Free Web NovelChapter 593: Chapter 593 - The Forgotten One
The Remembrance Trial returned to its original empty chamber.
For a long time, Seravelle said nothing.
Clara stood beside her and did not speak either.
That alone proved how much the trial had affected her.
Even Clara had been shaken.
She had known these were records of the past.
She had not expected such a large truth to fall directly into her hands.
And the Primordial Slime...
Clara’s eyes slowly grew brighter again.
She had seen the truth.
The slimes were more holy than she had thought.
She had once treated them as blessed creatures related to Lucien’s path.
Now she had witnessed a true Primordial Slime sealing half the world.
Clara’s faith rearranged several internal shelves at once.
She then glanced at Seravelle.
She didn’t say anything to her.
The Holy Maiden needed to reach the next step herself.
For several breaths, the two women stood in silence.
Then Clara’s Administrative Miracle System pulsed softly.
She sent a message to Lucien.
•••
Outside the Remembrance Trial, Lucien breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He had watched Seravelle’s expression change.
Lucien did not need Clara to explain the result.
Seravelle was smart.
This trip through the past had opened her eyes, her heart, and her faith in the right direction.
That was enough for the first step. freewebnovёl.ƈom
Then Lucien thought about the Remembrance Trial itself.
His relief immediately turned into pain.
Lucien closed his eyes and extended his Spirit Sense toward the Echo Crucible’s energy chamber.
Normally, the consumption was manageable.
But this Remembrance Trial had devoured essence as if it had personally been starved by history.
Lucien saw several batteries dimmed. Some Void Monster had shriveled completely.
Their essence had been consumed so thoroughly that they looked like dried skins wrapped around the memory of being unpleasant.
Lucien stared.
Then his expression became dull.
"This trial ate my batteries. It did simulate the Millennia War. But echoes of too many people used up too much essence."
Lucien sighed.
After this, he and Seran would need to grind Void Monsters again.
Still, Lucien could not deny the result.
It had been worth it.
He glanced at the projection again.
Inside the chamber, Seravelle remained silent, and Clara stood beside her.
The trial had opened the door.
Now Clara needed to guide her through it.
Lucien was about to turn away when his system pinged.
A message appeared.
[My lord, may we access the highest floor of the Echo Crucible?]
Lucien went still.
The highest floor.
That was where the Human Ancestor’s echo remained.
Lucien stared at Clara’s message.
He thought for several breaths. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Clara would not ask without reason.
And if she was asking now, after Seravelle had seen the Guardians leave, then she must want to show something more.
Lucien exhaled, then replied.
[Granted.]
•••
Inside the Remembrance Trial chamber, Clara’s smile bloomed.
Seravelle, beside her, remained silent for a long time.
Her blindfold hid her eyes, but not the tremor of her faith.
Clara waited.
For once, she did not rush.
Then, when the silence had carried enough weight, Clara gently nudged her sleeve.
Seravelle turned slightly.
Clara’s voice was soft.
"I want to bring you to another place."
Seravelle did not answer immediately.
Her lips parted, then closed.
After a breath, she asked, "Is it another miracle?"
Clara smiled.
"It depends on how you interpret it."
That was not reassuring.
Seravelle had learned enough about Clara to understand that.
Clara continued, "But I think he is the strongest person."
Seravelle stilled.
The words were bold.
She had just seen Primordial Incarnations.
She had watched the Silent Guardians stand between extinction and the living.
For Clara to say that another figure was the strongest person after all of that...
Either Clara was exaggerating.
Or the next echo was not simple.
Seravelle’s curiosity stirred despite her exhaustion.
Clara did not explain further.
She simply reached out.
Seravelle allowed Clara to guide her without resistance.
They climbed through the stairways.
Seravelle tilted her head.
The previous trial had rung with war, grief, sacrifice, and vast truth.
This stairway rang with pressure.
Human pressure.
The kind of pressure left behind when countless lives entrusted one person to stand at the front and that person did not run.
Seravelle’s expression changed.
Clara began climbing.
"Come."
Seravelle followed.
•••
Soon, they reached the highest floor.
This floor has only foe.
Clara immediately controlled the mechanism.
And then, the world unfolded with restraint.
A boundless plain appeared beneath a colorless sky.
And suddenly...
One figure appeared.
He was standing at the center of the plain.
He did not look like the kind of being who should stand above Primordial battlefields in the Echo Crucible’s highest floor.
That made him more unsettling.
Clara froze.
The moment she saw him, the old impulse returned.
Kneel.
Something inside her faith recognized him.
It had happened before, and Clara had never fully understood why.
She had always suspected the Human Ancestor was connected to Lucien in some hidden way.
The first time she had seen this echo, she had wanted to kneel without anyone telling her to.
Clara’s devotion was not fragile.
It could not be forced easily.
She did not kneel to power simply because power was overwhelming.
She worshipped meaning.
And somehow, the Human Ancestor’s echo carried a meaning that pointed in the same direction as Lucien.
That was why she had brought Seravelle here.
Seravelle had the Ninth Bell True-Sight.
Even without Seravelle telling her the full details, Clara had already guessed enough. The Holy Maiden could perceive truth, lies, essence, roots, and resonance.
If anyone could tell whether the Human Ancestor and Lucien shared some deeper spiritual direction, it was Seravelle.
Clara steadied herself.
She did not kneel.
She wanted to watch Seravelle first.
The figure on the plain did not move.
The trial remained silent.
Then a message appeared.
[Highest Floor: Human Ancestor.]
[Combat condition: inactive.]
[The echo will not attack unless challenged.]
[Observation mode permitted.]
Seravelle read the words.
Then her entire body went still.
"The Human Ancestor..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
Clara looked at her.
"You know of him?"
Seravelle’s hand trembled against her prayer cord.
"Some records in the Monastery do not belong to the Silent Guardians. They are older than the current doctrine. Older than several rewritten lineages. They call him the forgotten one."
Clara’s expression changed.
Seravelle continued, "Our roots and beginning."
Then, before Clara could speak, Seravelle knelt.
Clara froze.
Seravelle lowered her head deeply toward the Human Ancestor’s echo.
"This humble person is unworthy to stand before you."
Clara stared at her.
Then stared at the Human Ancestor.
Then back at Seravelle.
For once, Clara was speechless.
Lucien, watching through the projection, slowly leaned forward.
"What?"
The Human Ancestor had not moved.
And Seravelle, the Holy Maiden of the Ninth Bell, who had nearly knelt before Primordial Incarnations but had been stopped by Clara, now knelt without hesitation before his echo.
Lucien did not know what to say.
...
Clara finally spoke.
"Sister Seravelle, can you tell me more about him?"
Seravelle fell silent for a moment.
"I am unworthy to speak of him with certainty. I have only read fragments of old records."
Her covered gaze remained lowered.
"But what I do know is this."
Clara waited.
"The Thousand Races would not be here without him."
At those words, Clara was slightly surprised.
Lucien and the others had never explained the Human Ancestor in detail.
Seravelle continued quietly.
"It was said that he changed the path of this world. He made it possible for ordinary mortals to reach Eternity."
Seravelle paused.
She looked uncertain for a moment, as if afraid her words could not carry enough weight.
Then she continued.
"He was called the Human Ancestor not because he was the first human."
Her voice lowered.
"He was called that because he became the source of the "new" humans who came after him."
Clara’s expression slowly changed.
"He was the first man who could wield the energy of the universe."
