432 Butterfly Effec (1/2)

The Fog Mountains were located in San Antonio's Amu Mountain district, and its capital was Fenbert, a city well known for producing outstanding fragrances and gems that originated from the depths of these mountains.

This place had a rather mythical history. At first, Fenbert was but an ordinary mountain village with nothing special whatsoever. Dangerous wild beasts roamed this mountainous area, and according to legend these forever fog-filled mountains had man-eating demons hiding within.

Rumor had it that anyone who entered the Fog Mountains would never return alive. It was common for people here to suddenly disappear, and everyone would put them down as the work of demons.

However, approximately seven hundred years ago, a brave young man named Amu went into the Fog Mountains of his own volition. He bravely fought and outsmarted the demons and obtained methods to enrich his hometown, the seed for an aromatic fragrance called ”Dragoneye” and gem mining and refining technologies.

Amu used his newly-obtained riches to turn Fenbert into a thriving commercial center and military fortress. Not only did Amu become the first City Lord of Fenbert, but stories of his heroic deeds were also passed down through the generations. In fact, this entire mountain district ended up being renamed in his honor.

However, these events had taken place too far in the past. Nobody from today treated these legends as real. People didn't believe in demons anymore, after all. The mysterious disappearances had stopped several centuries back. As for the adventurers that entered the Fog Mountains and never returned? Considering that the roars of plenty of vicious beasts could still be heard in the mountains, everyone felt that there was a far more likely explanation than one with demons.

In this current day and age, the environment had long since changed from what it originally resembled. Even the famous gem mines that the Amu Mountain district relied on were mostly empty. Still, producing Dragoneye fragrance and gem refining remained the most important economical pillars of this area.

Every year, many merchant groups would cross the mountains to bring valuable unrefined gems in exchange for Dragoneye fragrance and refined gems. Here, it was very common to find magical gems that required a master craftsman's touch as Fenbert was home to some of the best gem craftsmen in the mortal plane.

However, nobody in the Amu Mountains expected that the legends would one day become real. The legends about Amu from seven hundred years ago ended up becoming a burden upon the people of today.

”Hello, we're here to claim a debt owed to us. Please pay us what Amu promised back in the day. Please pay us half of all the wealth that he's accumulated. You don't have enough money? Then pay us with your land.”

Those man-eating demons? They really existed. The local hero Amu had even signed a contract with them. The wealth and technology he obtained wasn't gained for free; it belonged to the demons, and now the demons returned to public view and came to collect the debt.

Alright, after saying this much, you readers must have understood who these demons were.

”Great Demons! So many Great Demons! Forest Demons, Snow Demons, Flame Demons and…”

When these hideous demons walked out of the Fog Mountains, they brought along Amu's ancient contract.

Although the contract was well maintained, it was difficult to make out the wording on the paper that had long since yellowed after several centuries. The real reason the contract hadn't become a piece of useless scrap paper was that a shocking number of two hundred thousand Great Demons, a tremendous army, came out of the mountains.

By now, it was easy to infer what must have occurred. As one of the losers of the previous Holy War, the Great Demons had escaped into the depths of these mountains, which was why there were so many rumors in the past of demons living here. But several centuries had passed without a single new rumor of demons—plenty of evidence for just how patient the Great Demons were in waiting for their chance.

Based on historical records, Great Demons were skilled at witchcraft and shamanism. There were many records of them using potions and magical gems in their religious and magical ceremonies. They sought to understand the source of the soul. They were far more skilled than the elves from their generation at understanding herbal medicines. Knowledge was wealth and power, and it would be simple for them to give out a little bit of their special knowledge to help a remote mountain village to become a flourishing metropolis.

As for why they chose to sign a contract with Amu that they obviously wouldn't be able to collect on…

”…Amu was a brave warrior who overcame countless dangers to reach the deepest part of the mountains. He was able to survive after dueling against our own warriors. Why not give him a few presents? We are no barbarians. We respect the brave and the powerful. After so many years, plenty of people other than Amu have signed the 'return half' contract with us. However, he was the only one who kept his promise. Amu is truly a real hero.”

Nobody knew if the demons' words were real. But at least the unfamiliar new ”neighbors'” words made people feel better. Amu was their hero, after all. They felt that they had gained face as these outsiders had respected their hero.

Of course, the true reason why these ”debt collectors” could stay so easily was due to their overwhelming military might. The most famous warrior in the Amu Mountains was sliced in half by a demon squadron leader. The local militia, which numbered less than three thousand, was entirely eradicated in a short three hours. Since there was no way to defeat the Great Demons, and no way to resist, the people here could only choose to believe what the Great Demons said.

The Amu Mountain District was a remote and sparsely populated district far away from potential enemies. The only military might they had were the few local soldiers and village militias. The local soldiers would only be sufficient for dealing with villagers that acted out of hand, while the village militias were only equipped for dealing with some wild beasts. As for organizing a rescue army? That would require the neighboring domain lords to act in unison, something that would take a significant amount of time.

The Holy Church and Holy Knights would have originally responded to this almost immediately. Unfortunately, they had their own problems to deal with, so it would be impossible to rely on them. And so, in just a short two days, all the residents of the Amu Mountain district were cut off from human society. They became the subordinates of the Great Demons.

Communication in the mountains was no longer as difficult as it had been several centuries ago. Visiting merchants brought along the current generation's common sense and culture. However, the Great Demons had a rather bad reputation. The mountain villagers were terrified of how Great Demons were rumored to eat other intelligent species as their main food. Although the Great Demons claimed to have gotten rid of this habit of theirs, everyone remained afraid of the Great Demons' bone necklaces and sharp fangs.

Still, the Great Demons patiently used concrete actions to change people's view of them. They voluntarily handed out free food to everyone, sent out relatively better-looking female Great Demons to play with children and had their experienced hunters teach the human hunters about how to survive in the mountains.

Of course, the Great Demons also took the mountain villagers' sensitive pride into consideration. They made sure to praise the mountain villagers' unique culture and legendary heroes.

They brought out a new delicious food called ”breadfruit” which soon became one of the most popular foods around here. And the highest-ranked gem craftsmen, herbalists and alchemists also received a large number of new formulas and precious materials. ”Future gem capital,” ”City of Merchants and Artisans” and other such promises helped fan human ambitions.

The Great Demons indeed did an excellent job. Their strategy was far more effective than forcefully invading. Someone capable at planning and strategizing had to be behind the scenes.

As an unfamiliar species that the entire plane was ”familiar” with, their first appearance in centuries and the first impression given was critically important. If they started off by eating humans, just like in the legends, every single human would likely fight to the bitter end against them. But if they instead showed off a more moderate image, such as of a friendly species that wished to assimilate into this world, then their days would be far less troublesome.

Of course, there were some among the mountain villagers that pointed out how the demons were probably just faking, but the result was that these ”smart individuals” mysteriously disappeared.

Large amounts of resources were suddenly ”given for free” to everyone. Free food and gold gave all the mountain villagers benefits. The Great Demons hadn't cared about cost and almost completed their tactical objective. In fact, even the fairies observing while hidden in the shadows had finished preparing their special edition report.

That's right—almost. The problem wasn't that some hero or demon slayer suddenly appeared. San Antonio had many troubles of its own, and this remote mountainous district wasn't valuable to them. The problem was with the Great Demons themselves.

”Kill them all. Bring their heads to the altar.”

On a certain day, the Great Demons, who had acted so friendly just yesterday, suddenly transformed into the most vicious of villains. Their warriors, who previously had furrowed their eyebrows while doing their best to smile, now had bloodthirsty auras about them as they tossed out life-ending spears.

The slaughter began and ended quite suddenly. The 200,000 Great Demons even started a slaughtering contest between themselves to see who could slaughter the most. In less than twelve hours, the 170,000 population of the Amu Mountain district was completely butchered, only a few thousand spared by the demons. Even fewer managed to survive and escape. On the human heads piled on the Great Demons' bone altar, many had looks of confusion. Even at their point of death, they didn't understand why this had happened. Everything had been just fine yesterday, so why did the Great Demons start a slaughter today?

The entire city of Fenbert was filled with the stench of blood. The few remaining survivors that the demons spared were ”lucky” enough to see what happened next when the bloodthirsty demons returned from their hunt.

Those who were spared were either young, courageous and resolute warriors, or the wise and experienced elders. This was because they would be the best sacrifices of all for the demons' ritual.

All the altars lit up in unison, and a red pillar appeared to stain the clouds in the sky red with blood. Even though it was the middle of the day, the sun disappeared. Darkness and a blood moon descended, causing the fresh blood on the altars to begin bubbling.

The blood started moving by itself and finally combined to form a crimson blood pool.