Diana didn't answer. Instead, she just stared quietly at Ian.
"Yes." Lucia, glancing at her, quickly responded. "As far as I know."
"I figured as much." Ian nodded, clicking his tongue softly.
Of course. If only a handful of beastfolk had sided with the demons, there wouldn't have been such widespread resentnt toward all of them. Though I'm sure the fairies had a hand in stirring things up.
There were plenty of traitors and defectors among humans and fairies, even so among dwarves and orcs, if he recalled correctly. For an entire race to be branded a corrupted one, sothing like the birth of an archdemon had to be involved.
"It made a na for itself during the war era—a berserker who worshipped an imprisoned native god of the Void." As Ian mulled over his thoughts, Lucia carefully continued.
Around her mask, a faint shimr of magic flickered like a breath. "That's about all I know. Most of the detailed docunts about the archdemons are managed and stored by the Great Church."
"Kruxica," Diana muttered under her breath. "Beastfolks were allowed to join the Empire on the condition that they abandoned that ancient spirit."
Lucia froze for a mont, then turned around, startled.
"At the start of the war, when the Empire suffered defeat after defeat, it volunteered to lead its beastfolk warriors to the front lines. And not long after, it betrayed the Empire." Diana's voice sank lower, heavier.
Diana's voice was eerily calm as she spoke. From behind her wooden mask, she clicked her tongue. "They planned it from the start. They couldn't forgive the Empire and the Order for exiling their god into the void. But ironically, the beastfolk race had converted long before it was even born."
"Hmm." Ian nodded slowly, glancing at Diana. Her dull, sunken eyes stared into the empty air—not at the present, but at the past.
"And it led the charge to drive back the Imperial forces. By the ti I left my hotown and arrived at the front lines, it was already infamous as a demon. The Frenzied Beast. The Cannibal Berserker. The Ashen Butcher."
Ian recalled the beastfolk warrior with orange eyes, the one who had trusted him enough to leave her tail in his care. And her words of how beastfolks didn't see those who sided with the demons as traitors, just kin with different beliefs.
Still, if soone's got nas like Cannibal Berserker, isn't that a good enough reason to cut ties?
Ian clicked his tongue again before speaking. "Have you ever seen it in person?"
"Yeah. Once, from afar. It looked like an Avatar of Kruxica. I ran away the mont I saw it start its slaughter. That's how I survived."
"Well, that doesn't co as a surprise." Ian shrugged. That ingrained habit of running from trouble seed to date back to her past.
Diana added in a somber voice. "I only realized how lucky I was a while later. Because soon after, it gained a new nickna."
"What was it?" Lucia asked hesitantly.
Diana t her erald eyes and spat the words out. "Fairy Slayer."
Lucia's breath hitched.
"I guess it found out that the southern beastfolks were being pushed to the outskirts. And that quite a few of them were executed in the process. It probably heard it from soone who died at its hands."
"My goodness. So it thinks it all happened because of the fairies." Lucia sighed.
Diana nodded. "Yeah. It was a necessary step to keep more potential corrupters from joining. But I doubt that's how it saw it."
So at the very least, both sides of beastfolks still saw each other as kin.
With a bitter smile, Ian muttered, "I doubt it was entirely wrong, though."
"I won't deny the Council of Elders' ambitions. But they brought this on themselves. Those talking beasts… They openly took pride even before I left my holand. Idiots."
Clicking her tongue, Diana shook her head and added, "They probably never even thought about how it'd all end after spewing that nonsense. If that bastard hadn't betrayed the Empire, none of this would've happened. In fact, beastfolks in the South might have even solidified their position because those damned animals… they know how to fight."
Ian nodded calmly. Regardless of what had followed, Inaskurgl was undeniably the one who had given the Empire an excuse.
"When the Order and Imperial elites were deployed and the tide of battle turned, it disappeared for a while. But of course, it wasn't really gone. It just switched to ambush tactics, waiting for the right mont to strike. And everywhere it swept through, it left its mark."
"Its mark?" Lucia swallowed nervously, sensing the ominous tone in Diana's voice.
Diana's flat voice carried through the air, sounding even more devoid of emotion than usual behind her wooden mask. "It would butcher them like pigs, cutting them into pieces. Or it would skin them and hang their bodies from poles, bound so they wouldn't fall apart. If there were any fairies among those caught in its ambush, it always targeted them specifically."
"Oh my—" Lucia's eyelids quivered. A sigh, like a wavering heat haze, escaped from around her mask.
"I saw it a few tis myself. So of them were still alive even after being reduced to that state. Actually, I'd bet all of them were, at least at the start." Through the eye slits of the mask, Diana's gaze narrowed slightly. "We had to be the ones to end their suffering. And all I could feel was a relief that it hadn't been ."
Despite her steady voice, Diana's pupils trembled. At this mont, her fear of Inaskurgl seed to outweigh the hatred. "Probably hundreds of fairies died that way. Soon after, the Order officially declared it an archdemon. They nad it the incarnation of Kruxica. That was the result of killing and devouring countless paladins, priests, and mages."
Her gaze drifted to the dark, oppressive surroundings. "And after that, well, you know the rest."
The nearby landscape sloped gently downward, still barren, with hardly a tree in sight. The few trees that appeared were as skeletal as those near the outskirts of the demonic realm.
"That's when the endless night began." With those words, Diana fell silent.
A heavy silence settled over the group. The only sounds were the warhorses' hooves and breath, and Lucia's occasional throat clearing.
As Ian tilted his head, puzzled by a faint, inexplicable discomfort, Yog chuckled belatedly.
—It was a decent story to pass the ti. I enjoyed it.
Ian, snapping out of his thoughts, turned to look at Diana, who sat slumped as if drained. Then he asked, "Have you ever thought about revenge?"
"Revenge?" Diana looked back at Ian, then let out a faint, deflating sigh."I gave up on that a long ti ago. Right now, all I care about is surviving. Surviving so that I can—"
"Diana. You can't say that," Lucia quickly cut in.
Diana flinched, glancing at her. Lucia t her gaze with a stern look. "Keep those words to yourself. It's bad luck."
"Right. Almost made a huge mistake."
Miguel would be proud.
Watching the two of them, Ian swallowed down a chuckle. He could tell that Diana's words had only been half true. If she had truly let go of all thoughts of revenge, she wouldn't have looked the way she did every ti Inaskurgl was ntioned. Of course, there was no need to point that out.
"What happened after that?" Instead, Ian asked a different question.
Diana blinked and turned to him. "After that?"
"After the Black Wall rose."
"Ah. At first, it was the sa as before. Everyone thought this demonic realm would collapse soon enough. It took a long ti for people to realize that wasn't the case."
"And the war between the demons? Did that start much later?" Lucia asked, clearing her throat as if it were dry.
Diana shook her head. "I don't know. By then, we had plenty of problems. Everyone was at their limit. If His Highness hadn't ordered a full retreat, we would have all died."
"Such a bold decision. That couldn't have been easy." Lucia murmured in admiration. After all, such a choice could have cost him both his honor and authority.
"No one blad him. In fact, we were grateful. He silenced all the generals who insisted on holding the line."
Shrugging, Diana continued, "Much later, His Highness established the final defensive line. He personally traveled through the rear lines, calming the chaos and organizing the situation. Many strongholds were built during that ti. Though so of them have co and gone since."
"So that's when you left the front lines," said Ian.
Diana nodded without hesitation. "Yeah. But that didn't an hope returned. Too many lives had already been lost."
She let out a dry scoff. "Back then, I thought we'd all be dead soon. But as ti passed, that didn't happen."
"The demons started fighting each other." Lucia guessed.
"Yeah. Whether it was due to madness or because they no longer saw us as a priority, I don't know. But either way—" Diana shrugged and looked at Lucia. "Thanks to that, we survived the worst of it. It gave us ti to build a foundation to endure."
"And the Martyr Expedition must have crossed over by then."
"Yeah. Without them and the supplies they brought, we wouldn't have lasted. That's still true now."
Ian's lips curled slightly. He wondered what kind of expression the Imperial family and the Order would make if they knew the Martyr Expedition was actually helping this side survive.
It certainly wouldn't be a smile of joy. After all, the expedition was an act of noble sacrifice in na only—at its core, it was nothing more than a punishnt.
"A silver lining, I suppose. Thanks to that, you survived and were able to et us like this. Who knows? The demons might even end up wiping each other out." Lucia added with a slight smile.
Diana shrugged. "That would be nice. This war feels different sohow. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of ti before Inaskurgl disrupted the balance. It isn't the first ti, after all."
"This isn't the first ti?" Lucia asked.
Behind the mask, Diana's eye twitched. She was probably smirking on just one side of her lips. "I heard rumors. It seems that bastard realized we aren't the only fairies in this place."
Lucia tilted her head in confusion, but then her eyes widened. "Wait, you an the dark fairies?"
"That's right. There was a forest where those cowardly traitors had gathered. It burned it to the ground and settled there."
"What happened to the remaining dark fairies?" Ian asked, recalling the one he had encountered on the northern front. "They wouldn't have been completely wiped out."
"The ones who fled scattered in all directions. I guess they had their own disagreents. So pledged allegiance to different archdemons, while others beca wanderers. I doubt any of them are still alive, but if they are, they're probably all consud by madness."
Diana scoffed coldly. "A wretched end, fitting for traitors. Before they fell to ruin, quite a few willingly betrayed the Empire and left."
"I see." Ian nodded.
Diana had every right to scorn them. She may have fled for survival, but she had never given into temptation or abandoned her pride.
"So, are borders still the sa as they were back then?" Lucia asked. The wavering shimr of magic around her mask flickered slightly.
"No. As you know, the demons fighting among themselves have gradually weakened their numbers. Even the archdemons have stopped showing themselves." Diana shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "Their minions kept growing in power, only to be consud by madness or slaughtered in internal conflicts. In the anti, His Highness reclaid lost ground piece by piece."
"Reclaid, huh? I'd say the border still has far too many holes."
At Ian's remark, Diana simply shrugged. "We're short on manpower and resources. I'm sure His Highness knows this is as far as he can go. It's been a long ti since he last advanced."
Ian stroked his chin and nodded. Now he understood how they had survived, and why none of the archdemons had perished. More importantly, he could see why Valten had been so deeply troubled.
It wasn't just the balance among the demons that had been disrupted. They were part of that equation as well. And the more precarious the balance, the more devastating the fallout when it collapsed.
"But who knows? This war feels different. We've got a lot more supplies this ti—" Diana trailed off before glancing at Ian. "And, more than anything, the Superhuman from the North has joined us."
Who is using whom… that remains to be seen.
Even as the thought crossed his mind, Ian simply shrugged. "Well, looks like we won't have much ti to rest when we arrive."
He turned his gaze forward. The descent had ended long ago, and now they were traversing a barren plain. On either side, barren mountains stretched into the darkness.
"Because if you do nothing when change cos, you'll simply be swept away."
"Before that happens, I..." Diana trailed off, then shook her head. "No, never mind. I almost said sothing unlucky again." She closed her mouth and pressed her fingers against the pale skin of her neck, her platinum hair shifting slightly with the motion.
The silence didn't last long.
"By the way," Lucia muttered in a low voice. "I've been feeling uncomfortable for a while now."
Ian turned to her, and she furrowed her brow slightly before continuing, "It feels similar to when I expel impurities of chaos. Not as painful, though."
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