Chapter 649: Architect's Remains (I)
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Cedric arrived at a room that looked like an office...
The floors were neat and tidy; not even a trail of dust could be seen on them. The walls were painted with brown and beige colors; he could also see artworks and decorations hanging on them.
But what really got his attention was the massive bookshelf at the far end of the room. It was about 30 meters high and was filled to the brim with books. It was so dense that the wall behind it couldn't even be seen.
Next to it, in the right corner where a small window was, which displayed a majestic view of the starry sea, a small office table could be seen. The table looked like it was made from stone; it was covered in runic carvings and had an ancient feel to it.
And on the wooden chair lies a dried-up corpse with its skull hung low and arms falling limp to the sides. One hand was clutching something Cedric couldn't recognize.
Judging by the skeletal structure of the corpse, it's clear that it wasn't human. If it stood, it should be about ten meters tall. It has two right arms and three left arms. There were only two legs, but it has a tailbone that looked like an extension of its spine. The tail was wrapped loosely around the right hind leg of the chair it's sitting on.
Strangely enough, Cedric still couldn't see even a trace of dust anywhere; there's not even a foul smell around. It's like there's something in here that preserves the cleanliness and order of this room.
Cedric stared at the corpse but didn't approach right away. Inwardly, he guessed that this might be the architect that he's chasing after.
If this was truly the architect, then it's not surprising that it's dead. The only reason why Cedric got its tools was because it was dying, after all. If it wasn't, then it'll never be his turn to get his hands on them.
But the awful challenges he'd gone through before made him wary of the architect.
From how the maze was created down to the specific path to get to this place, one thing was clear: the architect doesn't want anyone to get through the maze. It's not a simple, challenging maze; it's filled with nonsensical things that could kill anybody a hundred times over without the victims knowing how they died in the first place.
Just in case the architect had left a final trap behind, Cedric wouldn't carelessly approach that table.
So, instead of taking whatever it was that the corpse was holding, he instead turned his attention to the massive library ahead.
He approached the bookshelf that was frankly too large and too dense. He searched for any traps that might be around or any rules he had to pay attention to, but he found none.
And so, Cedric reached out and took a book from the shelf. The books varied in thickness and cover designs, but if there's one thing that's constant among them, it would be the fact that they're written in that same ancient language that, 'til now, Cedric still doesn't know the name of.
'The Wrathful Tale of the Heavenly Corpse.'
'History of Alexandros Star Domain.'
'Catalogue of Sky Beasts.'
'Archeval Monarchy's Code of Conduct.'
'Fall of Protoss Star Cluster.'
Cedric skimmed the titles and contents of the books. Here, he discovered that most of the places and stories written here were things he'd never heard before.
Well, that's normal since Cedric hasn't truly gone out to the Primitive Universe just yet. But Cade has, and his character required him to be well-read. Since Cedric had absorbed his memories, he could be considered knowledgeable as well.
Yet these books tell the tale of a history that neither Cade nor Cedric had ever heard of. But they don't look fake. Cedric also didn't think that the architect was bored enough to create a fake history just to mess with him.
So, what's the deal here?
Cedric continued perusing the books, skimming their contents one by one.
As he reached the halfway point through the excessively large bookshelf, he got his hands on a thin book that looked a little too old and dirty.
'It smells like dried blood,' he mused to himself, which was already a glaring sign on its own.
Since he could smell it, he could also see it. And as he held the book, there it was: dried bloodstains on the cover. Just by picking up this book, the dried blood turned to dust, which was scattered in the air, gone before Cedric could even see where they'd go. The smell also didn't linger for too long.
From these signs, it's clear that whatever this book was, it's certainly different from the rest of the books here.
And his assumptions were proven right once he began reading its contents. Because on the very first page alone, the bold and ominous words, presumably written by the architect, already greeted him.
Hello to you, human. You did well by coming all the way here.
Cedric's pupils shrank as he read the first line. He was greatly alarmed; goosebumps appeared on his skin as he felt seen all of a sudden. Yet he forced himself to continue reading.
By the time you're reading this, there is no doubt that I am dead. Whether you believe my words or not is completely up to you. I'm just stating my truth here; I have no expectations that you'd believe me. However, if you want me to convince you, then you should already be. After all, I've written this just for you to see, because I know you're one of the very few gifted humans with the 'All Speak' innate talent.
'It knows! 'Cedric was shocked and undoubtedly hooked now.
[You might've already guessed who I am.]
[I am indeed the architect of this maze.]
First, let me apologize for making your life unnecessarily difficult. I know that you only wanted to use the exit to this hellhole and see the vast world outside. I never intended to trap you here. I didn't make this maze for you.
You should've already seen my corpse on the table. The key is in my hand. Take it and place it on my office table. Once you do that, a direct passage to the exit point will open up for you. You can leave this all behind because, frankly, whatever happened here has nothing to do with you.
If you're not interested, just walk away and don't think too much of this place. To compensate you for the emotional distress I unintentionally caused, I've left behind some riches for you to inherit. You'll find the details below.
[*******]
But, if you're interested to hear my story, you can read along. I will tell you why I made this maze. I will tell you the truth about this so-called 'Death Zone' and why I seemed so adamant on not allowing anyone or anything out of this place.
Cedric then saw a code that he recognized as a bank account he could use in the Primitive Universe. He memorized it first before continuing to read, because, of course, he's invested now. He flipped the page and saw the beginning of the architect's story.
Believe it or not. This place was once a mighty civilization.
[It's called the Divine Blood Realm, and it was once the capital of the Heavenly Star Chaos Realm.]
Cedric had to pause after that revelation. His mind then recalled the horrible state of this place and found it difficult to believe this.
As you can see, I'm different from you. We're not humans. We are from a race called the 'Divine Blood.' The name sounds pretentious, I know, but our race is old. We've been competing with humans and other races for supremacy over the Primitive Universe, and it's not like I was the one who decided to call us this.
[The term 'Divine Blood' isn't exactly inaccurate though. 'We are born from blood, and from blood we shall depart.' That's one of our most famous quotes. We're all about bloodlines. So long as we have blood, we're immortal. We don't die, we don't fade, we don't age, and we don't fall. How can that not be 'Divine? ']
But of course, that doesn't make us invincible. There are many ways to kill us. A curse called 'Blood Draught' being one of them. Basically, anybody who has an ability to disperse our blood into nothingness is our natural nemesis.
[This glaring flaw is the source of everything that led to our demise and my ultimate decision to create this maze.]
[Because you see, as much as we, 'Divine Bloods,' are proud of who we are, we've grown a little too arrogant and greedy.]
[Nothing is inherently complete or perfect. There will always be an excess and deficiencies. Such is the way of heaven and earth.
[But we, Divine Bloods, didn't want to accept that.]
[What started as an effort to make up for our inherent deficiencies turned into an obsession for perfection.]
[I don't know when but at some point, we got lost in the translation. And that obsession lead to our demise and extinction.]