4. The Past>
“In any case… it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sian. I’ve heard how you came to be here. Good grief… I’ve thought this for a while, but you really do get dragged into things easily. Why did you go near that place? I deliberately opened it far from human territory, beneath Dragona’s domain…”
“……”
“If you had left it alone, it would have closed on its own… What a shame.”
Even if he had left it alone, Krona, who had been worked up, would have entered and wreaked havoc inside, so nothing too serious would have happened. Kon-Rad had taught him that through Aksaray’s ability.
His tone was quite irritating, but Sian decided to let it slide. Too much time had passed for him to turn around and retort now, and more importantly, satisfying his curiosity was more urgent.
“Anyway… that’s just how it happened. But… what is that research institute?”
“Nothing much… It’s merely a relic of the Old Era.”
Ragaofe said this as though it were nothing special. But that only stirred Sian’s curiosity further.
“For a relic of the Old Era, it was incredible. I’ve never seen a facility like that, not even over there. Certainly not here.”
Unlike this continent, which possessed nothing but brute strength, the world on the other side was highly advanced in thaumaturgy and sorcery. That was why facilities like Amaran existed. Yet even compared to those facilities, the one they had seen did not fall behind—in fact, it seemed superior. Even through the eyes of an outsider like Sian.
“Hmm… To explain that, you’ll have to study history one more time.”
“Heh heh… It’s not as though I have anything but time to spare. Besides, your history lessons are quite fascinating, Mr. Ragaofe.”
Since they had been told that dimensional travel would take two weeks anyway, Sian had time to spare. And because he remembered enjoying Ragaofe’s history lessons before, he sat down with growing anticipation.
“Well… this story may take a while, so I’ll go take care of something.”
“Please do. You’ve heard it once before, anyway.”
Lord Rorval seemed to have heard the story in the past and headed outside, while Ragaofe looked at Sian and Steel and began to speak.
“Let’s start slowly. Hmm… I seem to remember that Sian had the Hand of Grang-La and the Great Armor of the Seven Planets.”
“Hmm… How did you know?”
“I saw you fighting before you entered Apendal. You were strong even then… but now you’re truly astounding.”
Back then, if one turned the Donnasian Continent upside down, there would have been dozens, even hundreds, of beings capable of defeating Sian. But now, there were almost none. The difference between those who had failed to cross the Wall and those who had crossed it was enormous.
“It wasn’t exactly a pleasant memory… but yes, I did.”
“Then let me ask you this. Who do you think made them?”
“Hmm… the people here…”
“Did the civilization here look capable of creating something like that? As you can see, this place has neither thaumaturgy nor technology. It is a continent devoted solely to increasing the individual strength of its people.”
“…”
“That’s true.”
Steel muttered with a strange expression. Come to think of it, it was impossible to imagine that such high-grade artifacts had been made here. The same went for the continent on the other side. No matter how advanced thaumaturgy had become during the days of the Empire, it was difficult to imagine that they could have created objects of that level. In the first place, it hardly seemed worthwhile to make items for the few Superhumans who existed, and as far as he knew, those objects had existed long before the Empire was founded.
Technology capable of folding and compressing dimensions, forcibly creating explosive energy, and cramming all of that into a tiny ring.
“Ha… Why didn’t I ever find that strange?”
Now that he thought about it, those were not objects that could be made with ordinary technology.
When Sian and Steel showed that they had realized this, Ragaofe smiled and said,
“I brought them from the country where I once lived. I took them with me as means of self-defense when I escaped from the research institute. The institute itself was also built while that country still existed.”
Ragaofe spoke of the Superhumans’ divine treasures as though they were simple clubs for self-defense, yet there was no pride or exaggeration in his expression. Sian asked another question.
“A country…? You mean a place that existed on this land? I heard there was no concept of countries here…”
“That is certainly true. You know why there are no countries here, don’t you?”
“There is no absolute coercive power, and no laws…”
The House of Duke Rorval was powerful, but it lacked the numbers and was far too busy to establish a country and manage every corner of it.
“Yes, exactly. But there was a time when such things existed. A time when something absolute and powerful existed. It was not here, but in a country farther to the west. My homeland, Broshan, was such a country.”
“West? Hmm… farther west than this continent… Is there another continent across the sea?”
They had heard that there was nothing but ocean stretching above and below the research institute they had visited. Since there seemed to be nowhere that a country could possibly be established, Sian asked in puzzlement.
“Ah… no, that’s not it.”
“Hm? Then there was no place where a country could have existed. Was it a very small country?”
Ragaofe shook his head.
“No. It was a superpower that ruled over an area almost as vast as the present continent.”
“Such a…”
Combining those words with the grotesquely shattered and melted coastline, Sian was able to reach a single conclusion. Seeing his expression, Ragaofe spoke with a bitter look.
“Everything beyond the coastline you saw was originally a continent ruled by my country, Broshan. It was, quite literally, a continent. Now, however, it has all become ocean.”
“……”
“It cannot be found anymore. The research institute you saw was Broshan’s far-eastern research institute. Thanks to that, it barely managed to survive the Day of the Great Catastrophe without being destroyed. So did I, along with everyone inside it. Everyone else died.”
Steel pondered the statement that a landmass as large as the present continent had simply sunk beneath the sea, then asked,
“Did it get pounded by some kind of meteor shower?”
He could not think of anything that could have caused destruction on such a scale. Recalling the Meteor Summoning thaumaturgy, which boasted the greatest power among the grand thaumaturgies, Steel asked cautiously,
“A meteor would have been easy enough to destroy. We possessed technology of that caliber.”
“Ha… Then what was it… Krona or Dragona?”
Ragaofe gave a bitter smile.
“Krona and Dragona were not Alphas back then. They were merely Betas. Krona, who was at the very pinnacle of Beta, was certainly a frightening being, but… in those days, there was not a single thing we feared.”
“Hmm?”
“Because we had the great War God who protected our monotheistic nation, Broshan. Well… he wasn’t omniscient and omnipotent like a true god, but don’t people call someone a god when he is unbelievably skilled at one thing and can be relied upon tremendously? By that standard, he was more than worthy of being called a god.”
He was the first and last Alpha of the human race, and more powerful than any Alpha of any other species. That was why, despite ascending from a human body, no one called him an Alpha.
He was not a true god. But the only word suited to venerate his might was “god.” And among such titles, the one most fitting for his destructive power and arrogance was War God.
A man who began as a human, cast off humanity, and rose to the realm of the gods. An absolute powerhouse who had never once known defeat.
At the same time, he was the god of destruction who drove Broshan beneath the sea.
Broxian, the name of Kon-Rad’s previous life, was the same, but his might was on an entirely different level. In the first place, that name had been taken from him.
Ragaofe recalled the name once more, then began to speak as he reminisced about the past.
☆ ☆ ☆
In those days, the human race possessed a level of strength similar to that of the present. For that reason, they lacked the power to rule the continent. Strangely enough, no Betas emerged among the humans.
No matter how many people were blocked by the Wall, it was difficult to defeat a species that had produced a Beta. Even more so if that Beta had crossed two Walls. Thus, the human race lived in a corner of the western continent. They were not a weak species, but they certainly were not a strong one either. The continent was teeming with truly monstrous species. In particular, there were species of the Rotan level that had produced Alphas. Species ruled by beings like the Seven Horns. Naturally, the hegemony of the continent belonged to them.
Then, against odds as miraculous as a miracle itself, someone appeared who broke through wall after wall and reached the realm of Alpha. By the standards of today, he had become one of the Seven Horns. His name in the ancient language was Broxian.
Broxian did not merely become an Alpha. After reaching Alpha, he began hunting the Alphas of countless species across the continent, using them to grow stronger. After countless years had passed, the title of War God came to precede Broxian’s name. The god of war, quite literally. A mighty being who won every battle he fought and mercilessly crushed anyone who stood in his way, knowing no defeat.
By then, the west of the continent belonged to the human race. It was not because Broxian particularly cherished his fellow humans, cared for them, or hunted down and beheaded those who struck at them. Broxian was interested only in battles against the strong. Yet he went around cutting off the heads of every Alpha in his vicinity, and there was no way the surrounding species would simply stand aside and say, “Please, take our leader’s head.” As those species were swept away, the lands they had occupied were gradually claimed by the human race.
Broxian had little interest in ruling. But that did not mean he lacked human emotions. There were people he cherished, and his women bore his children—the inheritors of the War God’s blood.
Those who inherited the divine blood effectively ruled the nation beneath the War God. It was not merely because they had earned the War God’s favor. The abilities of the divine-blooded themselves were extraordinary.
They possessed two appealing characteristics.
First, perhaps because they inherited the blood of an Alpha, they gained the qualifications to reach Beta. Even if they failed to attain that realm, they were guaranteed extraordinarily long lives. While it was nearly impossible for other humans to reach Beta, these people were essentially guaranteed to reach that level.
Second, those who consumed the blood of the divine-blooded were required to enter under their rule, but they were guaranteed eternal life, and their bodies were altered so that they could reach the realm of Beta. Though only the first stage.
The result of combining these two characteristics was simple.
A ruling class emerged. Physically superior, with traits that seemed almost designed for domination. Whether this was a characteristic born from the human race’s innate desire to rule over others was unknown, but the divine-blooded born beneath the War God, Broxian, used this trait to rapidly strengthen humanity.
They brought every useful strongman under their rule. Not everyone could consume the blood of the divine-blooded. But those blocked by the Wall received their blood and became a powerful military class that protected the divine-blooded and defended the nation. Since they could reach Beta and were granted eternal life as well, the number of Betas increased rapidly.
In addition, they chose thaumaturgy as their method. Although the number of those who had reached Beta had increased, they were still insufficient to contend with the powerful species of the continent. Crossing a single Wall—the limit of humanity—made an enormous difference, but in other words, there was still an enormous gap between them and those of other species who had crossed two or three Walls. Broxian had no interest whatsoever in anything but Alphas. Thus, they needed another means of wiping out the other species.
That was why they developed thaumaturgy. It was the most suitable means of making full use of their guaranteed long lives, enormous resources, and innate strength. A means by which a small number of Betas could subdue Betas of the second and third stages. It was not the shallow thaumaturgy that had developed in Rasian. It was truly mighty thaumaturgy, powerful enough to manipulate the continent, shatter meteors as they fell from the sky, and toy with life itself. Though they shared the same name, their levels were entirely different.
The birth of a god. The rule of the divine-blooded. The advancement of thaumaturgy.
As a result of these three factors working together, the human race rapidly advanced its nation, and the continent came under complete human domination.
“It wasn’t merely a matter of trading blows with those coming in from outside, as it is now. No one could oppose us. At least, not in the west.”
Having developed their power to that extent, they turned their eyes outward.
“Wasn’t the heteromorphic art first created during the Imperial era?”
“Hmm… The reason the heteromorphic art astonished me wasn’t because it had been created for the first time. It was simply amazing that something entirely new had been created from nothing.”
“Hm? Wasn’t it passed down by you, Mr. Ragaophe?”
At that, Ragaophe shook his head vigorously.
“I majored in biotechnology. I knew almost nothing about heteromorphic arts. Being able to use something that has already been made doesn’t mean you can make it yourself… Even in my time, there were separate specialists in that field. People preferred turning created heteromorphic arts into treasures and using them that way. They were more powerful than learning the arts directly, too. I merely told Conrad and Tachyon bits and pieces of what I had seen and heard back then, but what they developed was incredibly fascinating. The level was far inferior, of course…”
“Good heavens… Was it really that advanced?”
“It was truly extraordinary during the Divine Kingdom era. We even made plans to create islands that could fly through the sky. We eventually gave up.”
“Why?”
“For one thing, the force pulling everything down becomes abnormally strong. We somehow overcame that… but there were some vicious bastards living above the clouds.”
“……”
“They didn’t seem able to descend below the clouds… but we abandoned the project because of them. They attacked us whenever we rose even a little too high. They threw lightning at us. Broxian considered wiping them out, but whenever he leaped up, they fled even higher, so he eventually gave up.”
“Good heavens…”
Neither the creatures living above the clouds nor the man who had chased them all the way up there to wipe them out sounded like anything remotely ordinary.
“We’ve strayed from the subject. The Hand of Granla, the Great Armor of the Seven Planets, and the Spear of the God of War were all items supplied to ordinary soldiers. Those who couldn’t break through the Wall would suffer heavy losses in battles against other races, so they needed something else to cover them. Some had been kept at our research institute, so I brought them with me when I left. A baron like me couldn’t possibly travel around the world without protection.”
“……”
“The official name was the Divine Kingdom Standard Military Combat Weapon, AP-4, but doesn’t that sound rather unimpressive? So I gave them more suitable names. What do you think of my naming sense?”
“……”
“Don’t look at me like that. Anyway… once we had roughly devoured the entire western half of the continent, what was left to do?”
“Hmm… Rest?”
“Please look at it from the perspective of the divine bloods of that era, not from Mr. Sian’s perspective. If your power was bursting at the seams, and you had a great guardian god who would kill any Alpha you couldn’t handle, what choice would you make?”
“You’d try to devour the east as well.”
Steel, who had been quietly listening beside them, answered with a laugh.
“Precisely, Miss Steel.”
“Well, I know that feeling, too. Hehe. Once I’d taken the royal palace, I wanted to take other countries as well. But I was more interested in cultivating, so I just quit.”
“……”
“Anyway… we looked all around the eastern part of the continent. Ah, by ‘the eastern part of the continent,’ I mean the continent we live on now. The western part was blown away.”
“……”
“Don’t make such a mournful expression. That was ages ago. It happened a very long time ago.”
“Please continue.”
“Yes. In any case, when we looked all around the east… we discovered that although every race lived there, there wasn’t much to be gained from them.”
“Hmm?”
“To be precise… it would be more accurate to say that there were no other races worth ruling. There was already a ruler here.”
“Good heavens… And this ruler was…”
“The Gernans. The east had already been devoured entirely by that race. Furthermore, their racial characteristics were so powerful that most of the other races had fled to that peninsula-continent long ago.”
“Good heavens… Well, that’s something…”
“Actually, the human race wasn’t particularly concerned. Those under the rule of the divine bloods were not ruled by the Gernans. In that case, the problem was simple.”
“You must have planned to send only those under your rule to wipe them out.”
Those under their rule could individually reach the Beta realm. On top of that, they possessed the formidable discipline of heteromorphic arts, making it the perfect combination. Wiping out the Gernans would probably have been child’s play.
“Yes. But we didn’t do that.”
“Because there wasn’t much to gain?”
“That was part of it… but the divine bloods weren’t very eager to do so. They said they didn’t want to go live in some backwater village…”
“……”
“Back then, the closer one lived to Broxian, the more highly one was regarded. Everyone wanted to live in the very heart of the Divine Kingdom of Broshan, where Broxian resided. Most of the divine bloods lived gathered around that area. There were no divine bloods who wanted to go to some rural backwater. And it wasn’t a plan that would take only a year or two.”
“Good heavens… So?”
“What else could we do? If the divine bloods said they wouldn’t do it, then it simply wasn’t done.”
Ruling them would have been bothersome, but they needed to learn about the races living in the east. Furthermore, to carry out the enormous project underway at the time, the more data they had on Betas, the better.
“So we built two places. One was the research institute you saw. Aksarum—the place where the truth is studied. Various kinds of research were conducted there. I was there too, as a researcher.”
Sian had wondered why it had been built in the east, but it seemed to have been created to study the races there. Only then did Sian begin to understand the Betas of the other races imprisoned inside. They had probably been captured for experimentation. And they had remained imprisoned there for their entire lives, never being released. Time flowed differently inside, so it wasn’t strange for them to still be alive; their lifespans were comparable to those of Betas.
As Sian pondered this, Steel asked another question.
“Where was the other one?”
“You must know the other one quite well, Mr. Sian.”
“…”
“Don’t tell me…”
“That’s right. It was Apental.”
“…”
“Why in the world was that place built?”
Ragaophe gave a bitter smile and answered.
“Whenever research is conducted… there are always many failures, and a great deal of waste.”
“……”
“We thought we might need those failed subjects someday, so we twisted space and created Apental. It may look crude, but it was a gigantic dimensional prison made by gathering all the technology of the Divine Kingdom at the time. Every race that failed back then was discarded inside it.”
“There were nearly tens of millions of monsters in there.”
Sian’s face hardened with disgust.
“Not all of them were discarded by us. Since it was a dimensional prison, spirits traveling through subdimensions were sometimes caught and dragged inside… and they probably bred after absorbing the evil energy within. Even so… it certainly wasn’t a small number that were put in there.”
Only then did Sian feel that he somewhat understood the venom, aggression, and evil energy of the creatures inside. If they had carried such resentment, been forcibly confined in a prison, and spent countless years there, it would have been stranger if they had not changed that way.
“Anyway… without intending to, Mr. Sian, you ended up freeing all the races imprisoned in those two places from their chains. That’s a good thing. We wanted to release them from that curse, but they were too powerful for us to do anything… I’m glad it has been resolved this time.”
Having to suffer forever in such a place was undoubtedly a curse. Ragaophe had felt sorry for them, but there had been nothing he could do. Now that the matter had been resolved, he thought it was for the best.
Steel grew curious and asked,
“Then didn’t you discover anything while continuously investigating the east? You must have done something besides running the research institute.”
Ragaophe sighed.
“We did.”
Then Ragaophe continued his story.
☆ ☆ ☆
The people of the Divine Kingdom studying the Gernans discovered something peculiar.
None of the races, including the Gernans, seemed willing to descend to the south at all. They tried asking about it, but the unintelligent races merely wore fearful expressions, and there was no way to understand why. As for the Gernans, they were so proud that whenever the researchers captured one and attempted to force a conversation, it would often self-destruct.
Leaving something like that alone was impossible for humans with such powerful curiosity. Under the divine bloods’ orders, an expedition team was formed to investigate the southern part of the eastern continent. The expedition descended steadily southward, and there they encountered a massive mountain.
In some ways, it was an unremarkable mountain.
It was merely enormous, and not a single living creature could be seen. The forest surrounding the great mountain was incredibly lush, yet for some reason, not a single blade of grass grew beyond a certain boundary. The mountain’s border was clearly visible. But having come all this way, they couldn’t stop merely because something seemed suspicious, so the people crossed the boundary and headed toward the summit. The moment they set foot on the massive mountain, they learned why not even a blade of grass—or any other living creature—could survive there.
There was no way the expedition team sent to descend while defeating the various races could have been made up of weaklings. Yet the instant they took a single step onto the mountain, they all collapsed, feeling as though their organs were being twisted and their limbs warped. Those at higher realms managed to advance a little farther, but as they proceeded toward the summit, they too collapsed after experiencing the same sensation.
That place was later named the
The substances within their bodies became poison, only to turn into medicine in an instant.
The pathways transmitting nerve signals alternated between paralysis and normal operation.
Their muscles relaxed when they contracted and contracted when they relaxed.
Moreover, the closer they drew to the summit, the more violent the changes became. Realizing that it was utterly impossible for living creatures to survive there, the expedition team concluded that they could advance no farther and decided to go around the mountain instead.
The expedition team split into three groups.
One group went around the mountain range to the west, another to the east, and the remaining group decided to cross the sea. Fortunately, the narrow passage between the end of the mountain range and the beach was unaffected by those changes, and the three separated expedition teams passed through it and ventured deeper into the region.
But all three expedition teams returned in a state of utter ruin.
The western expedition team was attacked by a reptilian Beta Level 4 living in the Sky Mountains beyond the Mountain of Extremes. This Beta was later named Dragona.
The eastern expedition team was attacked by a mammalian Beta Level 4 living in a place named the Great Forest. This Beta was named Krona.
The expedition team that crossed the sea was attacked by an amphibious Beta Level 4 living in a place named the Great Western Sea. This Beta was named Raiona.
After they were nearly torn to pieces, the land beyond the
But the expedition team should have forced its way into the Mountain of Extremes and investigated it regardless.
They needed to find out what living creatures inhabited that place.
Because living creatures most certainly did inhabit it.
☆ ☆ ☆
“There was an expedition team before you, Mr. Ragaophe.”
“The history is a long one.”
“Regardless… it seems there was something inside the Mountain of Extremes.”
From what he had heard, something had been inside the Mountain of Extremes, and their failure to investigate it had become the problem.
“Well… I suppose it wouldn’t have made much difference even if we had known… but I wonder whether we might have reached a better conclusion.”
“What was living there…?”
Ragaophe scratched his forehead and began to speak.
“Hmm… I think we need to go back to the beginning of the story… I told you about the War God earlier, didn’t I? The guardian deity who protected Broshan in the west. Well… Lord Broxian himself wasn’t particularly interested, but his very existence served as a deterrent.”
“I heard.”
Judging from what he had heard, Broxian did not seem to have been especially eager to protect it. But since he was so powerful, and since opponents who piqued his interest would go out to fight him on their own, he had apparently ended up protecting the Divine Kingdom as a result.
“To our eyes, it was all the same… but when I heard the story from God, it seemed that he was an extraordinarily powerful Alpha, even among Alphas. Strong enough to tear apart and kill the current Krona or Dragona on the spot. He wasn’t the sort of person to boast… so I imagine that was accurate.”
“Good heavens…”
“The difference between noble ranks is already enormous, isn’t it? The ranks above them must differ by an even greater degree. In any case, we thought there was no one on the continent who could stand against Lord Broxian.”
“There was someone.”
Sian spoke as though he had guessed, and Ragaophe nodded.
“There was. And that someone was inside the Extreme Mountains.”
“Good heavens…”
If that was true, then such a being had been living in the southern part of the continent. ‘Whatever it is, I’d better not even go near that place…’ Even Harijans were dangerous enough, and to think that creatures like that had been living there as well. At the same time, Sian finally understood why this continent had not yet been swept away by the Harijans. It was not because the human race was strong. The Harijans had been unable to come out because unknown races were blocking their way.
When Sian wore a curious expression at the thought of what sort of creatures they might be, Ragaophe saw his expression and opened his mouth.
“Let me ask you one thing. In the La-Sian Continent, how many religions were there?”
Sian answered.
“There were two. The Sun God Faith and the War God Faith. Ah… don’t tell me…”
“Yes. Those two religions were created based on old stories I told for amusement. Well… some appropriate embellishments and suitable supernatural powers were added, of course.”
“For amusement…”
“It was nothing special… just a story about the clash between the War God and the Sun God. Back when Con-rad was Broxian, it was the perfect story for calming him down whenever he whined… but at some point, he started going around claiming that he was that god’s reincarnation. What a braggart. Haha! As if!”
“……”
“If you meet Con-rad later, be sure to tease him.”
“Good heavens… That story was true?”
Sian had heard it many times since childhood. It was an old tale about how the Sun God and the War God had clashed, causing the sea to sink and the mountains to collapse. He had thought it was all legend, but it had actually been true.
“It was unfortunate that the place where they clashed happened to be in the very center of the Divine Kingdom. Ha… If Lord Broxian had known that such a fellow was living inside, he would have gone to find him first… And if they had clashed inside the Extreme Mountains, then by now, it wouldn’t have been the western Divine Kingdom that had been blown away, but the east—the territory of Gerna.”
“……”
“Ah… if that had happened, the La-Sian where you lived would have been destroyed as well, Mr. Sian.”
As he said that, Ragaophe continued with the rest of the story.
☆ ☆ ☆
The races living inside the Extreme Mountains had all been watching the several members of the human race who had been loitering around outside the mountains. Their priests used the unique supernatural abilities possessed by their race to read the memories of several who had fallen.
As a result of using their abilities, they discovered something astonishing. In the distant west of the vast continent, there was a gigantic nation that had swallowed up nearly half of the continent, as well as a being whom its people believed to be a god.
But they were not the only ones who had a god. The races living in the Extreme Mountains also had a god whom they worshiped.
A powerful being said to shine like the sun, and an existence so mighty that even among their exceedingly powerful race, it was revered as the “Sun God.”
The priests informed their god of this fact. Their god, who thirsted for powerful opponents, immediately charged out of the Extreme Mountains upon hearing the news.
Then, flying straight toward the Divine Kingdom, he arrived without warning and began exchanging blows with the War God, Broxian, who had been residing in the very center of the Divine Kingdom.
The Divine Kingdom, which boasted thousands of years and an age-old history, vanished without a trace in the process. Along with the continent, which boasted a history spanning hundreds of millions of years.
☆ ☆ ☆
“Good heavens…”
Sian let out an exclamation. From what he had heard, Krona was not even on the same level. That being must have been among the very highest ranks of Alphas.
“Well… that is all I know. The story above was possible to confirm because the footage had been recorded and preserved at the research institute. All movements above a certain level within the Divine Kingdom were being monitored.”
“Hmm? What happened after that?”
“How would I know? The continent was destroyed in its entirety afterward. The recording devices and everything else were all destroyed.”
“…”
“Without even having time to escape, the continent and the Divine Kingdom upon it were annihilated together.”
Ragaophe had watched the entire scene from the research institute. The clash had not lasted long—not even an hour. But in that short span of time, the continent was completely destroyed. As the dust flew violently around them, Ragaophe and his colleagues watched the entire spectacle without missing a thing.
“Well… the conclusion is rather brief compared to the beginning and middle. That incident wiped out most of the empire’s population in a single instant. The research institute was located a considerable distance from the Divine Kingdom’s eastern border, yet everything was destroyed right up to the front of the institute. That should tell you enough. If the human race had not already been slowly migrating toward the eastern continent, it would probably have gone extinct that very day. Fortunately, the Gerna regarded humans as hosts, so they did not kill us.”
‘Ah… so that’s what the Gerna meant back then.’
Sian nodded as he recalled the last words spoken by the Gerna who had controlled the Earth Dragon. So that was what it meant when they said they had taken in the people of the Divine Kingdom. The Gerna had not accepted them out of goodwill, of course. The wandering humans had suddenly stabbed them in the back and driven them out, so there was no way the Gerna could not have been furious.
“Then did you leave after staying at the research institute?”
“Yes. That was research I had wanted to complete ever since I was young. I also believed it would be of great help in revitalizing the human race. My colleagues eventually could not bear it any longer and rushed outside. I thought I would be able to meet them, but when I came out, far more time had passed than I expected.”
“Ah… So you were the one in that underground laboratory, Mr. Ragaophe.”
“Yes. If you went inside, Mr. Sian, then you probably know. By the time I finished my research and came out, a great deal of time had passed. The human race… had been living a painful existence.”
The old days of the Divine Kingdom had been completely forgotten. In the era when possessing divine blood and living close to Broxian had been fashionable, the divine-blooded had naturally been the first to be swept away when the Divine Kingdom fell. Only ordinary humans had remained, building up their strength in the eastern continent.
After traveling around and seeing things for himself, he found that there was no greater chaos anywhere. There was no law, no order, nothing. No leader. There was no absolute powerhouse capable of uniting everything, nor anyone who could serve as a focal point. If this had not been a territory under Gerna rule, the other races would have devoured the human race long ago.
Even if he completed the project to save humanity, he could not attempt to put it into practice under such circumstances. Without the military strength to protect the human race, the project could not even be implemented. While he was sinking into despair, Ragaophe met someone. The sole survivor on the vast continent—the only member of the divine-blooded.
Meeting Rorval rekindled hope in the dying ember of his heart—the hope of reviving the human race, which was gradually being devoured by the Gerna and slowly forgetting its former glory. If they had divine blood and Betas, they could first drive out the Gerna and establish a foundation upon which humanity could grow. Although all the records concerning the miracles had been lost, they could always conduct the research again and rebuild it once the human race had been revived.
Having regained hope, Ragaophe began carrying out, one by one with Rorval, the project he had ceaselessly researched using other Beta species in the laboratory.
☆ ☆ ☆
“These are the things you are looking at now. The modified blueprints for Kiculus, Acra, Murakan, and Swarm, as well as the various laws and barriers… They are all things I completed at the research institute before leaving.”
“Listening to your story, Mr. Ragaophe, you sound almost like the savior of a crumbling humanity.”
“I suppose I do…”
As he listened to the story, Sian found it nothing short of eventful. The story of the La-Sian Continent alone had been astonishing, but after hearing this side of things, Ragaophe seemed like someone who had literally written history.
“Then, coming to the La-Sian Continent…”
“Well… after handing all the materials created at the research institute over to Lord Rorval, I came here. I thought there might be something that could help humanity develop. After that, things went as I told you. Well… the results were not particularly impressive, but I did obtain something significant.”
“Hmm? What is it? Why are you looking at me so creepily?”
“Creepily? It is an expression of an affectionate gaze.”
The blood Sian had provided for the creation of the Soul-Transference Jade. Ragaophe had immediately recognized the value of Sian’s blood, which had reached Beta 2, and had set some of it aside while creating the Soul-Transference Jade. Although the Soul-Transference Jade had failed, he had been able to bring that blood intact to the Rorval family. He then continued his research and succeeded in making Murakan powerful.
“In other words, the creatures over there are practically your children! Or your clones! Haha.”
“…”
“To think you would do something so perverted with someone else’s blood. And I am still pure, you know. Children, my foot.”
“……”
“Why are you looking at me with such a pitiful gaze?”
“…”
“Never mind. It could happen. You are only twenty-seven, after all, Mr. Sian. You will live for several thousand more years, so surely you have plenty of happiness ahead of you?”
“……”
Sian wanted to tell him that he was not twenty-seven, but one hundred and twenty-seven. However, it felt as though he would only be digging his own grave, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.
“Aren’t those Murakans dangerous?”
“They are safe. I raised them with Lord Rorval’s divine blood in them as well. As long as the seal remains in place, they cannot escape control.”
“Good heavens…”
Looking at how thorough Ragaophe was, Sian gave him an admiring smile.
“Well… that is all I have to say. You can hear the details about returning home from Lord Rorval and Con-rad from here on. I believe that is all I have to tell you.”
After ending the conversation, Ragaophe headed beneath Kiculus. Sian and Steel then had a brief discussion with Con-rad and Rorval, who had entered shortly afterward, about what they would do from that point onward.
Volume 9