Chapter 456: Act 206 – Race?
The darkness receded.
The first beam of light pierced through the sky like a blade, as glaring white light erupted from the dazzling gap, making the surrounding darkness even deeper. More light surged forth from behind the wall of clouds, as if it was nurturing a giant cocoon of light. Under this illumination, the sky began to turn light purple, then faded to a layer of light blue, grayish blue. The light reflected down from the entire sky, and soon the whole area around the Green Tower began to reveal shadows from the trees that gradually emerged from the darkness, with white mountain mist swirling in the woods, transforming into the scenery of the early morning.
It was as if a black curtain had been pulled away from the undulating mountains, revealing the green of the forest below, the lush carpet adorned with golden rays, and then the first morning light fell upon the frontline battlefield near the wall of roses, washing away the darkness that shrouded the long-sleeping warriors—there was silence on the battlefield, countless bodies of black wolves piled together, and the bodies of the once-great ancient tree guardians stood like a group of statues eternally beneath the morning light.
The flowing morning light continued to advance, crossing over the already silent positions, and the first beam of light landed on the tree trunks of the ancient trees around the Green Tower, shadows of light slowly climbing up the trunks layer by layer, revealing the true face of every battlefield from the darkness. The valiant elves had guarded every corner that could be utilized in their lifetime, yet ultimately succumbed to exhaustion and death. The battle had exceeded the limits of both sides, and even the monsters now only killed their enemies before discarding them aside and continuing to advance.
However, the advance before the Elven Hall was still blocked; after the shadows retreated, for the first time under the light appeared the battlefield in conflict—behind layers upon layers of monster corpses, the line of centaurs and elves wavered under the raging storm, yet miraculously held their ground. Almost everyone had taken to the fight, as spells intertwined across the battlefield, and the two archmages from the Silver Alliance standing at the back formed the greatest support of this defensive line.
From the Southern Army, Erluin’s Nodas finally couldn’t help but blink, his actions seemed as if he were frozen, lifting his head in awe as he stared at a beam of golden light rising from behind the tide of black wolves. Holding a longsword, he stood beside a row of tall centaur warriors, hardly daring to believe the sight before his weary eyes, as the gentle illumination surged towards him like a tidal wave.
The morning light—
Day had broken.
Everyone halted their actions, not because the battle was over, but because fiery flames suddenly burst forth from beneath the steel-like fur of the black wolves, and in an instant, countless of these terrifying monsters began to howl one after another, igniting in flames under the morning light. For a moment, the square became a sea of fire.
The white light pierced through the bodies of the monsters like a sharp sword, and after burning, turned to ash. Witnessing such a magnificent scene, even the bravest could not help but feel a relief of having survived the disaster; the terrifying offensive had collapsed in an instant, reduced to ashes, what a profound power it was, but there was one thing all understood without a doubt.
“It seems he has succeeded, just as I predicted,” William turned and smiled at his companion beside him.
“Hehe, we have an incredible little one among the Erluins,” Turiman responded with a smile.
“My old friend, Eke founded this nation, which has been promised hope in the darkness. I understand his beliefs, but this belief has been misinterpreted by his descendants for too long. I wonder if he can see everything happening today, perhaps finally, someone can raise again that flag that has been down for too long,” William sighed.
“Yes, what a pity, as the People of Silver, we cannot participate in the revival of our own country; what a regret,” Turiman replied.
“But at least we won’t see it completely fall, right?” The silver light in William’s eyes flickered with wisdom as he smiled and quoted an ancient proverb: “Mortals start new eras, let the past remain in the past.”
The two wizards from the Silver Alliance were exchanging their views, while on the other side, the Druid and the elves had fallen into grief after a brief joy. Those who stood here survived, but many more had departed forever, each person having lost one or several loved ones. Even the long-lived and emotionally restrained wood elves could not help but whisper their sobs.
A layer of sorrowful emotions infected the square, as Nodas and a group of centaur warriors stood aside, watching the elves embrace each other while weeping. The emotional strength of the warriors was even more formidable, especially since the war with Madara had made them accustomed to life and death. Yet for some reason, a weight still lingered in his heart.
“I think I can understand their feelings,” said a tall centaur warrior, the leader of these centaurs. “Combat is supposed to bring glory, but this kind of combat can only bring sorrow, leaving only loss.”
Nodas nodded, but was the battle of Erluin any different? That ancient kingdom perhaps did not have an answer for them.
He looked at these people, suddenly gaining some insight.
The spark had finally been ignited—
When Brendel withdrew his hands from the gigantic crystal prism, a stronger light began to glow from the crystal endlessly, the pure white light illuminating every corner of this underground hall, revealing a vast, mysterious hall composed of over a hundred columns in front of everyone. At that moment, no one noticed it all, as everyone gazed up at the crystal in the sky with a sense of the sacred.
Inside the crystal burned a pure white flame, seeming like a holy fire, but it was in fact the ‘Holy Canon’, a law woven of order, binding all things in silence, as elements and magical power floated beneath the chaotic sea of Martha’s order.
An extremely calm aura spread from the crystal, causing everyone to feel a tightness in their bodies, as the faint magical power within them and the great tide of magic were cut off from each other.
“Eh?” Brendel softly exclaimed, realizing that the method of the primordial spark’s effect was somewhat different from ordinary sparks. The sparks created by wizards directly rearranged the laws, while Martha’s spark first severed the power of all origins—magic, stray power, even the elemental power within the laws was completely cut off.
It was like a formatted program, first clearing all residuals in the area, then writing rules on a clean sheet of paper. This set of rules must include a segment that introduces the power; after the laws were completely established, the power needed to construct the world would only be introduced within the permitted range of the laws.
The benefits of this were obvious, as the foundation was clean, thus creating a robust sanctum from the primordial spark that was less affected by the chaotic sea of magical tides. But there were also downsides; at least during the ‘formatting’ process, the powers of everyone present were completely suppressed, even the physical powers were only slightly above that of ordinary people.
Fortunately, this process was temporary; he estimated it would last at most about a week. At the same time, the ‘formatting’ process targeted all living beings within every inch of the area ‘illuminated’ by the order’s fire, and even more strongly suppressed the monsters, so he was not worried about any danger. At most, it was simply a bit uncomfortable.
The will of the goddess had already departed at this time; he turned around and saw Mephistopheles and Xi suddenly shifting their gaze to one side of the hall. From that direction, a few footsteps suddenly echoed, and Brendel frowned; at this point, the only ones remaining in the center of the Loop of Trade Winds besides them were Veronika, not to mention the existence of any natives, though that probability was low.
After a while, Veronika indeed appeared with Farina, while Andisha still wore a resentful expression behind them.
Veronika followed the source of the light, clearly not expecting Brendel to be here. Upon seeing several people, she couldn’t help but be surprised. But soon the ‘lighthouse’ attracted the gaze of the Imperial goddess of war, “Is this the primordial spark?” Like Mephistopheles, she showed a solemn expression. “Is this the gift from the goddess to mortals spoken of in legend? Previously, I have only seen it from afar in Marus.”
Marus is within the jurisdiction of the Sanctuary, where there is a well-preserved temple of Martha storing the primordial spark, said to be the foundation of Cruz—an area protecting the continent. The strength of that spark is so great that for several hundred years, no rumors of monsters have emerged within a thousand-mile radius, precisely for this reason that the city of Marus and its surrounding urban clusters have become the largest and most prosperous city on the continent.
Brendel could understand Veronika’s words, but the response of Andisha, standing behind Veronika, was completely different. Her eyes turned into diamond-shaped purple pupils and suddenly shrank, exclaiming, “Primordial spark?” In fact, at this moment, this half-human, half-monster woman also recognized the true identity of the ‘lighthouse’. When it came to knowledge, she was far richer than anyone present; after all, Brendel’s circumstances could hardly be counted as normal.
Andisha fell into a strange predicament, for the deterrent power of the primordial spark was too immense, which indicated a new, vast domain of order would reign. If cultivated well, it wasn’t impossible for several new, even as powerful as the current Cruz Empire, to be born from this territory.
Wasn’t the holy fire of Marus a ready-made proof?
Dangerous light flashed in the woman’s eyes as she couldn’t help but want to gamble everything. If she could succeed, it would mean that the Tree Shepherd’s enemies might lack one or two vast empires in the future—especially new-born empires, which were the most dangerous foes—not to mention the countless small duchies and kingdoms tied to such empires.
“Andisha, what are you trying to do?” Veronika had already noticed something off in the emotions of this ‘captured’ individual.
Andisha remained silent, already adopting a stance similar to one before a battle. Though she was severely injured, the pressure before her was too great. Mephistopheles and Veronika, upon seeing this, immediately drew their weapons, taking up a defensive stance.
“Andisha, are you suicidal?” Seeing this scene, Brendel couldn’t help but frown; he never expected Andisha to react so strongly to the primordial spark.
“Hehe, little one, I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity,” Andisha licked her lips. Although she found herself in a state of mania, she hadn’t lost her sanity: “Under the suppression of the primordial spark, we can only exert our racial powers. Although half of my body is a monster, making the restrictions stronger, my inherent advantages as a high-level monster are still far superior to you fragile humans.”
“To take on three by myself, I’m not without a chance,” she answered in a husky voice.
Upon hearing this, everyone present felt a tightening in their hearts. They recalled the primordial spark’s innate suppressive power over monsters, but they had forgotten that there was also Andisha, an extraordinary existence within the Loop of Trade Winds. Although she was originally human, she had later been transformed into a monster, but half of her body was still recognized by Martha.
So if it really came to a fight, just as Andisha said, they indeed wouldn’t gain any benefit.
Brendel couldn’t help but take a sharp breath, drawing the Sword of Earth. Originally, he was the weakest among the three of them, Veronika, Mephistopheles, but because of the elite template, his racial power had become stronger instead. If Andisha was determined to go mad, he would have to accompany her.
But just at that moment, what surprised everyone was that Andisha hadn’t finished her sentence when a golden figure flashed into view, and with a dull sound akin to a heavy punch against flesh, the half-human, half-monster woman was directly knocked away, her half-finished words cut off. In place of them was a piercing scream, followed by a crash that broke a gigantic column.
Golden-level power—
Everyone’s minds instantly flashed with this phrase; under the suppression of the primordial spark, to still retain golden-level strength, who on earth was this?
But for Andisha, who had a deeper experience of this power, she reacted more intensely, letting out an extreme scream of terror: “Dragon race, this is impossible!”
Dragon race!?
Brendel’s first reaction was that the arrogant little female dragon had returned, but that little girl had clearly said she would be away for a while. Even if she had finished her task and came back, it wouldn’t be so quickly to find her in the Loop of Trade Winds, unless she had followed after them before they entered the Black Forest.
But in terms of timing, that seemed rather unlikely?
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but take a deep breath and focused his gaze. Upon looking, he was immediately left in shock. For what he saw was not the little female dragon, but—
Xi.
What… what was happening? Brendel felt his brain freeze.
……(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it on Qidian (qidian.com) with recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
