Chapter 254

On the day the empire fell…

We already know what happened that day through the journal we found in the ruins.

The empire tried to invade another world through a dimensional gate leading to another world, aiming to colonize not just nations or peoples, but the world itself.

But when the empire opened the dimensional gate, what appeared were not weaker creatures that could be colonized, but countless monsters that defied description.

Frankly, it was a hard-to-believe story.

Though I hadn’t actually experienced the era of the ancient empire, based on the contents of the journal and my explorations of the ruins, the ancient empire had over 80 divisions, each led by a transcendent being, and even possessed double-digit numbers of golems with combat power comparable to transcendents, despite not being living creatures. It was a nation with such absurd national power that it defied logic.

Even the renowned Spine Empire to the west of the continent is considered a formidable superpower for merely possessing seven transcendent beings, and the ancient empire’s magical civilization was on a level that no nation on the continent could hope to replicate.

It’s hard to imagine such a nation collapsing overnight.

But what I truly wonder is not how the ancient empire fell.

If even such a great ancient empire could collapse overnight…

Then what does that make us, living in this world now?

I swear, in all my life, I’ve never heard of monsters dangerous enough to bring down the ancient empire.

And it wasn’t just me; none of my companions had either.

Well, perhaps Daria or Aila, members of the Holy Kingdom, might know.

So where did those monsters that destroyed the ancient empire disappear to?

That’s what I’ve been curious about since I first read the journal.

[You probably already know from the journal that monsters rushed out of the dimensional gate due to our arrogance that day.]

Yes.

I know that.

So the important thing is what happened afterward that allowed the world, which had turned into chaos, to return to normal.

About that story…

[The monsters that appeared when the dimensional gate opened were beings we couldn’t handle with our power. It wasn’t a matter of being strong or weak; we couldn’t even tell if defeating them was possible or if such a concept even existed for them. With a single gesture, the empire’s army was easily destroyed.]

At the same time, as he gestured, another illusion began to rise on the opposite side.

It was the appearance of an army that seemed to number in the tens of thousands.

The army was gathered in one place, as small as ants, like miniature models.

And in the direction they were looking, there was a massive dimensional gate, several kilometers in size.

And from it emerged monsters with appearances as if a schizophrenic had drawn them, abstract and metaphysical, as if forcibly 3D-printed.

As the monsters appeared, the soldiers couldn’t even fight back properly; they committed suicide, melted into the scenery, or died in various twisted ways.

I roughly knew what had happened from the journal, but seeing it through the illusion was far more horrifying than I had imagined.

The only saving grace was that the illusion was so small that the others couldn’t make out exactly what was happening.

[With not even enough time to drink a cup of tea, the army became incapacitated, and we had no choice but to completely revise our plans. No, saying ‘revise’ is an understatement. It was more accurate to say that the environment to execute the plan of invading another dimension no longer existed.]

At the illusion’s words, I could finally turn my eyes away from the horrifying scene and look back at the figure in the illusion.

[Seeing that scene, I immediately gathered the imperial family and the nobles residing in the capital and went underground in the imperial palace. With the plan to invade another dimension thwarted and the empire’s downfall imminent, I believed that protecting the wise individuals who would lead the empire in the future was the best course of action.]

The imperial palace…

He must be referring to this place.

I see.

So this place was once the imperial palace of the ancient empire and also served as a bunker to protect against those monsters.

[And we immediately mobilized all the empire’s treasures to protect this palace from the monsters. In theory, by mobilizing all the empire’s treasures, we could misalign the palace’s spatial and temporal axes, isolating the palace’s interior from the external world and allowing us to take refuge until the world became safe again.]

Among the words of the figure in the illusion, there was a sound that was hard to understand, and Mari whispered a question in a small voice.

“Spatial axis…? Temporal axis…? What does that mean?”

“Simply put, it means making the space inside this palace like a different dimension, and also altering the flow of time.”

“To attempt such a grand feat so casually… What an unbelievable magical civilization.”

Answering the question were Serena and Liche, the mages.

[But our method failed. By the time we thought of and tried to execute that plan, the imperial mage had already taken advantage of the chaos and fled with all the artifacts. Damn old man…! If only we could have tried that method!]

Recalling that time, the man in the illusion, with a gloomy expression, became so angry that his gloomy expression momentarily disappeared.

So, in summary, they originally planned to transcend time and space to hold out until the world became safe, but the imperial mage betrayed them and fled?

It seems the ancient empire was more of a mess than I thought.

Meanwhile, as if calming his emotions, the man in the illusion resumed his gloomy expression and continued.

[Because of that, our best plan was ruined. All we had left was the Reverse Field Artifact, Ainshil’s Bronze Shield, which could create an indestructible barrier but couldn’t distort spatial axes or misalign temporal axes.]

As he spoke, the man in the illusion weakly conjured an image of a large, turquoise shield-shaped artifact.

“Uh… I don’t know much, but isn’t that kind of artifact amazing…?”

“Is that something that deserves the prefix ‘just’…?”

“But doesn’t that shield look familiar?”

“Ah. Surely we’ve never seen such an artifact before.”

[So, as our second plan, we decided to protect the palace with Ainshil’s Bronze Shield and hold out in hopes of finding a clue to resolve this situation. And fortunately, that plan seemed to proceed without major issues. Even as the land flipped, plains turned into mountain ranges, and the continent split in two, and even as this palace was buried under a mound of earth, turning into a mountain-shaped palace, we remained intact.]

So, this ruin being buried in the mountains wasn’t due to the will of the ancient empire’s people but the work of one of those monsters.

Either burying an artifact that creates an indestructible barrier or burying the palace protected by that artifact under a mound of earth?

Either way, it’s a mind-boggling scale.

I thought that after becoming a transcendent, I could handle events of considerable scale on my own…

But this is utterly bleak.

I’m truly glad I wasn’t born in that era.

[But as time passed, we realized that even the second method was flawed. As time went on, our food supplies dwindled, and we realized that protecting the entire palace placed a greater burden on Ainshil’s Bronze Shield than we had anticipated. We had already been rationing food for a long time, and Ainshil’s Bronze Shield was on the verge of breaking from output beyond its durability. In such a situation, we still hadn’t found even a clue to resolve this crisis. So, we admitted our failure and decided to execute our final plan.]

As he spoke, he looked in my direction.

No, as a mere recorded image, he couldn’t perceive us.

But still, it felt like he was looking at us.

[Our final plan. It was to admit our failure and pass on our knowledge to future generations.]

The man in the illusion continued with a grave tone.

[Although we failed to find an answer and will meet our end trapped in this palace, if humanity survives without perishing… Our final duty is to leave behind the knowledge necessary for humanity to become great again. That is why we left this journal and this recording for you.]

The atmosphere among the group became solemn at the man’s words.

But contrary to his grave tone, future humanity didn’t place other human species beneath them, nor did they seem to have any intention of doing so.

In fact, even those who set foot here were more non-human than human.

Of course, as a figure from the distant past, he couldn’t have known that.

[The information we leave for you consists of three main points. First, the types of monsters that appeared through the dimensional gate and precautions about them. Second, everything of historical value about the empire’s civilization and culture. And finally, the essence of the empire’s magic.]

“The ancient empire’s civilization!?”

“Ancient magic!?”

At the man’s words, Seiri and Serena, who had been solemnly listening, forgot their composure and eagerly leaned in.

Honestly, reacting so intensely to keywords like the ancient empire’s lifestyle and magic…

…By the way, does the ancient empire’s culture include culinary culture?

Meanwhile, the man in the illusion had already begun speaking about the first topic.

[Then, the first thing we will convey to you is about the monsters that appeared through the dimensional gate. Whether those monsters still exist in your future or not is unknown, but if they still roam your world, we will pass on the characteristics and precautions about the monsters we have weakly researched. We hope this information helps you survive against the monsters that crossed dimensions…]

And so, the story finally moved to its main point.