At the tarot reading, they are trading information about the late Second Age.
After hearing the Hermit's two versions of the Ancient Sun God's actions, "The Fool" Klein believed that the truth should lean towards the latter, that some authority was actively reclaimed by the Ancient Sun God, such as that of the ancient gods with pathways adjacent to Him.
He had this conjecture before, but today it became more concrete. He remembered that the pathways of the two ancient gods, "Imaginary Dragon" and "Elf King," were adjacent to the pathway of "Sun."
Since the "Ancient Sun God" awakens as a "dual-path" deity, and also possesses the uniqueness of the "Thief" path, there's no reason for it to overlook those unique characteristics and traits.
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As for the previous version, which claims that the ancient gods started the trouble first and then the "Ancient Sun God" took action, it was probably fabricated by a church loyal to the "Ancient Sun God".
What puzzled Klein was why the "Thief" pathway was unique when the "Ancient Sun God" awakened.
The "Sun" and "Hanged Man" pathways might be attracted together by reasons such as the "law of convergence of extraordinary characteristics," but the "Thief" pathway is not adjacent to those two pathways!
Other members had similar conjectures, but none of them had Klein's final question.
The only one with a different opinion was Derrick the "Sun": Of the two versions mentioned by the "Hermit," the first was a myth I had heard since childhood, and the second version was one I had never heard of, but it was also reasonable.
Without pausing, "The Hermit" Odis continued, "In the second version, the process of the 'Ancient Sun God' reclaiming the authority of the ancient gods is distinguished."
"The authority of the 'Dragon of Imagination' and the 'Elf King' was actively reclaimed by the 'Ancient Sun God,' in the order of 'Elf King' first, then 'Dragon of Imagination.'"
"The authority of the 'Giant King' and the 'Phoenix Ancestor' was likely due to the ancient gods posing a certain threat to the 'Ancient Sun God,' which led to their destruction. The order was likely 'Phoenix Ancestor' first, followed by 'Giant King.'"
At this point, Odis smiled and then said, "It sounds like the second version is more reasonable, but the reason I say the first version is also reasonable is because of another key piece of information I've learned: the 'Ancient Sun God' is very likely a human who had a miraculous encounter!"
The other members were all taken aback. "Justice" Audrey first conducted an internal "self-analysis": The reason I was slightly surprised to hear this news was because in an era dominated by ancient gods, suddenly hearing about a human deity was somewhat unexpected. But upon reflection, it didn't seem so unusual.
Alger, the "Hanged Man," pondered: if the "Ancient Sun God" was indeed human, then the first version would certainly make sense. According to the "Hermit's" previous description, humans in the Second Age were a relatively unimportant extraordinary race, likely even the targets of hunting and enslavement by extraordinary races like the "Giants."
The sudden appearance of a deity within such a group is a matter of great interest, as it may indeed take the initiative to provoke the "ancient sun god".
Odis paused briefly here, giving the other members some time, before saying, "That's why I think that both versions may coexist, just from different perspectives."
"The perspective of the first version is that of the church, which is loyal to the 'Ancient Sun God'. In their eyes, the battle to reclaim the authority of other ancient gods must be a provocation by the other side that is overestimating its own strength."
"This has a bit of a 'politically correct' feel to it, but it also fits the mentality of worshippers and believers of the 'ancient sun god,' who believe that a benevolent deity would not initiate a war."
"The second version is very likely from the perspective of the high-sequence extraordinary beings at that time, such as the angels. In their view, the 'Ancient Sun God' should naturally take back the characteristics and authority of its adjacent pathways."
"Some of those angels later pledged allegiance to the 'Ancient Sun God,' while many others were the precursors of the 'Angel Family' during the Fourth Age."
"I also learned that during the Fourth Age, angels generally did not have much respect for the gods, but I don't know what it was like during the Third Age."
"Given their long lifespans and lack of reverence for deities, their views are bound to be passed down."
The other members found the idea of "hermits" novel, but undeniably, it was also quite reasonable!
In particular, Klein believed that "The Hermit" hit the nail on the head and felt that it aligned with his historical values: historical events are not clearly right or wrong, but only different perspectives lead to different views.
He also remembered that Russell had written in his diary that "Mr. Door" seemed to have no respect for the gods whatsoever.
Emlyn, the "Moon," said somewhat helplessly, "'The Hermit,' you could have just stated the conclusion directly, which would have saved me some of the thinking."
The members, including "The Sun" Derrick and "The Magician" Fors, nodded in agreement. They also felt a bit shaken. At first, "The Hermit's" description made it seem like a historical mystery, but as he talked, he had already analyzed the matter so clearly.
Odis smiled and said, "After all, the information I have is not very comprehensive. I can only tell you what information I have and my guesses."
Then he added, "So that's the general outline of the story: after the 'Ancient Sun God' awoke, he saw that the living environment of humans was extremely harsh."
"So they began to use the knowledge of the 'Desecrating Stone Tablets' to enhance human strength and establish their own power."
"At the same time, He began to systematically eliminate those ancient gods, and the first one He targeted should be the 'Elf King'."
"The order in which the ancient gods' authority is reclaimed is my guess. There are two reasons why the 'Elf King' is the first one. First, it is an adjacent authority to the 'Ancient Sun God'. Second, it follows the principle of starting with the easy and then moving to the difficult."
Odis looked around and then said, "The first reason is not hard to understand, but to explain the second reason, we must first explain another matter."
"The history of the Second Era was basically marked by the divine war in which three ancient gods, including the 'Vampire Progenitor' Lilith, perished. The latter half of this era is known as the Twin Age."
"It seems that this era lasted for hundreds of years before the 'ancient sun god' finally awoke."
There are also two versions of the Twin Age. The first version of 'Twin' refers to 'King of Giants' and 'Imaginary Dragon', or 'Giants' and 'Dragons'.
"These two races were the strongest at the time and were in a state of hostility, hence the name 'Twin Age,' meaning that these two ancient gods and their races dominated the extraordinary world."
"We'll talk about the second version later. Let's first discuss where the dragons are so powerful."
"First, there are two pieces of information that can be confirmed and that everyone knows."
"The first piece of intelligence is that the 'Cherarchs' are the 'Angel Kings' of the 'Reader' pathway, and they are also a giant dragon."
"The second piece of information is that among the five pathways mastered by the 'Ancient Sun God,' the 'Reader' pathway is included."
When everyone heard the "Hermit" put these two pieces of information together, they seemed to understand what the "Hermit" wanted to express.
Before the other members could figure out the key point, Odis continued, "Among the ancient gods of the Second Age, none of them were gods of the 'Reader' pathway."
"So where did the 'Ancient Sun God' obtain the extraordinary properties of the 'Reader' pathway?"
Without pausing, Odis answered his own question: "Another known piece of information is that the 'Cherubim' were the 'Angel Kings' of the 'Reader' pathway in the Third Age, and were most likely Archangels in the Second Age."
"Then could we speculate that, within the dragon race, there is more than one high-sequence dragon with the 'Reader' pathway?"
"Justice" Audrey almost clapped her hands: the process of this deduction was simply brilliant.
"The Magician" Fors also lamented: I knew about those two pieces of information, but I never considered it in this regard.
Then she smiled and shook her head, thinking to herself: I can never be a scholar in this life, because I don't seem to have the mindset of a scholar.
Members such as Cattleya and Klein also felt that this inference was very reasonable, and the reasoning process was also very reasonable.
Odis continued, "The final conclusion is that the dragon race possesses all the Sequence 1 characteristics of the 'Spectator' pathway, as well as most of the extraordinary characteristics of the high sequence of the 'Reader' pathway, and perhaps also the high sequence characteristics of other adjacent pathways, making them one of the most powerful races in the 'Twin Age'."
He paused for a moment and then said, "Let's go back to the topic of the 'Ancient Sun God' reclaiming his authority. In that case, we'll know the order in which the 'Elf King' and the 'Imaginary Dragon' fell."
"Comparatively speaking, the 'Ancient Sun God' is a dual-path deity, while the 'Imaginary Dragon' most likely only has the Sequence 1 characteristic of the adjacent path, and is definitely not as powerful as the 'Ancient Sun God'."
"However, the safest approach is for the 'Ancient Sun God' to first reclaim the authority of the 'Elf King' and utilize the high-sequence characteristics of the Elf race to enhance the strength of its own forces before reclaiming the authority of the 'Imaginary Dragon'."
The other members nodded in agreement, all agreeing that the "hermit's" idea made a lot of sense.
Gadriya thought to herself: I have to say, the way of thinking of the "hermit" is very special. It is not difficult to draw such a conclusion from the known conditions, but few people think of so many details.
After I said "hermit," everyone felt that I thought the same way, and it didn't seem difficult at all.
But the truth is, this is more like a "blind spot" in thinking; few people would think of so much before the "hermit" reveals his speculation.
Odis continued without pausing, "As for the 'King of Giants' and the 'Phoenix Ancestor,' according to the information I have, the 'Phoenix Ancestor' seems to be an ancient god who is always causing trouble."
"This should be related to His state. He has two extraordinary characteristics that are not adjacent to each other. Like the 'Destruction Wolf,' He should be rather crazy and act without rational consideration."
"It is very likely that actions He deems reasonable would pose a threat to humanity or the church of the 'ancient sun god'."
"For example, this ancient god created the underworld in the spirit world. Before becoming an angel, all living beings are destined to die. With the 'god of death' around, they will eventually go to the underworld."
"Then some of the actions of the 'Phoenix Ancestor' in the underworld could very well have a great impact on humanity."
"Therefore, defeating this ancient god is most likely the way to prevent a world-destroying event and maintain the stability of the extraordinary world."
Everyone listened attentively. This information wasn't as shocking as the "desecration of the stone tablets," but it made the other members feel that these were some of the most fundamental elements constituting the history of the Second Age.
At the same time, everyone realized that the "Hermit" was using the strength of the ancient gods and races, as well as the order in which they were destroyed, to describe the details of that era.
Odis paused briefly, rested for two or three seconds, and then continued, "As for the 'King of Giants,' his situation is rather special."
"When we talked about the war of the gods in the Second Age, we mentioned that after the 'Ancestor of the Blood Clan' fell, the 'Giant King' and the 'Elf King' accused each other of being traitors."
"Thus, former allies became enemies."
"Giants and dragons have been enemies since ancient times. The 'Phoenix Ancestor' has always been an enemy of the giants, while the 'Demon King' has never joined any faction."
"During this period, the giants were essentially fighting against both dragons and elves at the same time."
"Fortunately, dragons and elves, as well as phoenixes and elves, are enemies and there is no possibility of them forming an alliance."
"But the pressure on the giants must have increased considerably, so at some point, the 'King of Giants' sent Queen Omibella and his eldest son Badhel to secretly contact a clandestine human organization in hopes of seeking cooperation."
Everyone straightened their backs or changed their sitting posture, and they immediately realized that this was a rather secretive part of history.
Seeing that "The Hermit" paused slightly, Audrey asked, "Mr. 'The Hermit,' were there secret organizations back then?"
Odis laughed and said, "Yes, it is the church."
"Yes, besides the church of the 'Ancient Sun God,' the church of the 'Goddess of Night' was also considered a secret organization at that time."
The other members suddenly felt that the common sense they had now was completely different from the common sense they had during the Second Age.
It's a strange feeling, like hearing a completely different perspective from your own.
But then they realized that the church at that time must have been a secret organization, since humans were not the mainstream of the extraordinary world at that time.
Odis continued, "I remember mentioning before that the world was ruled by extraordinary races, and if the church wanted to spread its teachings, it would have to travel between the territories of different extraordinary races."
"This process will definitely be carried out in secret, and at the beginning, it will definitely be done in secret."
Everyone nodded in agreement, realizing that it was indeed impossible to obtain permission to proselytize from the ancient gods.
The next second, everyone stared intently at the "Hermit," eager to know if the "King of Giants'" plan had succeeded, and what the whole process was like.
Odis seemed to read everyone's mind, and then smiled and said, "In the end, it was bound to fail, because the 'King of Giants' ultimately fell."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I strongly suspect that the fall of the 'King of Giants' was the result of a dispute with the 'Ancient Sun God' over the division of spoils."
"Firstly, the fact that the 'King of Giants' made contact with a secret human organization shows that the 'King of Giants' is an ancient god who knows how to adapt."
"Furthermore, based on the existence of the 'Silver Country,' it can be roughly inferred that the 'King of Giants' has some sympathy for humanity. Although he did not claim to protect humanity, he would not persecute humanity like the dragons and the phoenix. Instead, he regarded humanity as an appendage of the giants."
"It was precisely because of his relatively humane behavior that he had the confidence to cooperate with human secret organizations."
At this point, "Sun" Derrick was somewhat dazed, suddenly realizing that even as a resident of Silver City, he didn't know the history of the "Silver Kingdom" as well as "The Hermit."
The other members didn't think much of it, because the Hermit's conclusion about the "unequal distribution of spoils" made them even more eager to hear the Hermit's speculation.
Odis continued, "Let's talk about the timeline again. Since the 'Giant King' sought cooperation from the secret human organization in order to deal with the 'Elf King,' the cooperation must have taken place before the 'Elf King' fell."
"We can imagine that the 'Ancient Sun God' was very powerful, but his subordinates were not necessarily strong."
He believes this is why the "Queen of Calamity" was able to hold out at sea for some time with the remnants of the Elven race.
After a slight pause, Odis continued, "When defeating the 'Elf King,' the 'Ancient Sun God' also needed several angel-level assistants."
"Therefore, the forces attacking the elves most likely include the 'Queen of Giants' and the 'Eldest Son of the Giant King.' In other words, this cooperation should have been achieved."
"Perhaps the two sides cooperated when attacking the dragon, after all, the dragon was also the mortal enemy of the giants."
"But later the 'Giant King' was indeed attacked by the 'Ancient Sun God,' and I have not received any reliable information about what happened in between."
"However, I have this conjecture: after defeating the 'Dragon of Imagination' and hunting many high-sequence dragons, one must have obtained many advanced extraordinary traits."
"The Giant King believes that as one of the partners, he should definitely receive some of the spoils, but will the Ancient Sun God give the Giant King the high-level extraordinary characteristics of the Adjacent Path?"
Even if they give it to you, you'll find a way to get it back, right?
At this point, everyone had a look of sudden realization.
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Although this is another guess by the "hermit," it is undeniably reasonable!
Odis continued, "Another point is that after the 'Imaginary Dragon' was destroyed, the 'Ancient Sun God' and the 'Giant King' no longer had a common enemy, and their cooperation ended."
"So in order to save humanity from the giants' rule, the 'Ancient Sun God' will most likely launch an attack."
"According to some intelligence I have obtained, the 'Ancient Sun God' does indeed have the awareness to protect the human race."
Actually, if you think about it carefully, the "Giant King" was quite pitiful. His original plan was to send Omibella and Badhall to trick the "Ancient Sun God" and the "Night Goddess" into attacking the Elf race.
This plan can be said to have exceeded expectations; not only was the "Elf King" defeated, but the "Imaginary Dragon" also had its special ability revealed.
But the "King of Giants" may not have realized the consequences of letting his eldest son, Badheir, come into contact with the "Ancient Sun God" and the "Goddess of Night".
Odis guessed that it was very likely at this time that they helped Lilith complete the substitution.
In other words, when seeking cooperation, it was still Omibella, but when returning, it was already Lilith.
Badhall was unaware of the truth at the time, and under the influence of the "Goddess of Night" and others, he began to plan his ascension to godhood.
Everything that followed was logical. The "King of Giants" thought that he and the giant race could still fight against the "Ancient Sun God" and His church, but he did not know that he had long since become a lone wolf.
Odis concluded, "Then the order in which the four ancient gods fell should probably be: 'Elf King', 'Phoenix Ancestor', 'Dragon of Imagination', and 'Giant King'."
"I'm not sure about the exact order of the 'Phoenix Ancestor' and the 'Imaginary Dragon,' but I can be sure about the order of the 'Elf King' and the 'Giant King.'"
He said this because of the evidence presented in "The Travels of Grosser," which was originally a magical artifact used by the "Imaginary Dragon" Angelweid to seal away the pollution of "God."
It had already passed through the hands of the giants before the "Dragon of Imagination" fell, and only after the "Dragon of Imagination" fell did it become a backup plan for their resurrection.
Its first owner was the giant Grosser, its second owner was the elf Shatas, and its third owner was Snowman, the ascetic of the ancient Church of the Sun God.
If the "King of Giants" had fallen before the "King of Elves," then this travelogue would most likely have become the spoils of war of the ancient Church of the Sun God, and Snowman would have been its second owner.
After finishing his description of the question, Odis took a deep breath and continued, "In the 'Twin Age,' the 'Ancient Sun God' seizing the power of the four ancient gods was a significant event of that time."
"But there were also some important events that happened during this era, such as Hermes inventing the ancient Hermes language, which had a significant impact on mankind."
"We've talked about this before: the mystical languages of various races are difficult for humans to master due to differences in physiological structure."
"But the most critical issue is that it is quite dangerous. First of all, those languages do not offer any protection for humans."
"Secondly, in an era where both the 'King of Giants' and the 'Imaginary Dragon' existed, rituals were performed using both the language of giants and the language of dragons, so there was absolutely no privacy involved."
"It can be said that Hermes' inventions enabled humankind to build its own extraordinary world."
"It is of great significance."
The other members nodded slowly; they shared the same sentiment.
Klein also thought that, according to Russell's diary, Hermes was still alive and had participated in the "Twilight Hermits".
Odis continued, "Another relatively important thing is that the 'Morse Penitentiary' was also formed at this time. It is said that the first members were all beings who had seen the 'Blasphemy Tablet'."
"And the leader of this organization, the 'Sage,' seems to have cooperated with the 'Ancient Sun God' to resist the invasion of the Outer Gods into the real world."
"I'm not very clear about the specifics. I only know from some sources that some people believe the so-called 'twin era' refers to the 'ancient sun god' and the 'sage'."
"However, this is most likely the view of humans, rather than the view shared by all extraordinary beings."
Upon hearing this, everyone recalled the "Hermit's" descriptions of the "Sage." Since the "Sage" was on par with the "Ancient Sun God," they could be certain that the "Sage" was at a very high level.
But the question is, how come I've never heard of this deity before?
There hadn't been a chance before, but this time Audrey seized the opportunity and asked, "'The Hermit,' has this deity also fallen?"
Odis replied, "Yes."
When did this happen?
"Late Quaternary Period".
The other members were even more surprised. This happened more than a thousand years ago, so why are there no legends about it?
It should be noted that most ordinary people today know about the "Four Emperors," so logically, there should be no legends about the "wise men" who existed at the same time.
So Audrey asked, "Am I the only one who hasn't heard of this deity's deeds?"
"The Magician" Fors immediately replied, "I hadn't heard of that before either."
Other members also said they had never heard of it before, and even Derrick from the "Forsaken Land" had never seen a similar record.
"I'm not entirely clear on the specifics either," Odis said. "But I have some information that I can't distinguish between true and false. First of all, the path to which the 'sage' belongs is somewhat special, especially when they reach the level of gods. It seems that they try to maintain an air of mystery as much as possible."
"The second reason is that the 'Hidden Sage' seems to have altered some knowledge about this deity, causing the concepts of 'Hidden Sage' and 'Sage' to overlap in some places."
"Furthermore, the 'God of Steam and Machinery' has been deliberately concealing the existence of this deity and even trying to eliminate His influence on the real world."
This answer immediately sparked a lot of speculation.
Klein, emerging from the gray fog, first thought: "Then, the 'Sage' is most likely a dual-path deity, combining the qualities of a 'Seer' and a 'Generalist.' It's highly probable that the uniqueness and characteristics of the 'Hidden Sage' and the 'God of Steam and Machinery' originate from this deity."
Perhaps the "Sage" left a backup plan for resurrection in those characteristics? That's why the "Hidden Sage" and the "God of Steam and Machinery" are guarding against the "Sage" as if they were thieves.
Other members shared similar thoughts, believing that this deity might be like the "ancient sun god," perhaps not having perished completely.
The priestess, Cattleya, thought to herself: If it weren't for the Hermit's revelation, I wouldn't have known that such a deity had ever appeared through the Path of the Seeker.
At this moment, Odis said again: "The above is the information about the 'Twin Age'. For the extraordinary world at that time, the five ancient gods and the 'Ancient Sun God' were the protagonists of that era."
"For us today, the 'ancient sun god' is the protagonist of that era."
"In this era, the 'Ancient Sun God' popularized the potion system to mankind, which was a far-reaching event for both humanity and the Extraordinary Realm."
"In particular, He led humanity from a supporting role in that era to the protagonist of an extraordinary world. No matter how the era changes, humanity should remember the glory of the 'Ancient Sun God'."
Upon hearing this, "The Sun" Derrick was deeply moved. Even though he knew that "the all-knowing and all-powerful God" had fallen, he still couldn't suppress his excitement.
Odis concluded, "That era was the dawn of humanity, and the 'Ancient Sun God' was that ray of light shining upon mankind!"
The other members were slightly taken aback, because the "Hermit" rarely spoke so highly of a deity.
Then they felt a wave of modernity wash over them, and in this feeling, they quietly digested the intelligence they had just received.
A few seconds later, everyone seemed to snap out of their daze. Derrick first made a deal with Odis to exchange extraordinary materials for extraordinary weapons.
Then, the transaction process continued.
"The Priestess" Cattleya turned to look at "the world": "The information you requested is ready for you."
Klein bought information about Siberon from the "Priestess". He originally wanted to trade with the "Hermit", but then he realized that he wouldn't be able to negotiate the price if he traded with the "Hermit".
Since the information didn't need to be too detailed or too professional, they consulted the "Hanged Man" and the "Priestess," ultimately choosing to trade with the "Priestess" who offered the lower price.
Hearing this, Klein understood the other person's warning: "I will pay you the reward later."
Caldelia hummed in agreement and said nothing more.
Klein thought to himself: What a disappointment! There wasn't even a polite greeting like, "I hope this information meets your needs!"
That cost him a full 300 pounds, and if it didn't meet his requirements, he would definitely consider returning it.
Then, Klein manipulated "The World" to look at Miss "The Magician": "I have a request."
Feeling uncomfortable under her gaze, Fors shifted her posture and cleared her throat, asking, "What request?"
"The most important thing we need to do with the information we get about Calderon City in the Spirit Realm from the Abraham family is to locate it."
Fors didn't know what kind of city it was, but she forced a smile and said, "No problem, I'll ask for you."
Odis thought for a moment: Klein was making preparations for his promotion.
"World" asked "Magician" in a calm tone, "How much payment do you need?"
"1000…no, 500 pounds!" Fors said, feeling quite pressured.
Ever since she witnessed "The World" hunting down the traitor of the Abraham family, she had been vaguely afraid of this adventurer who roamed the seas.
In Fors's perception, the "Hermit" is also very powerful, but at the same time he also exudes a warm, steady, and reassuring aura.
The "world" is different; he gives people a very cold and unapproachable feeling.
Fors even had a feeling that if he was not careful in his communication with the other party, he would become the other party's next target.
This offer surprised Klein. He hadn't expected the "Magician's" final offer to be so cheap, because detailed information about Calderon was probably only available to the Abraham family, besides the Seven Lights.
Then he thought to himself, "Look at Miss Magician! I didn't even have to haggle, and she gave me a 50% discount!"