Wasting almost no time when they started walking back towards the safehouse she told them about, Lass was the first one to ask Tiki directly about any sort of information he could get his hands on.
"So, what have you got to tell us? Because I believe that by taking us in, the implication of information being laid on the table was also a thing," Lass walked alongside Tiki.
Tiki sighed, "Fine. Where to begin...if you know any form of history, you'll know about the Great War. As soon as it started, everyone blasted Corosta with reinforcement requests for handsome rewards on our end. Some were so hellbent on winning that some of the deals we received far outweighed what the other parties could afford without having some form of economic ruin."
"Wait. They specifically requested the help of demons?" Ikarisa curiously said.
"It ain't gonna be the first time. Some records even say that multiple other instances of demon requested help happened. I can understand your curiosity on the matter, as normally it's the demon demi-humans, Corosta specifically, that offers the help and waits to receive the offers, but it was different that time. Even in the Previous Era and with the War Of Zero, demon assistance requests were there." Tiki explained said.
"A smart move if you think about it. Demon's destructive nature makes them a force to be reckoned with."
"Screw you." Tiki was insulted.
"Wait, I didn't mean it like-" Lass was interrupted.
"I don't care how you meant it, but we aren't like that." Tiki angrily said.
"I think it's ok though, right miss Tiki?" Terna politely said.
"What, I a 'Miss' now? You realize I'm head to head with you on the age department...somewhat, right?"
"I was being polite. But anyways, you can't dismiss the fact that other than what countries around Sandaco knew about Corosta, or demon demi-humans as a whole, only came from what little they knew from briefly facing demons, either on the battlefield or otherwise. With how enclosed demon demi-humans have been about everything from their inception, it's kind of irrational to judge someone for making what to you is an unfounded verdict, right?" Terna tried her best to level with Tiki.
Tiki nodded softly, "Supposed you're right...got your ways with words, I'll give you that."
"Alright, let me rephrase what I was going to say a little bit then. With how volatile their everyday behavior is due to their nature, Obsulyte flow or something like that, allegedly, nobody wanted to sign a straight up alliance with them. At least not that they would accept it, to begin with. Being a third party, it can come quite handy when war breaks out and everyone wants a piece." Lass scoffed.
"That's why the keywords were 'requests' and 'offers'. Corosta never once wanted a full on alliance with others, rather than to stay a third party. Business is always better and wider as a third party."
"Though the sacrifices were that unclear, because from what I saw here today...this definitely means that without at least one entity outside of Sandaco having some involvement, you were open to this.", Lass referred to the massacre.
"I'm surprised you're as dumb as you look. But you were lied to." Tiki acknowledged.
"Do I look that dumb to you?" Lass said.
"No, but your fighting is. Anyway, among the first request we received was the finalization of multiple genocides previously taking place in the War Of Zero. Not our proudest times...I'll admit that much. We were asked to get rid of the remaining Victorian, Larussian, and Galatean forces. We were told that the other ones were going to be handled by the requesters."
"Wait...that's so awful. Who would request something like that?" Terna frowned.
"I dunno." Tiki shrugged.
"I think the hell I do." Ikarisa jolted as she realized, "Insinia. Those are the requesters. The aforementioned are all extremely powerful military bodies belonging to neighboring countries."
"Funny how she just learned geography for that, considering that she doesn't know where to go without a GPS." Lass sighed, "But it's true. Why though? You could've simply said 'no', you know that, right?
"I am, uh...was, a mere officer. I'm just told to and do as told. All I know was that there was a grim look on the king's face after receiving that request. For what, I have zero ideas, honestly, because it's literally the demon king, the same king who travelled from east to west, fought countless wars and established Sandaco and Corosta, so some words frightening him was unusual, to say the least. Despite that, he called Neker in, his son, inside as soon as he dismissed me while I was present during the hearing of the request. Afterwards, Neker came out too, and when I finished kicking his ass in the training grounds his attitude and smile dropped to the floor and bellow. He was grim for the entire day. At night, during our patrol, he asked me the most bizarre thing I could've ever imagined. 'Hey, Tiki...if you were to kill something or someone...how would you make it painless?' A question which of course I replied with a shrug. What followed was a brief mention of a special assassination mission his dad talked to him about, no specifics, no nothing. Weird yet again, considering that he would normally let me in on all sorts of missions and issues he'd have. In the end, after a long while of being lost somewhere his mission took him, was declared M.I.A. by the 7th day of absence and actually pronounced dead by the 21st day of absence. For us to give the go ahead and give out a death declaration under someone being with M.I.A. status, it only means that the territory they were deployed at is considered extremely dangerous. And likewise, my guess was also that he was captured and killed during the mission." Tiki's face dropped, along with her voice.
"You...liked him perhaps? As a friend, I mean?" Yuno approached Tiki.
"Back off.", she punched Yuno away.
Yuno grabbed his face. "Gah! What the hell?!"
Tiki cleared her throat before crushing some rocks in their way. "Like I was saying. The king of course did not receive the news lightly and instead went berserk. I've never seen him acting like that, even during the darkest times of the Previous Era and the War Of Zero. He deployed me, specifically, to multiple heavy assault missions with seemingly random targeting. I've assaulted "Gardard", "Vardard", "Reingard" as well."
"Why are you calling them like that?" Terna asked.
"Because that's not their names'. Gardel, Veriti and Reinfar. Whatever sort of bullshit treaty they wrote to dispose of their foul history with a simple name change, I don't buy it one bit."
"Foul history? I mean, I know they've been to war, but-" Anya was stopped by Tiki.
"Well you don't know shit. I have experience from multiple wars to know what they've done and are capable of."
"Wait...how long have you been with Corosta?" Lass asked.
Tiki paused briefly as she thought of how to answer the question, "For 524 years. Demons have the third longest lifespan than these dragon things your floating friend over there is and some specific demi-humans. I've got a good two and a half millennia to go." she answered with a faint scent of uncertainty in her voice.
Ikarisa stuttered. "That long, huh?"
"Yes. Anyway, after said assaults, most of them successful, we managed to almost single handedly end the war by diminishing numbers and energy reserves. The rest was done after with the remaining cities and kingdoms going on either wars on themselves or civil wars. But what we didn't know was that this "alliance" due to the treaty had taken effect while we were away. They pushed all our forces back, and that was it, supposedly...but it didn't end there. That's when...this happened."
"So after everything was done and the war subsided...you got destroyed?" Ikarisa asked.
"Yes, but not from enemy forces. The entirety of Corosta fell under one single soul and forced me into fighting in this hell for the next couple of decades that followed." Tiki scoffed, "And I'd be a moron not to remember her name. Cecilia. Cecilia Elysia. She was responsible for the genocide that befell Corosta, along with the group of bastards that followed her."
"What?! No...No way! You're lying!" Ikarisa yelled. "Cecilia...she would never do such a thing!"
"I knew her! How could I mistake her?!" Tiki yelled back.
"You knew Cecilia? But...how?" Ikarisa paused.
"I...I went against my orders. I had conspired with her during the Great War, ripe old age of...14? I don't clearly remember my age, but from 12, you're enlisted in Corosta, so yeah. Anyways, my conspiracy or alliance with her was to prevent the attempted genocides requested by other parties at that time, because that had happened again according to her, during the War of Zero, and now basically everyone wanted to slit each other's throats once and for all. While I was 'assaulting' the targeted cities, I simultaneously, along with her, tried to help many escape...it was widely unsuccessful. Even with their escape, the other soldiers from both the Corosta side and the third parties hunted them down. The only few we could save were the demi-human lizards from Dirunon, or I guess from 'Gardard' before they escaped to and built Dirunon. That was because Cecilia herself was instead the one who fought against us that time, allowing me to rescue the few remaining from all of our forces having a hell of a hard time with her since she actually lived, was enlisted as a soldier of and acted on the orders of the then Dirunon king, who was acting on behalf of 'Gardard' at the time. They then escaped from 'Gardard', somewhere in the mountains and built a town or city there, that being, Dirunon. That was the first time I took a glance at what her true fighting capabilities were...they were terrifying. And that's not to mention her colleagues...the Silverlances. One of the most, if not the most prominent military forces on the planet, something that Sandaco was basically wet as a snail, wanting to face them to prove that the demon demis and their armies are the true best of the best. I be...we even based some of our codes, for 'White Warfare' after them. White Warfare referring the innocence of the color 'white', and that code was only mildly effective in preventing war crimes done by our side. Even then, with the Silverlances as an entity that pre-existed, a lot of the demon demi-human based war culture and preparation was based on their already established traditions. But when our deed was done, I was declared a general after some...some things happened, and saw the rest of the war going as you'd expect a war to go, with our alliance with Cecilia being most definitely hidden. However, during the hiatus and during the end times of the Great War, she had to aid other dragon demis, for some reason, to get the hell out to the new place they found. I didn't know why up until very, very late...in our books, what was left as historians recorded it, it's called the 'Genealogy of Genocides'. The darkest chapter. Dirunon, as well as a metric fuck ton of other places fell victim to the 'Foul Cleansing', a major, major, absolutely major sequence of horrid events that saw to erase civilizations off the face of the planet. 'White Warfare'? Pffha. Bullshit. The crimes committed, how they saw to erase entire demi-human species, men, women and children, the violence and sexual crimes, all for god knows what...no. God doesn't know. Because god, much like 'Ikarisa' over here and her title of 'Goddess Of Life', doesn't exist. And if there really is one, I'd slaughter them on the spot."
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Tiki's face turned somewhat grim as her words became more and more offensive and harsh, she herself being gradually lost in the deepest, darkest corners of her memories. At times when children would experience the happiness of games and frolic in blissful ignorance, the only thing she could remind herself of, was the worst the world had to offer, not because she wished to have a past that was dark only to harden herself and carry an excuse for the future, but because that choice was never hers but the few who had the position to make it for her.
"I was still underaged at the time, and despite our alliance at the time, after all those years...all of a sudden, I see her in front of my city's gates. Cecilia. She murdered everything and everyone in sight. I was hunting her down during her rampage, fighting as best I possibly could, failing every engagement, as I followed her all the way up to the castle at some point. She spared me every single time I tried to stop her for some reason. And I treated every single time she did as an insult. It was as if she was leaving me be for the sake of suffering by watching everyone die."
Ikarisa teared up, "Oh my god...Cecilia..." she was trying to deny it while knowing full well that the level of details provided was nothing sort of indisputable.
Lass comforted her, "I...I'm sorry..."
"I know I'm not sorry. I hope the bitch never once touched the Elysian Fields, so that her soul may cease to exist. She [REDACTED], when she gets on all fours and [REDACTED]. Hope she burns in hell for all the false promises, all the lies she fed me when I risked getting executed for conspiring with her, only to see her true colors in the end." Tiki laid her final judgement on Cecilia.
"Maybe you should relax on your wording a bit, Tiki...we really don't know the deeper meaning behind her move. How Risa portrayed her, and how you do, is night and day. Maybe there's a reason to be found somewhere in the middle?" Terna tried calming her down.
Anya sighed, "And...What about where you are now?"
Tiki took in a long breath and exhaled, "Right. Cecilia went for the king as well. But she was stopped by...a knight? A warrior? Hell, I don't know if those terms even fit this day and age anymore, though I guess soldier would be more fitting for its standards. I don't know what she was, but she shouldn't have intervened. With her lance at hand, she single handedly destroyed Cecilia, pushing her back completely. Though not dead, Cecilia fled back extremely quickly, almost as if she was worried about what the knight told her, right after she stopped her with sheer force because something was indeed said before they both left as quickly as they came. And that's not all. Of course, we had them bastards who showed up with their ultimatum that assaulted the city, with bombing attacks and infantry, taking full advantage of the chaos Cecilia had caused and burying us into a deeper ditch. However, they couldn't help but cry like a bunch of little [REDACTED], when we still annihilated them and pushed the out of Corosta while shoving that ultimatum up each and every one of their assholes in the process. Bet they didn't tell you that one in your history books. After the knight and Cecilia disappeared, we fended off the combined forces outside of Corosta and the city was almost left to ruins, the king...changed. He completely went mad, crushing what few things were left and causing what you see around you. Shadowers, as they are called, flooded the streets and took over everything that was still standing. The main plaza? That was the place when the final message was publicly announced from the monarchy..."We cry we hurt, we die. Doom approaches." Cut and dry, clear as crystal. 'We are fucked'. It became even worse when the Destruction Zone we had to externalize our inner Obsulyte surge, ran out of enough energy, and the very few that were left, grabbed their swords and guns and took to the streets to fight against the enemy in the utmost destructive and inconsiderate manner."
"A Destruction Zone?" Terna quirkily asked.
"It's a place that spawns a number of items, created by demons for demons in order to calm their nerves whenever they had the urge to destroy. It was a pretty brilliant way to convey their innate instincts without causing any trouble, I'll give you that much." Anya said.
"We...we aren't bad. We are just different. We too can have feelings to convey, despite what you may think. We are alive too." Tiki frowned, "Though...blaming you for this wouldn't be right. Because throughout history we've proven otherwise by our examples and like me, you are just another batch that pays for the sins of our fathers."
"Humans, demi-humans, what does it matter? We are destructive too. Even now, I can, or rather, we can understand how you feel. We are still in a war.", Lass nodded, "I completely misunderstood you, however. I now see a different side than what I had believed...shouldn't have judged solely on what was alleged about you...all of you."
Ikarisa wiped her tears, staying silent for a moment as she took in and learned about a side of her friend she would've never imagined her taking, "So these Shadowers...what are they?"
"Hell if I know, hell if I care. They are aggressive, hostile and that's enough for me to kill them all." Tiki shrugged, "As far as all the information goes, we might be able to find something in the royal library inside the castle. The only one remaining should be the king himself, so it's a simple walk in, without any guards. The king himself resides in the royal garden so, we can completely avoid him in the meantime. He's been creepily only staying in the garden and not moving outside of it, as the Shadowers he produced ruined the entire city, turned his people into either more Shadowers and bodies or worse"
"I say that after that, we go have a word with him...an end has to be put somehow. So, who is that king exactly? Doesn't he have a name?" Lass asked.
"Izuko Belial."
"Shit...that’s a Sentinel, isn’t it?" Lass said.
Ikarisa widened her eyes, "Izuko is alive?! But much like Kako..."
"Well...you did misunderstand Magi's signature for Kako's at Reingard, Risa. So, there's still a chance. Let's not go too far ahead of ourselves." Lass calmed her down.
Ikarisa folded her arms, "How many people do you think I'd know with a name sounding as eastern as 'Izuko'? But...I still can't feel his presence, that same signature that sentinels all carry."
"Wait, the king could be a Sentinel?" Tiki jolted.
"As Risa said, we might be looking at one, but then again, with your story and everything...could he pose a threat?"
"It seems to me that it's a repetitive cycle, honestly. People getting too strong, people going mad, rinse and repeat." Anya pointed out.
"Not like you are an exclusion from that cycle," Mellistar told Lass.
"That's because Obsulyte works the same way as adrenaline, while also stimulating the brain with a rush of a second type of dopamine that was promptly named dopamine-O, which causes a spiralling drug effect which, in turn, very much so causes lack of impulse control when it comes to the person wanting more of it," Tiki answered.
Terna paused, "Wait...what?"
Anya got surprised, "Uh...what the hell? Ok, that sounds...solid? But you spat that out? *You*?"
"Yes, you've known me for 45 minutes that means that based on what I said during those 45 minutes is enough to completely tell everything about me and judge me for those things. Way to go, dipshits. Do you even know anything about the culture of demon demis aside from 'Demon strong, demon mad, and demon bad'?", she made a sarcastic deep voice.
"During said 45 minutes you said more offensive things than you could get called out for in a lifetime," Yuno said with a straight face.
"Do I look like I give a shit?" Tiki shrugged.
"Yes," Lass said with a straight face.
Tiki scoffed, ignoring him before she got really mad, "Whatever. Hey, big one. Come help with this concrete boulder and make yourself useful. You look like someone not as frail as the rest." she looked at Anya.
"Alright." Anya snapped out of gazing at Tiki and cracked her knuckles.
The concrete rock was leaning against a building's door. Nothing that looked too big or too small, but rather, a normal, tall standing apartment building. The top of it had collapsed, much like the rest of the tall buildings in the city, which either missed their top part or had their supports and wiring completely exposed as they struggled to stay upright. As if it was raided, a bunch of claw marks and bullets lay around its entrance, signifying that guns were used by either normal beings or Shadowers who evolved into knowing what to and how to use them. Besides the apartment building, two more destroyed and collapsed green areas were found, one of them even having a half destroyed sign that ended with 'market' on its writing, showing an almost friendly aspect that had faded long ago. Pushing the giant concrete rock aside, they revealed the door leading inside. Going in, more of the same and nothing unusual, as Tiki took the lead to clear them through the ruined and seared destruction hall. Going towards the elevator on the left side, deed down the hall, that was no longer working, she pressed on a series of floor buttons as if she was inputting a code on a panel. Right after, a small door in the middle of the elevator's floor opened, revealing a basic metal ladder that was quickly lit up by a bunch of lights imprinted on the walls.
"Everyone like's going underground I see." Lass pointed out.