by L. M. Kerr
While many parts of history were unclear to Micheal, still other parts were abundantly clear.
And of what he did know… he was going to try to rewrite it, to shift the wheels of fate to a track yet unknown.
For, after all of his thinking and planning, Micheal had come to realize something.
No matter how powerful he made humanity… in the end, he simply didn’t have enough time to prepare so many people for war. He could become strong, sure, and he could raise a few strong allies. But he didn’t have the time to get powerful enough to handle entire wars by himself. The sheer losses the human race would suffer if the war ran, even checked as much as possible by him, would be colossal.
‘How can I defeat him? How can I have humanity come out ahead?’ The Vile King seemed omnipresent, with various pawns spread across the entire planet, carrying out his bidding in real-time. Against such an enemy, even armed with knowledge of the future, stopping him seemed like a challenge of titanic proportions.
As those thoughts had plagued his mind, Micheal had gradually reached an inescapable conclusion.
The only way to win was to not fight at all.
He wasn’t going to stop the Great Disaster by making humanity super-ultra-unbeatable. That had been the first idea he came up with, to prepare humanity so well that they couldn’t possibly be defeated. That thought, however… it was simply unfeasible due to the scale and scope of such a mission. He lacked both the time and the resources to handle that.
No, if he wanted to stop the Great Disaster… he would need to prevent it before it could even take place.
He, a man who had only known war for the last dozen years, would have to spread peace.
Micheal raised up his hand and opened it as he looked at the roof above him. He then slowly clenched his hand into a closed fist, doing his best to give off a sense of confidence and stability.
“One step at a time. And it all starts tomorrow.”
The first step he would take to stop the Great Disaster…
It all began at dawn.
.
Chapter 11
Micheal rested peacefully, using the few hours he had to his advantage. Despite being in unknown territory with unsure, temporary allies, his sleep went perfectly well. He put off cultivation, choosing to focus purely on rest for now.
Being able to hunker down and maintain one’s body in conditions like this was a skill he’d picked up over the years. In this case, he’d picked out a few small bells from the Shop and set them up in a few spots around the room, creating a protective, and very hard to see, perimeter. Anyone coming in from any visible entrance would inadvertently ring one of these small bells.
That, combined with his powerful Soul stat that was passively spreading his senses, even in his sleep, made it possible to keep up a basic level of alertness even as his mind rested.
Waking up had proven simple, something he didn’t even have to plan for.
As soon as the dawn sunlight cracked the horizon, the world around Micheal had begun to tremble.
He instantly shot upright, his eyes clearing as he blinked and looked around his small hut. The rooftop above was shaking, as was his bed, the floor, and the walls around him, ringing the bells he’d set up. The sturdy build of the hidden camp prevented anything from collapsing, but the miniature earthquake itself lasted a full 20 seconds. Micheal took that time to collect the bells and silence them.
Micheal skipped over anything like breakfast as he immediately put on a long green robe and left his hut, emerging into the campsite proper. He fit his Silk Strider Glove as he left, making sure it was locked and loaded.
Very faint morning light was just starting to creep over the horizon, heralding the arrival of dawn. The campsite was just now starting to bustle as everyone woke up, the odd shaking putting everyone on high alert.
In no time at all, Micheal made his way over to the entrance of the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance. He was the first one to arrive there and promptly began to check the surroundings to see if anything was different.
From the outside, everything looked identical. The cave was still set in the large boulder, going into the ground. Nothing outside of it looked any different.
A few seconds after Micheal arrived, a voice caught his attention, calling out from behind him,
“So this is it, then?” Simone’s words were cool and slightly harried as she emerged from a stone house set very close to the cave entrance. She was wearing her customary scale-patterned armor, but this time with a set of black leather gear protecting the rest of her body, leaving no area exposed.
Behind her, men and women were rapidly forming up into lines, following barked orders by Simone’s two Sub-Leaders. The Rury Group was organizing themselves in a fast, disciplined fashion, as if they had been preparing for this for months.
Micheal glanced back at her and nodded, his face expressionless as he replied,
“Look for yourself.” He motioned towards the cave entrance.
Simone eyed him before taking a few steps forward and peering into the stone cave.
While the outside of the area was relatively unchanged, the insides of the cave had transformed.
The stone doorway that had been sealed shut was now glowing with white light, giving off an aura of power and might that drew the eye. Motes of light were constantly rising from the floor, glittering in gold and white sparkles. The entire entryway had become a sight that inspired a sense of awe, magical and majestic.
Micheal hadn’t warned them about this, or about the earthquake, largely because he hadn’t actually known that these things would happen. He knew about a lot of major stuff, but minor details like this weren’t recorded in the Second Layer’s fragmented history, not that he could find.
Still, as he observed everything, he had to hand it to Yvvtal. The Fallen Deity knew how to impress.
After a moment, his eyes flicked to the side as he looked at Simone, and then the rest of her group that was gathering behind him.
Now that they got the entrance open for him, he didn’t particularly need them to do anything else. The main thing he wanted them for was to provide manpower to speed up opening the doorway. With that done, he was largely free.
Still… he didn’t want to just leave them to deal with Yvvtal’s tomb on their own. They didn’t seem like bad people and, in addition to that, he’d found them to be surprisingly useful. They had extraordinary discipline and coordination, and the potential to be very useful, as long as they were polished suitably.
‘Shin and Sophia won’t be up here for at least a few weeks.’ It wasn’t a bad idea at all to put together a small, elite force he could control. He could both save their lives and efficiently work towards saving humanity at the same time.
Especially so if he could lead them through Yvvtal’s Inheritance. While this group was a bit too weak right now, they could rapidly transform to become much more powerful at this site here, as history had proven.
“Well then…” Micheal began, catching Simone’s attention with a casual wave,
“Let’s head in!”
.. .. .. .. .. ..
It took only a couple of minutes for Simone and her crew to fully prepare. Her two Sub-Leaders didn’t talk a lot, apart from ordering about the rest of the warriors, but they were reliable and got things done fast.
When they finally finished preparing, Micheal, Simone, and the Rury Group entered the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance.
The first thing Micheal felt he walked through the glowing stone doorway was an immeasurable sense of age.
The room he appeared in was a large entrance hall, with a raised ceiling that was at least 10 meters tall. Grand grey pillars rose off to the side, supporting the arching roof up above. The floor was colored a dark grey, with a faded white carpet that stretched all the way down the hall to a set of three doorways, about 80 meters distant.
The dimensions of this hall made no sense, given how small the cave and boulder that had hidden the cave
had been. But, well, that was magic. It made little sense.
The hall was lit by several magical symbols inscribed into the pillars, glowing with soft blue light.
Everything in here felt extremely old. As Micheal looked around, he could see a thick layer of dust coating practically everything, causing several of the warriors behind him to cough with every step.
Indeed, as he took a step forward on the faded white carpet, it literally dissipated before his very eyes. His single step onto it caused a small chain reaction that destroyed half of the white carpet.
“Oh my.” Simone held a hand up to her mouth at this in surprise. Her two Sub-Leaders stood close behind her and merely grunted, their hands resting on the hilt of a huge axe that each one had strapped to their back. While the two were clearly not brothers, their bulky appearance and rough faces made them look akin in spirit, if not blood.
They walked down the ancient hall towards the ending pathway, causing the rest of the carpet to dissipate into dust. This area gave off a rather eerie feeling, making everything feel vaguely surreal.
This was the first truly ‘mystical’ place Micheal had seen in his second life. The pseudo-modern world of the First Layer and the ‘Ancient’ world of the Second Layer had two very different setups. This world did, after all, have a deep and rich history behind it.
Micheal tossed the thought from his mind as he looked at the three doors before them and, more importantly, the symbols carved onto each of the three doors.
Each door was made of an opaque crystal, with black letters cut into them. The letters were foreign to any known human language, exotic lines and scrawls that looped around in patterns.
The Shop automatically translated most spoken languages into something that could be understood by the listening human. This particular aspect of the Shop was incredibly useful for communicating with other races, especially because it could be applied in reverse. It didn't always work, especially if someone was speaking in a secret code, but it was handy most of the time.
The Shop could translate what a human said and make the words be understood through their intent, even if the listener didn’t know any human languages. This made humans a prime target for enslavement by some races looking to find ways to communicate with other races.
However, when it came to ‘written words’, the Shop only applied this function to most human languages. If something was written down in a human language, the Shop could translate it to almost any other human language, with a few exceptions. If something was written down in any other race’s language, however…
The Shop proved useless in translating those things.
It could translate almost any human language to any other, and it could convey the meaning of one’s words or understanding the meaning of another person’s words automatically. But that was its limit. Fantastic, but not perfect.
Fortunately for Micheal, he recognized these symbols.
It was High Divine, the ‘formal’ language that Deities wrote in. A rich and complex style of writing that could convey deep meanings with subtleties that were difficult to grasp, and was often used in the magic creation of things meant to last for very long periods of time. Micheal wasn't sure when the Toren race discovered the language, but that discovery likely helped lead them to ascend and become a true Deity Tribe.
Micheal was no expert, but in his studies of the past, the future, and the present, he had picked up on how to read a number of alien languages. High Divine was one of the ones he could get by on, enough to understand how to read certain manuals or instructions.
‘Knight, Lord, King.’ Each door had a different distinction on it, one that had a very clear progression in Micheal’s eyes. He nodded his head slightly when he saw this.
This matched everything he knew about this place from his first life.
Micheal turned around after spending a moment to study the doors, looking over at Simone again. She was currently talking to her two Sub-Leaders while motioning at the door. A third person had joined her group and was also engaged in the discussion.
This speaker was a middle-aged man with a rather reedy appearance. He was Asian, with short brown hair and of rather short stature. His face was animated as he pointed from door to door, nodding his head in an excited manner.
According to Simone, this was Han, a man that possessed the Magic Librarian Type Ability. It was a unique power that allowed Han to glean information from the environment or objects around him, seeing deeper into things than just what was available on the surface.
According to Simone, his power had proven a great boon in locating this particular forest, and the hidden tomb here within it.
Micheal began to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“…but I’m not sure if we can safely move through each door.” Han had just finished speaking, his eyes wide.
“So there is a certain level of danger?” Simone responded, crossing her arms with a frown.
“Yes, I can see that. Each door, no matter what, has something dangerous behind it. The moment you try to use the door, you will leave here, somehow. It’s not very clear.” Han’s voice was full of frustration.
Micheal realized, then, a bit how this must’ve gone in the original timeline. Han’s power must’ve eventually clued them in on how to get the door open; perhaps he observed something that took him a while to see. Her Group then must have progressed through the tomb cautiously, focusing on trying to either find a cure or grow strong enough to fight against Baron Rex.
‘They probably wasted a huge amount of time in their first life.’ It did make sense. The Rury Gang didn’t publicly appear for several months from now, if Micheal’s memory was correct. Which it was, given that he had a perfect memory at the moment thanks to his Ceaseless Mind Ability. Convenient, that.
‘This time is as good as any.’ Micheal walked up to her and her men.
The moment he did so, the two Sub-Leaders immediately turned their full attention towards him, shifting slightly as they prepared to attack at a moment’s notice. Simone’s eyes flashed as she noticed this and turned to look at Micheal.
“I happen to know a little bit about these doors here.” Micheal began, talking in a friendly manner. He ignored the two Sub-Leaders and instead nodded over at Han and Simone,
“They represent 3 different levels of challenges.”
“Challenges?” Simone frowned slightly.
“Yes, something like that. If you can complete one of these challenges, you will get a reward for doing so and can move deeper into this cave. However, you can only complete a single door of the three, and no more.” Micheal explained exactly what he knew in clear terms.
Thousands of years ago, there used to exist magical servants that would explain these doors to anyone that appeared in the tomb. At least, this was what had been surmised through research once the Fallen Deity’s Inheritance gained its infamy.
However, through the winding sands of time, these servants had eventually broken down and vanished. They were simple energy constructs that couldn’t last such a long period.
Thus, Simone’s group had likely been forced to test everything manually in Micheal’s first life.
Simone tactfully didn’t question how Micheal knew this, but instead glanced at Han to see what he thought. The reedy-looking man paused quietly after hearing Micheal’s words and seemed to be thinking intensely as he looked at the three doors.
After a few seconds, Han looked away and nodded.
“That could make sense. It is something that could match what I see.” The man’s voice sounded unsure, but it was better than nothing.
“And so these challenges, they relate to the cure to our… condition, then?” Simone’s voice was pointed as she looked at Micheal, pursing her lips.
“Yes but also no.” Micheal replied with a shrug. He held up a hand as Simone was about to angrily retort back, continuing,
“I know what poison you are suffering from. It’s called Withering Snow Poison.�
� Micheal actually did recognize this fact.
The Withering Snow Poison was, originally, a secret weapon created by one of the Inner Elders of the Divine Might Sect used to help control a target and force them to do your bidding. It was incredibly potent and could not be cured by any normal means, nor by most magical means.
The symptoms Simone and her allies were suffering from were very minimal right now. However, they all felt a sense of impending doom, knowing that they would die in the future, and could physically sense this poison afflicting them.
This matched what Withering Snow Poison felt like to the exact description.
Micheal would know… after all, he himself had been poisoned with Withering Snow Poison before. His face wrinkled slightly for a split second as a memory tried to flare up.
He quickly suppressed it and continued to speak,
“This is a very difficult poison to cleanse. However, I can tell you with certainty that the cure to your condition exists within this tomb.” He looked back at the three doors and then slowly raised his hand, pointing at the one with the ‘King’ condition.
“In fact… it’s bound to be right behind that door.” Micheal smiled.
Simone’s eyes lit up as she turned to look at the door. Before she could do anything, however, Micheal spoke again,
“But I wouldn’t try it yourself, Simone.” His voice held a hint of caution.
“Watch your tongue, fool, or I’ll take it from you.” One of Simone’s Sub-Leaders broke in, his voice full of unrestrained anger as he glared at Micheal.
“Calm down, Thorin.” Simone’s voice was cool as she looked at Micheal,
“Why not, Legion?” She tilted her head back slightly.
“Because you’ll die. In fact…” Micheal looked from the two Sub-Leaders to Han to the various members of Simone’s team that were milling about in the back of the hall, waiting for orders. He turned back to face Simone with a casual shrug,
“Everyone here that tries that door will die. Except me, that is.” He wasn’t lying. They really would stand a high chance of perishing if they tried to take on the challenge of the ‘King’ door. Even if they did manage to escape with their life, there was no chance anyone in the Rury Group could complete it.
