When Hulim opened her eyes again, she found herself in a sparse yet spacious stone ruin chamber.

  Glowing ores were embedded in the surrounding walls, casting a soft light over the entire space.

  "Where... am I?"

  She shook her still-dizzy head, stood up from the ground, and tried to make sense of her surroundings.

  "You’re awake, my descendant."

  At that moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

  "！！？"

  Hulim jumped in shock, spun around quickly, and stared warily at the figure behind her—

  Only to freeze completely when she saw who it was......

  It was a semi-transparent middle-aged man, his gaze toward Hulim warm and free of malice.

  Yet what stunned Hulim most wasn’t his peculiar form, but his face.

  She recognized him!

  From the passed-down portraits and the statues in Langard, even though she’d never met the real person, Hulim knew that face better than anyone.

  "Olu... bet......"

  "What’s going on? Why are you here, Ancestor?!"

  "Aren’t you supposed to be dead?!"

  Hulim asked in shock.

  "......My descendant, I know you’re confused right now."

  Olubet spoke gently,

  "but please calm down first. Everything—me, this place, and most importantly, you and what lies beyond—all of it...... I will tell you."

  "......"

  Hulim gradually calmed down.

  "Good."

  Olubet nodded with a smile.

  "What is your name?"

  "......Hulim."

  "Hulim...... Though you’re younger than I expected, your temperament far surpasses your years. Impressive!"

  "First, let me answer your first question."

  "I am here because I’ve been waiting for you."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Waiting for me?"

  Hulim was astonished.

  "That’s right. Second question—about me being dead."

  "I can tell you clearly: it’s true. I am indeed dead...... What stands before you now is me, existing in a special way."

  "You can think of it as...... a soul form."

  A soul......

  "Now, let me explain why I’ve been waiting for you. It’s a long story......"

  After that, Olubet told Hulim an untold ancient secret of Himlir. When she finished listening to his tale, Hulim was left utterly stunned......

  Once upon a time,

  when Mother Earth Goddess Terra had just created the world, and all life was still in their infancy,

  a meteor containing forbidden power suddenly descended upon this nascent world from the unfathomable cosmos.

  Even Terra herself couldn’t fathom the source of that forbidden power.

  The only thing she knew was that this power was far too heavy for Himlir. If it were to emerge in the world, chaos would engulf everything!

  If someone with a righteous heart obtained this power, it might bring good to the entire world.

  But if it fell into the hands of those with malicious intentions, the world could face destruction......

  However, Terra soon realized she might have worried in vain.

  For some unknown reason, the forbidden power had fallen completely dormant after entering the world. No matter what methods were used, it couldn’t be awakened......

  Many years passed.

  Himlir continued to develop. The gods who arrived later also took a keen interest in this forbidden power one after another, but no matter what they tried, they couldn’t rouse it. In the end, they could only seal it once more.

  Even the gods began to think that the forbidden power’s arrival in Himlir was merely a coincidence—that the world meant nothing to it. Thus, there was no need to fear that it would one day bring about the world’s end......

  Yet this belief was suddenly shattered one day.

  It began with a mortal—not an ordinary one, but an S-rank powerhouse, someone with the right to converse with the gods.

  By chance, this individual stumbled upon one of the sealed locations and accidentally activated the seal.

  Activating the seal itself wasn’t a disaster. The gods had sealed the forbidden power primarily to prevent reckless mortals from coveting a power they could never obtain, sparking unnecessary conflicts.

  But due to the gods’ oversight, the unexpected happened—

  The forbidden power, which had slumbered for eons, awakened the moment it encountered this mortal.

  No warning. No prelude. It simply woke.

  When the aura of the forbidden power sent shockwaves through the gods, it was already too late.

  Only then did they realize how naive their earlier thoughts had been.

  How could there be something in this world that acted without purpose?

  That forbidden power had come for Himlir from the very beginning!

  It had merely remained dormant because the one it awaited hadn’t yet been born.

  And now, when Olubet arrived,

  the convergence of fate became the bell that awakened the slumbering power. So it roused......

  The gods watched closely, for this event would determine whether the world’s future led to destruction or something else.

  But soon, they noticed something unusual.

  Though the forbidden power had awakened because of Olubet,

  nothing more came of it afterward.

  Even when Olubet tried tirelessly to gain the power’s recognition—using every method he could—he failed. Not even the gods’ assistance made a difference.

  The gods were perplexed. If it had awakened for Olubet, why would it reject him?

  Until one day......

  Olubet suddenly realized something.

  As the only mortal ever connected to the forbidden power, years of exploration had finally led him to the truth.

  The forbidden power hadn’t awakened because of him—it had awakened upon sensing the fate flowing in his blood!

  The one the forbidden power truly awaited was not him, but someone from his future—

  a direct descendant who shared his bloodline!

  Later......

  Olubet took the young second heir of the Heyerar family back to the Parasara Empire and entrusted him to the care of the empire’s emperor at the time, ensuring his bloodline would continue to thrive in the world.

  Once that was done, Olubet returned to the sealed location.

  He had no idea how many years it would take for that descendant to appear.

  Fifty years? A hundred? Five hundred? Or even a thousand!

  He didn’t have endless time to wait......