Millennium Witch

Book 3: Chapter 288: Rosalyn’s Diary

Although the term “antigravity engine” had come up, it was obvious that, lacking too much prerequisite knowledge, neither Rosalyn back then nor Tertia now had truly understood the technology behind this Ultra-ancient Civilization device. Seeing the interest on Yvette’s face, Tertia took the initiative: “Shall I take you to see it?”“We’ll talk about that after I’ve gone through the things Rosalyn left behind,” Yvette said.

Ten minutes later, inside the dean’s residence, Yvette, led by Tertia, entered a secret room. The entrance was behind the bookshelf in the dean’s office, requiring the proper clearance to open, and it led straight down underground.

As she opened the secret room’s door, Tertia introduced its history. It had originally been a storage room, but was later converted into a vault. Inside were many handwritten notes by the Legendary Mage, alchemical constructs she had personally made, mysterious ancient devices, and several classified dossiers.

Tertia had read through all the dossiers, and she had also studied the alchemical constructs and ancient devices. Only the Legendary Mage’s handwritten notes remained a mystery to her. The reason was simple: these notes were written in Blacktide Tongue, a language Rosalyn had never taught anyone. Naturally, Tertia had no way of understanding them.

Soon, several magitech crystal lamps hanging from the dome lit up one after another, their warm orange light chasing the shadows from the corners.

Within the reach of that light, a museum-like exhibition room unfolded before Yvette’s eyes. Dark brown solid-wood display cases were arranged in a circular pattern, each item enclosed in a semi-transparent magical barrier.

She walked slowly around once, then stopped before a display case at the very back. Inside lay an utterly ordinary-looking brown notebook.

Tertia came over, shut down the protective magic above it, and said nervously, “This is Teacher’s notebook… Grandmaster, you should be able to read it, right?”

Yvette picked up the notebook, glanced at it, and gave a slight nod. Then she opened the first page.

Neat, graceful handwriting flowed across the paper; the ink was already somewhat faded. She made out the characters one by one, and realized this was essentially a diary.

“February 8th. The Demon Gods asked if I wanted to become a True God. They can give me the Fountain of Eternal Youth. I refused. The Fountain of Eternal Youth may grant me an eternal lifespan, but it would also leave me forever bound to them. At least before my life runs out, I must remain cautious about becoming part of the divine race.”

“March 2nd. I’ve made an unbelievable new discovery—during the era of the Ultra-ancient Civilization, there were already numerous pan-human races in our world: beastmen, elves, abyssal demons. They existed back then already! The civilization of that time was not a purely human-built civilization, as we once imagined.”

“Yet in the universally accepted world myths, the original Creator God, the ‘First Sage,’ only created humans. All the various pan-human races are said to have gradually appeared through historical evolution. But now it’s proven that, during the Ultra-ancient Civilization, elves, demons, and even Dragonkin already existed. Why, then, do all the True Gods’ churches—Evergreen Revelation included—omit any mention of this in their scriptures?”

“March 21st. Nothing in particular. I heard that last month, on the Eastern Coast of the Western Continent, an abyssal demon witnessed the aurora. I hope it’s not true…”

“June 1st. Met with the Pope of Evergreen Revelation. He wants me to restrict the spread of knowledge from the Academy of Truth, on the grounds that knowledge brings destruction. How is that possible? I won’t accept it!”

“June 2nd. Accepted the Pope’s proposal. Both the Saint Realm and the divine realm require domain construction, and the demand they place on the world’s elements and matter is enormous. The spread of knowledge will lead to the birth of more Saint Realm and divine-realm powerhouses. This is a massive load on the world and could even cause an overall drop in the Mortal Realm’s mana density, leading to a catastrophic decline. I’m not sure it’s really that exaggerated, but I have no way to verify it. Teacher once told me that the Origin Star seems to have experienced a fall in its magical environment as well, from high to low… Could this be why?”

“July 17th. From various signs, the Aurora Belt and the Remnant Abyss must be related to the Ultra-ancient Civilization. To find a way to reach the Place of Finality, we still have to investigate all kinds of ruins, especially the seas, which haven’t been heavily explored yet.”

“August 2nd. I’m convinced the destruction of the Ultra-ancient Civilization had nothing to do with the Witch of Finality. Why do the True Gods’ scriptures insist on pinning this on the witch? Teacher may not necessarily be the Witch of Finality, but even if she is, she’s definitely been framed!”

“September 12th. Returned from the Bone Conch Sea. It turns out the North Sea Giant Kraken and the Sky-Curtain Behemoth are truly the most terrifying existences beneath the True Gods. These two monsters don’t have domains at all, yet just by flesh alone and innate magic, they can crush me, even at my divine realm. How is that reasonable? How were they even born?”

“October 20th. A rare bit of leisure. I wonder what Teacher is doing.”

“November 5th. Went again to the Bone Conch Sea at the end of the Snowfields. Still couldn’t beat Kraken. But I found Kraken seems to be guarding a place. I snuck over for a look—it appears to be a ruin of the Ultra-ancient Civilization. What’s the connection between Kraken and that? Kraken and Leviathan can’t stand each other. Is that also related to this ruin?”

“December 17th. Returned to Demon King City. How can the pollution of demonic lands be this severe? Even with nature magic, I still can’t grow crops… Did something happen on the Western Continent during the Era of Withering? Hm. Thinking about it, the Bone Conch Sea’s ecology is bizarre as well, full of strange creatures, very similar to the Abyssal Continent. There might be a common factor there.”

“January 1st. Nothing in particular. On a day of bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, I wonder what Teacher is doing.”

…

As she read with full attention, the only sound left was the lonely rustle of pages turning, echoing through the silent vault. After a long while, Yvette finished the final page of the diary. When she came back to herself, she realized Tertia had vanished.

She left the secret room and saw Tertia sitting at a small table outside, making tea.

The moment Tertia noticed Yvette coming out, she put down the silver teaspoon in her hand, picked up the freshly brewed cup of black tea on a tray, and walked over quickly. She set the cup lightly on the low table by Yvette’s side and, with the gentle concern of a maid, asked, “Grandmaster, have you finished reading?”

Thinking of the faint threads of longing that surfaced from time to time in the diary, Yvette sighed inwardly before replying with a quiet mm.

Whether it had been on a whim or because her energy had waned, Rosalyn’s diary only recorded about five years—namely, the years after she became ruler of both humans and demons and founded the Academy of Truth. At that time, the Eastern and Western Continents had just ended their war and were moving toward peace; the Academy of Truth had only just been founded, and the Mortal Realm was full of things waiting to be rebuilt.

Yet even so, the information in it was enough to plant one question mark after another in Yvette’s mind.

The Demon Gods had wanted to use the Fountain of Eternal Youth to turn Rosalyn into part of the divine race and then control her?

The North Sea Giant Kraken and the Sky-Curtain Behemoth were the strongest existences beneath the True Gods? Even Rosalyn, who had already become the Supreme Demon King when she went to challenge them, had come back empty-handed?

Pan-human races like elves and beastmen already existed in the Ultra-ancient Civilization?

The spread of knowledge would increase the number of Saint Realm and divine-realm powerhouses and, indirectly, lead to a shortage of magical resources and environmental decline…

And the destruction of the Ultra-ancient Civilization was not the Witch of Finality’s doing…

…

She closed her eyes. One clue after another surfaced in her mind, weaving together. The first conclusion they supported was ruling out any identity overlap between the Ultra-ancient Civilization and the Origin Civilization—there was no doubt the Origin Civilization had been destroyed by the witch. And the Origin Civilization had no pan-human races like elves, beastmen, or Dragonkin. Not only that, even during the ancient civilization three thousand years ago, there hadn’t been any either.

So the two weren’t a single giant Möbius strip, but two originally parallel lines that had accidentally intersected one day?

The Witch of Finality was not what the myths portrayed—at least not the destroyer of the Ultra-ancient Civilization—and was instead framed by the True Gods?

If that were really the case, then her hypothesis about time being scrambled was wrong.

She and the Witch of Finality were no longer the same person, but completely separate individuals. When Rosalyn had initially mistaken the Witch of Finality for her, there must have been another reason.

For some reason, as her line of deduction arrived here, she even felt a tiny twinge of disappointment.

Apparently, she really did have a soft spot for that “becoming the ultimate villain” sort of role.

…

A moment later, Yvette selectively told Tertia the parts of the diary with relatively high certainty. Tertia listened very intently, her eyes behind the round frames opening wider and wider. She was clearly taking quite a blow.

In the end, Yvette asked, “Have you ever fought the North Sea Giant Kraken?”

In Rosalyn’s diary, at least for that period, Rosalyn—who had already slain the First Demon King—still wasn’t a match for that legendary monster.

But there was an important factor at play. In the era when the First Demon King was unrivaled under heaven, the pinnacle of magical cultivation was still Archmage level. The path to the Saint Realm hadn’t appeared yet, let alone the divine realm. In other words, the First Demon King, though unmatched in her time, might not even measure up to Shuanghua now.

So by the time Rosalyn reached the later stage and attained godhood, she should have had the strength to defeat the North Sea Giant Kraken. What remained unclear was whether she had ever gone to the northern Bone Conch Sea again, and whether she had acquired anything from that Ultra-ancient ruin guarded by the Kraken.

Tertia was still immersed in the shock these revelations had brought her. After a while, she finally said, “Twice…” Then her tone grew especially grave. “It’s an extremely terrifying monster. If we fought to the death, I should be able to win, but it would come at a huge cost.”

Yvette nodded. Her gaze drifted toward the garden outside the window and the sea of clouds beyond. She remembered that last year at the Academy of Truth, before the Beast Parade, there had been quite a few people who treated the Alchemical War-beast Daedalus as a super Beast King on par with the North Sea Giant Kraken and the Sky-Curtain Behemoth. Looking at it now, there was simply no comparison.

Of course, exploring the Bone Conch Sea still held its value. Once she found Lant and Moga, she could consider going to take a look… If the North Sea Giant Kraken turned out to be too troublesome, she could always have her disciple and grand-disciple gang up with her and lower the risk…

As she pictured scenes of master, disciple, and juniors working together, the corner of her mouth curved almost imperceptibly. “Next, take me to see the antigravity engine.”

Tertia agreed softly, her mood little changed. Compared with deciphering Teacher’s diary, the technology represented by the antigravity engine suddenly felt much less important. She rose mechanically and prepared to lead the way.

What she didn’t know was that, in the field of rune compilation, it was actually possible to write comments—that is, to use runes themselves as a natural language to leave all sorts of logs, notes, and even chat messages. This was even considered a good compilation habit worth promoting, as it made rune packages easier to modify and maintain.

Though different compilation rules could lead to discrepancies in expression, that didn’t stop Yvette from hacking into the antigravity engine’s intricate web of rune packages and reading the comments the Ultra-ancient Civilization’s compilers had left behind.

From those, she might just catch a glimpse of the tip of the Ultra-ancient Civilization’s iceberg.