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"You... what did you say?"
At that moment, Shane couldn't help but speak out in shock.
"Wh... what's wrong?"
Vivian was instead startled by Shane's reaction.
"N-Nothing..." Shane tried his best to suppress the shock in his heart but couldn't help asking, "Did you say the Demon King was defeated long ago?"
"Y-Yes." Vivian looked at Shane with a face full of astonishment, seemingly trying to confirm his expression. After a while, perhaps noticing Shane wasn't joking, she spoke curiously, "The Demon King was defeated by the Hero of this Mitra Kingdom a thousand years ago in the war, and that's why the world has returned to peace. The adventurer profession emerged to address the manpower shortage caused by the war. Isn't this basic historical knowledge that even children know?"
Upon hearing this, Shane's expression turned unfavorable.
No, it should be said it turned downright ugly.
"What's wrong with you?"
Shane's demeanor made Vivian appear somewhat worried, with a hint of unease in her tone.
"...It's nothing."
Shane wanted to say something but ultimately held back.
However, the question that needed to be asked, Shane still voiced.
"Can you explain this in detail to me?"
Shane made a request to Vivian.
Vivian furrowed her brows, about to ask something, but stopped because of Shane's expression.
Because, at this moment, Shane's face showed a level of endurance she had never seen before.
It was like he had discovered that the meaning of his life had gone astray, that he was about to walk down the wrong path, and that it was all due to deception by others, as if he had been betrayed, urgently needing to understand the truth.
This made Vivian want to speak but hold back, ultimately choosing silence.
"This is something everyone knows."
Vivian began by saying this.
"You should know that since the world's inception, the Divine Race and Demon Clan have always been adversaries, sparking a long history of war, which subsequently led to the emergence of Humans, Elves, Beastmen, Dwarves, and even Demons, right?"
In response to Vivian's question, Shane nodded.
This was indeed the history of this world that Shane had learned from Nien.
Vivian's explanation didn't differ from that of the Goddess.
"Because the Divine Race was overall less powerful than the Demon Clan, and naturally limited in numbers, they have been at a disadvantage in wars since ancient times. Even though they successively created Humans, Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves, they couldn't gain the upper hand against the ever-proliferating Demon Clan."
"So, in order to defeat the Demon Clan, the Supreme God Ominis, the pinnacle of the Divine Race, ultimately created a ritual to summon the Hero from an Otherworld, thus calling forth the Hero."
"Heroes are naturally endowed with powerful Unique Skills and their own Holy Sword. Each demonstrates an astonishing potential. Even compared to the top-level Demons, as long as they can grow, they can easily become stronger than them."
"Their participation always shifts the battle's tide, allowing the Divine and Human Races to reverse the situation and gain the upper hand."
"Unfortunately, the Demon Clan still had a being at its pinnacle, the true monarch, the Demon King."
The power of the Demon King was so great that even the Supreme God Ominis was wary.
Even a Hero couldn't easily defeat the Demon King.
Therefore, although several Heroes emerged in history, momentarily reversing the battlefield situation, the Divine Race could never suppress the Demon Clan and win the war.
Up until this point, Vivian's explanation did not deviate from Nien's account.
Until...
"A thousand years ago, the last Hero, reputed to be the strongest in history, appeared."
"That Hero possessed a Holy Sword and Unique Skills far stronger than any of his predecessors, easily overwhelming the strongest subordinates directly under the Demon King, and was finally brought before the Demon King with the aid of the Divine and Human Races."
"Thus, the Hero and the Demon King finally entered a decisive battle in the truest sense."
That battle wasn't only the Hero and Demon King but also involved the Supreme God at the pinnacle of the Divine Race, the other three highest goddesses, and the Six Great Demons under the Demon King's command.
The strongest among Humans, Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves also joined that battle.
"In that battle, the Hero defeated the Demon King. The Demon Clan was thoroughly defeated, and the Divine Race suffered heavy losses and could no longer sustain the war."
"Thus, under the Hero's guidance, the Divine and Demon Clans declared the war would cease, and the world returned to peace."
"Later, to give the major races a chance to buffer their relations, the Supreme God Ominis used his Authority to divide the world into three, leading the Divine Race to one of these worlds and naming it the Divine World. The Demon Clan also retreated to another world under the guidance of their surviving Demons, transforming it into the Demon Realm."
"As for the various races making up the Human Race, including Humans, Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves, they remained in this world, which became known as the Human Realm."
"Thus, a war that had lasted thousands, even tens of thousands of years, ended. The Divine and Demon Clans became non-aggressive towards each other, and the Human Race, under the Hero's leadership, began to recuperate. The Hero himself founded a nation and became the King, which is this Mitra Kingdom."
Consequently, the war had ended a thousand years ago, and the Demon King had long been defeated and no longer existed.
"Nowadays, the Human, Divine, and Demon Realms maintain mutual contact."
"The Divine Race still protects the Human Race, granting Blessings to their children."
"The Demon Clan, too, maintains contact with the various kingdoms of the Human Realm to ensure the Demon Realm's prosperity."
"Even the Divine and Demon Clans sometimes exchange resources. Though the hostility born from past wars hasn't been completely dismantled, it has eased somewhat."
"Perhaps a thousand years from now, the Three Clans will have no divisions and coexist peacefully, a prospect that many people eagerly anticipate."
Vivian's exposition left Shane utterly speechless.
"That Hero..."
Shane's voice sounded somewhat hoarse.
In response, Vivian looked at Shane for a long time before speaking.
"The Hero hasn't appeared since the founding King of Mitra Kingdom passed away, and the Divine Race has sealed the Hero Summoning ritual, never using it again."
That was only natural, wasn't it?
"Heroes were the Divine Race's trump card to defeat the Demon King and, by extension, the Demon Clan. Now that the war has ended, and the Three Clans need to tread the path of peaceful coexistence, they are no longer necessary."
"In fact, if a Hero were to appear again, it would be a significant problem."
"Because that would indicate the Divine Race is once more preparing to strike the Demon Clan. Naturally, the Demon Clan wouldn't remain passive against a threat of such magnitude from the Hero. At that time, the Human Race, too, couldn't stay uninvolved."
"Thus, if a Hero appeared, the peace among the Three Clans would likely be shattered, and war might resurface."
"For this world, the Hero is the greatest catalyst for war and must never appear again."
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