[Vol. 9] Chapter 115: The Old Generation
The gray shadow that was caught was about the size of a person. Its lower body was hazy like mist and couldn’t be seen clearly, while the upper half barely formed a rough shape.
It looked like a strange creature with four arms and fangs growing from its mouth. Its body was covered with dark, mysterious runes. Even though the priestess was holding its neck through the air and the holy light chains had it tightly bound, the creature was still struggling restlessly, looking very fierce.
But since it had been separated from its physical body, it could no longer make sounds like before. Under the priestess’s suppression, it couldn’t cause any trouble either. Its bared teeth were just for show.
Violet frowned as she studied the thing a few times. Then she glanced at the young woman who had fallen unconscious again after being freed from the creature’s control. Turning, she lightly tapped Tina’s head. The poor girl had been scared so badly by Alexia’s sudden shout that she was now hiding behind Violet with a nervous face.
Honestly, Violet remembered that back on Icefang Island, this same girl had once tripped over her own feet in fear and fainted. She had thought there might be some hidden reason for it, but now it seemed Tina really was just... easily scared.
“How can someone as timid as you even think of becoming a mercenary? Stop hiding. It’s not going to explode. Go check how she’s doing.”
“R-really? Are you sure…?”
Forced to go forward, Tina unwillingly stepped closer and did a quick check. Soon, she looked back at Violet, though her curious eyes kept glancing toward the gray shadow.
“It looks like she really just fainted. Her condition seems stable… So, what exactly is going on? Did they go crazy because of this thing?”
“Hmm… you can put it that way.”
Violet answered casually. But as she sensed the chaotic mental waves coming from the gray shadow, she actually felt a bit disappointed.
She had thought she’d caught something really valuable this time, maybe a powerful being. But after seeing it clearly without the disguise of a physical body, she realized this soul-like creature’s mind was unstable and completely beyond communication.
It felt like something had tainted them. The corruption had given them a small trace of higher-level power, but at the cost of their sanity. Their rational mind had been completely polluted by that thing’s essence. That was why the woman it had possessed looked insane.
Even worse, this kind of corruption could spread outward through the host as a medium. Though the intensity was far weaker than the original source, it still existed.
Those mercenaries guarding outside who looked tired and dull were actually being affected by the mental waves from these things, long exposure had drained their energy.
This feeling… was similar to information pollution caused by high-level magic. The Ghost Ship in the Ghost Sea had shown a similar power before. But this case was even more serious, because these things took over human bodies directly, making them much harder to defend against. Ordinary people would have no way to resist.
Still, there were more than five hundred people in the camp, including those from the Silver Claw group, yet only these few were possessed. There didn’t seem to be any clear pattern, which suggested this wasn’t a planned or organized act, more like a random coincidence.
“……”
Violet frowned slightly, thinking about the strange words the creature had shouted earlier — what had sounded like the ravings of a lunatic.
To ordinary people, those words might seem meaningless. But Violet, having dealt with many different forces and secrets, managed to pick up at least a few hints.
If nothing else, the words “Primordial Light” alone already revealed quite a lot about where this thing might have come from… but still—
If you compare it to the World Sustainers, it feels somewhat similar, but not quite the same.
After all, those beings from beyond the world may always mutter strange, confusing things, but in truth, they aren’t mindless lunatics. On the contrary, the World Sustainers are a far more united and disciplined group than the Twilight Council. Every one of their actions, from their highest “Lords” to their lowest disposable soldiers, carries a clear purpose.
They are extremely united, extremely selfless, and almost completely lack personal identity or emotion. That is what makes them truly terrifying.
From the two great demonic wars in the Ancient Spirit Realm, to the many secret and open clashes with them in the Origin Realm, and even through the actions of their collaborator “Miss White,” all of it had clearly proven this point.
Because of that, Violet couldn’t understand what meaning there could be in possessing a bunch of ordinary humans, people with no background or power, especially when they would immediately expose themselves the moment she came into contact with them.
But if this thing wasn’t part of the World Sustainers, then what could it be?
Just as the priestess was quietly thinking about this, an unexpected voice suddenly came from beside her.
“Um… Lady Violet, why does this thing look kind of familiar to me?”
“Hm?”
Turning her head, the priestess saw Alexia staring curiously at the gray shadow, her face showing a thoughtful expression, as if she had remembered something but wasn’t quite sure about it yet.
Violet was surprised.
“Really? I’ve traveled to many places in my life, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen a creature that looks like this. You’ve barely left your dragon homeland, where would you have seen it before?”
“Uh… how should I put this…”
The blue dragon lady scratched her head awkwardly and gave a sheepish smile.
“To be precise, I think one of my ancestors encountered something like this before. You know that we mythical species have inherited memories, right? They flow through our bloodline, passed down from generation to generation, containing the knowledge and experiences of our ancestors. If this thing appeared in that memory, it means it must be something quite special.”
“But it’s weird,” she continued, frowning in confusion. “Even though I can see its shape clearly in the inherited memory, all the details and information about it are blurred, like something is interfering with it.”
Alexia rubbed her head, clearly puzzled. It was her first time encountering something like this. The dragon race’s inherited memory wasn’t exactly an encyclopedia, but as one of the highest forms of knowledge among mythic species, it was normally very reliable. So how could something like this appear so vague?
“I see… that explains a lot.”
The priestess smiled faintly and nodded.
“It’s all right. What you said is already very valuable.”
If this thing appeared in the dragons’ inherited memory, that meant it definitely wasn’t some new species that had only shown up in recent years. On the contrary, it likely had a very ancient origin.
And since inherited memories are passed down through bloodline, being able to interfere with that kind of core information meant the force behind it must already be touching upon the essence of causality itself, or even the fundamental laws that sustain the world.
Based on that, if one dares to make a bold guess and combines it with what the creature had said earlier—
Perhaps… this being actually came from the previous generation of the world.
Although the details were still unclear, it now seemed likely that the so-called “Creation” by the Primordial Light was, in essence, an act of destroying and remaking the world order, melting down the world like metal and reforging it into the shape that it desired.