Above the perfectly still grayish-white mist, Klein sat quietly at the head of the mottled long table, like a stone statue that had existed there for hundreds or thousands of years.
He felt a deep sense of horror at what he had just discovered. A chill surged from the back of his brain and spread through his entire body, causing a subtle but genuine tremor.
It was like watching a familiar friend become a stranger in a very short time, behaving abnormally, as if someone had taken their place.
Of course, there was an even clearer and more intuitive analogy:
Could it be that after the Emperor ascended the crimson moon, he had been unknowingly contaminated, without any awareness himself, behaving normally in daily life, and only when recalling the past through his diary, analyzing his inner self, and talking to himself, did some vague signs emerge? Or was it
This was truly an extreme horror… Klein slowly took a breath and forced himself to focus back on Emperor Roselle's diaries.
Soon, he found another entry worth reading carefully: "July 28. I once again attended the gathering of that ancient secret organization.
"From the chitchat of the members, I noticed a problem: "Is it because I advanced too quickly, that my experiences are relatively thin, so much so that I've never even heard of many things?
"Like the pollution from the starry sky and the depths of the earth that they mentioned—I only learned of their existence today!
"Hehe, I don't know how many of them are 'Him'; except for a very few members, most don't like to let others know their current level.
"Taking advantage of the others' communication, I lowered my voice and asked Mr.
"Hermes told me that this is not knowledge that someone at my current level can access—just understanding it will cause me to be contaminated!
"So terrifying? What could it be? I became even more curious.
"That old gentleman then said to me that pollution from the depths of the earth can be ignored because it fades naturally over time. In the distant past, in the era when ancient gods were active, powerful beings tried to completely solve this problem, but instead made things more troublesome and suffered great losses. Later, they abandoned the idea of direct intervention and switched to sealing and guarding.
"Since then, although occasional accidents happen, it has generally become stable. Today, even without sealing or guarding, as long as no one approaches and tries to go deep, pollution will not occur.
"This is a bit unexpected to me. It seems that I, the protagonist of this era, don't need to solve this problem.
"Mr. Hermes also mentioned the starry sky, saying that the situation there is more complicated, more interesting, and more dangerous than I imagined. He said that even Angels of Sequence 2 and Sequence 1 do not have sufficient knowledge of the starry sky; they only have a rough understanding. They don't know that besides danger, there are also many, many other things. If he hadn't known a being who was skilled in wandering the starry sky and learned many things from that being, he wouldn't have been able to say these words.
"I was curious but not too hopeful, so I asked who that being skilled in wandering the starry sky was.
"Mr. Hermes did not hide it and said it was Mr. Door,
"Mr. Door… I pretended not to know anything and casually asked about this one's level.
"Hermes didn't answer directly, only saying that in the Fourth Epoch, even Angels and demigods called his name directly in private; those who could make everyone accustomed to using titles, besides deities like Darkness, Storm, and Earth, were only Mr. Door and a few others.
"I see… Mr. Door's level is indeed not low."
Pollution from the depths of the earth fades naturally over time? "Magic Mirror"
Fortunately, Hermes' description, the state of that abandoned ancient castle, and the attitude of the Goddess of the Night all seemed to indicate that pollution from the depths indeed fades naturally, and leaving it alone was the best course of action.
Phew, then for now put aside concerns about the depths… Hermes' words and the bronze door deep in the "City of Miracles" Livishid corroborated each other—the "Fantasy Dragon" Ankeward really tried to solve the problem of the depths, but only left fear and shadow… At present, the greatest possibility for the apocalypse comes from the starry sky, and my current Sequence is not even qualified to understand it… With thoughts swirling, Klein sighed slightly and continued flipping through the diary.
After reading several pages in a row, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he locked onto one entry: "December 31. The end of the year—this is the best day for making decisions and starting new stories.
"I have already decided where to build eight secret mausoleums, and I only lack inspiration for the last one.
"It must be even more hidden than the previous eight, otherwise it would be meaningless."