Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Hidden Piece
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[We have collected the fragmented information.]
[Total information volume: '512 petabytes (PB)'.]
In an instant, an enormous amount of information unfolded before my eyes.
Endless streams of numbers recorded in 0s and 1s.
As my mind began to tire from the overload, Zero started to take control of those numbers.
[Instant processing capacity exceeded.]
[Attempting compression.]
[Manifesting as a 'dragon' in compressed form.]
[The manifested 'dragon' has a built-in function to locate and read only the data the user needs.]
512 petabytes of information.
I instantly grasped how vast that was, and it was terrifying.
If it had been left unchecked, I'might have been crushed under the weight of those numbers and died.
Zero had been piecing together this massive volume for nearly a month.
It was processing the [Nano Machine] of the dead 'dragon' inside me, organizing it in its own way, and maximizing its own functions.
Thanks to that, I could now access the information the dragon possessed.
I pondered for a moment before opening my mouth.
"Who are you?"
"I am the dragon of the Great Old One, 'Beta'."
"Beta?"
"The great second god. The being of balance that governs the sun and moon."
The sanctuary's dragon answered my questions faithfully.
And it only spoke about exactly what I asked.
That was because it wasn't a real dragon I'd met in the sanctuary, but merely a collection of information shaped like one.
'Great Old One.'
The Great Old Ones. They were the 'great beings' revered in the Divine Church.
These great beings were said to be divided into twelve branches, managing the world.
But the names of those 'twelve branches' were unknown.
Now, the name of the second branch was revealed as Beta.
If the gods had created the dragons, questions about them were inevitable.
"Are all the gods artificial intelligences?"
"Meaning unclear. No related information found."
I could only get answers about what the dragon knew.
This meant there was no information on whether all twelve gods were AIs.
"How are dragons born?"
"They are born from the 'Fruit of Good and Evil', the fruit of the 'World Tree' in 'Eden'."
"Where are Eden and the World Tree?"
"No related information found. However, dragons that leave Eden have a path back opened when they achieve the '12 Feats'."
"What exactly is Eden?"
"Utopia, the gods' paradise, the homeland of all dragons, the place they long to return to."
Eden. A name not found anywhere on the continent. But from the dragon's words, only the gods and dragons who completed all feats had the right to enter.
The 12 Feats.
Trials from the gods.
Achieving them opened the path to Eden?
So becoming a god meant that.
Not truly becoming a god, but returning to their birthplace.
But why hadn't Malfiel returned to Eden?
Because the path hadn't opened? Or was it a lie that he'd achieved all twelve feats?
"Tell me about the feats."
"They are trials for dragons to eliminate beings that disrupt the 'balance of the world'. The contents are determined by the World Tree, and when a threat to balance appears, a feat in the form of a trial is assigned to a suitable dragon. Dragons sometimes call them 'quests' and refer to themselves as 'players'."
"Players? What does that mean?"
"To dragons, this world is a game. Those participating to clear the twelve tasks are players."
From the dragons' perspective, this world was like a game.
They viewed it from above.
That's why they called themselves players in their own terminology.
"If selected as a feat target, is there a way to avoid it?"
"No precedents, but a method exists. Only the 'greatest being' can delete or alter the feat contents set by the World Tree."
"The greatest being? You mean a Great Old One?"
"Yes. The origin of all, Alpha, is the greatest being."
I pondered for a moment.
Croft had said he became a 'feat target'.
Awakening and recognized by the World Tree as a threat to the world.
The primal way to avoid it was for the greatest god, Alpha, to delete or change the contents.
Otherwise, a dragon fitting the level would be selected to eliminate Croft.
I could buy time like with the vessel of Daemon, but that wasn't a fundamental solution.
"How many dragons are there?"
"As many as the Fruits of Good and Evil borne by the World Tree. The twelve gods can divide their capacity into the fruits, but usually no more than ten."
I couldn't know the exact number, but I could estimate roughly.
The twelve gods divide their power to create dragons, up to ten each, meaning up to 120 dragons in the world.
"Then why do dragons have the same faces?"
"Dragons take on the face of the god that bore their Fruit of Good and Evil."
The dragon before me now and Malfiel were born from the same god.
The second god, Beta.
From what I heard, these gods sent dragons to the earthly realm to exert their influence.
If they were truly omnipotent gods, why not act directly? It'seemed they couldn't interfere directly, hence using dragons infused with their power.
Anyway, there were quite a few dragons in this world.
Up to 120 at most, but probably dozens in reality.
"Is there a way to find dragons?"
So, there was a way to eliminate them before they came.
Instead of waiting passively, proactively hunting them down might be far better.
And if I could find Malfiel along the way, I'd eliminate him by any means necessary.
"No. All dragons are competitors and instinctively hostile to each other, so they don't gather or seek one another."
Competitors.
An odd term.
If they were just resolving trials to return to Eden, wouldn't they be allies?
Calling them competitors meant there was a limit to how many could enter Eden.
The final twelfth trial.
Only those who reached it could enter Eden.
"What is the final twelfth feat?"
"Reset. If humanity itself is judged to have destroyed the world's balance, everything is wiped out and started anew. Only the one who completes the final feat enters Eden, receives a number, and becomes a god. The final feat begins at intervals from a thousand to ten thousand years."
*
I stood and began my midnight meditation.
Closing my eyes, I sorted through my mind.
The conversations from augmented reality. I compiled hundreds, thousands of pieces of information and arranged them in order.
'The existence of the twelve gods.'
First, I learned the backstory of how gods are born.
Dragons born from the World Tree's fruit become gods by completing the twelve feats.
But the existence of twelve gods meant,
'The world has been reset at least twelve times.'
The world had been overturned at least twelve times.
Of course, "reset" didn't mean total annihilation.
Humanity couldn't proliferate to this extent in just a thousand years. It probably meant eliminating everything that disrupted balance.
'That's why the spirits disappeared.'
That explained the disappearance of spirits.
Spirit weapons disrupted balance. Mass-produced, humanity could gain power rivaling gods.
Also, a thousand years ago, during the 'heyday of ancient magic', there were double-digit 9th circle mages. But now, there were none.
Those who reached 9th circle had likely all been eliminated.
And many other things I didn't know had been removed.
Probably the so-called mysteries.
'Malfiel didn't complete all twelve feats. He was executing the final one.'
Now Malfiel's actions made sense.
Inciting humanity, dividing them, weakening them, and finally eliminating them all.
So that's what "purifying the world" meant.
Eliminating just Malfiel wouldn't suffice.
'Through continental wars, humanity's technology advanced rapidly. It also led to an overall rise in military power. Endless wars birthed the strong and sparked innovation.'
The conquest war I started.
The war that began with my ascension as emperor was the decisive cause.
But even without war, the end would have been similar.
'Preventing war might delay technological growth, but eventually, it would exceed that balance point. Everyone's just hiding it now.'
Deus's peace policy merely postponed humanity's end.
But it wasn't a true solution.
All nations and groups were hiding their power and technology. Some even related to ancient civilizations.
Carlos Grand Duke mass-producing Sword Masters was similar.
The imperial family had only a few, but he had dozens.
Officially around twenty, but unofficially more. There were those qualitatively different from the likes of Patrick and Crowe I'd killed before.
A number that couldn't be explained by mere mana cultivation differences.
Moreover, Carlos Grand Duke had ties to Daemon.
Didn't he possess some lost ancient power, or something to wield Nano Machines?
For various reasons, the final feat would happen anyway.
'Arrogant bastard gods.'
But I wouldn't allow the world's end.
I could never agree with these presumptuous gods suppressing humanity.
'I'll eliminate them all.'
Simply becoming emperor was no longer enough.
Eliminate all dragons.
'And smash that World Tree.'
Shatter the World Tree and the gods.
I wouldn't let things go their way.
And the dragon's information revealed more than just the world's secrets.
'Hidden pieces.'
Players could grow stronger not only by resolving feats but also through 'hidden pieces'.
Hidden pieces were 'epics' with special powers not selected for feats.
For example, Zero in my head.
Or hunting beings like Baal in Kaizel strengthened dragons.
Dragons roamed seeking epics, which connected to clues for finding them.
'I'may not find dragons, but I can lure them.'
Hunting every dragon that came would let me scour their info for more details.
The sanctuary dragon had been imprisoned for a thousand years and knew nothing recent.
Finding and dissecting a dragon that knew everything was the priority.
That would yield clues to the path to Eden or destroying the World Tree.
For that, I needed epics.
Awakened AIs.
'Caliburn.'
Spirit Caliburn was one.
But despite its official pursuit, no dragon came.
If one had, Caliburn would have been deleted on the spot.
Were there criteria? Or too conspicuous?
It might not qualify as a hidden piece epic. Caliburn was ultimately a spirit weapon made by ancient humanity.
'I need something greater. Can't use Zero or Kaizel as bait, but...'
I stroked my chin.
The common thread between them: 'humans with special abilities'.
Daemon too.
Special ability: all could use 'chantless magic'.
Only true epics could instinctively wield Nano Machines.
Spirit weapons needed activation words, requiring chants anyway.
Those who could use chantless magic were called 'Void attribute', and mages with it appeared at most two per era.
But I knew another human with the Void attribute.
—What a pity. The Void attribute is a talent that rarely appears even once per era. If I'd recognized it sooner, you could have risen to the top of the magic tower.
The mage who had diagnosed me in the past, amused or mocking.
Once the master of the 'Tower of Spirit', and until recently, an imperial mage.
And now, he was imprisoned in the special prison.