Chapter 1529: A Warning

Someone had come to the researchers and warned them. A cold sensation suddenly ran through Erend’s entire body as the realization settled in his mind.

He was silent for several seconds, staring at the screen while the implications of the recording slowly became clearer.

Then he forced himself to calm down and think carefully.

Now that he considered everything he had discovered, there was only one possibility that made sense.

The person who had come to the researchers and warned them about the mysterious energy must be a Dragonborn.

Erend’s expression became increasingly serious. The evidence was beginning to connect itself.

It was actually impressive that the recordings had survived for thousands of years. The computer system was still operational despite the facility having been abandoned for roughly three thousand years and survived long enough for him to discover them.

That told Erend that the civilization that had built this facility had been far more advanced than the people living in Valthoria today.

And now he was almost certain that he understood what had caused their downfall. It must be this research.

They had discovered a source of power that they did not understand. Instead of leaving it alone, it seems that they had attempted to replicate it. They had continued experimenting even after their own researchers warned them that the energy was too dangerous.

Erend slowly let out a long breath. He then returned to the recording and played it again.

He listened to every word with complete attention.

The researcher’s expression was different now. There was genuine fear in his eyes.

The man looked exhausted and deeply troubled as he spoke about the mysterious individual who had visited him and his research team. His voice occasionally trembled, and he repeatedly struggled to find the right words to describe what had happened.

"He came to us again..." The researcher swallowed. "He warned us that we had no idea what we were dealing with."

Erend watched silently.

The researcher explained that the man had told them the energy they were attempting to replicate was not something they could simply manipulate like ordinary energy. They were tampering with something far beyond their understanding.

According to the researcher, the man had warned them about the consequences. If they continued forcing the energy into an artificial form, the results would not just be another failed experiment. It could become a disaster on an unimaginable scale. A disaster capable of destroying the world.

The researcher paused several times while speaking. His hands visibly trembled.

"He told us that if we continued..." The man took a shaky breath. "...we could bring something upon this world that none of us would be able to stop."

His eyes lowered for a moment. He genuinely looked terrified.

Erend had seen countless people face death before, but the fear displayed by this researcher was different. This was not the fear of someone who had just discovered that an experiment might fail.

This was the fear of someone who had realized that his entire civilization was playing with something that could destroy them.

The recording continued.

The researcher explained that he and several members of his team had eventually decided to stop the research themselves. They had tried to shut down the project before the situation became irreversible.

But they were already too late at that point. The higher administration refused to listen.

Their research team was forcibly removed from the project and their authority was revoked. The project itself was transferred to other research teams who were willing to continue the experiments.

The researcher lowered his head. His voice became quieter.

"We tried to stop them... But by then, it was already too late."

The recording became unstable for several seconds. Then the researcher continued.

The new teams had continued experimenting with the mysterious energy. And sometime after that... The disaster happened.

The recording ended. The screen returned to the facility’s symbol.

Erend stood still in front of the computer. He stared at the screen for a long moment before finally releasing a long breath.

"So that’s what actually happened."

The Apocalypse had not been some random catastrophe. It had been the consequence of people from previous civilization attempting to reproduce a power they were never meant to control. And somewhere at the beginning of that tragedy, a Dragonborn had already tried to warn them. But they didn’t listen.

Erend realized that there was only one thing he needed to know now. He needed to find the Dragonborn.

There was nothing he could do about the experiment that had already happened. The disaster had taken place thousands of years ago, and he could not change the outcome.

What mattered was understanding what had happened afterward and discovering what had become of the Dragonborn who had tried to warn the researchers.

Erend understood what the researchers of this world had been trying to achieve. In his own world, something similar had happened.

People had also attempted to awaken the power of Magic through experimentation. They had tried to understand and reproduce something far beyond their current knowledge, and if Erend had not intervened, he was certain that his world could have suffered a disaster similar to Valthoria.

The difference was that his world had been fortunate enough to have Erend interfere before things reached that point.

With Aurdis and the knowledge of the Elves helping him, they had eventually managed to understand the nature of Magic and prevent the situation from becoming catastrophic.

The people of Valthoria had not been so fortunate to have elves friends to guide them and no one capable of stopping their research before it went too far.

They had continued on their own. And eventually, they had destroyed their world.

Erend let out another long sigh as he looked at the dark computer screen.

There was no point dwelling on a disaster that had already happened three thousand years ago.

His priority was somewhere else.

The Dragonborn who had visited these researchers had known exactly what was happening. That Dragonborn had understood the danger of the mysterious energy and had tried to warn them before everything collapsed.

If Erend could find that Dragonborn, or at least discover what had happened to them, he would be able to uncover another piece of the Dragonborn in this world. That was the only thing that mattered now.

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