After more than a dozen minutes of Sir Alfred explaining, Julian finally learned the truth of what happened 10 years ago that left Zaratul injured and in a coma.
He learned of the final battle in Zaratul's fragmented memories, the battle that later became dubbed as the Great Battle of Year 1895.
The timeline was currently November 29th, Year 1905.
Sir Alfred didn't tell the dark role played by Zaratul leading to the Great Battle but intelligently sifting through his fragmented memories, Julian filled in the blanks for himself and learned the truth.
Over a century ago, the Great Zaratul rose to power as one of the strongest Mages in the history of Gomorra.
In this world of Heroes and Villains, Zaratul was unapologetically a villain, perhaps the most devious villain in history by the time of his injury.
Zaratul was unhinged, building his Mage power system and his growth on indulgence and debauchery.
He indulged in war, he indulged in violence, and he indulged in pleasure.
Zaratul was not the first villain to emerge in Gomorra who sought thrill in violence and wars, but he was the first villain in Gomorra who didn't just seek thrill in violence but in indulging in pleasure too and he was great at both.
For over a century, Zaratul shook the very foundations of Gomorra, ruffling the feathers of almost all the major powers of the world.
He was unhinged and he feared no one.
He developed an infamous reputation for taking women to the heights of pleasure, and his reputation grew into a villainous one as he became known for stealing the wives and concubines of Kings and Emperors.
He attracted the ire and hatred of his own race after he slept with the first wife of the Emperor of the Infernal Empire of the West, a Demon Empire.
After that, the Demon Empire turned their back on him, eager to hunt and kill him with the rest of the world.
Still, Zaratul didn't stop.
He later attracted the ire of the Shereya Dynasty in the East, a Matriarchal Dynasty of Succubus.
Zaratul stole their Princess, Princess Pandora.
He didn't stop. Even Puck, the Princess of the Pangr Kingdom, a Kingdom of Fairies was enamored by the fairytale called Zaratul, running away from home to pursue her fantasy thereby causing the ire of the Pangr Kingdom.
That was how he also recruited Prince Bruno, the illegitimate son of King Bruno the Fifth of the Bruno Kingdom.
Zaratul went to the Bruno Kingdom, seduced the King's wife and slept with her. That night, while his father raged, humiliated by the unhinged Mage's actions, Prince Bruno found his calling as he found a mentor in Zaratul.
He wanted to be just like the unhinged Zaratul, so he decisively abandoned his father's kingdom to follow Zaratul and learn his ways.
The humiliation made King Bruno the Fifth a lifetime archenemy of Zaratul.
Cases like this fanned the flames of Zaratul's infamy.
He was also a powerful Mage. He was ruthless and violent, randomly attacking powerful enemies and killing them at times, while at other times he would randomly decide to spare enemies after humiliating them.
One such case was Dante, the Naga of the Assassin Class who saw himself as the greatest Beastkin alive.
After losing to Zaratul in battle on a good day when Zaratul randomly decided to spare his life, Dante decided to follow him.
But not all cases were like Dante.
For over a century, Zaratul made enemies with almost all the major powers of the world from 2 of the 3 Empires to majority of the Kingdoms, and even the villainous organization, the Demoness Sect as there were rumors of him deflowering virgins of the evil sect who observed chastity to enhance their powers.
His life of indulgence for a century, making enemies everywhere culminated in the Great Battle of Year 1895.
The strongest Awakened of the world, Heroes and Villains ganged up on Zaratul after cornering him inside his infamous castle.
Zaratul should have died.
Yet, somehow, the most infamous Awakened of his generation survived, forced into a state of coma from a battle that ended up taking the lives of 3 Level 100 Heroes and 1 of the High Priestesses of the Demoness Sect, a true Villainess and a Level 100 Fate Sovereign!
Just before he entered a state of coma, in a last act of vendetta against his enemies, Zaratul cast a Forbidden Spell- Fertility Curse.
Zaratul was known as one of the scariest Mages of his generation not just because of his debauchery and sexual escapades but because of his myriad skills and spells that he created outside the conventional Mage skills, including the Forbidden Spell- Fertility Curse.
No one knew of the Fertility Curse till that fateful day.
With it, Zaratul caught his enemies off-guard, retaliating by cursing all the men in the world to be impotent and unable to impregnate any woman!
Julian hissed. 'This guy!'
Only Zaratul could undo this forbidden spell that he created, and this was why he remained the no. 1 villain in the world 10 years after he left the scene.
And this was why all the major powers in the world were still hunting him down and were eager to force Zaratul to undo his spell or thoroughly kill him to end it.
The repercussions of the spell were already evident in the dwindling population of the world because in the last 10 years, races could no longer procreate.
Nobody expected Zaratul to last 10 years after the Great Battle but he did, but now he was dead and Julian was now in his place meaning the curse continued.
Nobody knew that Zaratul was dead though except Julian.
When Julian heard Sir Alfred's account and finally put the pieces together in his head, he was left totally speechless.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
On one hand, he transmigrated and inherited the riches and power of the scariest villain and mage in this world and on the other hand, he inherited the hatred of the entire world.
The contradiction perfectly summed up Zaratul's life.
'I don't even know if this is a blessing or a curse'.
But Julian did know one thing. 'With enough money and power, every problem can be resolved even in a fantasy world!'
'Zaratul, you've lived your life, rest in peace'.
'Leave the rest to me, I will take over and continue the legacy that you managed recklessly and create an even greater legacy'.
'I will conquer this world!'
With that, Julian finally ended his first meeting with his subordinates, sending them off with the excuse that he was still weak and needed to rest.
After that, he set his eyes on Dreadmoor's library.