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Not far from the village that had vanished, a valley that was shrouded by the fog all year round survived the catastrophe. Due to the subsidence caused by the earthquake, the original flat path was now uneven. Underground water came gushing out, turning the entire road muddy.

A muddy and uneven road might not be an issue for Lilith and Lesiah, but not for the old and frail Titan 12138. Every step must be taken with caution, so it was a very difficult walk.

Seeing the old titan walking with so much difficulty, Lilith was going to assist her but Lesiah grabbed her by the arm then shook her head and gave Lilith a meaningful glance.

Lilith was quite puzzled, but she trusted Lesiah enough to give up her intention of helping Titan 12138.

“The resting place of the titans who have died over the past thousand years is just up ahead.”

Titan 12138 looked at the countless graves in the valley with a nostalgic look on her wrinkled face. “Ever since the titan clan settled here a thousand years ago, this is where we bury the dead. Time really flies, I have lost count of how many of our ancestors have been buried here. To the titans, this place is like a second village to us… the village of the dead.”

“That’s quite impressive.” Lilith nodded approvingly.

There were probably a few thousand graves here, but they were all lined neatly and in different layers on this small valley. The fact that this was planned with a sense of hierarchy made it quite hard to believe that this was a graveyard designed by an underdeveloped civilization.

Perhaps this was because the titan clan cared a lot about their dead family members.

To survive in the harsh environment of the world for so many years, the titans only had their own family and others in their clan to rely on. Since the external environment forced them to unite internally, that must be why they cared so much about those who had departed and enough to make sure they would be laid to rest in the best environment.

On the other hand, humans, who far surpassed them in terms of numbers and strength, chose to crush the bones of their dead family members into ashes instead. The ashes were then stuffed into a cold urn before those urns were buried in cramped graves measured less than a square meter.

Although this was all forced by environmental conditions, it was not without trouble.

Titan 12138 took Lilith and Lesiah deeper into the graveyard, until they came to the lowest part of the valley. It was dim here, as sunlight could barely reach this area all year round. Not only that, it was also quite chilly. Lesiah pulled her clothes tighter around herself and swept her gaze over the wooden grave markers.

Every single one of them had a distinctive titan name marked on it — the word ‘Titan’ followed by a string of random numbers.

Their king from a thousand years ago really had a bad taste. Lesiah thought to herself with a look of contempt on her face.

Now that she thought about it, she was certain that Lilith’s lookalike from a thousand years ago did not take the titans seriously at all. Otherwise, she would not have given them such random names. Even so, she was still revered as a deity by those titans.

Titan 12138 walked to the obviously different looking graves at the center. They looked more “sophisticated” than the rest and had a lot more decorations in front of them. There, the old titan began to strike a pair of flints together. Unfortunately, the ground was wet and the air was cold, so she struggled for a very long time to start a fire.

Lilith shook her head and looked at the faint fog surrounding them. She wriggled her nose and started to feel some discomfort.

“Do you guys often pay your respects here? Why does it smell like burning bark here?”

“That’s right. There’s people coming here almost every day to pay their respect. Given the terrain here, this place is shrouded by acrid smoke all year round.” Titan 12138 looked apologetic. She was the one who suggested coming here to pay her last respect, but she ended up making the king and queen suffer. What a terrible crime this was.

Although it was Lilith and Lesiah who insisted on tagging along, Titan 12138 still felt guilty about it. “If your majesty finds it unbearable, you can wait for me outside with the queen.”

“Don’t worry about it, carry on.” Lilith rubbed her nose, feeling a lot better after her nose adjusted to it.

In any case, it was just some residual smoke from burning barks. Being exposed to it for a short time could barely do any harm to a healthy adult human, let alone her.

“Let me help you.” Seeing Titan 12138 still struggling to light a fire, Lilith went to the old titan’s side and snapped her fingers at the pile of barks.

[ Combust ]　

As soon as an ancient and complex language left her parted lips, a three-foot flame flared up.

“Thank you, your majesty.” A look of awe appeared on Titan 12138. It was almost as if Lilith lighting a fire for her was the greatest honor she could ever receive.

Titan 12138 wobbled to the grave and prostrated herself before it. She let her forehead touch the ground for three times before saying what sounded like gibberish to Lilith.

“Who’s buried here?” Lesiah suddenly asked as she stared at the grave marker intently.

All the names on the other grave makers started with “Titan”, except this one. It was an unfamiliar name that read “Riles”.

……

Hesitation flickered in Titan 12138’s eyes, as she debated with herself if she should tell Lesiah about it. After a moment of consideration, she decided to answer truthfully.

“Your majesty… He is my father.”
“Father? Why is his name…”
“Because my father… He has never met the king.”

Titan 12138 raised her head and stared into the distance.

Although it was the king who descended from the sky and saved the day in the most desperate moment, all that would not have been possible without this man with gray sideburns. It was him who led the entire titan clan… no, they were known as the dwarves back then, and fought against their enemies. Even when they were seriously overpowered by their enemies, they managed to hang on for a few days until the king arrived.

It was unfortunate that… that man still died in battle, slain by an ordinary black devil pawn.

“By the time the king descended, my father was gone. So naturally, he didn’t get named by the king. But because of my father’s exploits, he became the first person who was qualified to sleep in this graveyard.”

Lilith was a little surprised by the revelation. “That means… You have been living for more than a thousand years?”

“That’s right.”

Titan 12138 smiled bitterly. “Didn’t I tell you that I remember everything about you? Your face, name and everything… Because I have seen them all with my own eyes. I just don’t know why… I can’t say that name even though I remember… Every time I try to say it, the words get stuck in my throat.”

Lilith grew even more appalled as she recalled the crazy things Titan 12138 told her and did to her during their first meeting… Although Lilith had long confirmed the existence of that king, she did not expect all Titan 12138’s words to be true.

The name that could not be spoken or written, the disappearing handwriting on the inheritance… Could there really be some being in this world, who was intentionally erasing all traces of that thousand-year-old transmigrator?

Combined with facts that Titan 12138 revealed, did this person go missing because she provoked some powerful existence here? Lilith fell into a deep thought while Titan 12138 slowly burned the barks.

The atmosphere turned strangely silent.

Not before long, the silence was broken by Lesiah’s impatient voice. “Hey… I’ve already created an opportunity for you, why are you not doing anything yet?”