Chapter 396: The Mad, Demonic King
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Perhaps, Y'zaks was not the only demon interested in the universe. Some world somewhere, there may have been others who looked up to the sky and were fascinated by it. However, Y'zaks was definitely one of the most motivated and determined.
He realised that it was difficult to find the edge of the bubble zone, even with the combined resources of the entire demonic race. Furthermore, the constant wars around the world had seriously affected his exploration. So, he thought of unifying the world into just one camp—not for the sake of so-called righteousness or crusade; he only had one thing in mind and that was to find out what the universe was like outside the bubble zone.
From his simple-minded plan to expand his empire, he became genuinely interested in the universe itself without realising. He was tired of his mediocre life and the world. It took him several hundred years to change his mindset, plus no demon had ever thought of exploring such a realm before him. He summarised his paradigm shift in these words, "The more I see, the more I discover my ignorance. I began to revere the universe and I became impatient to discover its secrets. That would therefore need the collective strength of the world."
It was normal for other races, or "typical heroes" in religious legends to make up a grand slogan to fighting for some righteous cause. They would call for unity in the name of some divine entity, executing it diplomatically and righteously in their bid to unify the world. Y'aks however, had chosen a different approach; he was a demon, a brute and blunt demonic king, so he chose the most straightforward way.
He decided to conquer the world.
And, he had almost succeeded.
"Slogans of righteousness and diplomatic rhetoric are just lame." Y'zaks spread his hand out. He was looking at his past from a demon's perspective. "I may have failed, but I still feel that I was on the right path from the start. I consolidated the races under my rule; I invaded the human world, the elves' forest, the dwarfs' iron fortress, and the territories of other demons. But this time it was different; it wasn't about enslaving other races. I was looking for loyal, civilised and smart people who could understand my ideology. So, I built a symbiotic city, created an environment suitable for each race, and treated them equally.
"It was difficult in the beginning, not because the enemy was too powerful, but because the demons had difficulty in understanding the culture of other races. Thus, they were unable to co-exist with other life forms peacefully. Yes, even I couldn't do it: I tried to take care of the other races, but I discovered that I frightened them instead. Hence, I started to learn their cultures...
"It was an amazing journey. No demon had ever tried to understand the meaning of 'culture' and 'arts'. Perhaps, I was inherently different from other demons. I was captivated and I quickly immersed myself in the culture of others.
"After I had enough understanding of other races, I issued a decree and became the first demonic king to establish a comprehensive set of laws. I established the bill of equal rights for all races, ordered them to live for a common purpose, and accorded them the highest level of freedom possible. I also ordered demons—the dominant race—to protect the weak but smart races, so that my research project could go on. I established a code of ethics based on a consensus from all cultures. Every race in my kingdom had to abide by it to ensure social stability.
"The only punishment for violating the law was death."
By now, Hao Ren had an even deeper understanding of Y'zaks, a demon who practiced the standard of the saints. However, the reverse was also probably true—he was a saint who acted like a demon. So in another sense, he was a tyrant, a tyrant with morals.
Perhaps there would never be such a ruler in the human world. Only the unique thinking of demons could produce such an odd ball like Y'zaks.
"How shall I say this? You were still on the wrong path." Hao Ren tried to be subtle. "Your approach was too crude; although effective, it only worked for demons. Other races are more complicated, especially humans..."
"When I finally realised this mistake, my empire was already tumbling." Y'zaks gave a wry smile. "Enemies were everywhere, inside and outside. Kingdoms of the world had declared war on me. They called me the 'King of Madness' and the 'Mad Demonic King'. Races outside saw me as a conspirator, who was attempting to destroy the world, while races within my kingdom began to fall out with each other. Some remained loyal to me, but most revolted. The saddest thing of all was, my fellow demons weren't tolerant of a 'scum with a sense of morality' among them. In the beginning, they couldn't fight me, so they alienated me; when I was under seige from within and without, they began to surround and attack me."
Y'zaks sighed, his face suddenly turning weird. "The most ironic thing was, those different races—humans, elves, dwarves, dark elves, orcs—in my hometown began to unite and form a never-before-seen alliance for the past 1,000 years. The united race, which I had been dreaming of finally took shape in front of me to finish off me."
Y'zaks took the shaojiu and gulped it down completely.
Hao Ren was awed by his epic past and about to go bottoms up with his wineglass too before Y'zaks stopped him. "If you don't mind, just listen to me. You'll knock yourself out with this..."
"No, I won't." Hao Ren smiled wryly before emptying the liquor into his throat. He twisted the corner of his mouth and quietly said to him, "It's not that I can't drink. It's just that I don't quite like it."
Then, he looked up at Y'zaks, hesitating for a long moment before saying, "In fact, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should."
"Go ahead, please." Y'zaks grinned. "There's no need to worry about me."
Honesty was Hao Ren's biggest strength. "You were a little naive."
Y'zaks was appalled and wide-eyed for a long moment. Then, he guffawed. "Hahaha, you're just..."
Y'zaks held his belly and laughed hysterically. His large movement rocked the whole place and almost scared the cat on the second floor. Vivian who was "stewing" Lil Pea outside asked, "What are you guys going?"
Y'zaks waved his hand frantically and tried to suppress his laughter. He then looked at Hao Ren seriously. "I tell you what, you're right, mate! I was naive. I was too simple-minded. Now when I look back at it... I realise, world unification isn't something a demon could have done."
"Well, it's got nothing to do with being a demon. You were just too impatient." Hao Ren waved him off. "You should've done it slowly. It's not like you're going to die tomorrow. You could've invaded one country one at a time until all the older generations were completely gone. The newer generations would certainly be more susceptive, so why the haste?"
Y'zaks was stunned. He scraped his bald head and said, "How awesome it would've been if you were my military strategist. My stategist was only good in battle, he couldn't really strategise. But, that's all history now."
Hao Ren carefully asked, "What about your daughter?"
He noticed that the conversation had drifted off topic and they ended up talking about Y'zaks' hundred-year war history. He tried to bring it back on course.
Y'zaks let out a heavy sigh. Regarding his daughter, he said, "She died when she fell into a crack, along with Osidia and the demon forces who followed me loyally until the end. I muddled along for some time before being captured by other demons. I was rescued by a passing Xi Ling Celestial and sent here. The rest is history..."
Y'zaks' voice became softer and softer before he sighed again. "After a hundred years of glory and despite my high ambition, everything was futile. The world's too big, while I'm too little. Perhaps I was really wrong; I asked for too much. I couldn't even save my own daughter, let alone conquer the universe. Yes, I was naive."
*Bang!*
Fireworks popped in the night sky outside.
Hao Ren and Y'zaks were sitting across each other. Hao Ren reached his hand out and patted Y'zaks on the shoulder.
Shortly after, there was a fuss outside the door, with Lily screaming, "Landlord! I just blew someone out of the sky!"