An Even Older System Than Magic

She remained silent.

The weight contained in these few words was so heavy that it made her breathless.

"This is why I've always wanted to break this order."

"I originally thought that by becoming the ruler of the entire continent, placing all living beings and races under my rule, reforming from top to bottom would make the world anew..."

"But later I realized it was useless. As long as the gods don't die, this order will be eternal. Whether you're a tyrant or a benevolent king, you can't change the world's structure."

"Because only the cruelty of reality can breed fanatical faith. The gods won't allow anyone to break this pattern, and you only have two choices before you..."

"Either become a dog of the gods, or they'll take your life."

Lynn smiled slightly and comforted her:

"Master, don't think too much about it. Our urgent task is to investigate the cause of the curse here and find a way to solve it. That's our job."

Nanako remained silent for a while.

Then she shook her head vigorously and said softly:

"Yes! Disciple, you're right. Whatever happens, solving the curse problem is what we need to do now!"

Nanako wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes.

But perhaps even she didn't know.

A certain seed had already been planted in her heart.

Perhaps out of kindness...

Perhaps out of some form of pity...

But...

Just then, a guard rushed in from outside and urgently said to Nanako, who was disguised as Saint Anna:

"Lady Saint Anna, all those swine have escaped, you..."

Nanako turned her head and coldly looked at him.

The guard was immediately frightened, breaking into a cold sweat and hurriedly kneeling on the ground.

Nanako looked down at him and said: "No one will be confined here anymore. Your mission is complete. I have reached an agreement with the mages of Winter Spring Valley. From now on, the curse matter will be fully handled by the Winter Spring Valley mages. You may leave!"

The guard immediately replied: "Yes, Your Highness Saint Anna!"

He paused, then said in surprise: "Then Your Highness, you..."

Nanako said coldly: "I still need to pursue those fleeing Secret Source mages and won't stay in town for now. If anything happens, you can find Lynn, the mage beside me. Is that clear?"

The guard immediately struck his chest with one hand and said: "Yes, Lady Saint Anna! We will obey your orders!"

"Dismissed!"

"Not bad! Not bad! Looks like my loli master has gotten serious!"

"Saint Anna's group has been turned into swine, and now they have Saint Anna's insignia. As long as Saint Anna doesn't appear, they can temporarily take control of this town."

"During this time, figuring out how to solve the curse problem is the right path."

"As for that Saint Anna, heh, if she's dead, she's dead. No one will care."

As the guards left.

The young mage girl hesitated, then looked worriedly at Nanako and said:

"Executive Nanako, where should we start now?"

Nanako thought for a moment and said: "Tell me about the specific situation here. When did these residents start being affected by the curse, and what happened when they were cursed?"

The young mage girl thought for a while, then told Nanako everything she had experienced during this time.

Her name was Elina.

She was a mid-level mage responsible for intelligence work in this area for Winter Spring Valley.

Just a few days ago.

They received intelligence that abnormal situations had appeared near Lakeside Town.

South of Lakeside Town.

There was a dormant volcano.

And just a few days ago.

That dormant volcano suddenly showed signs of activity, spewing large amounts of volcanic ash.

And near the volcano.

Many fire element monsters appeared.

Elina said seriously: "After the volcano in the south showed signs of activity, we immediately went deep into that volcano to investigate the abnormalities, but..."

Her expression became somewhat dejected as she continued:

"I think you already know the specific situation. We went deep into the dormant volcano and discovered some ancient building ruins exposed by volcanic activity..."

Several of their mages were scholars who had specifically studied ancient knowledge.

Regarding the symbols on the buildings.

They discovered that all these building ruins pointed to an ancient being.

The King of Secret Source.

But they didn't continue deeper, instead planning to report the situation to Winter Spring Valley first.

However, they hadn't expected.

They only camped nearby for one night.

When they woke up the next day.

Several of their companions had turned into swine.

Elina said dejectedly: "That's how it happened. Because of the abnormality, we were forced to return to Lakeside Town, but in just these two days, the curse began to spread."

"The night before last and last night, many residents woke up to find themselves transformed into the swine we just saw!"

Nanako pondered for a moment.

"So you're saying this curse only appears at night?"

Elina nodded, then suddenly seemed to remember something, widened her eyes, and quickly shook her head, saying:

"No, I think the curse must have intensified. Didn't those people from the Holy Church just turn into swine right in front of us?"

"No, no, no, that was my doing, haha! I was just imitating some Secret Source spells, it doesn't count, doesn't count!"

Resolutely ignoring her disciple's casual thoughts.

Nanako asked hesitantly: "Since the curse appears regularly, weren't you alert at night?"

Elina suddenly shuddered and said softly:

"We did notice something unusual, but for some reason, after midnight, we would suddenly become very sleepy and mysteriously fall asleep..."

"For ordinary people, they might not notice anything, but as mages, our mental strength is far superior to ordinary people. Yet at midnight, we become like we're possessed and can't maintain consciousness no matter what..."

Hearing this, Nanako couldn't help but ponder.

Unable to maintain consciousness?

Could it be due to interference from some abnormal factor...

It seems they should thoroughly investigate the town tonight.

They might be able to find some clues.

Elina turned to look at her companions who had turned into pigs, saying worriedly:

"Executive Nanako, what I'm most concerned about now is their condition!"

"We've tried many methods to break the curse, but nothing works. If they stay in this state forever, then... then..."

The mages who had turned into pigs all began to weep.

Nanako also frowned and asked: "Magic dispelling spells have no effect at all?"

Elina wiped the moisture from her eyes and said: "No, Lady Nanako, neither magic nor potions have any effect. We've tried everything."

"Of course nothing would work, because this is Secret Source magic, a system more ancient than magic."

"Using current dynasty's sword to behead last dynasty's official - it's obviously nonsense."

"To break a Secret Source curse, you can only approach it from the Secret Source perspective. The systems must match first, otherwise even a Magic God would be useless."