Looking Forward to Another World Chapter 868: Cursed Bloodline

Very soon, Yanivette led Riezel to their destination.

It was another cavern located on the opposite side of the ice village, directly across from the limestone cave.

However, this cave was just as large as the previous one, perhaps even slightly larger, and there was no limestone scattered throughout it. Instead, row after row of gravestones filled the cavern.

"...A cemetery?"

Looking at the countless gravestones, Riezel spoke slowly.

"Yes."

Yanivette nodded indifferently, as though everything before her had nothing to do with her.

"The history of the Theresis Clan dates back to the fall of the ancient magic civilization 11,000 years ago. As survivors of that catastrophe, they endured a long journey, crossed the continent after it had become a dangerous wasteland, and eventually arrived here."

"From that day onward, the clan multiplied here generation after generation, gradually becoming a tribe, and those who died were buried in this place, remaining with the ice and snow forever."

"The cemetery before you has existed for nearly as long as any ancient ruin found across the continent."

As she spoke, Yanivette walked into the cemetery without waiting for him.

Following behind her, Riezel looked at the endless rows of gravestones before frowning and voicing his thoughts.

"But that doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, there are definitely a lot of graves here, but the village outside isn't all that big. Logically, there's no way it could've supported that many people."

"But the Theresis Clan's been living here for at least ten thousand years. No matter how you look at it, there's no way only this few people would've been living in such a tiny village."

"Doesn't that seem kinda weird?"

Honestly, that question had been bothering him, especially since the Hidden Land had also begun developing around the same era.

From what he knew, the final hope of the ancient magic civilization had been sent there, and after 11,000 years of development and growth, its population had already reached an astonishing scale.

Both Ivy and Leo had told Riezel quite a bit about the Hidden Land.

Even though it had no nations in the conventional sense, it possessed twelve major cities, forty-eight subsidiary cities, one hundred and eight towns, and no fewer than a thousand villages.

Each of the twelve major cities had a population exceeding one million, while the forty-eight subsidiary cities each averaged several hundred thousand residents. Combined with the countless towns and villages, the Hidden Land's total population had reached at least tens of millions, perhaps even close to one hundred million.

And that was despite the fact that countless people throughout history had left the Hidden Land and settled across the Akasha Continent.

In other words, if one traced humanity's origins on the Akasha Continent back far enough, their ancestors had all come from the Hidden Land.

Given that, just how large was the population of the entire Akasha Continent?

Jinas alone had a population exceeding ten million, which was already a remarkable figure. Unlike the relatively peaceful modern world from Riezel's previous life, nations in this world constantly waged war against one another.

Throughout history, countless nations had been wiped off the map. Even a minor war would claim tens of thousands of lives. If a Strategic-Class Magician appeared on the battlefield, a single Strategic-Class Magic could instantly incinerate hundreds of thousands of people into ashes.

That wasn't even counting the countless personal battles fought every day, the bandits that terrorized the wilderness, or the slave traders who kidnapped people without restraint.

Needless to say, the annual death rate remained extraordinarily high.

Combined with the harsher living environment and cultural differences that kept birth rates relatively low—aside from nobles, who could have as many children as they wished—most ordinary people simply struggled to survive.

On the Akasha Continent, any great nation with tens of millions of citizens was already considered exceptionally populous. Yet every one of those people had descended from those who had survived the destruction of the ancient magic civilization over the course of 11,000 years.

Eleven thousand years was an unimaginably long period of time.

Given that much time, any civilization should have experienced explosive population growth with ease.

Therefore, even after accounting for the differences between worlds, the high mortality caused by wars and conflicts, and countless other factors, there was no way a clan with an 11,000-year history like the Theresis Clan should have remained so small.

Of course, things were different now, since the clan had long since merged into a kingdom, so its descendants might already be numerous.

But several centuries ago, before becoming part of the kingdom, the Theresis Clan had already existed for over ten thousand years.

How could they have consisted of only enough people to fill a village of roughly a thousand residents?

It simply wasn't reasonable.

"..."

After hearing Riezel's analysis, Yanivette stopped walking, turned around, and looked at him.

Riezel immediately met her gaze, his eyes filled with confusion.

Several seconds passed before Yanivette looked away.

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you."

Yanivette's voice became as cold and emotionless as it had been when they first met.

"The Theresis Clan never had as many newborns as you imagine."

"On the contrary, they rarely had more than one child. Having two was already uncommon, and only a miracle would result in three."

"There are two main reasons for this."

Yanivette began speaking in a low voice.

"The first reason is their bloodline."

"Bloodline?"

Riezel frowned even more deeply.

"Since you know the Reinnail Clan, then you may also know that that clan possesses an extraordinarily exceptional bloodline."

Yanivette explained calmly.

"They are deeply favored by the God. Every so often, one of their descendants appears who, like their ancestor, can ascend the stairway of light and obtain tremendous power."

"It was through such power that the Reinnail Clan's ancestor rose from obscurity, led humanity out of despair, and established the ancient magic civilization as a hero."

"And besides the swordsmanship and magic that could be passed down to humanity, the greatest treasures the hero obtained from the God were the holy sword and the bloodline inherited by their clan."

Riezel roughly understood what Yanivette meant.

Without question, Reinnail Clan's ancestor, like himself, had received the assistance of the Dimensional Magic Cube, allowing them to travel between worlds and seek opportunities to obtain power elsewhere.

Just as Riezel's first dimensional journey had taken him to the world of Danmachi, where Loki had granted him the power known as Falna, the hero ancestor must have acquired both magic and swordsmanship in another world.

They had also assimilated an immensely powerful weapon and brought it back with them, and that weapon was none other than Moslow.

Moslow was indeed incredibly powerful, containing astonishing strength. Even now, Riezel had never witnessed the sword unleash its true might.

Being called the holy sword was clearly well deserved.

As for Reinnail's bloodline, Riezel had long since learned of its extraordinary nature from Lizbeth.

Now it seemed that the Reinnail Clan's exceptional bloodline had most likely originated from the hero ancestor—or perhaps later members of the Reinnail Clan—obtaining that power through dimensional travel to another world.

Since that power existed within the bloodline itself, it naturally became an inheritance passed down through countless generations, creating the extraordinary lineage shared throughout the Reinnail Clan.

"As the Reinnail Clan's earliest followers and vassals, the Theresis Clan also received their own holy sword and bloodline with the Reinnail Clan's assistance."

Yanivette revealed a secret that surprised even Riezel.

"In that era, there were two mighty holy swords and two extraordinary bloodlines."

"Reinnail wielded the original holy sword, known as the King's Sword, the Sword of Light, and the Divine Sword."

"Theresis wielded the next-generation holy sword, known as the Vassal's Sword, the Ice Sword, and the Lake Sword."

"That is why the Theresis Clan has always been the Reinnail Clan's most loyal followers and closest retainers, a relationship that has never changed."

"Because only that clan, like the Reinnail Clan itself, possessed both a powerful holy sword and an extraordinary bloodline."

Continuing deeper into the cemetery, Yanivette spoke as she walked.

"But possessing an exceptional bloodline also makes reproduction far more difficult."

"Whether it was Reinnail or Theresis, neither clan had a high birth rate. Most of the time, each generation produced only a single heir. Only on rare occasions were multiple children born."

"The Theresis Clan was better off because they intermarried with outsiders, allowing them to maintain a clan population numbering at least several hundred members."

"Reinnail was different. As the royal clan, they rarely married ordinary people, so their bloodline remained largely undiluted, making reproduction especially difficult. In most cases, every generation produced only one heir."

Yanivette's explanation answered part of Riezel's question.

"So... what's the second reason?"

Riezel's question was met with an even colder reply.

"The second reason is a curse."

Hearing Yanivette's answer, Riezel immediately stopped in his tracks.

"A curse?"

He looked at her in surprise.

Under his gaze, she calmly continued.

"During the final years of the ancient magic civilization, beneath the King of Calamity were three Monster Lords."

"The first was the Fire Dragon Lord, the mightiest in terms of raw power."

"The second was the Swamp Beast Lord, whose corruption polluted the land."

"The third was the Giant Lord, who devoured all things."

Yanivette revealed yet another forgotten piece of history.

"Of the three Monster Lords, the Fire Dragon Lord was sealed after the priests of Sanctuary willingly sacrificed themselves. The Giant Lord mysteriously disappeared before the final battle ever began. As for the Swamp Beast Lord, it was defeated by the Theresis Clan."

"However, after slaying the Swamp Beast Lord, the Theresis Clan was cursed by its power, and the very essence of their lives became corrupted."

"From that day onward, every member of the Theresis Clan suffered from an abnormally short lifespan. The purer one's bloodline, the shorter one's life. Many died from illness while still in the prime of their lives."

Clearly, that was why, despite so many years of reproduction, the Theresis Clan's population had remained so small.

Since their powerful bloodline had already made reproduction exceptionally difficult, adding the curse that drastically shortened their lives naturally kept their population growth painfully slow.

"So that's why the first queen merged the Theresis Tribe into the kingdom of Zynia?"

If those with purer blood died younger, then constant intermarriage with outsiders to dilute the bloodline and fully integrate into the queendom would naturally solve the problem.

At the same time, it would also ease their difficulties with reproduction, killing two birds with one stone.

However, the downside was that the Theresis Clan's precious bloodline would eventually disappear through dilution.

"In fact, that is not necessarily a bad thing," Yanivette said calmly. "If it is cursed blood, then it is better discarded."

Riezel looked at her deeply before nodding without commenting further.

"Sounds like the first queen wasn't just decisive. She was pretty remarkable too..."

Riezel spoke meaningfully.

"The Theresis bloodline got corrupted by the curse, causing a lot of its people to die in the prime of their lives. And yet the first queen still lived that long."

"It couldn't have just been because her bloodline was too diluted, right?"

Yuri had once told Riezel that after founding Theresis, the first queen's physical condition had rapidly deteriorated, and she had ultimately passed away from illness at the age of fifty-five.

Considering that her bloodline was cursed, surviving until the age of fifty-five was already an exceptionally long life.

Perhaps it was precisely because she had watched so many of her clansmen die young, and because her own health had rapidly declined due to the curse, that she had decided to merge the Theresis Tribe into the kingdom of Zynia and completely dilute the Theresis Clan's bloodline.

As Riezel pondered that, Yanivette suddenly let out a mocking laugh.

"It was merely a pitiful struggle to cling to life. If one cannot shine upon the battlefield, then living that long is meaningless."

After saying that, she said nothing more about the subject.

"We've arrived."

Yanivette stopped at the deepest part of the cemetery.

Riezel halted as well and looked ahead, seeing that, at the very end of the cemetery, lay a pool.

It was not particularly large, measuring roughly six meters long and four meters wide. It was completely filled with water, and a strange fragrance drifted from its surface.

Riezel instinctively twitched his nose, only for his brow to furrow.

"...Blood?"

Yes.

Mixed with the sweet fragrance was the unmistakable scent of blood.

Yet this seemed to be exactly what Yanivette had come here for.

"...Several centuries have passed, yet it is still functioning perfectly. I truly don't know whether I should be glad... or saddened."

Yanivette stared at the pool for a long while before slowly walking toward it.

As she approached, she removed the cloak draped over her shoulders. Right in front of Riezel, she stripped completely naked without the slightest care, her alluring, devil-like figure swaying gently as she stepped into the pool.

At that very moment, the pool began to boil.

It was as though the water had suddenly been heated to its boiling point, and countless bubbles rapidly rose to the surface.

*Blub-Blub—*

Suddenly, the boiling water slowly began to flow, converging toward Yanivette as her body gradually sank beneath the surface.

A transparent glow immediately flashed across Riezel's eyes as he observed the scene.

Through the vision of Transparent World, he could clearly see the boiling water seeping directly into Yanivette's body.

'What the heck is she doing?'

Riezel couldn't help but wonder to himself.

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[A bonus chapter for reaching 400 Power Stones]

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