Mystery: I Married the Queen of Mystery.

Chapter 383 Twin Ages: The Dawn of Humanity
At the Tarot Club, information about the late Second Age is being traded.

After hearing the Hermit's two versions of the Ancient Sun God's actions, Klein the Fool believed that the truth should lean towards the latter. Some powers were taken back by the Ancient Sun God on his own initiative, such as those of the ancient gods who had adjacent paths to Him.

He had such a guess before, but today this guess was more concrete. He remembered that the paths of the two ancient gods, "Dragon of Imagination" and "Elf King", were adjacent to the "Sun" path.

Since the "Ancient Sun God" is a "dual-path" god as soon as he awakens, and there is the uniqueness of the "Thief" path, there is no reason for him to let go of those uniqueness and characteristics.

As for the previous version, the claim that the ancient god started the trouble first and the "Ancient Sun God" took action later was probably fabricated by the church loyal to the "Ancient Sun God".

But what puzzled Klein was why the "Thief" path was unique when the "Ancient Sun God" awakened?
The "Sun" and "Hanged Man" pathways might be drawn together due to something like the "Law of Aggregation of Beyonder Characteristics," but the "Thief" pathway isn't adjacent to those two pathways!
Other members had similar conjectures, but none shared Klein's final doubt.

The only one who had some different ideas was "Sun" Derrick: The two versions told by the "Hermit", the first one is the mythological story I heard since I was a child, and the second version I have never heard of, but it is also reasonable.

The Hermit Odysseus did not pause here and continued, "In the second version, the process of the 'Ancient Sun God' reclaiming the authority of the ancient gods was differentiated.

"The authority of the 'Imagination Dragon' and the 'Elf King' was taken back by the 'Ancient Sun God', first the 'Elf King' and then the 'Imagination Dragon'.

"As for the authority of the Giant King and the Phoenix Ancestor, it's likely that the Ancient Gods posed a threat to the Ancient Sun God, leading to their elimination. The order was likely the Phoenix Ancestor first, followed by the Giant King."

At this point, Odysseus smiled and then said, "It sounds like the second version is more reasonable, but the reason I say the first version is also reasonable is because of another key piece of information I learned: the 'Ancient Sun God' is likely a human with a strange adventure!"

The other members were stunned. Audrey, "Justice," began to internally analyze herself: "I was a little surprised to hear this news because, in an era dominated by ancient gods, suddenly hearing about the existence of a human god was a bit surprising. But if you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem unusual."

Alger, the Hanged Man, was thinking: If the "Ancient Sun God" is truly human, then the first version does make sense. According to the Hermit's previous description, humans were a less important Beyonder race during the Second Epoch, likely the target of hunting and enslavement by Beyonder races like the Giants.

The sudden appearance of a god in such a group is something worthy of attention. Perhaps he will really take the initiative to provoke the "ancient sun god".

Odysseus paused briefly here, giving the other members some time, and then said: "That's why I think these two versions may coexist, just from different perspectives.

"The first version takes the perspective of the church loyal to the 'Ancient Sun God.' In their eyes, fighting to reclaim the authority of other ancient gods is a provocation that overestimates their own capabilities.

"This has a bit of 'political correctness' to it, but it also aligns with the psychology of the 'ancient sun god''s' worshippers and believers. In their eyes, a benevolent deity would never initiate a war.

"The second version is most likely from the perspective of the High-Sequence Beyonders at the time, such as the angels. In their view, the 'Ancient Sun God' would of course proactively reclaim the characteristics and authority of its adjacent pathways.

"And some of those angels later pledged allegiance to the 'Ancient Sun God,' while many were the predecessors of the 'Angel Family' of the Fourth Epoch.

"I also learned that during the Fourth Age, angels generally had little respect for the gods, but I wonder what it was like during the Third Age?
"Given their own long lifespans and their lack of reverence for the gods, their views are certain to be passed down."

The other members all thought that the idea of "hermit" was very novel, but it was undeniable that it was very reasonable!

Klein, in particular, believed that the "Hermit" had hit the nail on the head and that this was very consistent with his own historical values: there is no clear right or wrong in historical events, only different perspectives that lead to different views.

And he also remembered what Russell said in his diary, that Mr. "Gate" seemed to have no respect for the gods.

Emlyn the Moon said helplessly, "Mr. Hermit, you could have just stated your conclusion directly. That would have saved me some time thinking."

Members like "Sun" Derrick and "Magician" Fors nodded in agreement. They too felt a bit shaken. At first, the "Hermit's" description had made it seem like a historical mystery, but as time went on, he had clearly dissected the matter.

Odysseus smiled and said, "After all, the information I have is not very comprehensive. I can only tell you what I have and my guesses."

Then he continued, "Then we have the general outline of this matter. After the 'Ancient Sun God' awakened, he saw that the living environment of mankind was extremely harsh.

"So, he began to use the knowledge of the 'Profane Slate' to enhance humanity's strength and build his own power.

"At the same time, he began to systematically eliminate those ancient gods. The first one he would target would probably be the Elf King.

"The order of reclaiming the ancient god's authority is my guess. The reason why the 'Elf King' is first is for two reasons. First, it is the adjacent authority of the 'Ancient Sun God'. Second, it follows the principle of starting with the easy and then moving on to the difficult."

Odysseus looked around and continued, "The first reason is not difficult to understand, but to explain the second reason, we must first explain another thing.

"The history of the Second Age essentially turned on its head with the divine war that saw the fall of three other ancient gods, including Lilith, the 'Ancestor of the Blood Clan.' The latter half of this age is known as the Twin Ages.

“It seems that this era lasted for hundreds of years before the ‘Ancient Sun God’ awakened.

“There are also two versions of the Twin Ages. The first version’s ‘twins’ refer to the ‘Giant King’ and the ‘Dragon of Imagination’, or the ‘Giant Clan’ and the ‘Dragon Clan’.

"These two races were the most powerful at the time, and they were in a state of hostility, so it was called the 'Twin Ages', meaning that these two ancient gods and their races dominated the extraordinary world.

"We'll talk about the second version later. Let's first talk about the strength of the dragons.

"First of all, there are two pieces of information that can be confirmed and are known to everyone.

"The first piece of information is that the Cherubim is the Angel King of the Reader Path, and is a giant dragon.

"The second piece of information is that among the five paths mastered by the 'Ancient Sun God', the 'Reader' path is included."

When everyone heard the "Hermit" put these two pieces of information together, they seemed to understand what the "Hermit" wanted to express.

Without waiting for the other members to figure out the key, Odysseus continued, "Among the ancient gods of the Second Age, no one is a god of the 'Reader' path.

"So where did the 'Ancient Sun God' obtain the extraordinary properties of the 'Reader' pathway?"

Odysseus answered his own question without pausing, "Another known piece of information is that the Cherubim were the Angel Kings of the Reader Path during the Third Age, and were most likely Archangels during the Second Age.

"Then can we speculate that among the dragon clans, there is more than one dragon with a high-sequence 'Reader' pathway?"

"Justice" Audrey almost reached out to applaud: This speculation process is simply wonderful.

Magician Fors also sighed: I knew those two pieces of information, but I never considered this aspect.

Then she smiled and shook her head, and said to herself: I will never be a scholar in this life, because I don’t seem to have the thinking of a scholar.

Members like Cattleya and Klein also felt that this inference was reasonable, and the process of inference was also reasonable.

Odysseus continued, "The final conclusion is that the dragon race possesses all the Sequence 1 characteristics of the 'Spectator' pathway, as well as most of the high-sequence extraordinary characteristics of the 'Reader' pathway. They may also possess high-sequence characteristics of other adjacent pathways. Therefore, they are one of the most powerful races in the 'Twin Age'."

He paused and continued, "Let's return to the topic of the Ancient Sun God reclaiming his authority. This will clarify the order in which the Elf King and the Fantasy Dragon fell.

"Relatively speaking, the 'Ancient Sun God' is a dual-pathway deity, while the 'Imagination Dragon' most likely only possesses the Sequence 1 characteristic of the adjacent path, and is definitely not as powerful as the 'Ancient Sun God'.

"But the safest approach is for the Ancient Sun God to first reclaim the authority of the Elf King, utilize the High-Sequence Characteristics of the Elves, and then enhance the strength of his own forces. Then, he can reclaim the authority of the Imagination Dragon."

The other members nodded one after another, all thinking that the "hermit's" idea made sense.

Cattleya sighed inwardly: I have to say, the Hermit's way of thinking is very special. It is not difficult to reach such a conclusion based on those known conditions, but few people think of so many details.

After I said the word "hermit", everyone felt that I thought the same way, and it didn't seem difficult.

But the fact is, this is very much like a "blind spot in thinking". Few people would think so much before expressing their own speculations.

Odysseus continued without pausing, "As for the Giant King and the Phoenix Ancestor, according to the information I've received, the Phoenix Ancestor seems to be an ancient god who is always causing trouble.

"This is probably related to his state. He possesses two non-adjacent Beyonder characteristics. Like the Destruction Wolf, he should be quite insane and act without rational consideration.

"It's very likely that any action He deems reasonable will pose a threat to humanity or the Church of the Ancient Sun God.

"For example, this ancient god created the underworld within the spiritual world. Before becoming angels, all living things were inevitably mortal. In the presence of the 'God of Death', they would eventually go to the underworld.

"Then some of the actions of the Phoenix Ancestor in the underworld are likely to have a significant impact on humanity.

"Therefore, defeating this ancient god is likely to prevent devastating events in the world and maintain the stability of the extraordinary world."

Everyone listened very carefully. This information was not as shocking as the "blasphemous slate", but it made other members feel that this was the most basic thing that constituted the history of the Second Age.

At the same time, everyone realized that the "Hermit" was using the strengths and weaknesses of ancient gods and races, as well as the order in which they were eliminated, to describe the details of that era.

Odysseus paused for two or three seconds, then continued, "As for the Giant King, His situation is rather special.

"When we talked about the divine war in the Second Age, we mentioned that after the fall of the 'Blood Clan Ancestor', the 'Giant King' and the 'Elf King' accused each other of being traitors.

“So the former allies became enemies.

"Giant and dragon have been enemies since very early on. The Phoenix Ancestor has always been in a hostile camp with the giants, and the Demon King has never joined any camp.

"During this period, the giants are fighting against the dragons and the elves at the same time.

“Fortunately, dragons and elves, as well as phoenixes and elves, are also enemies, and there is no possibility of forming an alliance.

"But the pressure on the giants certainly increased significantly. So, at some point, the Giant King sent Queen Omibella and his eldest son, Badhair, to secretly contact a secret human organization, hoping to seek cooperation."

Everyone straightened their backs or changed their sitting posture. They immediately realized that this was a rather secret history.

Audrey noticed that the Hermit paused for a moment, so she asked, "Mr. Hermit, were there secret organizations at that time?"

Odysseus smiled and said, “Yes, it’s the church.

"Well, besides the Church of the Ancient Sun God, the Church of the Night Goddess was also considered a secret organization at that time."

The other members suddenly felt that the common sense of today was completely different from the common sense of the Second Age.

This feeling is very strange, as if I heard a completely different understanding from my own.

But then they changed their minds and felt that the church at that time must have been a secret organization. After all, humans at that time were not the mainstream of the extraordinary world.

Odysseus continued, "I remember saying before that the world at that time was ruled by extraordinary races. If the church wanted to spread its teachings, it would have to travel between the territories of different extraordinary races.

"This process must be carried out in secret, and the teaching must be done in secret at the beginning."

Everyone nodded in succession, feeling that it was indeed impossible to apply for permission to preach from the ancient gods.

The next second, everyone stared at the "Hermit", wanting to know whether the "Giant King"'s plan was successful and what the whole process was like?

Odysseus seemed to see through everyone's thoughts and smiled, "It must have failed in the end, because the Giant King eventually fell."

He paused and continued, "I seriously suspect that the Giant King's fall was the result of an uneven distribution of spoils between him and the Ancient Sun God.

"Firstly, through the Giant King's contact with the secret human organization, it can be seen that the Giant King is an ancient god who knows how to adapt.

"Also, based on the existence of the 'Silver Kingdom,' we can roughly infer that the 'Giant King' has a certain degree of sympathy for humans. While he hasn't claimed to protect them, he won't persecute them like the dragons and phoenixes do. He treats humans as vassals of the giants.

"It was his relatively benevolent behavior towards humans that gave him the confidence to cooperate with the secret human organization."

When he said this, "Sun" Derrick was a little dazed. He suddenly felt that as a resident of Silver City, he didn't know as much about the history of the "Silver Kingdom" as "Hermit".

The other members did not think much about it, because the "Hermit"'s conclusion about the "unequal distribution of spoils" made them look forward to the "Hermit"'s speculation even more.

Odysseus continued, "Let's discuss the timeline. Since the Giant King sought cooperation from a secret human organization in order to combat the Elf King, this collaboration must have occurred before the Elf King's death." "We can imagine that the Ancient Sun God was personally powerful at the time, but his subordinates weren't necessarily as strong."

He believed that this was the reason why the "Queen of Scourge" was able to lead the remnants of the elves and hold out on the sea for a period of time.

After a brief pause, Odysseus continued, "When defeating the 'Elf King', the 'Ancient Sun God' also needs several angel-level assistants.

"Then the Giant Queen and the Giant King's eldest son are likely among the forces attacking the elves. This means that this collaboration must have been accomplished.

“Perhaps the two sides will cooperate when attacking the dragon. After all, the dragon is also the giant’s mortal enemy.

"But later on, the Giant King was indeed attacked by the Ancient Sun God. I haven't received any reliable information about what happened in between.

"However, I have a hypothesis. For example, after defeating the 'Imagination Dragon' and hunting many high-sequence dragons, one must have obtained many advanced Beyonder characteristics.

"The Giant King believes that as one of the partners, he must receive a portion of the spoils. However, will the Ancient Sun God give the Giant King the high-level Beyonder characteristic of the Adjacent Pathway?

"Even if you give it to me, you will find a chance to take it back, right?"

At this point, everyone showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

Although this is another guess by the "hermit", it has to be said that it is reasonable!
Odysseus continued, "Another point is that after the 'Imagination Dragon' was destroyed, the 'Ancient Sun God' and the 'Giant King' no longer had a common enemy, and their cooperation ended.

"Then, in order to save the humans under the rule of the giants, the 'Ancient Sun God' will most likely launch an attack.

"According to some intelligence I've obtained, the 'Ancient Sun God' does have a conscious desire to protect the human race."

In fact, if you think about it carefully, the "Giant King" is also quite miserable. His original plan was to send Omybella and Badhair to trick the "Ancient Sun God" and the "Goddess of Night" into attacking the elves.

This plan can be said to have been completed in excess. Not only was the "Elf King" killed, but the characteristics of the "Dragon of Fantasy" were also revealed.

But the "Giant King" may not have realized the consequences of letting his eldest son Badhair come into contact with the "Ancient Sun God" and the "Goddess of Night".

Odysseus guessed that it was probably at this time that they helped Lilith to complete the substitution.

In other words, when seeking cooperation, she was still Omibella, but when she returned, she was already Lilith.

Badhair was still in the dark at the time, and under the influence of the "Goddess of Night" and others, he planned to become a god.

Everything that happened afterwards was a natural progression. The "Giant King" thought that he and the giants could still fight against the "Ancient Sun God" and his church, but he didn't know that he had already become a lonely man.

Odysseus finally said, "Then the order in which the four ancient gods fell should probably be 'Elf King', 'Phoenix Ancestor', 'Imagination Dragon', and 'Giant King'.

"I'm not sure of the exact order of the Phoenix Ancestor and the Imagination Dragon, but I can be sure of the order of the Elf King and the Giant King."

He said this because of the evidence in Groselle's Travels, which was originally a magical item used by the "Dragon of Imagination" Angerwede to seal the pollution of "God".

It appeared in the hands of the giant before the fall of the "Dragon of Imagination". After the fall of the "Dragon of Imagination", it became the backup for its resurrection.

Its first owner was the giant Groselle, its second was the elf Siatas, and its third was Snowman, an ascetic from the Ancient Sun God Church.

If the Giant King dies before the Elf King, then this Travel Notes will most likely become the spoils of the Church of the Ancient Sun God, and Snowman will be the second owner.

After finishing his description of this question, Odysseus took a deep breath and continued, "In the 'Twin Ages', the 'Ancient Sun God' seizing the authority of the four ancient gods was a significant event at that time.

“But some important events also took place during this era, such as the invention of the ancient Hermetic language by Hermes, which also had a significant impact on humanity.

"We've talked about this before. The mystical languages of various races are difficult for humans to master due to differences in physiological structures.

"But the most crucial point is that they are quite dangerous. First of all, those languages have no protection for humans.

"Secondly, in an era where both the Giant King and the Fantasy Dragon existed, using Giant and Dragon languages to hold ceremonies meant there was absolutely no privacy at all.

“It can be said that Hermes’ inventions have enabled humans to build their own extraordinary world.

“It means a lot.”

The other members nodded slowly, they felt the same way.

Klein also thought: According to the description in Russell's diary, Hermes is still alive and has joined the "Twilight Hermit Society".

Odysseus continued, "Another relatively important thing is that the 'Moss Ascetic Order' was also established at this time. It is said that the first batch of members were all creatures who had seen the 'blasphemous slate'.

"And the leader of this organization, the Sage, seems to have collaborated with the Ancient Sun God before, jointly resisting the invasion of the real world by the Outer Gods.

"I'm not very clear about the specifics. I just learned from some information that there is a view that the so-called 'Twin Ages' refer to the 'Ancient Sun God' and the 'Sage'.

"But this is most likely a human perspective, not a shared perspective among all extraordinary creatures."

Hearing this, everyone recalled some of the descriptions of the "Sage" made by the "Hermit" before. Since he was as famous as the "Ancient Sun God", they could be sure that the "Sage" was at a very high level.

But the question is, why have we never heard of this deity before?
There had been no chance before, but this time Audrey seized the opportunity and asked, "Mr. Hermit, has this god also fallen?"

Odysseus replied, "Yes."

"When did this happen?"

"Late Quaternary."

The other members were even more surprised. This happened more than a thousand years ago, so why was there no legend left?
You have to know that most ordinary people nowadays also know about the "Four Emperors". Logically speaking, the "Sages" who existed in the same period should not have no legends passed down.

So Audrey asked, "Am I the only one who hasn't heard of this deity's deeds?"

Magician Fors immediately said, "I haven't heard of it before."

The other members also said that they had never heard of it before. Even Derrick, who came from the "God-forsaken Land", had never seen a similar record.

"I'm not very clear about the specifics," Odysseus said, "but I've also received some information that's hard to tell true from false. First, the path of the 'Sage' is somewhat special, especially when it comes to the divine level, where it seems they have to maintain a sense of mystery as much as possible.

"The second reason is that the 'Hidden Sage' seems to have tampered with some knowledge about this deity, causing the concepts of 'Hidden Sage' and 'Sage' to overlap in some areas.

"Also, the 'God of Steam and Machinery' has been deliberately concealing the existence of this deity, and has even tried its best to eliminate its influence on the real world."

This answer immediately made everyone think a lot.

Klein's first thought after the gray fog: So, the "Sage" is most likely a dual-path deity of the "Mysterious Peeper" and the "Educator." It's very likely that the uniqueness and characteristics of the "Hidden Sage" and the "God of Steam and Machinery" originated from this deity.

Perhaps the Sage had included a resurrection method in those traits? That's why the Hidden Sage and the God of Steam and Machinery were guarding against the Sage like a thief.

Other members had similar thoughts, thinking that this god might be like the "ancient sun god" and might not have fallen so completely.

The "Priestess" Cattleya sighed in her heart: If it weren't for the "Hermit" telling me, I wouldn't have known that such a deity had appeared on the "Secret Peeper" path.

At this time, Odysseus said: "The above is the information about the 'Twin Ages'. For the extraordinary world at that time, the five ancient gods and the 'Ancient Sun God' were the protagonists of that era.

"For us today, the 'Ancient Sun God' is the protagonist of that era.

"In this era, the 'Ancient Sun God' popularized the magic potion system to mankind. This had a profound impact on both humanity and the extraordinary world.

"Especially since He led humanity from the supporting roles of that era to the protagonists of an extraordinary world. No matter how the era changes, humanity should remember the glory of the 'Ancient Sun God'."

Upon hearing this, "Sun" Derrick was very excited. Even though he knew that the "omniscient and omnipotent God" had fallen, he still couldn't suppress his excitement.

Odysseus finally said: "That era was the dawn of mankind, and the 'Ancient Sun God' was the light that shone upon mankind!"

The other members were slightly stunned, because it was rare for a "hermit" to have such a high opinion of a certain god.

Then they felt a sense of the times coming at them, and in this feeling, they quietly digested the information they had just received.

After a few seconds, everyone seemed to come back to their senses from this atmosphere. Derrick first made a deal with Odysseus to exchange extraordinary materials for extraordinary weapons.

Then, the transaction process continued.

Priestess Cattleya turned her head and looked towards the World: "The information you requested is ready for you."

Klein purchased intelligence about West Balam from the Priestess. He had originally intended to trade it with the Hermit, but then realized he wouldn't be able to bargain with the Hermit.

Because the information did not need to be too detailed or too professional, he asked the "Hanged Man" and the "Priestess", and finally chose to trade with the "Priestess" who asked for a lower price.

Hearing the other party say this, Klein understood the other party's reminder: "I will pay you the reward later."

Cattleya said "hmm" and said nothing more.

Klein thought to himself: Bad review! Not even a polite word like, "I hope this information meets your needs!"

That cost him a full £300, and if it didn't meet his requirements, he would definitely consider returning it.

Then, Klein manipulated the World to look at Miss Magician: "I have a commission."

Magician Fors felt uncomfortable being stared at. She shifted her posture and cleared her throat, "What's the commission?"

"Get intelligence about Calderon City in the spiritual world from the Abraham family. The most important thing is the location."

Fors didn't know what city that was. She forced a smile and said, "No problem. I'll help you find out."

Odysseus thought for a moment: Klein is making corresponding preparations for promotion.

The World asked the Magician calmly, "How much do you want as a reward?"

"1000... No, 500 pounds!" Fors quoted the price, feeling quite pressured.

Ever since she last witnessed the "world" hunting down the traitors of the Abraham family, she had been vaguely afraid of this adventurer galloping across the sea.

In Fors's opinion, the "Hermit" was also very powerful, but at the same time, he displayed a warm, steady, and reassuring temperament.

The "world" is different. It gives people a very cold and unkind feeling.

Fors even had a feeling that if she wasn't careful in her communication with the other party, she would become their next target.

This offer surprised Klein. He didn't expect the Magician's final offer to be so cheap, because apart from the Seven Lights, the Abraham family was probably the only one who had detailed information about Calderon.

Then he said to the "priestess" in his heart: Look at Miss "Magician", she gave me a 50% discount before I even bargained!

(End of this chapter)