The Last Scribe's Confession
Following Protisha’s guidance, we made our way toward Asus Mountain. The little fox wagged his tail in clear delight and kept glancing around, sniffing at the surrounding plants and occasionally digging at the earth as we traveled. After roughly an hour of this, we reached the middle slopes. Protisha scanned the area before slipping into a cleverly concealed cave.
The rest of the party followed without hesitation, but Neon and I exchanged meaningful looks.
“This place…?”
“It feels familiar.”
Our similar reactions confirmed it. Unless our memories were wrong, this was the very cave where Neon and I had first met—and where we had hunted the newborn Nepentula.
Arriving at such an unexpected location, we stared at each other for a moment before stepping inside. The interior was exactly as I remembered: the long passageway stretching ahead and the massive cavern waiting beyond it. Recalling our battle against the baby Nepentula here, I arrived at the cavern with a faint, nostalgic smile.
“Is this the destination?”
“I don’t sense any artificial traces.”
“The cavern itself is unusually large.”
We spread out and examined our surroundings, pressing suspicious spots and tracing the flow of mana, yet nothing seemed out of place. When I turned to Protisha with a puzzled frown, the fox lifted its snout proudly and strode to the center of the cavern.
Once there, it closed its eyes and began to channel its power with graceful precision. Mana that hovered somewhere between water and mist swirled gently at the fox’s command. The energy flowed along its body, gathering at the tails. When flames flickered to life at the tip of one tail, Luna—who had been watching closely—let out a soft gasp of admiration.
“Foxfire. So it’s from the shamanic tradition?”
“If it’s shamanic, does that make Protisha a nine-tailed fox variant?”
“Hard to say. That’s something the scholars would need to analyze.”
Luna shrugged at my question. Fair enough—if I wanted detailed answers, I’d have to ask the experts in that field.
While we spoke, Protisha finished its preparations. The fox bead it had been carrying rose into the air and traced an unfamiliar magic pattern. Circuits layered upon circuits until the completed array melted into the air and vanished. In the once-empty cavern, a staircase leading underground now stood revealed.
“What is this?”
“It looks like the entire cavern was designed as the entrance. It’s a common mechanism in ruins.”
Owen studied the stairs with clear interest, as though the phenomenon was familiar to him.
“This pattern is typically used to create hidden shelters or sanctuaries. It’s extremely effective when you want to conceal or protect something. Because the entire space functions as a single device, simply examining a portion of it makes anomalies nearly impossible to detect.”
“You really know your ruins, Mr. Owen.”
“I was quite active as a ruin hunter in my younger days.”
Now that he mentioned it, Owen’s Mystery allowed him to nullify countless magical traps. No matter how dangerous the spell or how powerful the Mystery, anything that touched his purple chains simply ceased to exist. Even if the gap in strength was too great to fully erase, the compatibility let him handle attacks a rank above his own. At Silver rank alone, he could neutralize nearly any threat.
Veil and Luna nodded, acknowledging the feats he must have accomplished with that ability.
“True. Thanks to his Mystery, Owen received offers from ruin hunters across the North.”
“When he solo-cleared a hundred ruins, the entire North was in an uproar.”
Listening to them, I vaguely recalled hearing those rumors before—the tale of a supernova who had conquered over a hundred ruins. The traveling merchants who visited our village had mentioned it in passing. I found myself looking at Owen with fresh eyes.
He, however, continued staring at the stairs with genuine curiosity.
“Shall we head inside?”
“Of course. I’m quite curious about what lies within.”
“I agree. I can barely contain my curiosity about what this ruin might be hiding.”
I led the party down the stairs. We emerged into a circular chamber. My confusion at the empty room lasted only a moment. The passage behind us sealed shut with a heavy stone door, and a deep vibration echoed as though a long-dormant mechanism had awakened.
Whoooong.
My body grew lighter as the entire room began to descend.
“An elevator?”
The sensation was identical to the devices I’d known in my previous life, and I couldn’t hide my slight surprise. Still, I didn’t gawk like some barbarian encountering new technology. If Earth had science, this world had magic. Remembering that the Northern Magic Tower also possessed similar devices, I leaned against the wall of the room-like elevator and waited for our arrival.
The descent continued for over a minute before the chamber gradually slowed. When the sealed stone doors finally opened, the hidden space beyond was revealed, and we could only stare in silent awe.
“Ooh! So this is where the ancient civilization sleeps!”
“This style… I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“The condition is remarkably well-preserved. Every ruin I’ve visited before showed nothing but weathering and decay.”
Pure white walls adorned with what looked like overlays of gold, electrum, and emerald. The unique architectural style blended splendor and grandeur in a way that felt eerily familiar. It closely resembled the brilliant civilization I had glimpsed after absorbing the seed.
“The ancient civilization… I see.”
Recalling that memory, I opened a fissure connected to the Water Realm and peered inside. Beyond the crack, the glowing sapling swayed innocently, radiating bright light. I gently ignored Laserdon’s pitiful gaze begging me to do something about the luminous sprout and turned to Protisha, who was happily wagging its tail.
“Is there anything dangerous inside?”
“Kyaeng!”
When Protisha nodded that the area was safe, I breathed a sigh of relief. Since I had no intention of turning this mysterious place into a battlefield, I began exploring freely.
Centered around the grand hall we had descended into were eight corridors spaced at regular intervals. Because we’d been assured there was no danger, my companions split into groups of two or three. Before I could follow them, Protisha pushed against my back with its long snout.
“You have somewhere specific you want to show me?”
“Kehaeng!”
The fox kept nudging me forward, clearly eager to guide me. I followed it down one of the corridors. At the end of the surprisingly short hallway stood a large door. When I opened it, a room that could only be a study came into view.
“A library?”
“Kiit!”
Rata had slipped out of my pocket at some point and now explored the room alongside me. Matching the scale of the massive door, dozens of enormous bookshelves filled the space. Unfortunately, most of the books had crumbled to dust or were so badly damaged that their covers were illegible. Compared to the ruined tomes, the shelves themselves were strangely pristine. After a quick glance, I followed Protisha to the deepest part of the study.
There, wrapped in a transparent barrier, lay a thin book. Unlike the weathered volumes that had turned to powder, this one—though worn—remained intact. I reached out and touched the barrier. My fingers passed through without resistance, so I carefully withdrew the book.
“Kyaeng kyaeng!”
“You brought me here just to show me this?”
“Keheung!”
Protisha nodded proudly, chest puffed out, clearly pleased to have shared its discovery. I still didn’t understand why the fox had chosen me specifically, but I felt a strange pull from the book and opened the cover.
I do not know which descendant reads these words, but I pray you are not one of the fools who call themselves heirs of the Empire.
We are the last survivors of a forgotten civilization.
We are the villains who left an indelible scar upon the world.
We are the sinners who committed evil, blinded by desire.
We intend to embrace as much of our sin as possible and carry it with us to death so that it will not pass to our descendants. Yet it pains me that we cannot take all of it.
■ loved ■■.
■■ loved ■.
Blessings enveloped the entire world.
Only prosperity awaited us.
We were special.
An innate talent to resonate and commune with Se■.
The race possessing this gift numbered only ■■ across the entire world, and among them those with the greatest talent were revered as Gun■.
All things must rise and fall.
Corruption flourished amid abundance.
Desire grew without limit.
Wisdom ■■ weathered by the passage of time.
Thus the ■■ who rode upon the blessing of the ■■—the terminals of the ■ realm—fell into arrogance and committed evil.
The ■■ that had brought prosperity to Se■ broke free of ■■ and ran rampant.
The once ■■ abundant world began to ■■■■.
The brilliant civilization entered ■■.
Those who realized ■■ too late ■■■■, but it was already ■■.
We decided to call them ■■■.
■■ was disappointed, yet fortunately did not withdraw its love for us. The fact that the ■ still remain with us is proof.
Therefore we beseeched ■■ and chose to embrace our sins in exchange for our brilliant civilization.
The traces of that civilization will be erased from the world and forgotten from memory. Even so, it is better this way.
I am the scribe who serves ■■■■■, the august ■■ ■■ of the one who rules the North. That person opposed ■■’s plan until the very end and was the only one who warned against our arrogance.
When the secrets of the world are revealed, I pray that at least one person remains who will remember his efforts.
Having left these traces of our civilization here, I too shall go to embrace our sins.
May ■■ look upon our descendants with mercy.
Because so much of the content had been erased, the writing felt disjointed and chaotic. I stored it all in my mind and stared at the letter-like book with a grave expression.
“My head’s a mess…”
I had roughly pieced together what must have happened during the ancient civilization’s era, but I never imagined they had brought about their own destruction through their own stupidity. In a way it was the most human thing imaginable, yet I would have preferred not to learn it like this.
Sighing, I closed the book. On the back cover, written in neat, elegant script, were a few additional lines.
I apologize for deliberately twisting my words. Yet if I did not, even the preservation barrier could not defy the laws. Therefore I convey the information indirectly. Most of this book’s contents have likely been erased by those same laws. I can only hope the arrangements I left here for our descendants remain intact.
“The chances of those arrangements still being intact seem slim, ancestor.”
I answered the postscript without thinking. Given how most of the books had weathered away, whatever preparations had been left here had probably suffered the same fate. Whether it had been knowledge for rebuilding the civilization or a device containing the means to do so, I gave up any hope that anything remained and turned to Protisha.
“Kyaaeng?”
“You are… Never mind. Let’s head back to the others for now.”
Edenberg’s earlier reaction, the information stored inside the fox bead, and the scribe’s final words all flashed through my mind. If my guess was correct, our ancestors had really screwed things up spectacularly.
I stroked the head of the puzzled fox who was tilting its head at me, then began walking. I made a firm vow: if I ever met our ancestor, I would definitely plant my fist squarely in his face.