Myth of the Era (Part 1)

Diana's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, I've been caught!

Ivan swayed on her shoulder, his own heart skipping a beat as well, filled with bewilderment: What? You didn't borrow it? You just took it home without registering it?

As my Punishment Knight, how could you engage in such petty thievery!

His tentacles balled into fists, looking deeply pained, completely forgetting that his first encounter with Diana had begun with a plot to rob a bank.

Staring into the librarian's gentle gaze, Diana put on an innocent, adorable smile.

Her large eyes were filled with guilelessness, her delicate lashes fluttering as she spoke in a very well-behaved tone:

"Really? Grandpa Librarian, are you sure you aren't misremembering?"

The moment the words left her lips, she felt her own confidence waver. Seeing the smile crinkling the corners of the librarian's eyes, she quietly tightened her grip on her skirt.

The librarian looked at her, a faint smile appearing on his wrinkled, kindly face.

"Hmm, perhaps I am just an old man with a failing memory."

"Perhaps that ancient book simply slipped into a crack in the floorboards, and it just so happened to be on that Sunday afternoon when you were the only one in the school archives."

Before Diana could fully grasp the implication of his words, the librarian continued:

"Anyway, few people can read those ancient texts; it's mostly students of ancient languages like you who borrow them. Just remember to register it with me next time and bring it back."

Diana nodded obediently, a wave of relief washing over her, even her fingertips feeling lighter. "Thank you, I will definitely remember!"

The librarian waved a hand and lowered his head to organize the lending cards, muttering to himself, "Young people, it's a good thing to be interested in these old books..."

Diana took light steps toward a bookshelf in the corner and crouched down.

The shelf was filled with yellowing books. Starting from the bottom, her fingertips brushed lightly over the dust-covered spines, not caring that her skirt dragged on the floor, picking up light gray smudges of dust.

Great Lord of All Spirits, let me see if there are any similar ancient texts here, Diana whispered silently in her heart.

Hmm... all the ancient books in the school archives should be concentrated on this shelf.

She flipped through the books, translating the titles into Rheinish in her mind.

Let me see... Methodology of Grain Milling... Case Studies of Failed Leather Dyeing... Complete Encyclopedia of Herb Names...

Beside her, Ivan had been staring at the symbols on the spines in confusion. He could barely recognize the meaning of a few characters and was guessing what kind of mysterious tome he might find.

But after hearing Diana's internal translation, he frowned, his tentacles swaying involuntarily as he grumbled in his mind:

Ugh, what a mess of useless books. How on earth did Diana manage to find an ancient text like the Book of Rituals in this pile?

His gaze swept over the books layer by layer, the strange symbols he couldn't decipher making him feel inexplicably irritable.

Even though he knew there might be clues hidden among them, facing a whole shelf of irrelevant tomes made even him feel a bit discouraged.

Suddenly, in the corner of the top shelf, he spotted an inconspicuous gray-covered ancient book. He could recognize two of the symbols on the spine.

One of them was the very character for "God" that the professor had explained in class earlier.

...Era... Myth...

A gleam flashed in Ivan's eyes; his Spirituality intuition told him this book was different.

"Diana, look at the top shelf, the fourth book from the right, the gray one."

Diana was so immersed in her search that she was startled by the sudden voice.

It's the voice of the Lord of All Spirits! Is He watching me? She instinctively wanted to scream, but fortunately, she managed to control herself.

"Great Lord, can You see what I am doing?" Diana lowered her voice, her small mouth murmuring, though she couldn't hide the excitement in her heart.

"Of course, the vision of every believer is connected to My heart." While this was technically true, Ivan instinctively felt something was a bit off.

Sigh, why does it feel like I've been peeping at her this whole time?

He quickly added, "Hmm, I just sensed an unusual aura coming from your faith."

"So I cast My gaze here, wanting to see what was threatening My knight. Now I have discovered the source of the anomaly; it is that book."

Diana didn't think twice, too excited about being watched by her Lord to notice that her movements were becoming a bit clumsy.

She brought over a ladder from the side and climbed to the top shelf in a few quick movements.

Seeing the girl appear above him, Ivan quickly rose to the same height.

"Is it this one, Great Lord?" Diana's voice remained very soft, like a feather brushing against the air.

"Yes, Diana. You can communicate with Me directly through your thoughts; this is a privilege for My believers."

Ivan didn't dare tell her that he could hear her inner thoughts, or the lively girl would surely be so embarrassed she wouldn't know where to hide.

Diana nodded slightly and pulled the gray-covered tome from the top of the shelf.

"Myth of the Era? Is this a book of myths recording the Old Era?"

She read the title silently in her heart.

Ivan was slightly surprised; he had assumed that a book capable of triggering his Spirituality would record something mysterious or possess extraordinary power.

"Myths of the Old Era, perhaps... the contents might be more interesting than I thought."

Having learned about the gods of this world, his attitude toward things like mythology had undergone a complete transformation.

Perhaps within some forgotten book of myths lay the answers regarding the Old Gods, the Lord of All Spirits, or even the world itself.

Diana brushed the dust off the cover and flipped to the title page.

A line of small text was written on the yellowed, blank paper; Diana's eyes brightened as she silently recited its meaning in her heart.

"...They hail from an exceptionally distant age."

"...Perhaps they perished long ago during the development of human society."

"...At that time, human consciousness may not have existed in the form of a brain."

"...We cannot comprehend them, only capture a trace of lingering memory through poetry and legend."

"...We call them monsters, mythical creatures, ancient masters."

"...Or, we must call them directly... God."

Ivan stared intensely at the final symbol representing "God."

The arc of the character and its two symmetrical, winding curves looked as if they had been outlined in silver thread, glowing with a white light in the silent library archives.

He could feel that this character seemed to have been branded by something, faintly emitting an ancient aura.

Diana did not notice anything; she only felt that this passage was somewhat strange, making her feel inexplicably uneasy yet even more excited.

"Why is this myth from the Old Era so odd? It's as eerie as a Book of Rituals!"

She couldn't wait to flip further, but the pages, much like the content itself, were stuck together by some unknown substance, impossible to pry apart.

Diana rubbed the edges of the pages with her slender, pink-tinted fingertips. Even with her body strengthened by the abilities of a Punishment Knight, she could only manage to wrinkle the pages slightly, unable to even tear one.

She had no choice but to give up, skipping over the majority of the stuck pages, and finally stopped at a page with a complete title.

Echoes of the Deep Void

"When the stars align at the third intersection of the line connecting Orion's Belt and Pluto.

Those vortices slumbering in the folds of subspace shall awaken.

They are neither flesh and blood, nor aggregates of energy, but an intangible existence, which the Ancient Gods call '■■'."