Starting with the defeated female knight

Yes, although it is indeed in the capital, the place where this ancient dragon is hiding is not the normal capital.

Rather, it's the history that Dolores mentioned before, about being 'eaten' by the ancient dragons.

Because the history-related questions did sound a bit eerie, Green had been paying attention to and thinking about these things ever since he had talked to Dolores about them.

He considered many possibilities, made many assumptions, and even prepared for the most abstract and bizarre situations.

But the result was that after actually making contact, pushing open that door, and arriving at this place...

He suddenly realized.

The nature of the world's 'history' problem, while its severity is hard to say, may be based on a principle that is simpler than he imagined.

Cognition can influence reality.

Cognition can be narrowed.

If we narrow down certain perceptions to their extreme, they become confined to a specific space and isolated from the outside world.

Thus, when the outside world is unaware of this space's existence, then this space 'does not exist' relative to the outside world, or it could be said to have been 'eaten up'.

History, in itself, is composed of our understanding of the past.

[While in the ordinary world these are merely records and a collection of information, in this place, when those with the true ability to alter reality come together...]

[Thus, a living thing called 'history' was born.]

That's not the point right now.

The key point now is that since history is a living entity composed of cognition, it is naturally also susceptible to being killed or consumed.

The principle behind achieving this is simpler than you might imagine.

That is to kill our understanding of history, or erase all relevant information.

Alternatively, use the method mentioned at the beginning.

[Concentrate all our understanding of history in one place, and then cut off all contact with the outside world.]

Even so, 'history' still exists.

But what if there's something you can't see, touch, contact in any way, or even know, and the other person feels the same way about you?

In a sense, they are essentially 'non-existent'.

And so, the 'history' was 'eaten up' in the process.

"Oh? You've come to this level of understanding?"

Looking at the tentacles in front of him, Gu Long tilted his head and revealed a smile that seemed sunny, but upon closer inspection, one could see that it was full of wicked humor.

"What a pity, I was hoping to trade this knowledge for something, but it seems that's not an option now..."

"But since you already know this much, I'll do you a favor and add a few points."

"For example, cognition is an interactive process, so one-way isolation is useless; it must be two-way isolation."

"Not only are beings outside of history unable to perceive the interior of history, but beings inside history are also absolutely unable to perceive beings outside of history."

"Otherwise, it will be like making a hole in a ball; the history that was painstakingly preserved will quickly leak out and collapse completely."

"For example, not all history is a living thing."

"Take the place I live in now, for example. Although it is also made up of cognition, it is actually just a building."

"Its existence overlaps with that of the Adventurers' Guild outside, and it would also decay or something else. It's just that because I live here and have been maintaining it, it's relatively well preserved."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and showed the tentacles the faded gray-white scales on her body.

"As for how I, or the ancient dragons, managed to do this, it's all thanks to the scales on our bodies."

"According to you, each of these scales can be considered a strong cognitive convergence device."

"As long as the cognitive activity in a region or a period of history is low to a certain level, we can use scales as a guide to bring those scattered cognitive ideas to our side."

"Once a certain level is reached, isolation zones will be established to gradually block the exchange of information between the inside and the outside."

"Ultimately, once cognitive blockade reaches a certain level, they will become isolated from each other."

"Even if they still exist, even if they are very close to each other, or even if they live on the same land."

"But let alone contact, they can't even perceive each other's existence in any way—because to each other, the other is 'non-existent'."

It's like living in different, parallel worlds.

This also answers a question Green had previously had.

That was something he had heard long ago when he inquired with the Empire: the ancient dragons were one of the civilizations recognized by the human empire.

Moreover, it's not just about recognition; their status is above that of orcs and elves, almost on par with humans.

But strangely enough, throughout the history of the empire...

The orcs, needless to say, now live outside the borders of the empire.

Although the elves are a bit mysterious, we have indeed dealt with them before and left behind a lot of information.

But the ancient dragon is the only one who holds the highest status, even if you search through all the historical records of the empire, ask all the old folks, and even include the era of the gods.

Throughout the entire empire, are there any records of contact with ancient dragons?

And now, the answer is clear.

Perhaps there are records.

However, this group of Gu Long has a cognitive convergence attribute. Even if you have come into contact with them, once history is converged, the cognitive understanding of those contacts will naturally fade.

In the end, only some vague impressions remained.

Upon arriving here, Gu Long expected Grimm to ask how much 'history' actually exists, what troubles might be encountered next, the Age of Gods, and the possibility of 'history being leaked,' and so on.

but......

After a moment of silence, the tentacle raised its head.

Why did you consume history in the first place?

While the ancient dragons do indeed possess the ability to devour history, Dolores also stated that this world once contained a great deal of history.

If the ancient Chinese writers had been chewing away at their books from the very beginning, there wouldn't have been so much history back then.

Therefore, something must have happened to prompt the ancient dragons to take action.

and......

[If it's just a slight misunderstanding of history, it won't cause any problems in the face of a large amount of existing knowledge?]

Even though the thoughts within the sea of ​​blood were scattered like that, they could still barely coalesce into a coherent form. History might be a bit chaotic, but as long as the overall picture remained largely the same, it wouldn't cause any major upheavals.

【unless......】

"Unless a group of madmen emerged at the time, fabricating and distorting history everywhere, guiding perceptions, and ultimately messing up the entire history."

Speaking of this, Gu Long couldn't help but sigh.

"God knows where those lunatics came from, and they're incredibly efficient."

"We just took a nap, and when we came out, the history of the whole world was in chaos."

"Every race has its own history, and every race has its own branches, all of which are extremely clear and logical, to the point that even we find it difficult to distinguish the true from the false..."

Fictional historians, also known as construct historians.

It's what the ancient dragons called those beings.

The ancient dragons had no idea where those beings came from, nor what their purpose was in doing so.

All that is known is that while they were slacking off and taking a nap, those people spent what was a nap to them—perhaps hundreds of years, perhaps thousands of years—completely messing up the history of the world.

But it would be fine if it only messed up the history of the world.

After all, history can indeed be considered a living thing in this world.

But at worst, it just makes history look a little strange, and historians argue a bit more, but its impact on the present is actually limited.

but......

History does evolve.

For example, in the Age of Gods, after it developed, there were churches and their families everywhere, as well as endless deformities and struggles.

For example, in the Age of Giants, once it developed, it became a land full of large beast species and orcs, as well as related things.

This naturally leads to historical conflicts.

Which is official history, which is unofficial history, which will survive and develop in the end, and which will be erased?

It's very chaotic.

However, although the situation seemed serious, the Gu Long writers at that time did not think it was a big problem.

After all, it's just that history is a bit chaotic and things are a bit lively now, but as long as we hold a historical battle royale competition to determine the final winner.

Regardless of the true history of the past, what survives is the only official history.

Especially the Gu Longs, although they sound very sophisticated, are actually a bit lazy in character.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have slept for hundreds or thousands of years, only to find their nest had been stolen when they came out.

But the problem is that after playing PUBG for a while, the Gu Longs realized something was wrong.

Perhaps it's due to confusion, or perhaps it's because the great principles have been obliterated.

In any case, history began to merge.

They've even started to mutate.

"I heard that your area was hit by a demonic tide, and a large one at that. You must have seen it, right? Those mutated and twisted monsters pieced together."

"I remember, it was called Chimera?"

"History was developing in that direction at that time."

"Moreover, the conflict between different histories and reality is itself a distorted thing."

"At the time, we thought that once they finished fighting and a final winner was determined, everything would be over and things would be alright."

"but......"

She stretched out her paw and gently slid it across the table in front of her.

The barriers to cognition have been broken down.

The next second, the 'history' at the wound site came into contact with the outside world.

With a chilling creak, the entire table twisted into a bizarre shape, seemingly somewhere between 'complete' and 'ruined'.

At the same time, the adventurer sitting at the table outside was also startled by the sudden appearance of a crack in the table, which then twisted and mutated.

Although both tables underwent changes due to historical conflicts, the changes on the two sides were not the same.

Instead, it seemed to have been attacked by some external force, mutating and twisting into a completely different form.

"See, this is how normal conflicts are."

"Can you imagine what would happen if all those histories were pieced together and mutated, and then their effects on reality would be?"

Gu Long shrugged.

"So in the end, we had no choice. If we didn't cut all the history into pieces, not to mention the history itself, we might all be doomed."

"...Although it seems no different now, we're all doomed anyway."

She muttered something under her breath, but didn't seem to intend to elaborate.

On the other side, the tentacle looked at the twisted table in front of it, and then at its surroundings.

Before anyone could ask, the ancient dragon on the other side spoke again.

"I know what you want to ask, and I can tell you directly."

"While perception can indeed influence history and create 'adventure guild dungeons' like this place."

"But in fact, this place didn't just appear out of thin air because of our understanding."

"Instead, it was through another layer of historical understanding and construction that it finally took shape—look at the structure over there, it's different from the one outside, isn't it?"

"Or to put it more bluntly, although this house and the one outside look very similar, they are not the same thing at all."