Super Righteous Player
Chapter 812 - 351 Nonexistent History

Chapter 812: Chapter 351 Nonexistent History

——The Fourth History.

Chewing on the name for a long time, Salvatore furrowed his brows.

"...I do indeed recall hearing something similar, about history having three layers or something."

"There is such a saying."

Annan nodded, solemnly saying, "However, this belongs to a deeper realm within mystical knowledge... it is what’s known as the ’directionality of history’."

"Directionality?"

Salvatore asked, "Does it refer to from the past to the future?"

"That’s just one layer of history."

Annan responded, "That’s the ’forward direction of history.’ It’s also called the ’history of progress.’"

"...Are there others?"

Salvatore looked somewhat puzzled, "Is there also a backward one?"

"There’s also the ’upward history’."

As Annan said this, he looked at Salvatore and sighed.

He gave an example, saying, "Since the power of the gods can, to a certain extent, disregard the timeline, why can’t gods help their past selves ascend to divinity?"

"Hm?"

Upon hearing this, Salvatore also paused in thought.

He pondered for a long time, then slowly said, "Your point makes a lot of sense..."

"So what’s the answer?"

"I don’t know," Salvatore said plainly, "I’ve never thought about that question before."

"You sound quite Mushashi..."

Annan quipped.

He quickly provided the answer, "Because the ’Transcendence Ritual’ that sends ordinary things to the world of light doesn’t happen in the ’forward history,’ but in the ’upward history.’ That’s also why the gods can interfere with the timeline."

The answer was that, after ascending "upwards," gods... have already left the normal "forward" timeline. Thus, they can interfere with the mundane history to a certain extent.

And the reason why knowledge about gods has a special "weight" is precisely because most of the "forward history" recorded by the majority of people won’t include the ascension of gods – it’s this knowledge, which "shouldn’t exist in this world," that carries "weight," that is, a cognitive load.

"And the third tier of history is the ’deeper history.’ It is about the history of ’secrets’ themselves."

Annan spoke slowly, "In other words, it’s history that has been buried.

"Just as in olden days the Goddess of Cup offered the mystical to the night; the mechanism that makes mystic knowledge forgotten once it is spoken is precisely a sacrifice of this ’mystery.’

"These ’mysteries’ attain supernatural power through a mimicry of sacrifice, yet nobody truly seeks these secrets."

"So, where do these sacrificed secrets go? The night wouldn’t truly accept such useless knowledge..."

"I see..."

Salvatore came to a realization.

These alien pieces of knowledge disappear through the act of "sacrifice," but they aren’t truly "forgotten"... which is why they vanish so cleanly and can be "replenished" through simple means.

Because it’s not that the knowledge slips from the mind.

It’s that the ritualists, unconsciously, made use of the very first, grandest ritual. That is, the ritual of exchanging ’mystery’ for power – which precisely replicates the miracle at the birth of mystery.

These pieces of knowledge are sacrificed, yet no one receives them.

Like a letter thrown into a mailbox without an address.

"The one retaining these ’buried mysteries’ is the third tier of history. The unseen history. The ’deeper history’."

Annan said slowly, "Then I think, the so-called ’Fourth Historiography’ refers to a history that is ’neither forward, nor upward, nor inward.’ That is, an ’inexistent history.’"

It can also be referred to as the history on the imaginary line.

"Exactly. Although I had no original intention of telling you, since you have already guessed some of it, there’s no problem in confirming that ’you guessed right’."

Silver Baron affirmed with a smile, "Crossing the timeline to reach the future is something only a Great Calamity Curio can achieve. The effect of the [Fourth Historiography], is to fabricate a segment of history that never existed.

"It’s not about choosing a desired future and entering that world line. Nor is it like some Great Calamity Curio that enables an object ’farther down the river’ to hop on a speedboat to ’get further upstream’.

"—Instead, it inserts a ’fragment of possibility’ directly into a segment of the ’forward history.’ It’s like placing a rock in front of the river before it arrives. Yet at that time, the rock is merely a shadow, as if the river had not yet reached.

"And to fulfill this objective, the ’forward history’ will change its randomness. The process ’from here to there’ will all be altered... So that when the river passes that position, it will carry a rock and let it fall precisely there."

That is to say, the [Fourth Historiography] is the power to pre-determine a segment of history.

——Without a doubt, this is a power worthy to be called "great."

It is even far more powerful than the apparent power of the "Three of Sirens"... Of course, the true power of [Three of Sirens] is definitely to summon... or to say, imprison the three sirens within the scepter. Whether the powers and curses of ’Slothful King’ or ’Tyrant’ are predicated on ’not releasing the sirens.’

Just understanding the magnitude of this power made Salvatore quite agitated: "If one can arbitrarily decide the future, wouldn’t that make them invincible? If he simply writes down ’Philip will inherit the throne,’ then no matter how hard we try now, wouldn’t we be doomed to fail..."

But then.

After the appearance of the Silver Baron, the "Vatore sister" who had withdrawn back into Salvatore’s chest, once again extended a devilish arm and patted his head lightly yet firmly.

"—Idiot."

The voice that became gruff and deep again echoed in Salvatore’s ears, "Calm down. If such powerful force had no restraints, he wouldn’t need to court the nobles now... because his enemies would have already vanished."

"...Then, what’s the price?"

Annan inquired calmly, "A curse corresponding to the power to ’directly determine a segment of the future’ must also be extremely severe."

"I knew you’d bring that question up. And that is precisely the information I intend to share with you."

Silver Baron said cheerily, "Because the power of the Fourth Historiography involves using the ’fourth tier of history’ to intervene in the ’first tier of history.’ That means any power related to the second or third tier of history—which is to say, obtaining any empowerment through Transcendence or through rituals—will disturb the outcome of the Fourth Historiography and cause errors.

"That is why Philip, despite being naturally full of desire and possessing mystical knowledge, cannot become a Transcendent nor a Ritualist."