The Truth of the Apocalypse
The Truth of the Apocalypse
The ancient written language of 3,000 years ago was different from the language of present-day Plane of Dreams. The ascetics, who studied ancient religious texts in the ancient language had no problem in understanding them—so long as the handwriting was still recognisable.
The manuscript in the sacred cavern was not a fetish or a patrimony from the goddess, but the last words of the first pope intended for his successor.
Big Beardy read it out slowly. "...We came from the stars... All of life in this world originated from the stars... The goddess created all of life. But in the beginning, she only created the seeds..."
"What does that mean?" the young nun asked, getting confused.
Being an interstellar traveller, Hao Ren understood its meaning better than the four ascetics. "It basically says all of life on this planet came from space, brought by the meteoroid and things like that, y'know?" he explained.
"The goddess created the seeds." Big Beardy pointed at the text with his index finger. "She sowed the seeds on the various planets and the seeds grew on planets that were hospitable to life. We are sons derived from the seeds—the creation of the goddess, but we are also just remnants of the system."
So far, the only difference between these writings and the texts of the Disciples of Glory was in the wording. But everyone's face turned serious when Big Beardy continued with the subsequent paragraphs. "...I am leaving this message in hopes that when the cavern is opened for the second time, all races in this world would have risen up, not to surpass the Ancient Magic Civilisation, but to be strong enough to delay the powerful ancient creatures, our furious 'brothers'...
"Before time began, the world was just a barren place where planets were desolute, dead, and lifeless. Then, the goddess was conceived out of the darkness. She was the first life of spirit and knowledge, the king of kings, blood of bloods, soul of souls. But, the goddess was not happy that the stars were lifeless. So, she created the seeds and sowed them on the planets. When the seeds fell on the earth, they began to evolve into a blood tide, from which the most primitive life forms evolved and subsequently ruled the earth. I called that earliest seed the 'Original Seed'. It is the origin of all life on this tiny rock in space. From great men to servants, from demi-gods to nobodies, you and me, and all plants originated from this seed.
"The felony of the Ancient Magic Empire was not the creation of perfect life form or their encroachment into the realm of the divine; what they did was far more serious than that—they found a remnant of the Original Seed, drew power from the flesh and blood of the remnant, then attempted to play God!
"The Original Seed is the blood of the goddess, an extension of her body which contains the most primitive, direct divine power, and can even be regarded as the goddess herself. The mage emperors were mesmerised and arrogant. They attempted to use her flesh and blood to regenerate their own bodies. They even tried to erode and control the sacred remains with their mortal will so that they could become God. Their blasphemy against the Original Seed was the root cause of their destruction.
"What I am going to reveal, no matter how unacceptable or unbelieveable, is the truth; the truth of the evolution of all life on this planet...
"We are not the first to be born—after the Original Seed landed on Earth, it did not just give birth to a single sowing. During the height of the Blood Tide, the oldest and strongest guardians were born. The First Sowing thrived in the early days and took on a more primordial strength. It had the most steadfast loyalty and conviction to the mother—the goddess. I call these oldest beings the 'First Born'. The First Borns ruled the earth for millions of years until they got tired of it and went into collective slumber. Subsequently other smaller beings—including us, were born from the already thinned out Blood Tide. We, the little mortals were the Second Born.
"The arrogance of the ancient mage emperors had infuriated the First Borns who were asleep in the depths of the earth. They sensed that people had spoilt the structure of the Original Seed, so they rose from their sleep and launched a bloody massacre.
"The dysfunction of the Original Seed caused the Blood Tide to go haywire. The remaining life force of the Blood Tide evolved into another apocalyptical disaster, during which an extremely corrosive, hateful but short-lived monster, whose sole purpose was to destroy the rebellious son emerged. So, according to the evolution calendar, this would be the Third Born.
"This is the truth of the apocalyse: the world was not thrown into a sea of fire, but an ecological extinction.
"The event of extinction almost destroyed all of the Second Sowing and the furious First Borns as well as Third Borns vowed to rebuild the planet's ecosystem. We were supposed to be totally exterminated in the apocalypse, but the merciful goddess saved us: she built a safety switch in the Original Seed, which was triggered when she sensed an apocalypse was imminent, and forcibly halted the action of the First Born. The Third Borns ran out of life and died shortly after that. That was how our world was spared.
"It was fortunate that the foolish mage emperors did not spoil the Original Seed's safety switch. This was the only good thing they had done. I found the safety switch, which was still running from the cavern and took it out from to prevent the First Borns from damaging it while they sleepwalked. But the safety switch must not be too far away from the seal, so I have placed it somewhere within 100 cassavas (an ancient measurement for distance) of this cavern. If things go as planned, the safety switch should be known as the life progenitor and it will work well during your era."
There was a quiver in Big Beardy's breathing and everyone else's. It was not just due to the explosive truth, but also because they were having a bad feeling about it. The young nun held up the final piece of the parchment and her suspicions were confirmed.
"The safety switch is just an organ of the Original Seed. As the Original Seed was seriously damaged, the organ could no longer function perpetually as intended. According to my estimate, it only has 3,000 years of life left."
*Gulp*
Becky swallowed.
"The First Borns are about to wake up. When the safety switch—the restraining signal of the life progenitor stops, the First Borns will resume their action and reset the ecosystem. After the apocalypse, there were three surviving First Borns, which are currently being restained by three corresponding life progenitors. The restraining signal will stop in sequence. According to my understanding, the first one to stop is the one here. The other two will follow suit in one and three years respectively. But one First Born will be sufficient to cause total apocalypse."
"But, do not lose hope. We still have allies. According to some ancient records, some higher civilisations from other galaxies have made a covenant with our world; they are the Second Borns from other planets, who know the secrets of the goddess and First Born better than we do. When the restraining signal goes out, their armies and spacechips will come to our rescue and help us destroy the First Born. However, the First Borns can only be killed during their awakening stage. Not prior, not after.
"I compiled this intel from various ancient records. Though not very comprehensive, the key message is pretty accurate. Due to the explosive nature of this intel, which may bring despair to humans, I have discussed with my old friends; we all agreed to not reveal the entire truth to the world at one go. If things go as planned, I will build churches, set up a will for each generation and tell the truth bit by bit over a span of hundreds of years. So, I am hoping that the mortal races will rise and be strong enough to defend themselves against the First Born 3,000 years from now. But in the event that my plan fails, there may be people who find the various inductions and arrangements, which I have left behind in this cavern. With my last words, you will be able to know the fate of this world.
"And lastly, if someone has indeed read this, please send my regards to the brethren from other planets and thank them for sticking to the covenant—even though the sinful mage emperors were the ones who made the covenant, at least our world may be saved.
"If anyone can survive this event, I hope they will remember this: the fall of the First Born does not mean we mortals can become arrogant again; we should instead hold a fearful heart lest we repeat the mistake of the Ancient Magic Civilisation, the wrath of the goddess will sooner or later consume the world."
The parchment slipped from the nun's hand and dropped on the altar. The young nun mumbled to herself, her voice sounding coarse. "...The inheritance of the outside world... has already been broken a long time ago..."