Arcane Era-Chapter 72: Divine Chronicles

Theo sat on a chair and picked up the bulky book.

Its weight meant nothing to Theo, whose strength was far more than ordinary Mortals. Without involving Armaments, even the strongest man on the Mainland would have trouble dealing with him.

’I bought this for quite the price...’ He thought, his fingers tracing on the high-quality illustrations that created contours on the surface of the book’s hard cover.

He spotted the book on his way back from the Team Meeting, after deciding to take a small walk in the Outer Court before returning to his residence in the Middle Court. Even the Grand Palace had stores, though they were far more sophisticated and held a lot of very valuable—not to mention expensive—merchandise.

One of the several shops was a bookstore, and he saw the book on display.

After his skirmish with the Mercenary King, especially his ideals, Theo realized just how little knowledge he possessed regarding the Divine Ones. He knew a thing or two, but upon seeing the King using a ’prophecy’ to move the hearts of so many men so they would join his cause, Theo became more serious.

He wanted to know more about the ones who dwelled high above.

’Since I can’t sleep, might as well read...’ He flipped a page open, revealing even more illustrations that spread across two pages.

The illustration depicted the 12 Heavenly Kings in a banquet, and at the extreme ends of the page, Great Sun and Grand Moon were like giant pillars that created shadows over them. Then, Theo flipped another page, and rather than the colorful image of art and beauty... he saw only one thing.

It was a black blot.

It was a still image, yet the swirling abyss within the darkness made it appear like it was moving... spreading. The black void had several tentacles around it, and even they seemed to be squirming, reaching for him from their place on a page.

Theo didn’t know what this was.

He was curious.

Beneath the image, there was a small text in print to describe the image—if it could even be called that—and written there were only three words.

"... The Cosmic Eraser."

What in the world was that? Theo had no clue, so he flipped the pages and found a few illustrations—some profoundly beautiful, while others downright disturbing—before finally reaching the table of contents.

There, he saw a list of stories that the book contained.

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine tales? Only this many...?" He expected the book to contain more, considering how bulky it was. "Maybe it has more illustrations embedded inside."

From what Theo had learned from the bookstore, this was the ultimate collection of the stories about the Divine Ones, and they were immensely bountiful.

It contained records of the times the Divine Ones still dwelled in Trae’h, and also their saga in the High Realm—the latter obtained from the words of Divine Ancestors Great Sun and Grand Moon, who apparently revealed these to the Mortals at the time when they walked among them.

’I expected thousands of stories, all things considered.’

Theo was slightly disappointed, but it wasn’t his fault and the book was also not to blame. The problem stemmed from an internal misunderstanding he was yet to realize.

Based on Theo’s experience, tales were rather short in length.

He had no idea that the tales he often heard were merely fragments of the whole thing, so he truly underestimated the length of a single story. Still, he was interested in exploring the book, so his eyes scanned the table of content for where to start.

He didn’t choose the first tale, nor did he pick the second... and not even the last.

After randomly glancing through, half bored and half curious, he found something that ignited a semblance of interest.

"Tale 17: How Endless Ambition lost his desires... might as well give it a read."

Theo flipped to the page and started reading.

In ancient times, during the Divine Era—when the Divine Ones still trod the world of Trae’h, there was a certain man called Endless Ambition.

He possessed a blazing desire that couldn’t be tamed—not even by himself.

His desires drove him to conquer lands, slay beasts, and continually grow in strength—accumulating power until he was the strongest in the land. However, none of this was enough for him, and he continued to thirst for more.

The sad thing was, after Endless Ambition achieved the desire that blazed within him, another desire would quickly rise and he would scamper around to quench that too. And so, despite being the most powerful being in the land, he was a most pathetic man.

However, this all changed when he met Renewal Flower, a damsel who had neither wealth nor fame. She was very delicate, but her beauty was too ethereal and it doused the burning ambitions in his heart, replacing it with another passion.

—A longing for Renewal Flower.

In those times, night and day didn’t exist the way they do now. There were also no stars, as the Divine Ones were yet to ascend. As such, the skies were barren—filled with pure darkness. Endless Ambition always burned bright wherever he went due to his burning desires, but at this point, all of his light dimmed.

Renewal Flower had somehow quenched the flames within him, and not only was he immensely grateful to her for easing his burdens... he also fell in love with her.

He swore to stand by her side and protect her forever.

They eventually got married and had three children. The first child was beautiful like his mother, but lacked her vibrant colors. He was pale as snow, his hair like white fire. However, shadows covered his body like a cloth. The second child was also male, but his skin shone with bright yellow luster—glowing like his father even without burning desire in him.

As for the last child, she was a woman who bloomed like a flower, colorful like her mother, while vibrant like her father.

This family of five thought they would live in harmony forever, but life is very unpredictable.

A short while after the third daughter was born, something terrible began to happen.

Endless Ambition began to burn bright again.

The incredible beauty of Renewal Flower had begun to fade, and her perfection had diminished, causing the suppression she had on Endless Ambition’s desires to weaken.

At first, the family tried to manage the situation, but it only got worse from there.

Endless Ambition’s brilliance was so great it blinded the delicate Renewal Flower and it also began to burn his children. To protect them, he had to stay away from them... else his burning desires would consume them.

This made Endless Ambition miserable.

He was left with two choices: leave his family and resume a hollow life of continuously fulfilling his endless desires, or endure the pain and suffer with his family.

Endless Ambition did not know which was better or worse.

He did not want to abandon his family, but he also did not want to let them suffer either.

"What should I do?" One day, he asked himself this.

After thinking for a long while... he came up with a third option—an impossible goal that even his desires were frightened of.

"I have to find a way to get rid of my burning desires!" He proclaimed. "If I can remove this blazing thing inside me, then perhaps I shall no longer have to endure pain or inflict pain on my loved ones. I shall also not need to endlessly pursue vanities."

After thinking this, Endless Ambition instantly jumped to his feet and raced away, even forgetting to inform his family of his epiphany.

He immediately started his journey to remove his desires, uncertain of how to even go about it.

."Interesting..." Theo stopped reading at this point, a small smile on his face.

A few thoughts came to his mind, but they were all clouded by the fog of drowsiness. It seemed that by reading this tale, he had become sleepy again. He thought a tale was very short, but he was not even halfway through this one.

’I see...’ Theo immediately realized his misunderstanding and smiled. He put down the book and let off all his weight on the back cushion, his eyelids slowly falling down.

He considered a few things as sleep slowly beckoned to him.

’How will Sarvos be like once I return?’

It had been almost four months since his emancipation.

’Lord Shen and the Zenith rescued me in the middle of Suruat, and this is still the first week in the month of Ogriv.’ Quite some time had gone by.

Images of his old friends flashed in his mind, and another pang of guilt echoed in the depths of his heart. He thought about how their sentence would have already ended—about a week ago—which meant they had to be free men at this point.

’I wonder...’ A sudden thought entered his mind. ’Could I somehow find them? If I can maybe help them, link them with the Ak’ashi Guild, or even give them my Arca.’

Theo didn’t mind giving them all the money he earned as a reward, and he knew it would be more than enough to last them for years.

But—

’I’m still a fugitive, and as a member of the Ak’ashi Guild I can’t compromise the mission for my selfish goals.’ He sighed, groaning a little in the solitude of his home.

Beyond his obligation to the Guild, Theo also considered his friends.

’Associating with me will mean they’ve encountered a fugitive. I still don’t know how much they’ve changed, or what kind of people they are now, but... do I really want to bring more trouble to them by showing up now?’

Theo wasn’t certain.

’They might still be mad at me. After all, it’s my fault we all got caught. If only I wasn’t so greedy... if I didn’t let my ambitions consume me and blind everyone in the group... if only I listened to Edward... they wouldn’t have spent over three years in prison.’

If he showed up after so long, a free man and member of the Ak’ashi Guild, even going as far as offering them money... how would they take it?

After weighing all of these things, and many more thoughts that constantly went on in his mind, Theo could not arrive at a proper conclusion.

’I... don’t know what to do.’

At that moment, Theo felt like Endless Ambition, surrounded by despair and with no power to stop it. Unlike the Divine One, though, he still hadn’t found a solution to his problem.

Before he could dwell on it more, though, sleep finally claimed him.