Chapter 684: The Truth Behind the Fifth Realm

"He doesn’t even know what happened...he doesn’t understand anything about the war." The woman continued.

The man looked at the child for a few moments and then calmly said.

"If he survives today, he may return tomorrow for revenge."

The woman shook her head.

"No... I won’t let him. I promise. Just—"

"Your promise cannot guarantee the future."

The governor took one step closer, the woman moved backward in fear, but the wall behind her stopped her from moving any farther.

Lian could feel her heart beating rapidly, he could feel her fingers trembling, and he knew what was waiting for her.

Damn it...

He tried to move the woman’s body.

Just one step.

Just enough to get the child away from there.

But nothing happened.

The governor raised his hand, and the woman closed her eyes as the scene was covered in white light.

When the scene returned for a moment, the room had become silent, the woman’s arms were empty, and the governor’s voice could be heard from a short distance away.

"Leave her alive."

"My lord?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I want her to remember what happened today."

At that moment, something inside Lian tightened strongly.

Not from fear, but from anger that he could barely control.

’You even used their suffering.’

But before he could think any further, the scene changed again.

This time, he was standing inside a large hall.

Not through the eyes of a child, a soldier, or a terrified mother, but through the eyes of a man wearing the formal clothes of a royal court servant.

Rows of nobles and commanders stood on both sides of the hall, and at the end of the room, the same man with the gray cloak stood on a raised platform.

This time, his face was completely clear.

Dark hair, gray eyes, and a large symbol shining on his chest.

One of the commanders stepped forward and announced in a loud voice.

"Lord Velian Karth! The cleansing operation has been completed according to your orders."

Lian focused on the name for a moment.

Velian Karth.

So this was the condemned prisoner’s real name.

The man who had now turned into a Withered in the Halls of Stillness had once been one of the military rulers of the Fifth Ruined Realm.

And all the crimes Lian had witnessed had been carried out under his direct orders.

However, he was certain that this creature only had human skin and was not truly human, its consciousness was no longer controlled by a human.

If he had to guess, he was certain that its consciousness was being controlled by something else, and that something had to be a Calamity.

If his guess was correct, the Land of the First Dawn might actually be a prison for White Oblivion and all the beings who had taken part in its crimes in any way.

It did not matter how much those prisoners had participated in White Oblivion’s crimes, from those with the smallest involvement to the greatest criminals, they were all in this prison.

He was still not sure what White Oblivion’s power was or how it worked.

For example, Black Silence made the emotions of living beings stronger, more extreme, and so powerful that they turned into madness.

So far, based on what he had seen, it seemed that White Oblivion mostly turned its targets into insane and mad creatures, causing them to completely forget their memories and identities.

It turned them into mindless, zombie-like creatures whose only purpose was to follow the Calamity’s orders and bring about the apocalypse.

And according to what he knew, the monsters of the Fifth Ruined Realm were humans who had been turned into monster-like creatures.

So was White Oblivion responsible for the destruction of the Fifth Ruined Realm?

’If I’m not mistaken, the First Ruined Realm was also somewhat like this, although not exactly, and there were major differences.’

Velian slowly stood up from his position.

"Casualties?"

The commander gave a short report.

The man listened without showing any particular emotion and then said.

"Very good, now we can think about restoring order."

Lian stared at his face for a moment.

Restoring order?

The same man who had ordered the destruction of a civilization was now talking about order.

There was no regret on his face, not even hesitation, as if everything had simply been part of his daily duties.

Young Vorhelm remembered the floating prisoner in the Halls of Stillness for a moment.

A deformed body, gray skin, and a face that no longer looked much like a human.

But now, by looking more carefully, he could recognize the structure of his face.

The shape of his cheekbones, the shape of his forehead, and the position of one of the old marks on his neck.

So it really is you.

Lian kept his eyes on the governor for several seconds, and then another question came to his mind.

If his guesses were correct, who had the ability to capture and imprison powerful beings from other realms?

Lian still had not found an answer when a strange sound echoed around him.

All the images began to shake, and the hall disappeared before his eyes, and for a moment, the emotions of several victims attacked his mind at the same time.

Fear.

Pain.

Helplessness.

Sadness.

He felt the boundary between their memories and his own consciousness beginning to disappear.

Enough.

But the images did not stop.

Different voices overlapped, and for a moment, it even became difficult to tell which emotion belonged to which victim.

He tried to remember his own name.

Lian Vorhelm.

But the pressure continued, and at that moment, deep within his soul, nine golden presences reacted.

A weak golden light appeared in the darkness, and he felt his own consciousness separating from the foreign memories again.

The nine golden dragons were present within the structure of his soul, and with their reaction, the chaotic pressure on his mind decreased slightly.

But the memories did not disappear.

He could still hear distant screams, he could still feel the pain and terror of the victims, and the only difference was that he could now recognize a clearer boundary between those emotions and his own existence.

’I am Lian Vorhelm.’

He focused his attention on that truth.

’These are not my memories.’

For a moment, the image of the ancient hall appeared before his eyes again.

Velian Karth was still standing on the raised platform.

But this time, Lian no longer paid attention to his words.

He memorized the man’s face, the symbol on his clothes, and the shape of the five upside-down arches that could be seen through the hall’s windows.

Then he focused all his attention on breaking the contact.

That’s enough now.

He tried to move his right hand, at first nothing happened, and then a weak feeling appeared in his real fingers.

Lian followed that feeling, the screams became quieter, and the images collapsed one after another.

And finally, his eyes saw the Halls of Stillness again.

He removed his hand from the condemned prisoner’s shoulder, but just as he stepped back, he lost his balance for a moment.

He grabbed the edge of the stone platform with his left hand and took several deep breaths.

"Lian!"

Rindo immediately stood up.

Noah also moved toward him.

But young Vorhelm raised his right hand.

"I’m fine."

His voice was calm, although his breathing was still a little heavy, he looked at the ground for several seconds.

The images of the ancient city were still in his mind.

The five upside-down arches, the white streets, and the face of a man who had decided the fate of hundreds of thousands of people with an unnatural calmness.

Lian slowly breathed out.

So this is what Alicia saw.

He now understood better why the girl had lost even the ability to speak properly after her short contact.

Thanks to the structure of his soul, he had managed to preserve his identity and consciousness, but even for him, experiencing the pain and fear of others at the same time was not pleasant.

Especially when he knew there was no way to change what had happened.

Rindo stood beside him.

"Are you sure you’re okay?"

"Yeah. I just have a bit of a headache." Lian raised his head.

"What did you see?"

Young Vorhelm looked at the condemned prisoner for a moment, the creature was still floating among the white and golden rings.

The same deformed face, the same thin and motionless body, but now, Lian also knew what his human face had looked like in the past.

He remained silent for several seconds and then answered.

"A monster... before he became a monster."

Rindo looked back at the creature, and Noah also said nothing for a moment.

Lian continued.

"He used to be a military governor, his name was Velian Karth, and apparently he was responsible for one of the largest massacres in the region I saw in his memories."

Alicia, who was still sitting on the ground, slowly raised her head.

"You... saw it too?"