Chapter 948 True Purpose
While Kyran and Ames conversed telepathically, Axil explained why she believed Kyran's defiance from the Fates was unsurprising.
"What you are seeing is a small part of a broken tablet we excavated from a lone plane," she paused and shook her head, "No, that plane could not be considered a plane anymore since it could no longer produce magic energy. It resembled a fairly large patch of land in the Lower Realm that drifted with no specific direction. In any case, we found an ancient tablet there. After years of research, we managed to decipher a part and learned the tablet recounted a history we did not know of."
Axil then looked at Kyran meaningfully and added, "This here is what we've deciphered, and it mentioned how the most ancient of Magic could defy the Fates of the realm."
When she mentioned the most ancient of magic and the realm, she did so believing they were terms used in general. But Ames and Kyran knew better. The runes used to refer to them appeared the same as its general definition, but there was a very subtle difference that only those who had a very good knowledge of the Ancient language would recognize.
Considering this, if they reworded Axil's earlier words, it should be: The Most Ancient of Magic could defy the Fates of The Realm.
"'The most ancient of magic...'" Euan repeated thoughtfully. He looked at Axil and asked, "Are you perhaps referring to Void magic, as it is considered the most powerful Ancient Magic?"
Nonetheless, Euan, knowing that among the four Ancient magic, Void was considered the most powerful, he more or less understood the phrase 'the most ancient of magic referred to the Void.
Axil nodded her head, "That's right. Information about the Ancient Magic could be said the same in every plane. Some differ in how it is called or how many can be considered Ancient Magic, but overall, it is pretty much the same."
"Nothingness is the beginning of everything. It gave birth to chaos, to which chaos gave birth to order. And then the order gave birth to life," Ames suddenly recited before any of the others could say anything. She looked at them with an indifferent expression and said, "This excerpt can prove that the Void is the Most Ancient of Magic."
"This..." Nachum looked at her in surprise. When the Lower Realm first opened the doors of knowledge during his first ascension, he heard something similar. He did not understand those words completely, but because of it, he became aware of the four Ancient Magic: Draconic, Soul, Time, and Void.
Kyran's expression was devoid of emotion. But in his memory, he recalled the time when Zephyr first told him about the Void being called nothingness. Then again, Zephyr was a Quilin who served the Dragons. It was not a stretch to think he heard those words from the same source.
The others looked at Ames in amazement. But Axil's amazement stemmed more from how Ames's words were written on another tablet they discovered.
"This excerpt is written in the history of The Realm," Ames continued with a solemn expression. She then sighed before saying, "To be honest, I am not allowed to say any of this to anyone from the Lower Realm because this is part of a history that had long been lost and forgotten. If anyone from the Lower Realm discovered it, the two realms would inevitably clash."
With a grave expression, Axil said, "You say you are not allowed, yet said it anyway. Does that mean there is no longer a need to be cautious because the confrontation is already on the way?"
Ames looked at Axil and nodded without even bothering to hide anything, "That's right."
"And we caused it," Axil felt somewhat aggrieved, realizing that their decision to gather as many tablets as they could and decipher them inadvertently threatened the Lower Realm.
"Wait," Kyran frowned slightly as he looked at Ames, "This confrontation is different from the War of the Sovereigns. Are you telling me both events will occur in the Lower Realm now?"
Ames looked at him and nodded, "Eventually. However, the War of the Sovereigns comes first."
"That's not surprising since the war can happen at any moment," Loar chimed in. However, rather than agree to his words, Ames shook her head and explained, "That's not the case. It is because the Lower Realm's planes have already exceeded what its realm could hold."
Ames's revelation was too sudden that almost all of them were rendered speechless.
The only ones who retained his and her composures were Kyran and Axil.
Axil narrowed her eyes, "So that is the truth behind the War of the Sovereigns."
Ames nodded. But then she paused and shook her head, "Rather than call it a simple truth, it is the true purpose of the war. Not that it was any different in any given war. After all, once war breaks out, nations will crumble, and innocent lives will fall."
"That is true... but... for it to happen simply because there are far too many planes in the Lower Realm?" Axil said, feeling vexed at this realization. "It is practically a genocide."
Ames refrained from commenting on what Axil said and instead said, "It is quite unfortunate that the Lower Realm has far little magic energy to sustain every plane. It is for this reason that some planes, in order to survive, used a different type of energy to ensure their inhabitants could still wield magic.
"However, these planes are prone to destruction since they deviated from the universal law and rules that the Lower Realm had."
"Basically, they are the planes that would end up getting destroyed in the war," Loar summarized with a grave expression.
Kyran felt an incoming headache after hearing Ames willingly shared the truth to them.
If he had to be honest, he never expected their discussion to go this way. He initially thought they would only exchange information, and afterward, he would ask Axil to view the rest of the tablets.
"To be more accurate, the faction where such a plane is part of, will end up getting destroyed," Ames corrected Loar with a meaningful look.
Almost all of them narrowed their eyes at Ames's implication.
"So the winner of the war has already been decided by the Fates?" Euan asked.
Although he more or less understood what was implied, he wanted to make sure he would not misunderstand. After all, Somuli was a plane prone to be destroyed because of its own magic energy, in the form of mana.
"You could say, the winner of the war will be decided by the Macabre Glacier's owner," Ames replied while glaring at Cyneah's direction.
Cyneah, who had remained silent from the start, shivered after sensing Ames's piercing glare. She feigned ignorance and focused her attention on the exchange between the others.
"Why?" Kyran asked. He had already heard about how every faction that the Dark Sage became part of during the War of the Sovereigns would always end up winning. He gleaned it had something to do with the mirror's ability to send people into a frenzy, forcing them to kill one another and also absorbing their souls.
Apparently, the truth of the matter was that the mirror's owner would decide the winner.
While this might imply that Kyran's assumption was correct, it was only a pretense. After all, winning a war because of the Dark Sage possessing the Macabre Glacier joining a faction was different from winning the war because it was decided by the Macabre Glacier's owner. Because the latter implied that the owner of the Macabre Glacier could decide whether his or her faction would win the war or allow their enemy faction to win it, regardless of whether he or she was the Dark Sage.
"A magic weapon is only an item in the end," Ames started. It is the one who wields it who can determine whether that weapon can be used to kill or survive."
Everyone remained silent. They obviously understood what Ames wanted to say.
In the past wars, the reason the Dark Sage's faction won was because of how he chose to wield the mirror.
While almost all of them appeared to have accepted this explanation, Kyran still felt something was amiss.
"How many War of the Sovereigns did the Lower Realm experience?" he asked no one in particular. However, it was obvious that only one could answer him.
True Void more or less guessed Kyran's doubts, and he looked at the latter thoughtfully.
To someone who could not remember all his past memories, he felt the meaning behind Ames's words had more to it than what she wanted to tell them.
"Far too many," Ames replied after a long pause.
"And who owned the Macabre Glacier back then?"
"The Dark Sage," she answered almost immediately. "He did create the Macabre Glacier."
"Meaning... from the start, the war has been influenced by the Dark Sage?" Kyran asked, looking at Ames with furrowed brows. "Or was he the one who instigated it in the first place?"
True Void raised his nonexistent brows. He finally realized why he felt something was wrong.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m