Reborn as an Extra Chapter 629: To The Temple Of Nature! Part-4.

~3 minute read · 807 words
Previously on Reborn as an Extra...
Lia and her companions arrive at the Temple of Nature, where excited fairies swarm around the massive lion form of Kai, pestering him with admiration. Kai transforms into his cat form and perches on Lia's shoulder, feigning sleep, as Miria leads the group on a tour of the beautifully adorned temple grounds. Along the way, Kai explains the fairies' faith in Nature as a sentient world entity, contrasting it with ancient religions like the faith in Heavenly Will that were largely eradicated during the Thousand-Year War. The group reaches the revered Fountain of Elemental Life, a holy artifact dense with mana and elements where most elemental fairies are born.

’You mentioned that this artifact was once genuine... and your statement suggests it no longer exists...’

[Why do you believe the fairies, who could just appear from nothing via that artifact, almost vanished entirely?]

[The primary origin of their existence, the ’Fountain of Elemental Life,’ got ruined in a battle far before the thousand-year war began...]

’So you’re saying their numbers began declining right from the start of the thousand-year war!?’

’It’s no surprise they came so close to extinction... with no new fairies born for almost a millennium, and being hunted by demons as well as other species...’

Watching Lyria and Miria beam with joy while waving to the surrounding fairies near the fountain, Lia could merely shake her head in despair.

’Now I get why all awakeners hate tackling dungeons that recreate historical events...’

Although Lia sensed a tragedy unfolding, she felt helpless against the fate awaiting Lyria and Miria; the disaster had unfolded already, leaving her to observe this vanished era from afar.

Unable to alter the events that had occurred, she remained a mere spectator to this historical replay before her eyes.

[Beyond the shield of the dragon valley, the sole factor preventing the fairy race’s total extinction is their immortality...]

[Composed entirely of mana and elementals, their forms lack any notion of growing old... they stay largely unchanged from the moment of their creation...]

[Without intervention from outside threats, fairies persist forever... those sheltered in the dragon valley won’t see their numbers grow, yet they won’t dwindle significantly either...]

Lia let out a sigh and ceased dwelling on the issue, unwilling to let ancient sorrows weigh her down.

Bursting with excitement, Lyria and Miria presented Lia to a few of their companions, each one assuming she was a royal fairy and welcoming her warmly.

As the mix-up with Lyria and Miria lingered unresolved, Lia had dismissed her spirit armor yet kept the glowing wings on her back to avoid hurting the young ones’ feelings.

This led the other fairies to misinterpret as well, and by then it was too awkward to clarify, so Lia simply went along with it.

Following some light conversation with the fairies and a gaze at the fabled sacred spring, Lia and her group proceeded onward, stepping into the majestic temple via the interior entrance.

The temple’s interior felt profoundly serene and mostly deserted; scarcely any fairies lingered within, though those present radiated far greater power than the outsiders.

’These must be the temple guardians, the eldest and most potent among them...’

While these veteran fairies possessed superior strength, to Lia they appeared delicate and feeble, their presence peaking at merely a C-rank level.

The temple’s depths dazzled with exquisite beauty; it seemed every stone and marble block had been buffed to perfection!

All surfaces gleamed brilliantly, adorned with intricate carvings of fairies alongside heavenly bodies such as the sun, moon, planets, and more, etched across walls and columns throughout the sanctuary!

Traversing the vast chamber, Lia and her companions reached an enormous levitating sculpture positioned at the heart of the expanse.

Every fairy visiting for worship directed their devotions to this singular figure, with no additional idols dotting the hall.

Upon examining the suspended statue, Lia discerned it was in fact a colossal orb inscribed with the cosmos’s full layout!

’What is this!?’

Far from mere whimsical beings, fairies pioneered restorative spells, and as devotees of the ’World,’ they dedicated themselves to charting a precise depiction of the ’Universe.’

This airborne monument served as an early cosmic chart, detailing key locations and fragile points in the universe’s spirit domain.

[If my recollection serves, this cosmic chart vanished into a dimensional rift, its whereabouts lost amid the endless expanse to this day...]

’But then how could they produce a chart from it if it disappeared?’

[The individual responsible for its loss caught a brief view and recreated it from recall, which subsequent eras refined over generations...]

[Your kind employs devices known as ’Telescopes’... those instruments aided in substantially filling out the chart...]

Even with the universe’s chart in existence, vast regions await discovery, as distant observations via telescopes haven’t prompted actual voyages.

Consequently, lacking thorough investigation, the chart retains considerable inaccuracies.

For the fairy folk, the cosmos embodies their deity; hence, they beseech the universal chart for divine favor, whereas to humanity and beyond, it represents a treasure of immense value.

The fairies’ restorative abilities alone didn’t spark their persecution; covetousness for their relics and treasures played a pivotal role in their assaults and near annihilation.

In contrast to humans and fellow races, the fairies brimmed with vulnerable members, almost all shunning combat; their advancements in craft amounted to little.

Possessing scant defenses despite harboring priceless relics and goods, they inevitably stirred the avarice of outsiders.