Chapter 125 - Specters from the Past (5)

The Plain of Darkness was large. It was a land of demons unsullied by the hands of humans. Within this vast piece of land, the Dragon Demon king worshippers had gathered around the Dragon Demon palace left behind by Atein. They used the castle as base as they expanded outwards. They had used humans slaves to build buildings, and now there was a small kingdom within these lands.

This place was a frozen land. Unless there was a good reason to live here like them, no one would live in such an infertile land. No one would want to build a civilization here. Everything was frozen year round, and when there was a blizzard, even those with superhuman powers declined to travel far.

Hoo-ooooooooh…….

The snow was coming down. If one looked out into the Plain of Darkness, an incredible amount of snow had fallen. It made one’s jaw fall wide open. If someone tried to walk through this, the person would become a snowman within dozen steps.

However, there was someone walking through the snow right now.

It was an odd sight. The person buried under the one meter of snow wasn’t human. A being that looked like a pile of snow was plowing forward.

-You are cute, Reygus.

There was a faint illusion-like figure floating around the large pile of snow. The silhouette of a person within the falling snow made the figure look like an ice fairy.

Reygus, who had become a pile of snow, gave a reply.

<Cute? What about me is cute?>

-The fact that you don’t know you are cute makes you more cute. I think you became cuter in death. If I wasn’t married to the king, I probably would have wanted to be in your embrace. Alas, it is a dream that can never be fulfilled. Too bad.

-Mmm. I thought about it for a long time, but I want you to drop the formality. Don’t call me by my title as queen. I’ve been dead for a very long time, so I don’t want to be called by my title as queen.

The white silhouette chortled as she laughed. If one looked at the figure bobbing up and down in the snow, one would see a 14 or 15 year old girl in human standards. However, she had white blonde hair that looked to have been melted out from the snow, and one could see a boulder-gray colored horn protruding from between her hair. Her ears were long, and the back of her hand had a slate gray colored Dragon Demon stone. It was the same color as her eyes.

Reygus brushed the snow away from his face as he spoke.

-Just call me Kayalia. In exchange, I’ll call you oppa. What do you say?

-Yes, Reygus oppa.

<Oh, that has a beautiful ring to it. Still, you really do speak a lot for a dead person. This is especially true compared to when you were alive.>

-Your guess is as good as mine as to why. Anyways, you are the only one that can see and hear me. The best way to drive away loneliness is to talk.

<Couldn’t you choose to speak to others even if it isn’t me?>

-I have to use those opportunities sparingly. If possible, I have to keep my existence a secret. That is why I have to think hard on who I can converse with.

Suddenly, Reygus spoke. He could see the majestic sight of the Dragon Demon castle across the hill.

Kayalia had been one of queens married to the Dragon Demon king Atein 220 years ago. She looked at the dim figure of the Dragon Demon castle as she asked a question.

-Is that place similar to the towns we saw along the way?

-I see. Aincera unni was always a strict person. She has become much more rigid in her ways, so I can see why things are like this under her rule.

-Of course. She hates it.

-The fact that oppa can say such words makes you sound more twisted than me. Anyways, we fought to create a really boring world. The king had wanted this, and I wonder if I automatically agreed to it just because he wanted it.

-A god… I’m not thrilled about that either. Well, I always did hate all of them. Now that I have no responsibility I can be free to show my disdain towards them.

Kayalia laughed like a immature human girl.

For a while, Reygus had left the Dragon Demon castle, and he had toured the Plain of Darkness. He had wanted to see how much the world had changed, but his real goal was to find Kayalia, who was stuck to him now. Atein had prepared a contingency plan for her too.

The Plain of Darkness had been isolated from the world 220 years ago. It was a microcosm of the world they had wanted to create through the Dragon Demon war. The Dragon Demons ranked at the top, the Dragon Majin was placed at the middle, and the humans were placed at the bottom.

The atmosphere around such a society wasn’t anything too special. The religious zealots had made a deep impression on the society, and the human societies were seen as replaceable spare parts.

No, in truth, everything had become worse. Atein had become deified, and the zealots had created an excessively static society. As time passed, an irrational madness was being added to the mix, and the members of the society didn’t resist against it. They silently conformed to it.

-In truth, I thought it sounded like a pipe dream even in the past… First, the Dragon Demon race are in the wrong right now. They took only the parts they liked about the king’s ideals, and they made their own extreme interpretations.

Kayalia knew the entirety of Atein’s plan, since she closely aided Atein. She understood him. This was why she knew that the system adopted by the current Plain of Darkness was far from what Atein’s plan intended. She sighed at this fact.

‘When one makes a group, it is the nature of life to divide the group based on their merits and demerits. The Dragon Demons are clearly superior to the humans as a specie. It is logical to put them in the ruling class. This would control the ambitions of the Dragon Demons, since they would have to carry out an increasing load of tasks to maintain the society. This in turn would develop respect for them from the members of the society. In this society, humans will all be considered to be equal. They won’t have to go through the pains of dealing with differences in station, wealth or physical stature. There would be no reason why humans would look down on other humans.’

…this was the basic outline of Atein’s plan. At a glance, the society built within the Plain of Darkness looked similar to his plan. However, it was completely different once one saw the details.

In the current Plain of Darkness, the Dragon Demons held the same position as human nobles. They held most of the power, and they considered humans to be of low rank. Human were considered to be inferior to them. Even worse, the Dragon Demons further divided themselves based on bloodlines and origin….

In doing so, they were acting in the same way as the humans.

Atein hadn’t chosen the ‘ruling class’ for this purpose. The only part that coincided with the original plan was the fact that they were running the society. Still, now that she thought about it, the ‘ruling class consisting of the Dragon Demon race’ was an illusion that couldn’t exist in the real world.

-I’m curious about something, oppa.

-During the war, didn’t we believe this was the answer that would eradicate sadness from this world?

When Kayalia talked about the ‘boring world’, she was talking about societal structure of the Plain of Darkness. It was devised as an answer to Atein’s plan for an ideal society. It was also the result of his followers interpreting his words as they pleased. Atein and the Dragon Demon Generals had thought this rank structure would eradicate all sadness and tragedy from this world.

Had they been wrong?

Kayalia sat on Reygus’ shoulder as she mimed putting her chin on her hands.

-Do you think things would have been different if the king won and he had a direct hand in ruling them?

<I’m not sure. In the end, if the king was able realize his goal, I don’t think it would have turned out all too differently.>

-Do you think he would have acknowledged his failure?

<’I thought I knew everything about the humans, yet I didn’t know anything about them. This is why I will try to learn about them from now on.’ The king spoke those words.>

-He was so grand.

<Mmm?>

-Every work he undertook was incredibly large in scale. He achieved great achievements, yet his mistakes were big too. He also caused a lot of harm… This was why I thought he was a bit cute.

<…I’m not sure how you can come to such a conclusion..>

-It’s all right. You can continue to not understand me. This is why oppa is a cute person.

<……>

Reygus brushed off the snow on his head as he asked the question.

-What is it?

-Mmm? I lost in a fight. Oppa died before me, so why are you speaking to me in such a tone?

-Jeez. That unni is really...

Kayalia pouted. She threw her body into the air as she spoke.

-I just hated everything.

-I wanted to quit everything. I was originally a human. At one time, I thought the human race was the worst, but it was true that there were some I liked amongst them.

Kayalia’s eyes unfocused as she looked towards her past. She was Atein’s consort, but she had also been one of his disciples. This was why she was a very special existence amongst the entirety of the Dragon Demon king’s army.

-I continued to do work I hated, because of my station. We fought to erase the sadness from this world, but it looked as if we were causing more people to cry. Azell oppa told me that.

Reygus was surprised as he looked at Kayalia.

-That’s right. He didn’t want me to call him ahjussi, so I call him oppa.

-I wasn’t able to call him that in front of him, but that is what I called him inside my heart. Azell oppa. The fact that I had to fight a life and death battle with him made me very sad.

<Huh-uh. I didn’t know you two had such a relationship.>

-No one knew about it.

<Hmm. I never knew you had a hidden story such as this. It is quite interesting.>

-A woman is supposed to have a lot of secrets.

-He asked me how high I had stacked the mountain of corpses with my hands. He asked me if I knowingly did what I did.

-Isn’t it? If it was anyone else, I would have ignored it. However, when that oppa said those words, it stabbed right through my heart. He had the eyes of a real hero. He looked like someone, who had immediately ran forward to save the world that had been broken by us. At that moment, I realized I shouldn’t continue to do what I hate when I could see the result of my actions.

Kayalia continued to float in the air as she gathered her knees to herself. She spun in the air as snowflakes blew around her.

-I didn’t lose on purpose.

-Jeez, oppa. You were defeated by him too, so why are you asking such a question?

<Mmm. Weren’t you supposed to be special?>

-At the time, Azell oppa was ridiculously strong. Even the king lost in a bout with him. I didn’t lose on purpose.

<I’m a bit suspicious about that point.>

-You didn’t see the true power of Azell oppa. After you died, he continued to grow at a frightening pace.

-You speak the truth. However, our defeated army were basically in a trance. It was as if everyone had gone half-mad according to the the words they spoke. I became annoyed when I heard them, so I got out of there. Then I died. If I look back on it, it was such a dumb way to die… I do regret it a little bit. I’ve thought about it, and I should have come to this place. I should have exited after I secured my safety. However, at the time, I didn’t have the presence of mind to…. It was only when I died that I came to my sense, and I heard the king’s will.

-I didn’t want to become an Undead. I told him I would hate to become a Skeleton. I threw a tantrum saying he should respect a girl’s wish.

<…that sounds absurd, but at the same time, it is so like you.>

-He wanted to overwork me even after death. Shouldn’t I be able get my way in such matters?

The sound of air exiting Reygus’ skull could be heard. It seemed he couldn’t break the habit of laughing as if he was still alive.

Suddenly, Kayalia asked a question.

-Do you really think Azell oppa is alive?

<Maybe.>

-How could this be?

-If you are planning on meeting him, please arrange it so I can talk to him. I’ll go meet him looking very beautiful.

-I’ll think about it.

<…uh-ee?>

-I’m already dead. I’m free from all obligations. I can choose to help or not. Even the king gave me leave to do what I want.

Reygus grumbled. Kayalia put her face next to his as she spoke.

-So when are you going to meet him to confirm it is him?

-I look forward to it. Ah, what face should I put on when I meet him?

<…I don’t care if you don’t help me, but please don’t betray me. I’ll be wounded.>

-I’ll see how oppa acts.

Kayalia stuck out her tongue, and she disappeared as if she melted into the thin air.