The old era.
That phrase evoked somewhat complicated emotions in Osian.
The old era Basilio spoke of probably wasn't just the kind of "old days" that elderly people commonly talk about.
'Probably much, much longer ago than that.'
To put it a bit dramatically, it would be more accurate to call it the ancient era.
An era filled with mysteries, where unknown beings and monsters lurked everywhere, and gods actually existed.
An era where human life could vanish like flies with just one misstep, where danger lurked everywhere.
While it had romance and beauty, it was equally harsh.
'The old era Basilio speaks of must have some connection to that time.'
And the other members were thinking similarly to Osian.With rather serious expressions, they urged Basilio to explain what this was all about.
"Did I bring up too heavy a topic too suddenly? Well, this wasn't my intention, but the atmosphere has gotten quite strange."
"So what happened? Who exactly are they?"
In this situation, only Ronan could ask such a bold question.
He had known Basilio longer than anyone else, so he even felt a sense of responsibility about the fact that Basilio had received such a proposal.
"Actually, I don't know who they are."
Basilio tried to dodge the question but.
"...I guess I can't say that, can I?"
Faced with looks that showed nobody would believe that, he had to withdraw his statement.
"Hmm," Basilio crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.
"Well, when they approached me, they did give me a rough explanation of who they were. Of course, they didn't explain the details. We had just met, so they wouldn't tell me everything, right?"
"But from your reaction, Uncle Basilio, it seems you already had some idea of who they were."
Seren's observation was sharp and Basilio didn't deny that fact either.
"Well, as I've wandered around the world a lot, even though it wasn't intentional, I've picked up various pieces of information."
Considering he had gone as far as the remote southern jungle, it would be fair to say he had explored almost every remote area.
Moreover, Basilio wasn't someone ignorant of news.
Though his behavior might seem a bit light compared to what you'd expect from a special fixer, his occasional displays suggested he wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
"Those who want to restore the old era are an organization with exactly that purpose. As the name suggests, they're people who believe the current world is wrong and must be returned to the past."
"Return to the past? How exactly?"
"Well, there are various methods. Typically, one would be physically destroying modern civilization."
"Destroying civilization? That's impossible."
"That's not entirely impossible because the organization's scale is not small at all. And from what I can see, all their members seem quite capable."
Osian, who had been listening quietly, asked.
"You seem to know something."
"There was an interesting incident recently in Tirna. The terrorist incident in District 34."
Diolan reacted most sensitively to those words.
Meeting his look that seemed to ask 'Could it be?', Basilio gave a small nod.
"Yes. Among those who dream of restoring the old era, [Mother Goose] is also included."
It was surprising news.
To think that Mother Goose, the great witch who carried out the terror attack, was affiliated with some organization.
Mother Goose is someone who can build up forces on her own.
Her pure military might, along with her familiars, is comparable to a nation's army.
That's why she had never joined hands with anyone, at least not in recent times where her activities were known.
'Such a Mother Goose is affiliated with some organization?'
If they had Mother Goose, whose very existence equals an organization, how large must this organization be that aims for the old era?
"You know that Extermination Church that was said to have disappeared long ago?"
Basilio continued his explanation.
"Though he's dead now, I hear the head of the Extermination Church at the time was also one of those who dreamed of the old era. This is reliable information."
Extermination Church was a name Osian remembered too.
It was a pseudo-religious group with the extreme doctrine that everything must be burned with fire.
It was essentially a global terrorist organization wearing the mask of religion.
While it had been quite troublesome due to its considerable influence, the Extermination Church began its decline with the death of its leader.
But that was only in terms of their visible forces decreasing externally.
The Extermination Church followers still remained, and they still hoped to burn the world again someday.
'The one presumed to have killed such a dangerous group's leader is the Ascender.'
The Ascender who was born with the end of the old era, and the Extermination Church leader who dreamed of the old era.
Could their clash have really been coincidental?
At the same time, he recalled how the Ascender, who had at least shown up in historical records, suddenly disappeared without a trace at some point.
There must be some correlation between those who dream of the old era and the disappearance of the Ascenders.
"So, did you accept their proposal, uncle?"
Edgar asked in a somewhat cautious tone.
The story Basilio told was that shocking.
This worldwide organization, which even Mother Goose belonged to, directly approached Basilio with a proposal.
The fact that they directly visited him in the southern flood area alone showed their information network was not ordinary.
"Accept? Well, they did offer all sorts of benefits. What was it they said? That I had the qualifications?"
Qualifications. The word Basilio chose was quite unexpected.
What qualifications could a special fixer of Tirna have that caught their eye?
Osian's intuition drew an answer.
'Perhaps it has something to do with the deep, dark smell of blood he carries.'
What was important was whether Basilio accepted that proposal or not.
"Come on now, what do you take me for?"
When everyone looked at him with strange gazes, Basilio protested as if somewhat wronged.
"If I had accepted their proposal, would I be here talking about it so comfortably?"
Basilio snorted inside his helmet.
At those words, everyone exchanged glances and awkwardly nodded.
If he had really accepted that organization's proposal, he wouldn't have brought it up and would have kept it secret.
"I was a teeny bit tempted, but I don't like their methods. Whatever it is, in the end it's all about destroying the order of this world and whatnot, right? So I refused."
"What exactly is this old era they talk about?"
It was a question from Ena, who was following the conversation least well in this gathering.
"The old era. That's probably referring to the time when gods and legends existed."
"Gods and legends?"
"Yes. Miss, do you believe in gods?"
"Well, they must exist, right?"
Though she didn't particularly like it, if forced to choose between believing in their existence or not, she would choose to believe.
After all, even the Petra Order was using holy power.
"Yes. They exist. They exist now and they existed in the past. But in the old era, gods were a bit different. They possessed overwhelmingly transcendent strength and existed in the mortal realm."
"Existed in the mortal realm?"
"The current gods don't show their actual forms, right? They only transmit their voice and power. In other words, they don't directly do anything themselves. Or more accurately, they can't."
Basilio interlocked his fingers.
"In the distant ancient times, mythical beasts, primordial giants, and transcendent gods existed in reality. They wielded their power directly and molded the world according to their will."
That was the story of the game era that Osian was well familiar with.
"But the age of gods came to an end. The same went for beasts and giants. Though they were strong, they were helpless before the power of one who was stronger."
Power ultimately breaks before greater power.
At those words, Ena asked as if she couldn't understand.
"But you said they were gods. Aren't gods supposed to be incredibly strong?"
"They are strong. But would you believe there was a being stronger than such gods?"
"A stronger being?"
"I didn't know either until I learned about it recently. More precisely, this is the story, the truth that those who contacted me told."
Basilio deliberately emphasized the last part of his words.
The truth he learned about, unrecorded in history.
Thinking about the era that was dismissed as mere mythology, it must have been an incredibly distant past.
"Surprisingly, the one who ended the age of myth and legend was, they say, a single human."
The impact those words brought was not small at all.
"Uncle. Is that really true? A human ended that era?"
Even Seren, who rarely showed surprise at anything, asked again in shock.
"A human who concluded mythology...There's no way such a being could have existed..."
Even Mist, who usually kept his mouth shut for the sake of his concept, unconsciously muttered to himself.
"...but that's cool."
Of course, he added a strange appreciation at the end.
It was fortunate for Mist that only Osian heard that muttering. The other companions were still unable to emerge from the shocking truth Basilio had delivered.
"It is surprising. Humans, at that time, were truly like stones on the street that could be easily kicked aside."
It was an era when beings superior and stronger than humans were everywhere.
Dragon-kind, gods, transcendents, ancient races, beasts, monsters.
Human lives were like candles in the wind before their breath, and villages could be erased with a single gesture.
'It was truly an era of chaos where people died easily.'
Moreover, humans even fought among themselves.
Monsters killed people, but more people were killed by other people.
Surprisingly, transcendent gods didn't have much contact with humans because they occupied different regions.
"Back then, human power was pathetically weak compared to now. Well, obviously, no matter how much humans gathered and strengthened themselves, what could they do before a god?"
"My, my. It's amazing that humans could even survive in such an era."
Ronan expressed his pure curiosity.
"Well, compared to now that's true, but they say the people who survived back then were basically strong."
It was as Basilio said.
The fact that there were playable characters itself proved how strong the humans of that era were.
But even so, the other forces were massive, and humans were mere insects compared to them.
The reason humans didn't go extinct and managed to survive was because the races of that time didn't pay much attention to humans.
A race not even worth paying attention to.
Just toys to play with occasionally when they remembered.
That was how humans were treated back then. Of course, most humans weren't even aware they were being treated that way.
"But whatever the case, it was indeed a human who ended that era. And they say they did it alone, so the surprise is beyond words."
It wasn't even humans uniting to resist, but the era was ended by just one person.
That would be shocking even if it wasn't the era of mythology.
'That was what I did.'
Osian just quietly listened to Basilio's story.
"After the old era ended like that, a brilliant era of human development arrived. And eventually, we reached the present. This golden city, Tirna, is the greatest masterpiece created by the new era."
From Basilio's words, it seemed clear why Mother Goose had targeted Tirna.
Tirna is a symbol of the human era.
'Of course, if you look at the details, Tirna is full of all sorts of non-humans. The mayor is a dragon, and there are many other races too.'
It's not just science that has developed. In Tirna, magic also holds an important position.
The harmony of magic and science. But in the end, it's undeniable that humans form the foundation.
To those who dream of the old era, Tirna was an unacceptable tower of gold.
They want this tower to collapse miserably in front of everyone.
'Moreover, their method was incredibly cunning. They didn't even try to push through with brute force.'
While it's true that a large-scale terror attack eventually occurred through the candy castle, the initial incident was trying to shake Tirna's economy using the Saint Tree.
Since it's a city that runs on massive funds, affecting the market in this way was much more effective than physical terrorism.
If Osian hadn't been there, the economic shock Tirna would have faced would have been tremendous.
'Even without me, the city government itself would have solved the problem. But in that case, other troublesome issues would have followed.'
Whatever the case, the important points were that there was some force behind these incidents and the fact that this force had also made a proposal to Basilio.
"You said you refused, but are you really okay? They're unlikely to leave you alone when you know about their existence."
Everyone looked at Basilio.
At that reaction, Basilio showed an expression as if he had just realized something.
"Oh, right?"