CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 51: 10 CALAMITIES

"In the beginning of time, the world was still an endless plain like the Dragon Realm, with only a giant tree and the fruits it bore. At that time, gods had not yet been born; the only intelligent beings that existed were the dragons."

Reverie said this as she read from the book, informing Yila and Satan Ye about what the world used to be like. She continued, "In the boundless mist, there were no other intelligent beings, and the fruits of the giant tree fell to the ground and became..."

With Yila and Satan Ye listening attentively, Reverie thought for a moment before she found the right description and said, "They became creatures similar to the cattle and sheep we have now... Dragons also fed on those creatures and the fruits themselves."

Resting her chin on her hand, Reverie slowly narrated, as if telling a distant story to her own children.

"After a while, the first disaster manifested—the Second Calamity, Zero-Degree Deep Cold. The deathly cold swept through the giant tree, encompassing the dragons and the creatures born under the tree, stripping away all life."

"Then, in the extreme cold, the dragon’s giant tree withered and rotted... The age of extreme cold nearly wiped out all life, but a long time later, a new sprout of the World Tree appeared from the dead giant tree."

"The gods and Mana were born alongside the emergence of the World Tree, distinguishing the Nine Realms... The gods sealed the deadly cold far away, not too close to the Divine Realm, but on the Main Plane."

As Reverie said this, she gently turned the pages of the book, and it was clear that what she was going to recount next was what Yila wanted to know most—the specific details about the Ten Calamities.

"The era of dragons ended, and what followed was an era of coexistence between gods and dragons. Then, nine distinct calamities emerged one after another... A few months after the Era of Gods began, the calamities that predated the World Tree’s appearance also emerged."

"The First Calamity—Four-Legged Frenzy."

Reverie spoke while pointing at an illustration in the sheepskin book... Of course, to Yila’s way of thinking, they were just simple line drawings and quite incomprehensible.

"The gods, imitating the animals that had transformed from the dragon’s tree fruits, created various livestock like sheep, cows, and pigs. However, those beings displayed aggression and extraordinary reproductive abilities in the first spring."

"This was merely a minor nuisance for the gods’ first-generation offspring—angels, demons, and elves, as well as for the dragons. But for the second-generation offspring, such as humans and beastmen, it was incredibly dangerous."

"Moreover, as their numbers increased, the vegetation was eaten away, and trees were devoured. Hence, the gods created carnivorous creatures to feed on these livestock, like wolves and tigers... But even wolves and tigers were affected by the calamity."

"The gods understood their mistake and first created creatures like chickens, ducks, and fishes. Finally, they sealed the Mana of the calamities within the core of the world, linking it to the seal of Zero-Degree Deep Cold."

"..."

Yila listened quietly, and he roughly realized... This world indeed had evolution and development, but it completely overturned parts of the theory of evolution, such as the absence of a primitive cell—LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor).

This world, where dragons were born before the gods.

This was a world genuinely based on the theory of divine (tree) creation...

"... linked to the seal of Zero-Degree Deep Cold,"

Yila muttered, nodding his head as he said, "In other words, the rampage of those beasts happened because the seal of the calamity in the Extreme North was compromised... Perhaps I should feel fortunate."

Because the calamity of the Four-Legged Frenzy was what prompted Yila to visit the theocratic country and meet Mille Milyan, it was there that he gained somewhat specific information about the calamities.

So, during the calamity of extreme cold, he was not completely baffled by information like "abnormal Mana in the Extreme North."

In Yila’s muttering, Satan Ye, lying on the beautiful wool felt, said, "But Mr. Yila, you have already resolved the calamities of the beasts, the cold, and the sea."

Yila gently patted her head and corrected, "No, not me... It was the Evil God Dark Fisher who resolved them. She left the Main Plane with the key to root out the calamities. I just picked up the key."

Even so, Yila was already considered impressive.

Even Reverie, who knew just a little about the situation, thought so. She nodded with a smile and continued reading from the book, saying, "During this period, the gods sealed the rising seas, the corrupting influence, and the calamity of resurrection of the dead."

"..."

"Wait, let me take a note... the calamity of resurrection of the dead."

Yila said this, then fell silent, thinking about the possibility of promoting cremation on the Main Plane... and even digging up all the buried bodies to burn them.

*Hmm, not too difficult...*

This world, although it had a certain level of respect for corpses, the people’s relatively indifferent attitude towards life and death meant that... while there would be some resistance, it could be implemented smoothly.

For instance, in the Demon King Territory, there was no custom of burying bodies at all... Blood and flesh, whether of comrades or enemies, would be properly utilized in the Demon King Territory.

In other countries, although they did bury bodies, it was probably not for reasons of resting in peace... but more about avoiding seeing them and preventing the spread of diseases from the corpses.

"Please continue..."

Yila said this.

"They drove out the Outer Realm Demons and created demons based on their features, expelled the outer-space evil gods, and created angels based on their features... assigning them to guard the seals on Heaven and Hell, respectively."

In Reverie’s words, Yila remembered the two seals guarded by Heaven and Hell... The only pity was that these descriptions of the calamities were not as detailed as the Four-Legged Frenzy.

"They suppressed the fake dragons that secretly devoured the World Tree and split the calamities that could not be sealed, which enticed living beings towards extremes... turning them into countless fragments, devoid of any notion of ending the world itself."

These two calamities: one was *the one Snake Molt mentioned earlier, ’I cleared a calamity for you, it was a pretty rubbish black bug,’* and the other was like Ernie and the Starlight Body... people whose thoughts had entirely become knotted.

Seeing that there was no further text and Reverie was turning the pages, Yila counted the calamities and took the initiative to ask, "The last one is the calamity of blue-purple flames, right?"

Four-Legged Frenzy, extreme cold, sea, resurrection of the dead, the Outer Realm Demons from Hell, the evil gods from Heaven, the corrupting Evil God, the black snake, the knotted minds... that made nine.

"No, why would you think that?"

But Reverie said this and pointed to the text on the reverse side, saying, "The last calamity is the conflict between living beings, making it impossible for races to understand each other... The gods were powerless to do anything, nor could they seal it."

"But the gods saw that after the elves actively learned the human language, the beastmen also learned the human language from the elves. Then came the sea people, the dwarves, the angels, the demons... Eventually, the Nine Realms also began to use the human language."

"The gods couldn’t help but feel gratified and proud because their children, without their knowledge, completely eliminated the fundamental concept behind the calamity’s existence..."

"The most terrifying and dangerous calamity, the cruelest and most secretive calamity, was thus entirely eradicated. It was eradicated by the proof that living beings could absolutely understand each other..."

"The universal language that everyone used—’Universal Language.’"

————————

Destruction of the World Act Ten: Tower of Silence (Calamity long resolved)