Chapter 518
Chapter 518 - 498: Hope
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7 min read
"Still no news?"
This is already the thirteenth day since they came back, and the latest exploration team has already made a round trip.
They just went around the nearest village and came back, not because they were tired so soon, but because the village they went to had a little problem.
"...There’s no one left in the village?"
The confusion of the long night is still ongoing, the more remote areas are actually the most difficult. Besides, this area is close to the Ashen Forest, which is full of dangerous monsters.
The village is completely deserted, with farming work half-done on the fields, intact houses, and complete mud walls. There are no traces of attack, but all the people are gone.
Did they flee? The leading knight couldn’t find anyone, so he reluctantly went to the nearest village for information. The news he got was that everything was fine a week ago there, which had at least several dozen households.
"Could it be that they encountered a troublesome Magic Monster? Cultists? Or creatures that control the mind? Even worse, could it be some supernatural beings that can manipulate the rules?"
Because the possibilities are too large, it is not easy to say.
After some thought, Lu Ping’an gave out the command.
"Bring Xue En along..." Well, looking at the young man whose face fell instantly, Lu Ping’an sighed helplessly.
This event trigger is so useful, and you guys actually complain about it. You really don’t get it.
Forget it, after some time, when the research projects in my hands are more or less finished, I’ll make a trip myself. It’s not far anyway.
Just when Lu Ping’an was still troubled by these small matters, the inevitable finally happened.
The day, dawned.
The Silent Mountain Range World is a complete world in its entirety, with continents, oceans, islands, and even polar regions and deserts.
The Casola Desert is the most dangerous and hottest area in the entire world.
Its danger lies in the fact that it is a gathering place for a species of Red and Yellow Sand Dragons. These threatening beasts, which grow over ten meters tall when they mature, lie in the sand most of the time and are the most dangerous underground hunters.
Moreover, most frustratingly, they are a highly intelligent social species. They have their own language, society, means of communication, and often gather in groups of a thousand.
It is said that the entire desert was once their kingdom, and now, having eaten everything here except the sand itself.
The curse of the yellow sand refers to them. This region is considered a forbidden area for all living beings. Thankfully, for some reason, they seem to have no interest in going out.
Outsiders do not know that the desert is not as barren as it seems... beneath the yellow sand, there is another world.
Giant towers, giant walls, and absurdly huge cave dwellings undeniably reveal that this is the kingdom of giants.
The vast underground cavity that occupies the entire desert region is the true home of the Sand Dragon Clan.
Now, countless huge dragons are hovering in mid-air, and their king has stepped forward.
"...A million years ago, our ancestors came to this world, and the kind Mother Goddess accepted us. Among the four Main Gods, we chose the Dragon God of that era..."
"...When the Dragon God fell, the filthy Sun God took his crown. What’s even more shameful is the coward who betrayed their ally, divided the spoils, took the sacred crown, and still had the audacity to call himself the invincible War God. Hmm, now he has also suffered the same fate..."
"...Now, the times have changed, our time has come, our race will have our own god..."
In the vast underground city, on each altar there are endless cages.
In them are sacrifices from various races on the ground. Now, they are being pushed onto the altars one by one, becoming sacred offerings.
With the passage of time, and as the ritual proceeds, everything goes very smoothly... there are no warriors who have received news from somewhere, no adventurers who came unexpectedly, and no conscientious individuals disrupting the evil priest’s ritual.
As the dragon swarm glows with joy and song, the newborn Dragon God... no, the newborn Sun God, slowly rises.
With the progress of the ritual, the yellow sand in the entire desert constantly boils and stirs.
In the end, the sand split apart, the desert slowly opened...the sun, gradually ascended from the divide.
All individuals in the desert region, no, all creatures in the Silent Mountain Range, felt the light, that familiar warmth.
"Ah, it’s the sun! The astrologist was right, the sun has returned!"
Joy began to spread, and the whole world fell into wild ecstasy.
Farmers put down their work, merchants dropped their moneybags, even the noble lords who had partied all night surprisingly opened their windows themselves, joyfully looking up at the sky.
"Why is it rising from the ground? Is it a visual illusion?"
"That direction, it seems like the southern continental desert area? Something seems off..."
𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Even with some doubts, amidst the joy of the sun’s resurgence, none of these mattered.
All beings felt the warmth of the sun, an unprecedent joy, ecstatic about regaining what was lost... One can never truly understand the importance of what is taken for granted until its loss.
In that scene, countless devout faiths, prayers, pleas, and wishes were transmitted to the New Sun God through the belief link of the Old Sun God.
Under the protection of the world’s will, this was not just the smoothest ritual of Ascension in history, but also a God who inherited countless "heritages" and became exceedingly rich right from the start.
Too many rules, divine positions, and divine statuses, which belonged to the old Sun God but couldn’t be fully taken with Him, were directly linked to the new Sun God.
Moreover, with the countless beings of the world’s desires, prayers, and faith, the Sun God became the focus of the world in that instant.
Countless "nutrients" became the cornerstone of growth. On the path to ascension, the dazzling sun got bigger and brighter.
It radiated light and heat to the entire world, from a small burning meteor, it gradually transformed into a real endless high heat sun.
It flew higher and higher, seeming to return to the trajectory and position where the sun should be.
All beings cheered and jumped with joy. Their nightmare was about to end, soon, everything would return to the past... Although a calm yet poor life was loathsome, at least they could survive.
At this moment, even those who knew the truth harbored some expectations.
They hoped everything would come to an end, they hoped the news from the outsider was just a hoax, they hoped when they opened the window tomorrow, the sun would still hang in the sky, and peaceful life would finally return.
"...I refuse."
But suddenly, a voice echoed in the countless skies.
He refuses? What did he refuse?
The next moment, reality gave the answer.
The sun continued to ascend, getting higher and higher.
But unlike when it initially ascended, becoming bigger and brighter, it became smaller and darker.
It had surpassed the orbit it should adhere to, it had broken free from the earth’s shackles, it had...
"The sun, it escaped..."
"The Sun God? He abandoned us again?!"
"It’s over, it’s all over!"
More terrifying than endless despair, is cruelly taking away the hope given to the desperate.
The original underworld was already vacant, the entire kingdom of the Sand Dragon Clan had become the divine kingdom of the newly born deity.
He had fulfilled his promise to his people.
When the sun disappeared without a trace, and the world once again plunged into darkness, the lie of the astrologist became meaningless.
"Doomsday is here."
— End of Chapter 518 —