What kind of nonsense is this, that you'd be chosen by the gods and favored by all the gods?

This farce has finally come to an end.

"You have washed away the shame of your clan, Adley."

"And you, stranger, thank you for your help. You have earned your innocence and your respect."

The leaders of the other clans accepted the result without complaint.

Doug, however, felt inferior and, given his poor performance, realized he was not competitive and thus voluntarily withdrew from the race to succeed him.

Jade was seriously injured and hadn't been of much help in the incident, so no one had high expectations of him.

With Kintail dead, and without a chosen successor, the Reed City community will now be leaderless.

Thus, the celebration ultimately made Adele the heir to the position of city lord.

"Wait a minute! I remember we also had..."

Some people, recalling the unexpected appearance of campaign participants when the accident occurred, cried out in surprise.

However, before he could finish speaking, he was pushed down.

"Shut up!"

Anyone with eyes could see that although the outsider was surprised to become the chosen one of Suenmozer, it was ultimately just a formality.

Besides, it's an unspoken understanding that we shouldn't let him come; we shouldn't let him suddenly appear now and make things awkward for everyone.

However, Lyle is not here right now.

He was with Helena, clutching the note the witch of Cattail Mountain had given him.

"Meet me at the foot of the cliff in front of the main gate outside the city."

So, following the instructions in the letter, he visited the place.

Surprisingly, he didn't see anything unusual.

strangeness...

Although Lyle had performed a brief divination before arriving to confirm whether there was any significant danger, and the answer was of course no, this did not mean that he had let his guard down.

Just in case, he took some Dea fruit from the celebration to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

In contrast, Helena was very nervous, though it was unclear what she was nervous about.

"You did come after all."

Just then, a soft, alluring voice drifted from the surroundings, yet it left one disoriented.

Lyle's expression shifted slightly, and he put on a smile.

"How could I possibly refuse an invitation from such a beautiful woman? To do so would be far too rude."

As he spoke, he reached out and touched the Desire Symbol in his hand.

Immediately afterward, his gaze shifted, and everything around him became brighter, with two or three lines of desire fluttering in the dense forest.

Just kidding... Lyle has always been very confident in herself when it comes to finding people.

"Found you..."

"Oh?"

The sounds drifting through the environment instantly disappeared into the dense forest, and a few seconds later, the witch finally emerged from the darkness.

"What exactly do you want from me?"

Although he had prepared himself for the onslaught of desire from the beginning, Lyle almost couldn't resist glancing at the other person.

No one knows what kind of tricks the other party is using, making it impossible to defend against.

"Don't worry, child, take a deep breath..."

"Stop talking nonsense, what do you want to talk to me about? Hurry up, I still need to go back and wrap up the celebration."

"Haste makes waste, kid~" Carter tilted his head, his slender fingers sliding down his soft neck.

Immediately afterwards, Lyle suddenly felt the pressure on her ease, and that alluring feeling vanished in an instant.

"What is this...?"

"It's nothing, just a little trick," Carter chuckled. "But you're right, we should get straight to the point, after all, I have my own things to do."

"The main reason I called you out is because of the child next to you."

Helena?

What's wrong with her?

Lyle glanced at the person next to him without making a sound and noticed that Helena was involuntarily becoming nervous; she wasn't good at hiding her feelings.

"Hmm, I guess you've already noticed something unusual about this child, right? She has no voice, no heartbeat, it seems like any factor that could cause her to speak would fail. Have you thought about why?"

"At first I thought it was just some kind of illness, but now it seems abnormal."

Lyle didn't mention Cowen's matter, just gave a perfunctory answer, but even so, it was actually the truth.

After all, they found a doctor as soon as they entered the city, so it wasn't hard to find out about this kind of thing with a little inquiry.

"Of course, because this child is fundamentally influenced by a mysterious force—"

"A disease known as the 'Silence Disease'."

Silent illness?

Lyle was hearing this strange word for the first time. He pondered it for a moment but still couldn't figure out what it meant.

This is a strange combination of words.

"What is that?"

"A terrible curse, originating from an ancient god," Carter sighed.

"This curse originated in the Zaan'e era, that is, the Third Age, the Age of All Gods, when the Covenant was beginning to crumble and fail. It was the roar of a god who went mad that drew it from beyond the First Order Outlands."

"He is called the 'Voice of Silence,' inspired by destruction and composing music through stillness—"

The Covenant has collapsed? This guy seems to know something incredible.

These things were not mentioned in Mr. Pude's collection of books.

This was the second time Lyle had heard about this, and he put on a puzzled expression.

"I don't understand at all... To be honest, I've been wondering about this ever since you mentioned the collapse of the Covenant. Shouldn't the Covenant be intact?"

However, Carter just laughed dismissively.

"I almost forgot... you're a follower of the Covenant Church, a believer in the Goddess of Fate. The knowledge you receive is naturally embellished. Who would slander the deity they worship?"

"Unlike you, I only believe in myself and can discern truth from falsehood for myself... And now I will tell you the real situation back then—"

The Fourth Age, the Age of Zain, was the Age of Pantheon, when the covenant gods were generally able to descend to earth through the complete and powerful Great Covenant.

They were different in nature, but most of them were kind and gentle, and met the requirements of the divine covenant. Therefore, the world at that time did not actually have the division of ethnic groups and civilized countries, because everything was born around the gods, and the gods' instructions were the direction for the survival of mortal beings.

At most... we can tentatively call it the "Great Holy Covenant Empire," with the supreme ruler being a god.

This is not bad, because at that time, the covenant was complete, God loved the world, and there was no tragedy or suffering.

However... for some unknown reason, the rules of the covenant suddenly collapsed, the world descended into chaos, the gods fell silent, and mortal beings, deprived of divine protection, were forced to confront this cruel world themselves, which led to conflict and slaughter, and ultimately, to us.

Some deities yearn for the Golden Age and wish to restore the Covenant to its former glory—

But judging from our current situation, they have failed, and one of the gods has gone mad, his roar creating the "Voice of Silence."

That was a terrifying evil god whose very existence was for the purpose of destroying everything and bringing everything to a standstill.

"And this is the source of the silence."

"Silent Disease is merely an unconscious effect that it has on living beings in reality."

Carter finished speaking, and Lyle remained silent.

He remained silent, but his thoughts drifted to the birth of the [Desire Manifold].

The manifold of desire was born from the mad god of love... and the factors of the era were exactly the same. Could it be that in that era, the pantheon of gods in the pantheon meant that countless gods had some kind of conflict, or even... war?

A war on the level of gods?

He felt a chill and then suddenly felt confused.

"If this evil god's purpose is to destroy everything, then it's clear we're still standing here..."

"And then? What happened?"

Carter sighed.

"I have no idea."