There might only be one chapter today, as I have something to attend to. I will try my best to write another chapter, so I apologize to everyone in advance...
"Lord Akara, why are you telling me this?" I asked in a low, awkward voice, like someone meeting a contact in secret, glancing left and right, afraid someone would suddenly pop out and point at us, yelling "Traitor!" or "Blasphemer!".
Does she trust me that much? What if I were a loyal follower of the Divine Authority? Even if I couldn't convince others that Akara was a Blasphemer, having someone with such strong hostility towards her would be something no one would risk. Or, perhaps, when I showed resistance to her words, she was confident she could keep me here, or even kill me on the spot? Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out. Indeed, even the most benevolent leaders have a decisive side.
However, why would she risk being labeled a Blasphemer to tell me these secrets? Wouldn't it be fine to just present the common version circulating among the people and get it over with? What is it about me that makes her willing to take such a risk?
"Wu," Akara said, calling my name formally for the first time.
"I am Akara, a believer of the Great Eye. Although my eyes are blind, under the guidance of the Great Eye, I have never been wrong about anything," Akara turned around, a calm smile on her face.
"The Great Eye does not deceive me. I trust myself, and therefore, I trust you."
"Lord Akara, I must say, you believe in an extraordinary God."
I sighed, indirectly stating my position.
I hoped this wouldn't burden me with anything heavy. You see, my only wish is to find a wife and live a quiet life. I have no ambition to bear the heavy burden of history.
Akara seemed very satisfied with my answer. She nodded happily and continued,
"After God grew tired of the God and Demon Races, he discovered the birth of the Dark Continent. So, within the Dark Continent, he created many creatures, led by humans. To prevent something like the End-Day War from happening again, he weakened the abilities of these creatures. Then, after he completed the structure of the entire Dark Continent, he suddenly disappeared."
What an irresponsible God! I suddenly understood why many rules in this world were so crude. It was all the work of this lazy fellow called God.
"After God created us, he disappeared. Then, after thousands of years of development, the entire Dark Continent began to prosper. More and more races established their unique customs and civilizations."
Akara's expression was ever-changing. In one moment, her tone carried an irrepressible excitement and longing, as if she had witnessed the development of the Dark Continent firsthand. In the next moment, her expression turned solemn and sorrowful.
"But, disaster also began."
"As the Continent's civilization developed, more and more explorers emerged. Their interest was to explore every inch of the Dark Continent's unknown land.
Then, no one knows who, or when, someone suddenly discovered a magical stone in the northern part of the Dark Continent, in the Barbarian Homeland, in Harrogath, known as the Worldstone Peak. They found it in a Cave. This stone possessed mysterious power. They named this stone the Worldstone. Countless scholars and mages were attracted by this stone. They traveled over mountains and rivers, some even enduring hardships, to reach Harrogath, just to see this stone once.
Then, after hundreds of years of unremitting research by countless learned individuals, they finally discovered the use of this stone – this massive stone was actually a portal to another world. The adventurers were ecstatic. After detecting that the world on the other side was not dangerous, they eagerly stepped into the portal and arrived in another world.
Soon, through their exploration, they found that this world had astonishing similarities to the world they originally lived in, almost like twins. Thus, large-scale migration began. They established kingdoms and tribes there, and to commemorate their homeland, they named those kingdoms and tribes exactly the same as those in their original world," she sighed, then smiled at me and said,
"You will go to that world in the future as well. Don't be surprised, because there is also a Rogue Encampment there, just with different people. If I remember correctly, the person in charge of the Rogue Encampment in that world should still be Hagareth. It's been a long time since we met. When you go there in the future, remember to say hello for me." She rarely smiled, seeing me standing there frozen.
"Oh, look at me, I've gone off-topic again. When you get old, you just like to talk about boring digressions. Right, where were we..."
"Because of the similarity between the two worlds, the adventurers began their journey again. They thought, since the two worlds have astonishing similarities, would there be another Worldstone in this world, just like in their original world? So, they stepped into this Harrogath again. They hoped there would be another Worldstone there.
Perhaps the two worlds were truly too similar, because they actually found another Worldstone there. Since the principle of the Worldstone had already been thoroughly researched, they immediately rushed to the third world. And the third world was also exactly like the previous two worlds. I really don't know what God was thinking when he created these worlds," Akara smiled bitterly and shook her head, as if very helpless towards this illogical God.
Since they discovered a third identical world, what happened next was exactly the same as when they discovered the second world: migration, followed by large-scale exploration. These adventurers seemed to have taken on God, determined to find a different world. So, they began to step into the Harrogath of the third world...
Akara coughed bitterly, her eyes gradually turning red, her voice filled with the vicissitudes of time and sorrow. Her gentle expression also began to turn gloomy and resentful.
"Damn it, they succeeded. They finally found a world different from the previous three. But, but..."
"But what greeted them were the native inhabitants within, countless Demons—this damned Worldstone of the third world was actually connected to Hell..."
"These adventurers hurriedly retreated and attempted to destroy the Worldstone. However, the Worldstone's sturdiness far exceeded their imagination. In the end, they couldn't move the Worldstone even an inch. Then, led by the Five Great Demons—Andariel, the Demon King who dominates Anguish and Torment, Duriel, who dominates Pain, and above them, the Three Prime Evils, Mephisto, the Demon God who dominates Hatred, Diablo, the Demon God who dominates Fear, and Baal, the Demon God who dominates Destruction—the Demon Army surged from Hell. They discovered that the life here was pitifully weak, the land was fertile, the sun was bright, and the climate was pleasant, not much worse than Heaven. Compared to Hell, which was full of lava and extremely hot, this was simply an untouched sanctuary...
The adventurers knew they had made a terrible mistake. To atone for their mistakes, they voluntarily took on the task of resisting the Hell Forces. But how could the power of Hell be something they could resist?"
"So what happened in the end? Was the third world occupied by Hell?"
I quickly asked. If what Akara said was true, then history had completely diverged from the Diablo background in the game. What lay before me was a completely unfamiliar world, which meant I could no longer exploit even a little bit of prior information.
"No."
Akara shook her head. "At the critical moment, the Angels 'timely' broke the seal between Heaven and the Dark Continent, saving the one-sided situation."
Speaking of this, the sarcasm in her tone was palpable even to a fool.
"However, the Angels descended to the Continent through special methods. They could not stay on the Dark Continent for long because their abilities could not be replenished there. Therefore, they could not play a decisive role in the battle. They merely guided the creatures of the Dark Continent to fight against Hell. In this regard, they did indeed do their best."
"The battle in the third world remained in a stalemate, led by the Angels and with the desperate efforts of the Dark Continent forces. Although the Dark Continent side was at a great disadvantage, they managed to hold back the Hell Forces in the third world.
Not long after, things took a turn. The four Demon Kings, led by Andariel and Duriel, rebelled against their superiors, the Three Prime Evils—Mephisto, Diablo, and Baal. The entire Hell Forces began to fall into chaos.
Seeing an opportunity, the Angels handed us three Soulstones, allowing us to seize the chance to seal the Three Prime Evils. With the desperate struggle of all living life on the entire Dark Continent, we finally sealed the Three Prime Evils. Among them, the greatest figure who emerged was the Wizard—Tal Rasha. With his strength alone, he sealed Baal, one of the Three Prime Evils, making an immense contribution.
And this counterattack by the Dark Continent was the most famous and tragic Sin War in history, second only to the End-Day War."
When mentioning Tal Rasha, even Akara's voice became fervent. It seemed this great Wizard named Tal Rasha truly lived up to his reputation.
"After that, humans launched a general offensive against Hell, finally gaining the upper hand for the first time.
However, after the war continued for over a thousand years, just when humans thought victory was within reach, the Three Prime Evils suddenly broke free from their seals and reappeared in this world. The Dark Continent's advantage was instantly shattered.
The great fortune within the misfortune was that the Three Prime Evils had just been released from their seals and their power was still very weak. Furthermore, to retaliate against the four Demon Kings for their insubordination, they also began to fight among themselves. This situation has continued until now..."
"Ah... Young man, this old woman's story ends here," Akara said, as if casting aside all the emotions she had just shown, returning to her smiling self.
I nodded unconsciously, my mind still rapidly analyzing what Akara had said.
Actually, there were still many questions. For example, why did the Angels suddenly appear when the Demon Army emerged? Was it a coincidence, or...? Also, why didn't the Angels give the three Soulstones to humans earlier? Why were there exactly three, not five? Why could the sealed Three Prime Evils eventually escape from the Soulstones? There were too many questions here.
(end of chapter)