Chapter 567
Adele was still quite polite, wondering if her sudden departure would cause any inconvenience to the other party. However, in the simulation, Shaer wouldn’t concern herself too much with others' feelings; the materials she needed were not with Ashford.
“Tala.”
Shaer simply called out, and in an empty alley, a white shadow emerged between the buildings. The white figure flickered, and Tala appeared at the alley's entrance.
Tala hurried over to Shaer’s side and asked, “My lord Shaer, is there something you need?”
“Paper, pen.” Shaer’s words were brief.
Tala had a habit of carrying a notebook and pen for Shaer, so she quickly pulled them from the pocket sewn into her maid's apron, along with a small bottle of ink, and handed them to Shaer.
Shaer stood right there on the roadside, dipped the pen in the ink, and swiftly wrote down the formula and potion-making process from her memory in the notebook. Afterward, she tore out the page and handed it directly to Adele.
“Please make me a potion based on this. You can start with the materials you already have, and I’ll bring you the missing ones shortly,” Shaer said, looking at Adele.
“Oh... okay.” Adele took the notebook from Shaer, nodding repeatedly.
For Adele, everything was happening too quickly. She had been waiting with Shaer to meet Ashford, but in the blink of an eye, Shaer’s plans seemed to have changed.
Though Adele didn’t know what Shaer was up to, she decided to abandon her thoughts and focus on studying the potion formula in front of her.
After dropping Adele off at her home, Shaer stayed there as well, with Perci following closely behind. Tala was sent out by Shaer to gather materials—though “gathering materials” really meant going to find Aivina.
The potion for a first-tier “Knight” didn’t require anything too rare. In fact, due to the abundance of third-tier “Crown Guards,” Ansu had a wealth of materials exclusive to the “Knight” path stored away. Shaer didn’t even need to spend money; she could simply ask Aivina for what she needed.
With Adele needing protection, Shaer felt reassured leaving things to Tala, without needing to analyze every step for her.
Tala was quick in her actions, and by the time Adele had prepared the other materials, Tala returned with what Shaer needed.
Upon hearing that the materials were for Shaer, Aivina quickly gathered them and handed them over to Tala, making the process very smooth.
Now, all that was left was to wait for Adele to finish making the potion.
During the wait, Shaer didn’t remain idle.
She, along with Perci and Tala, began discussing the information still held by the Holy Ascendance Sect regarding Ancient Ansu in a room downstairs from Adele’s laboratory.
Ancient Ansu existed during the Era of the Holy War, and much of the information had been lost. However, various churches that survived from the Era of the Holy War to the Era of the Saints still retained a considerable amount of ancient Ansu literature.
Though Shaer wasn’t sure how much this would help her with the Old Ones, gaining a deeper understanding of Ancient Ansu’s background was beneficial.
Tala was one of the most knowledgeable individuals regarding the church texts from the Ancient Ansu period within the Savior Goddess Church and the Holy Ascendance Sect. As Shaer asked questions, even Perci listened intently, as if she were back in the days when she was Tala’s student.
Shaer absorbed Tala’s words, filtering out what might be useful to her.
Unfortunately, the surviving classical texts mostly recorded events related to the Holy War and the miracles of saints that emerged during that time... It was essentially a grand epic, with the truth of its contents remaining questionable, primarily serving as material for proselytization.
However, through these descriptions, Shaer could glean some insights into the events of the Era of the Holy War.
It was a time of heresy, chaos, and suffering, where nearly the entire world was engulfed in a struggle for extraordinary power, leaving the common people in despair.
The Savior Church, on the other hand, thrived on the concept of “salvation,” garnering the support of the majority of commoners and some peaceful factions, allowing it to survive the “religious bloodbath” of the Holy War and step into the relatively peaceful Era of the Saints.
But what intrigued Shaer even more was the origin of the Holy War.
What could have caused dozens of once-mighty religions to wage war against one another a thousand years ago, each seeking to annihilate the other?
During the Holy War, many religions were completely wiped out, leaving no trace of their legacy... It was utterly brutal.
And how did this relentless religious conflict suddenly transform into a state of peaceful coexistence, culminating in a grand painting depicting the deities of various religions living harmoniously together—a painting that still occupies a central place in the Stuart Art Exchange?
“Do you know what sparked this Holy War?” Shaer asked Tala directly.
“I'm sorry, my lord Shaer...,” Tala shook her head and replied, “The closer we get to the Era of Chaos, the less information remains... But I believe it was likely a conflict of faith.”
“A conflict of faith?” Shaer inquired.
“Yes... Other churches’ ancient texts also record this. We all began to sense the absence of our deities around the same time.”
Tala continued, lowering her gaze, “Some foresighted churches believed that their deities had fallen into slumber due to a lack of faith, so they needed a grand blood sacrifice to awaken them... I suspect this was the primary reason the Holy War began...”
Foresight... Wasn’t that a bit extreme?
But as Shaer thought about it, it seemed that the Holy Ascendance Sect had indeed taken this path, and she felt a sense of understanding.
For fervent believers like Tala, this was indeed foresight. Look, their actions truly awakened the “Mother Goddess.” Doesn’t that indicate the prescience of their beliefs?
So, the Holy War was sparked by the sudden disappearance of the deities, leading some churches to desperately seek ways to awaken them, resulting in conflict?
After all, not every religion was as universal as the Savior Goddess Church or the Order of the God of Order. Even the Order of the God of Order had extremists like Aregma, who sought to impose absolute order, while the Savior Goddess Church had splintered into the blood-sacrifice cult of the Holy Ascendance Sect.
It seemed that the origin of the Holy War aligned closely with Tala’s hypothesis, likely stemming from the extreme forces unleashed by the deities’ “disappearance.”
But why did the deities go missing?
What had transpired during the Era of Chaos before the Holy War?
And what was the connection between the Otherworld and the Era of Chaos or the Holy War?
Currently, the data samples were far too few, and Shaer couldn’t analyze anything more useful from her existing knowledge...
After drinking the “Knight” potion, Shaer planned to visit the Order of the God of Order and the Savior Goddess Church.
She needed to obtain privileges to access the libraries of the Order of the God of Order and the Savior Goddess Church through Pope Aregma and Archbishop Elinor.
There was one more thing Shaer needed to do at the last moment of the simulation.
That was to directly ask Tala how they had come into contact with “Sadana” and obtained the “Sadana Mark,” shifting their faith from the original goddess to Sadana—though they believed the two were the same, Shaer remained skeptical.
If Sadana was indeed a deity, then the beings of the Otherworld would not have such a casual attitude toward it.
Tala didn’t possess a photographic memory; even though she could remember most of what she had recited, after nearly two hours of discussion, she had covered the main points. This wasn’t a lecture, after all; it was just a quick overview of the records for Shaer.
Just then, a knock echoed at the door. When it opened, Shaer saw Adele leaning against the doorframe, looking somewhat fatigued. She looked at Shaer and said, “I’m done, Shaer.”
“Good.”
Shaer stood up and walked toward Adele.
For some reason, an inexplicable sense of tension surged within Shaer.
It was a tension born of the unknown.
After drinking this potion and navigating through the simulation, if she saved the “Knight” file, Shaer would likely be able to unlock the door to the Old Ones...
Right now, she had no idea what awaited her, only knowing that if she didn’t actively approach that door, she would be crushed by Sadana’s unimaginable combat power.
The other side was doing everything possible in the Otherworld to influence reality and kill her; Shaer couldn’t just sit back and wait.
Table of Contents
