This was an age belonging to the ambitious. Opportunity and treacherous schemes surged like hidden currents in a raging river, sweeping through the centuries before and after.
It was as though an invisible quill were writing furiously in the depths of darkness. A complete story gradually took shape in Brando's mind. The latter half was already foreseeable—in the fog-shrouded ruins of the Final Battle, within that dark and silent temple. Whatever Her Majesty the Silver Queen had seen or experienced then, whether true or false, right or wrong, no longer mattered. Its conclusion had long been predetermined. The four great temples and the Buga people would never let the matter cause any repercussions, much less allow its influence to spread beyond the Alka region.
But the reason was not as sinister or sordid as the world imagined—
It was because Elroy, leader of the Silver People and master of the Silver Lightning, had once placed his hand upon the Sacred Oath and sworn before the Four Sages that, in the coming age, the Silver People would fulfill their duty and undertake the great responsibility of guarding and overseeing this world. To the people of this age, that promise might seem unbelievable, even childish—a mere promise. What could it prove?
The people of this age, from kings and nobles to commoners, believed in thoroughgoing self-interest. Between nations, there were only "chi luo"—naked interests. Kingdoms and kingdoms, races and races, all schemed against one another and changed their orders from day to day. Schemes and betrayals ran rampant. This history had already lasted for hundreds of years.
Thus, they could not imagine it.
They could not imagine that glorious age, nor understand what a promise between the noble truly meant.
There had once been an age when Elroy had spoken with ringing