Pioneer Lord: I Have Conquering System

"To be honest, if the average human wasn't so individually weak at the time, they would have been drafted just to pad the numbers. As it was, sending them would have just meant creating more Undead skeletons for the enemy."

"That's why only the powerful humans from various professions ended up fighting."

"So, is that why humans are the dominant power on the Middle Ages Continent now?" Levi asked, though he already had his answer.

"More or less. It wasn't the main reason, but it was definitely a factor. After all, the Elves, the Dwarves, and the Giant Dragons all suffered heavy losses in that holy war," Igo Saint said with a nod.

Levi couldn't help but find the confirmation bittersweet.

In the Ancient Era, nearly every Elf was born with mastery over powerful Magic. Dwarves, despite their short and stout appearance, were by no means inferior to Minotaurs or other Beastmen in raw Power. As for the Giant Dragons, their strength went without saying.

In a direct comparison, common humans who couldn't use Magic and possessed no Combat Qi were indeed pathetically weak.

No wonder those overlords looked down on them.

So when these powers later suffered devastating losses, coupled with the effects of the Magic Tide, humans were able to swoop in and reap the rewards.

"What happened then?" Levi pressed on. "The mighty Elf Empire, the Dwarf Kingdom, the Beastman Kingdom, plus the Twelve Saints and the Giant Dragons... with a lineup that star-studded, they must have won."

'In fact, if they hadn't won, we wouldn't be standing here today.'

"We won, yes, but not in the way you're imagining. It could only be called a pyrrhic victory." Igo Saint sighed, his gaze growing distant, as if returning to a battlefield that would remain etched in his mind for eternity. "For the first hundred years, the Alliance Army of the entire Material Realm was in constant retreat. It was an arduous struggle."

"How is that possible?" Levi asked in disbelief.

'Just hearing the lineup was enough to know how stacked it was. Any one of those Races, on its own, was powerful enough to sweep a region clean. They were absolute titans.'

'When combined, they compensated for each other's weaknesses. It was a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts—their power grew exponentially.'

'The Elf Empire's Chimera Corps, Giant Eagle Riders, and Elf Mages... The Dwarves' Ironfoot Army, Holy Warriors, and their forged Legendary Weapons and Semi-Divine Artifacts... The Beastman Kingdom's Olefin Giant Elephant Warriors, Beastman Berserkers, and Cadil Warriors...'

'Countless powerful legions, top-tier Warriors, plus the Holy Light Church's Twelve Saints and the Giant Dragons... If a Lord like him had such a star-studded lineup, he would have dared to declare himself master of any world he colonized. And yet they still took a beating? For a hundred years?'

Levi was starting to seriously suspect the Alliance Army's commander was a spy for the enemy.

"Those Fallen Divine Servants were just that powerful. Every single one was equivalent to a Demigod who had failed to form a Divine Format. On top of that, there were the Witch Demon Kings who could turn our fallen allies into more Undead."

"Our numbers were constantly dwindling while theirs kept growing. In that war of attrition, we held almost no advantage," Igo Saint recounted calmly. Nearly four thousand years had passed, eroding the intense emotions the war once stirred within him.

"And it was a Fallen Divine Servant who, by sacrificing itself, placed the Curse of 「Soul Stripping」 upon me—

Let ice sever the bonds of flesh and bar the True Spirit's return.

The mercy of the old gods shall no longer guide; the seven-hued light of the new Divine Halls shall never welcome.

The body shall become carrion for ravens to peck; the name, a sigh that vanishes on a winter's night.

Struggle in the dim abyss where moonlight cannot reach; wander the eternal void after the stars are extinguished.

This binding Curse, like cold iron, shall pierce the ages, with no hope of pardon.

"

He recited it softly. Though Levi felt no surge of Magic Power, just hearing the meaning behind the Spell sent a chill down his spine.

Levi's physical Power was admittedly second to none, but if even one of the Twelve Saints—favored by the Holy Light Goddess and naturally possessing exceptional resistance to such insidious Magic—couldn't withstand this Curse, he wasn't confident he could either.

'If I ended up as just a soul,' he thought, 'no matter how strong my body was, I'd be like a Merfolk out of water—utterly helpless and ripe for the slaughter.'

"This is why I said my body will never awaken. The Curse is branded onto my True Spirit and cannot be removed, making it impossible for my soul to ever find a new vessel," Igo Saint said calmly, taking a sip of tea.

"I've heard it said that a person's body is a small boat and the soul is its boatman. If one is separated from the other, both will gradually fade into nothingness." Levi looked at the Saint before him, a being of pure soul, and asked, "So how have you managed to survive to this day as just a soul?"

'Even a Legendary powerhouse, or someone even stronger, should have to abide by that law as long as they haven't achieved godhood.'

'A soul without a vessel wouldn't become immortal; on the contrary, it should fade into nothingness at an accelerated rate.'

'Digen was only able to survive this long because his Dragon Soul was nourished by a Dragon Crystal and had been personally forged into a Legendary Weapon by one of the Deities.'

"An interesting saying," Igo Saint nodded, then asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Do you know about the innate Talents of the Twelve Saints?"

"I only know they were granted by the Holy Light Goddess, but I don't know the specific Talents," Levi said, shaking his head.

"To be precise, they are Talents we are born with. The Goddess merely helped us draw them out," Igo Saint explained.

"And my Talent is an eternal soul upon separation. As long as my soul is detached from my physical body, it will never dissipate, regardless of external interference or anything else."