Chapter 91 - Birth of the Dragon Sword (6)
If it was during the Dragon Maken War, he would have understood the existence of these humans. It was common for humans to betray their own kind for survival as they crawled underneath the Dragon Demon Army. Then there were some that had been true believers of Dragon Demon King. They believed him to be a G.o.d.
However, why would such humans exist in this era? Azell was having a hard time comprehending this point.
Enora spoke.
“You really speak like someone, who had lived through that era.”
“I thought you were going to consider my story as only speculation?”
“I did. Mmm. Doesn"t this mean sir Azell is over 200 years old? Should I call you elder from now on?”
“I"ll be thankful if you call me that in about 40 years from now.”
Azell let out a bitter laugh.
9
He was a human, but he was allowed to reside in the Plain of Darkness as a Dragon Demon king worshipper. Black Swordsman Duran thought about the moment when he developed his great faith.
When a human was born, one was either a n.o.ble or baseborn. It didn"t matter if one were talented. It didn"t matter what character one had. If one was born from low caste parents, one would never break above their station no matter how talented one was. One would be treated like trash by those born as n.o.bles.
In such an unfair societal structure, Duran had been at the bottom. He had been a slave.
There were 7 kingdoms that ruled over this continent, and only two allowed slavery. Moreover, slaves were viewed basically as gutter sc.u.ms.
From a young age, Duran had a ma.s.sive build, and he was known for his strength. He was a head taller than anyone else in his age group, and no one could surpa.s.s him in work that dealt with strength.
When he grew up, he naturally did all the hard work. If violence was needed, he was called to take care of it. When he had shown apt.i.tude for fighting, he was taught martial art. His owner wanted to put him to good use.
Still, Duran didn"t get a big head over his treatment. Even if he was strong, he knew he was insignificant compared to the knights, who had learned Spirit Order.
At the same time, he hadn’t put these knights on a pedestal.
‘Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are scared at the possibility of us getting stronger.’
He first became aware of it when he started learning martial arts. When he learned the systematized techniques that were monopolized by these men, a new world had opened up to Duran.
Duran had a natural apt.i.tude for martial arts. He learned snippets of technique as he was berated by the sn.o.bby men. Still, he was developing much faster than those who were receiving proper tutelage.
At that moment, Duran had an epiphany.
‘The only advantage they have is the fact that a lot had been pa.s.sed down to them..’
It was the same for martial arts and Spirit Order. A person was able to become a great presence through the knowledge one was able to monopolize. If all the secret techniques were shared equally amongst the ma.s.ses, will they be able to hold superior positions over the people under them?
He made a mistake when he allowed such thoughts to enter his mind.
‘Thank you. What is your name?’
When he went out on an excursion, he had come across his master"s daughter being attacked by monsters. He threw his body in front of her to save her. The knights, who were supposed to be protecting her, were easily beaten. If Duran hadn"t fought as he received severe wounds, the lady would have lost her life.
However, Duran didn"t receive any rewards after the incident. Instead, he was punished.
‘A slave dared to touch a sword! Unforgivable!’
Duran had used a dead knight"s sword to defeat the monsters.
Slaves weren"t allowed to pick up any weapons. At the very most, the slave owners allowed slaves to be armed with clubs.
It was a given that slave would be put down even if one touched a sword by mistake. The knights considered their swords to be symbols of their honor. It was considered to be an unforgivable insult if a lowly slave touched one.
It wasn"t logical, but this was how the world worked here. Where Duran lived, this was common sense. The n.o.bility didn"t look at slaves as humans. The slaves were worth less than the cheapest item they owned.
Duran despaired.
At the time, he really had no choice. He couldn"t win using only his fist. He couldn"t overcome this situation using only his body. He could run away by himself, but he would later be executed for surviving the encounter, while a n.o.ble lady had died.
‘You evil b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I showed favor to such a lowly b.a.s.t.a.r.d by teaching you martial arts. You dared to steal and learn swordsmanship?’
It was unfair. He had never learned swordsmanship. He only remembered snippets of swordsmanship he had seen by chance during his martial arts sessions. Even with such limited knowledge, he was able to defeat the monsters. It was the first time he had held a sword.
Duran had saved his daughter"s life, yet the master was acting as if he had committed an evil act against G.o.d and man. He continued to berate Duran with a red face. At that moment, Duran had a thought that was unforgivable.
‘They are all r.e.t.a.r.ded b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.’
The knights had been inferior to him. He had picked up the sword for the first time in his life.
He had done their job for them, yet he was the who had sinned?
The one, who came to the rescue of Duran, was the daughter of his master.
‘Please forgive him.’
At the request of his daughter, her father forgave Duran"s transgression. However, it wasn’t as if he had gotten off easy. He was stripped naked as his entire body was chained. Then he was shut in an isolated underground room for 5 days. He wasn"t even given water during his punishment.
After the incident, the lady became interested in Duran.
‘Duran. There is no way that is a name befitting a slave.’
She had made Duran her servant, and he was always by her side.
However, she hadn"t been a master with a good personality. She became hysteric at minor incidents, and of course, she took out her anger at the people under her.
Duran had become the subject of her tantrums countless of times.
One day she was taking out her anger on Duran by whipping him when she did something totally unexpected.
‘Hoong. You are probably better compared to that weak b.a.s.t.a.r.d.’
It was after she had broken up with her boyfriend. It was as if she had done it as a retaliation. She brought Duran into her bed.
At the time, Duran had been 19 years old. However, this hadn"t been his first experience. At the time, Duran was over 2 meters tall, and he was a ma.s.sive man with taut muscles. He also had a well-defined and handsome face. He had received countless l.u.s.tful gazes from the females.
After a pa.s.sionate night session, she always wanted Duran"s body.
She started showing strong possessiveness, so he had to sever all his relationships with the slave women. If a female slave tried to seduce Duran over any lingering attachment, the female slave would receive severe punishments.
However, nothing else had changed aside from the s.e.x. She still whipped him when she vented her anger, and she didn"t hesitate to verbally abuse him.
However, Duran calmly accepted such a relationship. It wasn"t as if he liked it. He just didn"t have a choice.
The problem was... Even though the slave was the victim, he would be treated as the bigger sinner if he did anything against the a.s.sailant.
‘How dare you touch my daughter! I forgave you of your past transgression, yet you spat on my generosity? You dared to touch my daughter?’
She had become pregnant with Duran"s child.
It was a natural outcome. The two of them had mingled their bodies together whether it was day or night. Wouldn"t it be more strange if a baby hadn"t formed?
When the truth was revealed, the entire household was flipped on its head.
In the morning, Duran had been working as an attendant. He didn"t know the reason behind it, but he was given a beating before his bloodied body was dragged into the yard.
She was there too. She looked at Duran with tear-filled eyes. Duran had expected nothing out of his life, but her words shattered Duran"s heart into pieces.
‘H...he threw his body in front of me to save me. I kept him by my side as a favor, yet... When we were out of sight, he forced me to... Ooh-hoohk. I was so scared that I wasn"t able to tell anyone...’
Duran wasn"t the only one, who was dumbfounded by her words. They had made sure her parents didn"t hear about it, but the whole household had known about the illicit affair. It wouldn"t be too far-fetched if her family members also suspected what was going on.
However, the truth didn"t matter to them. A lowly slave had dared to mingle his body with his daughter. Duran deserved to die.
They said Duran"s sin was too large for them to give Duran a clean death. They beat him until he was a wreck. After throwing salt on his wounds, they chained him up in the bas.e.m.e.nt prison cell. This process would continue everyday until he would die.
It was on the fourth day. Duran cursed himself for not taking his own life earlier. Now his entire body was restrained with steel chains, and there was a wooden stick put between his teeth. He couldn"t kill himself by biting off his own tongue.
However, on the fourth day, a miracle had occurred.
No one came for him in the morning. Instead, he could hear explosions and screams coming from outside.
What was going on out there?
He was curious, but all he could do was wait for his inevitable death.
A Dragon Demon appeared in front of him.
‘Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were very vicious. This man committed no sin, yet they treated him like this. Maybe I was too merciful in how I killed them.’
The Dragon Demon had exterminated the owner and his family. The one, who had rescued Duran, was named Saibein. He was the son of the great Dragon Demon King Atein.
The reason why Saibein knew about Duran"s situation was simple. There had been Dragon Demon King worshippers inside the household.
Duran hadn"t know this at the time, but the worship of the Dragon Demon King was pretty widespread amongst the slaves. The feelings he felt during his lifetime was a fertile soil for accepting this new faith. The world decried the worship of the Dragon Demon king as evil, yet wasn"t the people who made those statements also part of an irrational and evil social structure?
‘Humans are all equal. The determination of a person"s status at birth is a tool used by the evil men. The true barometer of one"s status shouldn"t be determined this way. The Dragon Demon race were born superior to the humans. The true way is for the Dragon Demons to guide the humans from above them. This is how the world should be structured.’
Duran had been about to face the end after living an unreasonable life. Duran was willing to believe. He decided to dedicate his life to the faith of the Dragon Demon King, which had save his life.
Forty years had pa.s.sed since that day.
Duran desperately grew his power, and in a rare move, a human was allowed to reside in the Plain of Darkness. The Dragon Demons with the royal blood, and the Dragon Majin respected him for his martial prowess and position. They kept their manners.
He had fought in countless battles, and he had killed countless enemies in each battle.
He was living a life soaked in blood, but he had no regrets. He wanted to create the correct world, and he sacrificed everything for the day when his great savior would return.
From Duran"s perspective, he could’t forgive those that rejected the truth. He couldn"t forgive those that defended this unreasonable world.
10
The world viewed the Dragon Demon king worshippers as religious fanatics. They were akin to worshippers of evil. These worshippers had deified the Dragon Demon King, and they believed he would return from his death. They had an ironclad belief that he"ll right the wrongs of the world.
However, not everyone in the organizations held such beliefs. These false Dragon Demon king worshippers hid their true intent as they mingled into the rest of the world. As time pa.s.sed, these people developed different goals separate from their organization.
Of course, the Dragon Demon king worshippers didn"t forgive such beings. The organization systematically revealed those that no longer shared common goals with them, and there would be no forgiveness. Duran had killed countless betrayers amongst their ranks of Dragon Demon king worshippers.
This was why he didn"t show any change in expression in front of a man, who might be better off dead right now. The betrayer was in an appalling state. Duran grabbed the man by his neck as he spoke with a rage-filled voice.
“Yuren. Where"s the wicked traitor, who has the name seeped in sin?”