CHAPTER 297: CHAPTER297-THE GOD’S SECRET

When Daniel heard Milla casually mention that she had already been a demigod back during the human race’s Awakening Era, the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

That era had always seemed impossibly distant to him—yet here she was, speaking of it as though recalling a personal memory.

Noticing his odd expression, Milla’s lips curled into a bright, teasing smile.

"Hahaha, Lord Daniel, please don’t look so disappointed!"

"It’s true that I don’t know exactly what happened back then, but at the very least, I know this: after your people entered the Awakening Era, the Luck Goddess personally gave me an order to come here."

She paused for a moment, letting her words hang in the air, then continued, her gaze fixed on Daniel.

"At that time, Her Grace the Luck Goddess told me that the opportunity for her to ascend into a true god lay right here."

"So I believe... there must be some sort of connection."

"As for the thousand-year Apocalypse you just mentioned—well, when the Apocalypse descended, that was precisely when the Luck Goddess achieved true godhood."

Hearing that, Daniel felt a sudden spark of realization flare in his mind.

He raised his hand slightly, interrupting her.

"Hold on a moment. I need to confirm something with you."

Milla’s brows lifted in mild surprise.

"Oh? And what is it you want to confirm?"

"I want to know... from what you understand, when exactly did the other gods ascend to true godhood?"

At his question, Milla’s eyes turned thoughtful. She began counting on her fingers, her voice slow as she recited what she knew.

"The Moon Goddess Luna... she completed her ascension ritual about three thousand years ago."

"Then there’s the God of the Shield, Kulo. I believe he also ascended three thousand years ago. That was also when a major event took place—the God of War, Ares, fell."

Daniel nodded slowly. Almost unconsciously, his mind power swept over the storage space in his backpack where the Primordial Core Weapon components were kept. Among the materials required to forge those weapons, one in particular stood out—part of the God of War’s remains.

The thought left his expression complicated, shadowed.

Meanwhile, Milla tilted her head slightly, wearing a look of innocence.

"That has nothing to do with me, you know. As for Ares’s death, I have no idea what the actual cause was. I only know that it happened."

Daniel’s lips twitched again.

With the level of strength Milla had back then, it would have been nearly impossible for her to take part in any battle against a god. No—if he was being precise, even her current strength was nowhere near enough to qualify her for such a confrontation.

"Honestly, even if you didn’t say it, I already knew it wasn’t related to you."

She nodded in agreement, apparently missing the subtle undertone in his words, and carried on.

"The god who came after that was the one called Mist. But Mist is... well, truly mysterious. I don’t even know when exactly they became a god."

"In fact, I can’t even remember when I first noticed there was suddenly a ’Mist’ among the gods."

Daniel wasn’t surprised by this explanation. The very nature of Mist’s power was to obscure and hide. It was perfectly natural for their existence to slip past notice entirely until one day, they were simply there.

Milla kept counting, her voice thoughtful.

"Evelyn became a god two thousand years ago."

"And Odin... ascended about one thousand years ago."

She stopped suddenly, her face freezing mid-expression as an unsettling realization dawned on her.

One thousand years ago... two thousand years ago... three thousand years ago... each coinciding with the so-called thousand-year Apocalypse.

It couldn’t be coincidence.

Was it possible that every single Apocalypse was, in fact, an opportunity—a gateway—for someone to become a god?

Milla’s expression hardened into something far more serious than before. She turned to Daniel, her tone low but urgent.

"Over the years, I’ve been wandering in other realms, never paying much attention to your lands here."

"But looking at it now, there’s definitely something suspicious about your thousand-year Apocalypse."

"Lord Daniel, I truly don’t know what the so-called Origin Land actually signifies, but I can feel that it’s of extraordinary importance."

Daniel gave her a sideways look.

Such an obvious statement hardly needed saying, did it?

Still, as he mulled over her words, he found himself unable to shake a certain thought. The more he considered it, the more it seemed this land beneath his feet—the Myriad Races Continent—hid secrets far beyond what even the gods were willing to reveal.

Perhaps it was the archaeologist’s instinct in him, but he felt an almost tangible urge to dig deeper, to unearth whatever lay buried in the history of this place.

After all, so many gods’ eyes were turned toward it. So many strange and powerful beings sought to set foot here. It was as if the entire world’s focus—all the strongest forces—were inexorably drawn to this one continent.

What made it so special?

When Milla finished her recounting, she sighed softly and gave a helpless shrug.

"That’s all I know about the Origin Land."

"Honestly, since I’m not native to this place, I’ve never spent much time here over the millennia."

"But... I can tell you about my homeland."

"If you compare my homeland to this so-called Origin Land, perhaps you’ll come to certain conclusions yourself."

Daniel didn’t hesitate to nod.

He was curious—deeply curious—about what other continents in this world were like.

"All right, then. Tell me—what are the other continents like?"

Milla’s expression softened into one of distant reminiscence. After a brief moment of thought, she began.

"My homeland lies on a continent far to the south. To be honest, it’s rather unremarkable."

"It’s not particularly dangerous. There’s no such thing as an Apocalypse there. Like your lands, we have the four seasons, but our cycles are calm and predictable."

"The races there coexist peacefully, with little in the way of warfare. All in all, it’s an ordinary place."

"Over these thousands of years, I’ve traveled across many continents. I’ve crossed the Endless Sea, reaching countless distant lands."

Her voice dropped slightly, her next words careful, deliberate.

"But here’s the truth: the so-called thousand-year Apocalypse exists only in your Origin Land."

She hesitated, then added another point that made Daniel narrow his eyes.

"There’s one more thing you should know. In other lands, it’s extremely rare for an SSS-ranked awakener to be born."

"If my memory serves, in my homeland, such a being only appears once every fifty thousand years, on average."

"But in your Origin Land, it seems that every single race produces one every millennium."

The implication was impossible to miss.

As she spoke, Milla continued to contrast her homeland with the Origin Land.

And as Daniel listened, he could feel the pattern taking shape in his mind: the differences were too many, too stark, to dismiss as coincidence.

He was growing more and more certain—the Origin Land was a place of profound and unique significance.

Perhaps those legendary sites spoken of in myths and rumors were, in truth, simply parts of this very land... pieces of a greater, hidden whole.

Their exchange went on for a full two hours.

Beyond the subject of the Origin Land, Daniel asked countless questions about the gods themselves, their histories, and their rivalries.

In the quieter moments, he even inquired about the histories of other planes and other worlds, gathering bits of general knowledge he’d never had before.

By the time their conversation began to wind down, Daniel’s mind was brimming with new information—and with even more questions than he’d started with.