The Record of Unusual Creatures

Frankly, while Hao Ren considered himself well-learned, but upon listening to Constance’s retelling of the truth, he would have never thought that L’Haronne’s real history would be like that.

This was a universe that had been destroyed many times, and the destruction that it had gone through was far beyond the two times that Hao Ren had guessed earlier–the first apocalypse caused by the Lord of Madness, and the second one caused by the Fall of the Goddess. And in truth, compared to what it had gone through, the shock wave that split the planet into two during the Fall was nothing.

When the ancestral civilization of the first era that was powerful the point of being able to twist the laws of the universe was destroyed by the Lord of Madness, the entire universe was shattered into fragments, and the entire civilization wiped out, and now, only a broken planet was left, and the heritors were reduced to fighting with swords and spears, and what happened in between was not just the long passage of time.

Every time the universe is destroyed meant that the axis of time is totally destroyed and reformed, and everything seemed to be reshuffled as they were reborn, and the heritors were like a ‘fixed files’ that cannot be deleted during a reformat. They would continue on in some way in every cycle of the Annihilation, and until today, the heritors don’t even know what they have carried forward with them.

Hao Ren finally knew why the Gorgon Empire, the Tumen Empire and Haersonca were such different ‘kingdoms’, they were all civilization of L’Haronne, and were simply different names of civilizations in different times and world lines in the cycle of Annihilation.

Looking at Princess Constance in the eyes, Hao Ren said, “The first thing I wish to know is, The Lord… I mean the Annihilation, is it getting weaker at the same time?”

Constance was surprised by the question, and soon an expression of understanding appeared on her face, “Indeed, this is a key point. As the universe was destroyed and recreated continuously, it was not only the ‘source’ of the world of order that was chipped away, even the power of Annihilation had diminished. It could destroy the entire universe at first, but after a few eras later its activities is only confined to a galaxy, and today… its powers could not even kill an old coot like Duke Owen here where he stood.”

Duke Owen, who was laying in bed immediately retorted heartily, “Your Highness, I may be old, but I have yet to reach the point of being a weakling no?”

Seems like he had recovered quite a bit after some rest.

Hao Ren did not say anything after listening to what Constance had to say, and quietly took note that the power of ‘Annihilation’ will be weakened at the same time with the cycle, it was a clue to why L’Haronne was not totally destroyed. He then asked a second question. “Does anyone know what was causing the cycle of destruction and rebirth?”

“Of course not,” Constance gave Hao Ren a slightly odd glance. “The destruction and subsequent rebirth of the world, this is pretty much the truth of this universe, and even the most ancient of ancestor were not able to discern the truth of the universe, much less the heritors today, after all, the level of civilization had been falling as well.”

“Is that so…” Vivian spoke, “Does anyone know what the ancestors of the first era is like? Like what their civilization is called, what sort of technology level they had, and… what did they do at the very last moment when the apocalypse was upon them?”

Constance shook her head, “No one knew, the more ancient the memory is, the more acute the lost is, and even the strongest of heritors could not overcome this rule. Even my father, he only knows the history of about six to seven eras ago, and for the ancestors and universe of the first era… to be frank, those are almost legends now. We only have a murky concept of it, and some records that we had managed to cobble together, so that’s why what I said earlier was not the whole truth, as the true history had already been swallowed by the cycle long ago, and no one knows the truth now.”

And as she finished, she could suppress her doubts any more, “Are you real heritors, the question you are asking… is not supposed to come from a heritor.”

“That’s because we had inherited more technology and knowledge,” Hao Ren just came up with a random excuse, “If you are talking about high-tech stuff, we at the Basilica of the World Tree do have quite a bit, but for the historical records about the eras… it’s almost a shame to bring them up.”

“There’s such a thing among the heritors?” Constance frowned, “The universe had undergone too many cycles, and seems like the heritors are slowly reaching their limit… and many more unusual situations are appearing, but thankfully you brought knowledge with you.”

Rheia then asked, “Based on what you say, that Emperor Berentine is also a heritor? And this war that you are launching… is to complete the Turn of the Era?”

A grim look appeared on Constance’s face, “Yes, ever since I gained consciousness, I knew this day would come.”

Perhaps it was due to Constance’s grim determination, the room suddenly quiet down. Charlemagne and Awenna needed time to slowly digest and understand this bewildering truth, while Hao Ren was thinking much further ahead.

Like, the real reason for the universe’s ‘cycle of annihilation’, he believed that this was not the work of the Lord of Madness. The reason was simple, the Lord of Madness has no capacity to think, and could not create something this intricate.

At that moment, Constance held her hand out to take the platinum scepter that was floating in the air.

The scepter let out a low hum, and that broke Hao Ren out of his thoughts, and his attention was soon attracted by the scepter.

Before Constance took the specter away, Hao Ren quickly asked, “Wait a minute, I have a question. What does this scepter actually do?”

The Scepter of Sovereignty is the key for the Turn of the Era,” Constance was patient, “When the War of the Turn of the Era reaches its final stages, the order of the world will basically come apart, and only within the area covered by that platinum scepter would order still exist, and in the sanctuary of the scepter, will the final battle be fought. The fate of the world will end under the radiance of the scepter, and the new era will also restart with the scepter as the heart.”

Hao Ren’s eyes brightened, “So that means, this scepter was something that had gone through the various cycles of annihilation without actually changing? Is it an ancient relic from the first era?

Constance hesitated for a bit, “…I dare not confirm that, but it did exist for many many eras.”

Hao Ren held his hand out, “Can I have a look? Don’t worry, just a look, we are always intrigued by ancient relics.”

Constance handed over the platinum scepter without much thought.

Hao Ren took the scepter and intently studied the patterns and adornments on its surface, while the MDT flew over to the scepter and scanned it from top to bottom.

“Rheia, have a look,” After he had confirmed that the MDT had set up a file for the scans, Hao Ren passed the scepter over to Rheia who was standing by his side.”

The tiny Goddess of Creation picked up the scepter that was at least twice her height, as she looked at it intently while nodding. No one was sure if she saw anything special, but she did took at least ten minutes studying the scepter before giving it back to Constance.

“Did you see anything?” There was a trace of laughter at the corner of Constance’s eyes.

“The pattern is pretty, and it looks majestic,” Hao Ren shrugged, “Just as I said, we are quite… hopeless when it comes to history, I can’t see any secrets within it.”

As he said that, he spoke to the MDT via the mindlink, “How was it? Found anything?”

“It may very well have experienced the Turn of the Era. Aside from the layer of plating on the surface of the scepter, everything used for the internals is not something the L’Haronneans of this era could create, and even the Gorgon with their galactic scale civilization could not accomplish. After a few preliminary scans, the strength of the main materials used for the scepter is no weaker than the materials used for the World Engine.”

“Then it may very well have come from the first era… anything else?”

“I also detected a very intricate data storage structure within the scepter, while I’m not able to decode it now, I have taken a data snapshot and sent it to Nolan. She should be able to do it. That aside, Rheia should have also taken some of the specter’s data, she will send it to Nolan as well, and by comparing two samples, that could increase the speed of decoding.”

With Hao Ren and the MDT exchanging information via the mind link, it did not take long for them to complete the exchange, and by then Constance had kept the scepter and she looked at the still dazed siblings, and almost imperceptibly shook her head, “Seems like you need a good while to digest all that. Go back and rest, and look for me once you have gathered your thoughts. I hope by then you can find your place in the Turn of the Era.”

Charlemagne replied immediately, “No, we can…”

“There’s no use forcing yourself. This is the Turn of the Era and not a mere war between nations,” Constance interrupted the bright, but inexperienced prince gruffly, before softening her tone. “I’m not denying you your place, after all, you have gone through so much to bring the scepter to me, and this is already setting part of the foundation for the Turn of the Era, but you two clearly need to reorganize your thoughts and emotions. This era is about to end, and the apocalypse is not a distant prophecy. Rather it is almost upon us, and at this time, you should allow yourself some time to think quietly.”

Awenna blinked, “Is it because we will soon realize that it will be one of the last luxuries in the world to be able to immerse ourselves in our thoughts quietly?”

“You are a smart one,” Constance gave Awenna a glance as her brow raised, but her tone did not have any notion of ridicule. “Knowledge is precious, treasure it.”

Charlemagne and Awenna then left.

Only Hao Ren, his team, alongside Duke Owen and Princess Constance was left in the room.

And Duke Owen, who had been silent the whole while, spoke, “Your Highness, I have a request.”