Volume 4: The End of the World Chapter 52 Secret
Green placed his trembling hand on the large book that looked big enough to be used as a small table and took a deep breath.
He felt nervous, not entirely because the cover of the book was made of a material that looked like human skin, nor because when he touched it with his fingers, he could feel the warm body temperature and fine sweat, which made him feel that the book seemed alive.
The most crucial reason was that the presiding judge told him that a demon general was sealed in this book.
"The Keeper of Secrets", also known as "Secret", was also the former first demon general under the Forbidden Sage.
The Secret Keeper feeds on secret historical records. Whenever it learns a little-known secret, it will hunt down all those who know the secret and destroy all records to ensure that the secret will always be kept by itself alone.
It is rumored that anyone who tries to spy on the secrets it keeps will be tortured to death in extremely cruel ways. Nowadays, many stories about people being hunted by demons after knowing secrets they shouldn't know are all due to the deeds of this demon general.
And now, the presiding judge asked him to open the book that sealed the "Secret Keeper" alone.
He felt that the presiding judge wanted him dead.
"Don't worry, just follow the steps I told you to read the book and come back when you get the answer. I will ensure your safety."
Before entering the room, the presiding judge assured him with confidence and gave him a thumbs up to show encouragement.
Having said that, Green couldn't help but wonder if this was some kind of special execution method within the Tribunal.
Looking at this large book with a cover made of skin, Green couldn't help but take a deep breath again.
Ever since he was given the status of "Key Holder", he had been looking forward to obtaining the permission to borrow books from the third floor of the library. Although the books on the first two floors were enough for him and even the teachers of the entire Blackwater University of Magic to study for a lifetime... but if possible, who wouldn't want to learn more profound magic knowledge?
"Forget it, I have to take some risks..."
The Chief Judge had promised him before that as long as he passed this trial, he would be given the right to borrow books on the third floor of the library in the future.
Legends and even the magical knowledge of the divine realm seemed to be beckoning to him at this moment. That was a realm that he had not even dared to imagine that he could reach in the past.
Although there is no saying in their culture that "wealth and honor must be sought in danger", Green still took a few deep breaths, held a similar awareness, and gritted his teeth to open the buckle on the book.
Accompanied by a groaning sound like a sigh, the opened book turned the pages continuously without wind, making a "rustling" sound.
Finally, the page stopped at a yellowed paper in the middle, which was densely covered with sticky red notes. Among them were cursive common text, slender Elven text, totem-like moon symbols, and wedge-shaped Ossian text...
Before Green could take a closer look at the contents, a pair of hands wrapped in chains suddenly stretched out from the pages and firmly grasped his shoulders like a pair of pliers. Then a feeling of falling rose in his stomach, and when he came to his senses, Green was already in an unfamiliar place.
"Is it to remember, or to forget?"
A grating sound echoed in his ears, sounding like metal scraping against a marble tabletop.
Not far away, a tall figure who was tied tightly to a brass pillar with countless spiked iron chains asked with his head lowered.
"To remember..."
Green carefully answered according to Lord William's instructions.
With the sound of dragging chains, the figure raised his head and looked at him - although Green was not sure how the other person's eyes sewn up with needle and thread should "see" him, just as he was also not sure how the other person's mouth sewn up with needle and thread should make any sound.
“Interesting…”
The man said hoarsely.
"Which record that should have been forgotten do you want to bring back from the long river of history? And do you understand what price you will pay for it?"
"Eternal silence will be the price I will pay, and as for what I hope to remember..."
Green said nervously while swallowing his saliva.
"A record of all the large-scale time disruptions in the world."
…………
Although the demon sealed there was named "Secret Keeper", William knew very well that what the other party was most keen on was actually "leaking secrets".
The authority of the Taboo Sage is the taboo itself, and the essence of the taboo is the boundary that cannot be crossed. Naturally, a taboo that cannot be broken has no value in existence.
Because of this, the five demons under the taboo sage - secrets, oaths, precepts, morality, and order - will instinctively pursue their own opposites. They can only exert their strongest power by maintaining their state at the moment before breaking the taboo.
As for the demon general who holds the power of "secrets", the way he uses to maintain his integrity is the so-called altar of truth - telling the mortals who are eager to know the truth the secrets he knows, and killing them immediately after they know the truth, so as to ensure that his secrets will not be truly leaked.
As the embodiment of secrets, the Secret Keeper knows a vast amount of secrets, even comparable to many Void Kings. It can be said that it alone occupies about half of the information on the third floor of the entire library.
Therefore, at the end of the thousand-year Lunar Crisis, this Lunar existence that should have been completely destroyed was finally decided by the Tribunal to be permanently sealed for future use after considering its potential value - at least in the quest line related to it, this was William's choice.
Of course, the main reason is that it gives me one more book to collect.
After traveling through time, William had planned to torture the demon general and extract more useful information from him.
But the result disappointed him greatly - he never expected that this guy could be so stubborn. No matter how he threatened or tortured him, he couldn't pry even a shred of information out of him.
Even if William expressed his willingness to step onto its so-called "altar of truth," it would just shake its head and say, "As long as you don't want to die, I can't kill you, so I will never make a deal with you."
After William tried several times with perseverance, as soon as the other party sensed that William was around, he would hide in the deepest part of the seal and pretend to be dead, and would not make a sound no matter how much he shouted.
This made William so angry that his teeth itched, but he could do nothing - the other party was determined not to say anything, what else could he do?
This approach was a dead end, and after much thought, William could only think of asking someone else to get the secret from it, and then he would activate the seal at the last moment to save the questioner.
But to be honest, William was not sure whether the other party would be fooled. At least from a human perspective , this approach was stupid. But for those Moon Realm monsters who were born from concepts, they might not have thought of this...
Therefore, after seeing the "Secret Keeper" drag Green directly into the book, William was relieved.
…………
"interesting ……"
The "Secret Keeper" who was chained to a copper pillar said with a smile.
"As far as I can remember, you seem to be the first mortal who wants to know this. It's really admirable, but of course, it also seems greedy."
"So? Can you tell me?"
In response, Green bravely asked back.
No, no, no…
At the same time, deep in his heart, he kept praying that the other party didn't know. In this way, the risk he would take would be much smaller.
"Luckily for you, I do happen to know some of the records. And I'm sure those secrets would be worth your life in exchange."
Damn...
Green tried hard not to curse out loud.
He subconsciously touched his chest. Under the high-collared academy dress, he saw the holy emblem of the Eighth Holy Spirit, which had been blessed by the deity himself, hanging on his chest.
Gaining a sense of security from the holy emblem, he said:
"Go ahead, I'm ready."
There was another sound of dragging chains, and the Secret Keeper opened his arms and looked towards the illusory deep sky.
"If you want to break up time on a large scale, there must be a huge change in the Void King and the Holy Spirit. As far as I know, there have been three such changes on the Vic continent in history. The first was the 'Twelve Victories' of 'Moon Deceiver' Demuge, the second was the 'Birth of the Mother' in Ravenwood, and the third was the period you call the 'Lunar Crisis', which was a miraculous victory caused by the 'Lunar Disaster'."
"Excuse me, where do you want to start?"
