"Biology, physics, mathematics, philosophy, literature, religion, finance, medicine..."
"There are records covering almost every field of knowledge here."
"The scholars of this place have accumulated an incredible amount of knowledge over countless generations, but most of it comes from their own interpretations of this world's laws."
"And the laws of this world were artificially constructed."
"Even though Amphoreus is almost indistinguishable from a real world, it's difficult to say how much of this knowledge would remain valid once applied to reality, and how much would need to be revised."
Caelus returned the scroll in his hand to one of the shelves packed with countless others.
At that moment, a scholar dressed in white approached.
He glanced at Caelus, whose clothing looked completely unlike anything normally seen here, yet showed no particular surprise.
"Where are you from?"
"I'm a traveler."
"I don't have a homeland."
"A wanderer, then?"
The scholar looked him over.
"Judging by your clothes, though, you seem to be doing rather well for yourself."
"Did you come here looking for some particular field of knowledge?"
"I can help you."
"My own learning is still rather limited, but I visit this library often."
"If you're looking for a certain type of book, I should be able to point you in the right direction."
"Thank you, but I've already found what I was looking for."
Hearing that, the scholar tilted his head and glanced toward the shelves.
Then he looked at the stone tablets and scrolls Caelus was carrying.
"You're researching the history of Amphoreus?"
"Yes."
"I'm curious about the ancient myths surrounding the Titans, along with the biographies and legends of past heroes."
"So I've been looking through the relevant records."
"Most historical records are kept in that section."
The scholar pointed toward another part of the library.
"Though you won't find much from the truly ancient eras there."
"Records that survived from much earlier periods are usually kept under strict preservation."
"They're only brought out when a research project specifically requires them."
After chatting with Caelus for a little while longer, the young-looking scholar returned to his research.
Caelus glanced at what he was studying.
Alchemy.
The underlying concepts were still somewhat crude and poorly defined.
Apparently, the scholar was only beginning to explore the field.
Caelus thought for a moment.
Then the power of Finality stirred.
A faint, illusory shimmer passed through the air.
A brilliant crimson diamond appeared in his hand.
Some time later, after the scholar finally emerged from another bout of obsessive research without eating or sleeping, he suddenly noticed something sitting beside his worktable.
A blood-red diamond.
The instant he saw it, he could no longer look away.
...
Caelus closed the book in his hands, put away his quill, and left the library of the Grove of Epiphany.
By now, he had gained a broad understanding of Amphoreus's ancient history.
He had also learned of the Twelve Titans, the twelve gods said to have created this world.
They represented:
Sky.
Ocean.
Earth.
Strife.
Deception.
Death.
Passage.
Law.
Reason.
Romance.
Time.
Worldbearing.
Each Titan possessed an authority corresponding to what they represented.
And the nature of those authorities gave Caelus an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
"The most obvious parallels are Beauty in Romance, Erudition in Reason, Order in Law, and Trailblaze in Passage."
"Beauty, Order, and Trailblaze..."
"The Aeons of those three Paths are either missing or confirmed dead."
"Yet whoever created this simulation still included all three Paths in its design."
"Were they simply included to complete the set?"
"Or did the person behind Amphoreus come from an era when the Aeons of those Paths were still active?"
Caelus continued walking as he thought.
"There's a saying when traveling across the universe."
"If you encounter something absurd, irrational, and completely inexplicable, there's a good chance the Masked Fools are involved."
"And if you encounter something that looks suspiciously like an enormous experiment connected to some incomprehensibly advanced concept..."
"It's probably the Genius Society."
Caelus took out his notebook and began flipping through it.
Eventually, he found the information he had collected about the Genius Society from Herta Space Station and various other factions.
"Unfortunately, the Genius Society is far too secretive."
"Many of its members are known only through vague titles."
"For some of them, no one even knows whether they're alive or dead."
"All I can really do is eliminate the geniuses I already know."
"At the very least, this definitely isn't Dr. Primitive's work."
He paused.
"Now that I think about it... what would happen if I fully unfolded my existence and allowed whatever machine is running this virtual world to analyze and identify me?"
Back in the Simulated Universe, the system there had attempted to fully analyze the powers inside Caelus, along with the countless laws originating from other universes.
The result had been simple.
It crashed.
So what would happen if the device capable of maintaining an entire virtual reality as elaborate as Amphoreus attempted the same thing?
The System fell silent for a moment.
Then it answered in a tired voice.
["...You'd accomplish the simplest method of clearing Amphoreus that you considered earlier."]
The System knew the future course of events and the truth behind this world.
It only needed to imagine the scenario briefly to understand what would happen.
If something attempted to completely analyze Caelus's existence, it would first have to confront every higher existence connected to the Paths within him.
And that was before even considering the beings from other universes.
The first enlightened being across the infinite multiverse.
The Awakened One.
The supreme and singular embodiment of creation and existence.
God.
The crawling shadow within Chaos, embodiment of uncertainty.
Nyarlathotep.
The ultimate one-in-all.
Azathoth.
Those four alone were more than enough.
Penacony's Eternal Dreamscape had represented an enormous unknown variable even to Nous.
So why had Nous never simply tried to eliminate that variable?
Because the moment Nous attempted to analyze the Eternal Dreamscape, Hallelujah had effectively begun ringing in THEIR ears.
And when Nous dispatched one of THEIR most formidable agents, Polka Kakamond, to solve the Eternal Dreamscape through more direct means...
She could not even locate the dream itself.
It was an existence that violated the fundamental assumptions and constants of this universe.
"Judging by the time, our clothes should be almost finished."
"I should go take a look."
Caelus left the Grove of Epiphany and headed back toward Okhema to collect the clothes he had commissioned.
At least then he could finally wear something that matched the style of this world.
He could technically create clothing directly from energy.
Unfortunately, his sense of fashion and design was terrible.
...
After calculating the timing, Caelus arrived in Okhema.
He was on his way to Aglaea's tailor shop when he passed a mechanical life-form on the street.
An Intellitron.
Or rather, in Amphoreus, someone who would be called an Antikytheran.
The two passed each other.
Then, after taking several steps, both stopped at almost the same time and looked back.
"Excuse me, sir."
The mechanical being spoke first.
"I realize this may sound terribly presumptuous, but... have we met before?"
"No."
"I see."
"Then perhaps I mistook you for someone else."
"My apologies for disturbing you."
"My name is Lygus."
"You may simply call me that."
"May I ask how I should address you?"
Caelus remained silent for a brief moment.
"...Chaos."
"My apologies for the intrusion, Mr. Chaos."
Lygus turned and walked away.
Caelus watched his retreating figure.
"This guy might as well have the words 'I'm suspicious' written across his face."
"Could he possibly make it any more obvious?"
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ 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.)