After briefly examining the files, Caelus understood the situation surrounding this church. In short, some people admired the strength and evolutionary nature of those strange marine creatures, so they came to believe that humans were too fragile and willingly sought to join them and become like them. After obtaining the bodies and flesh of those marine creatures, these people used methods such as ingestion and grafting to mutate their own bodies, becoming part of those creatures.
At the same time, beneath the waters of Iberia lay a nation called Ægir. Its people lived in the ocean and had established an organization known as the Abyssal Hunters, who were responsible for hunting those marine creatures.
According to the understanding of the cultists who worshipped these marine creatures, they had named the swarm-like beings with evolutionary capabilities the "Seaborn."
"However, the Seaborn themselves are not particularly aggressive. Even though they possess immense evolutionary potential, they only evolve when pressured by their environment. It seems the Ægirians do not understand this. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to say what the Seaborn will eventually evolve into. After all, if their collective evolutionary ability continues to develop, I am afraid it will not be long before Ægir's technological progress can no longer keep up."
Although the Ægirians lived beneath the sea and their technological prowess was unquestionable, it probably would not be enough to truly contend with a swarm of creatures that roamed freely through the ocean and could evolve rapidly.
Judging from the situation, could Iberia's Golden Fleet have vanished, and the nation fallen into its current state of silence, precisely because they had provoked the Seaborn?
"And is the reason other countries are unwilling to provoke Iberia or invade it on a large scale precisely because of the Seaborn's existence? As long as Iberia continues to exist, even if the Seaborn invade the continent on a large scale in the future, the other nations will not be caught completely unprepared. They will still have a vast buffer zone."
Caelus fell into deep thought. Then, the various pieces of information recorded within the secret chamber began to flow continuously. Every sheet of paper became damp and sticky, as though it had been made from the skin of some unknown marine creature.
The papers squirmed and merged as though they were alive, eventually assembling themselves into a pale blue book atop a small table.
Blue tentacles resembling veins spread across the cover of the book, wrapping around the entire volume.
Caelus made a few minor adjustments, then looked at the small book, which was filled with the aura of the ocean, and nodded. He felt that his artistic ability was actually quite good. He then left behind a note indicating that it was a gift for their Abyssal Cult.
After planting this seed, Caelus left the area. He had already seen the situation in Iberia. Next, he intended to travel beneath the sea and see what kind of place Ægir, about which only fragments of information remained, truly was.
After Caelus left, a member of the Abyssal Cult rushed inside in a panic. As the first to return, and since Caelus had not concealed his actions, he immediately discovered that the hidden section of the church had been opened and entered. He hurried inside to investigate.
As a result, he found that a large number of files and documents had disappeared, while a peculiar-looking book had been left on the table.
The man stared at the book. Its style closely resembled that of the Seaborn. After hesitating for a moment, an inexplicable attraction and overwhelming curiosity urged him to pick it up.
The moment his hand touched the book, the tentacles wrapped around it seemed to come alive. They pierced directly into his hand, and the forbidden knowledge recorded within the book flowed into his body through them.
"Gulu... Guga, ah, heh!"
His body twisted in an unnaturally grotesque manner, defying the structure of human bones, for a long time. All kinds of strange noises emerged from his mouth.
When the book fell to the floor, he finally calmed down. Then, from beneath the wide robe covering his lower body, a slender tentacle extended outward, wrapped around the book, and lifted it back up.
At that moment, several more members of the Abyssal Cult entered. After seeing the scene before them, they demanded to know what had happened.
"Father, you have granted me rebirth. Now, how should I repay you?"
"Hmm, perhaps Father would be pleased by a flourishing and prosperous civilization."
"And a good civilization must be filled with order. Chaos cannot be tolerated, and chaotic elements like you should be eliminated."
The moment those words fell, before the others could react, dark blue seawater materialized in the air and transformed into sharp spears of water that pierced through their bodies. The seawater then swiftly enveloped and devoured their corpses, transforming them into beings identical to the man.
"We must establish a flourishing, prosperous, orderly, and beautiful civilization. That will be the finest repayment for the supreme Heavenly Father granting us rebirth."
The disciples of chaos began to pursue an orderly civilization.
The gift Caelus had left behind was simply a book created purely from the power of Abundance and Seaborn genes. It was capable of granting people physical and genetic enhancement and modification.
As for the changes in their thoughts, those originated from the restructuring of their brains.
Perhaps sentient life itself naturally seeks a social system filled with order.
Caelus walked out of an underwater city. He had originally imagined that the Ægirians living beneath the sea would resemble the legendary civilization of Atlantis, either merfolk or a unique race capable of living directly in the ocean. Unexpectedly, for some unknown reason, they had instead established an ecosystem beneath the sea that resembled the surface world and lived within it.
Caelus guessed that the ancestors of Ægir, faced with the endless Catastrophes afflicting the continent, had experienced a flash of inspiration and decided to build their cities directly on the seabed, where they would no longer need to fear Catastrophes.
However, Ægir's technological level was indeed superior to that of many nations on the continent. They did not rely on Originium, instead using their own technology to develop complete power-generation and water-supply systems.
Caelus even saw a beautiful young woman working as an electrician. Out of a desire to better understand Ægir, Caelus spoke with her for a while and gave her a small gift when they parted.
It counted as another seed casually sown along the way, yet the System inexplicably judged his mission to be complete.
"This counts as completing the mission? It seems I have already sown enough seeds."
["Hmm, there are indeed enough of them, and they carry sufficient weight. So, what does the Host intend to do next? Will you leave immediately, or continue traveling for a while?"]
"I intend to return to Ursus once more and see how the seeds I planted there have developed."
["Very well. Then please accept your main quest reward now."]
The moment the voice finished speaking, Caelus felt everything around him sink into darkness. Within that chaotic darkness, a scorching flame rose.
The flame was incomparably hot, as though it could reduce everything to ashes.
The flames burned away the darkness. Golden blood dripped from space, then flowed together into a magnificent river stretching across the heavens. At that moment, an enormous figure appeared. It was a giant with white hair, golden eyes, and a massive wound across his chest, from which golden blood continuously flowed. He looked down at Caelus.
Caelus met his gaze.
The Aeon of Destruction, Nanook.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)