287 Justice (2/2)
These black-robed individuals gave the young Aso a choice. Either he could continue staying together with his family, and they would help him to find a safe valley to live in, or he could choose to join Black Will.
Aso took one final glance at his family whose expressions were filled with fear and blankness. How could a natural-born predator like him possibly stay together with cattle and sheep like them? Aso unhesitatingly chose to join the Black Will.
”Idiots, we are justice!”
The Black Will had gotten used to using that as their catchphrase to talk to other humans who were numb to their fates. This seemed like an angry denunciation of others, but, in truth, it was filled with hope as well. They hoped that their fellow humans would be awakened.
But, most of the time, they received nothing but blank looks. They wouldn't force anyone to join them, either, as that would be bad for everyone.
Despite being betrayed countless times by fellow humans, they still chose that as their catchphrase. However, only those who willingly resisted on their own would be able to become their companions. Otherwise, it would be better for those who couldn't resist continuing being cattle and sheep.
After that was a bloody battle that lasted several hundred years. The slaves had no will to fight, no matter how strong or fattened they were. They remained simply as cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered for food.
Even those that awakened to becoming tigers or cougars instead of cattle and sheep still didn't have any resources to help them become stronger. They had no weapons to fight with. Things were truly difficult.
Meanwhile, the humans' enemies were the previous victors of the Holy War. The great demon countries covered the entire continent, and their voodoo spells, curses, and magic spells were all considered absolutely top-class. All that the ”Black Will” organization possessed were their own souls and physical bodies. Of course, they also had the resolution to change everything, no matter what it took.
But in the world of Eich where souls were the source of power, having a soul, a physical body, and resolution was enough.
Indeed, they may not have been able to obtain precious magical knowledge and ingredients, thus they were unable to become wise mages. Nor did they know hunting techniques passed down through the generations, so hunter and ranger job classes were impossible for them. It was already difficult enough to eat well and sleep well. Weak bodies that suffered from malnutrition made it quite difficult to become outstanding warriors. The great demons' True Gods were the Main Gods of that era, so it was even more unfeasible to obtain divine favor as a priest or divine job class. The mysterious druid job class was still an elven secret in this generation. However, there was one job class which only needed one's soul and flesh and blood.
Yes, the job class known as the undead mage. This so-called evil job class known for toying with souls and flesh and blood had long since been forgotten that it was the job class that represented hope for the entire human race.
Perhaps it was a joke by some demon, or some secret plot but a certain Death God, but part of the knowledge regarding undead magic that came from the far ancient demons was obtained by the Black Will. They then spread this knowledge to all who were willing to resist against the great demons.
The Black Will's pitch-black flag of a raised lantern came from this as well. They viewed themselves as the guides for humanity in a pitch-dark night to firm humanity's resolution.
Aso was the same. He was only twelve years old at the time when he joined the Black Will and began learning undead magic as a dark warrior…
The Black Will allied with the elven species and traded for precious magical knowledge from the annoying long-ears. They sowed seeds of discord amongst the great demons' countries, pitting them against each other. They used evil blood sacrifices to appease True Gods not associated with the great demons, giving birth to the first group of dark warrior job class members. They allied themselves with the dragons and became dragon knights. Aso grew together with the Black Will, experiencing all these things.
After experiencing countless battles, Aso's power level grew past the Legend and Myth ranks, but all his companions from the very beginning when the Black Will had recruited him had long since perished. With members of Black Will continuing to fall left and right, the pitch-black flag was finally left for him to carry alone.
Aso F. Milanton became the Third Senator of the Tark Republic and held this position for 172 years. Indeed, by the time the long battle between all other species and the great demons finally ended, the formerly impulsive boy had already become an undying lich king.
The Tark Republic viewed cultivating undead magic as glorious. The boundaries between life and death had long since been broken here, and undead magic was even commonly known by all its citizens. When the Tark Republic was at its strongest, it possessed several hundred SemiGod undead and had sufficient power to even challenge the Gods. However, out of all things they could have possibly done, they broke an incredible taboo that they shouldn't have. The Tark Republic invented an absolutely perfect undead magic spell with no drawbacks which could transform any living person into an undead.
When all the living were easily capable of turning themselves into undead to receive limitless life, and the Tark Republic only kept increasing in population but never decreasing, the Cycle of Reincarnation had evidently been broken. This was something that the Gods were unwilling to overlook.
And so, calamity visited the Tark Republic. The elves that had been the Tark Republic's magic teachers and allies suddenly betrayed the Tark Republic and ambushed their capital. A forbidden spell transformed the entire capital into a tremendous canyon. This canyon was actually the famous ”Fissure of Betrayal,” although the origin of this canyon's name had long since been forgotten by history.
The Tark Republic that lost the protection of the Gods became all other species' public enemy number one in a single night. All its cities were surrounded and attacked, and the Dark Warriors lost their divine powers. The dragons mysteriously abandoned the Tark Republic. Only the undead mages were still capable of fighting (death knights hadn't been born as a species yet at this time). The top undead mages weren't in any way weaker than the strongest elven mages and could definitely hold their own.
However, they ended up meeting their mortal enemy. The elven mages made a new discovery during the war against the Tark Republic. There was a special golden energy and ringing sound that could directly turn any undead into nothingness. Yes, that was the original form of the Holy Light.
Luckily, or, perhaps, unluckily, an undead archmage discovered a way to open Dimensional Doors and even succeeded in teleporting to other planes that possessed only negative energy and death. These became the first few Undead Planes to have been discovered.
The few remaining elites of the Tark Republic escaped to these Undead Planes as their combined enemies were far too strong for them to stop. The perfect spell to transform anyone into undead was put into use once more here as no living person could possibly survive in the Undead Planes. Every living person of the Tark Republic willingly chose to become undead.
The elves betrayed them, the dragons betrayed them, and the Gods plotted against them. Undead magic had once represented glory and freedom, while the origin of Holy Light had such a story behind it that couldn't see the light of day. With all these factors combined, it was quite natural for this piece of history to have been ”forgotten,” as history was always written by the victors.
Was it Aso's nostalgia for his home country? His hatred of all those who betrayed the Tark Republic? His fondness for his people? Or was it simply being unwilling to be forgotten, and that he didn't want the Tark Republic to be forgotten by history? Aso had unhesitatingly sacrificed himself to build the portals necessary for his people to return to the mortal plane, along with giving me his memories and experiences as the final evidence that he had once existed. Perhaps, it was to make his junior learn about this already forgotten country and its justice.
Hordes of undead arrived through the six wide-open Dimensional Doors like an unstoppable flood. All the undead from these six planes had all sorts of different appearances and species. However, they all came from the same original place: the Tark Republic that had already been forgotten for millennia.
Today, these forgotten ones had returned. They proudly lifted their pitch-black flag of the raised lantern and, in unison, shouted out that same old catchphrase with a deafening roar.
”Idiots, we are justice!”