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“Yes, Lukas incarcerated and nearly killed me. His goal was to find out the details of the final plan.”

“How so?” Roel was perplexed.

“Through my dreams,” Paul replied with a sigh before sharing his experience.

Paul was saved by the sample he had planted inside the Life Tree beforehand, but it took a long time before he regained consciousness.

The original purpose of the Life Tree was to nurture the divine child, and this process required a huge amount of mana. For more than a thousand years, this device was barely able to sustain Charles’ life by absorbing the surrounding mana, let alone fully revive him.

Over this long period of time, Paul’s memories of his time as Charles Ackermann gradually settled into the recesses of his mind, and he lost his sense of self. That was also why he knew nothing about himself when he finally awakened.

Charles had thought that he would only awaken when the doomsday prophecy was on the verge of fulfillment. By then, the world would be suffused with the Mother Goddess’ and the Savior’s mana, thus providing the Life Tree with enough mana to revive him.

Little did he know one of the Austine Empire’s emperors would suddenly remember him.

While Charles was hibernating in the wilderness, Lukas Ackermann had taken over the throne of the Austine Empire and begun gathering and compiling information regarding Charles’ abilities. His intention for doing so was not to redress Charles’ grievances or inherit his will. It was just that his abilities were similar to Charles’, so he wanted to gather some inspiration as to how he should develop his abilities.

Such actions were common, as it would spare the transcendent from wasting time on a futile pursuit. Were it not for the fact his lineage had been severed, Roel would have likely relied on that as well to develop his abilities.

Unexpectedly, while he was investigating Charles, Lukas stumbled upon a fragmented portion of Charles’ final plan.

It was unsure what thoughts had sparked in him, but he ordered the intelligence department to find the nurturing facility and bring it to the Austine Empire. By piecing together the clues in the fragmented portion of Charles’ final plan, they eventually found the nurturing facility.

To be safe, Lukas stationed Charles at a remote mountainous region to observe him before finally summoning him to the royal palace. By then, he was already Paul Ackermann.

“Is that the reason you don’t remember the past? What made you remember everything, then?”

“It’s Lukas’ spell. The secondary palace itself is a grand spell. It draws out my deepest memories and presents them in the medium of dreams, where he’ll be able to access everything.”

“That explains why you were incarcerated there… But why does Lukas want to know the past? What’s his goal?”

“I don’t know the exact details, but I can fathom a guess.” Paul glanced at Carolyn.

Carolyn nodded with a severe expression before asking the others, “You mentioned earlier that you suspect Lukas has relations with the Savior?”

“You can say so. We don’t think that Lukas is a worshiper, but we have found irrefutable evidence that the Austine Empire has been working with the Fallens.”

“That simplifies matters.” Carolyn paused for a brief moment before continuing on, “His goal is the Savior’s power. He wishes to become a god.”

…

Gods were not commonplace in the Sia Continent, but they weren’t elusive existences either, especially in the ancient era.

In the era of legendary races, the existence of gods was widely acknowledged—there were even races with more than one god. However, the ancient gods gradually died out after Sia’s departure. By the time of humankind’s era, there were hardly any gods left in the world.

There was a hierarchy among gods too.

For instance, the Savior and the Mother Goddess were supreme beings wielding powers far exceeding those of ordinary gods. That was also the level Lukas hoped to reach by attaining the power intended for the divine child via Charles’ final plan a thousand years ago.

“But the final plan failed, didn’t it? How does he intend to become a god?” Roel asked.

“While the final plan has failed, the mana absorbed from the Savior still lingers. In fact, it has only continued to accumulate over the last thousand years. My guess is Lukas accessed Charles’ memory to find out more about the magic tool he constructed back then—Sia’s Scepter,” Carolyn replied.

“Sia’s Scepter?”

“Yes, it’s a magic tool Charles created based on Sia’s real scepter in the ancient era.”

Carolyn proceeded to share more details about Sia’s real scepter.

Roel widened his eyes in shock, as it dawned on him that he had once seen and even used the Sia’s Scepter Carolyn was talking about. It was the divine scepter used to suppress the Six Calamities in the Witness State.

Sia’s Scepter was rumored to be one of the strongest divine weapons, harnessing the ability to absorb any power, no matter how strong. Needless to say, it was a necessary tool to accomplish the final plan.

Unlike the holy armor, there were no traces of Sia’s Scepter left behind. It was nigh impossible to recreate something of the likes of Sia’s Scepter from scratch. Even Charles was stumped. He had no choice but to rely on trial and error to slowly improve on his version of Sia’s Scepter.

His final product was significantly different from the real Sia’s Scepter, but it was still passable in terms of functionality.

“Power has been accumulating in Sia’s Scepter for a thousand years now, reaching an immense level to date. That’s what Lukas is after. He’d use that as a stepping stone to devour the Savior, as the divine child was planned to do in the final plan,” Carolyn said.

“But… Lukas doesn’t have the Ascarts’ bloodline. Even Carolyn couldn’t absorb the Savior’s powers, so how does he intend to do so?” Roel asked.

“I don’t know what he has in mind, but he has spent many years preparing for it. He must have figured something out,” Paul replied.

The others nodded in agreement, thinking that they should heighten their vigilance.

With the doomsday prophecy at hand, it could be deadly if Lukas messed things up at this point. Even so, they weren’t too worried after hearing the secrets surrounding the Second Epoch.

In the first place, Lukas wasn’t in a favorable position at the moment. Time wasn’t on his side; he was swiftly losing influence in the Austine Empire with every passing second. Even if he safely made his way to the Abyss, it was questionable whether he could enter.

The seal from the Kingmaker Clan hadn’t been completely released yet. It was a coincidence that Carolyn was able to slip out—or rather, it could be said to be Roel’s credit—but Lukas was unlikely to enjoy such good luck.

Previously, as Roel was returning from the Witness State to the real world, the Collector nearly sent him into the Abyss. It was Carolyn who stepped in at that critical juncture and saved him… but that was not all she did then.

She made use of that opportunity to establish spatial coordinates with the outside world too.

In the months that followed, she made countless attempts to liaise with the outside world. It helped that she wielded powers far surpassing the ancient gods’, whereas the seal was weaker than ever, with the Savior on the brink of awakening. Finally, she found a gap through which to escape from that hellhole.

Otherwise, the Savior would have killed her the moment He regained consciousness.

Carolyn hadn’t been resting ever since she made her escape. She was particularly anxious, knowing that they were on the brink of the doomsday prophecy. Thus, she executed the backup plan they had formulated back then and began eliminating the Mother Goddess’ faction.

She figured that if she could weaken the Mother Goddess to the same level as the Savior, with her strength, she could force a three-sided gridlock similar to that in the ancient era. Humankind would at least have some hope that way.

Little did she expect to encounter Roel.

“Sia-fication—what an incredible power. Perhaps it’s Sia’s will for someone like you to appear at this critical juncture,” Carolyn remarked with a sigh as she recalled the earlier battle.

Her eyelids drooped as her consciousness faltered. She had overexerted herself this time around. Seeing that, Paul requested Astrid and Antonio to bring her back for treatment.

Carolyn had been fighting alone for the last thousand years, and that had taken a toll on both her mind and her body. It was through sheer willpower that she had lasted thus far; anyone else in her place would have long since succumbed.

Astrid and the others understood that, which was why they quickly made preparations to return to the eastern border.

Not to mention that Alicia was still unconscious, Roel was on the verge of caving in too. Unprecedented exhaustion was consuming his body and soul since he had depleted Sia’s mana.

Carolyn was the strongest enemy Roel had encountered to date, as well as the only one he had failed to subdue despite having gone all out. If not for the timely arrival of Paul and the others, it was hard to say who would be the last one standing.

Roel looked at Paul and Carolyn and smiled.

There was a question that had been bugging him for many years.

Why is Paul the protagonist of Eyes of the Chronicler?

He had finally found the answer to it, and he was satisfied with the changes he had brought about through his actions.

In Eyes of the Chronicler, Paul shook free of Lukas’ control regardless of the route he chose, so he never recovered his memories. Carolyn also never made an appearance, so it was likely that she died when the Savior reawakened.

But everything changed as a result of Roel’s interference.

The two lovers were able to reunite after a thousand years, and he earnestly hoped that they could find their happiness after the many hardships they had gone through.

He smiled at the unconscious Alicia before leaving together with Antonio and the others.

Meanwhile, something huge was going on in the distant plains.