It wasn't that ink had covered the words in the book. Diana simply couldn't make out the meaning of the two strange symbols.
Unlike ancient script, the two symbols were more complex and abstract. She furrowed her delicate brows. Despite studying ancient script for so long, she had never seen symbols like these before.
Diana decided to commit the symbols to memory and ask a professor about them next time. Then she continued reading.
"■■ first appeared, and the ancient gods thought it was merely a beautiful anomaly in the vastness of space.
But after a long passage of time, the anomaly began to grow.
From some unknown point in time, it began to establish countless forms of faith. Everything in the world gradually converged upon it.
Even the ancient gods' authorities and their very selves were drawn to it. The ancient gods gradually vanished from the world, and their true names were slowly forgotten.
Gradually, the entire universe became it.
And at the very end, after a flash of white light, only an echo remained in the world.
That echo reached the hearts of it, me, and you.
As if it were saying..."
The final words had grown blurred. Ivan pondered the story, feeling something he couldn't quite put into words.
"Why is the thing described in this myth so bizarre?"
"It sounds almost as if, when the world reaches a certain point in time, this thing will devour it—and then the world will be destroyed."
His tentacles knotted in the air as he fell into thought.
"This Myth of the Era really is unlike anything ordinary. It clearly carries an extraordinary aura, so the story recorded in it probably holds some hidden meaning."
"Too bad only this one story survived, and some of the information has been erased..."
Ivan had hoped that the library archives would help him understand this world better, but instead he found himself even more lost.
"I've been asleep for too long. What era is this now, and how is it different from the past?" Countless questions swirled through his mind. After mulling it over for a long while, he decided to ask the girl, who specialized in ancient script, a few basic questions.
Diana, too, was absorbed in the strange myth and had drifted into a daze. She didn't even react at once when the voice of her great Lord rang out.
Only after Ivan repeated his question did she come to her senses. She answered respectfully:
"Great Lord of All Spirits, it is the year 904 of the New Era."
"I don't know how far back in the distant past you come from, but if it was... the Old Era, then that was a very, very long time ago."
"The year 904 of the New Era..." Ivan repeated softly to himself. He had also seen this date on a wanted poster for cultists at City Hall. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now he realized that this system of dating was bound to mean...
Diana's thoughts continued without pause:
"After all, the New Era has existed for less than a thousand years. All the countless ages before that belong to the Old Era."
I don't know much about the Old Era, either. I've only learned from ancient texts now and then that it was a primitive, chaotic age, when the supernatural ran rampant.
Even ancient script was merely the writing used in the early days of the New Era. Almost nothing from the Old Era remains in the world today.
Diana began muttering to herself again. "Could this book be recording a myth from the Old Era? But how could an ordinary book have survived for so long..."
Whenever ancient, extraordinary, or mysterious things came up, she tended to lose herself in them. She even forgot she was speaking with an ancient god.
Ivan didn't have time to rouse his adorable, well-read follower. His own thoughts were racing.
"The Old Era... Something seems to have happened that changed the world. Perhaps it had something to do with the ■■ in the story..."
"The supernatural powers in this world are strange. Four years ago, the Church of Creation disappeared, supernatural powers descended, and the Church of Divine Grace appeared."
"If supernatural powers didn't exist before then, there's no explaining the aura on this ancient book."
"So supernatural powers must have always existed, only to suddenly disappear at some point."
"Four years ago, they suddenly returned because of something. That event directly or indirectly led to the Church of Creation's disappearance, people's memories being altered, and the Church of Divine Grace's appearance."
"Damn, I'm back where I started. I still have to find out what happened four years ago, and what happened when the Old and New Eras turned."
Ivan's tentacles twisted into a ball like a ball of yarn. He sighed.
"I wonder if the Lord of All Spirits mentioned in the book was also a god from the Old Era, and was devoured by the ■■?"
"Hopefully that's what happened. Otherwise, I'd feel a little bad about borrowing someone else's name..."
He decided to stop fretting over the old Lord of All Spirits. He had already taken the name, and it was too late to change it now.
"If that Lord of All Spirits is still alive, the first person he ought to go after is Gais..."
At that moment, Gais was handing out flyers to Textile Factory workers in a dark corner when he suddenly shivered.
"Strange. It's only autumn... Am I getting old?"
Ivan didn't notice what his most loyal follower was up to. He continued pondering the Myth of the Era.
"I'd only meant to see if there were any other records of that Lord of All Spirits. This myth was an unexpected find."
"Let Diana keep it and take it home—no, borrow it and study it at her leisure. Maybe one day we'll find a way to open the other pages."
His voice carried on to Diana, who was still dazed.
"Diana, take this Myth of the Era home, too. Or see if you can buy it. This book could be very useful to the church."
Diana's beautiful, pale blue eyes came back into focus. She nodded, resolved to buy both this book and the Book of Rituals, no matter what.
"Ugh, why does the university library archives only let you borrow one book at a time?"
She grumbled silently to herself. It turned out the lending rules had constrained little Diana, who loved to learn, forcing her to take the books without permission.
Diana continued searching the shelves for useful texts, but after looking for a long while, she didn't find anything else worth taking. The great Lord of All Spirits had stopped offering suggestions, too.
At some point, her petal-pink lips had begun to pout again. She seemed dissatisfied with herself for finding only one useful book.
"The great Lord of All Spirits told me to find a few more, but I only managed to find one useful ancient text..."
Diana's eyes flickered with displeasure. Still muttering under her breath, she slowly descended the ladder.
But even after she had gone down dozens of rungs, her feet still hadn't reached the floor.
She felt a little puzzled and looked down.
At the sight, the blood in her veins seemed to freeze, and her heart sank to the depths.
Before you continue