20demayo Chapter 335 The History of "Forgotten"
Chapter 335 The History of "Forgotten"
Chapter 335 The History of "Forgotten"
"The last royal family of humankind..."
Listening to Grelando's words, Tang Zijun pondered them carefully. For some reason, he vaguely felt that he had been ignoring something all along.
Gloria raised her head slightly and said softly, "My lady, I know you must be very far away from us, but aren't you curious why human lands are controlled by various knights or churches, but there is no trace of royalty among them?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Tang Zijun realized what she had overlooked.
Royal family.
A ruling class that no feudal monarchy can bypass.
The royal family is the ruler of a country, a family group that uses royal power to rule, and should also be considered one of the most important periods in human social civilization.
From the moment I arrived in the dream world and heard about the existence of jazz, I should have realized what was going on.
However, Tang Zijun overlooked this point—his attention was focused on the world and the gods at the time.
Upon hearing Grelando's words, Tang Zijun vaguely sensed that something was amiss. In a world where gods were an important part of society, the existence of the royal family clearly put them on the opposite side of the gods.
Although it is difficult for human power to rival that of the gods, in philosophical terms, this clearly involves the struggle between royal power and divine power.
"You should have figured it out by now," Gloria said, gazing intently at Tang Zijun. "To a great god, the existence of royalty is itself a challenge to the god's eternal rule by humankind."
Upon hearing this, Tang Zijun stopped thinking and instead posed a question. "If what you say is true, then from the very beginning, the gods would not have allowed people to establish kingdoms, much less give humans the opportunity to touch the power of kingship."
"Yes, that's how it was supposed to be."
Grilando did not avoid the topic, but continued softly.
"Long ago, humanity lived in darkness. There were no kingdoms or power structures. We were just like any other race, servants of the gods."
"Gods can easily corrupt our minds, hollow out our bodies, and then stuff them with other things, as if from the moment we were born, our flesh and soul did not belong to ourselves."
Tang Zijun frowned slightly. "The gods you're talking about must be the Great Old Ones, right?"
Based on his current understanding of this world, the gods of the Void Realm are at least beings that can be communicated with, and their relationship with humans is relatively good. They are far from being as sinister as Grelando described.
The idea of polluting minds and sacrificing flesh and blood is somewhat similar to the cult-like existence of the Great Old Ones.
"Yes, during that period, there were no Void Gods in the world yet."
Upon hearing this, Gloriand nodded slightly, confirming Tang Zijun's guess. "For humans at that time, spying on the ancient gods was a taboo. In order to survive and to pursue the path to eternity, many people would actively seek out the traces of the ancient gods."
"And then?" Tang Zijun asked.
"Most of those people did not return. Some who did return were insane, and some even reappeared in the records as monsters that were no longer human."
Grilando held the cup with both hands, the veins on the back of her hands bulging.
"Some say they've gone mad, others say they've offered their souls to the ancient gods, and still others speculate that their minds have been corrupted by exposure to forbidden knowledge. But in any case, those people have indeed gained certain powers, powers that ordinary people cannot even imagine."
Tang Zijun's gaze gradually turned serious. In his impression, those Great Old Ones should be beings that mortals could not understand, and they should not easily cast their gaze upon people.
But judging from what Grelando said, it seems that the other side is intentionally encroaching on and polluting humanity.
After a moment's hesitation, Tang Zijun couldn't help but ask, "Were those powers bestowed upon them by the ancient gods?"
"I don't know, and nobody knows," Gloriand shook her head and replied. "Most people believe that those beings were corrupted into monsters by the aura of the ancient gods, but a significant number of them still retained their 'reason,' and this is the precursor to the earliest recorded church."
When the church is mentioned, Tang Zijun unconsciously thinks of the mythological era in the real world. At that time, humans on Earth were also under the rule of the gods, and even built temples for them to listen to the gods' divine pronouncements.
But looking at the dream world, in an ancient era ruled by the Great Old Ones, it seems impossible for a sect with relatively sound values to form.
Although she didn't know what kind of beings those Great Old Ones were, after fighting those Blood Cultists before, Tang Zijun couldn't believe that they were any kind of good guys no matter how she thought about it.
The power of the Great Old Ones is enough to corrupt minds; just a glance at them can easily reduce one's sanity to zero and plunge one into a state of extreme madness. As for establishing a church to listen to divine pronouncements, that's probably a matter of one daring to speak and the other daring to listen.
"So, the earliest believers really did come from the Great Old Ones?" Tang Zijun crossed her arms.
Gloria looked at Tang Zijun, remained silent for a moment, then sighed and continued speaking.
"They're less like believers and more like a group of sane lunatics who have lost all sense of normalcy."
Both their outward appearance and inner self have completely changed, and they are proud of it.
"What these people seek is to merge with the ancient gods they see and become an eternal member. The sects they establish are all about studying various sacrificial rituals to call upon the ancient gods, hoping that the ancient gods can hear their voices."
"The human body is seen as filth in their eyes, while mud, depth, and mutation are treasures. What ordinary people find terrifying is what they desperately pursue. They spend their entire lives harming their fellow human beings, just to get one step closer to the ancient gods..."
Listening quietly to Grilando's words, Hyacinth couldn't help but purse her lips. "I don't know how close they are to the Old Gods, but they should be quite far from humans."
Ignoring the hyacinth's interruption, Tang Zijun asked, "You just said that they hope the ancient gods can hear their voices,..."
So that means Great Old Ones aren't very common?
"Yes, according to legend, the Great Old Ones are beings that exist outside of this world. They are too powerful to descend upon this world in person, but even a wisp of their aura is enough to corrupt dragons," Gloland said earnestly.
Tang Zijun stroked her chin thoughtfully, lost in thought.
His thinking and cognition were naturally incomparable to those of Grelando, the native of the dream world. After experiencing the collapse of the mythological era and the rise of science, Tang Zijun was still more skeptical when she came into contact with the legend.
Putting aside the exaggerated descriptions of the Great Old Ones, Tang Zijun felt that those guys did indeed have some similarities to the gods of Earth in a certain sense.
It should be noted that even the gods of Earth, who were extremely close to humans during the mythological era, lived in their respective divine realms. Although they could come to the mortal world at any time, the number of times they actually appeared was very limited.
The Great Old Ones also seem to be in a state of isolation from reality, but the difference is that their connection with humans is not close. In fact, they seem to care nothing about the dream world, just like humans don't pay attention to ants when they walk.
It's not that I didn't want to, but that I simply didn't pay attention.
At this moment, Gloriand spoke again. "As the number of followers of the Great Old Ones increased, the world became increasingly chaotic. On this basis, many beings among humanity emerged who attempted to rebel, and they were the first pioneers."
"It is a complete delusion for humans to fight against gods, but if we are only fighting against those madmen, we are not entirely without a fighting chance. Gradually, humans began to imitate other races, unite as one, establish city-states, and form the first human kingdoms."
"A war between divine right and royal power..." Tang Zijun frowned, then shook her head slightly. "No, strictly speaking, this should only be considered a civil war between humans, since the Great Old Ones did not intervene."
After a moment's pause, Tang Zijun looked up at Gloriand again. "Since a nation had been formed, why did the royal family eventually disappear into history?"
"Because of God."
Grelando stared intently at Tang Zijun and said in a deep voice.
"Humans are a warlike race, even more savage than orcs in some ways. When they have a common enemy, the power of unity can overcome everything, but once the enemy is gone, a new struggle begins."
"A war of gods, or perhaps a war of faith."
"This battle has nothing to do with the gods, but it arose because of them. In this world, whoever can truly gain the favor of the gods will be able to occupy the largest land and resources and satisfy all their desires."
"I don't know the specifics of what happened. I only know that it was a dark period in history, a time that no church has recorded today."
"In the span of less than a hundred years, the faith of the Great Old Ones was gradually driven out, their altars and sects were uprooted one by one, and in return, new gods were born..."
"...The Gods of the Void Realm," Tang Zijun began.
"Yes." Gloriand nodded slightly. "The gods of the Void were born at that time. It started with the elves, and then gradually, various races began to develop their own beliefs."
"The church needs the kingdom's support, and the kingdom needs the church's divine power. This should have been a balance, but as the number of churches increased and various beliefs in gods emerged, this balance was broken."
"The factions of various gods are constantly emerging and becoming hostile to each other, which is a huge blow to the human kingdoms. No country can turn a blind eye to this."
"Finally, the war began again..."