Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Lu Zhiyu held a glaringly bright white slate. Lights from the slate shone across the Witchcraft Garden and lit up the entire Capital of God.

  Countless symbols and scripts rotated inside the slate, moving with the light. Ancient cities, species, legendary heroes, kings, and spirits emerged in the lights beaming out from the slate. Its glorious radiance covered the enormous Capital of God.

  Within the lights, there was Saga City, the first city of orcs, City of Gold, the first human city, the royal capital Adara of Sahagins, and Sylve, the city of elves.

  Even the Capital of God was dimly visible in the sky. Cities with epics, legends, and endless glories emerged in the gorgeous luster. As lights and shadows flowed out, new eras of new civilizations were created and developed, and the silhouettes of celebrated heroes appeared within the cities like statues.

  From the Age of Kings in Saga City to the crumbling of the Holy Seville Empire, humans had built the golden Ahenaten Kingdom, the silver Prolis Kingdom, then the copper Tyron Empire, up through the fall of Crete Kingdom. The central province was at war for two centuries, until the King of Mercenaries, Lynn Ahenaten, rose with the Sword of the King, and the descendants of kings with golden blood fled to faraway lands as the royal capital fell.

  The Luhmann Kingdom was replaced by the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro. From the start of the Batko Kingdom to the end of the Pusuote Kingdom, kingdoms devolved into endless violence. Cities rose one after another in the blink of an eye and crumbled soon after in the lights. The flags over the cities changed continuously, as no one could stay king forever.

  “The start of civilization, the mouse-people city of Master Sophoc! The twelfth Wolf King Costa of Saga City! The Golden King, Ahenaten! The first elf, Mehare! The mermaid queen, Sally!”


  The founder of the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro, Rooney, held a dragon-lance and rode a black dragon. The first Pope of the Kingdom of The Church of Light, Hodap, held high a scepter. Saintess Kelly wore the Mask of Faross. Lion King Will held the Sword of the King. There was also the visionary King of Crete, Elliot III, the apostle of the devil who burned at the stake, Leves, the King of the Dead swathed in bandages hidden by black robes, and Adonis, and the first king of Batko, Yip Ima Batko.

  Many more silhouettes hid in the flowing lights, including both ancient and recent influential figures. On a tall tower cutting through clouds stood several figures wearing white wizard robes with silver linings, looking down to the ground.

  They were all crucial figures who pushed the wheel of history, guardians and heroes of each race and civilization.

  “Is that the Slate of Civilization?” Eva asked as she followed behind Lu Zhiyu. She saw Lu Zhiyu take possession of the Slate of Civilization from the host of the Divine Kingdom. The slate recorded all history, progress, and every civilization from every race, hero, and epic of Maria’s World.

  It was a recorder as well as a witness of civilization. All existing and extinguished civilizations were recorded on the Slate of Civilization. It was also a crucial tool used by the three gods of civilization to manage and record the world civilization system.

  Only when the three gods of civilization held the slate, the living system and rules of the world would be truly perfected. All members of every species would then integrate into Maria’s World.

  Before, even if the divine system was being perfected, it had only perfected the world rules and integrated most clergy and saints into the system. Now, even commoners had become an integrated part of the rules and systems of Maria’s World.

  Lu Zhiyu held high the slate. Every city and silhouette flashed before his eyes, bringing up memories buried deep down.

  “Right. This is the Slate of Civilization. A slate that records all civilizations, histories, races, and heroes. What once existed shall not be lost. What once vanished shall enter into eternity. The tracks left behind shall be recorded on the slate. The world rule shall be perfected again. No one can stop the world from becoming perfect,” said Lu Zhiyu.

  Fairies on the Capital of God all looked up to the sky, witnessing the history of Maria’s World shown by the astonishing Slate of Civilization. They never imagined that seeing the history of another world could be so glorious and breathtaking.

  Fairies raised their heads from bushes and flowers. In the divine cities, great fairies stopped and looked up. All were staring at the figure holding high the slate, and the view of the world.

  “Is that the world God created?”


  “It is a song celebrating the history and civilization of lives!”


  “But it is so fearful and cruel. The Capital of God is so much better. It’s a paradise and heaven for us.”


  “You’re so dumb! We are living in the heaven of the Lord! The Capital of God is the heaven of Lord Eva.”


  Lu Zhiyu reached out. The shining slate fell through his fingers, passed through an illusory boundary, dropped out of the sky of Maria’s World, spun and descended through the clouds over the Arctic and over the whistling winds, and finally landed in an endless frozen place.

  The Slate of Civilization crashed to the ground. An enormous illusory city emerged. The illusory city was constantly changing, sometimes ancient and backward, sometimes modern and civilized, sometimes in the age of the conflict between wizards and churches, sometimes in the age of gods with cities of steam and machinery.

  There were many figures within, it was as if history was being relived. On the other side, behind the barrier of violent storms extending more than 100 miles, the illusory space was wrinkled, then vanished. A wall consisting of grids of space and wrinkles stood high, extending into the world.

  “This is the northernmost land of the Arctic, the end of the sky!”


  —


  “Guardian of civilizations, recorder of world process, the God of History and Race!”


  Priests chanted and cheered in the divine palace of the three gods of civilization. Priests of the divine system of the three gods of civilization were rather different compared to those of the other gods. The priests were all commoners who could use supernatural powers with the magic crystal system but had the same life span as an average person.

  “We shall offer our belief and pray for you to always guard this era!” Workers, merchants, farmers, and herders in the cities gathered, cheering and celebrating, raising the flags of the Sumerian Freedom Union and wine glasses, shaking the very ground below.

  “The Three Gods of Civilization, please let us offer you our highest respect. You shall be the guardian gods of us all!”


  Three divine shadows landed in the city of Niyah to their cheers. Airships soared in the sky, and soldiers on the ships cheered for the divine shadows. Guns thundered out a salute as witchcraft fireworks bloomed.

  The enormous sky fortress spun around the divine shadows, with long banners hung beneath. It was more of a festive celebration than a divine ritual.

  As Wilbert, the last of the three gods of civilization, became the God of History and Race, each candidate of the three gods of civilization had successfully become a half-god. The Sumerian Freedom Union had stepped onto the world stage and started a new era of seas and civilizations.

  The Sumerian Kingdom with its three half-gods started the revolution of the Era of Seas, affecting the age with war and trade, integrating other races and civilizations into the magic crystal system. At the same time, churches ostracized the Sumerian Freedom Union, Frank, Alva, and Wilbert. They called them “pagan beliefs,” and the Sumerian Kingdom “a pagan kingdom.”


  The Hailuga Kingdom and the Hollyma Kingdom, which suffered the most blows from the magic crystal system, were the most agitated. A war between the three kingdoms could break out at any moment, impacting the state of the seas and the human continents.