Chapter 1523: Chapter 1523

The "Earthfire Worm," a terrifying creature born deep beneath the material world. The people of the 17th Epoch had also built a brilliant civilization, one that relied not on coal and steam, but on the abundant geothermal resources of their time.

Geothermal energy provided the conditions for their civilization to flourish, but their excessive demands upon the earth not only awakened a vast number of sealed items buried deep underground but also caused the material world's heat to be constantly depleted.

The earth provided too much for its people, and their excessive demands ultimately invited disaster. When abundant geothermal energy spread across the entire material world, the worm born in the depths of that fire crawled to the surface, bringing with it the power to devour light and heat.

It lacked the Scarlet Ephemera's ability to alter the genetic traits of entire species; it could only spontaneously absorb all heat and light wherever it passed.

Light and heat are essential for life, and the worm's rampage, along with the vast number of offspring it spawned, plunged the material world into a century-long winter in barely a decade.

Jenkins didn't know how the 17th Epoch had truly ended, nor whether its Savior had succeeded. But since the book never mentioned the Earthfire Worm being sealed, he concluded that the 17th Epoch had likely ended in ruin as well.

"Endlessly absorbing light and heat, and it doesn't mind eating people... I think I understand now why there are so many mine shafts underground in this epoch."

Jenkins sighed inwardly, wiping the blood that trickled from his eyes with a handkerchief. He hadn't expected the final page of the chapter to feature a crude, inaccurate sketch of the terrifying creature. A single glance felt like a heavy blow to his head, but thankfully, it was just a drawing.

The Beast of Calamity from the 17th Epoch was also born from humanity's over-exploitation of resources, a situation somewhat similar to the present.

Carefully reading the prologue and this final chapter had already taken about five minutes. Jenkins realized he needed to speed up. Dıscover more novels at novel·fire·net

"Next up, the monsters of the ancient epochs..."

He muttered, placing the book before him. Since it didn't record the very first calamity, the first Beast of Calamity documented was the "Mythic Witch," who appeared in the 2nd Epoch.

In that most ancient of ages, the manifestation of supernatural power was entirely different from today. The people of the 2nd Epoch drew power from the stories of the 1st Epoch. Those ancient tales themselves, being the world's first stories—the tales of its beginning—could bestow miracles upon their readers, for they symbolized the very essence of the world.

But the primordial world contained not only light and hope, but also darkness and corruption. By delving too deep into the legacy of the 1st Epoch, they rediscovered stories tainted with original sin.

Thus, the sins of the entire 2nd Epoch combined with the terrible residual power of the 1st, giving birth to the Mythic Witch. Perhaps due to the nature of this Beast of Calamity's power, or perhaps because the era was simply too ancient, the book Jenkins was reading contained no record of its abilities or its final fate. The chapter merely concluded with a warning to be wary of stories from those ancient times, suggesting the Mythic Witch's power might still lie dormant in some forgotten tale, waiting to reemerge into the world.

"The calamities of the ancient epochs existed as concepts, while in more recent times, they're mostly tangible things you can see and touch."

Jenkins found this very enlightening and nodded, making a mental note. Seeing that his time was running short—he could only read one more chapter before his borrowing time was up—he decided the last thing he wanted to look into was the matter of that black egg.

The cat perched on Jenkins's shoulder, reading along with him, suddenly arched its back, its fur standing on end.

"Chocolate, what's wrong?"

The cat's sudden bristling put Jenkins on high alert. He scanned his surroundings warily; past experience had taught him that Chocolate's intuition was remarkably sharp.

But no matter how carefully he observed, Jenkins couldn't detect any danger. He looked at his cat, puzzled; Chocolate remained tense. Resigned, he began flipping through the book, trying to smooth down Chocolate's fur with one hand. It was only when he glanced at the that he remembered he didn't know the egg's specific date of origin or its name. He had no idea where to even begin his search.

Chocolate immediately relaxed, returning to its usual state.

With little time left, he randomly picked a chapter and flipped it open. By some strange coincidence, it was about the very Sin Nightmare he had recently encountered.

This Beast of Calamity was born in the 10th Epoch, another era now completely lost to history. Supernatural power flourished in that age, and the intelligent races were passionate about exploring the secrets of the mind and soul. Abilities they developed, such as "Mindlight" and "Soul Arrow Rain," were still famous even in the present day.

Eventually, their exploration of mental power delved into the deep dreamscape. After an accidental experiment, the power of a Cursed Item contaminated and saturated the very concept of "Dream." This, combined with the fear of nightmares held by intelligent life and the ineffable power lurking in the depths of dreams, gave birth to the Beast of Calamity known as the Sin Nightmare.

It had no fixed, concrete form, but it could interfere directly with reality from the world of dreams. Toward the end of that epoch, it caused a multitude of inexplicable and terrifying phenomena. Only later did people realize this was not nature's wrath, but a fearsome monster manipulating reality from within the dream world.

The dream world could invade reality, but reality could also strike back. The calamity of the 10th Epoch did not lead to the era's destruction. Jenkins read that a nameless woman had entered the dream world alone and, at the cost of her own sacrifice, sealed the Sin Nightmare in the deepest reaches of that realm.

Although its power would occasionally leak out over the long epochs that followed, its main body undoubtedly remained trapped within that eternal seal.

"Sacrifice... For some reason, I get the feeling that female Savior ascended on the spot right after sealing the Beast of Calamity, which is why people just assumed she'd sacrificed herself. Also, the book didn't even record the specific sealing method or its weaknesses."

It was a bit of a shame, but he considered himself fortunate to have learned this much. Just then, his borrowing time was up. Jenkins returned the book to the old woman and took the opportunity to ask if she knew whether these books contained any information about ancient, supernatural mechanical constructs. (Jenkins still didn't know the name this world's people had given to the Difference Engine).