"First, I’m still curious why you asked her how many siblings she has. Do you know how oddly that sounded to that day?"
Ruvian glanced at her.
"How so?"
"Well, if I’m being honest, I thought you were evaluating her eligibility," she said sweetly. "Like... isn’t family size one of those things people check when they’re thinking about marriage?"
"So, I thought you were weighing her rits as a potential bride."
’Huh, what? Wait.... did it really sound like that?’
Ruvian thought about it again, and his face slowly turned pale, as if he was beginning to realize it might not have sounded the way he ant.
’...Damn it.’
Imdiately, he dismissed her implication.
"No, that’s not why I asked her that."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"I was just confirming sothing about what I saw of her future."
That, of course, was a lie.
It wasn’t her future he had seen. To be precise... it was her past—Calyra’s past.
The very reason she had obtained that curse in the first place. Should he succeed in severing it, she would beco an ally of terrifying worth.
A monstrous one!
But Ruvian had no intention of explaining any of that in detail to her. Because it’s going to make everything complicated.
"But that future is still far off," he said calmly.
"I’ll tell you when the ti cos."
Silvena watched him in silence, clearly unsatisfied.
She wanted to press further, to understand what he ant, what kind of future awaited her childhood friend, but she held herself back.
"Alright," she said at last.
"I’ll wait until that day cos. You better keep your words." she gave a small nod, as if sealing a private promise, then lifted her gaze back to his.
"However, I do hope you’ll answer this one question for ."
"Under my conditions," Ruvian replied.
Silvena watched him for a second, then sighed softly through her nose with a faint smile.
"Fine."
She straightened her back and folded her hands as the warmth in her eyes faded. Even before any words could leave his mouth...
Ruvian sensed that the atmosphere was shifting.
"About the demons..."
She asked, her voice quieter now.
"They truly didn’t disappear, did they?"
Ruvian remained silent. He had been about to answer, but stopped when he saw that Silvena wasn’t finished.
"I’ve done so fair amount of research on the old chronicles," she continued.
"The ones from before the Second Demon–Human War."
Her eyes stayed on him. "You must know them too, don’t you? After all, it’s one of the most well-known tales in the Averenthia."
Even before she finished, Ruvian already understood what she was referring to. Then, she said it, reaffird what he had already thought about.
"So, do you know the legend of Necraz?"
’Of course I do. I have read this novel countless tis.’
Necraz Lox vilion, also known as the Blind Seer of Mortal Kind.
And the First Witness of Ruin.
Almost everyone in this world knows it.
The tale was told to the children, recorded by the scholars in their studies, and even repeated by the kings in their halls.
After all, that single legend is said to be the very reason humanity still walks this very world today.
If not for what happened back then, if not for the warning that was given, then... there might have been nothing left of mankind.
Ruvian nodded his head.
A few monts later, Silvena softly said:
"Necraz was regarded as a hero in the ancient age, back when the Golden City still stood at the height of its glory. According to the old legends, humanity possessed a fortress so vast, so brilliantly wrought, that people believed it could never be destroyed, a city said to be indestructible. Even when demons descended upon it in numbers, the city did not fall. It endured every siege and every storm."
"It was also recorded by the old scholars that the technology of that city far surpassed anything we possess today... which, I admit, sounds like too much of an outrageous claim, doesn’t it?"
She gave a soft, amused laugh before continuing.
"But it wasn’t an empty boast. Those claims were supported by relics that have actually been uncovered. Remnants of devices and weapons no one in our era has managed to recreate or even fully understand."
"And according to those sa records, they accepted the theory that humanity survived the demon onslaught because of their advanced technology."
Silvena’s strangely wistful voice resounded in the hall.
Ruvian couldn’t help but listen attentively.
"However, that very city once believed to be indestructible was later foretold to fall, and the one who made that claim was none other than Necraz himself."
She let that linger for a while before adding, her voice lowering just a shade.
"By that ti, he had already proven his worth countless tis, guiding the city’s defenses with that unnerving foresight of his, reading fragnts of the future as if they were lines from an open book."
"Yet legend says that one day his visions showed him sothing he could not change, no matter how far he searched for another path... an inevitable fate in which the great city, radiant and unconquered for centuries, would finally fall."
Silvena smiled.
"So, do you know what Necraz did next?" she asked lightly, almost teasing despite the gravity of the tale.
Ruvian imdiately replied:
"He ordered every citizen to evacuate and led them northeast."
Silvena nodded.
"It was, by all accounts, a truly absurd decision."
Her smile slowly faded.
"Imagine being one of those people, living in what you believe is the greatest city ever built, a place said to be unbreakable, and then suddenly hearing that it will fall."
She exhaled softly, her gaze drifting as if picturing it herself.
"It must have been heartbreaking and terrifying. I can only imagine the thoughts racing through their minds..."
"As such... what happens to us now? Where do we go? Are we all destined to die at the hands of demons?"
"But then, Necraz declared that he had received a divine vision from Althea, the Goddess of Fortune and Protection herself. In that vision, he said, they were promised sanctuary upon a land far to the northeast, a place where her blessing would shield them from ruin."
Silvena shrugged.
"And so... they believed him. They accepted it without rebellion, because if a prophecy spoke, then it was the only hope left for them to cling to."
"After all, when people stand at the edge of despair, they will grasp even the faintest promise of safety as if it were salvation itself."
"But do you know what the most absurd discovery about that legend is?"
Silvena asked, her voice lowering into sothing almost conspiratorial.
Ruvian lifted his eyebrows as if to indicate to her to keep going.
"It was later said that Necraz never received any divine vision at all, that the promise he spoke of was nothing more than a fabrication, a lie he crafted so his people would obey and evacuate before it was too late."
She stepped closer.
"So it makes wonder, Ruvian..."
"Will the things you’ve said, and the things you will say, turn out to be lies as well? Lies told for the sake of a greater good, just like Necraz’s?"
Her eyes glinted as she held Ruvian’s dark blue gaze.
"Because... if you truly can see the future as he did, can you also see the solution to it?"
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[Chapter 66: The First Piece Moves (2)]
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