Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

Chapter 216 [The Great Tragedy]

"That day is engraved in every citizen's soul that knows what actually happened, just how much others suffered, as well as just how much blood was shed.

Not only the empire but many central parts of this continent.

Many villages were destroyed, cities were attacked and even enormous battles were fought against those bastards.

All this chaos... because one of those bastards was bored." His eyes sharpened, and he almost lost control of his calmness as the glass table before us shattered into pieces.

But thankfully Dad, I, and Rein cast a spell to protect Anna and others from the pieces of sharp glass in a hurry.

But it was unnecessary as the sheds of shattered glass just slowly landed on the ground as if they were fluid.

Grandmother grabbed his hand to calm him down and he sighed while holding back his emotions.

There was pure hatred in his eyes and Anna can't help but have a sad expression while looking at him like that.

And it didn't take Anna's ability to feel emotions to tell just how much hurt, pain, and anguish he was going through.

He was a [King] ranked knight for a reason… maybe because he can handle everything like this?

He calmed down a bit and sighed deeply.

Rein had similar anger in her eyes, but not like him.

Things were more complicated than I had thought…

"Maybe you know this but, in demons, there are ranks.

First, the absolute demon god who rules over every demon wisely, and from the stories, he is a different being than the demons themselves.

Then there are the twelve demon kings.

Every king can appoint three Dukes and four Marques.

Dukes have the authority to bestow five Count ranks, and Marques have the authority to give one count rank.

The count rank is a prominent demon noble, and their power is naturally useful and prominent for them.

But... things are different for the ranks below them.

Demons are creatures that can ascend to the ranks of a viscount on their own or by submitting to other rulers, and there is almost no regulation for their rankings.

As you all might have guessed, the demon invasions were sudden, uneven, and just focused on the massacre of different races...

And most of all, every one of them was led by the demon of newly ascended demons of Knight, Baron, or Viscount rank."

He stopped once again after saying that and his last words made our eyes wide.

Not even Alf and Carla knew this one, not even my second aunt had any idea of this thing.

Anna didn't understand most of the things that were going on, but she was trying her best to understand why everyone was having a sudden change of emotions.

Maybe right now, she was thinking, why were we shocked like this or even angry?

Why were we angry... well, why wouldn't we be angry, or even enraged?

From what he had said until now, it was clear that some high-ranking demon was bored one day and wanted to play with the lower races.

And this play was naturally a scarlet red bloody pass time.

Demons were strong and even someone like our grandpa could only go against a Marques-ranked demon in a one-person battle.

And just from this fact, we can tell just how strong those demon bastards were.

But things weren't just that simple for this story.

Maybe others won't think much deeper about that situation but, from the knowledge I had, I could make out the entire story of these things.

Once upon a time, a prominent demon got bored and there was nothing for him to pass his time.

And because of the restrictions of the world and because of the [Great Balance], there wasn't much he could do.

There had to be a proper number of demons and the same was true for the mortal lives and the soul density of the world.

It was complicated stuff but in short, the demon who got bored figured out a sort of loophole in the existing balance.

What if a large number of demons die and a new batch of noble demons that aren't strong enough for their positions are born at the same time?

The world would push their powers to be at the required level at the cost of the power of the person that made this absurd anomaly.

And as the demonic nature went, as much as they kill other beings, cause chaos, and take lives, they get stronger from the accumulation of all the negative energy generated from that.

So they killed, to get stronger and to match the requirements of their strengths and until then they had the special protection of the world.

And although in this process, the perpetrator of this whole chaos would be as weak as a newborn demon, just the pleasure those bastards got from the chaos would be enough entertainment for them.

Maybe even people in this room didn't know some of the things that I knew and Zoe naturally was speechless for this whole time.

We both knew what the outcome of challenging the world like this would be...

Maybe all higher-ranking demons would know and so, just doing these things was crazy in the first place.

That mindless crazy bastard had sacrificed his life the moment he thought to do something so crazy.

"That bastard's name was [Aamon], demon marquees. And the price of this shit he pulled just for fun was simply his death and the chaos for demons of his rank and his superiors.

No one knows just how brain fked he was to not even realize the deeper consequences, or just what got him bored like this for him to cause this chaos but, one thing we all know...

The death he got was truly painless against the things he had done to the others."

Maybe because he was a [King] ranked knight, he had a deeper knowledge of the world like me and this surprised me that he can actually tell something so important like this without the restrictions.

Or was it possible because this had become known to many already?

Well, he said things as simply as he could and that was good.

This clearly explained just why that demonic noble was so strong and that difficult Mana draining as if the Mana was burning in some invisible furnace.

That strange feeling of the opponent being not strong but heavily buffed.

It was strange in the first place, and things might have been even crazier in that place.

We stopped things from escalating and stopped the gates from installation, but if things had gone this bad on just our hand, it was unthinkable just how wrong things had gone in other places.

A place with those gates connecting to the demon realm was 'passed places' that just meant they were demonic territories, and taking them back was a hassle in itself.

That Aamon or whatever bastard had suffered from nature's punishment and even if there was a loophole in the world's rules, nature was the most absolute being so… going against things naturally has brutal consequences.

Death was a small word, and he would have suffered greater things than just dying.

But this meant the one who did all things was now gone...

So, my revenge was taken by nature.

"Haaa..." I sighed and some tears unknowingly flowed out of my eyes and gently slid down my cold cheeks.

All this time, in the great forest and even in the dark forest, I had thought of the revenge I wanted against the one that did those things.

But, grandma guided me out of that darkness, and she was there to catch me from falling into the darker parts.

And because of her... I learned that hatred, thoughts of revenge, and darkness were worth nothing.

But still, I wanted to know what had happened so that I can satisfy these last sparks of flames.

And now that I knew the one who had done those things was gone... I could breathe.

A little better, a bit openly, and let go of those things completely.

The tears sliding down my cheeks were uncontrollable, but I had to stop them for now... I had to, because there was still something left.

Dad was the second most furious person in this room but, unlike me, he knew everything and he had already accepted the things that were practically useless to think too deeply about.

I was fine, and he was glad that I was more than just alive.

That was all he wanted, and that was also what I wanted.

I was alive even after this great tragedy and now I was here, with them, and was talking like this.

They hugged me just like a moment before, and I could see everyone with the third eye so I knew...

Anna was now happy that the heavy feeling from me was gone. Zoe could also feel me, so she was glad and smiling warmly at us.

Grandpa's anger was at the lost lives and he already was understanding enough, so he just smiled while looking at us and even patted my back after coming close.

Carla was furious, and Alf was just quiet after knowing all this.

My second aunt was also crying, and my uncle was handling her well.

But, the first uncle was silent like Alf and wasn't crying like some time ago.

Rein was almost on the verge of tears and now... I knew we really had something special.

I could also feel she was feeling sad and hurt after hearing this but, she was waiting to hear the things she wanted as much as them.

And I also wanted to tell those things and let go of all the tears and all that heavy feeling, anger, longing, and... pain.

I knew it would be hard to hear for them as much as it would be hard for me to tell.

But, well, this was something I knew... so did the others that were with me all this time.

There was only crying and hugs and warmth in this last part. Nothing more interesting would happen.

I knew Anna and Zoe would feel the greatest impact from this but, Zoe would be alright because she already knew.

And although I was worried about Anna, I selfishly wanted her here, and I knew she was not going to leave.

Rein... she would hear mine story, and maybe I will hear hers after we were alone?

But I knew one thing... it would be as harsh for her as Anna.

Not because she had her eyes of truth, but because we had this special thing between us.

It was going to be difficult, but after this long night, that might feel endless... I knew a new, bright, and fun dawn was waiting for us.

For me, for my family, and for us...