Cian and the others started to panic.Adrian then said, "I don’t think we have to worry about that. As this place exists and he can't reach it, there must be something here that will allow us to retain our memories. Rozi just didn't find it the last time she was here. First, let's find out why this place exists.” He continued studying the drawings.Rozi already knew most of what the drawings meant now that her memories from her last visit over a thousand years ago had returned. After some time, Padraig asked, "What do the drawings say, sir? We can't understand any of it."After a brief pause, Adrain explained, "It depicts the Creator killing countless lives a long, long time ago, and how he destroyed entire regions with tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, typhoons, and even crustal movements. The more casualties there were, the more families were broken. The sky was filled with dark smoke, blotting out the sun that shone down on us tiny humans."Padraig and the others exchanged lo
Adrian continued, "The drawings also say that it was the immortals who were victorious. Young and brave immortals had almost succeeded in sealing him away, but he managed to escape after sustaining severe injuries. Later on, the Creator was too afraid to appear. Instead, he created monsters and sent them to our world to kill the remaining humans. These monsters were snake men, walking skeletons, and other strange-looking demons. They were all cold, mindless beings whose only purpose was to kill."The drawings were a story of the past."What happened after that, sir?" Cian asked. "One of the snake men saw a mother being brutally murdered while protecting her child. She had protected the child till her last breath. This touched the snake man and imbued him with emotions. He began to think about who he was, what was the purpose of his existence, and why was he murdering humans so mercilessly. Having gained emotions, the snake man joined the humans and fought against the Creator."Aft
Everyone was silent as they digested everything they had heard.After a while, Cian asked, "Do you think that snake man we saw back in the coffin was Wonder?"Rozi shook her head. "It's hard to tell. This drawing says Wonder disappeared after his blood became part of the Celestial Lake. His disappearance may have very well been his death, which means the body at the palace wasn't him.""There's even a chance that Wonder is still alive," Adrian added. Rozi gazed at Adrian and did not refute. This was because she, too, thought Wonder might still be alive. Regardless, he did not seem to have any plans of revealing himself at that moment."Even if he is, he won’t reveal himself so readily. A creature like him would easily be misunderstood by humans, and I'm sure he knows this very well. But Wonder doesn't want history to repeat itself, so he left behind all these messages for us to find a way to save ourselves."Adrian nodded. "That's why we've been brought here, where all of our me
Padraig suddenly cried out in shock, "Look, sir! There's a body over there!"The group followed Padraig's line of sight and spotted a body lying among the bushes. Its face wore a gruesome expression and blood covered its body.Adrian went up to the body and saw it had on clothes originating from Navia. The body riddled with bullet holes made the cause of death clear as day."It's Erwin! How did he end up dead here?" Cian exclaimed in shock."Erwin? Wasn’t he with Mr. Oliver?" Padraig asked.Cian and Padraig knew the body as Erwin Doyle, one of Cian's former companions. Cian’s group had lost contact with Oliver back in the palace, and Erwin had been with Oliver.Adrian got to his feet and looked around. "Oliver and the others got here too? They might be in trouble."Rozi was stunned, surprised that Oliver managed to lead his men to this despite being a mere engineer. Judging by the state of the body, Erwin had been dead for about two days. That meant Oliver and his group got he
Everyone was on high alert as they scanned their surroundings. Someone was hiding within the shadows, intending to kill them. Cian and Padraig held their breaths, thinking how their enemy may be aiming for a headshot. Feeling the great pressure, Cian asked, "Sir, we’ve been found. What should we do?"Though Adrian did not answer, he had already figured out the terrain they were in. This was thanks to his many years on the battlefield. There was only one place they could hide within the canyon, and of course, he had already figured out where the enemies were. Adrian gestured at Rozi. She followed his line of sight and, too, spotted their enemies before nodding back at him. "Cian, you guys stay low while Rozi and I go check it out.""Be careful, sir."Adrian nodded and headed for the center of the canyon with Rozi following him. He could sense multiple guns aimed at him, but they were too far away to get a good shot. Naturally, they would unleash hellfire the moment he and Rozi
Adrian and Rozi remained outside their firing range, and another hour passed. Three hours later, the enemies could no longer handle the pressure.A middle-aged man wearing a Rondom battle suit stood up and yelled, "War Legate Draco, I have your men captive. Get down here and surrender or I'll kill them all!”This man was the leader of his group. They had been lying in ambush, yet Adrian refused to enter their firing range. Having lost his patience, he started yelling angrily. Oliver and the other engineers were pulled to their feet with guns pointing toward their heads.It was true that the Rondoniers had captured Oliver’s group."Did you hear me? I asked you to step forward, or it’s their brains all over the ground!" the middle-aged man yelled. Adrian merely smiled and extended his right hand. Balls of light appeared in Adrian's hand, and the shimmering, golden Dragonbane appeared. After throwing the enemies off-guard, Adrian dashed toward the leader like a comet and stabbed at
Before Adrian could answer, Cian explained, "War Legate Draco entered the palace to search for us. We would’ve been dead a long time ago if not for him.”“We’re really sorry for all the trouble, sir.” Adrian nodded. "All right, now's not the time for this. We have to get to the Celestial Lake as soon as possible."Rozi turned around and gestured. "Follow me. There's a stairs up ahead that’ll lead us directly to the lake." She led them toward a corner of the canyon. Oliver said, "I never thought a place like this could ever exist. Those drawings on the walls and the pillars back at the palace, they were telling us a story."Adrian was astonished by Oliver's analytical skills. Oliver was no ordinary engineer. "Go ahead and tell me what you think," Adrian said. Oliver nodded. "Something happened in our world thousands of years ago. Humans waged a war against a terrifying and powerful existence. It caused more than half of our population to be wiped out. What surprised me is how n
Oliver asked, "Is that all true, sir? Does the Creator really exist?"Adrian replied, "It's still too early to say what the Creator is, but one thing is for certain. He can decide our fates and can bring catastrophe to our world. He's the one who caused the meteorites to fall on Isle 416, something that has affected our world for thousands of years. He's also the one who caused the disappearance of the Uduma Desert.“The Creator has had his eyes on us for the longest time, and the war depicted in the drawings may happen again. Which is why we have to be ready.”Everyone was shocked. They never expected there to be an existence that could control their lives. And this particular existence was capable of erasing their world whenever he wanted. Just the thought of this was terrifying. Rozi suddenly stopped in her tracks and said, "We're here. This is the Utopia Stairwell. Follow the stairs and we'll reach the top of the mountain where the Celestial Lake is located."Everyone stopped