Chapter 301: True Identity [3]

Chapter 300

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Episode 80 – True Identity [3]

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Evans’s avatar silently gazed at his current self. At first glance, he appeared to be simply unconscious.

However, Evans knew that, in reality, he was experiencing millions of lives.

As he watched him, his avatar slowly began to turn translucent.

The Evans who had lived more than one hundred million years ago, long before the Divine Era, had created it for the purpose of removing the Seal of Memories.

Now that it had fulfilled its purpose, the avatar was slowly disappearing.

The person who had once been called Evans and known as the Sword Lord, one of the Eight Progenitors, had ceased to exist more than one hundred million years ago.

Evans gazed at his current self before delving into his memories, more specifically, the face of a certain girl who had been by his side practically since they were both five years old.

A smile appeared on his face.

“I suppose you’ve been living in the Void together with her, right, Emiry?”

As he muttered to himself, he placed the cup filled with chocolate coffee on the table and turned his attention back to the face of his current life.

Finally, he had opened his eyes again.

***

I slowly opened my eyes.

Although I didn’t feel any pain in my head, I was certain that, if it weren’t for my Pain Immunity Trait, it would feel as though millions of needles were piercing through my skull.

I blinked several times until my mind began to stabilize.

By then, the various personalities and emotions residing within my mind had stabilized enough to allow me to become myself again.

However, the stability was extremely fragile.

“For the next two years, you’ll have to use your Will to keep your mind stable. One single mistake, and you could collapse before the Assimilation and Adaptation is even complete.”

Hearing Evans’s words, I raised my head and looked at him.

I said nothing. I was still focused on maintaining control over my mind.

Then, I used my Will to reinforce the walls and pillars supporting it.

‘Thanks to the stabilization, as well as the Assimilation and Adaptation, I can continue to remain myself, but…’

As I looked at Evans, a question immediately arose in my mind.

“Why don’t I have the memories of my first life?”

My first life had been Evans’s life.

However, among the memories I had just acquired, there was nothing related to my existence as Evans.

Even so, there were some memories that didn’t belong to any of my lives, which already made me suspect certain things.

Evans nodded and immediately answered.

“It’s because of the Outer Gods. While the only problem with recovering the memories of all your lives is related to your mind…”

“When it comes to your first life, it’s different. You see, in none of your lives did you reach the First Divine Rank. In fact, the highest you reached was the Demigod Rank, or Eleven-Star Awakened, as it’s currently called.”

“But in your first life, you were a First Divine Rank God and fought against the Outer Gods. That’s why recovering Evans’s memories would cause the Outer Gods to attempt to enter our world ahead of time.”

“However, recovering the memories of your other lives won’t cause them to enter immediately, because they can’t sense you.”

I nodded slightly.

After recovering all my memories, although they were fragmented for the time being, I understood something.

It didn’t necessarily mean that I had forgotten everything I had experienced throughout each of my eighteen million lives.

Rather, everything felt natural.

I could perceive numerous changes within my mind, even in the way I thought. In some lives, I had been some kind of detective or investigator, while in others, I had engaged in similar activities.

Because of that, I could easily understand what Evans was explaining.

And although I didn’t possess Evans’s memories, I did have some memories that didn’t belong to any of my past lives.

That meant they were specific fragments of Evans’s memories that would help guide me toward our future plans.

“Well, as you can see, I’m about to disappear. So ask everything you need to, and then I’ll tell you what you need to do over the next few years.”

I nodded slightly.

Then, I began asking one question after another.

Evans answered immediately, wasting no time, and explained each point quickly enough.

“The fragmented memories of Evans contain only knowledge from different fields, ranging from Alchemy and Theoretical Magic to Theory and other similar forms of knowledge.”

“Among those fragments are also your Sword Art, Kim Suho’s Original Magic, Lorien’s Spiritual Art, and the Arts of the other Progenitors.”

“I advise you to create a definitive Sword Art. Don’t use only Evans’s Sword Art; use the Sword Arts from every life in which you were a Swordsman as well. It doesn’t matter whether you were the weakest or the strongest. Include every single Sword Art.”

I mentally took note of every one of his words as I silently listened to his answers.

“The Bandage you’ve had from the beginning was given to you by Emiry, although, of course, that isn’t part of the false memories.”

“The Bandage, however, has a single function.”

At his words, I asked:

“What exactly is the Bandage for?”

The Bandage, called the Mythical-Rank Beyond Reason Bandage, had always made me wonder about its true purpose.

Now, I would finally learn the answer.

“Simple. The Bandage serves as an Identity Seal. As long as you’re wearing it, the Outer Gods will never realize that you’re Evans.”

“…..”

I was slightly surprised.

However, after thinking about it, I understood that recovering my memories or completing the Main Quests would inevitably attract their attention.

But as long as I wore the Bandage, the Outer Gods would never discover my true identity.

Finally, after dozens of questions and answers, Evans changed the subject and spoke immediately:

“First, our enemies are four: four Outer Gods. There were originally eight, just like us, but we managed to kill four of them while they were under the Restrictions imposed by the World. We also received help from the Moon Goddesses.”

“However, we failed to kill the other four. Once they recovered their true strength, they began killing us one after another, until only five of us remained.”

“Then who are those four Outer Gods?”

At my question, Evans answered:

“They currently go by the names Ordeal, God of Light; Theodore, God of Hope; Merlin, God of Prosperity; and Omebella, Goddess of Life. These four Outer Gods have been masquerading as Gods of Origin.”

“I have no idea what their objective is in pretending to be Gods of Origin. However, whatever it may be, we must destroy the faith that all living beings have in the four Churches.”

“…!?”

I was surprised for a second before regaining my composure as I processed the true identities of the four Gods who ruled this world.

‘So they were Outer Gods all along. Even my life as Khael thought those Gods were Gods of Origin.’

But there was no time to think or be surprised.

Right at that moment, a notification suddenly appeared before my eyes, startling me for an instant.

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■| Main Quest – Blind Faith.

Category: –

Difficulty: –

Description: Destroy the Faith of those who follow the Four Churches throughout the World.

∆ Time Limit: 1 year.

∆ Reward: The Assimilation and Adaptation of memories is reduced from 703 to 670 days.

∆ Failure: ???

∆ Status: In Progress.

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After reading the new Quest, I adopted a neutral expression.

Although the Holy Church had attacked me recently, in reality, almost no one knew that the Pope and the three Cardinals had died.

‘Killing the Popes of all the Churches actually isn’t that difficult. The real problem will be eliminating the Faith of everyone who follows these Churches.’

Putting those thoughts aside, I turned my attention back to Evans.

“I suppose you’ve already received the new quest. Well, let’s continue.”

I nodded slightly and listened in silence.

“Second, you must recover the Sealed Souls of Spring, Winter, and Autumn. According to Kim Suho’s Visions, the Soul of Spring is somewhere on the Astral Continent. Since the Fifth Mission will take place on the Astral Continent, try to look for Spring.”

I nodded slightly.

The next second, a new quest appeared before my eyes.

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■| Main Quest – Spring, Winter, and Autumn.

Category: –

Difficulty: –

Description: Three of the Twelve Moon Goddesses who helped kill four of the Outer Gods. Their physical bodies were annihilated by Ordeal and Merlin, who sealed their Souls somewhere in the world.

∆ Time Limit: 2 years.

∆ Reward: Spring, Winter, and Autumn will decide what to give you.

∆ Failure: It is speculated that Ordeal and Merlin intend to devour the three Divine Souls of the three Moon Goddesses.

∆ Status: In Progress.

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As I quickly read through the quest, Evans’s voice continued. At the same time, his body began to fade until it was almost completely gone.

“Third, according to Kim Suho, Diana may become an Evil Goddess if she fails to control the Evil Bloodline that she is destined to awaken in the near future.”

“I’m not sure when it will happen, but just in case, stay close to her. We can’t afford to lose the ‘Vessels.'”

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■| Main Quest – Evil Bloodline.

Category: –

Difficulty: –

Description: Diana Arsene will awaken an Evil Bloodline in the future that will allow her to reach the First Divine Rank without much effort. However, according to Kim Suho’s Visions of the future, the Progenitor Mage, there is a possibility that she will become an Evil Goddess for an unknown reason.

∆ Time Limit: ???

∆ Reward: –

∆ Failure: The Vessel, Diana Arsene, may die.

∆ Status: In Progress.

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I quickly read the third quest before turning my attention back to Evans.

“That’s everything important you need to keep in mind. For now, the last two quests are the most important. The first one isn’t an immediate priority, since we have a two-year deadline.”

“However, it would be better to complete the first two quests as soon as possible.”

I nodded slightly as I watched Evans’s figure, which was already almost completely invisible before my eyes.

It was clear that he only had a few minutes left.

“Oh, and by the way, before I disappear, I want to do something for Emiry.”

I thought about it for a second and nodded without hesitation.

“What do you need me to do?”

Evans smiled and began explaining what he wanted to do.

After hearing his words, I simply nodded.

Finally, it was time to leave the Mirror of the Past.

—

Veronica was sitting on top of some rubble that she had piled on top of one another to create a small, flat platform.

From there, she waited patiently as time passed.

However, her eyes never left the enormous Mirror of the Past, which glowed as its water-like surface constantly rippled.

“…”

Right at that moment, her eyes caught sight of something inside the mirror.

She immediately stood up.

She hurried toward the mirror and stopped five meters away.

Then she waited for a few seconds.

The next moment, Adel’s figure appeared before her.

At first glance, he looked exactly the same as before.

However, Veronica’s gaze remained fixed on his face.

This time, he wasn’t wearing the Bandage over his eyes, and his expression was completely different from his usual one.

Veronica, no, Emiry, looked directly into Evans’s eyes.

Her heart began pounding wildly as tears welled up in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Evans smiled faintly, opened his arms, and said:

“It’s been two hundred and twenty million years since I last saw you, my little childhood friend, Emiry.”

Without hesitation, Emiry ran toward Evans and threw her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably.

“E-Evans, I’ve missed you for so long. I’ve been in the Void for so long, waiting for this damn day for millions of years.”

Tears streamed down her face without end as she thought about all the time she had spent waiting for her lifelong best friend.

The friend she had lived with since they were five years old in an orphanage.

They had stayed there for a decade before venturing out into the outside world and beginning to live together.

They were childhood friends who, even after the Apocalypse, had never been separated.

“I’ve missed you too, Emiry. I promise, once again, that I will reclaim our home, and we will hold a funeral for our friends who died on ‘that’ day.”

Now, after two hundred and twenty million years, they had finally reunited.

Evans smiled as he embraced his friend, the same friend who had always teased him.

The same friend who had sacrificed herself at the very end to allow him to drive the Outer Gods out of the world and bring temporary peace to this world.

It was a reunion they had both longed for throughout countless years.

For two hundred and twenty million years.

.

.

.

—End of Part One: Unknown—

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-Author’s Note.

Officially, this is where Part One (Volume One) of Adel’s story comes to an end, along with the grand plan that Evans and the other Progenitors devised to defeat the Four Outer Gods and reclaim their world’s freedom.

There are a few things I want to talk about, so if you’re reading this, I hope you don’t get bored.

First: Originally, Part One was supposed to last between 500 and 600 chapters, but I eventually decided to scrap many Arcs that weren’t really going to have much importance to the story, along with some side stories about extra characters or antagonists. Some of those Arcs would have lasted around 50 chapters or even longer.

Second: I plan to rewrite everything from the Prologue to Chapter 60. There are a total of three Arcs within those chapters. I won’t change the first one; it will remain the same, but it will be better written and structured. Meanwhile, the second and third Arcs will be completely rewritten.

The goal of this rewrite is to improve the flow and fix some things that I discarded in the more recent chapters. So I’ll be fixing the beginning of this story, and of course, you won’t need to read the beginning again.

On the other hand, there are also some chapters from the Fallen Maiden Arc, the Black City Arc, and the Exams Arc that I plan to rewrite because they contain some mistakes, as well as issues with the flow.

All of this little bit of work to get more readers to give my novel a chance will take quite a while because, honestly, I don’t write very much.

Third: Now, speaking of the next part, I plan for the next part of this story to be like a new beginning, so to speak.

And why do I say that?

For one simple reason. Honestly, I regret not showing the POVs of the other characters, since throughout the entirety of Part One, there were almost no POVs from the other main characters.

However, Part Two will be different. This time, I’ll actually explore the lives, experiences, and other aspects of the main characters. Furthermore, the individual Arcs for each of the main characters will officially begin in Part Two.

I’ll also be focusing more on romance, because there was almost no romance in Part One, and some readers probably want romance, right?

Fourth: If you’re wondering how far along we are in the story, honestly, I’m not sure. I tend to add or remove Arcs, character stories, and other things, so this novel could end up being shorter than I originally planned, or much longer than I originally planned.

But if I had to give you a chapter count for the end of this story, for now—and I mean “for now”—it would be somewhere between 700 and 800 chapters. And the “%” of the story you’ve read would be approximately 40%.

Fifth: I’ve made a lot of mistakes throughout the chapters in this First Part. Someone has probably noticed: translation errors, plot holes, inconsistencies, and so on.

I won’t promise anything, to be honest, but I hope you enjoy the story of Part Two. I have many things and goals planned for Part Two, so I genuinely hope you feel that the money you spent on this novel was worth it, especially if you read all of Part One.

Sixth: Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has been reading since the beginning up until now, despite the irregular publishing schedule I’ve had.

For Part Two, I want to publish 10 chapters sometime this October. Maybe I’ll be able to do it; it’s not a promise.

I’ll reveal the title of Part Two in the Author’s Note of Chapter 301, along with a reference cover containing spoilers for a major Arc that will be quite long and will take place in the Astral Continent.

Because although the Academy will now become something much more secondary, in Part Two we’ll finally explore the other continents, and the story will no longer focus solely on the Holy Continent.

So, goodbye.