Chapter 59: The Era of Falling Stars
As the Mycroft Continent welcomed its first rays of dawn, and all things began to stir from the slumber of night, a magnificent and imposing structure gazed down upon it all from the vast void. One of humanity's highest crystallizations of wisdom, the Void Observatory, silently rotated its silver-white icosahedral shell, observing the continent below and the infinite multiverse before it.
Senior Observation Mage Samul sat at the center of the Void Observatory's seventeenth control node, earnestly and cautiously monitoring the voidscape in his designated direction. The chaotic temporal currents, under the scanning and restoration of the detection array, revealed their true nature—they were merely ripples, ripples emanating from the existence of worlds themselves.
As the second-generation disciple of Master Nostradamus, the president of the Imperial Royal Mage Association, Samul was a Gold-rank mage specializing in space-time sorcery. His understanding of time and space far surpassed those traditional spellcasters who only cared about mana and souls. He clearly understood that those seemingly complex and chaotic temporal currents were, in essence, the most 'orderly' things. However, every world had its own unique ripples spreading into the distance. And how many universes were there in the multiverse? Just a little thought made it clear why no one could find the clues they sought within this chaotic fluctuation.
The control node of the Void Observatory was not large. It was a perfectly circular room, with a magically levitating seat at its center. The seemingly young Samul sat in this chair, monitoring all the information on the crystal screens around him in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree arc. Clusters of crystals and crystal prisms flashed with the light of mana, supplying ample power to those screens and detection arrays.
Communicating with all the information within the arrays using his own mana and soul, he muttered softly, "Everything is normal."
Though his tone was calm, a hint of disappointment was unavoidable in his words.
It wasn't that he anticipated the arrival of chaos; the young mage simply felt a bit bored. Five years ago, when he first passed the selection and came to this void fortress, reputed to be the empire's most mysterious and remote outpost, Samul was in awe. He couldn't imagine that such advanced artificial structures and equipment existed in this world, nor could he guess how much wealth the entire empire had spent to build it. But regardless, Samul immediately accepted his mission: to constantly observe all the voidscapes within his designated node and find any anomalous reactions as quickly as possible.
The ripples of time and space appeared chaotic but were actually orderly. If an anomalous reaction occurred that the Void Observatory, specialized with 'life detection arrays,' could quickly detect, there were generally only one or two possibilities. One was that a nearby world had undergone a massive upheaval, such as the birth of life or a catastrophe that destroyed everything, extinguishing life. The other possibility was even more eye-catching: perhaps, not far away, a brand new world had just been born from the void.
After learning of his mission, Samul was filled with immense pride. He knew his task was to seek the welfare of all humanity on the Mycroft Continent. A world where life had been born, or a completely new world, was of self-evident value to an intelligent race. But this pride couldn't last for years. Now, he was starting to feel a bit bored. Not only had there been no anomalies in the surrounding voidscape detected by the arrays over the years, but this Void Observatory, located within the temporal currents, also had no form of entertainment! Furthermore, every Senior Observation Mage was focused on their work, with little communication between them. If it weren't for the fact that any mage was adept at living alone in one place for decades, accompanied only by their iron golems and books, they might have gone mad long ago.
"Beep—"
Suddenly, a short prompt sound echoed in Samul's ear. The young mage's previously lax gaze instantly sharpened. He excitedly looked at the crystal screen that had issued the anomaly alert and immediately connected his spirit to the detection array, monitoring all information from that location.
"It's a large mass object! A life reaction!"
His muttering carried a hint of excitement and unease. After scanning the monitoring information, Samul realized it wasn't the discovery of a life-bearing world. Instead, the array had detected a massive entity roaming the void. This enormous creature was like the legendary Void Behemoths. Under the array's scan, it had a body the size of a small mountain. It shimmered with an extremely conspicuous, blazing life aura, like a small sun, stirring the surrounding temporal currents and creating faint ripples.
It was these ripples that had triggered the Void Observatory's alert. Though incomparable to a world, it was still a force capable of disturbing the void. Carrying a mix of surprise and unease, Samul uploaded the obtained information to the higher-level management hub. Then, he turned the crystal screen's lens to look at that part of the void. This was his first time seeing a living Void Behemoth, and the young mage's heart was full of curiosity.
But he saw nothing.
No, he saw something, but it was completely different from what he had expected.
On the screen, which was not very clear due to void interference, a chaotic void current was displayed. There was no trace of a Void Behemoth. Instead, a crimson meteor, carrying a massive life reaction, was speeding through the void. For a moment, Samul even thought it was a large fragment of a Fusion Core Star drifting in the void. But the next instant, he realized that this was the true form of the massive beast detected by the array.
"But... how is this possible!?"
Somewhat confused, he looked back and forth between the two arrays displaying completely different information. Samul felt his mind was in a mess. A tiny meteor, only about two or three meters in size, and a Void Behemoth, whose mass was at least tens of thousands of tons and whose power was strong enough to stir temporal ripples—the difference between the two was so stark, yet they appeared simultaneously in two different detection arrays. This made the mage feel incredibly bizarre. At that moment, mages in other control nodes also discovered this rapidly approaching small meteor and the behemoth, issuing warnings to the control hub. The continuous stream of contradictory information left everyone at a loss, and the chaos it caused did not subside until several hours after the meteor mysteriously disappeared midway into the fortress's defensive weapon range, laying the groundwork for the future upgrade of the Void Observatory's detection arrays.
Joshua, unaware of the great chaos he had caused, had long since entered the Void Observatory under Nostradamus's guidance, meeting with Israel, who was waiting in a secret conference room.
"No need for pleasantries. The reason I requested this meeting is that it's necessary, and absolutely no outsiders must know."
The three were already well acquainted. Especially Israel and Nostradamus, who were clear about Joshua's personality. Thus, the discussion began directly with the main topic. The warrior straightforwardly threw out the information he had obtained from the Steel Serpent Carlis, bluntly slamming all the news onto the two. In fact, apart from not explaining Carlis's identity in detail, vaguely referring to it as 'a great existence,' Joshua truthfully recounted all the information about the Abyss and the Evil Gods.
The news of the Evil Gods could not be shared with the common people. Not only because it would allow the other side to obtain the space-time coordinates, but also because it would cause panic. If everyone knew that in a few decades, they would face the arrival of a Great Destroyer, that fear and despair would disrupt all steps of development, making the already difficult possibility of counterattack even more remote. However, this information could not be kept bottled up alone. No matter how arrogant Joshua was, he understood that he could not fight the Evil Gods alone. Even if he grew strong enough in the future to single-handedly hold the Evil Gods back in the void, their nearly infinite minions, enough to envelop an entire world, could easily destroy it.
Nostradamus and Israel were Legendary-rank experts and the leaders of this nation. Telling them would not cause panic and could influence the future direction of this vast empire. Especially in this era before the Abyss had even invaded. If the Northern Empire started preparing now, then even if the Abyss launched its invasion in twenty years, as in the original history, they would definitely smash their heads bloody against the iron walls of the Mycroft Continent.
"...If it weren't you, and someone else told me this information, I would throw them into a dark prison and punish them for their lies."
Frowning, Israel silently finished listening to Joshua's account. His expression complex, he muttered, "I could somewhat anticipate the Abyss invasion, after all, demons never hide their desire to invade our world. But who could have imagined that behind the Great Magic Tide, there were so many..."
"Is that great existence truly trustworthy...?" he muttered to himself. The rejuvenated Nostradamus shook his head. His expression was calm, but the knuckles of his hands were white from clenching. Clearly, the old mage's heart was also turbulent.
Could the information it provided truly be believed?
The old mage and the Imperial Emperor simultaneously raised their heads to look at the space-time landscape that Joshua had outlined in mid-air using Steel Force. The multiverse star map restored by the warrior from Carlis's display was not clear, but it was enough to convince them. This was the Void Observatory, which had a rough star map of the multiverse obtained by the Northern Empire over years of observation. By comparing the information of the nearby space-time domains, Israel understood that no one could fabricate such a complete picture. It was a vast space-time domain that would take humanity a thousand years to observe bit by bit. Joshua couldn't have made it up, nor would he have created such an extremely complex thing just to be alarmist.
There was no doubt about it. It was all true. Whether it was the future Abyss invasion or the Evil Gods riding the waves of the Great Magic Tide back to the Mycroft Continent, it was an undeniable fact. Perhaps the great existence Joshua spoke of had no intention of deceiving them. It had indeed lost everything because of the Evil Gods and harbored immense hatred for them, so it wanted to inform all those who could resist them of their information.
"Even if this were false, I would have to force myself to believe it. One must always prepare for the worst."
Standing up from his seat, Israel's expression was unprecedentedly serious. He walked up to the space-time domain landscape Joshua had outlined and pondered for a long time. Then, the Emperor slowly spoke, "In less than a hundred years, my people will have to face these terrifying existences." He raised his hand, pointing to the darkness spreading amidst the countless glows. Israel let out a rare sigh and then revealed a bitter smile. "The legendary Era of Radiance was destroyed at the hands of these existences. A thousand years ago, our ancestors shed their last drop of blood, barely managing to continue civilization. But even so, we lost vast stretches of history, heritage, and expansive lands."
Nostradamus also nodded gently. In truth, neither he nor Israel were people who easily trusted others. Before seeing the actual situation with their own eyes, they would never casually believe anyone. But Joshua was special. Setting aside personality traits, this Northern Count was the successor of the Sage, a Legendary warrior, and a member of the Imperial nobility. He had no reason or excuse to fabricate such unbelievable information. And as Israel said, one must always prepare for the worst.
"This news needs to be completely sealed, but it must be told to the other Legendary-rank experts on the continent."
Letting out a long breath, Israel made this decision. He turned to look at Joshua and Nostradamus. Neither showed any sign of opposition. Nostradamus didn't care, and Joshua had already planned this. In fact, he intended to contact Pope Eagle shortly afterward and, through the mouth of this Pope of the Seven Gods, inform those seven mysterious deities, who almost never showed themselves, of this information. The warrior believed that the Seven Gods would definitely understand the truth of his message and would naturally respond accordingly.
"Leave this matter to you, Teacher." After thinking for a moment, Israel took a bracelet from his wrist. "Take my token. Although you have also become a Legendary-rank, the words of two Legendary-rank experts carry more weight... Even if they don't believe it, you must inform them of this information. They know the gravity of the situation."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Taking the token, Nostradamus responded succinctly. The old mage was still staring at the space-time landscape. As a powerful spellcaster who had advanced to Legendary-rank through space-time sorcery, he could discern the authenticity of this thing. And after such a long time, apart from some minor areas being a bit blurry, the entire space-time landscape was perfectly self-consistent, with no contradictions or errors. This was enough to prove that Joshua's words were not false.
"Could peace never descend upon this continent full of strife?" he thought, a sigh of lament involuntarily passing through the old man's heart.
Since his birth, continuous war had been burning across the Mycroft Continent. First, it was the swamp natives, then the orcs. Now, imperial power was struggling with the nobility. In the future, there would be Abyss demons and indescribable Evil Gods. Such a dark future, just thinking about it, made him feel like he couldn't breathe.
But humanity had always grown and evolved through war, advancing and surviving through slaughter. Although...
He nodded slightly to Joshua and Israel. Accompanied by a fluctuation of space-time and a flash of deep blue light, Nostradamus vanished from the secret conference room. Subsequently, Israel grabbed Joshua, who had finished conveying all the information and was preparing to leave, and said seriously, "Don't rush off yet, Lord Radcliffe. The information you have brought is extremely important."
"And so?" Joshua was a bit confused. Of course, he knew the information he brought was important, but he had already said it all. So why was Israel stopping him?
In response to the warrior's words, the Imperial Emperor sighed softly. "Such important news, and you immediately intended to share it with us upon learning it... Joshua, your sincerity truly shames me. But it's just as well. I also have some secret information to tell you. This is information you should have known once you achieved Legendary-rank."
What secret? Joshua's heart was filled with great interest. In both his past and present life, his understanding of the deepest secrets of the Mycroft Continent was only partial. Whether it was the lost three hundred years of the Era of Radiance or the ruins hidden beneath the Black Forest and various places, these were things he didn't know. For example, the organization of the traitor Nolan from his past life—he didn't know what it was either. And this information, for Israel, the emperor who ruled a vast empire, didn't seem to be a secret.
"It's about the truth of the Abyss seal and the secrets of the land beneath our feet. It's the reality that the survivors learned when they emerged from the Sanctuary a thousand years ago."
Noticing the warrior's curious gaze, Israel understood that Joshua was indeed very interested. So he chuckled softly, then lowered his head, looking at the steel floor of the Void Observatory with a solemn expression. His gaze could penetrate this most durable alloy deck, reaching the other end of the void, where the shining Mycroft World lay.
"It is also the origin of the Era of Falling Stars."