Millennium Witch

Book 3: Chapter 249: The Ultra-ancient Civilization

The next morning, after wrapping things up with the Silverwind Trading Company, Yvette finally headed with Lucia to the entrance of the Adelock Great Labyrinth, ready to go down and look for the College of General Studies history professor from the Academy of Truth, “Evans Hawker.”Over two hundred years had passed since she last came to the labyrinth’s entrance, and the view before her was completely transformed. In her memory, the entrance had been scattered across a hilly region, with one having to enter the underground ruins through caves dotted all over. Now, however, it looked as if a meteor had struck—everything had become a colossal crater. Ring after ring of man-carved paths spiraled down along the pit wall, eventually leading to the gaping opening at the bottom that connected to the first floor of the labyrinth.

Perhaps because it was still early, there weren’t many adventurers descending along the circular walkways into the depths.

Under Yvette’s protection, the two of them passed smoothly by many adventurer parties and reached the front line of exploration on the fourteenth underground floor.

Here, the air suddenly turned cold and damp, filled with the smell of earth, moss, and rusted metal. A wide, shadowy underground cavity opened up before them, the rock walls still bearing neat chisel marks. After they turned a few corners along a passage strewn with the scattered remains of unknown magical beasts, the leaping glow of fire ahead dispelled part of the darkness.

An old man with graying hair, tattered clothes, and a face caked in dust was sitting by a campfire with two young men in simple expedition gear, talking in low voices.

When Yvette and Lucia approached, all three of them showed identical looks of surprise—adventurers who could reach the fourteenth floor usually needed at least a high-level mage or swordsman leading them. The two young girls in front of them really didn’t look like they had that kind of strength.

“Professor Evans Hawker, I presume?” Yvette stepped forward and asked.

“That would be this old man,” the shabby, seemingly long-unbathed elder said, standing up and looking them over in puzzlement. “And you two young ladies are…?”

“I’m a first-year at the College of General Studies, Yvette Loxivia. This is my friend from the Battle Arts College, Lucia Sterling.” Yvette produced her student ID.

After examining the ID, Professor Evans’s face broke into a smile. “I never thought I’d run into students from our academy in a place as dark as this. What a rare surprise. How did you make it down here?”

The two young men who looked like his assistants also turned curious gazes toward them.

“Good luck—and also because there are some things I can’t figure out. I was hoping you could help, Professor,” Yvette said.

“What kind of help?” Evans asked. As a history professor, it had been a long time since a student had come to him proactively seeking answers, especially about his so-called “obscure” research topics.

“I heard from Professor Margaret that you’ve done a lot of work on the War of Divine Judgment.”

“I certainly have,” Professor Evans said, his expression turning proud.

“Professor, I have many questions about the War of Divine Judgment as well, so I wanted to ask if you know where the real battlefield of that war might have been in the present world,” Yvette asked.

“So that’s your question.” Evans looked surprised. He himself was deeply curious about such matters and had done an absurd amount of research, but he was well aware there was no market for this line of work—no money in it, to put it bluntly. He hadn’t expected to meet a kindred spirit.

“It seems you’re also a fan of Lady Rosalyn Sien, the Legendary Mage?” he said.

“…” Yvette paused. “More or less.”

“Five hundred years have passed. Wherever the true battlefield of the War of Divine Judgment was placed by the gods, there wouldn’t be any traces left. Even if you stood there right now, you probably couldn’t tell. So what I can offer you is only a conjecture,” Professor Evans admitted. “Based on many years of comparing historical sources and making inferences, I believe the war’s location should have been deep within the Snowfields.”

“The Snowfields?” Yvette raised her brows slightly. She had considered that possibility as well, mainly because of the region’s mysteries and sparse population, but she didn’t know what Evans’s arguments were.

“There are three reasons. First, there’s a legend of ‘Frost Wraiths’ in the Snowfields. These monsters are very similar to Taint Demons, except they lack that terrifying infectious quality. Second, the depths of the Snowfields are untouched by people, and there are legends claiming that an entrance to Eden’s Garden remains there. Third, among the gods that appear on the Eastern Continent, only the Snow Country’s Snow Emperor faith arose suddenly in the decades after the War of Divine Judgment ended. The timing of this righteous god’s emergence makes me feel there’s likely some causal link with that war,” Professor Evans said in one go.

His explanation was refreshingly straightforward and concise, not like typical scholars who loved to go all the way back to the dawn of time before getting to the point.

Yvette fell into thought. She had already considered the first two reasons when going over her research materials, but the third was something she hadn’t paid attention to. Among the gods currently active on the Eastern Continent, aside from the three great True Gods that had existed since ten thousand years ago, there were five righteous gods: the Snow Emperor of the Snow Country, the Sun God and Lord of Sky and Air of the Free Alliance, and the Death God and Sea God of the Southern Alliance.

Among these, only the Snow Emperor had appeared abruptly in the decades following the War of Divine Judgment. The other four righteous gods had all existed for a very long time—rumor had it over a thousand years—so in terms of age, not even Yvette could claim any advantage.

With that comparison, the timing of the youngest righteous god’s birth seemed all the more coincidental, as if he’d cashed in on the “dividends” of the Legendary Mage’s fall.

Looked at this way, the Snowfields did indeed seem worth a visit—especially since she could seek out the Snow Emperor and probe his true strength—

After a brief moment of consideration, Yvette accepted Evans’s conclusion and thanked him.

For the rest of their time, perhaps caught up in his enthusiasm, Evans shifted the topic to the depths of the labyrinth they were currently in.

“Did you know? The entire Adelock Great Labyrinth is actually a colossal ruin of an Ultra-ancient Civilization,” Evans said excitedly. “It’s just that a very long time ago, some now-vanished empires in this land discovered it first, began exploring, and even built their own structures atop the ruins. That’s why, for a long time after the labyrinth was discovered, no one realized that a deeper secret lay hidden within.”

“Empires that have already been destroyed?” Lucia asked.

Seeing how utterly clueless she was, Evans smiled and explained, “For example, the Ancient Goblin Empire, the Ancient Beastman Empire, and those ancient human kingdoms.”

“They don’t count as Ultra-ancient Civilizations?” Lucia pressed.

“Of course not.” Evans shook his head. “The Ultra-ancient Civilization refers to a prehistoric civilization from ten thousand years ago. Other than True Gods and Demon Gods, no being can know what that civilization truly looked like. Very few of their artifacts remain today—and most of those were dug up by the ancient empires long ago. We don’t even know which hand-me-down of leftovers from their leftovers we’re picking at now. That Ancient Beastman Empire I mentioned? That’s history from the so-called ‘Era of Withering.’”

Hearing that, Yvette’s heart stirred slightly as she recalled what she’d learned in her humanities-and-history classes.

On the Radiant Continent, the period around the year 10,000 A.C. was the Ancient Era, also known as the Prehistoric Epoch—the era in which the oldest known civilization, the Ultra-ancient Civilization, had existed.

From 5,000 to 10,000 A.C., however, there had been a period called the “Era of Withering.” Based on limited archaeological discoveries and mythic accounts, it had been an ice age—temperatures fell dramatically, and all races could only struggle to survive in the bitter cold. Because of this, the ancient beastmen, who were adapted to the cold, rose to prominence and founded the Ancient Beastman Empire.

But ancient beastmen were practically a different species from modern beastmen. Put simply, the former were more like fur-covered, beast-shaped creatures, while modern beastmen, due to excessive interbreeding with humans, usually only retained features like animal ears. In appearance, they were little different from humans.

As for the current major races, most of them were born in the “Genesis Era” around 3,000 A.C. When the ice age ended, the gods began spreading their faith, and the continent entered an age of flourishing diversity. The elves stood at the top, and all races together resisted the demons of the Western Continent.

“Did the True Gods exist even before the Ultra-ancient Civilization?” Yvette asked.

“Yes,” Evans confirmed. “In the continent’s myths, the Creator made the True Gods, Demon Gods, and Witches, only to be betrayed by the Witches, which led to the destruction of Eden’s Garden. This story is strikingly similar to the destruction of the Ultra-ancient Civilization. So we can infer that it was the Witch’s betrayal that caused the fall of that civilization—and that the Ultra-ancient Civilization was likely the civilization built by the very first humans created by the Creator.”

“A civilization founded by the first humans…” Yvette felt something about that was a bit odd. She went on, “I’ve heard the Ultra-ancient Civilization possessed extremely advanced magical technology?”

“That’s right. The people of that era may well have fully deciphered runes.” As Evans spoke, he carefully took out from his pocket a small metal shard that gleamed with a faint, dark luster. “This is one of the artifacts from the Ultra-ancient Civilization that I’ve collected. It retains traces of a Magic Array, but even just that fleeting glimpse is something I could never hope to understand in my lifetime.”

Yvette accepted the metal shard and studied it under the firelight, her pupils narrowing slightly.

If she wasn’t mistaken, what remained here wasn’t a Magic Array at all, but—

Severely worn, yes, but the corners still held a great many tiny runes embedded in the magic circuits. Because these runes were so minuscule and densely packed, existing within the circuits at a level almost impossible to see with the naked eye, the overall pattern only looked like an exquisitely crafted Magic Array from a distance.

This was nothing less than a magic circuit made with nano-scale etching, on par with the Origin Civilization!

“Speaking of which, since you’re a fan of the Legendary Mage, you might be interested in another theory—one that’s quite controversial among historians,” Evans suddenly said, as if remembering something.

“What theory?” Yvette looked at him.

Evans explained, “Five hundred years ago, before he became a god, the Legendary Mage also dabbled in archaeology. In his research notes, he proposed a conclusion completely at odds with the mainstream view of today’s historians.”

“The Legendary Mage believed that the destruction of the Ultra-ancient Civilization had nothing to do with the Doomsday Witch. They rose to glory on the back of their magical technology—and then became victims of their own runaway power and its abuse. In other words, it was all their own doing.”

“If anyone else had put forward this theory, the historical community would never have accepted it—and neither would the major churches. But this was the opinion of the God of Magic himself, a True God’s perspective. So even now, the academic world is still arguing about it.”

“But I imagine, right or wrong, our founding dean’s decision in his later years to gradually tighten the Academy of Truth’s restrictions on exporting knowledge must have had something to do with that conclusion.”