Chapter 895 Great Apes
"As you feared?" Sylas asked.
Archibald slowly shook his head. "Everything points toward this matter being far more complicated than any of us know. I'm sure you've seen the oddities."
"Maybe if all the world governments came together, including Legacy and our families, and shared every bit of information they had, then we might be able to piece a small part of the picture together. But we are still too divided."
Archibald looked toward the world leaders still pinned to the altars. He should have released them already, but honestly speaking… he was still hesitating.
Even more so, he was disappointed.
So many had just chosen not to appear, punting this Summoning as though they could just prepare for the next one and be fine.
Or maybe not… maybe they were waiting for the right time to take advantage of the situation.
Honestly speaking, he wasn't sure which one was worse.
But because of how accelerated this Summoning was compared to all the others, he wasn't sure if he could blame them.
First, the Trial was cut so short, and then everything else just seemed to be fast-forwarded.
Archibald's pupils trembled as he looked at Sylas in a different light. He hadn't really pieced it together until now, but most of these things were probably related to this young man in front of him right now, wasn't it?
"… Earth will enter a World War Quest soon. This will decide whether we clear the Summoning or not. I tried to light the Progenitor Flame and help us pass, but I received a system prompt. The regular path isn't possible."
"A system prompt?"
Archibald's face paled considerably.
Observing him in silence, Sylas nodded inwardly. It seemed that Archibald had deduced quite a lot. At the very least, he certainly knew what it meant for the system prompt to appear at that moment.
Everything about their world had been corrupted, and the worst part was that they had no idea why.
It couldn't be that every Summoning World had to undergo this level of trouble, right? Sylas didn't believe it.
If they did, the people he had met in the outside world should have been far more powerful than they were.
It was possible that the descendants of those that passed the Summoning were just far weaker, but… Sylas didn't think the gap would be so large.
If you wanted to pass the Summoning under conditions this strict, you had to be more than just a normal genius. If you weren't capable of doing what Sylas could—defeating E-Grades at F-Grade, wielding a rare Constitution, controlling Legendary Beasts with three Legendary Professions…
Did you even have a chance?
And under those conditions, how could the descendants of these people be so inferior?
By the time Sylas had children, the Unique Genes he could pass down to them would probably be enough to trigger another World War.
All signs pointed to Earth being different in some way.
But it was hard to tell why.
Was it because of the Dogons? Because of the Clypsians, maybe?
Or was it because of the Madness Disciple Legacy?
None of the answers seemed to fit well, because even if it was because of the Madness Disciples, why would they choose Earth in the first place?
Because of the Lost City of Greed? That didn't seem right either.
Archibald took a breath, slowly calming himself.
"I have… seen certain things. You have accomplished far more than I have, and have the right to know. I do not know exactly why Earth is being targeted, but I do know several important things.
"First, Earth was not always a Grade 10 Bronze World. At some point, it suffered greatly and was downgraded. I'm not sure by how many levels it suffered, but I do know for sure that this happened.
"Second, the involvement of the Sylphs… has always been odd to me. They're like pawns on a board, but also not at the same time. They seem to be the main players, but also being directed by something.
"Normally speaking, the Sylphs have jurisdiction over this region. If Earth fails its Summoning, we fall into their territory. It makes sense for them to interfere with our Summoning.
"What doesn't make sense is the others doing so, or how they would even know.
"From what I've gathered, Summoning Worlds are highly protected. Many aren't even found until after they've already completed or failed theirs. And the Sylphs wouldn't foolishly pass on such information to outsiders.
"Being able to control a Summoned World is like having a chance to go through a Summoning one more time. There will never be a time where a world has such concentrated opportunity again. Leaking such information is the pinnacle of foolishness, even if there is internal strife.
"The only two explanations I can think of is either the Sylphs really are pawns and there are factions amongst them bucking against this status quo, or… the scarier possibility is that they aren't even aware of what's happening and are being used anyway."
Archibald watched Sylas for changes in expression. He had done his best to be as clear as possible, even speaking in a dialect he wasn't quite familiar with to make sure he got everything he needed across. But this young man… was simply unreadable.
Sylas' face was like a blank slate, giving nothing away.
With a breath, Archibald could only continue to his last conclusion.
"The third thing I've figured out… is that whatever secrets we need were buried with the First Summoning. I haven't been able to find even the slightest hint of information about it, while I have been able to learn about all the others… at least enough to know that this is the Ninth Summoning and not the Seventh."
Once again, there was no change to Sylas' expression and Archibald knew for sure now that Sylas certainly already knew.
"The Second Summoning was the Clypsians, the Third were the Dogons, the fourth were also the Dogons, the Fifth were the Dinosaurs, as was the Sixth. The Seventh... this is another oddity. To say the Overlord Race were Great Apes wouldn't be entirely incorrect, but according to what I've seen, we popped up out of nowhere, almost as though someone planted us here on purpose to stop a different Overlord Race from appearing. "Or maybe that's not accurate... it's more like we received a nudge forward over another Race... Of course, we eventually evolved from the Great Apes. "Finally, the last two were us, Humans in earnest.
"As for the First… I know nothing at all."