'No, I don't think that they would have that many paladins left. Although it would be the height of folly to underestimate them, it is not a wrong assumption that they definitely lost a lot of talents, reducing the amount of people that can pass down their skills to the next generations.
The ones who were strong enough to survive that war would have also died out, except they are from a long-lived race like Elves and Dwarves.
The beastmen of that world can live a few centuries but that's about it, they cannot survive up to a thousand years unless they are 'Legendary Level' existences.
As for the Dragons....'
At that point his thoughts came to a halt, his mind could not help but remember that day. The day that marked the beginning of the end of the war.
The day when the Demon King's right-hand man, Greater General McEnda IV stepped into Aidos and wiped out half the Dark Continent.
The day that the most powerful existence that Felix had ever seen, save the Demon King, showed up to battle McEnda.
As weak and injured as he was then, he had no choice but to retreat back to the demon world, after all, even high-ranked demons ran for their lives, and he was only a measly mid-rank demon then!
'Let's try not to remember depressing things.'
He snapped out of his thoughts and motioned to the scouts to continue, hoping that they gathered a lot more details about Aidos than what was already known.
The scouts began to give a rundown of the situation in Aidos, listing out all the currently existing countries from the current major powers on the two continents and their relationships with each other.
Five years was not that long, but it also not that short.
Within those five years, the five scouts had positioned themselves in the world powers in Aidos.
One was placed to the Elven Empire's capital, Lustea.
The second was in the Aelum Kingdom's capital, Eblor.
The third didn't dare enter the Holy Kingdom and only stayed on a country that bordered it, Deston. While not to the level of major world powers like Aelum, it was still considered a world power.
The fourth was placed in the Great Eastern Empire's major trade hub, Irisa, the city was also not so far from the Desert Country of Tarse.
Lastly, the fifth was posted to the country on the other side of the Desert Country, the Great Western Empire.
The fifth was also the only scout who had not returned to his home world and lost contact with the other four in the last week they were supposed to spend there.
They reported the alliances and political tensions between these countries and their neighbors.
Starting from how the Beast Kingdom south of the Alpha continent did not seem to be on good terms with a human supremacist country in the west.
They also talked about the growing tensions between the Great Eastern Empire and one of the smaller countries to the south that bordered them, Wolfen.
Some other countries who did not appreciate the Great Eastern Empire's monopoly over some goods decided to form an alliance in order to pressure the Great Eastern Empire into giving them some benefits in exchange for their neutrality on the matter.
They also talked about how trade with the Elven Kingdom to the north and one of the countries north of the Great Western Empire, Terrok was worsening as the elf slave trade over there kept increasing.
One of the scouts also noted how despite the bad relations everywhere, there were still some good ones as six small countries in the Beta continent united to form a larger nation, with their combined forces being enough to threaten surrounding countries that had existed for centuries.
There was also the case of two coastal countries on the Alpha continent, reaching out to their neighbors in the Beta continent and forming trade relations.
They also went on to explain the situations of other races that did not actively involve themselves with the world powers like the dragons on spirits, with the information on the spirits being very low due to the fact that they were not a race that could be seen by just anybody.
The talk about the dragons made Felix recall memoires he tried to bury deep into his subconscious.
He recalled the day he ran for his life when the only existence on Aidos who could match Greater Demon General McEnda IV arrived to battle the most powerful peak-ranked demon.
"Dragon Lord...Gorm."
"The previous Dragon Lord?"
One of the scouts responded to Felix's absent-minded mutter, snapping the aged general out of his thoughts as he asked.
"Hmm? Is there anything about him I need to know?"
"No... Nothing of note. Just that his daughter is now the current Dragon Lord."
Felix's eyes widened upon hearing this; he made a note to report this when he went to meet the greater generals later in the day.
'There's no way the daughter of such a powerful dragon would be weak!'
"Sir!"
"What?"
"There is something we need to say, it is perhaps the most important thing we discovered."
"Out with it already."
After receiving permission, one of the scouts stepped forward and began to tell the story of 'The Five', the five most powerful existences in Aidos.
"Current Dragon Lord Altrishia, King of the Beast Kingdom that is in the south of the Alpha continent Beast King Kolvar, Strongest Human Rathal, Emperor of the Elven Empire North of the Beta Continent, Elven Emperor Zaos and the one known to make the most powerful weapons the world of Aidos has ever seen, the Smith Master, Vulwin.
These five are the strongest beings in Aidos, and from what we were able to find out, each of them possesses power comparable to that of a peak-ranked demon.
And not just any Peak ranked Demons, ones on the level of Greater Generals."
Felix's expression contorted slightly upon hearing those words, however, the scouts didn't seem to notice and kept on talking about 'The Five'.
'If what they say is correct, then they have the power to easily defeat even the current me.'
He looked at one of the pictures on the wall in his office and saw himself in his ceremonial uniform, with the badge stating his rank as Lesser General showing on his chest pocket.
As soon as his thoughts reached that point, he then suddenly remembered something, his gaze turning sharp as he asked the scouts.
"What about the 'Seven Heroes'? Did you discover any information on them?
It was confirmed that a few of them possessed the power to interfere with the natural laws of reincarnation, besides, they were existences who could easily live for a thousand years with their power."
Hearing his questions, the scouts looked at each other nervously before replying.
"Apologies but we did not discover anything about them."
"What?!"
"The 'Seven Heroes' are no more than legends of a thousand years ago to the people of Aidos."
**BAM!
Felix slammed his fist on the table and screamed at the scouts.
"Legends?! Sure! They were definitely 'legends'!
But did you think that Legends would not leave methods for their descendants to prosper, or leave legacies for their successors, especially when they know fully well that the seal on the rift was not permanent?!"
The aura of a Lesser general of the Demon Army flared wildly, sending chills down the spines of the scouts who were only low ranked demons and making it harder for them to breathe.
Upon seeing the expressions of pain in the eyes of the scouts, Felix snapped back to his senses and retracted his aura.
"Tsk...How can you call yourselves intelligence officers when you didn't even think to search for any legacies left behind by the greatest threats in conquering Aidos.
And one of you isn't even here."
As he spoke, he pulled his drawer open and dipped his hand inside, bringing out a small wooden board with inscriptions on it that had a hole perforated on the tip.
A rope passed through the hole at the tip of the board and Felix grabbed this rope before pouring a small amount of magic power into it.
Upon doing this, the inscriptions on the board lit up, allowing for the scouts who were quite far to make out their contents.
"...Xakon Ilmoth?"
Recalling that to be the name of their fellow scout, they instantly figured that the board that Felix was holding was a soul board.
A magic tool capable of telling the vital status of the one linked to it by blood. One of them was about to speak up when something that shocked all five men in the room happened.
**SHATTER!!
The soul board in Felix's hands shattered to pieces right before their very eyes.
The four scouts' eyes widened as they could not believe what they had seen.
Felix was also initially surprised but that look of surprise turned into a frown in the next moment.
All five of them knew how soul boards worked, and the fac that Xakon's soul board had broken, meant one thing.
"Xakon....is dead."
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