Chapter 1314: The Desolate Old Battlefield
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
What the Lord of the Mountains said finally resolved Hao Ren’s doubts.
Why did Collow only have five floating continents and fragments, which could not even form an island, around it? Plus, even with all five continents combined, it was not sufficient to form a planet!
Why did Collow, a world that was hand-made and supervised by the G.o.ddess of creation herself, not have any temples or legacies with divinity in them, while the world only had imitations made by mortals? Just like the Ca.s.souin Cathedral and many other temples within the Sanctum, while they did have the style of the G.o.ddess’ creation, it was clear as day that they were manmade!
Why was Collow’s history across all nations so fragmented, and everything only started from the same point 10,000 years ago? Even if Lockmarton was the cause of the severance of heritage, the severance was too abrupt and too “neat”. It was as though a cataclysm had happened, and every country as well as civilization began anew!
However, the truth was, Collow had indeed undergone an almost cataclysmic rebirth. With the destruction of the Lord of Chaos, Lockmarton, the small world was severed into two dimensions. The original Collow was thrown into a nightmare by the Wardens with the help of the Creation Engine, becoming a forgotten old world, while the current “real” world was a recreation where the survivors were placed in! In the new world, the kingdom of mortals flourished as the legacies of the G.o.ddess were all back in the old world, suppressing the eternal nightmare…
With the Lord of the Mountains in lead, the contingent crossed the barren plains towards a rather important-sounding rally point. The scouting probes that Hao Ren sent out earlier had already started to deliver the first batch of data, and from the distant pictures, Hao Ren got a clearer picture of the “old world”. But to avoid drawing Lockmarton’s attention, the probes kept away from areas with intelligent activity or any areas with high energy signatures. Even so, the images were already invaluable.
Due to the collapse of the dimensional void, the “real” Collow had been squished into about two celestial units and stabilized. Aside from the floating continents in the void, it had no day-and-night cycle, and all forms of light in the area came from the primal storms within the void. Some of the floating continents almost corresponded to the real Collow (the new world), as countless of phantasmal objects spun about on the floating continents, slicing through each other, yet not affecting anything.
Over on the cloudy, wide plains, the probes had detected numerous shattered ruins, including floating fortresses of steel, magical spires, and buildings that looked like factories and storehouses. Some even had ma.s.sive cannons or rail-linked sky-borne bastions. However, all these great buildings were nothing but broken ruins now, their shattered form floating in the old world’s sky. Between them, ma.s.sive lumps of flesh filled with chaotic energy and roiling tentacles sprouted everywhere. They coiled and slithered about as dread and malice oozed out of them.
The images returned by the probes revolted everyone and sent chills down their spine. It seemed like the ancient Warden’s Army was once a very powerful force, and the G.o.ddess of creation had once set up heavy weaponry as well as...o...b..tal weaponry, which possessed destructive power beyond imagination. Yet, Lockmarton had slowly but surely overwhelmed the defense line and even dragged the entire dimension into a void. How powerful was this creature?
Were conventional soldiery and firepower even effective?
“So what’s our plan?” An agitated Lily was already hopping around as Hao Ren was piecing his thoughts together. She was an impatient one, and the place caused her to literally glow, leaving the husky even more restless. “Hey, big guy! Where’s that Lockmarton b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Let’s get this over and done with!”
In actual fact, Lily was not the only one who was glowing brightly. Aside from Noobie, every other member of Hao Ren’s gang was a walking beacon; their brightness corresponded to the number of blessed food items they had eaten. Lily’s voracious appet.i.te and penchant for snacking was obviously number one, while Y’zaks’ was number two: the old demon had holy light glowing all over him, and even he found the entire image weird. It was like he had attained Buddhahood.
Even as he heard what Lily said, Geddon did not stop moving. He pointed to the distance. “Facing Lockmarton without any plan is suicidal. We need to get an idea of what’s going on here. We were asleep for far too long, and we have no idea how bad the situation here is now. But before we went into slumber, Loken had set up many monitoring stations and backup data vaults. They could still function even if the Wardens were corrupted since they were inanimate beings. They should have survived Lockmarton’s corruption. I’m bringing us to the closest monitoring station, and if it’s still functioning, we’ll have an idea of where Lockmarton’s body is, as well as the strength and dissemination of his minions and corruption in the area. Facing the Lord of Nightmares is a difficult task, and without all this information, we’ll be going in blind. If that’s the case, we are bound to be consumed by the Nightmare.”
Hao Ren nodded and as he had expected, the Wardens were prepared even though they were eventually corrupted. They had also planned and prepared for the counter-offensive that day. This cooperation was getting off at the right start. An ally that understood the overall situation and could control it was better than a group of brave knuckleheads.
At the same time, the scenes Hao Ren saw in Benedict III’s mental imagery came to mind.
Over the wide expanse, on the killing fields, Lockmarton’s foreboding shadow across the sky, and the giant mirror tower; each place that appeared in the mental image was a location in old Collow. He remembered hearing a faint roar of battle when he emerged, but where was the battlefield?
Hao Ren swept his gaze across the landscape but saw no signs of combat.
Vivian came to his side and asked out of curiosity, “What are you looking for?”
“Didn’t you hear war cries when you got out of the tunnel?” Hao Ren turned slightly as he whispered.
Vivian immediately frowned. “War cries? I think I did vaguely…”
Before she could complete her sentence, Lily bounded over excitedly. “I heard it! I heard it! But since I didn’t see you guys react, I thought I was hearing things…”
Hao Ren and Vivian glanced at each other, thinking in unison, d.a.m.n that dog’s hearing.
Right then, the thundering voice of the Lord of the Mountains put a stop to their banter. The rock giant pointed rather happily at an argent obelisk in the distance. “Ah, the monitoring station. It’s still there!”
The monitoring station was a two to three-meter-tall obelisk, and at first glance, it looked like some memorial plaque with many s.h.i.+ny runes inscribed on it. Only when they got close did they find out that it was not rooted to the ground. Rather, it was a floating object hovering about a meter above ground. There was a concave platform at the bottom, and between the platform and the obelisk was a web of innumerable lines, where data exchange seemed to be occurring.
The obelisk was simply a grand monument to most people, but for the Lord of the Mountains and his kin, the equipment was a tiny thingamajig that required them to bend to operate. Geddon was on one knee as he placed his hand on the argent surface of the obelisk and read the data within. Hao Ren took the opportunity to ask a few questions, “So this Forgotten Abyss… I mean the ‘old world’, does it have any surviving force that’s still capable of fighting? Like that army of automatons you had before?”
“Any surviving forces?” Geddon was stunned for a moment, before he shook his head slowly. “Probably not.”
“Probably?”
“We fell under Lockmarton’s thrall three centuries ago, but in truth, the Wardens lost control of the Forgotten Abyss about a thousand years ago.” Geddon’s tone was demure as it was obvious that he was recalling bitter memories from the past. “So, simply put, for the past ten centuries, there have technically been no guards in this prison. No one knew what actually happened, and we had no idea if the automated systems we left behind were still working, or if they were destroyed… until today. We have been clueless. But with this monitoring station, I should be able to grasp the situation soon enough.”
“We have failed in our duty.” Another warden sighed.
Hao Ren did not say anything, and only mentally communicated with the MDT to sift through the information that the probes had sent back. Lil Pea hugged his arm as she curled up, behaving for once.
At that moment, a light burst out from the obelisk in Geddon’s hand, and a holographic projection appeared. The image was blurry. A soldier in full armor appeared in the projection, and the background was a scene of chaotic, frantic warfare. Reports came streaming from the projection. “The 17th recording… Lost ground… We have failed to reclaim our base… Still unable to contact the Warden’s Army… We are… at the Scorched Plains… We will hold until the… Bzzzzt.”
The projection came to an end. Geddon seemed stunned by the information he just saw, mumbling under his breath, “Mortal soldiers…”
Hao Ren immediately asked, “When was that recorded?”
“Seven centuries ago,” Geddon said. “It was the last data received by the station.”
“This army was probably doomed.” Vivian sighed. “But why were there mortal armies here?”
“They were the ‘Spirit Braves’ mentioned earlier,” Geddon explained. “The strongest and the best of mortal spirits. They had faith in Mother and willingly joined the Warden’s Army after death. They were revived in this nightmarish world to fight against Lockmarton. They are auxiliary units of the Warden’s Army, not the main force though.”
“Yet they lasted way longer than the main force,” Lily quipped nonchalantly.
Geddon lowered his head, and only spoke after a good while, “You are absolutely right.”
Hao Ren recalled the war cries he heard earlier. He heard it, Vivian heard it, and Lily had clearly heard it. They were definitely not hearing things!
In that split moment, that faint sound rang by his ears again and as he looked up, he squinted.
Ma.s.sive, foreboding darkness had appeared on the horizon!