Ch.169Deidric Asmard

‘I have experienced countless failures up until now.’

The book that began with such an introduction contained content too heavy to be dismissed as a mere diary.

It was the memoir of a man who tried to protect people from the cursed power known as black mana that began to spread throughout Grantis, but who became frustrated and despairing when his efforts repeatedly failed to achieve their intended results.

One day, mysterious black mana was discovered somewhere in the far western lands of Grantis.

Those who went to investigate this mana met mysterious deaths, and some of them were resurrected as monsters that began to rampage.

Recognizing the severity of the situation, scholars from each race believed that researching this ‘black mana’ should be the highest priority, and the finest mages and scholars gathered to form a kind of task force.

A man from the ancient human race named Deidric Asmad was the young leader of this research team.

‘Despite gathering the world’s greatest scholars, research on the black mana progressed slowly. All the knowledge we had acquired until then proved useless, and even discovering new patterns proved difficult.’

After years of desperate struggle, the scholars began to uncover the secrets of black mana one by one, revealing that it was not simply a toxin or curse, but a powerful form of magic that distorted the laws of the world.

And they discovered that this black mana was growing more concentrated over time, and once it crossed a certain threshold, it would begin to spread throughout all of Grantis.

Deidric Asmad concealed this fact and devoted himself to research in order to prevent ancient Grantis society from falling into a massive vortex of chaos.

At first, he sought ways to halt the increase of black mana, but no clues emerged, and as the research progressed, he became increasingly convinced that the spread of black mana was an inevitable future.

Eventually, Deidric Asmad’s research team had no choice but to abandon their efforts to suppress the black mana and instead focus on how to survive its effects under the assumption that it would spread throughout Grantis.

The first successful solution was the Spirit Tree system for the Elven race.

Following the success of the Spirit Tree system, they also found clues for countermeasures for the Dwarven and Beastkin races.

After achieving some visible results, they informed the representatives of each race about the existence of black mana and received support, which accelerated the research on countermeasures against black mana.

‘However, no matter how hard we tried, we could not complete a method to save the Human race from the black mana.’

And finally, the black mana crossed the threshold and slowly began to spread throughout Grantis.

While the Elven Elders cultivated Spirit Trees, Dwarven engineers crafted Black Maros, and Beastkin shamans perfected totem magic…

All the Humans could do was flee eastward to escape the spreading black mana.

It was from that point that the life of the man named Deidric Asmad began to fall into an abyss of endless failure.

He faced resentment and blame for concealing the impending doom of the world for so long and for failing to save his own race, the Humans.

Above all, watching Grantis’s once beautiful sky gradually turn black began to slowly break down Deidric Asmad’s mind.

It would be no exaggeration to say that his life was permitted to continue solely to find a salvation method for the Human race, and he desperately searched for solutions, even resorting to forbidden magic and drugs.

He failed to modify the Elven Spirit Trees to be effective for Humans.

He failed to adapt the Dwarven Black Maros to absorb the black mana accumulated in Human bodies.

He failed to make the Beastkin totem magic drive out black mana from Human bodies.

He failed to secure safe zones by artificially controlling the direction of black mana’s spread.

He failed to push back the black mana with more powerful magical waves.

He failed in his attempt to create magic-prohibited zones that would not allow mana to pass through, blocking the invasion of black mana.

He failed to modify Humans by transplanting characteristics of other races to allow them to live in Elven, Dwarven, or Beastkin villages.

After countless such failures, Deidric Asmad finally achieved a small success around the time when black mana had consumed more than half of Grantis.

The solution was to sever two physically connected spaces with a dimensional rift to prevent black mana from crossing over to “this world.”

Deidric Asmad put his heart and soul into creating a massive facility to activate this grand magic, and for the first time, the endless spread of black mana stopped.

However, as with any facility made by human hands, maintenance was necessary, and it was natural that it could be damaged by natural disasters, accidents, or deliberate terrorism.

Of course, among those who had fled from the black mana, there would be no one who would want to damage this great facility that was saving the world.

Because of this, Deidric Asmad and his followers let down their guard.

They never dreamed that from the western lands filled with black mana, there would be those who would infiltrate to destroy this facility and resume the erosion of black mana.

For several years after that, the area around the “Miracle Tower” that suppressed the spread of black mana became a battlefield where people fighting for survival, other races helping them, and forces seeking to annihilate them all clashed.

‘In the end, we were defeated. The Miracle Tower collapsed, the dimensional wall crumbled, and the dormant black mana resumed its expansion.’

The various races in the east, who had placed all their hopes on the Miracle Tower, now believed they could no longer stop the spread of black mana and began preparing for individual survival, just as their kin in the west had done.

However, a definite means of survival for the Human race had still not been established.

‘Even after that, I explored numerous methods for the survival of the Human race and achieved a few small successes, but I have decided not to record those achievements. I fear that those who wish for the extinction of ancient humanity might get hold of these records and misuse them.’

The memoir had reached its final page.

‘If the person who discovers this book is my wife Anastasia, I am sorry that I could not keep my promise to be with you forever.’

‘If the person who discovers this book is a descendant of the ancient Human race, I simply leave my thanks that you have survived.’

“…And if by any chance the person who discovers this book is an outsider from beyond Grantis, I hope that the numerous magical arts and tools I have left behind will be of some help to your future.”

Having finished reading the last page, I placed the Great Sage’s memoir on the table.

An upright heart that worried and suffered through countless failures, persecuted yet only wishing for the survival of his kin, the ancient Human race.

I felt dejected thinking that his heart had disappeared without ever receiving its due reward.

“This is… a major discovery that will turn not just the academic world but the entire pioneer society upside down.”

“Because Deidric Asmad knew about the spread of black mana but concealed it?”

“That too, but more importantly, it’s the detailed account of the process by which black mana engulfed Grantis and what attempts were made during that time. Until now, no such records have ever been found anywhere.”

In other words, this memoir is valuable not only as a record of the deeds of the great man Deidric Asmad but also as a historical document revealing what happened in the western part of Grantis long ago.

Moreover, the “Miracle Tower” facility mentioned in the middle of the text is described as having successfully suppressed the black mana, if only briefly.

Although it was destroyed due to losing the war, if we could find the ruins of that tower, we might be able to learn more about black mana.

“This is something we found through the Arcane Word, but it’s too important to keep to ourselves or bury. What should we do?”

“I think we should hand this particular material over to the Pioneer Administration. It’s an important matter, and there’s no direct mention of the Arcane Word anyway.”

“What about Anastasia?”

“Ah… right. We should show it to Anastasia first and get her permission. Before being an important ancient artifact, it’s her husband’s memento.”

No matter how significant this material might be for the pioneers, we can’t just pass it on without informing his wife, who is still very much alive.

First, we should show this memoir to Anastasia and ask if its contents can be made public and if she would be willing to hand it over for the benefit of the pioneers.

“Hmm, I agree we should give it to Anastasia first, but going all the way back to Riverside from here seems a bit much.”

“Then why don’t we meet her in a dream like last time? We can decide whether to proceed to the next outpost or return to Riverside based on the outcome.”

“That sounds like a good plan. So we’re staying in this house tonight?”

“That would be best. There’s no need to pitch tents when we have a perfectly good house.”

I feel a bit guilty about making ourselves at home in a house someone built as their newlywed home… but what can we do? For safety’s sake, we should make use of whatever is available.

I think Anastasia would understand us staying for one night if we’re delivering her husband’s memento to her.

…Or at least I hope so.