Chương 19: Chapter 18: Secret of the Human and Demon War

As we left the battlefield, we quickly sneaked away, slipping out of the sight of those present with the unconscious demon Phelian and the human Randel. We then departed from the Human Continent, where the war had taken place, and arrived back at the headquarters of Equilibrium. Immediately upon our return, I dismissed the girls to continue their own tasks. The immediate situation had been resolved for the time being, and they still had important responsibilities to take care of.

I then personally took the captives to a private room for interrogation. These two were by far the strongest beings of the two races I had ever seen; perhaps they held information I had long desired but could never get answered. Arriving in the private room, I woke both of them up. Because they were still heavily injured and exhausted, they were highly susceptible to magic. I cast an illusion spell on both of them to force them to answer my questions.

Their eyes glazed over as they fell under the influence of my magic, completely ready to comply. I began the interrogation by addressing Randel.

"What is the secret behind this war before the first hero came? Your two races have quite a few secrets I don't know about, so explain everything from the very beginning." Randel answered truthfully, his voice monotone.

"This conflict first began when the demons first arrived on the continent and sought assistance from us. Originally, some of us wanted to agree, as trading would be beneficial. However, there were also those who disagreed, viewing them as strange creatures that nobody had ever seen before." Randel's face then shifted into an expression of deep reverence.

"Then, our faithful holy being of the Trist faith, Goddess Trisha, appeared to impart an oracle. She told us we were not to trust invaders and should repel the monsters and demons. Since the majority of the people were believers of the Trist faith, they put aside their arguments and united to fight against them." Randel's face turned dark as he glanced toward Phelian.

"Then, this demon appeared. Refusing to accept being kicked off the continent, he led his army to attack us and claim land. Because this demon was so strong, I had to step up to fight him." He continued, "As we battled for years, we were both heavily injured and had to go into hiding until now. In the meantime, the war raged on for several hundred years in a stalemate. That was until the Goddess gave another oracle, which was to summon a warrior from another world to aid in this battle.

That was when the first hero came to be." After Randel finished, I turned to Phelian, wanting to hear the other side of the story.

"Is what this old man said true, or is it different from your understanding?" Phelian then started to answer the question with the same flat, compliant voice as Randel.

"This old man is lying. When we first came to this land, we only asked for some assistance, so we decided to wait for a while to see if we could trade for resources. While we were waiting for their response, they suddenly attacked us."

"Many of my people died," Phelian said.

"I had to take revenge, so I personally came to this land to seek justice while also taking resources as compensation." Phelian turned his head toward Randel in lingering anger.

"Then this old man appeared and stopped me. We fought each other for a long time until we were both heavily injured. In that war before the hero arrived, most of the powerful demons were injured and had to hide away from the fighting. Consequently, we had to allow one of our younger generation demon to become the new king and lead the war. This led to a stalemate, forcing me and the rest of the high-level demons on the Demonic Continent to heal until now." Stolen story; please report.

Then, Phelian's tone fluctuated between anger and appreciation.

"Those humans then summoned a hero to break the stalemate. That very first hero was incredible, fighting all the way to the front lines and defeating the Demon King of that generation. Fortunately, that hero realized the humans were wrong and decided to help us instead. Unfortunately, that hero disappeared soon after for some unknown reason." With these explanations, some of the questions that had plagued my mind for so long finally cleared up.

I had always wondered if the origin of the war was historical truth or merely propaganda. I had also wondered why the humans had summoned me despite being fully capable of maintaining a stalemate on their own. It was all due to the Goddess intervening. I began to feel deeply suspicious of the Goddess. Why had she started this war, and why had she forced the humans to summon me? I wondered if she might become an enemy in the future.

However, I quickly pushed those thoughts aside; I wasn't even remotely strong enough to be her opponent yet. I decided to worry about that when the time came. Curious about another matter, I asked, "Do either of your sides possess any more powerful forces or weapons that haven't been revealed yet?" Phelian replied first.

"We still have secret measures. On the Demon Continent, we worship the demonic god Uru, who blesses our race with favors. It is the reason I reached such a high level, and why the Demon King of this generation could grow so strong so quickly."

"There are also several demons over level 2000 who have been blessed by Uru all this time," Phelian added.

"They are waiting to fully mature before entering the battlefield. Soon, these demons will achieve their full potential and join the war." Randel countered, "Your forces mean nothing. Our Goddess Trisha has had enough of this war and wishes to end it soon. She has bestowed upon us a holy relic, the Staff of Light. As long as we charge it with enough energy, we can kill anyone—possibly even a god, if given enough power."

"She also made me the champion of the human race, blessing me with a long life to grow to where I am today," Randel continued.

"My time is drawing to a close, so Goddess Trisha has started raising new champions among the human race. The previous man wielding the staff was one of them. We still have many more like him waiting for their chance to enter the battle." Hearing this, I realized that both the human and demon races possessed massive trump cards they had yet to play. I wondered if I would even be able to handle these hidden forces and became curious about when they would be deployed.

"Since these forces cannot be used until they are fully ready, how long do we have until they enter the battle?" I asked. Phelian replied, "The demons blessed by Uru will soon reach their full potential. Within two years, they will be ready for deployment. This recent war was just a test to probe how much power the humans had left before sending them. Soon, these demons will be ready to bring an end to humanity." Randel answered next.

"The humans raised by Goddess Trisha will also be ready soon to end this war and eradicate the demons. Within one to two years, we can finally begin the decisive battle. The Goddess has also decided to let us summon another hero, but this time, she will personally guide her to ensure she becomes the strongest hero in history to aid the human champions." Realizing I didn't have much time left to prepare, I asked the two powerful beings a few more minor questions.

Once everything I was curious about had been answered, I locked them away and set off to make my preparations. The girls, though dismissed, had not left the headquarters yet, as they were still taking a short rest from the previous battle. I summoned them once more. I then explained the current reality of the situation and what the future held. Initially, the girls were shocked by the hidden powers backing both the humans and the demons and grew worried about what was to come.

However, they soon offered their own opinions on how we should proceed, which I found quite useful. After finalizing the plan, I handed out my orders.

"Since we still have some time left, we will continue to prepare. All of you must try to get as strong as possible within the next two years and be ready for the upcoming conflict."

"Once the time arrives, we will go further into detail about what we must do," I told them.

"For now, you are dismissed. Go prepare what you can." The girls left, their hearts full of worry, but their expressions filled with the determination to get stronger so they wouldn't be a burden in the future conflict. I, too, decided to focus on increasing my strength. Now that I had found a way to evolve my magic skill into EX Magic, I wanted to do the same with my swordsmanship skill, which was currently stuck at level 99.

With a clear goal in mind, I set off to find a way to grow stronger within our limited time.