A Lesson in History

'Today we will be going over the events of the "Great Vanquishing."'

The class of students gave a collective groan.

"But, sir," complained Zinrus Eitrigg, a slender dark-haired teen with a haughty expression on his face. 'You've talked about the Great Vanquishing in four previous classes already, shouldn't we move onto something else?'

The lecturer, a bald, cheerful looking middle aged man with a broad figure and a thick red mustache, shook his head in disappointment as he explained: "The Great Vanquishing cannot be covered in a mere four lessons. It is the very turning point of history, an event that defines our current generation and inspires the very trajectory of our nation, the New Re-Estize Kingdom."

He puffed out his chest, beaming with a proud smile as he stressed the word "new."

"Now," he continued, "who wants to give me a rundown of the Great Vanquishing? Just a bit of a refresher."

Zinrus rolled his eyes as he saw a slim hand shoot up from the seat in front of him.

"Ah-ha, as sharp as always, Miss Firza. Go on ahead."

The silver haired girl who raised her hand stood up before speaking in a loud, vibrant tone.

"Thank you, Professor Tyris. The Great Vanquishing refers to the monumental defeat of the Sorcerer King 100 years ago. The Slane Theocracy mounted a valiant last stand against the encroaching forces of the Sorcerer Kingdom, and in one final epic battle, the almost invincible undead king was defeated once and for all. With their leader finally vanquished, his undead forces turned into ash and his champions were either killed or captured-"

In one corner of the classroom, a red haired girl snorted as she heard this. She interrupted with a smirk: "Yeah right, from what I've heard, the Sorcerer King's champions were almost as powerful as he was. You know, like the Blood Valkyrie, the Prime Minister, the Demon Hand, the Calamity Twins, the Frozen Authority. You're telling me they were beaten just like that after their leader's demise? If anything, they would've torn the world apart in vengeance. It's all a load of baloney propaganda if you ask me. How do we know Ainz Ooal Gown isn't still-"

"WE DO NOT SPEAK THAT NAME!"

Tyris slammed his hand against the marble slab that was his desk, cracking the very stone with an invisible force that rippled across the room. The students stared wide-eyed in shock at the furious red face of their normally cheerful and patient professor as he strode slowly over to the red haired girl, who was now terrified into silence.

The professor stopped only inches away from his quivering student before speaking, his usually enthusiastic and upbeat voice now a dangerous whisper: "What was your question, Miss Varnam? How do we know he isn't still here? How do we know his champions were truly defeated for good?"

"Do you know what you all are standing on at this very moment?" He pointed to the ground beneath his feet, sweeping his thunderous gaze around the classroom of students who all shook their heads. "Well allow me to enlighten you, my dear little nobles."

"The ground beneath you was once the seat of the old Re-Estize Kingdom. The Royal Capital of Re-Estize. Over the past seventy years, we have finally been able to rebuild some of what was lost due to the efforts of the great Sovereign Duke Riivan. But all this you already know. Let me tell you what wasn't written inside those textbooks of yours."

'The old Re-Estize Kingdom did not fight a noble and valiant war that weakened the Sorcerer Kingdom enough to buy the other human nations time to prepare. Warrior-Captain Gazeff Stronoff did not land a heroic blow to expose a fatal weakness of the Sorcerer King so that the Slane Theocracy could "win another day."'

"The Sorcerer King's army crushed the Re-Estize armies. It was like stepping on a bug." the professor gave a grave, dramatic pause before continuing: "Every city, town and village was slaughtered and the people turned into mindless undead. Parents would kill their children and then themselves when they heard the cries of the undead approaching."

Tyris lifted his hand, causing Eloise Varnam to flinch, but the professor merely pointed his finger towards the other end of the classroom.

"To the South of us lies what we now call the Dark Massacre Plains. You have been told that this was an area cursed by the gods, a divine act to condemn the violence between the Kingdom and the Empire. This is only partially true. It was indeed the act of a god, but not the ones you worship in your snobby noble temple gatherings. And the purpose? A demonstration of force."

"The Dark Massacre Plains were formerly known as the Katze Plains." His voice cracked for a brief moment as he spoke "My grandfather died here, he shat his pants as he was trampled by the giant eldritch monstrosities summoned by the Sorcerer King, killed alongside 170,000 other soldiers. My father was one of the few survivors of those harrowing times-that is how I know."

"And Gazeff Stronoff?" Tyris gave a dark chuckle. "Didn't land a single scratch on that monster."

He whirled around and walked leisurely back to his cracked desk, ignoring the stunned faces of his students as he moved. Without looking back, he asked: "Miss Firza, you know your geography. What nation lies to our Northwest, surrounded by mountains?

Mina Firza blinked nervously before responding: "To our N-northwest? There's no civilisation there, sir. That's where the Doomlands are. It's uninhabitable."

Tyris stopped. He responded with his back still facing the class, his expression hidden from their view.

'What you now know as the "Doomlands" was once the place of a demi-human nation known as the Argland Council State. It was ruled by a council of dragons, led by the immensely powerful Platinum Dragon Lord….."

"The Sorcerer King razed half of it to the ground with a single spell. I've been told that death itself rained from the sky as the land boiled with the screams of an untold number of innocents. The Dragon Lord himself came out to defend his nation, but he too was slaughtered alongside the rest, felled by the Blood Valkyrie herself. They marched straight for the Theocracy next, and let me tell you, not a single soul alive during that time expected the Theocracy to defeat them after what happened to the Platinum Dragon Lord. And yet, due to some bloody miracle, the Sorcerer King is no more."

The professor fell silent for what seemed like an eternity as the entire room of students watched the back of his figure with unease and perhaps just a hint of anticipation. When he finally spoke, all the previous anger had disappeared from his voice, replaced with an eerie monotone.

"So how do we know that the Sorcerer King and his minions are gone? Well, you all better damn hope that he truly has disappeared for good because if he ever does come back….the same things I have just described will happen to Every. Single. One. Of. Us."

He took a deep breath before turning to face the class again, the expression on his face now back to the sunny countenance they were all familiar with.

"So there ends our lesson for today. I'm afraid I won't be taking any questions for today's lecture. For tonight's homework, go ahead and read pages….."