Episode 188
The sudden influx of information left Zeke bewildered.
“A grand sorcerer using the Nirvana name?”
Only then did he realize her true identity.
“Could it be… are you the founder of the Nirvana family, Lord Hoshgar?”
Hoshgar tilted her head slightly at Zeke’s question.
“Family? I never left any descendants.”
“The Nirvana family isn’t based on bloodlines. It’s a prestigious group that gathers exceptional talents, trains them as sorcerers, and bestows upon them the Nirvana name.”
Hoshgar scratched her cheek thoughtfully before nodding.
“Now that you mention it, I did start something like that before I went into seclusion.”
To Zeke’s astonishment, Hoshgar was indeed the founder of the Nirvana family.
“So, that’s why you seemed familiar with Terracan. If you fought together in the Liberation War, it makes sense.”
The three great transcendent families of the continent—Draker, Nirvana, and Ishtar—emerged prominently during the Liberation War and the subsequent Golden Age.
While the Ishtar family established their domain in the southern borderlands, the Nirvana family settled on the Aten Peninsula of the northern continent, maintaining exchanges with the Eastern Empire across the stormy seas.
The sorcerers of Nirvana, who have continued their legacy to this day, have always charted a different course from the continent’s magic towers and the mages of Delphoa.
They don’t submit papers to the magical academia or announce new magical theories. Instead, they pursue their own vision of the magical world, doing whatever it takes to achieve it.
“That’s why the sorcerers of Nirvana are unpredictable. But they’re stronger than any other group of mages.”
In his past life, Zeke hadn’t had the best relationship with the Nirvana sorcerers.
When the Continental War broke out and the Empire swallowed up Midland and the Central Kingdom, pushing northward, the Northern Alliance, centered around Himonas, prepared for war against the Empire. Nirvana declared neutrality, refusing to involve themselves in the conflict between the Empire and the northern continent.
Zeke had visited the Nirvana family as an envoy from Himonas, trying to persuade them for a long time, but ultimately failed to change their stance.
“Those Nirvana folks only care about what interests them. They’re a bunch of lunatics.”
Regaining his composure, Zeke asked Hoshgar, “Lord Hoshgar, what does the prophecy of destruction mean?”
He had heard it mentioned in passing through Bahamut’s memories but didn’t know the details.
Hoshgar looked at Zeke and began to speak.
“There was a dragon that prophesied the end of the world.”
Zeke knew which dragon she was referring to.
“Chronos.”
The dragon contracted to the Hero King Kaishir, who helped the Sword Saint Shaton Draker create the True Dragon Sword Technique and prophesied the future with the power of time.
Hoshgar continued, “Following that dragon’s prophecy, we prepared for war. At first, the kingdoms didn’t believe us, but when the gates opened and monsters and beasts poured out, they hurriedly built defenses.”
“What are these gates?”
“They’re a bit different from portals… It’s hard to explain. I’ll just show you.”
With a wave of her hand, Hoshgar conjured a three-dimensional image in the air.
Rumble!
A massive hole appeared between the sky and the ground.
And from the dark void, something began to emerge.
Boom! Thud! Thud!
A colossal beast, as large as a moving mountain, stepped out of the hole.
After the giant beasts, a legion of medium-sized beasts and monsters, along with what appeared to be lower demons, followed.
Zeke watched the scene, his mouth agape.
“Is that hole the gate?”
“Yes. It’s a passage connecting the demon realm and the physical world. An anomaly that defies the laws of karma.”
“Are you saying that hole is connected to the demon realm?”
“Yes, while higher demons can’t come through, beasts and lower demons from the demon realm can traverse it. But even lower demons are formidable. Each one is as strong as a blue knight.”
Even the lower demons numbered in the thousands.
“Thousands of blue knight-level demons? Unbelievable.”
If lower demons were this powerful, it was hard to imagine the strength of mid-level or high-level demons.
Zeke thought of Arataso, sealed within his sword.
Claiming to be a high-ranking demon, its true power in the demon realm would likely surpass that of a black knight.
Zeke voiced a lingering question to Hoshgar.
“Did the dragons create these gates? To destroy humanity by borrowing the power of the demon realm?”
Hoshgar’s eyes widened at Zeke’s words, and she sighed in disbelief.
“What are you talking about? Why would dragons open the gates? We’re struggling to stop them as it is.”
“Wasn’t it the dragons who started the Liberation War? If they didn’t create the gates, then who did?”
Hoshgar’s body trembled slightly, and her dragon eyes flashed.
“What did you just say? That the dragons started the Liberation War?”
Zeke sensed something was off in Hoshgar’s reaction.
Quickly, he retrieved a book from his inventory, one he had stored away—a book containing the legend of the dragon slayers and the history of the Liberation War.
Hoshgar, suppressing her anger, took the book from Zeke.
“Reading.”
The book floated in the air, its pages flipping rapidly as the letters began to glow.
Hoshgar’s dragon eyes glowed in tandem.
Moments later, the book fell to the floor with a thud.
Hoshgar, who had been seated, clenched her teeth and stood up.
Rumble!
The entire space, including the reception room and the mansion, began to shake.
A red hue flickered in Hoshgar’s dragon eyes.
“How dare they… distort the war like this?”
Zeke was aware that the Draker family censored and controlled the legend of the dragon slayers.
But seeing Hoshgar’s fury, it seemed the distortion was more severe than he had imagined.
Hoshgar shouted in a voice filled with rage.
“Evil dragon Bahamut? These insane fools! Without Bahamut, the physical world would have vanished, and yet these ungrateful humans!”
As a dragonkin, Hoshgar referred to humans as if they were a different species.
Zeke waited patiently for Hoshgar to calm down.
Hoshgar leaped around the reception room, hurling curses at humans in a frenzy. Only after downing three strong espressos did she finally settle back into her seat.
“Phew. Sorry, I got a bit carried away.”
“No need to apologize.”
If a grand sorcerer could vent their anger with just some cursing and a bit of shaking, it was a small price to pay.
His former master, Nigel the Hermit of the Forest, would only calm down after causing the ground to sink and splitting a mountain in two.
The Forest of the Forgotten, cursed in ancient times, was an endless sea of trees. Without that curse, the forest would have been uprooted and turned into a wasteland by his master’s temper.
Hoshgar set down her espresso cup and spoke to Zeke.
“That book is completely wrong. The Liberation War wasn’t about liberation from dragons.”
“Then what was it about?”
Hoshgar gritted her teeth.
“What else? Those damned constellations.”
“Excuse me?”
Zeke, caught off guard by the unexpected answer, couldn’t help but ask.
He continued slowly.
“Constellations? You mean the ones I know, the ones of the Zodiac…?”
“No, not those. The ones below.”
“Below? You mean the demons of the demon realm?”
“Demons, yes. Though the concepts of good and evil are human constructs, it refers to them. The constellations banished to the demon realm.”
“Are you saying the Liberation War was a war to free ourselves from those constellations?”
“Exactly. They tempted humans, made them their slaves, and used that power to deceive the laws of karma and meddle in the physical world. Thanks to them, the humans of the Seven Kingdoms were trapped in a cycle of conflict, hatred, and death.”
“What did the demons gain from this?”
“What else? They wanted to crawl back up here.”
“To the physical world?”
“Yes. The demon realm is an incomplete world that exists between the physical world and the abyss. The constellations banished there create safe zones with their powers to maintain their existence and expand their domains with followers. But it’s still an unstable, incomplete world. That’s why they always yearn to return to the physical world.”
“But even high-ranking demons can’t come to the physical world. How could the constellations, the demons, manage it?”
“Normally, they can’t. But they found a trick. A way to deceive karma and remain in the physical world.”
Zeke recalled something Richmond had mentioned before.
“The body of a dragon?”
“Exactly. By corrupting a dragon, consuming its soul, and taking over its body, even a constellation can exist in the physical world. With enough human souls to establish their domain and regain their powers, they can even draw upon the demon realm’s strength.”
Hearing Hoshigar’s words, Zeke’s expression turned to stone.
“My God, then the role of the Dragon Slayer is…”
Hoshigar’s face darkened as well. She spoke slowly, her voice heavy with gravity.
“To grant peace to dragons whose bodies have been taken over by fallen constellations. That is the true role of the Dragon Slayers.”
Only then did Zeke understand the significance of Terracan Draker’s battle against the Red Dragon while riding a Pegasus.
With his face still set in a grim mask, he asked Hoshigar, “Then was Bahamut, known as the evil dragon, also controlled by a demon?”
Hoshigar bit her lip, holding back a sigh before she spoke.
“Bahamut… never fell. He chose to swallow the Demon King’s soul himself and die at the hands of a contractor to protect everyone.”
“The Demon King?”
“Yes. The leader of the fallen constellations, a vile creature trying to dominate the material world. Foolish humans awakened the sealed Demon King, and because of that, I lost my dearest friend.”
“My God.”
The truth of the Liberation War left Zeke speechless. The hidden reality was that Bahamut, recorded as the dragon of destruction and humanity’s enemy, had actually sacrificed himself to save everyone from the Demon King.
Hoshigar’s eyes flashed with anger, and she ground her teeth.
“Ungrateful humans. Bahamut didn’t have to go to such lengths to save the material world. Yet he made that choice, all because of that damned Terracan.”
A murderous aura, far more intense than before, emanated from Hoshigar, piercing the skin like thousands of needles.
Zeke had felt something similar once before.
‘Arthur Draker’s Astral Sword.’
The ultimate technique that could kill with mere intent, achievable only by those who reached the rank of Black Knight. Yet Hoshigar, not a knight, had manifested a similar aura. It was a testament to her prowess as a grand sorceress.
Suddenly, the oppressive aura filling the room vanished. Hoshigar looked at Zeke with an apologetic smile.
“Sorry, I got carried away again.”
Then she tilted her head, looking at Zeke with curiosity.
“Wait a minute. You took my power head-on and you’re still fine. That’s impressive. You’re really strong.”
Though it might have sounded arrogant, Hoshigar genuinely admired Zeke’s strength. And given her stature, Zeke nodded in appreciation.
She was about to say more but stopped herself, clapping her hands as if remembering something.
“Oh, look at me. I got sidetracked and forgot the main point.”
Hoshigar continued, looking at Zeke.
“Anyway, we thought we had prevented the apocalypse according to Chronos, the prophecy of the dragons. But we were wrong.”
“Wrong?”
“Yes. Chronos’s prophecy hasn’t ended; we misunderstood.”
“Didn’t Bahamut’s sacrifice stop the Demon King?”
“Yes, but the Demon King wasn’t completely destroyed.”
“What do you mean?”
Hoshigar looked at Zeke intently.
“Have you ever heard of the King in Yellow?”