The True History of the World

Walking through the dark and narrow secret passage, Evelyn gazed at Annie with growing curiosity.

"The most important secret of the family...?"

She had already learned so many family secrets today—what could be more significant than the secrets of the vampire ancestors?

Annie led the way while speaking softly, "You know how the previous head of the family died, don't you, miss?"

Evelyn nodded. The elders had told her that the previous head had acted unusually during the war against the Church, venturing alone into the depths of Mount Siston, where he was surrounded and ultimately slain by the divine spell "Judgment."

"The general always wanted to uncover what the Church was hiding and understand how our world came to be this way," Annie murmured. "The secret he discovered involves the true history of our world..."

The group's breathing hitched. Evelyn and Luo Wei exchanged glances, both visibly surprised.

True history? Luo Wei's mind raced. The history before the Church's era had always been obscure and fragmented. What people knew now was a version reorganized and rewritten by the Church—the narrative of Bader, the Creator and the one true god.

But through Tilis, Luo Wei knew the Church's claims were nonsense. The Arcane Hermitage was a remnant of the ancient Magical Empire, and the earliest Holy Light Church had merely been a minor faction during the empire's decline.

As these thoughts swirled, Annie pushed open an iron door at the end of the passage. A dim, eerie blue magical light flickered to life, revealing an underground study lined with bookshelves.

Luo Wei's eyes were immediately drawn to several large murals on the walls. Though less refined than oil paintings, they were rich in detail, and their content intrigued him.

The first mural depicted a grand gathering of deities, exuding an aura of divinity. Upon closer inspection, it portrayed a celestial banquet in a radiant sky garden, where gods of various demeanors feasted together. Below them, countless mortals knelt in worship on the earth, bathed in the gods' light.

This was Luo Wei's first time seeing a painting that openly depicted the gods. Annie's timely explanation confirmed a long-held suspicion of his.

"The general secretly studied forbidden texts and artworks hidden by the Church," Annie said. "These were doctrines branded as 'heresy,' far older than even our vampire lineage. The general risked his life to bring these secrets back, and the lord later organized and carved them onto these walls."

Annie gazed at the mural. "As you can see, there was once an era when gods walked the earth. Humans and other races could directly receive their guidance and blessings. It was said to be a time of abundance and prosperity, a golden age like a paradise."

Monica's expression shifted to astonishment as she listened. "I thought this world only had evil gods... I never knew there were once deities so benevolent to all living things..."

Helena, wide-eyed with curiosity, suddenly pointed at one of the gods. "That guy with the glowing halo looks familiar... Hey, isn't that Bader?"

Monica nodded. "It does resemble him... This must be Bader's original form."

The two leaned in for a closer look, but soon Monica sensed something amiss—not with the painting, but with Helena's presence. She sidled up to Annie and whispered, "Um, Miss Annie, these are the Abraham family's confidential secrets, right...?"

Her skeptical glance carried an unspoken question: Why was Helena, an outsider, allowed here? Wouldn't leaking such secrets be unwise?

Jo, too, was puzzled by Annie's arrangement, wondering if the duke had given special instructions.

"Brother, I don't want to leave!" Helena pouted, retreating to Luo Wei's side under everyone's scrutiny. "It's too dark out there..."

Luo Wei patted her head, then shot Monica a cold look. "Where I go, she goes. Got a problem with that?"

Under his gaze, Monica shivered. "No problem at all."

The memory of Luo Wei chasing down and beating the family ancestor in the banquet hall was still fresh in her mind. Frankly, she was a little afraid of Evelyn's partner now...

Annie said nothing further, and with her brother's support, Helena grinned triumphantly.

Luo Wei turned back to the murals. If these depictions were true, they would prove the Church's deceit—Bader was not the Creator but merely one among many ancient deities.

Yet the Church, for its own purposes, had elevated Bader to the status of the "one true god" and relentlessly persecuted other faiths.

The group's curiosity led them to the next mural, eager to learn what had happened to transform the world into its current state.

The following painting was far more abstract. The gods were still recognizable, but they appeared to be battling invading enemies—grotesque, misshapen beings, some no more than chaotic, bloated masses of indescribable horror.

Further along, Luo Wei saw a scene of a withered world. Most gods had perished, their followers driven to madness, and the world plunged into chaos.

Annie spoke softly. "Those malevolent and powerful foreign deities slaughtered most of the native gods. They stole their divine authority."

Luo Wei murmured, "The invasion of the Outer Gods, the fall of the deities."

"Everything changed from here," Annie sighed. "The world has been tainted. It is sick."

As Luo Wei studied the depictions of frenzied worshippers, he thought of Usoma, Tilis's mentor, and the life's work she had sacrificed to uncover.

At the end of the Magical Empire, supernatural forces rebounded, cursing the mages—a consequence of the corruption at the world's foundational level.

With the gods' demise, the Magical Empire collapsed. Order vanished, ushering in a dark age of endless war among warlords, nobles, and barbarian tribes—a brutal era where life was as cheap as grass.

Evelyn and Luo Wei sifted through handwritten tomes on the shelves, which briefly chronicled the war between the gods and the invaders—the so-called "Outer Gods" and "Elder Ones."