Chapter 774: “Permanence”
[Master, is there really a need to visit these planets just to learn about special realms? Why not simply follow the Seed Engine’s key straight to where it leads?]
Celestia raised her concern as Arthur’s spaceship breached the atmosphere of their target High-Level planet.
Arthur, fully understanding where she was coming from, sighed and responded.
"I do intend to follow the key. But I also need to gather this information for a simple, yet important reason—I want to understand how things work in this galaxy.
How do they treat special realms and dimensions? Are they sealed away? Are they open to the public? Do they allow outsiders to enter? Are there restrictions? Have these realms already been claimed by interstellar powers who might kill anyone who steps foot inside without permission?"
He paused momentarily before continuing.
"That’s why I wanted to get a general sense of how this galaxy operates, especially regarding places like the one where the Seed Engine is hidden.
But so far, what we’ve uncovered hasn’t been encouraging. This whole ’god of Permanence’ situation..."
He sighed again, this time heavier.
"It might end up being more trouble than I expected."
Leaning back in his seat as the ship touched down on the desolate North Pole, Arthur added,
"Anyway, let’s see what this planet has to offer. After that, I’ll use the Seed Engine’s key again and head closer to the target region.
Once we’re in range, I’ll stop at another High-Level world to see if the situation is any different, and also to confirm whether this god of Permanence guy is really the Galactic Ruler or just some local overlord."
After answering Celestia’s question, Arthur released a pulse of spatial power to scan the planet’s surface, then locked onto the most populated city he detected.
With a snap of his fingers, he warped through space, reappearing in an unremarkable back alley, his clothes once again changed to match the local style as closely as possible.
He stepped out into the city, glancing around and visually confirming that it was technologically superior to the previous planet’s most populated city.
Towering buildings lined both sides of the streets, but the overall vibe of the city was rather dreary.
The energy here was just as stagnant as on the last planet, but as before, Arthur chose not to dwell on it. His focus remained on locating a library or information hub that could offer the answers he was looking for.
This time, he wasn’t planning to take the normal routes, but instead the ones that operated outside the bounds of the law. Using his spatial power, he carried out a thorough scan of the city, searching for any sign of an underground world, anything from black markets, and information brokers, to gangs.
A 3D map of the city appeared in his mind, detailing everything from residential areas to commercial zones, and unsurprisingly, slums.
But the deeper he searched, the more baffled he became. He found no trace of any illicit activities or shady dealings.
"This city feels like some sort of holy sanctuary," he muttered to himself, bewildered. "Where are all the rogues and outlaws?"
Even the most regulated cities in Dorcaster, where the throne of the Devildom’s King resided, had some level of underground activity. But here, he saw nothing of the sort.
Just as Arthur hit that dead end in his search, a loud bell rang out, and an unsettling spectacle mediately unfolded around him.
Arthur instantly teleported out of the crowd as people around him suddenly dropped to their knees. Reappearing on the rooftop of a nearby building, he watched as everyone in the city’s largest square stopped what they were doing and bowed their heads in perfect unison.
’...is this some sort of ritual?’
He focused his hearing, picking up bits of what people were saying, and quickly realised it was a prayer session...dedicated to the god of Permanence.
The expressions on the faces of those praying were a mix of fear and devotion. Some clearly looked like they were forced into it, while others worshipped with unsettling zeal.
[Master, this place is weird.]
"You don’t have to tell me twice..." Arthur muttered, shaking his head.
"Let’s check out their library and get out of here."
Arthur spoke as he watched the prayer conclude, then teleported into the midst of the now-bustling city square, making his way directly toward the library at its edge.
But just before he reached the door, a loud scream rang out, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the square.
From the library’s wide double doors, two towering, seven-foot-tall armoured knights emerged, each radiating powerful divinity with oppressive intent.
Between them, they dragged a man in a tattered suit, half of his face drenched in blood.
Arthur wondered what had caused this scene, but he didn’t need to ask as his enhanced hearing quickly picked up scattered whispers from the surrounding crowd.
"Did you hear? That man tried to access the Forbidden Archives," someone muttered.
"What did he think was going to happen? Of course, the Sentinels caught him," another person replied, a hint of annoyance in their voice.
"Great. Now the Sentinels will be crawling all over the place for days. Tsk...business is gonna be horrible."
Setting aside the man’s apparent crime, Arthur shifted his attention to the seven-foot-tall knights, lifting an eyebrow in mild surprise.
’So these are the Sentinels. Makes sense the people are terrified of them. They’re Transcendents, after all.’
Arthur understood well the kind of power a Transcendent wielded, and how overwhelming that must seem to the people of this world who averaged around the Bronze level.
The two Sentinels dragged the man to the centre of the city square and left him kneeling there, stepping forward as they looked up to meet the descending gaze of another Sentinel, one clearly of higher rank, judging by the more elaborate design of his armour.
As they conversed with their superior, the bloodied man left kneeling on the stone ground began to cackle, before bursting into manic laughter.
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! WE’VE ALL TRULY BECOME PUPPETS ON STRINGS!"
His bloodshot eyes swept over the gathered crowd as he shouted, voice hoarse with rage.
"THIS WORLD USED TO BE GREAT! WE ONCE EXPLORED THE STARS, AND WE POSSESSED THE KNOWLEDGE TO ADVANCE OUR CIVILIZATION, TO BECOME SOMETHING EVEN GREATER...!"
The two Sentinels moved as if to silence him, but their superior raised a hand, wordlessly instructing them to stand down.
Undeterred, the man kept shouting.
"BUT NOW, THAT CONTROL FREAK YOU ALL WORSHIP HAS STRIPPED EVERYTHING AWAY FROM US!
KNOWLEDGE WAS A RIGHT EVERYONE WAS ENTITLED TO! YET, THE BOOKS WE WROTE WITH OUR OWN HANDS, BOOKS OF OUR OWN HISTORY HAVE BEEN LOCKED AWAY FROM US!
ALL BECAUSE YOUR DEAR GOD OF PERMEANCE FEARS CHANGE!"
Cackling madly, he continued.
"THE MORE YOU RESIST IT, THE HARDER IT PUSHES BACK! CHANGE WOULD COME!! IT IS INEVITABLE AND UNSTOPPABLE! THIS SO-CALLED PERMANENCE WILL CRUMBLE! AND THE FIRST TO FALL WHEN IT DOES WILL BE YOUR SO-CALLED GOD OF P—"
*BAMM!!
One of the Sentinels, no longer able to contain himself, moved at a speed beyond the perception of everyone but Arthur and the other Sentinels, kicking the man in the face and knocking out several teeth.
His head hit the ground with such force that it cracked the concrete, and he coughed up blood, twitching in silence.
"That’s enough out of you... mongrel."
The sight of his furious eyes glowing behind the visor of his helmet sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
Paying no mind to their frightened reactions, he unleashed his divinity, its crushing pressure forcing many to their knees as he proclaimed.
[THE ONLY INEVITABLE THING ABOUT THE DISEASE THAT IS CHANGE IS THE CHAOS, DESTRUCTION, AND SUFFERING IT BRINGS!
CHANGE MEANS THE RISE OF AMBITION, WHICH LEADS TO WAR!
CHANGE MEANS INNOVATION, WHICH LEADS TO DESTABILIZATION!
CHANGE MEANS GROWTH, WHICH LEADS TO COLLAPSE!
CHANGE IS THE ROOT OF INSTABILITY. TRUE PEACE EXISTS ONLY IN STILLNESS!
BUT STASIS? THAT IS SAFETY. IN UNCHANGING CONTINUITY, NOTHING IS LOST.
EVEN IF NOTHING IS GAINED.]
Hearing this, Arthur barely resisted the urge to respond with ’What a hot load of bullshit!’. Holding his tongue, he silently teleported to the library doors, stepping inside just as the Sentinel continued his speech.
[Stability is the purest kindness, and growth is violence with a beautiful mask.
This is the grace bestowed by the god of Permanence, and yet, heretics like this one dare reject it.
He shall be punished, as our god commands, to serve as a warning to all who defy his Permanence.]
His words were followed by the sickening squelch of something being crushed, and the horrified screams of civilians nearby.
Arthur didn’t need to look back to know what had happened. The sound alone made him shake his head in silence.
[Master...this galaxy is fucked up.]
Celestia muttered, a hint of unease in her voice, and Arthur just chuckled in reply.
’Classic words from someone who serves a tyrant and thinks they’re a saviour. Nevertheless...’
Arthur teleported straight into the Forbidden Archives, the same ones that the captured man had tried to reach.
"That’s just not my problem," he murmured.
Indeed, this wasn’t Arthur’s galaxy, so he had no reason to care what became of it.
He switched his focus to the expansive library around him, its towering shelves stretching toward the ceiling, lined with thousands of books.
Arthur calmly walked through the labyrinth of bookshelves, his gaze scanning for any trace of the information the captured man had spoken of.
He saw many titles that drew his attention, ranging from ’The Theory of Infinite Realms’ to ’The Greater Universe’ and ’Outside the Galaxy’.
As he reached out to pick one, his eyes caught sight of a title he could not possibly ignore.
’Three Unknowns: Dark Energy. Dark Matter. Cosmic Energy’.
’A book about Cosmic Energy?’
Arthur reached out and pulled the book from its shelf, only to find it sealed and marked with an insignia that matched the one on the armour of the Sentinels he had seen earlier, almost certainly the emblem of the god of Permanence.
It felt as though this library was a prison for knowledge.
[Technically, it is.]
Lostvayne responded, and Arthur silently nodded, about to pass his cosmic energy through the book when a voice suddenly echoed from down the hallway.
"You should not be here."
Arthur wasn’t surprised. He had sensed the presence of the voice’s owner long before and had made no attempt to hide his own.
Turning, he met eyes with an elderly man who wore a deep frown on his face.
"I’m just fishing around for information. I’ll leave when I’m done," Arthur said casually.
"Information is power," the old man replied, his eyes narrowing. "And in this era, power is forbidden."
