I checked with a mercenary who was nearby to make sure the information was true.
"You didn't hear it from me, but I heard..."
A year has passed since I completed the Trial of the Undying Flame.
365 deaths. 365 days.
I am guessing that with each death, a new day passed in the real world.
But that is not important.
Six months ago, my father and the patriarch of House Celestia apparently had a big fight about something.
As for what it was, I do not know. But it was a fight so big that the two were apparently willing to go to war.
Then, all of a sudden, both my parents went missing, and they have not been seen since. A few months after that, House Celestia arrived with their army.
With no leader there, they took action and immediately began to kill all the soldiers in town.
The MorningStar soldiers also tried to attack their territory, aiming for their patriarch. But unfortunately, they failed and died.
It is war after all. If you are going to the front lines, you must prepare to win as well as die there.
All the soldiers died in the name of MorningStar.
But that is not what pisses me off.
Before coming back here, I had checked the MorningStar territory as well. As one would expect, there was lots of debris everywhere, and the smell of blood permeated the air.
But it was not just the blood of the soldiers. There was blood from children. Children younger than even me. A tiny wooden sword lay beneath the body of a young child, while a small doll lay in a pool of dried blood.
All these innocent civilians had nothing to do with this.
Even the Adventurers' Guild was nothing more than rubble. I could spot some of the bodies of the adventurers. They were each holding their weapons in hand. I guess they decided to die fighting. How valiant.
Not a single living thing was left alive. They had each departed this world.
The only thing I can hope is that they are all reborn, living happy lives with new families. And most importantly, they will not remember this tragedy.
And so my first thought was to go and lay waste to the whole continent. With the power I have gained from the trial, destroying a planet is not difficult, much less part of a continent.
But before that, I wanted to take those kids. My conscience would never allow me to walk away and not do anything.
But when I went back, they were gone. The little hut they made from logs was completely gone, and the trees that were cut had grown back.
It confused me, but there is nothing I can do about it.
Right now, I am standing at the top of Fang above House Celestia. In my hands is a sword I plan to use to slaughter them.
The houses below look nothing like what I expected.
I do not know what I imagined — something heavy, maybe. Fortified. Something that looks like it belongs to people who send armies to kill children.
What is below me is a city. A real one. Wide streets, stone buildings, market stalls still open, people moving between them like nothing happened.
Why? Shouldn't there be some casualties on this side? Shouldn't the buildings here be somewhat damaged? War cannot just be erased like this. Soldiers here should have died. So why? Why are they just patrolling like nothing happened? Do you mean to tell me the place I was born and raised in is completely gone, while these soldiers get to go home to their families...
That is not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
Not fair.
The clouds around me begin to darken as the wind howls with every passing second. I can see some of the parents holding their kids as the wind blows around them.
Oh, guess some of my mana is leaking.
Oh well.
I do not know when that happened, but I am not going to stop it.
For some reason, the horror I witnessed back home was enough to make even a demon weep.
But I could not even cry.
I was angry and upset. Sorrow filled my heart, yet I could not even shed a single tear. I am human, aren't I? Shouldn't I be able to express my emotions? Shouldn't I be able to cry for others, even if not for myself?
So why... why can't I?
I look down at the streets below.
Ordinary people.
Merchants.
Children.
Workers carrying things from one place to another.
This is not their fault.
That thought costs me something. It would be easier if it was. I would be able to destroy everything here without a second thought.
I take a deep breath and the blade in my hands turns white, then disperses into particles of multicolored lights.
I need to know where my parents are. Whether they are alive. Whether House Celestia is holding them somewhere in this city, or whether they were dealt with before the army even arrived at MorningStar.
And I need to know why my father and the Celestia patriarch fought badly enough that one of them decided the answer was an army.
None of that gets answered if I destroy the city.
I scan the city for anything that looks... bigger than usual.
Something — no, some place where there are lots of guards and higher walls protecting it.
In other words, I am searching for the patriarch's manor.
There.
I spot something at the northern edge of the city, resembling what I am imagining.
───
From the top of the Celestia Manor, a man holds a wine glass between his fingers as he gazes outside his window.
The sun is setting so the merchants are packing up their merchandise as parents take their kids home.
The sky has become unusually dark. Sure, night is approaching, but so far it is dusk right now. Yet it is like the sun is being blocked by a giant umbrella. Is a storm coming? No, if it was, he would know. Maybe this is a sign of a bad omen.
But it should not be anything he cannot handle. After all, it has not been long since he solved the world's biggest threat in existence.
Seven years ago, he had received a vision from his skill, Revelation. The whole world was in ruin. Nations were destroyed, forests cut down, and even the rivers had evaporated.
At the center of it all, he saw it. A figure standing at the top of the Celestia Manor. It said something that the Patriarch could not hear. The only audible thing he could hear was the name, MorningStar.
The Celestia household has had a duty to remove any risk that threatens the world. That vision classified as one.
The moment he got the vision he immediately tried to tell Lucius, the patriarch of the MorningStars. The vision he saw was of someone from his family. It could not be his wife, she was too weak, and he could not do anything due to a pact he made with the Arcane Order.
That just left his kids. It could not be the youngest, for one he was only a baby at the time and even now, he could not even be thought of as average. A complete failure of a son.
That just left his oldest daughter. She was said to be a prodigy with light magic but excelled at ice magic, even creating her own sword style.
She was most likely the person he saw in his vision. With all that in mind, the world's future was at stake, and the Patriarch's job was to eliminate that.
In other words, kill her.
Yes. Kill her. It might sound like an unreasonable thing but it is necessary for the sake of the world. Besides, Lucius could always go and have another child, so what is the problem?
But then that Lucius went and did something the Patriarch will never forget.
The moment he muttered those words, a silver line cut through the air and the patriarch felt a sharp pain in his left eye.
He fell to the ground holding his now bleeding left eye. He looked up to see the face of Lucius. Blood-red eyes looked at him.
"If you believe killing her will solve this, then by all means, I welcome you. But just know, the moment you lay a hand on her, consider yourself dead."
His words were filled with malice as he spoke.
Now, a man at the age of forty saying this would be terrifying, but not unbearable, right?
Well, Lucius may have been forty-seven years old but his face did not look a day over twenty-three and the aura he emitted only made his demeanor even more frightening.
From that day onwards the Patriarch has not set foot in their territory ever again. But nonetheless his skill kept showing him the vision over and over again and as time went on they only got worse.
Finally, one year ago on Lucius daughter's going away party, he had decided to use that chance to eliminate the threat roaming the earth.
He had hired assassins each on the level of Red Stars with their leader being a Black Star.
Under the cover as guests, they would use poison to eliminate the threat. It was a special poison made from the venom of a dragon. Unfortunately it was too potent so nothing could contain it. After intense research, the patriarch was able to reduce the potency. It would be low enough that it did not corrode its container, but potent enough to get the job done.
He had given the assassins a brief mission briefing and sent them off. He has not heard from them since.
The only thing that could explain it is that they were killed. But how? Black and Red Stars are the most powerful ranks of assassins so how did they die?
No. It could not be. But it did not change the fact that Claudia MorningStar was still alive. And so, he used a method even he thought was a little cruel.
And it got the job done. Well almost. She is probably still looking for her but it will not take long. He has not received word from his walking calamity, but she will get the job done.
The war six months ago was only just a distraction, and payback for the scar Lucius gave him seven years ago.
"How wonderful indeed."
The coward and his wife both ran away without a trace. While that meant he could not pay him back directly, he decided to take it out on the people living there and kill all of them.
It was not enough, but I guess it will do.
A devilish smirk appears across his face as he slowly sips his wine.
Everything he had done was for the sake of the world. Yes, for the sake of the world. It had nothing to do with his own ambitions.
"This world truly is wonderful indeed."
"Indeed it is. But its people aren't."
A cold chill runs through his spine as a voice as deep as the abyss responds from behind.
He turns to find a young boy in front of him. He is wearing a black bodysuit with a jacket.
His black hair is tucked under the hood as it falls over the mask he is wearing.
"...who...are you?"
The boy raises his hand, and thin needles appear around his neck. If he were to count them all, he might not finish today.
He made a foolish mistake asking for his identity instead of calling for guards. Now if he tried, he would be killed in an instant.
"I am Noir," he says. "Now tell me, Aurelius, what happened. Speak carefully. If not, consider yourself dead."