Chapter 1317: Battle of the Legacies

“Because you humans are short-lived and forgetful.” Valkries seemed to have recovered a measure of superiority. Without quite noticing, she reached for her coffee again. “After another ten or twenty years, history is replaced by lies. But something like that is unimaginable for a long-lived race. You people seem to have forgotten entirely that however comforting a lie is, it is still a lie.”

“That makes two of us,” Roland said without yielding. “Didn’t your race also choose to ignore Heathtalese’s warning? Apart from the witnesses alive at the time, I doubt any demon of the new generation has ever heard of this.”

Valkries opened her mouth. Nothing came out. She took another sip of coffee—which amounted, more or less, to agreement.

“We might as well make a conjecture.” He steered them back to the traitorous Oracle. “Perhaps the blurred silhouette the Transformer saw a thousand years ago is the same person as Lan from the Dream World. Unfortunately, your mentor couldn’t receive a clear sign—she was never able to form a stable territory in the Realm of Mind.”

“You believe what an Oracle says?”

“I believe what I see with my own eyes. The world is being eroded by creatures who call themselves servants of god. The relics of past civilizations have been found in reality. I don’t know where the victorious civilizations went, but the truth is that none of them ever came back. Don’t you find that strange?”

“Perhaps there is a utopia—a place more suitable for an advanced race—”

“Like the Fountain of Magic, for example?” Roland’s tone edged into mockery. “Upgrading is one path to becoming god; yet once you have become god, there is no returning to your homeland. What kind of god is that? And when you stood near the Fountain of Magic—near the Erosion rupture—did it truly make you feel wonderful? If it had, you would have jumped in long ago.”

This bastard—he did order the witches to follow me on that journey, Valkries thought, indignant, and could find no answer. When she had stood before that scarlet fissure, the only thing she had felt was a violent, overwhelming sense of danger.

“Even if you are right, what can you change?” The Nightmare Lord’s voice dropped to something low and almost flat after a long silence. “It is already too late. If you were a member of the Cloud School and had reached this conclusion a thousand years earlier, you might have had the chance to turn things around. But once our race received the legacy of the third civilization, war became unavoidable.”

The third civilization. That would be the underground civilization. Roland let his pace of speaking slow. “These so-called legacies—what exactly do you mean?”

Valkries looked momentarily startled, then gave a short, quiet laugh. “Is that so? You have never received a legacy shard at all.”

“Answer His Majesty’s question!” Phyllis said, her voice pulled tight.

“We have no need for some shard. His Majesty’s knowledge alone—”

“Only uncultivated monsters would start a war over a small stone!”

Roland had expected refusal. Instead, Valkries spoke: “I will tell you. And then you will understand why it is no longer possible to turn back.” She paused, her gaze moving to the witches flanking Roland. “Once a civilization has tasted a legacy’s sweetness, it can never forget the sensation. It will only want more. You are the best proof of that right now. If humans were asked to give up every change the Graycastle king has brought about—would you?”

“You mean—”

“Exactly. The legacy shard is simply a means of inheritance.” Valkries’ words confirmed every hypothesis Roland had built to this point. “You acquire knowledge here and pass it to the humans—that is the same as the humans receiving the legacy of the Dream World. But a shard’s effect is more thorough, more complete. It is not limited to one individual; it encompasses an entire civilization.”

Then Valkries described what had happened one hundred years after the end of the first Battle of Divine Will, on a road the Union had called the “Path of Reconciliation”—a war the Union had never known existed. The Final War.

“You probably know this already: once upon a time the third civilization left its mark on more than half the continent. If my clan occupied the Blackstone domain and the humans occupied the Land of Dawn while the second civilization held the Sky-sea Realm, then the third civilization owned the underground world. They were like earthworms—their bodies were extremely fragile, but they possessed an unusual gift for magic power.

“Unfortunately, these creatures had bad luck and touched something they should never have touched. When they were burrowing tunnels through the mountains, they broke through a fissure in the stratum—one that cut from the Blackstone region directly to the Sky-sea Realm. You don’t need to understand the details; only know that they inadvertently destroyed the barrier separating their den from the Sky-sea Realm. The latter took advantage, invaded the Blackstone region, and slaughtered them defeat after defeat.

“Had we lent them a hand, they might have survived. But for our race, this was the perfect moment to verify the legacy rumor. So the King—who had not yet upgraded at the time—led a party and struck the second civilization from behind while they were retreating through the chaos. At the same time, the King sealed the Ghost Ravine.

“The Ghost Ravine lay between two mountain peaks—roughly half the size of the Fertile Plains. On both sides ran a thousand-mile underground river through broken, staggered ground. The bottom shifted between underground cavern and open hillside with no pattern. For all their talent in burrowing, the earthworms could not hide their tracks completely.

“The war lasted nearly ten years. The Primal Demons our clan lost in that conflict outnumbered those lost to humans in the entire first Battle of Divine Will. The outcome: both the King and the Sky-sea Realm received a portion of the legacy shard.”

Roland could not entirely prevent himself from holding his breath. He had not wanted to let his hunger for this show—it would only gratify Valkries—but for a moment his face slipped.

“And then?”

“There’s no more.”

“What—”

“I meant the coffee.” Valkries ran her tongue across her lips. “You were the one who said we should talk while we eat.”

Roland was briefly speechless. Even now, even here, she was fighting over the pace of the conversation. Was she too competitive, or simply too proud? He left the question unasked, signaled the waiter without ceremony, and ordered three more cups of Peninsula coffee. “Continue.”

“The reconciliation wasn’t complicated. The King combined the shard he had taken with our race’s own legacy shard—and at the moment they merged, we absorbed everything the third civilization had ever possessed: language, wisdom, magical skill. Life itself.” The Nightmare Lord spoke slowly, as though recounting something she had witnessed. “The surviving earthworms wilted away and died. Our clansmen’s power made a qualitative leap—as though a veil had been pulled from the face of magic, and a vast, multifarious knowledge flooded our minds whether we welcomed it or not. We could not deny what had happened: our race stood incomparably stronger than it had during the first Battle of Divine Will.

“From that moment, nobody doubted the gift from god. As I said: once this feeling has been experienced once, it will never be forgotten.” She lifted the fresh cup. “Now you understand what I mean by too late. Whatever you have received from the Dream World—the moment they acquire the human legacy shard, it will all pass into the victor’s hands. You want to use a traitorous Oracle’s warning to stop this war? That will be a waste of effort.”

Something that even her mentor Heathtalese had not managed could not be done by a human male.

“Indeed.” Roland exhaled. “But I have never intended to use the warning to stop the war.”

Valkries’ brow drew together. “Then what are you trying to say?”

“The only thing that can stop war,” he said, holding her eyes, “is war itself.”

Chapter 1317 - Battle of the

Legacies Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations “Because you humans are short-lived and forgetful…” Valkries seemed to had found her sense of superiority once more. She subconsciously raised her cup of coffee again. “After another ten or twenty years, history will be replaced by lies. However, something like this is unimaginable for my long- lived race. You people seem to have completely forgotten that no matter how much comforting lies are, they are ultimately still lies.” “That makes the two of us,” Roland said unyieldingly. “Didn’t you guys also intentionally ignore Heathtalese’s warning? Apart from the witnesses at the time, I’m afraid that none of the demons of the new generation know of this event, right?” Valkries opened her mouth but couldn’t find a suitable reply. In the end she could only take another sip of coffee, which was almost the same as agreeing. “It wouldn’t be a bad idea for us to make a guess.” He pulled the conversation back to the traitorous Oracle. “Perhaps the blurry silhouette that ‘Transformer’ saw a thousand years ago is the same person as Lan from the Dream World. Unfortunately your mentor couldn’t receive a definite hint as she was unable to form a stable territory in the Realm of Mind.” “You believe the Oracle’s words?” “I believe what I see with my own eyes—the world is being eroded by enemies who call themselves the servants of god, and the relics of past civilizations have certainly been discovered in reality. I don’t know where all the victorious civilizations went, but the truth is, they have never returned, don’t you find that very strange?” “Perhaps there is a utopia that is more suitable for an advanced race to live in—” “Like the Fountain of Magic, for example?” Roland said mockingly. “Upgrading is one path to become god; yet, once you have become god, there is no way of returning back to your hometown. What type of god is that? Also when you are close to the Fountain of Magic—which is the Erosion rupture, does it really make you feel wonderful and content? If that were the case, you would have jumped in ages ago.” This bastard… ordered the witches to follow me on that journey after all , Valkries thought indignantly but couldn’t refute his words. At the time when she stood before the scarlet red rupture, the only thing she felt was an extreme sense of danger. “Even if you’re right, what can you change?” The Nightmare Lord spoke in a low voice after a long period of silence. “It’s all too late. If you were a member of the Cloud School and you made this guess a thousand years earlier, you may have had the chance to turn the tables. But when our race received the legacy of the third civilization, war could no longer be avoided.” The third civilization… this was probably the underground civilization. Roland subconsciously spoke slower, “These so-called legacies… what on earth do you mean?” Valkries looked stunned momentarily, then she laughed softly. “What? It turns out you guys have never received a legacy shard before after all.” “Answer His Majesty’s question!” Phyllis ordered in a low voice. “We don’t need some shard, His Majesty’s knowledge alone is enough!” “Only uncultivated monsters like you would start a war over a small stone!” Just when Roland thought that the Nightmare Lord would refuse to answer the question, she spoke, “I will tell you—and then you will understand, why trying to turn the tables now is no longer possible. As soon as you taste the sweetness of a legacy, civilization will never forget the delightful sensation, they will only crave more.” She paused and looked at the witches next to Roland. “You are the best examples right now—if humans were to give up all the changes that the Graycastle king had brought about, would you?” “You mean…” “Correct, the legacy shard is merely a way to inherit.” Valkries’ words confirmed all the hypotheses that Roland had made until now. “You acquire knowledge from here and pass it down to the humans, that is the same as the humans receiving the legacy of Dream World. But the effect of a shard is more thorough and complete—it isn’t just specific to one individual, it applies to the entire civilization.” Next, Valkries revealed what happened one hundred years after the end of the first Battle of Divine Will in the “Path of Reconciliation.” That was a war that the Union never knew of, the ‘Final War.’ “You probably know this, but once upon a time the third civilization left their mark on over half of the continent—if it was said that my clan occupied the Blackstone domain, while humans occupied the Land of Dawn and the second civilization occupied the Sky-sea Realm, then the third civilization would be the owner of the underground world. They were like earthworms, their bodies were extremely weak but they had a unique knack for magic power. “Unfortunately, these guys had bad luck and touched something they shouldn’t have touched. When they were burrowing tunnels all over the mountains, they encountered a fissure in the stratum which penetrated directly from the Blackstone region to the Sky-sea Realm. It’s fine if you don’t understand, you only need to know that they inadvertently broke through the barrier that separated their den from the Sky-sea Realm. The latter took advantage of this and invaded the Blackstone region, slaughtering numerous and making them suffer one defeat after another. “If we could have lended a hand, they might have had hope of survival. However to our race, it was also the perfect time to verify the legacy rumor. So the King, who at the time had not upgraded yet, lead a party and did a pincer attack from behind on the second civilization who were escaping among the chaos. At the same time, the King blocked the Ghost Ravine. “The Ghost Ravine was located between two mountain peaks, it was about half the size of the Fertile Plains, and on the two sides ran a thousand-mile underground river and staggered ground. The bottom of the ravine was so varied that one moment it was an underground cavern and the next it was an open hill. As much as the earthworms were good at burrowing, they couldn’t hide their tracks completely. “This war lasted almost ten years, the number of Primal Demons demons of our clan that perished in this war was more than in the first Battle of Divine Will under the hands of humans. The outcome in the end was that both the King and the Sky-sea Realm received a part of the legacy shard.” Roland couldn’t help but hold his breath, even though he didn’t want to show how much he really wanted to know as it would please Valkries, this information made him momentarily forget to control his expression. “And then?” “There’s no more.” “What—?” “I meant the coffee.” Valkries licked her lips. “You were the one who said to talk while we ate, right?” Roland was immediately speechless. They were already at this point and she was still trying to take hold of the conversation. Should he describe her as too competitive, or too proud? But he let his unspoken criticism remain unspoken and immediately called the waiter and ordered three cups of Peninsula coffee. “You can continue now.” “Reconciliation wasn’t actually very complicated. the King placed the shard he acquired together with the legacy shard of our race, and the two combined into one—in that moment, we took over everything they once had: language, wisdom, magical skill… even life,” the Nightmare Lord said slowly. “The surviving ‘earthworms’ wilted away and died, whilst the power of our clansmen made a qualitative leap. It was as if a veil was lifted on magic; multifarious pieces of knowledge emerged in our minds. It didn’t matter if we wanted to accept it or not, but we couldn’t deny one point—our race was far more powerful than it was during the first Battle of Divine Will. “From that moment, nobody doubted the gift from god. Just as I said, once this feeling is experienced once, it will never be forgotten.” She raised a new cup of coffee and said, “Now you realize what I mean by being too late, right? It doesn’t matter what you received from the Dream World; as soon as they acquire the human legacy shard, this will all end up in the victor’s hands. You want to use the traitorous Oracle’s warning to stop this war? That will just be a waste of effort.” Something that even her mentor, Heathtalese, couldn’t accomplish couldn’t be done by a human male. “Indeed…” Roland sighed. “But I have never planned on using the warning to stop the war.” “…What are you trying to say?” Valkries furrowed her brows. “The only thing that can stop war is war itself.” He said with his eyes locked onto hers.