Scroll of Civilization

This time, Truman dutifully played the role of an Angel of Dreams serving the Creator.

Over the course of several months, he led missionaries in spreading the faith among many human city-states and even among nonhuman races. He occasionally displayed the might of an Angel, leaving behind countless legends in every city-state.

Healing the sick and saving the wounded was basic work. The legends that truly shaped his unique image in the Scripture of the Creator were those of displaying divine power: hunting demigod monsters, purifying city-states, and spreading Dream Light.

In turn, Truman could indeed feel that after his status as an Angel of Dreams rose, his Anchor of Divinity had increased dramatically. It had already surpassed the faith of all the believers in the City of Darkness.

This allowed him to wield more of the Book of Dreams' power, and he was in excellent condition himself.

But one day, Sasrir contacted him.

"Dawn and Harvest?" Truman looked at the letter Sasrir had sent him, his expression rather peculiar.

It had not been long since the battle of the Ancient Gods. Truman had fought these mother and son gods fiercely, and had even schemed against Badheil.

That had probably brought about some rather welcome changes in Badheil's attitude.

"You want me to receive them?" Truman furrowed his brow. "Aren't you worried we'll start fighting?"

Then he thought of something and suddenly understood. He immediately traveled back to his territory and found Lilith.

He had returned to his territory often over the past few months to bring Lilith blood. The Vampire had become so particular that even when she was on the verge of losing control, she refused to touch the blood of any other human.

It wasn't Truman's blood, but in this world, blood that could suppress madness was one of a kind.

"Did you bring blood?" Lilith remained haughty—that was simply the nature of the Vampire Progenitor—but compared with a few months ago, she seemed a little more human.

"Your existence reminds me of a kind of human who practically lives as a parasite in a house," Truman remarked. "They never leave, but still expect someone to bring them food."

Perhaps because this was the Kingdom of the Sun God, which was fundamentally at odds with Vampires, Lilith had not set foot outside the church the Dream Believers had built for Truman since arriving here.

"Come with me to meet Omebella!"

Lilith's expression instantly turned solemn.

Truman took out a badge bearing the symbol of Dream. It could connect directly to the Book of Dreams and was essentially the same as the Badge of Divinity he carried.

"The Authority of Concealment alone isn't enough to be safe. Add this, too." The Authority of Concealment was enough to hide Lilith from fate and reality, but they were going to walk right up to the people involved and observe them. They needed to be even more cautious.

"Fine!" Lilith didn't waste words. She followed Truman to a temple in the Kingdom of the Sun God.

Inside were Badheil, God of Dawn, and Omebella, Goddess of Harvest.

The two five-meter-tall Giants stood beneath a massive statue, making even the church seem cramped.

"It's you!" The Dawn in Badheil's single eye churned violently the instant Truman walked in. Strands of Twilight gathered into a greatsword, and the power of Dawn surged.

"Lower your sword, or you'll never get what you came for." Truman didn't even glance at Badheil. He simply walked to the center and stood beneath the statue of the Creator.

At that moment, his twelve Dream wings unfurled. Brilliant divine light seemed to descend from the statue of the Creator, scattering across those pure-white wings.

"You're His Subordinate God?!" Badheil did not lower his sword. Instead, his fighting spirit soared to its peak.

"We're not here to start a war." A gentler voice than Badheil's rang out, quelling his fury.

"Angel, we've come for the Twilight Pathway." Omebella wore wooden armor and a battle skirt, held a Wooden Staff, and radiated intense vitality. Her voice was as gentle as she could make it.

She had naturally recognized Truman, but she was holding herself back. That alone made her far more reasonable than Badheil.

"Fine!" Truman didn't bother taking offense at Badheil's behavior. Warriors were usually like that—especially Badheil.

"But you should know that knowledge is priceless. It is equivalent to power."

"We've brought a thousand years' worth of treasures collected by the Giant Race." No emotion could be heard in Omebella's voice; she was deliberately keeping it in check.

"Oh? Let's see them all." Truman was intrigued. The Sun God allowed this knowledge to be shared, but intended to take a hefty price from these Ancient Gods. Those like the Giants, who demanded an entire Pathway of Sequences right off the bat, were especially unreasonable.

"The Scroll of Civilization."

Omebella took a scroll from the Spirit World. It seemed to be made of condensed light and shadow. Though it looked thin, it gave off an extraordinarily weighty impression.

In Truman's eyes, it showed the records of all the extraordinary races. They had risen from ignorance and madness, multiplied and fought under the sway of instinct, and, after an unknowable number of years, gradually gained wisdom and begun building their own civilizations.

Giants built royal courts, Elves carved palaces, the City of Miracles hung high in the sky, and the Underworld lay deep within the Spirit World.

These were the civilizations created by extraordinary races.

In the next instant, Truman saw Giants and Dragons dominating the world and suppressing the other extraordinary races, ushering in the Twin Era.

Anything further was too blurry to make out.

"I don't know which of your Potions this corresponds to, but I can assure you that the Scroll of Civilization is priceless." Seeing that Truman was stunned, Omebella nodded with satisfaction.

Truman let out a soft breath. He had indeed been stunned for a moment. Now that he had recovered, he could only marvel that these Ancient Gods must have claimed the unconsumed High Sequence characteristics from the other Pathways.

The Scroll of Civilization was the Uniqueness belonging to the Paragon!

It recorded every trace of existing civilizations and even made certain projections of how civilizations would develop in the future!

The Giant King had actually resisted the temptation to devour this Uniqueness.

Of course, if the Giant King had devoured it, the conflict with a nonadjacent Pathway would have been enough to turn him into another Annihilation Demonic Wolf.

Perhaps the other high-ranking characteristics and Uniquenesses among the twenty-two Pathways were all in a similar situation, existing in some way within the Ancient Gods' treasuries.

These things were enough to move even the Ancient Sun God!

"This alone is enough," Omebella said confidently.

"...Not enough!" Truman shook his head firmly. These Ancient Gods were so rich... No, knowledge was priceless!

At his words, the vitality in Omebella's single eye faltered. Badheil nearly drew his sword and struck the Angel.

There was no need to explain how precious the Scroll of Civilization was. It was among the finest treasures in the Giants' treasury.

If they hadn't already learned enough from the scroll to discover that their race was destined to become a dominant force, the Giant Race would never have offered it in exchange for a Potion Formula.

As far as they were concerned, this Potion might be the final piece of the puzzle that would make the Giant Race one of the two powers of the Twin Era.