The old man couldn't endure the torture, so he answered every question the players had.
Just as he'd said, this [Decay] nation's Court had beco an empty shell.
The emperor had fled. He'd taken his ministers, nobles, and guards through a teleportation array inscribed beneath the Court, escaping to a place no outsider could know.
The reason the Rosna royal family had abandoned their entire nation in this panicked flight was simple: the current era had long since ceased to be [Decay]'s heyday. Faith was crumbling, power was being reconstructed, and across the Land of Hope, more and more self-proclaid "World Destroyers" were appearing.
They believed the gods had stopped watching this continent because humanity's filth had polluted divine perception. So under the banner of "purifying the world for the gods," they began annihilating everything.
Nurous neighboring kingdoms had already been destroyed by these World Destroyers. Under their indiscriminate slaughter, no life survived — and not just life. Even traces of civilization spanning millennia were scoured clean.
The entire continent was shrouded in the shadow of annihilation. The air everywhere reeked of panic.
When this tide of terror reached the Rosna Empire, the declining royal family was terrified. And so the current scene ca to pass.
Through ancient arrays passed down from the Life Era, they'd abandoned their ho and capital, leaving an entire city's populace defenseless in place — sitting ducks awaiting the World Destroyers' blades.
Reportedly, aside from the capital Kannar, all other cities had already been reduced to ash.
The citizens still expected the royal family to rally and mount a final stand. But these supposedly "most devout" [Decay] followers had long since secretly betrayed [Decay], dumping the wreckage of their faith behind them.
Since [Decay] had never granted them power, He naturally wouldn't punish these overlooked apostates either. So for self-preservation's sake, the Rosna royals chose to save themselves amid the apocalypse.
This old man who'd been left behind was the "lucky winner" chosen for the cleanup.
Once the teleportation array activated, it wouldn't stop unless its core inscriptions were damaged. The royal family, terrified the World Destroyers would follow, had left behind one minister who knew how to dismantle the array.
After destroying the array, this minister had no escape route. He foresaw his end — when the World Destroyers arrived and found the Court empty, they'd unleash their fury on him. To spare himself a brutal fate, he'd decided to die first: walk outside and freeze to death in the blizzard.
But then the players arrived. Da Yi found him monts before death and dragged him here.
Hearing the old man's full account, the group exchanged glances — their eyes holding both empathy and sudden understanding.
None were surprised by Rosna's fate. The description even pointed them toward a specific deity:
[Oblivion].
[Decay] had decayed. [Oblivion] was being born.
So this trial's backdrop was the transitional period between two faiths within the Sinking Era.
Those self-proclaid World Destroyers had to be [Oblivion]'s followers.
[Oblivion]'s followers were no joke. Most harbored uncontrollable urges toward destruction. And this was the Land of Hope in an age of divine supremacy — nothing could stop these annihilation-worshipping maniacs!
No wonder the Rosna royals had been so terrified, so desperate to flee.
After the historical context clicked, the group fell silent again, because they simultaneously realized that reality had completely contradicted their earlier assumptions.
They'd initially believed the figure worshipped by the masses in the scroll was a ruler — at minimum, a devout person of high status. But now, this Rosna Empire didn't have a single devout high-ranking individual left.
From emperor to ministers to nobles to soldiers, every Oathbreaker who'd betrayed the faith had vanished through a destroyed teleportation array to survive in hiding. Only a city of ordinary citizens remained, kept in the dark, naively awaiting death.
Laughable and tragic.
Given all this, could the scroll's scene truly have occurred in the past?
Da Yi scratched his head in frustration:
"Hot damn, I knew this wouldn't be simple. Everyone who could rally a crowd has bolted. Looks like we'll need to go through [mory] after all.
"Brother Jiang, it's on you now. Don't worry — I'll make the paynt worth your while."
Jiang Chi didn't respond, still deep in thought. It was Cheng Shi who shook his head at Da Yi, signaling him to wait. Then, smiling, he addressed the old man:
"So you're one of the Rosna Empire's ministers?"
The old man pressed his cracked lips together and stiffly nodded. He'd picked up that these people were looking for soone.
"Good. And your title is?"
The old man stamred, then quavered: "Historian. I'm a historian who records history..."
'A Historian!?'
Everyone's jaws dropped. Cheng Shi broke into a wide grin.
'See? This was fate. It constantly created dead ends, yet always managed to produce a miracle just when the road ran out.'
He looked at the old man's conflicted face and smiled even wider.
"Then I think I can guess why you were the one left behind, Historian. This teleportation array, passed down from the Life Era — almost no one in the entire empire knows how to operate it, right? Or rather, almost no one knows how to destroy it.
"But soone steeped in history — like you — would be one of the few who did.
"You phrased it very delicately. 'Lucky winner.' Tch. Seems that luck was rather... predetermined.
"I'm curious what the Rosna royals used to threaten you into staying. But that's no longer important. The mont you revealed you're a Historian, you saved yourself.
"Trust
— the history you love will beco the power that redeems you.
"And how should we address you, Historian?"
The old man was thoroughly confused, but he'd caught a glimr of hope in Cheng Shi's words. So he nervously complied:
"Jia Lun. My na is Jia Lun."
"Jia Lun — what a fine na!" Cheng Shi clapped lightly and continued: "As a Historian, Sir Jia Lun must know Rosna's history inside and out. So I have a question.
"In these brief hundred years of Rosna's history, which year saw a massive gathering in the plaza outside the Court?
"I can give you more hints. This assembly was related to your faith, and—"
Before he could finish, Jia Lun's face went rigid.
Seeing the sudden change, Cheng Shi's heart sank. He asked with growing unease:
"Did I say sothing wrong?"
Old Jia Lun's withered lips twitched. He answered gingerly:
"My... my lords, I must point out — the plaza you're referring to is called the Rosna Recruitnt Square. It was only completed in the latter half of this year, built to recruit soldiers to reinforce the cities beyond the capital.
"But in the second month after its completion — that is, now... His Majesty fled, along with the Conscription Minister and the Chief War Minister."
He finished with a stiff grimace: "If you have further questions about this brief history, I could go to the Construction Minister's attic and look through the building records."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Cheng Shi's face darkened: "The plaza was built just one month ago?"
"Yes..."
The players exchanged a look, then turned to Poison. Her expression hardened. She stated with absolute certainty:
"I won't forget, and I wasn't wrong. It's definitely that plaza. The columns and the steps are in the exact sa positions."
She drew a dagger and began carving directly into the snow-covered ground. This ti she worked far faster than in the house, sketching out lines and contours in just a few strokes.
Poison's drawing skill was solid. Before long, everyone could see it was clearly the Rosna Recruitnt Square, drawn from what appeared to be the Court's vantage point. It didn't look like sothing Poison had hastily fabricated by deconstucting perspective on the fly.
Da Yi's hopeful expression sank again.
Cheng Shi's gaze sharpened as he fell into thought. He didn't even need to look at the ground sketch — Master of Deception told him Poison wasn't lying.
If the scroll's scene hadn't occurred in the past, that ant it was destined to happen in the near future.
But the question was — who would rally the entire city's population?
'Could there really be so heaven-sent savior in Kannar?'
'Hiss—'
'Don't tell
it's Jia Lun?'
'The black clothing matched. But still...'
Cheng Shi stepped back and whispered to Poison:
"The puzzle you saw — was it in color?"
Poison blinked, shook her head, then nodded:
"Skin-etched art has no color. The flesh only had blood-red grooves. But I can confirm the figure's clothing was black — because that outfit was the only thing filled in.
"The artist seed to be specifically morializing that detail. It was the only color in the entire puzzle.
"You suspect... him? The Historian?"
Cheng Shi nodded. Currently, old Jia Lun fit best — identity, status, and timing all roughly aligned. If it wasn't him, finding the figure from the scroll would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Poison scrutinized Jia Lun carefully, then said with rare seriousness:
"His robe has no hood. The figure in black... was wearing one."
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