69 Skyhaven City - Speculations and Storytelling (2)

As vivid images of the events surfaced in the minds of those listening, Johann continued narrating the story as if he was truly there, though it was mostly because of how heated the original storyteller was when he himself told it, "By all rights, Sage Varric should have died after falling from such a height without magic to save himself. However, fate was on his side as a High Elven princess was flying by at the time on her faithful Sky-crossing Peacock and managed to catch him. They got married three hundred years later, but that's not important. What is important is the cause of the event. With the Juneau Clan at the helm, along with the aid of the Worldly Archive, the Oracle and Varric's testimony, the event was investigated down to the smallest detail. It turns out that a scale of a reptilian-like space beast fell into our world and caused an entire city to become a crater."

Seran tapped his fingers on the table as he added his own information, "The scale, which seemed to have come from an area near the tail-tip, was big enough to crush this palace. I'm sure your Founding Emperor would know about this event as well."

"A scale near the end of the tail is rather small compared to others, but it was still big enough to cause that much damage? I can't imagine what would happen if a bigger scale fell," mumbled Wyndham, who had been listening with rapture.

"You don't have to, because if it did, there wouldn't be a Central Continent." The blunt response from the demigod stunned the room once again, though he continued as if it never happened, "The resulting crater has been listed as a forbidden area since the calamitous incident, along with being named the Watervale City Crater as a memorial to the lost city. The scale has remained at the bottom of the crater due to the inability to move it and the wariness towards the strangeness of space beasts. I should also add that the crater is always boiling due to the scale's extremely high temperature." Seran then sat up with a look of solemnity, "The disappearance of the Polypheme Sect was infamous and inexplicable, but if you look at it by comparing it to the supremely unique space beasts, it becomes less confusing. Only a space beast could cause such an odd case. My guess is that the Polypheme Sect somehow got their hands on something related to a space beast and tried to use it for something. Whatever it was, we don't know, but it certainly failed."

The other listeners had several thoughts running through their heads, but Johann had already understood what Seran was getting at when he mentioned space beasts, "As inexplicable as the disappearance is, there is a high chance that it was caused by a space beast's unique powers. What the power is or how long ago the supposed article appeared would require the Oracle's aid."

"Not anymore with me here, don't forget." Seran did not miss the opportunity to bring to Johann's, along with the others, attention that the demigod was also capable of the same abilities as the Oracle, albeit in a different way.

"True enough, Seran. Anyway, according to our current understanding of it, we can assume that this event involves the displacement of a very large area of inhabitants into a separate space from our own, what can only be described as a corruption of sorts to the inhabitants, and a time loop of the day of the event three centuries prior according to some of the information in the recordings. This means we are dealing with the power of a space beast that possesses power over time along with the ability to corrupt an entire empire's worth of people within only a few hours, causing the inhabitants to become those creatures by nightfall. This can only be caused by a space beast, as no magic exists akin to this ability on Aregard. We made sure to relay all of this to the investigation group coming from across the ocean, so we're just making sure everyone is up to speed."

Emperor Valinor had listened silently, making not a single sound as he listened to the discussion. After pondering the matter himself, he understood the severity of the matter, "It seems I will certainly have to go and intrude on our Ancestral Founder's solitude. Since the disappearance happened on the Western Continent, as the strongest person on the continent, he went to personally investigate as well, due to it being his responsibility as the Founding Emperor and his oath to protect the continent. Although the original investigation was deemed a failure, with this new information, I'm almost certain he will want to be present for it."

Andrew decided to cut into the conversation here as he exclaimed, "Can I come too? I've never met our ancestor before!" All members of the Eridan Imperial Family practically worshipped their founding father, Andrew himself being more idolizing of him than others of his generation. Meeting the Founding Emperor was like a rite of passage for a new emperor, while it was the highest honour for any other member.

The emperor chuckled a little, "You'd better listen to what we say, Andrew, or you'll be in serious trouble. Our ancestor's conqueror era might have passed but his demeanour has only gotten sharper with time. Ah, and, whatever you do, don't look at the sword on the wall behind him. After centuries of use, that sword is capable of killing lesser beings simply by being seen. The only people capable of viewing it without fear are His Imperial Majesty, myself, and Seran due to his uniqueness. Succeeding emperors must be blessed by our ancestor himself, in a rite that involves that sword. After receiving a drop of the successor, His Imperial Majesty injects a piece of the aura of his legendary Starsword into them. If they manage to assimilate it, they are worthy of the throne. Otherwise, failure leads to the possibility of being crippled or killed due to its power."

Andrew began to do what he often does and started to overthink things when Seran calmed him down, "Don't worry, you'll be fine. As long as you stand next to me, nothing will happen. I'll just fiddle around with the light in the room so the sword isn't there for you. The aura of the sword still exists, but it'll seem to be coming from your ancestor."

After the young prince nodded and agreed to remain with Seran, the incumbent emperor sighed and rose to his feet, "Alright, let's get going then. Time waits for no man and neither does our ancestor."