Chapter 15

Xain noticed the weariness in Ercale's voice and sensed the difficulty he was having talking about his own generation. Concerned, Xain gently said, "You don't have to talk about that if you don't want to."

Ercale dismissed the concern with a wave of his hand, still gripping the steamstrider's steering wheel. *It's fine. That was over a hundred millennia ago. I'm over it,* he replied, though Xain could tell Ercale wasn't being entirely truthful. There was a weight in his voice that hinted at unresolved feelings.

Clearing his throat, Ercale began again. *The 3rd generation was known as The Generation of Peace and—* 

Before he could finish, Xain interrupted with an incredulous shout, "What!?" 

Ercale's eyes narrowed in annoyance, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter, his patience wearing thin. *I swear to the fucking gods...* he muttered, his voice a dangerous growl.

Realizing his mistake, Xain leaped off the couch, practically throwing himself onto the floor in a hasty apology. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! I just didn't expect to hear that. Please forgive me, Demon Lord Ercale!"

Ercale huffed in frustration. *This is your final warning, ape. If you yell again, I swear I will… do something,* he threatened, though it was clear even he wasn't sure what he could do to Xain.

Xain quickly returned to the couch, relief washing over him. "But seriously? The generation you're from was known as The Generation of Peace?" he asked, genuine shock and confusion in his voice.

Ercale let out a resigned sigh. *I hate that I can't argue against that being surprising, but yes, it was known as The Generation of Peace and The Era of Science. After the wars of the 2nd generation ended, our generation was tasked with keeping the peace and advancing society, creating technology that would define entire worlds, and so on and so forth.*

Ercale paused, his tone darkening. *Utter bullshit. Peace wasn't a choice; it was forced onto everyone. It was authoritarian, with those who broke the peace suffering some of the harshest punishments ever recorded in history. As for the advancement of society—well, that part was true, I suppose. People genuinely wanted to push technology forward for the benefit of everyone. But Generation of Peace? My ass. It was The Generation of Facades.*

Xain couldn't resist a snarky comment. "You know what? Never mind, I can see why you're from that generation." If Ercale could have glared at him, he would have. Xain, trying to change the subject, glanced around the room. "So, all this stuff—the freedg, the teevee, the—"

Ercale cut him off, exasperated. *Stop butchering the pronunciation and just get to the point!*

"Okay, okay," Xain relented. "Is all the stuff here from the 3rd generation, then?"

Ercale shook his head. *No, it's from the time before I became Demon Lord, back when I was just a normal human being like yo—* He hesitated briefly before finishing, *Like the old man. All that stuff is considered old and outdated by the 3rd generation.*

Xain looked offended, placing a hand on his chest. "What was that for? I'm a normal guy!"

Ercale ignored the comment and continued. *Anyway, after the 3rd generation—*

"Don't just move on! Hey!" Xain protested, but Ercale pressed on, unbothered.

*Came the 4th generation, The Generation of Death and The Era of Freedom. You know that forced peace my generation maintained? Well, it didn't last forever. Another massive war broke out between humans and demi-humans—The Blood War. It eclipsed the death count of the 2nd generation by leaps and bounds, to the point that The Generation of War could be called The Generation of Skirmishes instead. So much death and destruction, all because of humanity's insistence on being at the top of the food chain and its desire for control. Beings from this generation are over ten thousand years old,* Ercale explained, pausing as if anticipating a question.

Xain, ignoring the slight about him not being normal, was stunned. "Holy crap! A war so bad that even the generation defined by wars has a lower death count? That's completely insane! And it was brought on just because of the divide between humans and demi-humans? That's all it took?"

Ercale nodded in affirmation. Xain struggled to comprehend it all. "Wait a second," he muttered, piecing things together. "Why was it called The Era of Freedom? Also, who won the war?"

Ercale obliged, explaining calmly. *No one can really be called the victor due to the sheer number of lives lost, but officially, humanity is what won. As for why it was called The Era of Freedom, well, that's because despite their loss, demi-humans broke free from humanity's control,* he said, before casually adding, *Plus, the dragons and titans breaking free from the gods probably had a part in it as well.*

"Uh, the what and what now?" Xain asked, his brain momentarily short-circuiting at the casual way Ercale dropped the bombshell.

*You know, dragons? The big scaly lizard-looking things that fly around breathing fire or whatever else onto things below them?* Ercale's tone was dripping with sarcasm, as if he were explaining something to a oblivious child—which, to be fair, Xain was.

"I know what a dragon is! I've seen two already! Even if one of them was a weird demon one!" Xain shot back, clearly annoyed at being talked down to.

*Well,* Ercale continued, *those dragons, along with beings called titans—humanoids who can be upwards of eight thousand meters tall—used to be slaves for the gods. In the 4th generation, they decided they'd had enough of that and teamed up to try and overthrow the gods. It went about as well as you'd expect. Now, dragons are very rare and hard to find, and all the titans have been imprisoned on a single planet. But hey, they broke free—the gods don't use them as slaves anymore—so, in a way, it was a win,* he explained with a shrug.

Xain struggled to digest all this information, feeling as if his head might explode. Before he could process it, Ercale let out an exaggerated yawn, clearly fake.

*Anyway, I'm tired from explaining all this to you, so switch now, because I'm just going to close my eyes,* Ercale said nonchalantly, and the screen Xain had been watching went dark.

"Wait, what? He's being serious!" Xain exclaimed, realizing Ercale was about to abandon the controls. He quickly closed his own eyes, only to open them moments later and find himself steering the steamstrider. "You could have just asked nicely!" he muttered with a pout, taking hold of the controls.

As Xain focused on driving, his mind churned with all the history he had just absorbed. "Maaaan, I want to know more," he grumbled to himself, frustrated by the abrupt end to the lesson.