Chapter 358: The Girls Origin

欧姆妮丝 (Ōu mǔ nī sī): I’ll use “Omniis” (I think it fits better for a god’s name than “Omni” or “Omnis”).

Chapter 358: The Girl’s Origin

Back then, Cosmos didn’t exist yet.

Because a thousand years ago, when the war had just ended, the Hero who defeated the Demon King hadn’t even established the Kingdom of Mitra yet.

Since the Kingdom of Mitra didn’t exist at that time, Cosmos, a fortress city belonging to the kingdom, naturally hadn’t been built either.

Therefore, back then, the area where Cosmos was located was actually the habitat of a beastmen tribe.

“The dark temple that sealed the evil god landed directly in the territory of our beastmen ancestors’ tribe, alarming the saintess of the tribe at that time.”

“The beastmen saintess at that time prayed to the Goddess of Life for guidance. After a while, the Divine Race seemed to decide that the Goddess of Life would take over the temple and reseal it.”

“Originally, the Divine Race seemed to want to exile the temple back to the world’s gap, but after the Supreme God Omniis’s readjustment, the world had become much stronger and more stable than before. There were no longer gaps in the world, only ‘walls’ between the Divine Realm, the human world, and the Demon Realm.”

“Under such circumstances, exiling the temple would at most only send it to the Divine Realm or the Demon Realm, which wouldn’t solve the problem.”

“Therefore, the Goddess of Life, who was responsible for guarding the temple, exiled it to an independent small space, and our beastmen priests were tasked with guarding the surrounding area of this spatial node.”

Elise revealed this ancient secret unknown to the world, causing Shien to understand somewhat.

“I think I get it.” Shien nodded. “Later, the Hero Mitra established the kingdom and claimed this land as his own territory, building the fortress city of Cosmos here. That’s why the temple ended up in Cosmos, right?”

“That’s right.” Elise nodded repeatedly, confirming Shien’s words. “Originally, because of the evil god sealed here, the Divine Race didn’t want humans to establish a country or even a city in this place.”

“But since the other party was the Hero who successfully defeated the Demon King, the Divine Race probably didn’t want to have a conflict with him, right?” Shien curled his lip, speculating as if he had witnessed it firsthand. “Moreover, if this place became the Hero’s territory, he would be the one to deal with any problems that arose. So, the Divine Race chose to turn a blind eye, right?”

“That’s exactly what happened.” Elise took a sip of the black tea beside her, moistening her throat, before continuing, “Of course, the Divine Race also communicated with the Hero, hoping that he would leave the land around the spatial node to the beastmen. We also negotiated with the Empire, promising not to interfere in the politics or wars between the two countries in exchange for their promise not to invade the territory where the beastmen lived. Therefore, for a thousand years, although this place has become an important fortress, our beastmen have always lived here, undisturbed by the world.”

Perhaps this was the reason why Cosmos became a melting pot of races.

Because this was originally the habitat of beastmen, and humans only came later, laying the foundation for the coexistence of multiple races here.

Furthermore, this place became a fortress, attracting dwarves known for their weapon forging skills, resulting in a diverse society with various races living together.

And Elise and the other beastmen priests had always lived here, never leaving.

In other words…

“This is your homeland?”

Shien hadn’t expected this.

“That’s right.” Elise puffed out her chest. “We’re not some suspicious group. We’re native Cosmos citizens.”

This was probably why Elise became friends with the Imperial Valkyrie.

Cosmos was the closest city to the Empire, and the Empire had always regarded the Kingdom as a rival, eyeing it covetously. With this connection, it wasn’t surprising that people from the Empire would appear in Cosmos and, through various circumstances, befriend the beastmen priests who had lived here for a thousand years.

There were also many beastmen in Cosmos. Shien had seen quite a few since arriving here and had even been robbed by beastmen robbers. This was enough to show that Cosmos had a deep connection with beastmen.

“If it weren’t for the spatial node being destroyed, the temple reappearing in the human world, and the magic power flowing out from it repelling all buildings and living beings, causing the forced transfer phenomenon, you would have seen the beastmen tribe.”

Speaking of this, Elise’s tone was somewhat sad.

Shien, on the other hand, understood once again.

“So, the reason why that area became an empty plain with no buildings wasn’t only because the buildings were transferred away, but also because it was the beastmen tribe’s territory, and there were no buildings there to begin with?”

Shien had heard that beastmen tribes lived in tents or yurts, not in houses like humans.

Some beastmen tribes even lived in caves, their lifestyle quite similar to that of primitive people.

Now, due to the reappearance of the dark temple, the entire beastmen tribe had been repelled, leaving behind only a desolate plain.

“If we weren’t priests, messengers of the Goddess of Life, able to protect ourselves with the power bestowed by the Goddess, we probably wouldn’t be able to get close to the temple either.”

Elise’s tone changed from sadness to relief.

Clearly, being able to guard the temple in its current state was a blessing in disguise for Elise and the others.

So, the question was…

“Why was the spatial node that sealed the temple destroyed, causing the temple that sealed the evil god to reappear here?”

Shien finally asked the most crucial question.

And this question made Elise grit her teeth, even showing some anger.

It couldn’t be helped.

“The spatial node was deliberately destroyed.”

Elise said angrily.

“Deliberately destroyed?” Shien frowned and looked at Elise. “Was it the Old Demon Faction?”

This was undoubtedly the first suspect.

It was no coincidence that the Old Demon Faction just happened to appear in the Stalim Duchy, even in Cosmos, during this period.

Shien remembered that, according to intelligence, Cosmos was the first place where the Old Demon Faction appeared, not anywhere else.

Therefore, suspecting the Old Demon Faction wasn’t wrong.

However…

“It wasn’t the Old Demon Faction that destroyed the spatial node, but humans.”

Elise said these words.

“Humans?”

Shien was stunned.

Not only Shien, but even Lasha couldn’t help but raise her eyes, and Beatrice’s eyes also rippled slightly, seeming surprised.

But it was the truth.

“On the night of the incident, the Old Demon Faction did suddenly appear in Cosmos and launched a large-scale attack on our beastmen tribe, massacring many beastmen.” Elise said resentfully, “Fortunately, beastmen are a brave and skilled warrior race. Although we were caught off guard at first, we quickly reacted and organized a counterattack, successfully repelling the Old Demon Faction.”

They actually repelled them?

That was impressive.

However, Shien could accept this outcome.

After all, there was a beastmen priest group stationed here, and every beastman in that group was at least level sixty. Oz was level ninety-one, and there were other high-level beastmen priests like Maeve, who was level eighty-nine. Being able to repel the Old Demon Faction’s attack didn’t seem too surprising.

But…

“After we successfully repelled the Old Demon Faction, the temple suddenly appeared, releasing terrifying magic power that caused our beastmen tribe to be directly repelled by that power. Everyone except the priests disappeared, and Cosmos was also affected, gradually experiencing the transfer phenomenon caused by the repulsion. In the end, even the Empire’s territory and the Stalim Duchy were affected.”

Elise told Shien the reason behind the so-called strange occurrences here.

“Therefore, our beastmen priests have been guarding the temple to prevent another attack from the Old Demon Faction. I also took some priests to track down the mastermind behind the destruction of the spatial node, but we haven’t been able to catch them.”

Speaking of this, Elise’s tone was filled with frustration and resentment.

Shien finally understood the whole story.

“Are you sure it was humans who destroyed the spatial node?”

Shien confirmed, frowning.

“I’m sure.” Elise nodded firmly. “We beastmen are naturally born with sharp senses. Although we didn’t react in time to capture the culprit’s scent, the aura left behind was definitely human.”

Elise wouldn’t be mistaken about this.

They were beastmen, but they were also messengers of the Goddess of Life. Even if they couldn’t identify the aura of every living being in the world, it was still easy for them to distinguish the race of an aura.

“That mastermind also kept using magical lifeforms to interfere with our actions, even sacrificing them as disposable tools. Every time we got a lead, we ended up finding traces left by magical lifeforms, or even a group of self-destructing magical lifeforms. It’s infuriating!”

Elise said angrily.

But her words made Shien and Lasha’s eyes narrow.

“Self-destructing magical lifeforms…?”

Shien and Lasha exchanged glances, instantly understanding each other’s thoughts, and fell silent.

Shien also looked at Beatrice and found that she was also looking at him.

Shien remained silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to Elise.

“Tell me,” Shien said in a calm tone, “is Beatrice related to the evil god Lilith?”

This question was already quite obvious.

“…Yes.”

Elise hesitated for a moment, then spoke as if giving up.

“Miss Beatrice has always been in the dark temple, sealed along with Lilith.”

Why was this so?

The reason was also simple.

“Because Miss Beatrice is the other half of Lilith, the rationality that was stripped away.”