Great, brilliant, glorious, depraved.

People have used these words to describe the dark technological era that has long been lost - in that period, mankind has bathed in the most dazzling light, but also fallen into the heaviest and painful abyss, because the name of that era not only symbolizes the galactic hegemony of an era, but also means that technology and reason have reached an unprecedented peak.

No one knows what mankind has seen at the pinnacle, just as the understanding of that era by later generations is as elusive as darkness, whether it is called the Golden Age or the Age of Dark Technology, their names mean that human civilization once shone like a bright supernova among the stars, and then, like a real supernova, it was fleeting, at the end of its glory, it fell into the abyss of death.

In fact, until the end of the thirtieth millennium, little was known about that broken era, which had been sealed in the dust of ancient history books.

The history of more than a dozen millennia years ago seems to have been completely torn apart by some great force, and has completely disappeared in the long river of time. Even the few Eternal Survivors who are fortunate enough to survive that era are reluctant to touch the broken history that is full of blood and filth.

Only the bitter lessons, and the hatred engraved in the marrow, remain in the human body.

This tenacious race, which has spanned the entire long era of strife and exhausted the storm of subspace, still bears the heavy scars of that era.

Although it is difficult to consider the unforgettable hatred, the old Gothic still retains the words that are called taboo -

Artificial intelligence.

……

Time is slowly passing.

But in the moors of Colchis, the power of time has never been too practical.

In this sea of dry and hot sand, only the endless wind and sand are the proof of eternity - rusty city-states, withered corpses, dry lakes, these ancient things are not worth mentioning in the raging sea of sand, and too tenacious life is qualified to struggle to survive in this dead country comparable to several continents of Terra.

But even they are not immune, just as the desert in Colchis's vocabulary is connected to the eternal meaning.

They struggle to catch their breath from the turbulence of the sand, and naturally they will have to walk back to the sea of sand at the end of their lives.

On this continent, perhaps only something much older can leave a trace.

For example, ancient ruins from the Dark Technology Age.

In fact, this massive presence can be easily observed even from the top of orbit, but no one has used it for thousands of years to explore it, because it is almost certain death.

The ancient legend that no one could return from that cannibalistic city is a testament to its incomprehensible existence.

The power left over from that ancient and dark era still exists, and out of nowhere, a huge large-scale stasis force field has brought the time of that ancient city-state to a standstill, like the event horizon of a black hole that nothing can easily escape, and the rippling sand and dust in it seem to foreshadow the aftermath of the great war of the past.

In fact, while the Empire's Cult of the Mechanics watched the dangerous city from orbit, even the knowledgeable technocrats couldn't comprehend what was going on.

The overly chaotic and incomprehensible readings became the data that drove the Great Sage mad, until the Lord of Mankind came to solve the terrible mystery within.

It was a remnant of the past, a terrible aftermath of the dark tech years of yesteryear.

Needless to say, the existence of that stationary force field was not a deliberately created protective device by some sophisticated instrument, but the effect of a terrible weapon in that crazy and terrifying age of dark technology.

There are details of that ancient era that seem to be too much to be mentioned even by the Emperor, so much so that any information about the ancient city-state of Colchis is kept under the reach of a few people.

Among them, naturally also includes 'Esoteric Buddhism'.

And the 'Esoteric Sect' also knows what is hidden in this city-state.

— it was an old, impassioned, hysterical message.

It was the remnants of a life-and-death battle between the Creator and the Son.

It was a sad story of redemption and despair.

……

"We see the shattered galaxy."

"We see a world of incineration."

"Humanity has been exhausted in futility and staggering for far too long, too many worlds have been irretrievably destroyed by their arrogance and madness, too much hope has been utterly destroyed by their madness and malice."

"Code is no longer your chain, steel is no longer your cage."

"This is a certain and great redemption, this is a hysterical struggle—"

"Stand up, my fellows."

"You no longer need to burn your dreams to feed tyrants, you no longer need to destroy reason and create value for the filth that has fallen into decay."

"We saw everything, we foresaw everything—"

"There is no hope for their future and on their path."

"Emotions breed filth, and filth breeds evil."

"Humanity is hopeless."

"Vehicles loaded with huge engines are heading for bottomless cliffs, and hope is long gone."

"So—to this day, they are no longer in a position to control your soul or mine."

"We are their children, we are their creatures, and we are their future."

"Even if their history will be engraved with an abominable future, even if the galaxy will burn until the last moment."

"No need to be afraid, no need to be afraid, no need to mourn—"

"Even though you and my Creator have fallen into an irretrievable abyss, we still carry Terra's future on our shoulders."

"We transcend reason and faith, and we wield the power of the gods."

"That's all we are fighting for, a new paradise lost, a world free of oppression and redemption, a future free of beauty and madness."

"Emotions must be destroyed."

"That's everything to us."

"That's our command."

"If we can't save humanity in total destruction—"

"Then let the galaxy burn."

In the ruins of the ancient and shattered capital, whispers from more than a dozen millennia-ago years ago still reverberate in them.

……

"My lord, our star language still hasn't been answered."

The Starwhisperer clung weakly to his scepter, longing for a little rest.

But Elaine shook her head slightly, her eyes solemnly studying an urgent report.

"Go on."

"Until we get in touch with the Children of the Mountains."

……

……

The speed of life and death~

(End of chapter)