Super Righteous Player
Chapter 768 - 309 Great Calamity Curio: Book of the Six Realms of Samsara_1

Chapter 768: Chapter 309 Great Calamity Curio: Book of the Six Realms of Samsara_1

One consensus is that The Worm was born from the carcass of the Charioteer.

That is to say... at least while the Charioteer still existed, The Worm did not exist in this world.

Back then, there were neither Paths of Degradation, nor demons, nor The Worm.

All the current formidable enemies of this world did not exist yet.

And among these great enemies, the fallen fear demons, and demons fear The Worm.

An evildoer grinds another evildoer—it follows this food chain that "The Worm" should be considered the ultimate enemy of this world.

For The Worm is a creature of change.

The Charioteer moved upon "the paths of ascendance and change", and The Worm, at the very least, possessed half of the Charioteer’s powers. If one thinks from this perspective, it makes sense that Vladimir feared Annan, though it still feels like something is missing.

——I keep feeling like I’ve overlooked something important.

Annan furrowed his brows deeply, pondering.

At the same time, he was also distracted, listening to Selicia’s narration:

"The Worm does not simply open its gaping maw to consume a world. Nor does it, like the ancient armies of the Heaven Seizing Expedition, directly destroy a world’s surface and dig out its heart.

"The method The Worm uses to devour a world is to continuously increase the ’misfortune’ throughout it. If an event could lead to a good or bad outcome, it would surely proceed towards the bad direction. As The Worm continues its Self-Devouring, the world starts ’accelerating’... and ultimately ’accelerates’ out of control, the entire world descending into chaotic Self-Devouring, and finishes by destroying itself.

"Worlds destroyed in such a manner are considered sacrifices to The Worm. It uses this to grow its own being and further enhance its appetite, making its next devouring even swifter."

"That’s right,"

Victor, who was at the side, interjected, "The Elves of yesteryears invented the [Worm Ritual], taking the concepts of ’self-replication’, ’acceleration until loss of control’, ’Self-Devouring’, and through the power of rituals, they stole the force of ’The Worm’."

"...So that’s why people who performed the Worm Ritual would exhibit ’marks bitten by The Worm’, right?"

"Exactly, Your Majesty."

Victor nodded: "It is just like how one might bear burn marks after performing the ritual of the Forefather of Fire. Those are the proofs of conducting the Worm Ritual. In the later stages of the Empire, anyone who bore such marks would be immediately arrested and interrogated."

"Did the Elves discover the ’secret of The Worm’ at that time?"

Annan did not use "you", but chose the more tactful "the Elves" in his inquiry.

However, Victor shook his head.

"It was not so. ’The Worm’ was uncontrollable from the start, and back then, armed with curse abilities, the Elves feared nothing. Even the True Gods were but slightly more powerful ’lords’, and in face of the power of curses, even Divine Power could be overturned. The Worm was merely a ’remnant’, the original Elves were so arrogant, they wouldn’t take The Worm seriously.

"...But as the curse abilities got abolished, the Elves gradually became... hmm, calmer. Among them lacked not sages, and they soon realized if someone conducted the Worm Ritual, it would proliferate rapidly. Until it devoured all their finite resources for survival.

"From the very beginning, they only ever did things for themselves. Inventing the Worm Ritual was for their own gain, and so was the abandonment of the Worm Ritual; worshipping The Worm was for themselves, and so was the disdain for it."

Victor replied indistinctly, "Later, The Worm was sealed by the Emperor in the central part of the capital... which is the location of the now sunk continent, where the great vortex lies.

"However, although the continent has collapsed and sunk, The Worm should not have escaped. Because the Emperor designed an absolutely fail-proof seal, that piece of land was merely the ’coordinates’ of the seal."

"Then how did Vladimir find The Worm?"

Annan inquired.

But faced with this question, Victor and Selicia looked at each other.

Both of them fell silent.

"I do not know that. Because Vladimir did not tell me at that time."

In the end, it was Selicia who spoke first: "That person pledged fervently at the time... claiming to have found a way to use the power of The Worm. I also told that person at the time, asking to be taken along. But in the end... he did not bring anyone."

"That person, in the end, he couldn’t trust anyone... He only trusted himself."

"...In theory, he shouldn’t have found The Worm."

Victor hesitated for a moment, but still answered, "Because The Worm was not in this era at all—it was sent to the future, over a hundred and eighty years later, by a Great Calamity Curio named ’The Sixth Dirge’s Past’."

"The future?"

Annan was shocked.

Could such a thing... even be done?

Victor nodded, "Every ten years, ’The Sixth Dirge’s Past’ must be adjusted, to push the fact that ’The Worm reappears in the world’ another ten years into the future, so The Worm is always a distance of one hundred and seventy-six to one hundred and eighty-six years from the present.

"Nightmares might venture into history, but they definitely cannot enter the future. So this is an absolutely safe seal... Not to mention, Vladimir was only a silver-rank at the time. He shouldn’t have been able to find The Worm."

"But the fact is, not only did he find it, but he also used The Worm to consume other worlds, obtaining ’residuals’ from more than one world,"

Annan summarized.

Victor furrowed his eyebrows, "I don’t quite understand that myself.

"But whatever the case, this matter must be taken seriously. I will meet with His Holiness the Pope, report this to him, and convene a Council of the Holy Seat.

"The current ’The Sixth Dirge’s Past’ is held in the hands of ’The Silent Unspeakable’ Saint Peter. But to ensure the power of the Great Calamity Curio is not abused, at least six Popes must be in existence to use it and verify the situation in the future."

Having said that, Victor shrugged, "By the way, I actually think that the odd, highly advanced technologies with great reach from The Holy Nation are technologies stolen from the future... After all, ’The Sixth Dirge’s Past’ is in The Holy Nation. It’s not surprising for the Popes of the Hall of Purity to have a meeting, rally opinions, and occasionally use it. Of course, I have no evidence, it’s just a rumor I’m sharing with you.

"One thing is certain, however—if The Worm has truly escaped, it’s most likely no longer in this world."

Victor sighed, "The Worm possesses the ability to cross the barriers between adjacent worlds. And not all worlds have had the presence of a ’Charioteer’... Worlds without ’Living Pillars,’ where truths are incredibly brittle, simply cannot stand against The Worm.

"The Worm cannot be killed by material means, or else it will regenerate in an adjacent world. The Worm may not be intelligent, but it has the instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm... Once released, it would certainly flee without a trace. At that time, the Aesirland Empire had also debated whether to seal The Worm or banish it to another world.

"Once banished, The Worm wouldn’t return for at least a few thousand years. By the time it returns, we would have no capacity to resist; but if it’s sealed, there’s surely a way to unseal it. Ultimately, due to the Elves’ reluctance to embrace cursed powers, they were exceedingly... wary of a ’gradual death.’ That is why in the end, the ’sealing faction’ prevailed."

...Good thing you guys ended up with environmental PTSD back then.

Annan couldn’t help but break into a sweat.

However, Annan suddenly had a strange thought.

The Worm was born from the carcass of the Charioteer... and now Annan was the new Charioteer.

So then...

Could it be that The Worm wasn’t "unable to be killed," but rather "unable to be killed in a world line where the Charioteer is already dead"? Perhaps it wasn’t a monstrosity born from the devouring of Divine Corpse but another form of the Charioteer—similar to how Sublimated beings could turn into Fallen if their souls were corrupted.

But that is merely a guess.

For now, it would be more reliable to take a look at the seal.

"Then I’ll leave it to you, Victor."

Annan nodded, saying earnestly, "And on my end, I will also try to find Nicholas II."

"Do you have a way?"

Annan nodded, then shook his head, "It’s not something I can say for the moment. I need to wait a bit, at least until Kafney ascends the throne."

But that would be soon—it’s just a matter of next month.

"Oh, by the way, Your Majesty. There’s another little thing."

Seeing that the serious business was mostly concluded, Zoya suddenly spoke up, "Prince Dmitry is coming back soon... He has met with Princess Maria, and they say they will return together tomorrow."