"Well, considering how many centuries you've been around for, I'm assuming this is gonna be a long story, huh? But we've got plenty of time, so don't leave anything out, okay?"

  "Of course, now that my own existence is tied in with yours, I have no reason to hide anything from you."

  I had to admit, I was pretty excited……I was about to learn about hundreds of years worth of history, history that possibly no other human in this world knew about.

  "……there's so much I wanna know that I don't know what to start with……," I remarked with a sigh.

  "In that case, shall I simply start from the beginning?"

  "Sure, that works, go for it."

  "Very well, then. I came into existence about……let me see, I believe it has been about one thousand, five hundred years or so. I was created by a certain being, she called herself……Belia Lasmodeus. I was not the only one she created, she also created the other monster kings, and of course, the other monsters in their entirety. And."

  Wait, hold on, he's going too fast, I need more of an explanation!

  "Woah, slow down a sec! Who exactly is this Belia Lasmodeus, and is she still alive? And what do you mean, monster kings, are you saying other monsters also have kings like you?"

  "Ah, right, I suppose you would not know any of that. Allow me to provide some context. Over fifteen hundred years ago, monsters did not exist. Instead, there were many races that existed in harmony, though not without the occasional conflict, of course. There were Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Demi-Humans and their ascended forms known as Beastmen, Halflings, and of course, humans. The other races were all united with their own kind no matter what, but humans were different……they were the only race with no qualms about killing their own kind, and were considered the weakest race due to their lack of unity, as well as their lack of understanding in how to use magic despite having magical energy, or Mana, as you know it."

  Huh, humans were the worst race, go figure……

  "As a human myself, that's pretty disheartening, though far from surprising. Go on."

  "Like I said, at the time, monsters did not exist. And all the races, except for the humans, were ruled over by a pair of extremely powerful beings. Humans were excluded from their rule due to their deceitful ways……hm, I would say that the other races viewed the humans of those days as intelligent, but wild, animals. Things were that way for a long time, but then something changed. Specifically, the dynamic between the two beings that ruled over the many races changed. You might have surmised that one of these beings is Belia Lasmodeus, that I mentioned before……the other was male, and also extremely powerful……he was called Sant A.C. Laus."

  Wait a sec……Sant A.C. Laus……SantA Claus……Santa Claus……

  "You're, uh……being serious, right?"

  "Yes, of course. Why the doubt?"

  I don't even know where to start……

  "Well, it's……hey, wait, you can look through my memories, right?"

  "Correct. I cannot read your current thoughts unless they are directed at me, but I can access your past memories."

  "Okay, bear with me here……look up all of my memories regarding 'Santa Claus', and you'll see why I'm so dumbfounded right now."

  "Er, if you say so……," He responded with an uncertain and confused tone……

  A few minutes later, he was even more baffled, as he saw what the fictional Santa Claus of my old world looked like.

  "So, uh……how does this Sant A.C. Laus person compare to the Santa Claus of my old world?"

  "Firstly, I was aware that you are from a different world because I saw some of your memories when we first conversed, and I knew that some aspects of this world were fictional elements in the entertainment of your old world, but even so……this is rather surprising. To compare Laus to your old world's 'Santa Claus', well, to start with, he is not 'jolly' or fat, although he is clad in red and had a white beard. I have only seen him once, so he may look different now. He also had white-feathered wings and a golden ring floating above his head. Lasmodeus has the same wings and ring, but her wings are black instead of white and the ring is golden."

  So……Santa Claus is real……kind of. Huh, his appearance kinda sounds like a cross between Santa and an angel……while Belia Lasmodeus's appearance sounds like a fallen angel. Wait, hold on a sec……Belia Lasmodeus……Belial Asmodeus……I'm pretty sure Belial is the name of a fallen angel in my old world's mythology, and I think Asmodeus has something to do with devils or demons or something like that.

  I……am at a bit of a loss, I'm really not sure what to make of this……well, whatever, if I can't process it right now, I'll do it later, and for now, I'll continue with learning about the past……

  "I'm having trouble wrapping my head around this thing, so let's move past it, shall we? You said that the dynamic between Lasmodeus and Laus changed, what exactly happened there?"

  "Sant A.C. Laus enjoyed the peace and tranquility of those times, but as for Belia Lasmodeus……she found it monotonous and boring. She ended up going rogue, and expended a huge amount of her divine power to commit what had apparently been a taboo back then……creating life. Specifically, she created the monsters. And there were also several monster kings, some of which ruled over multiple types of monsters……they are all currently likely in hiding."

  That's definitely news to me……

  "Even if they were of a species that was unintelligent, all the kings had intelligence and could speak……but in return, they could not respawn upon death. All the weaker monsters with low intelligence are effectively immortal, and will respawn when killed, as I am sure you have experienced. But all the kings, along with the monsters that were granted significant levels of intelligence, cannot respawn upon death, and since we did not come into being naturally, and were instead artificially created, we do not reincarnate or anything like that, we simply cease to exist, right down to our artificial souls. Of course, not all of the intelligent monsters could speak, that was only given to the Vampires and the other monster kings……well, I suppose Demons can technically speak, but I do not know if that counts since……"

  I then realized something about what he said earlier……

  "Wait, you said creating life was a taboo……but by whose rulings? From what you said, Belia Lasmodeus and Sant A.C. Laus were at the top of this world, and seemed to be equals……so then, why would it be a taboo……unless there was someone who ruled above them?"

  "Ah, I believe they were both the first beings to come into existence in this world, and were placed here by a divine being……revealing the existence of that being was a taboo as well, so I cannot say for certain since Lasmodeus was careful never to speak of it, but I believe that it may be the being that reincarnated you."

  Not-God, huh? Yeah, that's definitely a possibility. And since he can't directly interfere in the living world, it makes sense that she didn't get into trouble for committing a taboo.

  "So, are the kings of the weaker monsters as weak as their underlings?"

  "No, I do not know if this is a coincidence or not, but all monsters with intelligence are powerful. You have a lot of experience against Goblins, and consider them to be fairly weak, but the Goblin King is likely powerful enough to defeat you in your Karma Mode."

  A Goblin could face me in that form? Interesting.

  "If they're that strong, then why go into hiding?"

  "Because Lasmodeus ordered it. They are all still alive, and I can sense them if I want to. Anyway, I shall get to that later, there is a lot more that I need to explain before I get to that point. After she created the monsters, she ordered the monster kings not to tell their underlings about her existence, including me, that is why the other Vampires never knew about her."

  I see, that means she had no intention of getting directly involved, at least at the time, instead choosing to watch from the shadows.

  "After that, she gave us several orders, to attack the other races, as well as feigning attacks on each other to make it seem like we were attacking mindlessly and indiscriminately. And of all the original races, humans were the ones that were in the most danger, so they banded together and begged to join the alliance of the other races."

  Right, Atticus had told me about what came after that……

  "For a while after that, the monsters were kept at bay, which frustrated Lasmodeus, but she was afraid to get involved directly since she was a lot weaker than Laus after using so much of her Divine Magic to create the monsters. You see, both she and Laus are made up of Divine Magic, and using certain spells that are classified as 'divine' depletes that Divine Magic, which does not replenish itself, and if it runs out, they die."

  So it's the opposite of Karma……no matter how much I use Karma Mode, the amount of Karma in me never gets depleted, it's always the exact same amount when I transfer it back into the Mana Orb in my chest.

  "But then, something unexpectedly worked in her favor……the humans developed an inferiority complex since they were the weakest of the races, even after the Elves and Fairies taught them how to use magic. They then betrayed the other races, nearly driving the Halflings to extinction by poisoning their water supply, and enslaving and breeding with the Demi-Humans, and then killing them off once they had provided an adequate amount of offspring."

  I knew about the Demi-Human part, but not that they also killed most of the Halflings……what are Halflings anyway?

  "Oh, I should tell you, Demi-Humans can unleash a more powerful form, in which they are referred to as Beastman. As you know, the Animas of present day humans are from the Demi-Human blood in their veins, and the True Anima form is a version of the Beastman form of the Demi-Humans. Only a handful of humans have ever accessed that form though, I believe Ekai Zabel is the first in about five hundred years."

  "Yeah, I heard about some of this from Atticus, and he also said that the other races then suddenly disappeared without a trace?"

  "Yes, that is correct. Laus grew tired of the worsening chaos and wished for peace, as he is not fond of bloodshed. Therefore, he used an extremely powerful divine spell to solve that problem. Specifically, he seperated about a fifth of the planet into a floating island, and then reformed the remaining eighty percent into a spherical shape again, showing no signs that the world had lost a significant chunk of itself. He then used another divine spell to conceal the floating island in an invisibility spell that makes it impossible to find."

  Woah, Divine Magic is way overpowered……

  "Lasmodeus still tried to find him since using such a powerful spell would have inevitably weakened him, possibly to the extent where he was weaker than she was, but she never even got close to finding him. Only Lasmodeus and the monster kings know about how the other races disappeared, since she told us, but also told us not to tell our underlings. She used a divine spell to make sure we won't disobey her……in the event that we did, we would instantly die."

  Wait, then that means that the other races were still around, floating somewhere above us.

  "After that, with only the humans left to fight the monsters, Lasmodeus lost interest in the world and went into hiding, telling the monsters to to do as they pleased, though she gave us certain restrictions to ensure that we would not drive the humans to extinction too soon. She gave each of the different types of monsters limits on how many humans they were allowed to kill at a time, and other restrictions like that. All she cares about is creating chaos for the sake of her own entertainment."

  It's a good thing Divine Magic doesn't replenish after being used, this Lasmodeus probably makes most of her decisions on whims……

  "The humans banded together for a few centuries and managed to survive and eventually prosper to an extent, and that's when they began to have internal conflicts again, as a result, they split and formed five seperate nations. But that was a foolish move, as it became easier for the monsters to pick them off little by little, and they were in danger of being driven to extinction. And then, a little over two hundred years ago, Lasmodeus reappeared."

  Two hundred years ago……that was around the times the Forbidden Zones were created, wasn't it?

  "She had been watching the proceedings in the world during all that time, and decided that things would be more interesting if the humans had more of a fighting chance. And so, she posed as a human male, donning the name of Ginma Docer, and created a powerful barrier spell, Forbidden Zones as you call them."

  So the strongest spell created in the currently recorded history of this world wasn't even created by a human……huh, that's kinda sad. And it also explains why the barriers that made up the Zombie Forbidden Zone were so much weaker than the barrier used for the other Forbidden Zones.

  "She sealed away five of the most powerful monster races, but she told each of the kings that the barriers would deteriorate overtime, and would shatter in approximately two hundred to two hundred and fifty years from then. As always, she forbade us from telling our underlings about her. She told us that would erase all trace of the barrier spell so that humans would not be able to replicate it, since it was far more advanced than any spell they had managed to create at that point."

  "Huh, so that's how you knew that the barrier was going to break soon, back when we first met."

  "Indeed. And before the barrier shattered, she contacted me……it was rather strange, her voice spoke directly into my head, and I could respond without speaking out loud. It is a new spell, and I imagine she got the idea from the 'Call' spell that you use. She does not need the special parchment humans use to activate spells, what humans call General Magic. She used the parchment when creating the Forbidden Zone barrier, but that was in order to maintain her pretense at being a human."

  "Guess there's still a lot I don't know about magic, huh. I can't even figure out how the command lines used in spells work, so I doubt I'd ever understand the more advanced magic of this world."

  "Humans have always had magic energy, or Mana, in them, and can manifest it in the form of one of five different Elemental Magic types. However, before they joined the alliance of the other races, they were not very good at using their magic, and were taught by the other races that were adept at it after they joined the alliance. While humans had the lowest natural aptitude for magic of all the races, they were the only ones that were compatible with more than two Elemental Magic types."

  "So you mean that the other races were limited to two or less Elemental Magic types entirely?"

  "Exactly, as far as Elemental Magic is concerned, Elves can only use Wind Magic, Dwarves can only use Earth Magic, Fairies can use either Fire or Water Magic, and Halflings can only use Lightning Magic. Demi-Humans could not use any Elemental Magic, but they had unrivaled physical capabilities. However, to varying degrees, and so long as they understand the logic behind the spell they are activating, all the other races excluding humans can use General Magic without the parchment that humans need to use, since humans cannot use General Magic directly. The best General Magic users of the other races were those that were the most intelligent."

  In that regard, it's not too different to the way humans use General Magic……I'd never be able to create even a simple General Magic spell since I can't grasp the concept of how command lines work, so even if I had a good idea for a spell, I wouldn't be able to implement it myself.

  "I see……oh, what about Light Magic, what's the deal with that?"

  "Ah, that was a magic unique to Demi-Humans, though only a rare few ever manifested it. And once humans drove all pure-blooded Demi-Humans to extinction, the mixed-blooded human descendants seldom ever developed Light Magic, it is extremely rare. Despite that rarity, however, it is not particularly powerful……it can be used for offense as well as healing, but of all the Light Magic users I have encountered, the strongest that I can remember would rank no higher than A-Rank by the present-day standard of Adventurers. Just because it is rare, doesn't not mean that it is special."

  Fair point, Aurich's Light Magic had decent healing capabilities, but it was nowhere near what my Healing Factor was capable of.

  "Yeah, that's true enough. Getting back to the main topic, you said Lasmodeus contacted you recently……what did she say?"

  "She informed me of a more precise estimate of when the barrier would break, and also gave me instructions. She told me to conquer Silvland, which is positioned at the center among the five nations, and then ordered me to use the tactics that I ended up using……yes, to split my forces four ways……so that the humans would have a fighting chance."

  That explains a lot……because if the Vampires had attacked with all their numbers, we'd have been wiped out.

  "And thanks to the effects of my King's Decree Cross, the other Vampires obeyed me even though many did not like my strategy, and fair enough, why would they approve of a plan that unnecessarily put their lives at greater risk? However, I could not disobey Lasmodeus due to the divine spell she had cursed me with. Oh, rest easy, that spell was placed on my core, not my consciousness, so it will not be an issue for you, it was destroyed when my body died."

  That's a relief, the last thing I want is to be forced to obey someone.

  "I have not heard from her since then. But she is still very much in existence, of that, I have no doubt. She may not reveal herself for a while yet, but she will be pulling the strings from behind the scenes……the other Forbidden Zones will also shatter, one by one……in the end, you dealt with the Vampires quite well, but many humans were killed in what was a rather brief war. One down……but there are four more Forbidden Zones yet to come into play."

  "Yeah, regarding that, what are those monsters like? I was especially wondering about the Krakens, are they a real threat to us? I mean, they are monsters that live in water, right?"

  "Oh, yes, I suppose Krakens would not be a major threat so long as you stay away from the ocean."

  Alright, I think I'm relatively satisfied with this much info for now, so……

  "Okay, now start over again, and this time, really get into detail……I'll write down every word. This world really needs to know its own history, so I might as well publish it……additionally, it's a great way to earn myself some extra cash."

  "……I get the feeling that your 'additionally' may actually be the greater motivator."

  "Eh, don't sweat the details."

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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