When the seven arrived at the central house, they saw the sign of the village chief's residence. Everyone exchanged a glance.
"Looks like we found the right place~!" Ding muttered, looking displeased at the threshold, which was much shorter than himself.
"It's here. There's a faint aura..." With Jia's words, Allen nodded.
Upon entering the village chief's house, what they saw was a hand fallen on the ground.
It was clearly the hand of an elder, and immediately everyone could guess the owner.
The simple sleeve covered the elder's arm, hiding the broken part, making Barre sigh.
"Looks like it's just a simple break..." Barre scratched his head, clearly troubled.
Allen rubbed his chin, glanced at Jia who was sensing the surroundings, then looked at the hand on the ground.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he walked toward the hand's direction and lightly tapped the wall, producing a hollow sound, indicating a hidden chamber.
Everyone was momentarily stunned. Outside, Ding impatiently asked, "Found anything?"
"Got it~!" Allen said with a smile, pressing the wall and tearing open the already thin wall.
Inside was a boy who had fainted. His pale face showed his weakness.
"The only survivor? Let's take him back first. Only this boy knows what happened!" Allen said, holding the boy and looking at the others, clearly intending to try waking him up at the next town.
Perhaps because of the pressure from the ninth-level aura—though not released, it seemed to attract the boy—he slowly woke, but only briefly.
In his waking moment, he took out a book from his chest and stretched it out, but collapsed before lifting it.
"Hm?" Allen's quick reflexes caught the book and frowned.
After looking at the boy, he handed him to Jia and raised the book in his own hand.
The book looked worn and ordinary. Its blue cover barely showed fading characters.
A large character "守" (Guard) was clear. As the others approached, Allen shrugged and opened the book.
"Hey! What exactly did you find?! Can you say something?!" Ding outside suddenly thumped the ground irritably.
Sword Elder was speechless. Since they had come out, they headed to the nearest town to the village.
After arranging for the unconscious boy, they came to a meadow outside the town.
Allen took out the book again, opening it under everyone's watchful eyes.
Instantly, all the ninth-levels' dignity dropped as a group gathered around the book.
On the first page was a clear painting. Though the book was very old, it had been well preserved.
The first page depicted mountains, rivers, and monsters. A huge monster was shown on the mountains and rivers.
The monster looked like a three-eyed demon wearing armor, enormous in size, while above the mountains floated a fairy-like being watching the monster.
Allen looked at the translation above and slowly began to read, silently mocking this illiterate group, since only he could read and write, while the ninth-levels had no time to learn writing.
"Long ago, this world was abandoned by the gods. A gigantic monster that covered the sky ravaged the land. Humans became mere food amidst its destruction, suffering everywhere. As the monster was about to consume the entire world, the gods appeared."
Allen slowly turned the page. The next showed the fairy piercing the monster, holding its heart and the disk on its back. The monster's three eyes and massive armor slowly disappeared, dissipating.
"The gods killed the monster, destroying its body, but could not destroy its heart or the banner on its back, where the monster's soul and source of power resided. This was its resentment toward the gods—an unbreakable curse."
Allen's eyes flickered. Barre's pupils shrank when he saw the banner on the monster's back but said nothing.
That banner had briefly appeared when the monster swallowed the ninth-level before, but then had only two glowing spots, whereas now there were nine.
Allen turned another page, showing the fairy raising a disk with nine glowing spots scattered on earth.
"The gods scattered the monster's banner across the world, so even if the monster awoke, it would have no power. The monster's scattered power gradually became the power of humanity."
Allen's pupils constricted as he flipped through several pages describing the monster's various sources of power:
The monster's shoes became its fastest speed.
Its armor became its greatest endurance.
Its bracers became its fastest attack speed.
Its left eye became its highest perception.
Its right eye became its battle analysis.
Its claws became its strongest power.
Its brain became its highest learning aptitude.
Its bones became the hardest metal.
Its head became the strongest concealment power.
Everyone's pupils shrank as their bodies suddenly grew cold.
"The monster's power was grasped by humans and became the world's thrones. Only those who sit on these thrones can become the strongest humans!" Allen's eyelids trembled.
He flipped to the next page, where the goddess handed the monster's heart to a group of humans.
"And the monster's heart sealed its soul, entrusted to the Guardians."
The next page showed shadowy figures carrying the monster's heart, disappearing into the mountains.
"The Guardians are the generations who protect the monster's heart. When the heart is unsealed, the monster will reclaim part of its power and again become a world-devouring beast, seeking revenge against the gods who abandoned this land. The Guardians' mission is to alert the humans holding the throne power and to reseal the monster."
Allen eagerly turned to the last page, relieved there was no missing crucial part.
Otherwise, even Sword Elder would have been driven to strike the book with his sword.
Upon reaching the last page, everyone was stunned, staring at the image before them.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]