My Celestial Ascension

Chapter 901: True Reason Behind The Holy War

’This young man… he wouldn’t joke about something like this… Could he really have fought gods and defeated them?’ Emperor Rhex thought as he looked at Yuan with a sharp, penetrating gaze.

“Yuan, although you may have brought down the Holy Church, killing gods is an entirely different matter. You should not joke about something like this,” Duke Hexryn said seriously as she placed her empty cup down on the table.

“It’s up to you whether you believe it or not. However, I did not lie to you about killing a few gods,” Yuan replied with the same calm expression as before. “In my eyes, they are worth less than dogs—and I slaughtered them without showing a shred of mercy.”

“T-This is… Doesn’t that mean you have declared war against the Gods?!” Rhex exclaimed, sweat forming on his brow as the implications hit him, a chill running down his spine.

’There isn’t even a trace of deceit in his voice… He isn’t joking. He’s completely serious. He truly has slaughtered gods!’ Rhex swallowed nervously as the realization fully sank in.

“I see… I never expected that you had already encountered those so-called self-proclaimed gods—and even killed some of them,” Emperor Rhex chuckled softly while shaking his head, still struggling to believe it. “I’m even more impressed by you now, Yuan.”

“Y-Your Majesty… don’t you think you may be making a mistake by trusting this young man so quickly? He has no proof to support such claims,” Duke Alric spoke with confusion, unable to fully accept Yuan’s words.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Duke Alric,” Emperor Rhex said with a faint smile. “I know he isn’t bluffing. He is telling the truth. After all, he gains nothing by lying to us.”

The dukes fell silent after hearing this. Their doubts about Yuan’s claims slowly began to fade, as their Monarch had chosen to place his trust in him.

Emperor Rhex ordered another pot of tea as the previous one had run dry, the discussion having clearly taken a more serious turn.

Another pot of tea was needed to ease the tension lingering in the air.

Shortly after, the servants brought in a fresh pot of tea and promptly left the room after placing it on the table, aware that a critical discussion was underway.

Emperor Rhex poured himself a cup, took a slow sip, and then spoke again.

“Yuan, do you know the reason the Gods waged war against us in the first place? Do any of you possess such information?”

“No, I don’t know the reason,” Yuan shook his head, genuine curiosity appearing in his eyes.

“Even though I have lived for more than two hundred years, I also do not know the cause of that war,” Mireya finally spoke after remaining silent for so long.

“Neither do I. In fact, there is no record in any book that explains why the Holy Church declared war on the entire demon race,” Kitsura added.

Vanessa pondered for a moment before speaking, “From what I remember reading in historical records, it states that the First Demon Emperor conducted an experiment, blinded by greed and power… which eventually led to the birth of a malevolent existence—the Evil God.”

“And thus, the war between the demons and the Holy Church began. The Gods summoned Heroes from another world to aid them in the war and defeat both the Evil God and the First Demon Emperor.”

“That’s all I know regarding that matter. Aside from this, I don’t know anything else, as there is no further relevant information about the war that can be found,” Vanessa finished with a soft sigh.

“Hmmm… It appears those arrogant bastards truly erased the truth from this world. They didn’t want people to know about their dark reality. What a bunch of cowards,” Emperor Rhex snorted coldly before letting out a deep sigh.

“Indeed. It seems they wanted to preserve a pristine image before the world, ensuring no one would dare stand against them in the future, allowing them to continue ruling while keeping everyone in the dark,” Duke Cedric muttered with a grave expression.

Duke Hexryn chuckled and added, “I would be more surprised if they hadn’t done something like this. They were always like that. After all, if they didn’t erase the past, wouldn’t it expose their true nature?”

“Yes, you’re right. If they hadn’t erased the past, people would rise against them. And they would never be able to maintain the title of gods,” Duke Alric nodded in agreement.

“Let me reveal the truth to all of you,” Emperor Rhex spoke after a moment of silence. “Before the birth of the Evil God, we demons had a very good relationship with humans and non-human beings alike.”

“We coexisted peacefully as neighbors. Everything changed after the so-called gods claimed divinity and declared themselves gods. Later, they created the Holy Church to further expand their influence among the people.”

“Humans and demi-humans wielded a power vastly different from ours—and far weaker at that—Mana. We, on the other hand, used an entirely different power: Qi. We were born with the innate ability to wield it freely.”

He continued, “This power was fundamentally different from Mana. It was stronger—far superior. Our existence threatened the gods’ position, and they began to fear our natural ability to wield such power.”

The gods then began large-scale research into Qi, attempting to understand it and harness it to become stronger themselves. However, every experiment ended in failure. Even so, they refused to give up and became obsessed with it.

Countless children were sacrificed during this process. Eventually, one of the Ten Founding Gods decided to use himself as the test subject.

As a result, that god lost his sanity and became corrupted. That was how the Evil God was born. To hide their shame, they shifted the blame onto the demons—despite us having done nothing wrong.

The Evil God continued his research and created Corrupted Creatures—almost undying beings with terrifying regenerative abilities. As his mind deteriorated further, he eventually turned his power against the gods themselves.

In time, the gods were overwhelmed by the Evil God’s strength and were forced to act. They summoned multiple Heroes from another world and painted the demons as the true villains in front of those summoned Heroes.

“It was only natural that the Heroes and humans turned against us and sided with the gods. In their eyes, ’we’ were responsible for the birth of the Evil God,” Emperor Rhex concluded, revealing the hidden truth behind the Holy War.