Chapter 511: The Prophecy
TL: Rui88
After once again mourning his wizard friend and his daughter in his heart, Aldridge continued:
“In my association with Hewitt, I gradually came into contact with the ancient family he hailed from. It was a family that had maintained its heritage for thousands of years, far longer than the history of many civilizations. I was delighted to discover that his family preserved a great deal of mysterious and ancient information. As I just said, wizards can always be linked with words like ‘mysterious’ and ‘ancient.’ That information was all-encompassing, covering things like the prehistoric war between humans and the Demon Race, as well as the Star of Calamity that I was researching.”
“To my pleasant surprise, Sycor Hewitt was himself a man of great learning, and he had also studied that mysterious shooting star. It was as if we had found a kindred spirit…although researching it had not been out of my own initial interest, I had, after all, invested so much energy into it. We happily exchanged our research findings and worked together to find new clues.”
“Many clues were in ancient scripts that no one could decipher and which were unrelated to each other, just like the ones I had collected from all over the continent. This was quite normal. You must understand, civilizations rise and fall. Countless brilliant ancient civilizations like that of Zolf have vanished into the long river of history, leaving only tombs buried underground to show they ever existed.”
“However, we learned at least one thing: for a very long period in human history, this Star of Calamity was feared as an unlucky omen by civilizations in different regions and different eras.”
“Through our efforts, the originally shattered jigsaw puzzle gradually became more complete. We confirmed one point: every time it appeared, it was followed by a great disaster. Great floods that ravaged multiple countries, large-scale wars that lasted for years, volcanic eruptions that could instantly bury a city-state, droughts with locusts everywhere and no harvest to be had, and so on and so forth. You must be aware that the decline of the Gubera Empire began with a drought that lasted for many consecutive years, and before that terrible drought, yes, that calamitous star appeared.”
“Among the information we collected, there was one terrifying prophecy.”
Speaking of this, Aldridge sighed. “What I hate is that I didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time. Otherwise, I would have started preparing long ago.”
“A prophecy?” MacDonald looked at the somewhat regretful Aldridge.Aldridge said in a low voice, “With the 10th appearance of the Star of Calamity, the world will return to the primordial chaos, just as it was when it first appeared.”
“Hmm…” MacDonald stroked his beard, becoming quite engrossed in what Aldridge was saying.
“Then have you verified what the situation was like when this so-called Star of Calamity first appeared?”
“We found it.”
Aldridge’s face was a little pale. “The first trace of the Star of Calamity’s appearance was right before the war with the Demon Race in ancient times.”
“In fact, in many of our human languages, although words like devil, demon, fiend, evil spirit, and monster have different expressions and written forms, they all contain meanings like ‘chaos,’ ‘chaotic,’ or ‘of chaos.’ That is to say, they share a common origin. Combining this with the myth of the human-demon war, which is passed down in almost every country…which is to say, the collective memory of the human race…we speculated that after the first appearance of the star, the disaster of the Demon Race invading the human world occurred. And according to this prophecy, its 10th appearance will herald the return of the legendary Demon Race to invade the human world once more.”
Aldridge became somewhat dejected. “But as I just said, when I first started researching the so-called Star of Calamity, it was merely out of respect for my mentor’s regrets and my own academic interest. Even after deciphering this prophecy, I was half-believing and half-doubting. After all, these events were too distant, too distant, so distant that they left only faint traces in human history. However, just four years ago…”
The old scholar paused. His junior colleague also remained silent beside him.
MacDonald asked anxiously, “Your ‘accidental discovery’?”
“Yes!” The old scholar, prompted by MacDonald’s question, suddenly cried out.
“Four years ago, that Star of Calamity, depicted in the ancient records of Zolf, actually appeared!”
Aldridge realised he had lost his composure. He took a few slow breaths to calm himself.
Then he continued, “At first, it was Scholar Issa Rossi, the court astrologer on duty that day, who discovered this star while observing the celestial phenomena. But he merely recorded it as an ordinary celestial body. However, being well-versed in astrology, it was the first time he had ever seen a shooting star of that shape and colour, so his description was quite detailed.”
“As for me, thinking back carefully, I also saw that shooting star that night, but at the moment I saw it, I didn’t pay it too much mind. I myself do not study astrology, so I lacked sufficient sensitivity at the time. After a glance, I merely regarded it as an ordinary shooting star. However, after I fell asleep, its image grew clearer and clearer in my dreams, eventually waking me from my slumber, and I could not fall asleep again.”
As Aldridge recounted this, MacDonald noticed beads of sweat forming on the old scholar’s forehead.
“I still remember it very clearly to this day. At that moment, I felt as if I were driven by some mysterious force. Dishevelled, I rushed to the observatory tower overnight to look through the records Scholar Rossi had just left. Poor Rossi, who was on night duty, was startled by my sudden intrusion. According to Rossi’s later account, I threw myself at his desk without a care in the world and frantically flipped through his notes.”
A slight tremor entered Aldridge’s voice again. It was clearly uncomfortable for him to recall his state at that time; the people of the Scholars’ Tower were known for their calmness and composure.
“I examined it page by page, and finally found the Star of Calamity that had become so clear in my dreams. The text Rossi had left behind was completely consistent with the image of the star in my dream. At that moment, I thought of the prophecy, and of all the various clues Sycor Hewitt and I had found.”
“The great enemy of our human race is coming! The Demon Race is about to invade this world again!”
“I returned to my own residence and began to frantically go through the research materials that I had spent countless amounts of energy on and had later shelved. Those records were no longer ethereal legends, but had transformed into chains, as if summoning death, binding my body and soul.”
At this point, the old scholar began to grow incoherent again.
Aldridge’s junior colleague placed a hand on his shoulder.
“My respected senior, calm down! Calm down! You are the esteemed chief scholar of the Scholars’ Tower.”