Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Chapter 2232 Gathering Information: Losing Patience

Embracing her historically revised title, Shion set out to determine who was truly responsible for the state of affairs between humans and nonhumans. She wanted to understand what had gone wrong during her absence, and, if possible, set humanity on a less destructive course.

Believing answers could be found in the Capital, Shion ventured forth with the intention of enrolling herself into the Witch's Court. To her surprise, the organization had been abolished a few years after her retirement as an Adventurer. The daughter of her chosen successor ended up getting entangled with the firstborn son of the third generation King of Ashbourne.

Shortly after the couple's romance was discovered, the Witch's Court was accused of conspiring to seize power from the monarchy. History had literally been rewritten to make it so that the Witch's Court was a direct offshoot of the Holy Church. Historians pointed to the fact that Shion had once been a Saintess, and, instead of faithfully recounting her exploits during the 'Phoenix Rebellion', the revised history purported that she had agreed to become the Apostle of the Demon Lord of Cinders in exchange for an immortal body.

Following the revelation that the Witch's Court had been conspiring to overthrow the monarchy, the general public immediately turned on them. Those tasked with the responsibility of enforcing the law were rarely appreciated by the people expected to follow them. The moment they had an excuse to retaliate, mobs began to form with the purpose of hunting down and executing anyone affiliated with the 'Dark Arts'.

Though it was possible for even a simple villager to learn magic, those with a genuine talent for it were approximately one in ten thousand. People hated the notion that some people were simply born better than them, so, similar to when the Holy Church was in charge, people with an affinity for magic were accused of being the spawn of demons. They were mercilessly hunted down until the only forms of magic allowed to be practiced were Alchemy and Light Magic.

The most ridiculous thing about these 'Witch Hunts' was that the offspring between humans and demons were incapable of using magic. They had longer lifespans and stronger bodies, but, due to the incompatibilities between a human's and a demon's magic veins, their direct descendants were wholly incapable of using magic. There were exceptions, of course, but the vast majority of hybrids ended up crippling themselves in their attempts to master even the simplest of spells. Their limbs would, quite literally, explode.

Simply put, referring to magically inclined humans as demonspawn was just a convenient excuse to allow average humans to vent their inferiority complex unto the more exceptional members of their species. It was similar to older and more physically inclined children would bully and abuse children that showed greater intelligence than them. They knew their path was severely limited compared to those that delved in books and sought a higher education so they would beat and harass others on the grounds that their victims believed themselves to be better than them. In truth, they just had an inferiority complex.

Since gaining information through the Witch's Court was impossible, Shion disguised herself as a maid in order to sneak into the castle and gain access to its library. Her [Stealth] skill had long since reached the MAX Rank, so, even if people entered the library alongside her, they would completely ignore her unless she willfully drew their attention.

Unfortunately, while the Royal Library contained many rare books, it was no longer the primary repository of knowledge within the Kingdom. Most of the important documents were kept in secure locations, so, without any kind of status or clearance, Shion was left with no choice but to gain intel the old-fashioned way.

After sneaking into the Bureau of Registry and fabricating an identity for herself, Shion divided her time between educating herself and increasing her infamy as the Witch of Chaos. This may sound like a waste of time, but, after spending more than a hundred years learning from dragons, Shion had gained an appreciation for knowledge and proper education. If she could go back in time to the point when she assisted in the foundation of the Ashbourne Kingdom, the reforms she would have focused on more than any other were education.

With rumors of the Witch of Chaos's return spreading like wildfire, opinions were divided between those who resented the current system and those who supported it. Many outright discredited her existence, but, once the military police began implementing martial law in the areas where she was active, it became apparent that the Royal Family was treating the rumors seriously.

Around the time of her second year in the Royal Academy, Shion decided to throw a wrench in the Kingdom's war machine by assassinating the Prime Minister and every Military Officer above the Rank of Captain. She also began airing out the dirty laundry of various politicians and merchants, so, while many resented the Witch of Chaos for ruining their 'peaceful' lives, it couldn't be denied that Shion was living up to her title.

Graduating with Highest Honors from the most prestigious academy in the so-called civilized world, it wasn't long before Shion found herself in a Secretarial position serving the House of Lords.

As the name implied, the House of Lords was the Supreme Legislative Body serving the Ashbourne Royal Family. They were charged with drafting, passing, appending, and annulling the various laws that dictated how citizens of the Ashbourne Kingdom lived. With the obvious exception of the King, the representatives of the House of Lords were the highest-ranking officials in the entire Kingdom.

In the beginning, Shion was fully intent on accumulating information and slowly purging the more corrupt elements of the House of Lords. Even during her tenure as Supreme Justice, she had never harbored the desire to rule over others. Thus, while she was determined to try and 'fix' things, she had no interest in waging a one-woman war on yet another Kingdom.

After more than two hundred years of existence, Shion was honestly tired of dealing with the affairs of humans. If the Ashbourne Kingdom wasn't her own creation, she wouldn't even bother trying to fix things. She would have just let the Dragons lay waste to them as they had done a total of sixteen times in the past.

As innovative as humans were, their burgeoning technology was no match for Dragons that could annihilate the peaks of mountains with a single breath attack.

Unfortunately, at least for the people of the Ashbourne Kingdom, Shion had only been a Secretary for eleven days when one of the Lords threatened to obstruct her career path if she didn't agree to enter into a sexual relationship with him. This completely derailed her plans, so, as a reward for the inconvenience he had caused her, Shion ended up burning the man's insides from the waist down. He ultimately survived the ordeal, but, even with access to the most proficient healers in the entire Kingdom, he would never recover the function of his legs or the little sausage between them.

With her identity all but exposed, Shion disappeared for a few days before informing one of the state-sponsored media groups that she would begin investigating and executing members of the Nobility until they came to their senses and ceased their expansionist ways. As an added kicker, she mandated that all industrialization efforts would cease until the companies backing them financed methods to properly dispose of hazardous waste products. She had seen what happens to worlds that prioritized products over the health of the environment, so, while she was taking action to fix one problem, Shion figured she may as well address others.

For reasons Shion couldn't even begin to fathom, neither the Nobility nor the people in charge of various industrialization efforts took her warning seriously. The King even made a public statement declaring that the Kingdom would never submit to the demands of a 'terrorist with a god complex'. In response, Shion's next warning was accompanied by the severely charred remains of the King.

Similar to when Shion had opposed the Holy Church, those in power were quick to backpedal when they felt their lives were in danger. They were the type that looked down on others, but, when push came to shove, they were generally the most cowardly individuals within any given society.

Though a few of the more brazen individuals attempted to conspire against her behind the scenes, Shion undermined all of their efforts by simply refusing to acknowledge their attempts to entice or bait her into a compromise. Instead, she would issue ultimatums, and, if they refused to abide, she would simply kill them. Was this tyrannical? Certainly. Shion simply didn't care.

Over the course of a seven-year period, Shion effectively ground humanity's progress to a stop. Her actions had crippled the economy, and, as a result, unemployment increased from around 16.9% to a startling 83.5%. The only people able to operate in their previous capacity were farmers and a few people with specialized trades. In essence, Shion had forced the Ashbourne Kingdom to revert back to the medieval period until they could sort themselves out.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of people absolutely loathed Shion. They blamed her for ruining their lives, but, considering they were okay with their Kingdom laying waste to virtually every other civilization, Shion didn't particularly care what they had to say. She didn't like classifying people in such a way but the average person was a brainless sheep whose only purpose in life was to pursue their personalized version of happiness and reproduce.

When times were tough, the average person would put their nose to the grindstone and work hard to ensure their survival. When things became peaceful, however, they quickly became complacent and began complaining about every little inconvenience until someone came along to pacify them with some new and exciting product to make their lives easier. Those that provided such products would eventually become wealthy, and, shortly thereafter, the people they sold to would begin to covet their wealth. This contributed to a cycle of greed and envy that invariably led to conflict, and, as a result, suffering for those who simply wanted to live in peace.

So long as humans prioritized their individual happiness and coveted the success of others, such cycles would never cease. Thus, whenever Shion heard people insulting or ridiculing her while she was walking around in disguise, she never so much as flinched. She knew what she was doing was wrong, in the grand scheme of things, it was the much lesser of two evils.

What Shion didn't expect, even though she had once fought alongside one, was the birth of a Hero chosen by the Gods. Unlike the Heroes that had come before, however, this one was a woman with a near-perfect immunity to magic. As for her mission? What else could it be other than eliminating the 'evil' Witch of Chaos and restoring peace to the 'world' of Gisele?

When Shion first learned about the crowning of a new Hero, she didn't actually believe her ears. As the 'creator' of the world that had effectively become her private purgatory, Shion knew better than anyone the conditions to create a Hero. It used a tremendous amount of magical energy and one of the Artifacts belonging to the original Hero as a catalyst.

Prior to her 'retirement', Shion had gathered each and every Artifact that could have been used to produce a Hero. The Ashbourne Kingdom had also gone out of their way to kill off the majority of magic users so she couldn't fathom how they were able to produce a Hero out of thin air.

Eager to learn the truth, Shion returned to the Capital before promptly invading the Royal Castle. There, she found a young woman with excessively pink hair and star-shaped pupils living in one of the rooms typically reserved for members of the Royal Family.

While the woman's appearance stood out like a monster in the middle of a town square, the thing that caught Shion's attention was the device the girl was typing on. It was different from the kind she was familiar with, but, even at a glance, Shion could tell the highly accessorized device was a smartphone...

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'I wonder what Shion's alignment would be...?','That so-called Lord royally fucked up...','*Surprised Pikachu face*')