Ego of Man

"Master, there seems to be nothing in the first room of the temple. Double doors are straight ahead, they should lead to the internal structure. Should we proceed?"

Cain whisked past the Apostle. "Of course. I'll lead from here on out." He had already spread out his soul energy and covered the entire city, he knew there was nothing left that could cause any harm. However, deep in the temple, something blocked and even eradicated his soul energy if it got too close.

'Curious, I should head deeper as fast as possible. Still, I shouldn't raise any alarms with the others, not even Darla.'

The group followed Cain through the doors at the end of the outer building as they entered the inner sanctum.

It was apparent that this city's architecture was different from other styles found in the world. Its materials were used for buildings commonly used in more advanced eras, yes, yet the style was completely foreign as if it came from another world.

There were many rooms for what seemed to be activities and relaxing. There were also multiple bedrooms meant for one person, which led to Cain suspecting this place was like a real temple where priests resided.

Although those living here would be anything but priests, they did not worship the gods but themselves.

'They must've lived here and worked as scientists of sorts? Or whatever translated to the profession so far in the past. These people have advanced beliefs yet I haven't found a single tool that explains how their minds are so advanced.'

'The idea of humanity being so self-centered doesn't even exist in today's age. Much of the world believes in religion, yet here these ancient humans believed in Man, and they didn't even have anything backing their confidence...'

Finally, after dozens of halls, Cain found something. The group came across the quarters of the same man who wrote the tablets in the outer area.

"Herald, this room is more furnished than the others."

The room they entered had a few tables and chairs, along with what appeared to be a primitive desk with clay tablets. The tablets had the same handwriting as the ones in the outer hall.

"So...he was the mind behind all this? How...and why?" Cain picked up the tablets and read each of them. From the carved clay, he drew connections and lined a story from the words written.

He skimmed through the first few lines without interest. 

'The first entries state the author's childhood, parents killed by another tribe, enslaved, worked as a housekeeper to an abusive and sadistic woman who liked young boys....ah here, he found a magical cave? Wait...what?'

Cain read the lines slowly:

"....that reminds me of when I found the magical cave. It was when I ran from my servitude and ended up in that strange place. I wasn't far from the village either, so the fact a cave was there spooked me at first since there was never one there. Still...I had nowhere else to go. I was so glad I did that, it helped me find the truth to life, the truth that life is nothing but a lie with humans living in it."

Cain put the tablet down. 'Magical cave....the cave we're in now is strangely in a grassland...and this city doesn't seem to have been built in a cave since those flowers in that garden were long dead...so how did this place come to be?'

Cain turned to his Apostles, "Do one of you have a map of the region? Specifically, is there any evidence that this cave existed before the Monster Hunters came here?"

Neither Apostle questioned why Cain would ask such a thing, they both took out their mobile devices and searched. Only when they had their response for Cain did they switch their attitudes and become distraught and confused.

"Sir....there has been no change in the geographical area the cave is located in. This information is updated regularly since we're near a city."

The other Apostle added, "There has never been a cave here, that's what this website is telling me..."

Everyone's eyes dilated.

"I thought as much..."

Cain went to the other tablets and read them:

"I remember the thing I found in that place, I remember the whispers. From those hushed secrets, I understood the truth. Life is a cycle, the dead come to life to die again, for the absence of life is death, and so our origin is death, and we are taken from it. We are brought into a world of pain, given good things just enough so we don't wish to end our lives prematurely. We then ride out a pointless existence.

"However I've learned the truth. Life is a trap, keeping us from our home in death, a state of existence we cannot know due to the curse of life. I have made it my mission to spread this truth, so we may spite the world and leave it to its prison of falsehood. It was that decision that led to this city being built and I am proud."

Cain picked up the next. It was obvious it was older than the one he had just read, even the clay was different:

"I'm excited! A site of a god's corpse had been found. My followers and I immediately began to build our city there.

"Just below the corpse, there is a massive stone, I plan to build the structure the whispers told me, then It will be a true site for not the gods, but Humanity's Mission, a mission to defy the fate we were given!"

Again another tablet:

"I have reworked my understanding of the lie of life into a Gospel, Man's Gospel, which no god has authority over. But now a few of the bigger tribes who worship the gods have become wary of us. I might listen to the voices of the others and their idea to bring about our mission faster."

Another:

"In the stone, we found a crack, and the crack led to the place of voices! They followed us here! We are the chosen ones!

"With the whispers, we can progress rapidly in our creation project. If this works we will ascend one of our people beyond humanity, they will leave their fellow man behind to become the ultimate martyr and transform into a being beyond, a being that defies life!"

There were no more tablets on the desk, however, on the floor, there was a shattered tablet. Cain crouched down to read it, his eyes narrowing.

"The voices were a lie, the well only leads to the devil! The others think this is the way, they still plan to feed someone to it! But that thing isn't kindhearted! It doesn't care for anything! I felt my very existence fade when the first burst came and shook the city.

"Is this death? No no no, I don't wish to die anymore, I can't! I refuse to join those mad followers of mine, they seek only destruction. Their hatred for the world is even deeper than mine!"

Cain's eyebrows raised. 'So in the end the leader couldn't keep up with what was required of him. Though, what is this well? Is there some powerful being inside it? If that's the case, I'm curious. Though, it seems the group of humans ended up trying to make the so-called monster. I wonder, is it still here?' He grinned, standing up to announce his plans.

"We will go to the Core Sanctum now, there I think we'll find something interesting. Follow me!"

The others bowed and stepped aside for Cain to lead them. They were intrigued by what could interest their leader so much, he was not a man known for getting excited.