This time, many different Paths developed at a similar rate.And eventually, they found the Archivist again.For the first time, the Paths didn't restrict the Archivist, but they also didn't get rid of his existing suppressions.This little kindness was probably the very thing that saved all of humanity.The Archivist told them about what had happened to all the other Paths in the past, but this time, he told them very directly that they were not powerful enough to oppose the legendary beasts.They needed to gather more power.The Paths believed the Archivist, and instead of directly attacking the legendary beasts, they decided to just continue living normally.Many periods of peace and war passed.The Paths worked closely together, split apart to fight each other, made peace and worked together, and split apart again.The political landscape changed rapidly, but one thing remained consistent.Humanity was becoming more powerful than it had ever been before.Eventually, the Archivist told them that they were probably powerful enough to fight the legendary beasts.So, humanity banded together to kill the legendary beasts.

And rapidly killed them without even losing a single person.It was very underwhelming.Even the Archivist had been surprised by the sheer power humanity had achieved.For the first time in nearly six million years, humanity had become the ruler of the world again.And yet, this was the very thing that turned the world into hell.With the threat of the super-powerful beasts gone, humanity no longer had any reservations.War!Power!It was a brutal era of bloodshed.The Mages proved to be one of the most powerful Paths.And yet, the Mages lost that title in the most ironic way.The strongest Mage tried to kill the Archivist for his secrets.And the Archivist killed her.The Archivist's Path had attacked him, and the Archivist destroyed it.From one of the most powerful Paths, the Mages fell to a tertiary Path, and the other Paths wouldn't allow for the Mages to make a comeback.But then, the bloodshed calmed down.Why?The Abominations.The Abominations started to become quite a problem.Over the ages, the Abominations had become more and more powerful, and now, there were even some Abominations in the Fifth Realm appearing every couple of years.That was when humanity found the cause.The Child of Calamity.The power of the Child of Calamity determined the power of the Abominations.When the Archivist heard that, he became very surprised.He was very certain that something like a Child of Calamity didn't exist for a very long time.He would have noticed the rapid strengthening and weakening of Abominations and would have connected them with a living being.In fact, as soon as the Child of Calamity appeared for the first time, the Abominations started to grow more powerful at a much faster rate.And the Archivist quickly found out why.Gate.The Child of Calamity was a gate for the Abominations.The stronger the Child of Calamity became, the bigger the gate became.With the Child of Calamity, the Abominations became a true threat to the world, and all of humanity worked together to find a way to deal with it.Yet, every time they killed a Child of Calamity, a new one would appear somewhere else.After trying out many different methods, they found the best one.Give the Child of Calamity some money, a nice place to live, and status, and let them live in happiness.

As long as they didn't become more powerful, everything was okay, and the Abominations would remain at their weakest.After many years, humanity returned to bloodshed, but they still kept the Child of Calamity in their mind.But then, the unlikeliest of Paths made a return.A Path that wasn't even considered powerful by the rulers of the world.Mages.And their leader...Lucius Volstad.His power was...

scary.The Archivist wrote in the book that Lucius Volstad had a level of talent he had never seen before in history.The Abominations also became more powerful.Naturally, the Archivist inspected Lucius very closely since the power of the Abominations was too similar to Lucius' growth.However, Lucius showed no sign of being the Child of Calamity.Lucius had only been a Mage Lord when the Archivist inspected him, and the Archivist was quite confident that a Mage Lord wouldn't be able to fool the eyes of the first and most powerful Mage, who was over six million years old.Therefore, Lucius couldn't be the Child of Calamity.Eventually, Lucius destroyed all the other Paths and became the first person that consumed over 70% of the world's Mana.When Lucius interacted with the Archivist, he was willing to destroy all the restrictions the Archivist was under in exchange for one thing.The Archivist wasn't allowed to hurt his group of friends.The Archivist agreed and received a bracelet.Now, the Archivist was basically free except for this one restriction.Eventually, Lucius ascended to become a God.The Abominations became weaker.The Mana became more.And that made the Archivist conclude one thing.Lucius had been the Child of Calamity, and he had died.When Shang read that, he took a shaky breath.The answer had been right there, but none of the Mage Emperors believed him.How could Lucius, the core of their friend group, possibly be the Child of Calamity?Additionally, the Archivist didn't have proof.No, Lucius became a God, and he was watching over the world now.In the last pages of the book, the Archivist talked about the Mages and one person in particular.King Sanctified Death.The Archivist said that King Sanctified Death was as talented as Lucius but not as kind.Most likely, King Sanctified Death would become the new version of the beast apocalypse.A monster that would destroy all of life again and again.But compared to King Sanctified Death, the beast apocalypse was a child's toy.And that was where things stood today.This was how the book ended.Shang just thought about everything he had just read.