Night Journey

Chapter 127 Awakening and Decline

It took Cillian a while to process the information.

"The Third Era...that sounds so far away."

He sighed softly.

As his rank rose and he experienced more events, Cillian gained a deeper understanding of the history of the civilized world.

The civilized world has now gone through seven eras.

The First Age, the Age of Enlightenment, was a time so distant that even written records did not exist. Only a very few giants who stood since then passed on their memories to later generations, allowing people to understand that ancient era.

The Second Age is known as the Age of Strife, and similarly, people do not know much about what happened during this era; related records are scarce.

But from the word "strife," Cillian vaguely sensed the bloodshed and turmoil of that era.

In the Third Age, the Age of the Gods, miraculous creations rose up one after another, and numerous giants stood tall.

As the world marched toward glory, a divine war erupted between the giants.

The outcome of the war is unknown to Ciri, but it is certain that the Bound Source Long Staircase had already taken shape during the Age of Gods.

The Fourth Age is considered the most prosperous and powerful era of civilization, and therefore it is called the Golden Age.

During the Golden Age, the Binding Source Long Staircase was fully perfected, and numerous destinies intersected on the crystal long staircase, opening up a path for mortals to ascend to the path of gods.

Scholars have described that era in the most extravagant terms: the Sea of ​​Origin was completely under their control, towering city-states were scattered across the land, and even in the outer world, there were traces of civilization.

Until the outbreak of the Dayless Cataclysm, which dragged civilization into the next Fifth Age, known as the Dark Ages.

What happened next is well-known to the world.

In the long darkness, the three sages united the divided world and revived the shattered civilization.

Just when everything was developing in the ideal and beautiful way, the year of rebellion triggered by the twelfth expedition shattered the united world once again, and the era of isolated city-states began.

"call……"

After a long pause, Cillian let out a long sigh, and a new question arose.

"After the Sleeping Lord's attempt to erase chaos failed, you said that his ego also went towards nothingness. What does that mean?"

Cillian was puzzled.

"Was the Sleeping Lord corrupted by Chaos and became one of the evil beings?"

If what Cillian said is true, then why is the Sleeping Lord listed as one of the Six Titans? Or is it that the Sleeping Lord has already died, but the civilized world has not yet acknowledged this fact?

Rolf slowly began, “Regarding this matter, I need to explain to you the flaws of the Destiny of Return to Silence.”

"defect?"

Cillian immediately recalled Bruce's words, which also pointed out that the path to death had some huge flaw, but at crucial moments, his dog brain would malfunction and he couldn't remember anything.

"The power of the path to oblivion is extremely strong, a kind of meme-like power of forgetting. It not only affects memory and cognition, but also has a certain possibility of forgetting or evaporating the existence of a thing."

Rolf explained in detail to Cirion this mysterious and powerful force of destiny.

"For example, you are an extremely powerful illusory being, even the Lord of Sleep itself, who detests ugly insects and wipes them from the world."

From the moment of erasure, the insect itself will disappear, followed by all records about it—books, pictures, poems…no matter the method or medium of recording, all will vanish. Then, all of people's memories of the insect's existence will evaporate.

Rolf thought for a moment, then continued, "Of course, I was just giving an example. In reality, using the power of Nirvana is not that simple."

Most delusional people cannot completely evaporate something; at most, they can affect the memories of some people or cause them to lose the ability to recognize that thing.

Just like when you were trapped outside the veil before you knew the Lord of Sleep.

Cillian barely understood Rolf's words and complained, "That sounds like a very troublesome power."

"Don't be too nervous. The influence of most illusionists will gradually recover over time. Even if you forget something now, you will remember it after a while."

Even if interpersonal relationships are severed, everyone will make up again.

Rolf coughed twice and then spoke.

"The power of returning to silence is too strange and powerful. Even its creator, the Lord of Sleep, could not use it freely, which caused a huge flaw in the power of returning to silence."

Cillian focused his mind; this defect was precisely the purpose of his trip.

"All those deluded individuals who embark on the path to Nirvana will gradually lose themselves as they go further down this path, as they are eroded by the power of Nirvana."

"The Lord of Sleep walks toward nothingness, which is exactly what it says."

Rolf steered the conversation back to the beginning, "After the failure to erase chaos, as the end of the path to Silence, the Sleeping Lord of the Giant God suffered a full backlash from the power of Silence." "The Sleeping Lord of the Giant God was forgotten by the world."

Ciri listened quietly, and the whole world seemed to fall silent, awaiting Rolf's narration and mourning for the Sleeping Lord.

"The fact that the Sleeping Lord's self-existence collapsed first, and from then on, we could no longer observe the Sleeping Lord's figure."

He might be standing right beside us right now, but because of the corrosive power of the Return to Silence, even if the Lord of Sleep were to stroke our faces, we would mistake it for a breeze touching our skin.

Rolf calmly recounted this terrible fact: "Immediately afterwards, all records related to the Sleeping Lord disappeared."

Like the previously mentioned, erased insects, they vanished one by one. Only the giants, through their immense power, managed to resist the influence of the power of oblivion and, through memory, confirm the existence of the Sleeping Lord.

He cautioned, “The miraculous creations of the Sleeping Lord have all vanished, along with the extraordinary forces that believed in the Sleeping Lord, which have also disintegrated.”

"To this day, all our knowledge of the Sleeping Lord comes from the retellings of the giants. As for the various titles, deeds, and everything related to the Sleeping Lord, they have all vanished in the power of silence."

Shocked by the story of the Sleeping Lord and the terrifying power of the Return to Silence, Cillian asked instinctively after hearing all of this.

"So... is the Sleeping Lord still alive?"

"He should still be alive, but it's no different from being dead."

Rolf imagined that scene: "He still exists somewhere in the world, perhaps with his miraculous creations, but he doesn't remember himself, and he probably doesn't even have the most basic biological instincts."

—Just a living corpse.

This is a truly terrible ending. The self has been extinguished, and even the fact that it existed has been almost forgotten by the world.

An empty soul huddles within an empty body, awaiting the arrival of a death of nothingness.

"In order to resist the backlash of the power of returning to silence, the delusional ones began to write diaries, wishing they could be as detailed as possible down to every minute and second... Perhaps, they will forget what happened today in the next moment."

They also collected a large number of things related to themselves, such as their first fountain pen, the first gift they received, and letters written to them by others.

By utilizing numerous things related to oneself, one can anchor their existence and avoid falling into the abyss of nihilism.

"Now, the path of returning to silence is a path that is gradually heading towards decline and death. There are fewer and fewer illusory people, who are heading towards nothingness one after another, scattered like sand, no longer united into a single extraordinary force."

As he spoke, Rolf laughed, “If a vain person stays in one place for a long time, it’s fine. But if you encounter a vain person who wanders around all year round, you’ll see him carrying big bags and small bags, as if he wants to carry his home on his back.”

Cillian imagined the comical scene, but he didn't find it funny; instead, he felt a strange sadness.

People destined for nihilism go mad, constantly searching for the value of reality.

"This group of delusional people clings tightly to everything, determined to live soberly in the world, and thus they are classified as the sober faction."

Cillian was surprised that even though the illusory beings were so rare, they could still be distinguished into factions.

"Don't worry, unlike the Torchbearers, which are full of swords and bloodshed, the faction of the Vanity is just different in its behavior style, so that we can distinguish them."

Rolf guessed what Cillian was thinking and explained.

"The other faction we call the Degenerates are those who don't care about the so-called self or their past experiences; they only pursue the power of returning to stillness."

They lived alone, without diaries or anything important to anchor themselves, letting the power of solitude consume them.

Therefore, the deluded followers of the Degenerates are usually very powerful and use their power without any scruples.

Their sense of self is extremely empty; aside from their own power and a meager sense of self to maintain their existence, they remember almost nothing else. Their personal memory spans at most about a year.

After clearly explaining his fate of returning to oblivion in one go, Rolf's relaxed and carefree demeanor gradually turned serious.

He pushed the plate in front of him aside, wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth, and said in an icy tone.

“Cillian, you wouldn’t ask me these questions for no reason… Have you encountered an enemy on the path of annihilation?”

Finally, we've come to this question.

Before coming, Cillian had considered this scenario and had prepared some lies to cover it up.

What was expected was unexpected, and what was actually happened was reality. Facing the real Rolf, I felt his imposing presence even without anger...

Cillian reluctantly opened his mouth and began to recount his flawed lies, preparing for any possible explanation that might follow.

"I'm planning to……"

"Okay, don't say any more."

Rolf refused outright and began to complain.

"It must be something extremely troublesome; it's better if I don't know."

(End of this chapter)