But… if the Red-Hearted Witch harbored resentment toward humans, then what was the deal with the Ratman Ancestral Teaching to “be friendly to humans”?
After thinking for a moment, Ileya arrived at a somewhat shocking conclusion.
‘Wait… could it be… that the war destined to happen in the future… isn’t a case of a Supreme Being launching an attack on humans?’
‘The original history might have been…’
‘Humans took the initiative to launch an attack on this Red-Hearted Witch, and their purpose was very likely to seize her power or… something else?!’
At this thought, Ileya’s eyes slowly widened.
‘Is that really possible?’
‘Why would humans, for no good reason, provoke a Supreme Being who had once been kind to them and remained relatively friendly?’
At first, Ileya found it difficult to understand, but she recalled the wars from her previous life—wars conducted on a national scale that could even leverage the planet’s life force as a bargaining chip.
The Lady then felt a sense of clarity.
No matter where it was, the nature of humanity never changed.
To get what they wanted, they were even willing to pay a price they couldn’t afford.
If they succeeded, it became a heroic epic or a legendary battle where the weak defeated the strong.
If they failed… it would be called the foolish greed of those who overestimated themselves.
‘Heh.’
Thinking this, Ileya slowly raised her fair hand and reached forward, touching the back of the Saint Witch Statue’s hand.
*Boom!!*
In an instant, fragmented memories assaulted Ileya once again!
‘There really is something…’
But what surprised her was that everything appearing before her was something she had seen before.
The vast yellow sands, the shattered mountain peaks, the rivers flowing backward…
It was the scene that had appeared when she first touched the Blue-Gemmed Staff in the Backstage of the Circus.
And the memory now seemed to be a continuation of that moment.
A girl walked alone through this doomsday-like storm.
With every step forward, her presence surged a hundred times… a thousand times… ten thousand times!!
Gradually, within the veil of the storm, she began to see a majestic figure surrounded by wild winds and rubble.
It was a giant creature lying on the ground, moving slowly forward.
From Ileya’s perspective, the object before her was an existence even more massive and towering than the Kunlun Mountains of her previous life joined together, and it was slowly moving forward.
[You cannot advance further, Horsirisfa…]
The girl’s clear voice seemed to echo through the entire storm zone at this moment!
*Whish… Thump!!*
As she raised the staff in her hand high and slammed it down, an invisible force formed a wall that rose from the ground!
It completely isolated the doom stirred up by the movement of this terrifying existence from the girl’s front!
This situation clearly caught the attention of that terrifying being.
His head, larger than a mountain range, slowly lowered. An eye that seemed larger than the stars in the sky looked at the tiny girl who dared to stand in His way.
[Tiyaluo… you know what they did… you are also an accomplice…]
The vast voice was like a golden bell struck at the peak of the firmament. When it rang…
The voice echoed with majesty like a landslide or a tsunami, sounding in the heart of every living creature.
[Why do this… you know, we… were originally one.]
Facing the questioning of the god-like beast, the girl still held her staff tightly and slowly raised her head.
Because of the first-person perspective, Ileya couldn’t see the girl’s eyes.
But she was certain that the girl’s gaze must be firm and resolute.
[Because… I saw possibility in the humans…]
[Laughable… then be buried alongside these insects!!!]
*Roar!!!*
The beast’s roar instantly caused the surrounding earth to crumble! The mountain peaks toppled! Even the firmament seemed to tremble uncontrollably!
All living creatures seemed destined to suffer and struggle in His wrath, begging for His forgiveness…
*Tch!*
But the girl, who had a human form and looked fragile, did not beg for this “God’s” forgiveness like the other creatures.
She simply extended her left hand and grasped at the empty air behind her!
*Buzz.*
In the next second, the earth that had already been falling apart seemed to defy gravity. It floated into the air, turning into countless shattered floating islands!
On the islands, humans, Divine Kin, and beasts all looked on in dazed shock at the figure standing alone against the “Earth.”
That… seemed to be their hope for survival.
[Please allow me to refuse…] The girl’s voice remained clear.
One hand held up the countless floating islands behind her—the sparks of human hope, the countless living beings longing for tomorrow.
In her other hand, the deep blue staff pointed toward the Supreme Being, the incarnation of the “Earth.”
[Your era has already ended. In the new era… there is no land that can carry your form, so sleep in peace…]
[Ancient Rock Dragon…]
Hum——!!
“Wh-what?!” Ileya withdrew her hand as if she had been electrocuted, her red eyes staring blankly at the statue in front of her.
“Lady?!” Amisa quickly supported Ileya with sharp reflexes.
She then took Reliel and Holly from Ileya’s arms.
‘What… what did I just see?’
Ileya had no time to think about the present.
Every image flashing in her mind was of that girl holding up the spark of humanity with one hand while facing the Ancient Rock Dragon alone.
This was completely different from the history she knew!
Or rather… the gap was too large.
Though she wanted to continue watching to see how the Saint Witch made the Ancient Rock Dragon—which was like a continuous mountain range—fall into a “peaceful sleep,” the statue no longer gave her any more memories when she touched it again.
According to current epics, the Saint Witch clearly won this battle.
However, the target of everyone’s praise had become King Gilgamesh.
This was actually understandable.
After all, Tiyaluo wasn’t human. Considering that humans needed a hero of their own, the myths wrote that “the Golden Apple Corps, led by the Heroic King, slew the Ancient Rock Dragon.”
That was also comprehensible.
But… why did Tiyaluo leave the human World after the war ended?
And…
What did these things, this statue, her Aunt’s mysterious death, and the “Disaster” recorded on the stone tablet have to do with each other?
There were still too many missing clues for Ileya to straighten things out all at once.
Except…
*Flash!*
A black light flickered in her hand, and an ancient staff appeared.
Ileya carefully observed the staff. The entire thing seemed to be carved from wood, with a blue gem embedded in the head… it looked somewhat plain.
‘There’s no mistake…’
‘This… is the staff Tiyaluo used in the memory.’
No wonder she had seen events from the Era of the Gods the first time she touched the staff.
In that case… wasn’t this thing a weapon of a Supreme Being?!
It wouldn’t be inferior to a divine artifact, would it?!
Ileya held the staff and instinctively waved it in the air a few times.
However, it lacked the momentum from the memory where the staff hit the ground and blocked the crumbling mountains and rivers.
It seemed… in the Lady’s hand, it was merely a piece of ordinary merchandise with somewhat crude craftsmanship.