'The name of the old gentleman's real body is Sergei Andal. He's a Rank 5 Sage of a Spirit-type Sage World called Kotov.
According to the old gentleman, Sergei is the leader of their world or the strongest entity alongside the World's Will, just like me. He's the absolute ruler and the decision-maker.
When they were about to be dragged by the war that was restarted with the reappearance of the Rogue Divinity and the new Divine World, Sergei aligned Kotov to the Rogue Divinity in their faction.
However, Celestial Garden was thoroughly vicious when it came to their enemies.
They were sending their Divinity to the lower worlds. If they refuse to comply, although they will not destroy the world, they will kill half of its population.
A Divinity will always be invincible against Sage Worlds.
Although the World's Will could somehow restrict the Divinity as long as they weren't strong enough, if a group of Divinity went down then… that was a catastrophe for even the strongest Sage Worlds.
Imagine being faced with a Transcendent when you're still a Rank 1 Mortal. That kind of difference persists every jump in Realm.
As for Kotov, the Celestial Garden ordered a rival Sage World to attack them and they were accompanied by one Divinity.
According to the gentleman, Kotov managed to fight back against them.
In Sergei's leadership, the Divinity who was probably only a Rank 1 Divinity was caught in Sergei's trap that was given to him by the Divine World he aligned Kotov with.
That trap reduced the Divinity's overall prowess by 50%. And with the help of the World's Will to further reduce the Divinity's prowess, Sergei fought against the Divinity while the other Sage Ranks below him defended against their rival Sage World's experts.
As for the result of that battle, the old gentleman could only guess. Considering he's still existing, Sergei is still alive.
The old gentleman might be a clone of him but he's a separate entity borne from a skill called Spirit Splitting.
The old gentleman was only given one command by Sergei: to defend his old mansion. His old mansion that was said to be holding sentimental value for him.
The old gentleman didn't elaborate on that and I didn't press for an answer.
According to him, Ancient Ruins is a chunk of Kotov. It was split by the Divinity in desperation.
At that time, this place was also being assaulted by the Transcendents of the rival Sage World. Without any other guards, he defended this place alone. And although he failed to save it from being damaged, the old gentleman remained due to the command by Sergei.
The corpses littering this Underground Mansion were denizens of that rival Sage World.
"Does this mean you have no idea about the other parts of this chunk of Kotov?"
"Not really, I can sense the whole place and what's residing in here. With your strength, you can now fully explore this place and get the things left behind by those who died here. However, I doubt it will be useful to you at all. You already got the most valuable after all…" The old gentleman trailed his voice and he alternated his gaze between me and Jayna.
"The Totem and Earthfire Essence, huh?"
"That's right. You might find more of these people with their Storage Necklaces intact. If you're lucky you'll find weapons with Sealed Weaponsoul, Imbued Tools that was lower in quality than the Totem or Output Enhancing Equipment those in need of equipment might find useful."
Those are still somewhat valuable, not for denizens of Earth but the denizens of Mortal Worlds connected to it like the World of Spirit.
"What about the Source Energy of this place? It can't be that it's unlimited." I inquired.
"Can you guess why there's still a Source Energy in here?" The old gentleman asked a question instead of answering.
The smile on his lips indicated how he's sure that I might know the reason.
And truthfully, I can formulate a guess.
"Is it because a part of the Source Energy Core got chopped along with this chunk…?"
If that was chopped along with this chunk, a part of the World's Will was also brought along with it.
And that explained how it managed to latch onto a Mortal World without destroying it.
If it has the part of the Source Energy core, it can still produce Source Energy. However, it's probably siphoning a part of the Source Energy of the World of Spirit…
And that also finally explained the paranoid personality of the World's Will. It's afraid that if someone else can utilize the entirety of the Source Energy in its world, there's no point for him to exist anymore.
Upon hearing my answer, the old gentleman agreeably nodded once more. "I am only testing you but for you to easily guess it… I guess you're not an ordinary personage even to the Sage World you belong to."
"I am a former Divinity."
I told him the truth. And this wasn't a decision I only thought of now. Letting this old gentleman know about this identity of mine was an exchange for the information he provided me.
"Do you mean?"
"I reincarnated to this body or… to be exact, I forced myself to reincarnate. Since you can still recall the memories of your real self before the split, have you heard about something like multiple Worlds being destroyed at once?"
And this was also what I was aiming for. I died after what I did back then and I didn't know how much it impacted the Sage World Region.
"… It can't be. You're from that 'Earth'?! No… You're that madman of a Divinity who destroyed your allies and worlds connected to Earth before destroying Earth itself!"
"Am I that famous?" I smirked at him. To think that he truly heard about what happened. I guess I made a large mess, huh?
"… Famous? You're an infamous madman! How? How are you still alive?"
"It's the miracle of being a Divinity. But as you can see… Earth is still existing. What I did is to prevent Earth from being destroyed by the Celestial Garden..."
To satisfy his curiosity, I told him bits of the truth about what happened. Naturally, I omitted the part that I did it all for my Companions. As much as they're my strengths, they could also be considered my weaknesses. If an enemy caught hold of that information, then I would endlessly worry about their safety and in the end, I might resort to hiding them.
After digesting what I told him, the old gentleman eventually calmed himself down. The revelation surprised him but upon hearing all of those, it made sense to him. "… So there's that kind of story. If what you're saying is true, what are you planning to do now that you are reincarnated?"
"What else? Return to that Realm and… make Earth a new Divine World."
Along with a shake of his head, the old gentleman laughed out loud. "… You're truly a madman."
"Perhaps…" I agreed with his remark. "Well then, we will soon begin our journey to return to my previous height. I thought of coming here to visit first to clear some things and this trip was proven fruitful. I will look for Sergei but it might not happen before I become a Sage."
When he heard we're leaving, the old gentleman hurriedly stood up. "That's fine. However, if I may ask, can I add another favor from you?"
"Given that I'm satisfied with your answer and you're still stronger than me at the moment, I will hear you out."
If I try to spar against this old gentleman, I will definitely lose. His strength was at Rank 4 Transcendent but he's probably at the late or peak stage of it.
? "Find someone for me. And… take her away."
"Take her away? Who is it?"
"My…" He paused for a bit as he began deliberating whether to tell me or not. After a while, he exhaled and asked, "Can I trust you on this?"
"No… In the first place, the relationship we have is purely an exchange of information. I gave you my real identity and you answered my questions… However, I owe you one so… you have my words to keep this a secret if that's what you want."
"That's all I need. Considering everyone you cared for is still beside you, you're one who will not renege on your words…"
Whether he meant that or not, I had no idea. Either way, that's somehow true. If it's a promise for me then I will make it come true.
"My daughter. No, Sergei's daughter. Please look for her. The order I received is to protect this place, not protect his daughter. Five centuries ago, she left this place to see the world outside." The old man continued as he gave the details about the person he's asking me to look for.
"The world outside? Can I see a portrait of her?" At this point, Yumiko who was only silently listening blurted out, with slight agitation in her voice. Most likely, she's suspecting something and it's related to that girl.
The old gentleman nodded at her and he most likely noticed her reaction as well. As he waved his hand, his Source Energy suddenly gathered in front of him before forming into a colored image of a woman... a purple-haired woman.
"The Hermit!" The twins, Rei and Ren, suddenly shouted upon recognizing the woman.
And likewise, Yumiko and Jayna who were staring closely at it also agreed, "It's her. No wonder she's so mysterious."
"You mean you met her?"
"Un. She's just outside this Ancient Ruins, walking around the world." Yumiko answered.
The Hermit, huh? I guessed that her identity might be something else but… I never expected it to be this special.
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