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CHAPTER 251

THE FORGOTTEN TALE (I)

[Analyzing . . . ]

The moment Alst’s Heart entered Lino’s Singularity, the latter felt a mind-numbing pain assail every inch of his body as he cried out to the point he nearly didn’t hear the robotic voice inside his own head .

[ . . . Alst’s Heart Consumption Commencing . . . ]

[ . . . ]

[Absorption Rate: 0,001% . . . ]

[Increased Strength by 5%]

[Increased Vitality by 5%]

[ . . . increased affinity with Death; understanding of Law of Death grows]

[ . . . Level increased to 564]

[ . . . ]

[Analyzing . . . ]

[Bearer gained Access to an Archaic Record . . . ]

[Analyzing . . . ]

[Archaic Record -- The Forgotten Tale unlocked . . . ]

[ . . . ]

Lino didn’t even have a split second to voice out his complaints before his Soul was ripped directly out of his body and sent on a spiral through the spacetime, winding up in a strange, eerie, borderline nightmare-inspired landscape . Strange, purple mushrooms stood as tall as trees, the surrounding landscape reminiscent of a swamp, with occasional bubbles bursting out onto the surface and releasing acid-green spray of liquid into the air .

Dark gray mist shrouded the above and beyond, tinkering closely with the ground that was covered in dead and dying roots and strange, almost blade-like grass . It was beyond the point of being able to distinguish night from day, so Lino quickly gave up, pulling himself back to reality .

" . . . hm?" a soft hum parted out into the world . "Ataxia chose me?"

" . . . " it was a woman’s voice, Lino realized . From the overall understanding, she appeared to be of the average build and size, with amnesty-colored boyish hair and a pair of milky white eyes . . . she was blind, Lino realized -- at least when it came to the most ordinary of the sights .

" . . . then he must have found my successor," the woman mused with a faint smile . "Ah, a champagne-worthy moment . Shame I don’t have any . "

" . . . "

"My name is Eve . " Lino’s mind raced quickly as his ears perked up . "Just . . . Eve . I can’t recall my birth name, or if I even had one . It’s the name Ataxia gave me, and the name I bore till my dying breath . And it’s the name the world remembered me by . . . for some time, at least . "

" . . . "

"If he’s sent you to me," she said . "It must mean that you’ve done that which I could not -- and, not to come out too pompous -- there is only one thing I ever failed to achieve in my life . Well, two things, really . Surpass Eldon . . . and summon Primal Chaos . "

" . . . " another familiar name popped into the conversation, but as Lino was unable to utter a word of communication, he was left to be led by Eva’s remnant Will .

"And forgive me for doubting you, but the likelihood of anyone surpassing Eldon . . . is minuscule, which means you summoned the Primal Chaos . Congratulations . " she added with a mumble, sighing as she looked up to the sky . "I was born blind," she said . "During the Four Clans Era . I was a mutated child of a Devil and an Angel, unwanted and despised by both . As chance would fancy it, I inherited only the weaknesses of the two races . . . but none of the strengths . But, I think you’ve already figured that out from the fact I was an Empyrean . " I really didn’t . . . Lino lamented inwardly .

"I grew up largely on the streets till my tenth year when I realized I could earn a lot of money by selling myself . . . so I did . Time and again; and, however ugly it might have been, I moved out of the streets . Bought a small house, started growing a farm, and was content dying there . It was on my twentieth birthday that I met Ataxia, and my life changed forever . "

" . . . "

"As life had ripped any emotion I might have had as a babe from me, I did whatever he asked; I killed, I slaughtered, I robbed . . . by the first year’s end, I was the most wanted criminal across the entire Central Continent . Eventually, I went over the ocean, and joined the cults of the truly strong . It was there that I’d found my home . Wars . . . wars were led everywhere, by everyone, against everyone else . It wasn’t just racial wars . . . but inter-racial wars as well . Women were forced to have upward of fifteen to twenty children during their lifetimes just to remotely make up for the dead ones . "

" . . . "

"By my twenty-second birthday, I became a Titular," Lino almost wanted to scream out in agony, but realizing he couldn’t, he just cried inwardly . "Or, at least, what was the equivalent of one back then . See . . . the world was in an awkward transition between Magic and Cultivation; while Magic was rather old, very complex and oftentimes didn’t even work . . . it was also extremely powerful . Transformative Theory of Magic, they called it -- by taking raw elements of the world and, unlike Cultivation, simply forcing them to become something else rather than filtering them . One massive Magical Explosion was enough to sink a large island . And hundreds went off by the day across the world . . . "

"By my twenty-fifth birthday, I had met all other Bearers and killed them at least once," she said . "And Gaia’s repeated attempts to kill me were entirely futile as she was also coming off the Titan Era during which her influence -- and in extension her strength -- was sapped dry . I ruled the world, single-handedly . They called me the Blind Nightmare . . . and the world you’re seeing now, is where I died . "

" . . . " Lino awaited patiently for the explanation .

"At the height of my power, however . . . I had stopped listening to Ataxia . " she said . "I became my own demon, doing whatever I willed, ignoring any possible consequences . I deemed myself immortal and indestructible . But . . . there’s always a higher tree and a deeper ocean . "

" . . . "

"I imagine that you must have heard of Great Descent," Eve said with a bitter chuckle . "So have I, back then . . . but I ignored them . I simply took them as an elitist sect, the ilk of the emerging Holy Grounds . But . . . one day . . . a man showed up in front of me . He wore a simple, porcelain mask with two holes for eyes, and 8 dotted on the masked cheek . By the time I realized he was a foe, I found myself here . . . within the rotten vision of what the world saw me as . "

" . . . . "

"It became my prison," she continued, lamenting . "And I died . . . right after leaving my Will . I forcibly burst my heart, Soul and Singularity at the same time, thereby ending my reign . Unlike most other Records you have gone through, I won’t show you my last moments; they are ugly, depressing, and I’d rather you remember me as someone else than the broken wreck I would become . "

" . . . " Lino was still trying to contemplate the fact that Great Descent was around during the Four Clans Era, which means they are at the very least around 3 billion years old as an organization .

"I will let you see three moments of my life--" Eve continued after a short pause . "The day I became a Titular . . . the day I slaughtered four other Bearers . . . and the day I met Eight, who imprisoned me here . "

" . . . "

"None of these three moments will offer you profound insight into things, my successor," she said . "And, there is very little I can teach you as you’ve already done one thing I couldn’t have . Take away from my life what you will, but know I’ve died filled with regrets and shame . Even still . . . almost till my dying day . . . I spent every waking hour screaming and blaming Ataxia, yet he never spoke back . Rather, he never spoke to me after I was imprisoned . He was still there . . . I could feel him, nestling inside the very depths of my being . But . . . he was silent . I was once again the young girl, lying in a cold bed after warming another . . . facing nothing but the voices inside my own head . And, well . . . if there’s one thing we all universally fear, it’s the voice inside of us . . . our own echo . . . when all else grows silent . "

" . . . "

" . . . for some reason," she mumbled suddenly . "I can sense a faint presence of Umbra on you . If you ever get the chance . . . apologize to her for me . I’ve let many people down in my life . . . but letting her down is one I never forgave myself for . "

" . . . "

"Without any further ado, my successor . . . welcome to my life," she said with a faint chuckle, closing her eyes . "No doubt a Forgotten Tale of shame . . . for all parties involved . "