TL: Rui88
These horned, humanoid creatures, what should they be called? Gran looked at the minotaur shaman with a questioning gaze.
Egbert replied sowhat helplessly, “The Ascendants. That is what we call them.”
The Ascendants? The na seed to imply so kind of superior race. Gran’s gaze towards the shaman beca even more puzzled.
“Yes, they are indeed a more powerful and advanced race,” Egbert admitted. “In the ancient of ancients, the ancestors of the Ascendants once led our ancestors in a struggle against the demons of old.”
Demons? Was this so ancient myth?
“The demons you speak of are?”
“The demons are the legendary enemies of all races on this continent. They once enslaved and oppressed us, until all the races rose up in resistance and drove them into the Demon’s Gate in the far north. Since then, they have been far from our world, and no trace of them can be found.”
Egbert’s narrative reminded Gran of the legends of the great war between humans and demons that were prevalent in the human kingdoms of the old continent. It seed that in the legends, there was also so kind of Hell’s Gate in the far north of the continent. If the Hell’s Gate was opened, it would release demons and the like. At the farewell banquet they attended before their departure, Count Heller had even ntioned this legend to Captain Stanford of the Northern Exploration Team in a serious manner.
Didn’t that just fit? Could it be that in ancient tis, there really was such a terrifying race that went around causing destruction all over the world, so much so that both the new and old continents’ civilizations had preserved terrible mories of them?
How did they do it? When humans were still in a state of ignorance, did this evil race already master the ability of long-distance sailing and roam freely around the world? If they were so powerful, how could they have been defeated by primitive humans…and now it seed, perhaps other races as well?
Egbert sighed and continued to describe the stories that had taken place on this continent. “It is said that demons generally have iron claws. So also have iron heads and iron bodies. What is even more terrifying is that so variant demons have two arms and four legs. These variant demons can run like the wind on their four legs while fighting with their two arms, brandishing their iron claws.”
While the minotaur shaman was describing, Gran was also picturing the image of a demon in his mind, especially the variant demon the other ntioned. Two arms and four legs? Running like the wind? On the old continent, there were legends of centaurs, who also had two arms and four legs. Although no one had ever actually seen a centaur, no legend ever ntioned that centaurs had iron claws, iron heads, or iron bodies.
“In the beginning, the various races, being only of flesh and blood, were simply unable to resist them. It was not until the Ascendants I ntioned earlier awakened the power of the gods that they gained the strength to fight the demons.”
The power… of the gods?
Hearing this, Gran’s eyes widened. Could what Egbert was talking about be magic, witchcraft, or sothing of that sort? On the continent he ca from, that kind of thing was a taboo-like existence. When his fleet set out, Horn Bay was still in the midst of a fervent witch-hunting campaign.
He only heard the minotaur shaman say, “The ergence of the power of the gods allowed the Ascendants to display incredible abilities, such as spewing flas, releasing lightning, changing the weather, and making enemies have hallucinations.”
Alright, alright! Egbert thought to himself. It seed he had guessed correctly. Wasn’t this just witchcraft? The Religious Tribunal of the Church back ho would surely love this group of goat-horned people.
Gran had no intention of calling them the Ascendants. He would just call them “goat-n” for now.
“The various special abilities brought by the power of the gods offset the advantages of the demons…their iron claws, iron heads, iron bodies, and those variant demons that ran like the wind. Thus, the Ascendants gradually gained a leading position among all the races fighting against the demons. They made good use of this position, uniting all the races to fight against the demons, and finally drove the demons into the Demon’s Gate.” ℞Â₦ŎΒЁş
So the goat-n had been of great service to the other races. Gran asked strangely, “If that is the case, how did they beco your enemies?”
Shaman Egbert let out a long sigh and continued, “Even a few years ago, the Ascendants were not like they are now. After the war against the demons ended, the leaders of the various races gathered to discuss future arrangents. The Ascendants had made great contributions and sacrifices in expelling the demons, and they deserved to enjoy the greatest fruits of victory. This was acknowledged by all the races. Thus, all the races agreed that the Ascendants could exclusively occupy the land to the south, while the land to the north would be shared by all the other races, including our own. For a long ti after that, although there were occasional minor frictions between the various races, the continent still maintained a general peace.”
“However, just five years ago, the Ascendants on the southern continent suddenly changed their attitude and began to continuously send armies to the northern continent to capture mbers of other races.”
Gran asked, “Why?”
Egbert’s face was filled with sorrow. “According to those who fled back from the south, they were captured to be slaves. The Ascendants have split into three large tribes and countless small tribes over their long history. Recently, a fierce war has broken out between them. A large number of their people have beco soldiers, and they need a large number of people to do labor, so they have resorted to plundering slaves from the northern continent.”
“That’s really… that’s really too shaless.”
To comfort Egbert, Gran cursed the creatures he had nad “goat-n,” but in his heart, he knew that on the continent where his ho was, this kind of phenonon was all too normal.
“Egbert, I…” Gran stamred.
“Oh, my friend. I am not asking you to do anything. I know that your numbers are too few. Even if you stay, it will not change anything.” The sincere attitude shown on the ox face opposite him made Gran a little ashad.
“Indeed. Sigh, in any case, I am truly sorry.”
Gran’s face flushed red. If only he were a free adventurer. But now he was a subordinate of Count Paul Grayman and could not overstep his authority to make any promises to the Great Stream Tribe.
“I will leave a batch of swords and blades for you to use.”
In the end, Gran still felt he should do sothing. “And then, I can only wish you good luck.”
Egbert looked at him and said, “Thank you for your blessing, guest from across the great ocean.”
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