Dire Wolf

Chapter 20

For several thousands of years, the Second Golden Age has lasted under the prosperous reign of the House Faulken.

But as the consort of the temporal god himself has predicted, nothing was built to last forever.

The Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy has been showing signs of decline for quite a while now. Its living standards, though absolutely high, are stagnant, and there are no changes to the daily life of the imperials.

While the attacks of relentless monsters that have been plaguing the existence of mortals and immortals alike since the dawn of time have been taking a toll not just on the empire but the divinities themselves.

No matter how far mortals have advanced the knowledge of warfare against the monstrosities, they just keep on fighting a seemingly eternal and neverending tide of enemies constantly besieging their borders relentlessly every minute of every day of their lives.

The gods and goddesses themselves can't do anything about it as well.

They may decimate the hordes and swarms quickly. The monsters will just come back just as fast to the point that even mankind is getting tired of constant fighting.

One can only imagine the dire effects it caused on the internal structure and governance of the empire itself. With no one else to point fingers to, imperials began to blame their emperor for supposedly not doing anything to stop the young soldiers and demigods from dying in their endless crusade against the vile beasts that haunt their borders.

The Province of Scania pledges its unlimited support to the emperor. At the same time, the Province of Kalalit, together with the Provinces of Riksent and Maharlika, shows a sign of wavering loyalty to the Imperial Capital City of Nordia, the seat of the Imperial Throne.

Thankfully, Hyro the Progenitor, the very first of the Faulken Imperial Dynasty, has remembered the warning of his godly mother and has taken steps for the inevitable end of the empire in the far-flung future.

To avoid senseless violence and civil war that the empress before him has abhorred and detested, he made several safety nets for the eventual fall of his empire.

The moment that the representatives of Laroost, Tayabas, and Kalalit are showing secessionist tendencies, the reigning emperor quickly ordered the drafting of withdrawal papers for each dominion willing to do away with the empire.

To prevent any military confrontations or misunderstandings, the emperor also allowed each nation to keep its current standing army that once was part of the Imperial Civil Guards, with Kalalit gaining the lion's share while Maharlika getting the short end of the stick.

Thus, within a year, and with the sad blessing of the gods and goddesses, the Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy has ceased to exist after thousands of years.

From the arid province rose up a new kingdom under the rule of the spawns of the emirs and emiras calling themselves King and Queen from House Dahl and together with their chiefs and chieftesses, the Feudal Kingdom of Kalalit was born, gargantuan in its size and as unforgiving as its vast desert and wilderness.

The House Hausen of the autumnal dominion announced its independence as the Aristocratid Dukedom of Riksent, crowning their ruler as the Grand Duke and ruling the territory with the help of five Barons from five other ancient houses of that province, mercantile in its roots and as rich as its precious pearl riddled seas and ports.

Meanwhile, the ever-resilient archipelagic territory of the empire ratifies its first-ever constitution as the United Republic of Maharlika with President de Marillac as its first-ever national leader, persevering in its core and as welcoming as their arms and smiles.

Finally, the dominion of Scania, true to its promise, stayed with the crumbling empire to form a newly created nation from its ashes, the Democratic Empire of Scania, still under the rule of the ancient House Faulken and divided into several tsardoms, magnificent as always and as prestigious as its predecessors.

With the end of the Second Golden Age came another revelation from the inheritors of the previous Vietan Dynasty.

A secret, not even the immortals themselves know of aside from the god of time himself and his consort.

The existence of gods and goddesses is tied with the monsters.

For the two are sustained by the collective consciousness of mankind.

One born of their yearning for something greater than themselves, the other taken from their deepest fears. One will continue to exist as long as the other does for all eternity.

Such is the way of how our world works.

There can be no end to the swarms and hordes of monsters as long as the divine continues to exists with the mortals.

So, with a heavy heart, the immortals did the unbelievable. Wanting to give mankind a chance to live without interference with the higher beings and away from the monsters that plagued them since their creation, they gave up their physical forms and gathered their divine consciousness and powers at Mount Olympus before locking its gates closed for what seemed like an eternity.

This sacrifice has removed the threat of monsters who disappeared from thin air the moment Gearth was freed from the eternal gaze of the divine, and with them, the elemental powers of yore vanished, never to be seen since then.

Scholars, historians, and scientists have purged went to great lengths to destroy any written anecdotes, records, videos, sound recordings, and studies related to the previous ages in massive destruction of knowledge never before seen in this world of ours.

Only scant few books remained at the hands of the world leaders saved by their most zealous members and the oral traditions of the Kalalitans living in the Ogawara Province.

It took many centuries, and slowly, but indeed, the memories and knowledge of Gearth's legendary past faded into nothingness, and a new age has been born from the absence of the immortals and monsters.

The Age of Silver.

The time period in which mankind is still enjoying the fruits of their forefathers and mothers' scientific endeavors with the blessings of the divine.

Space flight and exploration are still continuing, and it is as if there was no change when the gods and goddesses left at all, and the mortals are taught that a great catastrophe has happened, and that's the reason why there's a massive hole in their history books as to how they managed to reach that level of technology and standard of living seemingly out of thin air.

But the descent from the Golden Age didn't stop there because a thousand years later, a new age has been born, the Bronze Age.

This is the time period in which mankind started feeling the degradation of their society and stability. Though nothing compared to the Golden Age, humanity during the Silver Age still lived in peace and harmony with each other even if they are divided into four different nations with four different views and cultures of their own under their respective leaders.

Bronze Age was said to be the start of the brewing strife and discord amongst mankind. With the standard of living not improving and not a single thing can be done about it, citizens of each respective countries began to be restless and unhappy with their lives.

They began to be suspicious of their neighbors and started feeling jealous of other countries' supposed advantages over them.

The Democratic Empire of Scania, as successor to the fallen empire of the first Faulken Dynasty, maintained a somewhat comfortable standard of living compared to the rest of Gearth's nations, with the Feudal Kingdom of Kalalit eyeing it with envy as its own people are having a more challenging time scraping by because of its less bountiful lands and seas coupled with its crippling gargantuan population.

A few hundred years on and the first-ever war broke out between the empire and kingdom, causing untold destruction both in infrastructures and human lives alike that pushed the grieving humanity into the last and current age we are living in right now.

The Iron Age.

An age of stagnation, frequent wars, and famines plagued the world while mankind continues to point their weapons at one another. Violence seemed to be the only answer, and diplomacy is almost non-existent.

Technological advancements completely stopped, and most countries turned to excavations and archeological expeditions in their homelands for forgotten knowledge of the past.

Space exploration has been wholly forgotten, and the standard of living is slowly degenerating to the point that poverty, once an unthinkable thought in the Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy, has finally become commonplace in this world of ours.

Numerous wars have been fought and lost. Those who claimed who won, in reality, gained nothing at all.

The United Republic of Maharlika has been invaded time and again to the point that its people are almost subjugated and treated as outsiders in their own lands while the Aristocratic Dukedom of Riksent managed to remain unscathed from wars because of its economic might that holds sway over other three nations.

This is the current era we are all in, and if not for a brave woman who managed to unite all warring states under a single banner after several millennia, things would've been pretty much bleak for those who will come after us.

If there will be at all...

Turns out that it is not just a random name chosen by the Grand Duchess when she, her baronesses, and baron, together with advisers, created the proposal for a united Gearth. The dukedom has surviving records kept inside the vaults of the Laroost Citadel that tells the real story of our world.

Of the knowledge and truth about an empire in its zenith, how it came to be, and its eventual demise.

The Empire of Plurinational Alliance Xenocracy or Pax for short.

She dreamed of a united Gearth under one flag, and she proposed it to the other world leaders and thank the gods and goddesses, they accepted her bold move towards the brighter tomorrow.

The moment that Pax has returned to our world once more, the sleeping immortals that are slumbering in their self-imposed hibernation began to wake up slowly but surely.

On the island off the coast of Maharlika lies the fabled Mount Olympus and the rest of what remains of the home of the gods and their final resting place.

When mankind began dreaming of another Golden Age, they dreamt of someone or something that can help them reach it.

The divine beings were only regarded as mere myths and bedtime stories. Those powerful forces of nature and the world itself wielded power beyond mere mortals' wild imaginations.

Those that creativity, knowledge, understanding, intelligence, and grandeur inspire mere men and women to reach for something higher than their present selves.

They whose powers defend, protect and deliver those who are in need and weak. Though some are mischievous enough to meddle and play with the short lives of mortal, if the two Golden Ages are to be taken as proof, they are more advantageous than they are not.

Faced with a seemingly significant roadblock, Grand Duchess Kady sought the help of the Sibyl once more for advice and let the cards guide her once more.

Instead, the old man introduced her to a wonderful and youthful woman he said knows how to communicate with the very gods and goddesses themselves.

She is the eternal teacher, the adviser, and has witnessed both Golden Ages with her very own eyes.

Her name is Lina Peregrine, the demiurge of Hebe, the Goddess of Youth, and with the powers of her divine mother, she attained something akin to immortality.

Not a mere mortal nor demigod, something even more than a demiurge or mortal gods but lesser than a goddess.

She has walked Gearth since the reign of the Vietan Dynasty and well through the two periods of the Faulken Dynastic Rule.

Her uncountable time in our world has afforded her with knowledge no mere mortals nor immortals can hope to fathom.

She has witnessed several rises and falls of the divines and the enduring existence of mankind. She has seen how each Golden Ages has ended, making her the perfect being to assist our dying world.

Yes, this world is not only stagnating. It is only but a few steps away from destroying itself.

You all see, even though the immortals' existence equates to the fact of monsters, their very presence in this world of ours is sustaining its life.

The Olympic Elemental Particles are the building blocks of reality that made Gearth, Gearth. If mortals need food and water while immortals need nectar and ambrosia for sustenance, in turn, our world needs the Olympic Elemental Particles to nourish itself.

When the divines willingly gave up their physical forms and slumbered behind the Gates of Olympus, the particles that sustain Gearth itself were cut off almost immediately but, thankfully, not entirely.

Painfully few particles escape the gates, and the world didn't suffer an immediate end but rather, a slow and agonizing one.

Cut-off from its source of life with only drops of it left, Gearth entered a state akin to hibernation. By using only the smallest amount of Olympic Elemental Particles, it managed to prolong its life further while waiting for the seemingly impossible spring to come.

As it sleeps, the land slowly but surely began to give life to plants little by little. What once was a province capable of feeding its own gargantuan population became a nation incapable of sustaining itself.

Such was the fate of the Feudal Kingdom of Kalalit that is slowly worsening through the centuries. But it is not just the land and food production affected by the world's forced hibernation.

The intellectual hunger of the people of the Democratic Empire of Scania is slowly being depleted. Once at the forefront in science and technology, the innovation of the empire is slowly and surely fading away.

Meanwhile, the Aristocratic Dukedom of Riksent's people stopped caring about anything else but money. Their citizen deprived of things outside their mercantile tendencies. Once they are, the people who created art, awe-inspiring architecture, and massive engineering feats are now reduced to buying their way out of anything.

Lastly, the Maharlikans are slowly losing their resilient and persevering nature. They no longer have the same smiles and laughter their ancestors have whenever faced with problems.

As Ms. Peregrine has said before, there's only a matter of time now before the whole of mankind destroys itself without the guidance and powers of the immortals watching over them.

The current world leaders are very much aware of the situation and choose to gamble the very future of their people in the hopes that the Third Golden Age will soon be within reach of all mortals once more.

That Gearth will finally wake up from its long and deep slumber.