Reborn as an Extra Chapter 636: The World Is Grey Because... Part-1.
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
A long time passed before Lia finally regained her senses.
"That's why I warned you not to heed her words... knowing too much isn't always wise, you know..."
"Knowledge isn't always beneficial; sometimes it's preferable to remain ignorant of certain matters..."
The world isn't simply black or white; pure good and pure evil do not truly exist.
Humans, once the unchallenged rulers of this planet, were compelled to divide their world and resources with alien races, while those foreign races fought desperately just to endure.
Humans craved affordable, mass-produced potent healing potions to preserve countless innocent lives and wounded warriors, yet fairies refused to be reduced to mere instruments of conflict.
The world exists in shades of 'grey,' shaped by one's viewpoint and personal decisions on what to accept or reject.
From the human viewpoint, fairies and their treasures could rescue millions of lives and strengthen defenses against demonic assaults.
From the fairies' viewpoint, humans appear as savage, ruthless invaders eager to seize their territories and plunder all possessions.
"Why do you suppose King Allen championed a unified global order? Why was he so determined to forge a world where every soul and creature is deemed equal?..."
"Though he ultimately failed, he nonetheless established the 'World Alliance' that resolved countless border conflicts and racial prejudices..."
"Without the world alliance, your present world would drown in anarchy, with SS-rankers clashing daily for their countries."
"Maybe the planet would have ceased to exist long ago in that endless turmoil and warfare... the peace we enjoy today stemmed from the grueling battles of the 'Thousand Year War'...."
Lia had merely encountered the 'Thousand Year War' in her textbooks and historical accounts; to her, it represented a distant bygone age unrelated to her everyday existence.
Yet that perception was far from accurate.
A conflict spanning a full millennium went beyond mere quarrels over territory and supplies; it embodied a desperate clash among countless races for survival and harmony.
To secure this age of tranquility, innumerable lives were lost, numerous races eradicated from existence, and countless atrocities unleashed!
It marked a time when even SS-rankers hesitated to venture solo, terrified of enemy ambushes that could tear them asunder, much less ordinary folk.
For awakeners, death lurked around every corner, with calm turning to catastrophe in the blink of an eye!
For everyday civilians, it was a period of utter devastation!
Just a clash between a pair of S-rankers could demolish cities and devastate minor nations, and during that millennium-long war, such battles erupted dozens of times worldwide each day!
Vast multitudes, whole urban centers, and entire populations vanished in mere seconds daily!
SS-rankers perished monthly merely to maintain planetary stability and thwart demonic forces from annihilating everything!
Droughts, famines, quakes, tidal waves, meteor showers, intense mana surges, rampant dungeon gate appearances, and more.
These catastrophes grew so routine that ground-based transport collapsed entirely, forcing the invention of teleportation to sustain supply lines.
The human empire boasts numerous firms crafting spatial folding devices and advanced space-time tech chiefly because crop cultivation became unfeasible under normal conditions back then.
Amid relentless SS-ranker confrontations, the world perpetually teetered on disaster; survival demanded isolated space folds for unaffected farming.
Even then, one could only beseech the skies that rampaging demigods, battling like mad warriors daily, wouldn't inadvertently fracture the planet.
The whole world endured a millennium of mortal dread! It wasn't a time for the living; it was hellish purgatory, where each extra day alive felt like divine mercy.
In those dire circumstances, no race—not even humans—hesitated to resort to extremes for survival, including exploiting innocents as potion ingredients!
[Had humans seized the 'Fountain of Elemental Life,' those scant fairies surviving today never would have reached the dragon valley...]
[Humans would have twisted the artifact somehow, transforming the fairy race into mindless livestock akin to pigs, endlessly harvesting 'fairy powder' even now!]
Upon hearing Kai's explanation, Lia let out a sigh and inquired,
"So... in the end, humanity never obtained the 'Fountain of Elemental Life'?"
Kai gave a nod.
[Naturally not... demons wouldn't idly permit humans to claim such a devastating 'war tool' without resistance...]
[The 'Fountain of Elemental Life' fell in some skirmish... I can't pinpoint which one precisely... but it likely ties to Kenorland city...]
[After all, fabled relics like the 'Grand World Atlas'—and possibly others—lurk hidden here too...]
Gazing upon this stunning locale, Lia's heart ached knowing its doom approached—or rather, it had been brutally razed ages ago, surviving now only as a faded echo of antiquity.