting for him, smiled and casted the translation magic.
“I’ll explain about the second calamity that hit the human realm. The situation was as I described yesterday. It was a situation where the human’s strength had been extremely reduced. Future historians recorded the battle of darkness as the great calamity of b.l.o.o.d.y Moon. The invasion of the Army of Darkness started.
“What do you mean by Army of Darkness?”
“It was an undead army from the demon world. Their invasion started.”
Unlike yesterday’s story, Dok-gosong had a hard time understanding the content of the story. The subject of discussion was on something he had never seen before. As a person from Murim, he thought the undead were referring to kangshis.(TLN:Asian Zombie, pale undead who hops around which is very different from western zombies, no decay/can be controlled) He couldn’t believe a mere kangshi was able to cause more chaos then the orc army. However, he decided not to be anxious and listen to Shrekhimer’s explanation attentively. He was someone who could relay the situation on this continent the best. (TLN: He is skeptical b/c kangshi while it has superhuman strength, can be beaten easily by monks)
“The army of darkness was given strength by demon world’s demon king Nidelhark, who was in control of death. He incarnated in a necromancer that worshipped him and he revealed himself on this land.”
“Necromancer?”
“It’s a term used for summoners. They are usually high level black magicians that can attempt the art of summoning. ”
According to Shrekheimer’s words, the demon king named Nidelhard showed himself to the human realm. Then he extensively gathered the strength of darkness and tried to subjugate the Truvania continent under him. The human realm had already expended a lot of strength in the race wars and the religious disorder, but they had to fight an arduous war once again.
“Due to the war, the Truvania continent had a staggering loss of losing half the population.”
The battle with the Demon K0ing of Darkness Nidelhark. It was brutal enough to sweep away half the population existing on the Truvania continent. Conveniently, it was a period when the humans’ strength was the weakest, and each kingdom’s defending army fell in vain. Nidelhark called in creatures from the demon world and the undead army overwhelmed the weakened human army. They were able to advance easily. The capital of kingdoms, which was soaked in history and tradition, turned into sea of fire overnight and the civilians were slaughtered everywhere. This was the point when the worst danger in the history of Truvania hit.
“We couldn’t stand by and do nothing. ”
Finally all the kingdoms in the Truvania continent merged into one. The coalition, that broke up after Crossen Magnus left, a.s.sembled again. That is how the great war that decided the fate of the humans started.
“At the time, Nidelhark was trying to obtain the human’s Oath Gem by any means. In reverse, we tried to protect it until death. There were many battles, advances and retreats achieved and the war continued for a very long time. Many heroes and warriors sprayed blood and countless number of soldiers were killed in battle. However, the combined strength of the humans were very great. At first there seemed to be no hope, but the tide of war was turning. Eventually the demon king NidelHark couldn’t help but get anxious.”
Nidelhark knew better than others that the humans were able to show this much might because of the Oath Gem in the background. So Nidelhard a.s.sembled the entire Army of Darkness to flip the tide of battle. After a.s.sembling the undead army that numbered in the hundreds of thousands, he headed toward the Ikarot Kingdom where the Oath gem was kept. His intention was to break the morale of the humans by stealing the Oath Gem.
“Of course at the time, the coalition sc.r.a.ped together all their troops to protect the Oath Gem. At the plain of Ikarot, both army fought a historical battle of single round with the fate of the humans on the line. Numerous humans had to sacrifice themselves in the battle. However, the sacrifices were not in vain. Finally, we were able to break Nidelhark. Of course, it was with the blessing of Belhazel-nim.”
It was a result that one should be proud of. However, Dok-gosong could read the serious expression on Shrekhemier.
“It seems like the backdrop of the victory has some story.”
Shrekheimer formed a bitter smile as if he had hit a bull’s-eye. Somehow he wanted to hide the situation from Dok-gosong, who was a foreigner.
Ironically, Belhazel church’s congregation that numbered into the sky broke during this battle. The undead army killed every humans in the territory they had occupied to bolster their numbers. They even killed children who were still feeding from their mother’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Corpses would pick up swords to become skeletons and zombie knights then they joined forces with the undead army. It was a disaster that was hard to watch with your eyes open. This was happening in the Truvania continent. However, Belhazel did not give any help towards the humans who were in a desperate battle with the dark army. Countless believers prayed into the night wanting salvation, but G.o.d did not return any answers. Instead, countless humans sacrificed their lives to defeat the army of darkness. Countless number of nameless(TLN: it’s not that they don’t have a name, just not known) heroes and soldiers were the catalyst in the opposition and they aided in driving out the Army of Darkness. Eventually Shrekheimer decided to tell the whole truth.
“You are very perceptive. You are right. If there were no aid from the Arcadia continent, then no humans on the Truvania continent would have survived.”
Crossen Magnus and his followers left for Aracadia on a crude boat. n.o.body thought they would be able to colonize. According to the sailors, that place was crawling with unimaginably ferocious monsters. However, they were able to magnificently succeed in colonization. They drove out the monsters that continuously attacked and they succeeded in building a nation. The climate was very suitable to cultivate crops. Moreover, there were plenty rainfall so the new nation was able to build up quickly. Then one day, they received some sad news… One monarch of a fallen kingdom risked his life to cross the sea to tell them about the situation in Truvania continent.
“Currently, the Truvania continent’s fate hangs on by a thread. Please help us. Even at this moment, countless people are getting slaughtered so please…”
After hearing those words, Crossen Magnus gathered his knights at once. These were the knights that created a myth in the battle with the orcs.(TLN: sounds awkward, stories were created after their exploits against the orcs) After hearing their mother country was in a crisis and was hanging by a thread, most of the soldiers who were settling the new continent stepped forward to join the volunteer army. Even though they had been thrown away, they couldn’t look on with indifference when their mother country was about to be ruined. In an instant, a large army of 10 thousand men were a.s.sembled. Crossen left a select few to defend the settled city and he commandeered his men onto the boats. That is how the Arkadia’s volunteer army set foot on the Truvania again. This was the time when the Truvania continent was in a crisis of life and death. It was the period when the Ikarot siege was going, which was basically the final showdown. Before the Arcadia volunteer army could recuperate from the long journey, they were inserted into battle. Then the fateful Ikarot siege started.
“At the time, the Aracadia volunteer army took a lot of damage. Amongst the estimated 10 thosand men from the Arcadia volunteer army, only about half survived. The sacrifice they made was large. Even the knights of Crossena, which was mainly composed of sword masters, buried half of their numbers in battle…”
The humans were victorious in the Ikarot siege thanks to their sacrifice. They bore enmity towards those who had driven them out to turbulent new continent, but on the contrary to their feelings, the soldiers of Arcadia put their lives on the line to do them a favor.