Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Chapter 131: The Secret of the Demi-humans
The night insects began to chirp, composing the symphony of summer. The sky had already transformed into a world of stars.
Winter Fort…
Xi Wei’s room was still lit. A simple world map was spread across his spacious desk. He was unaware that the enraged Naga Empress had already launched an attack on the Human Empire, nor that he had been inexplicably framed. He was currently comparing the map and studying the current situation. The matter of the vessel concerned Loli and the others’ lives, so Xi Wei couldn’t afford to take it lightly.
He spent the entire afternoon working on maps.
“Knock, knock, knock.”
As heavy knocks echoed, Clemon’s voice inquired from outside the door, “Young Master Xi Wei, are you in?”
“Yes, please come in.”
Clemon pushed the door open, holding a large pile of books and sheepskin scrolls. Xi Wei had ordered the collection of historical materials half a month ago, regardless of their origin, and all of them had just been brought back.
“Young Master Xi Wei, the materials you requested have been gathered. Some are from our Winter Fort’s collection, and these sheepskin scrolls were collected by scouts from various places for you,” Clemon said as he carefully placed the materials in his hands onto Xi Wei’s desk.
“Thank you for your hard work,” Xi Wei nodded, pulling the pile of materials towards him. He then instructed Clemon, “Go inform the kitchen to prepare a cup of coffee for me. I might be staying up late tonight.”
“As you command.”
After Clemon left, Xi Wei began to study the materials on the desk. He planned to start with the oldest texts, hoping to find some clues within them. After searching for a long time, he finally found a yellowish and tattered sheepskin scroll with crooked writing that read: [The Demise of the Gods]. This should have recorded the history of Ragnarok.
Such historical accounts were very ancient, and these types of sheepskin scrolls were generally only for reference. The authenticity of the information could not be guaranteed, but Xi Wei still intended to read it. He didn’t need absolute, flawless accuracy, only inspiration and clues.
[Legend has it that in the beginning, the Cain Continent had no intelligent life, only countless magical beasts. Until the Creator Dragon, Ouranos, arrived. She greatly loved this new world. To make the world more colorful, she created Giant Dragons based on her own form, and Thunder Titans based on her own strength.]
[To limit the power of the Giant Dragons and Titans and prevent them from causing excessive destruction, Ouranos restricted their reproductive abilities.]
[However, the world could not consist only of these two species; it would be too monotonous. So, Ouranos continued to create the World Tree, the God of Death, and the God of Light, ordering them to create their own subordinate races to enrich the world and ensure its normal functioning. Afterward, depleted of her strength, Ouranos entered the core of the Cain Continent and fell into a deep slumber.]
[Time flew by, and the three main gods successively created their subordinate races on the Cain Continent.]
[The elegant World Tree inherited half of Ouranos’s divine power. She created the noble and beautiful Treants and High Elves.]
[The God of Death, obsessed with destruction and annihilation, created Demons and Undead.]
[The great, supreme, and exalted God of Light, who admired wisdom and balance, therefore created Humans, who possessed infinite talent, the ferocious and unruly Orcs, and the brave and battle-hardened Dwarves. Under his wise leadership, these three races kept each other in check and developed together.]
[The gods resided in the Divine Kingdoms, while intelligent life roamed the earth.]
[Various races developed their own civilizations and inevitably experienced friction and warfare. In every era, several heroic figures emerged, driving the gears of history. They eventually ignited their divine fire, condensed their godheads, and ascended to their own Divine Halls.]
[It was an era of dazzling divine light, with countless gods being born. Their Divine Kingdoms adorned the entire starry sky of Cain.]
[However, most of them were under the command of the God of Light.]
[Until one day, a group of terrifying and twisted wills invaded this world. They were grotesque and powerful; their low murmurs alone could drive weak gods to madness.]
[They called themselves the Old Ones, while the gods referred to them as the Old Gods.]
[War broke out. Countless gods rushed to the world’s ramparts to resist the invasion of the Old Ones. They had to defend their homes, their world.]
[The Dragon God spewed flames of all-consuming wrath, the Titans stood on mountaintops, wielding lightning, the God of Light sat upon a towering throne, with all sorts of gods, big and small, behind him. The God of Death gazed at the Old Ones from the abyss, while countless Demons and Undead charged forward fearlessly.]
[After a great war that lasted for a hundred years, the void channel opened by the Old Ones was finally sealed by the gods, but the gods also suffered heavy losses.]
[Innumerable gods fell into silence. The God of Light fought on despite severe injuries, refusing to retreat. The God of Death was rendered useless after one battle and fell into slumber. The World Tree was overthrown by Gatanothoa, one of the Old Ones…]
[This was Ragnarok, the decline of an era. Even more terrifying, the Old Ones still left their traces on Cain, and they would surely return in time.]
[Friends who have read this far, do not be afraid. Let us join the Church of Light together and become its followers. We can face any future crisis with equanimity.]
At the end of the scroll was a map, marking the location of the Church of Light and the entry requirement: 10 Gold Coins.
Xi Wei: “…”
Xi Wei couldn’t help but inwardly praise the Church of Light’s increasingly novel advertising methods. Based on his superficial understanding of Cain Continent’s history, the contents of this sheepskin scroll, while not entirely accurate, contained at least seventy percent truth, aligning perfectly with what he had learned at the Knight Academy.
After finishing the sheepskin scroll, Xi Wei flipped through several history books but found no useful information. Time ticked by, and as the materials on the desk dwindled, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.
Suddenly, he noticed a book with a cover depicting an Elf Girl in revealing clothing. Its title was [Elf Herstory].
Xi Wei pursed his lips. *Is this book actually proper?* Driven by his spirit of inquiry, he solemnly opened the book. After only a few reads, Xi Wei discovered that the book was completely different from its cover. Its content was quite serious, detailing the development process and some secrets of the ancient Elves.
[…After Ragnarok, due to the absence of divine oversight, wars between intelligent races in the prime material plane became increasingly rampant.]
[Humans, though inherently weak and short-lived, possessed strong learning abilities and talent. Every century, quite a few Legendary powerhouses would emerge. It’s worth noting that Elves must live at least five hundred years, and Giant Dragons must reach old age before they can possibly become Legendary beings.]
[As time passed, five hundred years went by. Human strength had expanded unprecedentedly. However, for other long-lived races, five hundred years might be nothing more than a brief nap. By the time they woke up, they discovered Human armies had already blocked their nests.]
[“You should not possess these fertile lands. This continent belongs to Humans!” the first Human King declared loudly, initiating a brutal war. Humans first drove the Orcs to the far west of the continent, into endless deserts, and then attacked the Elven Royal Court, pushing the Elves into the Emerald Forest.]
[Giant Dragons and Titans could not escape the Human army’s pursuit either.]
[The Giant Dragons were hunted down until only a few dozen remained, lamenting as they settled on small islands in the boundless ocean.]
[The Dwarves, once allies of humanity, were ruthlessly driven by the Human King into the mountains and underground.]
[The Titans, being the fewest in number, had no choice but to head to the harsh environments of the far north and settle with a group of Frost Orcs.]
[In less than a hundred years, Humans occupied half of the entire Cain Continent’s landmass. Only the Demon Abyss and the Undead Desert remained untrodden. The environmental conditions there were unsuitable for Humans; otherwise, the Human King would surely not have spared them.]
[The Elves of the Emerald Forest, due to their limited living space, some chose to live in the sea, gradually becoming the Sea Race Naga of today. They were valiant warriors who frequently clashed with Demons near the Stormy Seas and the Abyss Eye. Another portion of Elves, too weak to be more than a burden, were expelled from the Emerald Forest. These Elves, caught between Humans and Orcs, established a small Elven kingdom, barely surviving in the treacherous mountainous terrain.]
…
Upon reaching this point, Xi Wei paused, murmuring, “An Elven kingdom between Orcs and Humans? Isn’t that a Demi-human kingdom?”
“Demi-humans were originally Elves?”
Xi Wei felt as if he was beginning to understand something. The World Tree had only created two types of Elves. Excluding the Naga, who were a later mutation, those living in the Elven Royal Court were clearly Treants. This meant that Demi-humans were actually High Elves.
He immediately retrieved a well-worn ancient book about High Elves that he had previously overlooked. Flipping to a few passages, he muttered to himself:
“The World Tree inherited half of the Creator Dragon’s divine power. Its divine power possesses infinite possibilities. It also bestowed this characteristic upon the High Elves. However, to maintain the balance between High Elves and Treants, and to avoid depleting the Creator Dragon’s power excessively, the World Tree eventually restricted the development of the High Elf bloodline. Only a few High Elves possessed enough divinity to awaken the power within their bloodline.”
“So that’s how it is. It explains why Demi-humans now possess such diverse abilities, some of which resemble divine skills.”
“But what about the vessel? Is it solely due to similar divinity?”
Xi Wei stroked his chin, pondering. Similar divinity was certainly one reason, but there were many things with similar divinity. Why could only Demi-humans be vessels? Xi Wei flipped through the materials on the desk again but found no answer.
These ancient texts were still insufficient. Perhaps only places like the Royal Capital or the Elven Royal Court held sufficiently ancient texts that could provide him with some clues. As it happened, they were planning to attack the Royal Capital.
At this very moment, looking at the map on the desk, Xi Wei had already made “looting the Royal Library of the Royal Capital” one of the ultimate goals of this expedition.
