Chapter 951 - 466: Historical Fragments

Chapter 951: Chapter 466: Historical Fragments

The elves arrayed in formation were like a Holy Army out of myth. Radiance flowed in their twin irises like rainbows, as though harboring manifold Magic, and the Power seeping forth traced patterns upon their skin, yet not a thread leaked out from within their bodies.

The slaves standing guard beyond the Royal Court unleashed blazing Magic Attacks that vanished entirely before the Elf Guards. On the surface of their Armor, tender green vines coiled and bound tight, like ornamental tracery.

The Horned Race clad in Heavy Armor seemed akin to heroic demigods. The Armor, whether rough-hewn or exquisitely wrought, came from different sources, bore different styles, yet in all of them could be seen the countless heart’s blood of the forgers.

The burden of the Heavy Armor upon the Warriors was almost nonexistent. They hefted Giant Weapons larger than their own bodies, and among them the leader bore spiral giant horns that swept backward then thrust forward. Relying on his own Brute Force and the Riftworld Bull’s strength that guarded the Royal Court, the Powers of both sides hammered again and again against the Divine Crimson Gold-paved ground, and booming roars and tremors spread without cease.

The aftershocks of their horn-clash left the Demons driven by the Dragon men so startled they could scarcely be restrained, while a female of the Horned Race moved swiftly through the Demon herd. With a single punch she could knock a mountain-sized Demon senseless, helping the Dragon men subdue them before they rioted.

On the ground, the Dragon men, in concert with the Dragon Race, were inscribing profound Ancient Arrays, while the Douding Family operated and controlled intricate Siege Weapons and Magic Items. Protective barriers and siege engines were all erected by them; the outstanding among them seemed almost to become Artifact Spirits, able to drive complicated mechanisms in perfect accord with their will.

Among the Douding Family, there were at times some stocky Races of shorter stature. Their skin was like Earth, with Gemstones inlaid upon it. Li Ang guessed these were the source Race of the Dwarves, the Earth Spirit, only he did not see masses of Earth Spirits—just scattered individuals joining the army in twos and threes.

The Beast-Earkin were different. These keen killers and Assassins did not reveal their figures openly, yet their shadows appeared on every front. They wove through the battle lines, delivering a single precise and ruthless strike only to key targets, or granting boons to the Alliance through the effects of their Talent Abilities.

Li Ang searched carefully, yet saw no sign of the Yunxiang Race.

Aside from the great Races, fairies the size of half a Human with twin wings upon their backs, colossal Natural Giant Beasts, and various Sub-human folk he had seen or never seen before, were all part of the coalition army.

The target of their rebellion was that most exalted God in all the world.

At the deepest and highest point of the Royal Court stood the Holy Seat of Esauo Shalem, the Eternal King.

The Holy Seat slowly rose amid Divine Light. The wrath of the first living being to descend into the world had reached the very brink of melting the entire world into slag.

"...What is it, that gives you the gall to defy me?"

"Hope!"

The people of the coalition army answered without the slightest hesitation, and along with that answer surged up like mountains and seas cries of "For the future!", "For our children!", "For no longer being trampled!", and more besides.

"Then I shall sever all things."

In Esso’s palm, Divine Light Runes and blood-crimson writhed and twined tightly together. A Power that could shatter all things burst into being, and the Holy Seat, in the vast Divine Light, shot swiftly skyward, flinging off all the slaves who begged and implored to be taken along.

The coalition army continued its advance; victory lay right before their eyes. All hearts were aflame with exultation, and even death held no fear.

Ever since the courage and steadfastness forged in darkness and suffering had risen in revolt, victory had followed one upon another. This proved that a bright future truly lay ahead, proving that those deemed inferior, deemed slaves, possessed the right to stand proudly in this world!

This Illusion Realm was swallowed in an instant by a blood-crimson hue. Diao and Inanna at Li Ang’s side both fell into deep Silence.

The crimson did not disperse. After they had dwelt in this scene for a while, Diao finally spoke, her tone far from calm, a faint tremor in her voice: "I clearly already knew, and yet I still... find it hard to accept. The coalition thought they could forge a New World, yet the Primordial Being..."

"The Six Dragons should have realized the problem earlier. They shouldn’t have withdrawn from the world so utterly." Inanna turned her face to the side, her right hand gripping her left arm, as though holding something back.

Li Ang gently pushed at their backs. "Surely the Ten Thousand Spirits did not show us this to let us wallow in error. It must rather hope to guide the Nebis of today onto the right path, so that the struggles of those earliest fighters will not have been in vain."

The Illusion Realm did not present the sight of the world’s breaking apart. Perhaps this was because the Ten Thousand Spirits too were wounded at that time and did not record it; perhaps because it would have cost too much of its Power and was unnecessary. In any case, Li Ang already felt, as though in the unseen, the intent this Chapter sought to convey.

The blood-crimson slowly settled; raging Storms stilled. The dust of the shattered old continent and the collapsed portions of the Magic Power Dimension recomposed into a false starry sky. Though it cut them off from Beyond the Star Dome, the good was that the Water Element, which had been ceaselessly pouring into the cosmos, now paused its outflow. By slow reordering it once more became turbid rain.

In certain refuges, remnant survivors clung to life by a thread. The Divine Spirit who could restore the world’s order was not yet awakened, still sunk in the agony of its own Tearing. Though this was not the world’s initial Creation, which age was truly more chaotic could not yet be known.

"I’ve never seen Nebis with my own eyes in this era either..."

Inanna murmured softly to herself.

Yes—at this time, the dwellers of the sky had not yet named the New World, but it had already become the Nebis of today.

Chaos had not yet abated, yet only those islands thrust high into the firmament by disordered Power could ward off the pollution of the Curse. Tenacious life-forms broke through the soil and slowly began to sprout anew.

Even though this was but a Phantom, it still made the Earth Dragon at his side gaze upon it in delight.

Not long after the sky recovered its clarity, the tranquil Sky World was shattered by the roar of Magic Power. Riding Celestial Ships in the style of the Primordial Beings, a group of people dressed in gold and inlaid gemstones, bearing a kind of gaudy extravagance reminiscent of Esso, made their entrance.

With eyes that looked down upon all things, they surveyed the newborn world, chose islands, and founded cities.

The means of these people were somewhat crude, not as mighty as the Primordial Beings’ free Spirit Casting, yet they could still wield a Power that shook Nature. Especially once certain guiding devices were erected, the Power drawn from the Magic Power Dimension was again refined into Divine Light Runes—the very Creation Equation that forges splendor and also engenders calamity.

"These are the Deus People, the Race that calls itself the Godfolk."

Li Ang frowned slightly. This group was already indistinguishable from Humans in outward appearance, yet they were astonishingly powerful.

Clearly, they had inherited the knowledge and Power of the Primordial Beings—perhaps the descendants of some Mei Ji at Esso’s side, perhaps the offspring of slaves bred by other Primordial Beings, or even something related to Zosia. Li Ang did not rule out such possibilities.

In any case, they too lacked certain parts of the inheritance, so their city-building methods resembled those of primitive civilizations, using giant stone and giant timber as building materials. Only, they themselves possessed great Power, and combined with the inexhaustible energy of the Creation Formula, they could easily erect cities that were at once primitive in hue and grandly magnificent.

The Deus People became the new rulers of the sky, which showed that the shadow left by the Primordial Beings had not yet faded.

Soon, in other quarters of the heavens, another group of people bearing Dragon’s Blood began founding cities. They were far more primitive; their social structure centered on religion, relying on sacrifice and Summoning the Dragon Race to wield Transcendent Power.

"They are... Bailong Worshipers, perhaps? The ancient scrolls of Zultin Marsh mention them only in passing," Diao asked.

"It should be so. This group was also among the overlords of the Ancient Era, though their mode of worship is rather bizarre."

Li Ang noticed that among the Bailong Worshipers, there were no longer any Dragon men like those before the world was sundered. The Dragon Blood within them was thin, and because the framework of the world had shattered, the Dragon God and Dragon Ancestor could no longer walk the Earth in person. Deprived of the chance to behold ’God’ with their own eyes, these believers became like the lost, drifting without a beacon.

He saw forest-like Dragon-worship towers standing erect, blood-clouds rolling over the whole island landmass. The Dragon King sat high upon the Holy Altar, abasing himself like an insect before the Dragon Ancestor of the Otherworld, yet arrogant as a God toward his subjects. This entire civilization buried confusion and madness within itself at the very moment of its founding.

Time flowed swiftly. New lives, new civilizations sprouted like stars scattered across a board, and the world once more seemed full of vigor. Yet the Bailong Worshipers and the Deus People revealed their ambition; they began voyages between Sky Islands, War and conquest.

After endless flames of battle and glows of blood, these two civilizations finally encountered one another. In the end, the Deus People forced the other side into submission and extended their kingship in all directions across the world. Their leader raised his scepter, swung his arm, and shouted aloud, proclaiming his name to the entire world.

"Bow before the splendor of Me! I am God King Arunak!"

Arunak?

So it was him.

This leader could be called brilliantly gifted, and of course he possessed the arrogance and cruelty common to the Deus People.

He had mastered, with great skill, Spirit Casting Art that had appeared in a flawed and weakened form in the inheritance, and sought to open new Magic, to seek again the glory of the ’ancestors’.

In terms of raw strength, this man was extremely formidable. Li Ang inwardly admitted that Arunak had even conceived of using amplifiers to enlarge the might of the Curses he devised, raising it to the level of Spirit Casting Art.

Under his command, the Deus People opened the Creation Furnace, using the Flame within to forge frameworks of Runes and Chains that could contain the Power of the Creation Formula, extracting and shaping certain things.

To once more rule over the Ten Thousand Races of the world, to once more harness super Giant Beasts—this was the grand design of the Deus People.

They styled themselves Divine Spirits, gazing down upon the world from within the clouds, shredding and drawing out the World Spirit, benumbed by grievous wounds, and binding it into one Giant Beast after another.

Any enemy that stood in their way was shattered before the might of the Giant Beasts. Like Stars they plummeted down upon the Sky Islands, as powerful as the lingering souls of ancient myths. The civilizations that refused to submit and were destroyed by them named these Beasts "Star Souls."

Having heard Zoe’s tale of the ancient past she saw when resonating with Hedaya, Li Ang knew that they were the children of the world, the soul of the planet. This unintentional Title nevertheless revealed their true nature.

These images flashed by swiftly; by the time the three of them had only just grasped what was being shown, they had already vanished, as though the Ten Thousand Spirits now sought only to send their message with haste, seeming somewhat urgent.

Before the Primordial Beings, the last to stand were the ancient myriad races who rose in resistance; and before the Deus People, it was likewise some Righteous Brave souls who refused to bow to savage tyranny. They could not match the bizarre Magic of the Deus People, yet in secret they began to imitate it.

"These are the Ancient Witch."

The three watched ordinary folk who no longer possessed the divine might of the Ancient Era struggle to learn, solely to wrest a sliver of chance when facing the many irresistible methods of the Deus People, and gradually they felt respect arise.

Slowly, Li Ang sensed their gazes turning toward himself.