noveltune Chapter 271 But You Came in the End
Chapter 271 But You Came in the End
Chapter 271 But You Came in the End
This level represents the limit of his current mental strength in mobilizing inherited power. After upgrading his core equipment, the sky outside the window was already turning light.
Li Ang got up and stretched his body a little. Then he glanced at the seemingly simple [Grace Ring] on his finger and thought to himself that the cooldown of the Grace Ring would be over in a few hours. Once it was back to normal, he could use the boost from the "Wisdom Mark" to level up again. But for now, he should hurry up and get some sleep to recover his strength.
Early in the morning, Li Ang and Eve, who felt refreshed after only two hours of sleep, met again in the living room. Both of them looked much better than the day before. Eve had changed into a light gray robe that was easy to move in, and her long hair was simply tied up, regaining her usual cool and neat temperament.
"I plan to visit August's library," Li Ang said, handing Eve a glass of milk brought by a maid.
"He said there were some records there about ancient magic and the end."
Eve took the cup, took a sip, and then nodded, saying, "Then I'll go with you. The two of us will be more efficient reading together, and—" she paused, "I also want to know more about the End."
Li Ang readily agreed, and after breakfast, he rang the silver bell on the table.
Soon, the older sheep-woman maid tiptoed in and bowed respectfully: "My lords, what are your orders?"
"Please take us to the library," Li Ang said.
"Yes, please come with me."
The maid led them down the stairs, through a long corridor adorned with landscape paintings, to a heavy oak door on the west side of the manor.
She took out an antique-looking key, unlocked the door, and then stepped aside.
"This is His Highness's library. Lady Sherry instructed that you two may browse freely. If you would like tea, refreshments, or writing materials, please ring the bell at any time."
"Thank you." Li Ang nodded.
The library was more spacious than expected, with towering bookshelves standing against the walls, neatly stacked with books with leather covers, rolled-up parchment scrolls, and some papers with rubbings of unknown symbols. The air was filled with the smell of old paper and leather. In the center of the room was a large desk, piled with several open notebooks and scattered papers.
Without saying much, the two tacitly began to examine the materials separately. Li Ang went straight to the rubbings and stone tablet copies that looked the oldest and had the most obscure writing. However, even with the deciphering ability of the [Lingxi Ring LV10], Li Ang still could not decipher these symbols. It seemed that either these symbols were not writing at all, or they were writing that was too ancient for the ring to decipher.
Eve started with the Elvish books on the bookshelf, as her Elvish reading and writing skills were far superior to Li Ang's.
Time passed quietly with the sound of turning pages. The collection in the library was indeed vast, including not only magical theories, historical biographies, and geographical records, but also many legends from various places, reports of ancient ruins, and various unclassifiable and seemingly absurd miscellaneous notes collected by August himself.
Many of the scrolls are not written in Elvish, but in an even older script that Eve cannot decipher.
About an hour later, Li Ang's attention was drawn to an open, thick leather notebook on the desk. He picked it up and began to flip through it from the first page.
—Based on the Tertiary stone slabs discovered in the lower layer of the Great Rift Valley, and compared with the Tertiary altar inscriptions excavated deep within the Everlasting Icefield, it can be basically determined that the "End" was not a random calamity, but a periodic phenomenon.
Li Ang's heart raced slightly as he continued reading.
Elven calendar scholars and astrologers, working together and combining the fragmented chronological information within the stone tablets, arrived at a chilling conclusion: "Before our current era, at least two highly advanced civilizations existed on this planet, and their destruction occurred approximately ten thousand years apart."
Ten thousand years is the complete cycle of a civilization. The "End" arrives at the end of each era, erasing all traces of civilization, leaving only the most primitive ecology. Then, new life sprouts, evolves, and establishes civilization—silently awaiting the next harvest.
Li Ang felt a chill creep up his spine. Periodic? Harvesting? This didn't sound like a natural disaster; it sounded more like—some kind of conscious, periodic cleanup.
If this inference holds true, then the world we live in, and all the civilizations we cherish,
History, race, emotions—in the eyes of a higher being, perhaps they are nothing more than a regularly pruned nursery, or a large ranch. We are merely one generation of livestock being raised—how absurd, how utterly despairing!
Li Ang took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, and scanned the following content.
Upon learning this truth, the ancestors were deeply divided. One group advocated for a tribal resistance, even at the cost of total destruction; the other, and ultimately the victor, chose to hide. They poured all their strength into creating Avalon, a sanctuary anchored to the other side of reality. They believed that by hiding there, they could escape the periodic harvests.
The notes ended abruptly there, followed by a blank page.
Li Ang's hands holding the notebook felt a little cold. A cycle of ten thousand years—the destruction of the previous few eras—the breeding farm—the hiding place—.
"Li Ang?" Eve's voice pulled him back from his turbulent thoughts. She had come over at some point and looked at his pale face with concern. "What's wrong?"
Li Ang smiled bitterly and handed her the notebook: "I think—we may have discovered the cruelest truth about the End."
Eve took the notebook and quickly flipped through it. As she read, her usually cool expression gradually became serious. When she turned to the last page with writing on it, she fell silent for a moment.
"Ten thousand years—the cycle of harvest—" she repeated softly, raising her head. Although there was surprise and doubt in her eyes, she seemed calmer than Li Ang. Then she slowly spoke: "If this record is true, then according to the continental calendar, the end of the next cycle is less than twenty years away?"
"Yes," Li Ang said with a wry smile, his voice somewhat hoarse.
A suffocating silence enveloped the two of them, and the birdsong and wind outside the window sounded exceptionally distant at that moment.
However, Eve suddenly chuckled softly, a faint smile that seemed to break through the dark clouds like a ray of light.
"Li Ang, do you know? When I was first captured, the elves told me that I only had less than twenty days left to live. As time went by, I fell into despair, but in the end, you came."
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