Chapter 78: Dark Knowledge

The term "evil god" is merely a designation and doesn't refer to actual deities from other worlds. Of course, powerful entities from other realms often masquerade as gods, bestowing upon themselves grand and lofty titles—for boasting costs nothing. Among them are creatures from the lower planes: demons and devils. There are also fortunate ones who stumble upon artifacts capable of communicating with other worlds, rising swiftly to prominence. After all, what might be common stones or sweet potatoes here could be treasured rarities or miraculous wonders in another world. (How many people get the sweet potato reference?)

"A serpent-like entity from another world?" Born pondered in silence, searching his memory but finding nothing. Clearly, this was not a deity. Altars like these are all too common across the continent of Faerun; he hadn't expected to find one in Sevendon. Altars serve as interdimensional signal towers—used by insignificant outsiders, powerful denizens of the lower planes, or gods from other realms who lack the proper credentials.

Legitimate entities such as Jergal or Ammanator build temples and erect statues openly to collect faith. The difference between the two is much like that between a legitimate mining company and an illegal coal mine.

Born found no timeline in his memory for an attack on Sevendon, suggesting that even if he hadn't discovered this place, it would eventually be uncovered and destroyed by someone else.

"Even without sacrifices, the altar can exert influence. It seems the entity on the other side has sensed the disturbance here!" Born sneered coldly. "Foolish! To think they dare extend their reach into Nether!"

With the advancement of arcane civilization, altars capable of interplanar communication became highly sought after by arcanists, who were no longer content with mere exploration of Faerun, but cast their gaze toward myriad realms. Each new plane is a vast treasure trove. Altars like these are keys to such treasures—the signals are bidirectional. If the altar can connect to Faerun, it can surely connect to the other side as well. Deciphering the information on the altar would yield the coordinates of another plane.

If only he were stronger, Born would have liked to act alone. Without legendary-level power, exploring other worlds is tantamount to sending oneself to the slaughter. Moreover, the entity on the other side is obviously powerful and employs bizarre methods; within a hundred meters of the altar, its influence is palpable. Born estimated even his grandfather might not be a match.

Most who can undertake interplanar exploration are formidable elites.

After a moment's thought, Born decided to return and consult his grandfather. If they could gather a group of high-level professionals or enlist Dean Concinio, they should be able to handle it. Even if not, securing the coordinates would suffice for now—they could deal with it later at leisure.

Having resolved, Born slowly retreated from the subterranean chamber.

Moments later, Born emerged onto the surface, cast a spell to reseal the entrance, and stood at the cave mouth. "Fortunately, after the [Solar Flare], the strong positive energy radiation remains aboveground, so the evil aura below won't leak out for now. In a few days, though, someone will surely notice the space beneath."

After tidying up, Born cast a brief glance around him and left without hesitation.

"The evil aura below is highly attractive to undead creatures. Once the positive energy radiation dissipates, I'd better secure those coordinates quickly!"

...

Returning to his room at the manor, Born drew a deep breath and took out the collection left by Ferguson. Exploring other worlds is still far off; for now, he must digest his recent gains and swiftly convert them into strength.

Pressed for time earlier, Born hadn't had a chance to examine the materials, simply gathering everything he could find—even the papers scattered on the ground.

He picked up a notebook; its cover bore the name Ferguson MacArthur, written in Netherese noble script, which was also draconic.

Born opened the first page.

The first line read: "Differentiation between Draconic and Netherese."

"This is... Draconic?" Born was a bit surprised; after skimming through, he quickly flipped onward.

The notes chronicled Ferguson's research into Draconic magic, including an actual Draconic spell—a pleasant surprise.

Nothing seemed amiss at first; from the information, Ferguson was meticulously studying Draconic. All was normal until the tone abruptly shifted, and the content began to delve into biological modification.

Though the handwriting was consistent, Born could tell that when the notes started covering modifications, Ferguson's mind was already deteriorating.

Analyzing the notebook, Born's chip detected a significant time gap between the studies of dragons and biological modification.

"It seems Ferguson was infected during this period—or perhaps, he ceased to be himself!"

Afterward, the research focused increasingly on human enhancement; the handwriting grew wild and frenzied.

By now, Born could vaguely guess what had happened.

As he read further, Ferguson's mind deteriorated further, and his notes devolved into strange ramblings.

Toward the end, the writing was filled with words like "leave" and "kill."

Born shook his head and set this notebook aside, planning to hand it to his grandfather at a suitable time.

The other books were mostly written in unknown scripts.

These characters seemed to possess a mysterious power. Born picked up one and tried to decipher it, and instantly, a mad and guttural whisper echoed in his mind!

Ssssss...

The 'Qi' within him activated instinctively. Suddenly, it felt as though he held a red-hot branding iron; where his palm touched the book, wisps of blue smoke curled up!

Born immediately let go.

Smack!

The book dropped to the floor...

"This is abyssal demon lore?!" Born's expression darkened as he examined his unharmed palm—it seemed the burning sensation was merely an illusion.

He recalled the deciphered information: the whispers were a special 'curse' embedded in the book, designed to awaken the reader's inner darkness.

"Wait! Isn't this the Book of Corruption?"

Born glanced at the book on the floor; its cover bore several scorched fingerprints.

"Yet these letters resemble Abyssal or Infernal..."

Born gathered a bit of 'Qi' at his fingertips and lightly touched the cover.

Sss...

A pungent, sulfurous blue smoke rose; the touched spot darkened, but gradually, it began to heal on its own.

"Is it a permanent restoration spell, or is the cover's material itself regenerative? If the latter, that's truly terrifying!"

Born grew solemn; yet this only confirmed the value of these books.

Demons and devils cannot appear directly in the prime material plane; typically, they can only 'smuggle' themselves in or be summoned by denizens of the prime material.

(The prime material plane refers to worlds like Faerun, governed by consistent natural laws.)

Some demons and devils, wise as they are, craft objects—crowns, necklaces, powerful 'artifacts'—and scatter them across the planes as bait.

Naturally, these 'artifacts' are rigged with 'backdoors' for remote manipulation. As the user grows more dependent, the artifacts subtly corrupt them, eventually gaining full control; the victim becomes a vessel or avatar, ultimately erecting an altar or portal to summon the original entity into the prime material.

This method, however, has a high failure rate and is costly. Those who obtain such artifacts are usually weak-willed nobodies, who rarely survive long enough—most are slain by heroes before they even begin, and their artifacts destroyed. Success is exceedingly rare.

Artifacts aren't always weapons or tools; among them are books like the one in Born's possession.

They contain forbidden knowledge, or information about civilizations destroyed by 'them'.

Most importantly, the information recorded is genuine!

And not mere fluff or trivialities—it's all valuable knowledge.

Advanced martial skills, powerful magic—

Even methods for ascending to godhood!

...