The world had been destroyed before.
However, very few people knew this.
"For most of the ordinary people in this world, people who simply muddle through their lives, the 'world' is stable and eternal." Constance's voice sounded flat and indifferent as she stated this unbelievable truth in a completely matter-of-fact tone. "Day and night alternate, the seasons cycle, all things grow, and life and death follow their endless cycle. Throughout the limited and fleeting lives of most people, these things all occur and repeat strictly according to the laws of nature. To them, the fact that 'the world was once destroyed' is not merely unbelievable—it is more like an absurd fairy tale. They cannot understand it, nor would they try to. And if they were forcibly made aware of it, the only result would be panic. Therefore, unless it is among the inheritors, no one ever mentions this truth."
She paid no attention to the expressions on Charlemagne and Aivena's faces and continued speaking on her own: "Our world has been destroyed before, and more than once—not the 'minor matter' of a kingdom perishing in a world war, nor even the extinction of certain races, but the complete collapse and disintegration of the entire world in the truest sense of the word.
"From a very, very long time ago—so long ago that even the inheritors could no longer determine how it all began—there was a powerful and terrifying force entrenched in this world. We do not know where it came from, nor why it wished to destroy everything. We only know that our earliest ancestors called it 'Annihilation,' and it was Annihilation that caused the first destruction of the world.
"Do you know? The world is actually enormous, far larger than you can imagine—it was originally much more than a