Chapter 1

The world had once been destroyed.

However, only a few people knew this.

"For most of the mundane, ordinary people in this world, ‘the world’ is stable and eternal," Constance’s voice sounded calm and indifferent, stating the unbelievable truth in a completely straightforward tone, "Day and night alternate, the seasons cycle, all things grow, and life and death repeat. In the limited and short lives of most people, these things will strictly follow the laws of nature and repeat themselves. For them, the ‘world being destroyed’ is not only unbelievable, but also like a fantasy. They cannot understand and will not try to understand it – and if they are forced to recognize this, the only result will be panic. Therefore, unless it is among the Inheritors, no one will mention this truth."

She didn't care about the expressions on Charlemagne and Aivanna's faces, but continued to speak on her own: "Our world has been destroyed, and more than once – not the 'small matters' of world wars leading to the fall of kingdoms as you think, or even the extinction of certain races, but the complete collapse and disintegration of the entire world in the true sense."

"From a long, long time ago, so far back that even the Inheritors cannot confirm the beginning of things, a powerful and terrifying force has been entrenched in this world. We do not know its origin, nor do we know why it wants to destroy everything, only that our earliest ancestors called it 'Annihilation,' and it was 'Annihilation' that led to the first destruction of the world."

"Do you know? The world is actually very big, bigger than you can imagine – it was originally far more than just a planet... so cramped. Before Annihilation descended, there were countless planets like La Hirein, all called planets, and there were even stars far larger than planets, and celestial bodies far larger than stars floating in the world. The ancestors called it the universe."

"And Annihilation led to the extinction of the first universe – tearing the entire universe into pieces in a way that mortals cannot understand."

"That was the First Era."

Constance was briefly silent for a moment, and Aivanna couldn't help but say, "So, are we survivors from after that?"

Constance laughed, her smile tinged with coldness: "How could it be so wonderful – the First Era can be said to have had no survivors at all."

"The real end of the world is not so 'gentle.' It's not like wars between humans, where you can survive by digging a big enough hole or building a castle. When the entire universe begins to collapse, even the stars will instantly extinguish. There is no shelter in the world that can allow you to survive. In the First Era, those oldest ancestors were already very powerful. They could even cross the entire universe in an instant, and could create or extinguish stars of all sizes at will. They could even arbitrarily add or delete in the structure of space-time to create private kingdoms floating on the edge of the real world – but even such powerful ancestors could not save the crisis of the end when Annihilation descended. The universe of the First Era was torn to pieces, and the once glorious civilization was destroyed along with it. Nothing survived at all."

"However, the real nightmare was what happened after that."

Constance took a deep breath, as if even she couldn't help but feel a tremor when she said certain things.

Charlemagne couldn't wait: "What happened after that?"

"After the First Era was destroyed, our world was reshaped," Constance said slowly, "A new era was born on the ruins after the collapse of the universe, and all things reappeared – and Annihilation appeared along with it."

Charlemagne and Aivanna looked at each other, and even Hao Ren couldn't help but exchange a glance with Vivian: the situation seemed to be different from what they had initially guessed.

Aivanna's face was slightly pale: "How many times has this happened?"

"I don't know," Constance shook her head, "Too many times, even the eternal soul cannot withstand such losses. We only know that this world has been destroyed more than once, and then reshaped in the ruins and debris, and each process is roughly the same: after the reshaping, the world will first operate smoothly, making people even suspect that true peace has arrived, but Annihilation will inevitably appear after that and push this world into the abyss of destruction."

"And every time Annihilation descends, a war called the 'Era Transition' will occur. This war is unavoidable, because it is not we who provoke the war, but 'Annihilation.' It will corrupt the most powerful warriors in the world, and release countless monsters from the nightmare world. These minions feed on the world and will inevitably sweep everything away. In order to survive, and in order to leave a glimmer of hope after the Era Transition, we will rise up in resistance."

"But no matter how fierce the human resistance is, Annihilation will eventually destroy everything. The war will intensify, and the monsters will become more and more numerous, until the moment when the order of the world is broken and all things are devoured by madness, then it will be settled."

"This is like a cycle, constantly perishing and then being reborn. The end seems to have already arrived, but it also seems to have never ended – we fought one battle after another. Each time we can successfully complete the Era Transition and continue in the next era, it must be the most tenacious, most fearless, and most powerful race among humans. However, in the next era, these strong people will inevitably become the new carriers of Annihilation – the saviors will eventually become destroyers and be defeated by new rebels. This is the Era Transition."

"And another consequence of the Era Transition is the world's constant 'loss.'"

"After all, we are 'defective products' reshaped in the wreckage of the universe. Each time we are reshaped, something similar to the source will continue to be lost, and the specific manifestation is that the level of the world is constantly decreasing, and the level of our civilization is also constantly decreasing."

"Do you still remember the 'Inheritors' and 'eternal souls' that I kept emphasizing just now? That refers to the souls that can complete the Era Transition and still exist after the world is reshaped. Although the world will be destroyed and the tangible body will perish, some remnants of souls will always survive and carry memories into the next era – and preserving this hope of continuation is the greatest motivation for the Inheritors to continue to resist in world-ending events. But all of this will be depleted, depleted along with the world."

"In the initial Era Transition war, we fought on the endless battlefield of time and space. After that, we resisted Annihilation among the stars. Several times after that, we could only fight in a galaxy. After that, we could only shrink into the shadows of planets, relying on combat satellite groups to resist the monsters that kept pouring out from the center of the stars – and after one Era Transition after another, we finally retreated to the surface. Our weapons became swords and spears, and our battlefield could not even leave the atmosphere."

"One day, the Era Transition will take place in a city, a town, on a piece of rubble. The last humans and the last monsters may fight hand-to-hand, using teeth and nails – and if they all fall, that may be the real liberation."

Constance's story finally came to an end.

Hao Ren knew that what Constance had said was certainly not the whole truth – not that the princess was hiding something, but that she simply did not know the whole truth.

Because the memories that the Inheritors have passed down are constantly disappearing, this ancient civilization is gradually shrinking along with this universe. The once vast sea of stars now only has a chaotic dark field and the only planet, La Hirein. So what can those "Inheritors" who have survived one Era Transition after another and continue to this day have left?

I'm afraid Constance herself doesn't really understand what those concepts she's talking about mean – most of the Inheritors like her have probably forgotten what the starry sky looks like, and don't remember the time when they traveled the stars. They only remember those wars, and say some scattered words, the meaning of which they themselves don't understand.

As for Charlemagne and Aivanna, they raised their heads after a long silence. Charlemagne pointed to the platinum scepter that was still floating in mid-air: "This scepter has always been kept by the Ys royal family, so we are also..."

"Inheritors, but they are already broken Inheritors," Constance nodded gently, "In fact, I didn't know until today that you retained this 'inheritance' and were preparing to find the whereabouts of this scepter yourself. Your father probably suddenly awakened under the influence of the Era Transition, and a little memory emerged from the depths of his soul, so he sent you here, but you... obviously have no memories of the ancient times."

Charlemagne smiled mockingly: "In other words, we belong to the group of people who are not qualified to participate in the Era Transition and are not qualified to be continued in the next era, right – if what you said is not a terrifying fantasy story."

"Everyone is qualified to participate in the Era Transition, because this is a challenge that all living beings must face," Constance glanced at Charlemagne, "But you really can't continue anything... Your ancient memories have been erased, and your souls no longer have eternity. Even if you participate in the Era Transition and win with me, in the new era... you won't remember me."

Charlemagne opened his mouth to say something, but Aivanna next to him said first: "This is a blessing."

"Yes, a great blessing," Constance looked at the princess of Ys, "There is no need to continue to face the truth. Nothing is happier than ignorance."

After digesting all this huge amount of information, Hao Ren let out a long sigh: "Alas, so your history... is in reverse order."

He finally understood what those "echoes" from different civilization levels, different timelines, and different world lines were all about.

It turned out that it was not many destroyed worlds stacked together, nor were the wreckage of different civilizations intertwined. From beginning to end, the only universe facing the end was this one – it's just that it has been destroyed more than once.

"Reverse order? A good way of putting it," Constance raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Hao Ren, "But why say 'our history'?"

"No, it's nothing," Hao Ren shifted away from that little slip of the tongue, "About the Era Transition... I have a few questions."