Dragon Maken War - Chapter 125

Chapter 125

Chapter 125 – Specters from the Past (5)

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 .

<Your thoughts has become more unfathomable after death, Queen Kayalia . >

-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 .

<Then what do you want me to call you by?>

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

<It is such an attractive offer that I won’t be able to say no to your request .  All right, Kayalia . >

-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 .

<It is coming into sight . >

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?

<It is worse . >

-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 .

<You are still calling her unni?>

-Of course .  She hates it .

<You are still quite twisted .  The fact that you haven’t changed even in your death is a good thing . >

-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 .

<Please don’t speak such words in places where others can hear you .  Many people within the castle worship him as if he was a god . >

-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 .

<Everything was always the same .  We all despaired at that fact . >

-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 .

<What is it?>

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

<We did . >

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 .

<I have a question I want to ask you . >

-What is it?

<How did you die?>

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

<Queen Aincera told me about it .  While they escaped from the Dragon Horn fortress, you went missing along the way .  What happened?>

-Jeez .  That unni is really…

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

-I just hated everything .

<You 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 .

<Azell oppa?  Are you perhaps talking about Azell Karzark?>

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 .

<You called him that?>

-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 .

<I would like to hear the long version of it later .  All right .  What did he say?>

-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 .

<It is something we commonly hear . >

-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 .

<Did you lose on purpose?>

-I didn’t lose on purpose .

<Are you sure?>

-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 .

<I admit his growth speed was extraordinary .  Well, all right .  Let’s set that aside… .  You didn’t have to go missing and die by yourself, right?>

-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 .

<So that is how you were able to jump 220 years like me .  However, why have you taken on such a form?>

-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?

<I know .  I have circumstantial evidences, but I am having a hard time confirming it . >

-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 hope you aren’t planning on telling me you won’t lending me your power when that time comes . >

-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 .

<That hopeless guy…… . >

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?

<Since he exited the reaches of the information network of the Plain of Darkness, I had to use my own method .  I’ll be able to find his whereabouts soon . >

-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 .