chapter24
Floor 1 Seal Again
Dating back to Cang Bi and Leonard’s victory against Hypnos, the two and Saint set off to rescue the baby while Schrödinger and Zack stayed behind. The knowledgeable Schrödinger took care of the wounded earthlings in the base of Eldus as a provisional doctor.
Schrödinger: The wound has been cleaned up. Don’t——
A fierce earthquake happened, making the earthlings scream. When the quake ceased, Schrödinger took a look outside and the world was completely different——Two spooky red shades were hung on the jet-black sky above the entrance of the Mech City.
Schrödinger: “This is...Pompeii’s seal cracked...And the source of destruction will be awakened...I must stop it!
By the time Schrödinger arrived, the battle between Saint and Enlil was already over. As Saint was helped by the other Eldus, Schrödinger hurried to the center of the entrance, where Cang Bi curled itself around a dragon egg.
Schrödinger: Cang Bi!
Schrödinger had a bad feeling as Cang Bi didn’t talk back, which made him speed up. Crouching down to touch Cang Bi, he sensed no warmth but coldness. He was aware that the death was to honor its promise with Elpis and save the baby inside the egg.
Schrödinger’s feelings were mixed as he was touched by Cang Bi’s noble will but heartbroken at the same time. Tears rolled down together with his mutter.
Schrödinger: Cang Bi...Have a sweet dream…
Yet an earthquake forced him back from the grief to reality. As the continent quaked, the crack at the center of the entrance became wider, allowing more purple mist and golden light out of it, which ascended all the way to the two scarlet shades.
Schrödinger was shocked to realize that the two shades were bigger than the last time he saw.
Schrödinger: “The power of origin is still penetrating...Even though I have to lose this medium, I still need to re-seal it…”
Touching the soulstone on his chest, Schrödinger was supposed to use it to save Pompeii and his fellows.
Schrödinger: Forgive me, Pompeii...everyone...To protect this land, I have no choice.
Schrödinger closed his eyes to fused the soulstone with himself. Next second, iridescence was emitted from his body, illuminating the entire realm…
Floor 2 Runedragon’s Protection
Saint: This place…
Looking around, Saint found himself in a blank boundless space. His body became much lighter without the tormenting feeling before he had gone unconscious. At this moment, someone tapped his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a familiar smile——Cang Bi the Runedragon in its human form.
Saint: Cang Bi...So are we all dead?
Shaking his head, Cang Bi pointed at the light behind Saint.
Cang Bi: Saint, I’ll leave the rest to you. Please use my Runedragon power to protect this realm…
Saint opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the two ominous blazes of scarlet light in the sky.
Manungal: You’re awake finally, Saint.
Saint: ...You folks gave me your soul fragments…
Manungal: Yes, for we need you.
Saint felt a heavy burden fallen onto his shoulders as the whole world was counting on him. With a deep breath, he stood up straight and walked towards the center of the entrance with Manungal. It didn’t take him long to spot Cang Bi’s corpse. Even though he had braced for this fact, he couldn’t hold back his sentiment to grieve for it.
Schrödinger: Saint, finally you’re here…
Schrödinger, sitting on the ground, talked to Saint. The re-seal with the soulstone had consumed almost all the elements inside him. Now he could barely raise his head and speak without the strength to stand up.
Schrödinger: ...The demons forcefully breached the encirclement, causing the energy leakage from the crack. Although the crack stopped expanding when Cang Bi took away the baby aka the power core of the breach, the energy is still leaking from the existing crack. That’s why I reseal it…
Saint: But the leaked energy cannot be undone and is destroying this realm. Now we must stop it from spreading, right?
Schrödinger: Bingo. So you have a plan?
Saint: ...Build astro palaces here. Use the power of stars to suppress the energy.
Manungal: But how do we build palaces above the center of the destructive power? No material is strong enough for that.
Saint: Yes there is. It’s right in front of us.
Looking over to the direction, Schrödinger and Manungal saw Cang Bi’s corpse. Meanwhile, Saint crouched down to stroke the dragon body.
Saint: Cang Bi, so this is your last wish. You devote your soul and even your body for this realm and all the creatures...I’ll pick up where you left off and protect this world no matter what lies ahead…
Later in the time, Saint and the other Eldus worked together and built an astro palace with Cang Bi’s dragon bones as the core in the sky, locking the ominous energy away. However, it was still not fully contained, which had completely changed the ecosystem of this realm.
Continent Tarones was not the only one. The planets in the universe were experiencing changes because of the aftershock of the incident. To protect the lives on other planets, Saint re-initiated the "Keepers" system, which endorsed the qualified Eldus as the keepers to the planets.
Floor 3 Belated Confession
Two blazes of scarlet lights hung on the bright sky, bringing a heatwave to the continent. Meanwhile, a man was traveling on a tough journey in spite of the hot weather, which eventually led him to the downhill of a magnificent mountain. There was an enormous golden dragon waiting, who flew over to greet the man as soon as it saw him.
Huang Cong: Are you Zack? Yan Pu is expecting you.
Zack: Yes I am. Please lead the way.
Carrying Zack on its back, Huang Cong soared all the way to the mountain peak. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the Ancient Dragon Spine, the habitat of the Runedragons. Meanwhile, a scarlet dragon flew down from the dragon bone and nodded at Zack, who opened the bag he had been carrying with him. Inside which, there was a dragon egg nurturing a hibernating baby.
Even Yan Pu, the eldest dragon here, was shocked to speechless by this egg.
Yan Pu: This is the baby that Cang Bi died protecting...Leave him to us. Once he’s put inside the Ancient Dragon Spine, the nature energy will eventually awaken him.
Zack: Thank you...Can you put this inside too?
Zack gave a blue headband to Yan Pu.
Yan Pu: This is…
Zack: It’s my fellow’s belonging. He’s very close with Cang Bi…
Yan Pu: I get it. Shui Huan, please put these inside the bone.
A blue dragon came over to take the stuff from Zack and flew into the Ancient Dragon Spine.
Yan Pu: What’s your plan? With climate change, your people will have a harsh life on the plains. Would you like to relocate here?
After the war and the death of Cang Bi, the Runedragon clan began to care about the world as they realized that they had been wrong.
Zack: No. No matter how difficult it’ll be, we’re gonna build our future with our own hands, just like our perished fellows…
Yan Pu: If it's your wish...Good luck then.
Floor 4 The Future We Build
Later in the time, Zack returned to his fellows. Some of them decided to be a voyager while some stayed to build a hometown with him, building their own future. Zack thought he could live to see this land thrive again, but he was meant to wither earlier as a combatant earthling.
Zack was resting, lying sick on the bed until something sounded vaguely. Looking to his right, he saw a gorgeous female elf standing next to his bed with a little boy.
Zack: It’s you…
Valanthe: ...Why didn’t you find me?
Zack: I...don’t deserve it...My friends are all dead so that we can survive...I can’t be the only one who lives happily ever after…
Valanthe: ...Sigh. You’re still the same idiot.
Zack: I’m sorry...Valanthe...I love you…
Valanthe: ...You fool...You should’ve said it way earlier...I love you too…
Zack smiled; Valanthe shredded her tears while holding his hand…
Enoch: So this is the origin of humans...but our world is perfectly normal now.
???: All thanks to the enlightenment of humanity and the effort of Saint the Eldus. The disordered energy was eradicated very soon.
???: Saint and Schrödinger had a deal to build the Lomond Manor and initiated the project Enoch, hoping to free the creatures trapped inside the Mech City by building the Enochian Tower. Yet everything was hijacked and sabotaged by the alien gods.
Enoch: Alien gods...Do you mean Khaos and Zeus?
???: Yes, my child...Now that you’ve witnessed the history of this world, it’s time for you to build your own future just like your predecessors…
His parents, Cang Bi, Leonard and the others perished just to save Enoch and this world. Having the knowledge of everything, Enoch felt heavier than ever, as if being speechless while there were million thoughts in the head. An unprecedented pain was tormenting him, wrenching his heart.
Although he had never spoken to them, he would never forget what they had done. Putting his palm on the chest, he vowed silently.
Enoch: “Dad, mum, everyone, I’ll protect this world for all of you.”
