Aziz entered yet another room, where yet another mad war was playing out around him. This time, however, the war was going on in a settlement. The demons were clearly on the winning side, killing human and beasfolk non-combatants by the hundreds, by the thousands. The defenders had been encircled long ago, and Aziz could tell that the demons were already thinking of them as playthings.

A storm was brewing high above them. Champion Solaris, whose eyes they were currently looking through, was busy fighting a single demon. Clad in a red and blue set of robes, Solaris’ foe was somehow still alive, despite having taken more than ten fatal blows in a single second.

“This was the third phase of the war, the one that the Central Circle had…manipulated in scale. Unlike what the myths told, it was in this phase that the demons were truly immortal,” said the old man.

“Truly immortal?” Marie asked.

The old man nodded. “Before that, demons could still die on the battlefield. They would be revived a few days to months after, depending on their strength, but in the third phase…”

He gestured at the room around them. “They were unkillable. It took many moons for the Cardinal Champions to come up with a countermeasure, but that wasn’t the only major change.”

“What was the other one?”

The old man smiled sadly. “The second phase of the war saw the exclusion of non-combatants from the Demon God’s target selection. That point had seen some interaction between the two sides; the Human God had engaged in conversation with the Demon God, and vice-versa. The Cardinal Champions too.”

“That…”

“Exactly,” said the old man. “Why did the conflict worsen?”

He snapped his fingers, and the world around Aziz changed. “By all accounts, the two sides were on the verge of a ceasefire. If that had gone through, Orb would have changed in multiple ways. But the Demon God had…turned mad.”

“Mad?” Marie asked. “I mean, it doesn’t seem that shocking, considering that we’ve been taught that the Demon God was a bloodthirsty killer.”

“Not that kind of mad, little girl.” Bokensha shook his head. “The Demon God…was sane, yet mad. It was like a tactical genius whose sole goal in life was to kill as many on both sides as possible. Before the third phase, what those battles looked like was just two mobs fighting each other.”

Aziz turned to look at his surroundings. He was floating from up high…or rather, Solaris was. The champion was looking down on an elaborate manoeuvre by the demons, but he, like the others, powerless to stop it.

The vision shook as Solaris took a kick to his gut. The champion reeled, but not before striking his own fatal blow.

“There was a silver lining, though. By then, the Cardinal Champions had discovered a way to overcome their foes’ immortality,” said the old man. “It was by accident, actually. You two know the importance of the mind and the will, right?”

Aziz and Marie nodded.

“Champion Solaris found that a certain state of mind and intent while attacking these demons would create a vulnerability in their immortality,” said the old man. “Without that, the demon would revive over and over.”

Blood stained the champion’s vision as he drove a blade through the demon’s neck. His foe raised its arm, intending to break the blade, but its eyes widened a second after Solaris withdrew his blade. Energy burst out of every inch of its body, and the demon fell.

“What intent was needed?” Marie asked.

“The intent to truly annihilate another’s life. To end it for the sole purpose of ending it, to kill for the sake of killing,” replied the old man. “Solaris called it hissatsu. In his language…it meant annihilation. And this was while the Champions were lauded as the only beings able to kill demons permanently. No one else could muster up such an intent without going mad a moment later, only them.”

“Still. That doesn’t sound healthy,” said Aziz.

“Aye, but ‘twas a sacrifice the Champions had to make, as well as the last few humans and beastfolk,” the old man replied. “I suspect that in the coming years, you and your troops will have to make such a sacrifice too.”

“But for these demons to have such a weak point…it doesn’t make any sense, does it?” Aziz asked. “Killing immortal enemies using a certain mindset… if that actually worked, wars wouldn’t be this complicated. Was it a weakness that came with their new ability to shrug off injuries?”

The old man sniggered. Aziz wanted to ask him why he did that, but he had a feeling that Bokensha wasn’t going to answer…at all. After feeling a bit aggrieved for some reason, Aziz joined Marie in reading some of the written records near the entrance.

“A madness, eh?” Marie muttered. “But what can turn the Demon God and the demons mad? Who can?”

Aziz pointed upwards. “You can’t say that anymore, not after the God of Water’s end at the hands of what seemed to be humans. Perhaps, the organisation the Lifespring’s assassins belonged to had been around for a long time.”

“Like they had a hand in turning the Demon God and the demons mad?” Marie laughed and slapped Aziz’s shoulder, causing the latter to wince. “If they were that good, the Five Lands would have been unified long ago!”

“Maybe they just didn’t want to rule?” Aziz replied. “The ruler on the throne must sit straight, the ruler in the shadows can lie down.”

“You’d be a prime target for those crazy groups out there,” Marie said, making no effort to hide her smile. “Better not go out there alone, yeah? You’ll be giving them your income in no time if you do.”

“Don’t talk about my pay and we can still be friends,” Aziz replied. “Right, can you tell Finance to pay me in freaking gold next time?”

“I’ll think about it.”

Aziz sighed and went back to inspecting the written records. All around him, Champion Solaris’ memory continued to play on. It didn’t take long for him to be done, and with that, the two followed Bokensha into the next room, where he began to explain the Champions did after the First Extermination ended. The records of this exhibit were more detailed and numerous than the previous one, and as it turned out, some artefacts that the Champion had left behind was on display.

“What’s this do?” Marie asked, pointing at something like a helmet.

Bokensha smiled grimly. “Tis one of those items used to restrain the Cardinal Champions’ insanity.”