Chapter 543

Chapter 543: Patterns Under the Dust

After Kou left, Lolan Hill sat in the small house, untied the string on the document bag, took out the yellowed pages inside, and carefully flipped through them.

These pages seemed not to be original versions but later copies. But logically, the originals would have been stored in the safest places and generally wouldn’t be taken out. As long as the content was accurate, whether it was an original or a copy made little difference.

Most were scattered records, with only one set meticulously bound together.

—

Where did the Chaotic Vortex come from, and where does it lead? What exactly are those twisted shadows? These are questions that scholars throughout history have wanted to know.

As a Scepter Priest in the Copper Candle Palace within the Church, I had more opportunities than many of my colleagues to access these texts. During my free time, I almost read through all the Church’s precious collections. Except for a few secret notes exclusive to the Pope, I had thoroughly reviewed all the others.

It must be said that the historical chaos during the Catastrophe of Chaos over a thousand years ago is unimaginable today. Various speculations and theories mixed with true yet partial records, making everything unclear. It took me nearly forty years to slowly sift through the vast amount of text, removing all unsubstantiated, contradictory, and factually incorrect information, gradually piecing together a vague pattern.

Where did the Chaotic Vortex originate?

This question can be traced back to the period after the Twilight Era and before the Age of Dragons and Giants, an unknown gap. Although there are no records of its cause, it can be inferred that it must be related to ancient people who had power beyond our imagination.

Where does the vortex lead?

Many say that its bottom is a place of sin, a dark hell devoid of light, the other end of time and space, another world. However, only the Archangel returned from within the vortex. Though she didn’t explicitly state it, the surrounding heroes recalled that after her return, she was filled with even greater sorrow and silence.

Perhaps it isn’t a completely lifeless dark hell, but it still cannot be called a beautiful world.

What are those twisted chaotic shadows?

This is the most misunderstood topic with the most varied explanations. There are various theories, such as the darkness of human nature, unconscious chaos, lost and fallen souls, and abandoned children of the gods.

But setting aside these factors related to the mind and good and evil, purely from the perspective of power and extraordinary systems, they are undoubtedly a special form of ‘virus.’ This ‘virus’ infects its surroundings and gradually destroys the environment, but for it to proliferate, it requires the existence of souls.

It is well known that the higher the intelligence, the stronger the soul. Humans, Beastmen, Elves, and other intelligent beings are its prey and sustenance.

They fundamentally destroy a person’s consciousness or soul, making it irreversible and chaotic, eventually fragmenting into scattered, unconscious, distorted new chaotic phantoms. In other words, these chaotic phantoms were originally the souls of intelligent beings, the remnants of humanity.

With this essence identified, it becomes easy to guess where those vanished ancients might have gone.

Though not entirely correct, at least a significant portion, perhaps even 99%, perished in this strange ‘virus.’

Did the ancients never resist or fight back?

Surely they did. Those resistances likely solidified into the origins of the angels.

As beings who emphasized the purity of their souls, their existence was akin to turning their souls into flawless bricks, then using them to build an indestructible crystal castle.

One murky, one clear; one scattered, one solidified. Like two poles of a concept, opposing each other.

Did the angels succeed in this endeavor?

While I admire those ancients who pioneered a path to create such an extraordinary sequence, I must admit that the angels ultimately failed.

Perhaps they had a qualitative advantage, but compared to hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of enemies, their resistance was merely a drop in the ocean.

I speculate that the birth of angels was not easy, but rather arduous, to the point that many ancients did not have the time to follow this path before disappearing from the world.

Subsequent research further corroborated my conjecture.

Low-ranking angels lack ‘liveliness’ or are very rigid, seemingly missing part of their emotions. While this allows them to maintain themselves when facing chaotic phantoms, it is a harsh way to reject everything, believing only in the commands of high-ranking angels. Similar to fanatics without critical thinking, they believe whatever the priests tell them.

For the priests, this is comfortable, but for the angels themselves, it is probably not beneficial, as it means losing their individuality.

We cannot know if these numerous low-ranking angels voluntarily became this way or were forced to. But it is certain that this method is effective. If the world falls into an irreparable crisis someday, our Church will also have to consider whether to adopt similar measures.

Not all life can remain brave and rational in the face of fear and catastrophe. To ensure the survival of our species, we cannot abandon effective extreme methods, even if it makes us eternal sinners.

Lolan Hill continued flipping through the pages, her brows furrowing and relaxing intermittently, until she finally sat motionless at the desk.

She ran her fingers over the rough black text on the paper, feeling myriad emotions swirling in her mind, yet unsure where to begin.

Sighs, regrets, sorrows, and losses—the many complex emotions slowly swirled in her mind and heart.

She once thought that perhaps those angels were remnants of humans from a distant era, but this small hope was shattered. Many low-ranking angels could hardly be considered alive.

They lacked social skills, did not engage in anything unrelated to combat, and had no other interests, not even emotions.

Only a few Archangels retained wisdom and emotion, but they too fell and were silenced in the Catastrophe of Chaos, suffering severe injuries.

After reviewing the most crucial records, the remaining documents contained little new information, merely supplements or references for this document.

Finally, at the end of the document, a thin piece of paper slipped out.

Lolan picked up the worn scrap, which listed several items excavated from the ruins of the Twilight Era. Unfortunately, these items were now stored in the Papal Hall, inaccessible to ordinary people.

Among them was a familiar figure—a three-dimensional, perfectly divided rhombic cylinder. If she guessed correctly, this cylinder should also be a device used to store data from a base in the Twilight Era.

It seems I’ll need to seek the current Pope’s favor. But has the Pope been chosen yet?

Lolan slowly closed the document, recalling the current state of the Church.

(End of Chapter)