Embers of the Holy War

The Demon King's Curse

Once the last book was replaced on the shelf, Guang collapsed on the sofa. "I'm beat."

Jin, meanwhile, already had his nose buried in a book. Rachel was out getting them some refreshments for their hard work. Too tired to even move, Guang stared out the murky window. The storm was starting to clear, with now being a light drizzle. He supposed after looking through some books he would call it a day. Hero, he was already dreaming of how comfortable it would be to lay in the inn's bed after a nice warm shower.

It was then he noticed that there was something under the table. He bent down to pick up an old, dusty book. How did they miss this one? He was pretty sure they had searched every nook and cranny of this room for stray books. Well, whatever. Since he had this book in his hands, he might as well read it.

The title read: The Holy Scripture.

Speak of the demon king, if it isn't the book he wanted. Fingers crossed, he prayed this would provide him with some information about Hero Rayler. Carefully, he flipped open the fragile, yellow pages and started reading. However, to his disappointment, most of the book described what he already knew. Evil demon king turns the world upside down, the hero beats him up and dies together with him. There was practically almost nothing new. He felt worse and worse the more he read; he felt like an entire day's hard work had simply resulted in disappointment.

However, he still persevered, praying that when he turned the pages, he would be presented with something new. When Guang reached the hero's death, he was surprised to find that there were still many pages ahead. As much as Guang knew, peace had returned the moment the demon king was vanquished, so what more was there to talk about that lasted so many pages? With newfound motivation, he continued his mission, this time scrutinising intensely at every printed word.

'When the demon king reawakens from his slumber, he will raze the world in his undying fury. But fear not, my people. A hero will rise once more, born from my ashes, and they will protect the world once more!'

Upon his death, the Hero left behind two blessings, rubies and a prophecy, to help the remnants of humanity. Yet contrary to Hero Rayler's wish, his blessings ultimately became the cause of strife within humanity. The followers of the demon king and the followers of the Hero fought to gain possession of the Hero's rubies. The followers of the demon king, in fear of an uprising of another hero; the followers of the hero, to guarantee the resuscitation of their saviour.

Even after the death of both the demon king and Hero Rayler, the embers of the Holy War still smouldered. Humanity was split between two factions: Naylen, followers of the demon king, in possession of one ruby, and Alca, followers of the hero, in possession of two rubies.

Just when we thought we only had the brainwashed to subjugate, we discovered that not just the hero had left his blessings behind. The demon king had left his own form of blessing, which was more of a curse: the halting of the cycle of life and death. Because of this, humans, whether they were Alcaen or Naylener, were forced to be stuck in their current state, never growing older. Humans weren't permitted to bring forth new life, nor were they allowed to die, no matter how thin of a thread their life was hanging on.

In mutual agreement, the President of Alca and the King of Naylen had signed a peace treaty to protect their people. They have sworn that they will live in their own good ways, and will not threaten or harm each other.

Thus was the final page of The Holy Scripture. Guang was flabbergasted at what he had learned. What was this about the halting of the cycle of life and death? The peace treaty between Naylen and Alca? To say that The Holy Scripture is outdated is certainly an understatement. The scripture was ancient!

Just then, Rachel returned with a large pack of chips and cups of tea on a tray.

The pack of chips was unexpected, but Rachel quickly explained, "The children wanted to give these as thanks to you. I'm sorry it took a while - it was their first time brewing tea."

OK. Maybe the children weren't that bad. Cheerfully, Guang thanked Rachel for the refreshments and dug in.

Rachel, noticing the book on Guang's lap, asked, "Oh, have you finished reading The Holy Scripture?"

Guang gave an affirmative warble through a mouthful of chips. Swallowing loudly, he raised his hand. "Question, though! Could you explain more about the demon king's blessing?"

Through the corner of his eye, Guang saw Jin faintly stiffening.

Eager to help, Rachel enthusiastically answered, "Of course! After the deaths of the demon king and the hero, no new human life was born nor could people die. It was like human life in itself had come to a standstill. It was an extremely terrible curse applied to anyone and everyone.

"But this happened a hundred and fifteen years ago, right? As far as I'm aware, new life can be born and people...can die."

Just like how he and Jin were born. Just like how his parents, his servants, and Bo had died.

Rachel closed her eyes and clasped her hands in prayer. "Yes, that is true. The demon king's curse had been lifted fifteen years ago, when the hero and demon king were reborn. That is why there are two generations existing nowadays. The Ancients, who were born before the end of the Holy War, and the Untarnished, who were born after the cessation of the demon king's curse. The Ancients are at least a hundred and fifteen years old, whereas the oldest of the Untarnished are fifteen years old."

Guang made a fist and hit it on his palm. "That would mean our parents are Ancients. I knew mother and father were old, but not that old."

"It's hard to tell with looks, since they don't age physically," Rachel explained.

Guang nodded. "That would also mean that we are...wait, that doesn't make sense. Since Jin is fifteen, he would be an Untarnished. But I'm twenty one this year."

Rachel tilted her head. "Do you mean a hundred and twenty one?"

"No, just twenty one."

Rachel frowned. "That's odd."

"Right! I'm twenty one, and if my maths serves me right, that's way less than a hundred and fifteen years. But neither am I fifteen or younger. I'm neither an Ancient or an Untarnished, so the curse of the demon king doesn't make sense," Guang elaborated. Surely his maths is still on the mark, right? Considering that Jin hasn't corrected him, he supposed he was correct.

Rachel pondered, "Well, you have a point, but... it's impossible for someone to be your age. Are you perhaps mistakened?"

Guang barked a laugh. "No way! I'm pretty sure I'm twenty one, so-"

Wait. There was another possible explanation behind this, wasn't there? He had lost his memories from his birth till he was six. Does it perhaps have something to do with those lost memories? If it was true that there was no new life and deaths for the past hundred and fifteen years, was it possible that he had lost not just six years of memories, but way more than that?