Chapter 107: Truths of the Forgotten Realm
Thanks to Sheila, the atmosphere inside the room turned instantly tense. All eyes locked onto her, save for Gina, who was already sprawled out on her back and floating in dreamland while clutching her slightly bloated tummy. Dion scratched his head, his jaw tight and his face flushed with irritation, before turning to face Cylona.
"Alright, Elder. I get it. Can we leave right this second?" Dion asked out of nowhere.
Hearing Dion’s words, Cylona’s face immediately brightened, as did the faces of Elrond and Faramir sitting on either side of her. But Luna, Cleo, Mei, and Aria all turned to stare at Dion with dead-serious expressions. Dion glanced over at the four of them.
"We don’t want a war breaking out in our territory, right? So we have to head back," Dion said.
"I agree. Let’s go teach that immoral bastard a lesson," Sheila added, completely in sync with Dion.
"Uh... alright then. Give me a second to write a letter notifying the King and the head of the Shadow Hand... my two fathers... I’ll ask them to prepare reinforcements if needed," Mei said, standing up despite looking visibly exhausted.
"That won’t be necessary, Mei. Allow me to deliver the message to my son-in-law myself," Cylona offered.
"Huh... but Grandma?" Mei asked.
"Follow your destiny. Since ancient times, your fate was already written. Long ago... this world had only five kingdoms. Xandor was one of them, and four princesses from those four kingdoms became consorts to the King of Xandor. That was ordained long before Xandor was ever established," Cylona answered.
"Huh... five kingdoms including Xandor... meaning outside of Xandor, there were only four kingdoms?" Cleo asked, thoroughly confused.
"Correct. Xandor and three human kingdoms... and the fifth was the demon kingdom, which is now known as Lutherias," Cylona answered, looking at Cleo with a gentle smile.
Hearing Cylona’s words, Dion, Cleo, Luna, Aria, Sheila, and Mei were all struck with shock. Naturally, Dion, Luna, Aria, Sheila, and Mei reflexively turned to look at Cleo, whose body was trembling and whose mouth hung wide open, quivering.
"You... aren’t mistaken, Elder? Lutherias was originally... the demon kingdom?" Cleo forced a strained smile.
"Yes... and Minatheras was the undead kingdom from hell. Long ago, Xandor fought against Minatheras, and Lutherias aided Xandor... but after thousands of years, for some reason, demons and undead became humanity’s enemies. In truth, only the undead should have been the ones pouring into this realm when the gates of hell opened," Cylona explained.
"Wait a second, Elder. So you’re saying demons and humans used to coexist side by side?" Aria asked.
"Correct. Demons are human, it is merely their physical forms that differ. Some have horns, some have long ears, some possess animal traits, some are short and stout, and some live in the water. But physically, they are all human, just like Elrond and Faramir beside me," Cylona said, resting her hands on the shoulders of Elrond and Faramir.
"We belong to a lost demon tribe that has been hiding from normal humans all this time," Elrond added.
Silence blanketed the room once more. Cleo appeared slightly relieved after hearing Cylona’s explanation, but Dion, standing right beside her, froze like a statue. It was painfully obvious from his face that the fantasy tropes inside his head had just shattered into a million pieces. Pulling himself back together, he stared down at Cylona.
"Hold on, there’s something I need to clear up with you, Elder... I’m a massive fan of fiction, especially fantasy stories... So, you and the two guys beside you are Elves... Cleo with her horns is a Demon... and you mentioned the short, stocky ones are Dwarves, the ones living underwater are Mermen, and the ones with animal traits are Lycans. Got it?" Dion asked Cylona.
Naturally, nobody answered because not a single soul understood what Dion was rambling about. But unlike the others, Cylona simply smiled before breaking into a loud, booming laugh, leaving everyone utterly bewildered. Once Cylona finished laughing,
"You truly are the emissary of Goddess Hestalia. I feel completely at ease surrendering everything into your hands. And you are correct, everything you said is spot-on, save for one detail: demons are also known as demi-humans, and Cleo is no demon, she is Horned Kin," Cylona clarified.
"Ah... I see. My bad then, guess my knowledge is still lacking," Dion admitted.
"Long ago, those we called demons were actually the undead. They were eventually subjugated by ten hero classes sent by the Kingdom of Xandor. But as it turned out, seven of those heroes were corrupted by darkness and became true demons. They were the seven SSS-rank demon generals who once threw the entire world into utter chaos, forcing the King of Xandor and Gemmeth to personally step down onto the battlefield to deal with them," Cylona added.
"SSS-rank?" Dion muttered.
Reflexively, Dion turned his head to stare at Cleo, as did Luna, Aria, Sheila, and Mei. Cleo could only hang her head and stare blankly at the tabletop in front of her.
"Out of those seven SSS-rank generals, two classes betrayed the darkness and allied themselves with the Kingdom of Xandor. That is why we won the war thousands of years ago, and why the King of Xandor declared that such a war must never happen again. He sealed his kingdom away and ascended alongside Goddess Hestalia," Cylona explained.
"So that’s how the story goes," Dion murmured, lost in thought.
"Apologies for rambling on. For thousands of years, I have never told anyone the truth of what transpired back then... and Cleo... you are no Demon Witch. You are an All-Around Sage... just like me. I am the SSS-rank Spirit of the Tree of Life, and I was one of the two who betrayed my former comrades. You are the reincarnation of my old friend," Cylona revealed.
"WHAT?!" Dion, Mei, Aria, Luna, and Sheila all shrieked in unison, jumping out of their seats.
Cleo stood completely stunned, rendered utterly speechless. She stared in disbelief at the stunning blonde woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, yet had lived for thousands of years. Silence descended upon the room once more. Every eye was locked on Cylona as she calmly took a sip of her tea, save for Elrond and Faramir, who clearly already knew Cylona’s true identity. Setting her teacup down with complete composure, Cylona looked up at Dion.
"However, my old tales are hardly important right now. We have something far more pressing to handle, do we not?" Cylona asked Dion.
"Ah, right... we need to head back home right this second," Dion said, glancing over at Sheila.
"Yeah... surely none of you have any objections, right?" Sheila asked, glancing at Luna, Aria, Mei, and Cleo.
"Right. This is hardly the time for us to stand around dazed," Mei added.
"Very well... even though I still want to learn more about myself, I understand what takes priority right now," Cleo chimed in.
"Don’t worry, none of us are complaining... we need to go home. I agree," Luna stated firmly.
"Yep... just like the idiot princess beside me, I agree too. And Elder, if you plan to speak with King Araki, please ask him to forward this message to my father, King Lamberd of Thetor," Aria added.
"Of course, I shall convey it," Cylona replied. She then turned her attention to Elrond and Faramir. "You two know what needs to be done, correct?"
"Understood, Elder," Elrond and Faramir replied, standing up. They bowed deeply to Dion and the others before turning on their heels and exiting the room.
Shortly after, an alarm resembling an air-raid siren echoed across the entire city. Blam! Steel shutters slammed down over all the glass windows in the room, and the indoor lights flickered on.
"Ah, that means the city is prepared for departure. We shall wait right here... I won’t be accompanying you, for I am merely a tree. However, I will keep running the inn back in Springrock until the war is over and I can truly retire," Cylona said.
Suddenly, a bright light engulfed Cylona, and she shifted back into frail, elderly Grandma Chiyo. Chiyo smiled warmly at Mei.
"Hurry up and give your old grandmother a great-grandchild, Mei, I want to see you happy," she teased.
"Uuuh... please don’t joke around like that, Grandma!" Mei squeaked, her face flushing bright red.
Momentarily, everyone felt a massive tremor shake the space, though they remained seated inside. Meanwhile, outside, the city of Treevalley, now completely encased in heavy steel armor plates designed to protect every single building, began rising into the sky. The surrounding earth cracked and crumbled, plunging into the dark abyss below. As it turned out, what lay beneath the city wasn’t an island at all, but a colossal aircraft shaped like a downward-pointing key.
The city ascended higher and higher, rising past the giant tree whose massive roots could now be seen cradling and supporting the floating city from underneath. Chiyo, who was sitting across from Dion, Mei, Luna, Aria, Cleo, and Sheila, bade them farewell. She gently stroked the sleeping Gina on the table before vanishing into thin air, leaving everyone sitting in stunned silence.
"So you really knew the true history of this world all along, huh?" Cleo asked Dion.
"Oh... that was just a coincidence from reading books, hahaha," Dion laughed off smoothly. "Shit, just because I got annoyed hearing ’demon this, demon that,’ I went and corrected everything, almost blowing my cover as a reincarnator from another world... Dammit, stupid mouth... total disaster," Dion cursed internally.