After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

"Then—what is this twilight calamity that those people speak of?"

Charles spoke calmly.

As a legendary mage, he has traveled to countless sub-planes and even secondary dimensions in the past.

However, the vast majority of those places are desolate areas with harsh living environments, disordered world laws, and very few living beings.

Even if life exists in a very small number of secondary dimensions, most of them are non-human beings, such as elemental beings.

For example, the "water elemental summoning" and "hellfire summoning" frequently used by summoning wizards are accomplished through a life contract with the elemental plane.

But this secondary dimension is quite different.

Here live humans just like the Ciel...

Even the language is somewhat similar to that of the Western Continent.

Charles didn't even need to use his legendary mage-level computing power to decipher it; he only needed to listen to a few sentences to get a general understanding.

Moreover, according to the white-haired old man's description, this place was once home to many kingdoms and possessed a civilization as brilliant as that of the Western Continent.

This is truly a shocking piece of news for the entire Western Continent.

"The calamity of dusk..."

The old man's lips parted slightly.

This is another question that is common knowledge to the residents of Aurora City, and even the world.

"The Twilight Calamity—that's what people now call this disaster..."

"And in the past, our kingdom's chief scholar, His Majesty Sirin, named it—"

"The Calamity of Darkness".

The old man's eyes revealed a look of reminiscence.

"No one knows the exact time when the Calamity of No Light originated."

"However, according to scholars' research, it can be roughly determined that it occurred within six months after the Great Cataclysm."

"Initially, these were just reports from various parts of mainland China—"

"It is said that in some areas, night falls earlier than usual, while sunrise is much later."

"At that time, the top leaders of the entire continent were still immersed in the chaotic aftermath of the Great Cataclysm and the collapse of the Church of the True God, and no one paid attention to these insignificant reports."

"Until that day, the sun went out over the kingdom at noon."

The old man's expression gradually calmed down.

He recounted the events calmly as he recalled them.

"The specific phenomenon of the disaster of no light is that within a certain area, all external light sources, such as sunlight, moonlight, and starlight, will completely disappear and become difficult to observe."

"Therefore, people can only rely on spontaneous light sources such as candles and torches for illumination."

"And once the light source is turned off and one is in darkness, both humans and other creatures will fall into a coma."

"If one is exposed to darkness for an extended period, the coma will evolve into loss of control and madness, losing all human reason, and thus becoming what is known as..."

"Twilight creatures".

The old man's cloudy eyes gazed at the blazing blue fire altar in the center of the square, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"If it's just a lack of light, then although food will be scarce, there are still ways to survive."

"In fact, as early as three months after the outbreak of the Calamity of No Light, the kingdom's scholars had used alchemy to develop edible crops that could grow in the absence of light."

"And relying on the collection teams to go out and collect combustibles to maintain the most basic lighting needs is not too difficult."

"However, the existence of the Twilight Creatures has rendered all our efforts futile."

“The creatures of dusk will launch organized attacks on the nearest source of light, and will not give up until the light is extinguished.”

"They are not only fearless in the face of death, but they also seem to have a higher status than when they were alive—"

"And so, it began in the capital..."

"The light of the cities went out, turning them into a paradise for the creatures of dusk. The warriors who once fought on the front lines against the creatures of dusk also became part of the dusk, turning around and encroaching on the homes they once swore to defend to the death."

"Scholars in the kingdom have speculated that the arrival of the Calamity of No Light may be directly related to the Great Cataclysm, and may even be caused by a few of the fallen gods."

The old man smiled helplessly: "However, these things don't matter anymore now."

His kingdom was once one of the most powerful nations on the continent.

As a near-legend, the elderly man naturally enjoys a respected position within the nation.

however--

Time can erase many things.

As the calamity spread at dusk, it separated cities and towns.

The glory of that once magnificent kingdom has long since faded with time.

Today, different cities have become isolated islands in a dark ocean, with almost no connection between them.

And the people on those isolated islands could only live day after day, year after year—

They persevered through that long and hopeless struggle.

If you were to mention the name of that ancient kingdom to the newborns in Aurora City today, they would probably just look blank.

"You're saying that the Church of the True God also collapsed during the Great Cataclysm?"

Charles listened calmly to the old man's narration until the old man finished speaking before speaking again.

"So what are these people doing?"

He pointed to the center of the square, where several missionaries stood on a high platform, their expressions impassioned as they spoke eloquently.

"The truth about the Great Cataclysm is unknown to anyone on the continent."

The old man also turned his gaze to the missionaries and shook his head slightly.

He had not held particularly devout faith in the orthodox churches that were scattered across the continent in the past, which is why he was able to escape the great catastrophe and not become one of the many fallen and insane believers.

Therefore, he naturally had no respect for those who directly caused the catastrophe.

"They...maybe they're dead, or maybe they've gone mad."

"However, whether they are dead or insane, they have all ascended to the throne of gods, so they must still have some tricks up their sleeves and some remaining power."

“Over the years, there have been many people who have claimed to have suddenly heard divine pronouncements and become awakened beings.”

A glimmer of clarity flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Frankly speaking, in such a world, some beliefs are not necessarily a bad thing. They can always bring some hope to people's bleak lives."

"And if we could truly protect this city from the calamity of darkness—"

"Whether a god is mad or dead, if you believe, you believe."

"Unfortunately......"

The old man shook his head slightly, without finishing his sentence.

"So--"

"I have one last question."

Charles was silent for a moment, then stood up.

He looked at the blazing altar in the center of the square.

The firewood below was piled up like a mountain.

However, the bonfire altar could only illuminate a small area around the square.

"If a light source is needed, why use such a simple method of combustion for illumination?"

“The magic lamp... even if it is just the most basic lighting spell, it is undoubtedly a more efficient choice.”

A look of confusion and bewilderment appeared on the face of the white-haired old man.

After a long period of contemplation, the white-haired old man finally showed a look of sudden realization on his face.

"What you're saying..."

"Could it be... something recorded in those ancient books...?"

"magic?"

Ciel nodded.

"But that magic..."

"And there are also so-called wizards..."

The white-haired old man uttered those two words somewhat awkwardly.

"They should have been completely wiped out from this land more than two thousand years before the Great Cataclysm."

Charles paused slightly.

The white-haired old man seemed to sense the importance that Charles attached to this, and took the initiative to speak up: "These things happened too long ago."