I Became a Ruined Character in a Dark Fantasy-Chapter 422

Diana didn't answer. Instead, she just stared quietly at Ian.

"Yes." Lucia, glancing at her, quickly responded. "As far as I know."

"I figured as much." Ian nodded, clicking his tongue softly.

Of course. If only a handful of beastfolk had sided with the demons, there wouldn't have been such widespread resentment toward all of them. Though I'm sure the fairies had a hand in stirring things up.

There were plenty of traitors and defectors among humans and fairies, even some among dwarves and orcs, if he recalled correctly. For an entire race to be branded a corrupted one, something like the birth of an archdemon had to be involved.

"It made a name for itself during the war era—a berserker who worshipped an imprisoned native god of the Void." As Ian mulled over his thoughts, Lucia carefully continued.

Around her mask, a faint shimmer of magic flickered like a breath. "That's about all I know. Most of the detailed documents about the archdemons are managed and stored by the Great Church."

"Kruxica," Diana muttered under her breath. "Beastfolks were allowed to join the Empire on the condition that they abandoned that ancient spirit."

Lucia froze for a moment, then turned around, startled.

"At the start of the war, when the Empire suffered defeat after defeat, it volunteered to lead its beastfolk warriors to the front lines. And not long after, it betrayed the Empire." Diana's voice sank lower, heavier.

Diana's voice was eerily calm as she spoke. From behind her wooden mask, she clicked her tongue. "They planned it from the start. They couldn't forgive the Empire and the Order for exiling their god into the void. But ironically, the beastfolk race had converted long before it was even born."

"Hmm." Ian nodded slowly, glancing at Diana. Her dull, sunken eyes stared into the empty air—not at the present, but at the past.

"And it led the charge to drive back the Imperial forces. By the time I left my hometown and arrived at the front lines, it was already infamous as a demon. The Frenzied Beast. The Cannibal Berserker. The Ashen Butcher."

Ian recalled the beastfolk warrior with orange eyes, the one who had trusted him enough to leave her tail in his care. And her words of how beastfolks didn't see those who sided with the demons as traitors, just kin with different beliefs.

Still, if someone's got names like Cannibal Berserker, isn't that a good enough reason to cut ties?

Ian clicked his tongue again before speaking. "Have you ever seen it in person?"

"Yeah. Once, from afar. It looked like an Avatar of Kruxica. I ran away the moment I saw it start its slaughter. That's how I survived."

"Well, that doesn't come as a surprise." Ian shrugged. That ingrained habit of running from trouble seemed to date back to her past.

Diana added in a somber voice. "I only realized how lucky I was a while later. Because soon after, it gained a new nickname."

"What was it?" Lucia asked hesitantly.

Diana met her emerald eyes and spat the words out. "Fairy Slayer."

Lucia's breath hitched.

"I guess it found out that the southern beastfolks were being pushed to the outskirts. And that quite a few of them were executed in the process. It probably heard it from someone who died at its hands."

"My goodness. So it thinks it all happened because of the fairies." Lucia sighed.

Diana nodded. "Yeah. It was a necessary step to keep more potential corrupters from joining. But I doubt that's how it saw it."

So at the very least, both sides of beastfolks still saw each other as kin.

With a bitter smile, Ian muttered, "I doubt it was entirely wrong, though."

"I won't deny the Council of Elders' ambitions. But they brought this on themselves. Those talking beasts... They openly took pride even before I left my homeland. Idiots."

Clicking her tongue, Diana shook her head and added, "They probably never even thought about how it'd all end after spewing that nonsense. If that bastard hadn't betrayed the Empire, none of this would've happened. In fact, beastfolks in the South might have even solidified their position because those damned animals... they know how to fight."

Ian nodded calmly. Regardless of what had followed, Inaskurgl was undeniably the one who had given the Empire an excuse.

"When the Order and Imperial elites were deployed and the tide of battle turned, it disappeared for a while. But of course, it wasn't really gone. It just switched to ambush tactics, waiting for the right moment to strike. And everywhere it swept through, it left its mark."

"Its mark?" Lucia swallowed nervously, sensing the ominous tone in Diana's voice.

Diana's flat voice carried through the air, sounding even more devoid of emotion than usual behind her wooden mask. "It would butcher them like pigs, cutting them into pieces. Or it would skin them and hang their bodies from poles, bound so they wouldn't fall apart. If there were any fairies among those caught in its ambush, it always targeted them specifically."

"Oh my—" Lucia's eyelids quivered. A sigh, like a wavering heat haze, escaped from around her mask.

"I saw it a few times myself. Some of them were still alive even after being reduced to that state. Actually, I'd bet all of them were, at least at the start." Through the eye slits of the mask, Diana's gaze narrowed slightly. "We had to be the ones to end their suffering. And all I could feel was a relief that it hadn't been me."

Despite her steady voice, Diana's pupils trembled. At this moment, her fear of Inaskurgl seemed to outweigh the hatred. "Probably hundreds of fairies died that way. Soon after, the Order officially declared it an archdemon. They named it the incarnation of Kruxica. That was the result of killing and devouring countless paladins, priests, and mages."

Her gaze drifted to the dark, oppressive surroundings. "And after that, well, you know the rest."

The nearby landscape sloped gently downward, still barren, with hardly a tree in sight. The few trees that appeared were as skeletal as those near the outskirts of the demonic realm.

"That's when the endless night began." With those words, Diana fell silent.

A heavy silence settled over the group. The only sounds were the warhorses' hooves and breath, and Lucia's occasional throat clearing.

As Ian tilted his head, puzzled by a faint, inexplicable discomfort, Yog chuckled belatedly.

—It was a decent story to pass the time. I enjoyed it.

Ian, snapping out of his thoughts, turned to look at Diana, who sat slumped as if drained. Then he asked, "Have you ever thought about revenge?"

"Revenge?" Diana looked back at Ian, then let out a faint, deflating sigh."I gave up on that a long time ago. Right now, all I care about is surviving. Surviving so that I can—"

"Diana. You can't say that," Lucia quickly cut in.

Diana flinched, glancing at her. Lucia met her gaze with a stern look. "Keep those words to yourself. It's bad luck."

"Right. Almost made a huge mistake."

Miguel would be proud.

Watching the two of them, Ian swallowed down a chuckle. He could tell that Diana's words had only been half true. If she had truly let go of all thoughts of revenge, she wouldn't have looked the way she did every time Inaskurgl was mentioned. Of course, there was no need to point that out.

"What happened after that?" Instead, Ian asked a different question.

Diana blinked and turned to him. "After that?"

"After the Black Wall rose."

"Ah. At first, it was the same as before. Everyone thought this demonic realm would collapse soon enough. It took a long time for people to realize that wasn't the case."

"And the war between the demons? Did that start much later?" Lucia asked, clearing her throat as if it were dry.

Diana shook her head. "I don't know. By then, we had plenty of problems. Everyone was at their limit. If His Highness hadn't ordered a full retreat, we would have all died."

"Such a bold decision. That couldn't have been easy." Lucia murmured in admiration. After all, such a choice could have cost him both his honor and authority.

"No one blamed him. In fact, we were grateful. He silenced all the generals who insisted on holding the line."

Shrugging, Diana continued, "Much later, His Highness established the final defensive line. He personally traveled through the rear lines, calming the chaos and organizing the situation. Many strongholds were built during that time. Though some of them have come and gone since."

"So that's when you left the front lines," said Ian.

Diana nodded without hesitation. "Yeah. But that didn't mean hope returned. Too many lives had already been lost."

She let out a dry scoff. "Back then, I thought we'd all be dead soon. But as time passed, that didn't happen."

"The demons started fighting each other." Lucia guessed.

"Yeah. Whether it was due to madness or because they no longer saw us as a priority, I don't know. But either way—" Diana shrugged and looked at Lucia. "Thanks to that, we survived the worst of it. It gave us time to build a foundation to endure."

"And the Martyr Expedition must have crossed over by then."

"Yeah. Without them and the supplies they brought, we wouldn't have lasted. That's still true now."

Ian's lips curled slightly. He wondered what kind of expression the Imperial family and the Order would make if they knew the Martyr Expedition was actually helping this side survive.

It certainly wouldn't be a smile of joy. After all, the expedition was an act of noble sacrifice in name only—at its core, it was nothing more than a punishment.

"A silver lining, I suppose. Thanks to that, you survived and were able to meet us like this. Who knows? The demons might even end up wiping each other out." Lucia added with a slight smile.

Diana shrugged. "That would be nice. This war feels different somehow. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time before Inaskurgl disrupted the balance. It isn't the first time, after all."

"This isn't the first time?" Lucia asked.

Behind the mask, Diana's eye twitched. She was probably smirking on just one side of her lips. "I heard rumors. It seems that bastard realized we aren't the only fairies in this place."

Lucia tilted her head in confusion, but then her eyes widened. "Wait, you mean the dark fairies?"

"That's right. There was a forest where those cowardly traitors had gathered. It burned it to the ground and settled there."

"What happened to the remaining dark fairies?" Ian asked, recalling the one he had encountered on the northern front. "They wouldn't have been completely wiped out."

"The ones who fled scattered in all directions. I guess they had their own disagreements. Some pledged allegiance to different archdemons, while others became wanderers. I doubt any of them are still alive, but if they are, they're probably all consumed by madness."

Diana scoffed coldly. "A wretched end, fitting for traitors. Before they fell to ruin, quite a few willingly betrayed the Empire and left."

"I see." Ian nodded.

Diana had every right to scorn them. She may have fled for survival, but she had never given into temptation or abandoned her pride.

"So, are borders still the same as they were back then?" Lucia asked. The wavering shimmer of magic around her mask flickered slightly.

"No. As you know, the demons fighting among themselves have gradually weakened their numbers. Even the archdemons have stopped showing themselves." Diana shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck. "Their minions kept growing in power, only to be consumed by madness or slaughtered in internal conflicts. In the meantime, His Highness reclaimed lost ground piece by piece."

"Reclaimed, huh? I'd say the border still has far too many holes."

At Ian's remark, Diana simply shrugged. "We're short on manpower and resources. I'm sure His Highness knows this is as far as he can go. It's been a long time since he last advanced."

Ian stroked his chin and nodded. Now he understood how they had survived, and why none of the archdemons had perished. More importantly, he could see why Valten had been so deeply troubled.

It wasn't just the balance among the demons that had been disrupted. They were part of that equation as well. And the more precarious the balance, the more devastating the fallout when it collapsed.

"But who knows? This war feels different. We've got a lot more supplies this time—" Diana trailed off before glancing at Ian. "And, more than anything, the Superhuman from the North has joined us."

Who is using whom... that remains to be seen.

Even as the thought crossed his mind, Ian simply shrugged. "Well, looks like we won't have much time to rest when we arrive."

He turned his gaze forward. The descent had ended long ago, and now they were traversing a barren plain. On either side, barren mountains stretched into the darkness.

"Because if you do nothing when change comes, you'll simply be swept away."

"Before that happens, I..." Diana trailed off, then shook her head. "No, never mind. I almost said something unlucky again." She closed her mouth and pressed her fingers against the pale skin of her neck, her platinum hair shifting slightly with the motion.

The silence didn't last long.

"By the way," Lucia muttered in a low voice. "I've been feeling uncomfortable for a while now."

Ian turned to her, and she furrowed her brow slightly before continuing, "It feels similar to when I expel impurities of chaos. Not as painful, though."