Sword of Dawn

"We have recorded the location of the signal," Heragor said, "Frankly speaking, quite a few of them are far away or in very dangerous places. Based on the current situation of the camp, it is impossible to send a team to search, but this is at least He pointed out the direction for us, and as long as the situation here improves a little, we can send teams to help the compatriots trapped in the ruins."

"In addition to this, there is a more important point-we have confirmed the existence of other survivor camps," Andal went on to say, "at least one beacon showed obvious camp characteristics: larger in scale and longer in duration." Long, there are other active signals around, this is not something that a few dragons can do. Looking in the direction, there should be Akatosh, where there are strong factories and underground bunkers, and there is also a very, very deep mine, which was originally Omi The location of a node of the Ga system, the survivors have a high probability of surviving by relying on those facilities."

Balogar tinged with hope: "We can now..."

"No, it's too far away, and there is a blockade in the middle where the elements are raging and gravity is out of control," Heragor shook his head, "but we can slowly open up a line of communication in the wilderness. In any case, the other camps have been determined. Existence is what matters."

Balogel nodded slightly, and then he showed a pensive look, and said slowly in thought: "With more survivors identified, we should consider the longer-term future... With the current situation in the camp, How many people can we feed?"

"To be honest, it's not optimistic," Andal sighed. "I've discussed this issue with Duke Moore. Now our main source of food is a few warehouses and a food processing factory found nearby. Burnt and polluted, they can last for one to two months of consumption. In addition, the camp also sent a team to the direction of the coastline. We can find some supplies from the sea and nearby islands, but the quantity will not be too much: Gravity storms ripped apart the continental margins, and the entire offshore area was greatly affected.

"In comparison, the problem of fresh water is easier to solve. In addition to filtering and purifying seawater, you can also capture low-level water elements wandering nearby—just be careful not to overdo it and cause elemental riots It will be troublesome."

"So, we won't be able to be self-sufficient in the short term, and even if we can get a stable food supply on farther islands, it will be a long time later," Baloger said in a deep voice, "Before that, everyone will Starving, the only way to stay afloat is to dig through warehouses and factories that have been buried in ruins...it's simply impossible to get a steady supply."

"And one more note: Few dragons know how to grow and harvest crops without relying on automated systems, not to mention farming is not possible in much of the arctic itself without biodome and weather controllers Production," Andal said, "The harvest from hunting is limited, and the skills to obtain food and even process food have to be learned from scratch. After losing the automatic farm and synthesis factory, our start will become extremely difficult. If this situation continues, The surviving dragons will have to turn their eyes to... the warmer human world."

The expression on Balogel's face changed slightly: "What do you mean..."

"Instead of waiting for the situation to continue to deteriorate, and waiting for some compatriots to take risks and choose the wrong strategy when there is no hope, we should take the initiative to do something," Heragor said, looking into Baloger's eyes, "Tallon The era of closed Germany is over, and since we have survived, we should find ways to face these changes.

"For more than a million years, our fellow citizens have never faced 'change', they don't know how to survive outside the cradle, so now is a very critical time - we must rush to the forefront, we must be The earliest 'representative' of Tarrond in contact with the outside world, in order to establish a new order of communication with the outside world, this new order should be civilized and orderly.

"I've discussed with Andal just now that the dragon race wants to return to the world stage, to contact humans and other intelligent races on Loren Continent. We really need help, but we are not going to beg, we have to give Some things are exchanged for scarce supplies, or even scarce living space—all of which must follow the principle of equivalent exchange.”

Andal on the side listened quietly, and he sighed with a complicated expression after Heragor finished speaking: "Equivalent exchange... Now we owe a lot of debts."

Baloger quickly realized: "You mean... the Mithril Treasury?"

"For this world, the Mithril Treasury has existed in name only - there may be something preserved in the outlets other than those set up in Tarrond. The headquarters of the Treasury and all the main warehouses have been wiped out, at least in the case of Agondor That's it. We now owe a large debt, and this debt is not even limited to the main material world..."

"Then pay it back slowly," Heragor said. "The dragon keeps its promise, and we will pay back what we owe, and give what we can."

He said this in a low and serious tone, from which Baloger heard determination and thoughtfulness, and he looked at this old friend in front of him—he was the dragon’s friend from 1807 million years ago. The leader, today, 1807 million years later, he is still maintaining everything in the Dragon Clan in his own way, including the survival of the Dragon Clan, as well as the only remaining self-esteem of the Dragon Clan.

"What do we have left to take out now?" After a moment of silence, Balogar asked, "There is not enough in this wasteland to feed ourselves."

"There is always something that can be brought out. Even if Tarrond is destroyed, we still have many things that can arouse the interest of other races. In addition to those technologies that have dangerous generation gaps, we still have some knowledge that can be revealed. There may still be some treasures in some warehouses, and some treasures can always be dug up under the ruins, it’s really not possible... We still have our own flesh and bones."

Heragor's speech speed is very gentle, but his eyes are firm. His expression reveals his attitude - that is a bottom line he has drawn for the dragon civilization.

Tarrond may have fallen, but the dragon is still standing. The dragon clan was once the most powerful civilization on this planet, and it was the only civilization that managed to break free from the shackles of the gods for more than a million years. So far, he has not allowed his clan to degenerate—the dragon clan will not become thieves, robbers, or live like wild beasts.

The Dragon Clan has returned to the world stage with dignity.

"Since you have made your decision, I naturally support it," Baloger nodded. "Then, since we want to contact humans and other intelligent races, we must have a plan. First, we need to find out about the Loren Continent." Candidates from various races, secondly, looking for targets for early contact, and lastly... we still need to collect some information to understand the current situation in Loren Continent."

"What about the situation in Loren Continent?" Andal mused. "We really should investigate first. The outside world is changing much faster than we are familiar with, and now is the time when they are changing the fastest."

While speaking, he nodded slightly: "As for the candidates of the various races in the Loren Continent and the targets of contact in the early stage, I already have a general idea."

"That's good," Baloger exhaled, "I will also take action--after the camp is stabilized, I will return to the Holy Dragon Principality. Now the Holy Dragon Principality has established contact with the human kingdom of Loren Continent. There can also be a window for Tarrond to understand the continent of Loren.

"In addition, although the principality's crop output is not much surplus, I should be able to raise some food and medicine. However, I may need some extra time to do some preparations there, after all, the dragon descendants... …was not ready to face Tarrond."

Speaking of this, the Dragonblood Grand Duke couldn't help feeling a little regretful: "It's a pity that it's the winter in the Loren Continent, and the grain storage in the northern region should be limited. Neighboring human nations have purchased enough food...I can only do my best."

"Dragon descendants..." Heragor's expression was a bit complicated, and he sighed after a long time, "The mountains are not a place rich in supplies, and it will be very difficult for the dragon descendants to support the primitive dragons that consume a lot. It is a huge burden, so you should do what you can. After all, we never thought of relying on the power of the Holy Dragon Principality..."

"For our daring plan, those dragonborn have already taken on too many things without knowing anything," Andal also sighed, "We should have been their shelter and guide, but in the end we became theirs. burden."

Baloger shook his head: "For many years, I have been watching the Principality of the Holy Dragon. I have watched the dragon descendants come to this day little by little. Genetic adjustments have taken away their wings, and even made them a big part of their lives. Only in human form part of the time, but the Dragonborn never forgot Tarrond - we are bound by blood.

"Maybe not all dragonborn can understand what we have done, but I believe that most of them will choose to help their mother clan after knowing the truth. After all, we are all dragons."

After that, the high platform was quiet for a while, and the three leaders were thinking about things that would have long-term effects, so that no one spoke. In the air, except for the whistling wind, there was only the occasional takeoff and landing of the search team. The sound of fluttering wings brought, and the intermittent music coming from the depths of the camp.

The sky seemed to be a little dimmer than before, and the stars appeared from the side of the sky closer to the night. Heragor raised his head, his eyes swept across the quiet and cold night sky, he took a deep breath, and slowly Breathe out slowly.

But at this moment, his expression suddenly changed.

"Hragor?" Andal, who was closest to him, was the first to notice the change in his old friend, "What's wrong with you?"

"Did you hear the voice?" Heragore's face was extremely serious, and his eyes were even so serious that it was almost terrifying. "Have you heard...'His'?"

Andal and Baloger were only taken aback by Heragor's face at first, but then they were really startled by the other's words, and even exclaimed in unison: "'His'?!"

"Didn't you hear it?" Heragor glanced across the faces of the two old friends, as if confirming whether their minds were normal. "Just now, there was a momentary echo."

"No." Andal also became nervous. After confirming his mental condition again and again, he shook his head vigorously, "I'm sure."

"I didn't hear that either." Balogar also confirmed.

Heragor frowned and confirmed his mental state. After half a minute, he was slightly relieved, but his frown did not loosen at all.

"Could it be an illusion caused by being too nervous?" Baloger asked hesitantly. "The shackles have disappeared. We have confirmed this point again and again. As long as the ceremony is completed, this process will be irreversible."

"...I hope this is an illusion, but I dare not use the word 'illusion' easily to explain any abnormal phenomenon that happened in my mind," Heragor said in a deep voice, "We... had better confirm again .”

Chapter 1055 About the Third Story

Three and ten minutes later, Calador completed his inspection of the entire camp. He returned to the high platform, where the three leaders were waiting.

"How's the situation?" Andal looked at the red dragon who landed on the platform, "Are there any dragons in the camp praying or doing something similar?"

"No, there isn't any dragon praying," Calador shook his head, with a strange expression on his face, "it is logically impossible for anyone to pray... We paid such a huge price just to be able to break free from the shackles and spiritual pollution, wouldn't it be a waste of all the price to go back and reshape the gods at this time?"

Andal was still frowning, and Baloger next to him said in a deep voice: "...but not all dragons have a clear mind. It is still possible for compatriots with insufficient willpower to pray to supernatural powers to save themselves...not to mention that this kind of prayer has been their 'instinct' for a long time."

"But normally...the shackles cannot be rebuilt in a short period of time, at least within a racial memory cycle." Andal shook his head, "And even if the shackles and steel seals come back, it will require a huge amount of faith Support, this is not something that can be achieved through the 'conversion' of a few survivors under pressure - not to mention that Calador has also inspected, and there is not even a dragon in the camp to pray."

"But the whole of Tarrond is very large, and we can't determine the situation in other areas." Baloger subconsciously looked into the distance, as if searching for something in the wilderness, "what if... a large number of people in a certain area survivors, and they chose to rebuild the church after waking up, and the number exceeded that threshold..."

"The possibility is too low," Andal said immediately, and then he noticed that Heragor had been silent since just now, so he couldn't help but said, "Hragor, what are you thinking of?"

"I'm thinking, what you said makes sense," Heragor finally raised his head from his contemplation, his eyes slowly sweeping over the two old friends, "We paid a huge price to perform the coming of age ceremony, at least in the Within a racial memory cycle, the effect of this ceremony is irreversible—not to mention that I don’t think the will of the Dragon Race will be so weak that they will bow their heads in such a short period of time, even if some compatriots can’t bear the pressure and start praying again, At present, the number of surviving dragons in Tarrond is far from enough, and the time is far from enough... It is impossible for him to return, which does not conform to the theory."

Andal and Baloger looked at each other, and they saw the solemn look in each other's eyes. Andal looked at Heragor first: "But you really felt something just now, right?"

"I did feel something... But don't you think it's strange?" Heragor looked very serious, "Why is it only me who feels it? There is no echo in your mind?"

Andal and Baloger looked thoughtful, and they heard the other party continue: "If 'He' really comes back, then the voice of 'His' should be everywhere, this is the most fundamental aspect of God. The authority of God, and cannot be resisted by any individual will...Since you can't hear it, it means that what I hear is not the voice of 'God'..."

Balogar frowned: "You mean..."

Heragor didn't answer for a while, but raised his head and looked in the direction of the ruins of Agondor. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was carefully perceiving some subtle connection in the atmosphere. This perception lasted for a long time It took several minutes before he looked back from a distance: "...I felt it again just now, but you probably still didn't hear anything, right?"

Balogar and Andal looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.

"I saw it vaguely," Heragor took a light breath, and he walked towards the edge of the high platform, with a pale golden light gradually rippling around him, and the huge figure of the giant dragon emerged from the light little by little, " I have to go over there to confirm the situation."

As his words fell, the [-]-meter-long golden dragon had already spread its huge wings in the twilight. With the whistling sound of magic power stirring the air, Heragor soared into the sky and quickly moved towards Agondo. Fly to the depths of the ruins of Er.

Balogar and Andal stood on the high platform, probably because the leader left too decisively, they didn't seem to react for a while.Balogel looked into the distance, and after a few seconds he couldn't help but say: "I'm a little worried about his state——Andal, the situation of the leader seems to be not right."

"...He has served as a high-ranking dragon priest serving the gods for more than a million years, and I do suspect that this long 'dipping' has changed him from the depths," Andal said in a low voice, "This change may It didn't affect his mind, but it may have affected his 'essence'... Calador, you and Duke Moore take care of the situation in the camp, and Balogar and I will follow up to see the situation."

……

The turbid and heavy clouds gathered again, covering the not very bright sky of Tarrond. The remaining brilliance of the giant sun was blocked by the clouds, and the ruins of Agondor fell into darkness as if surrounded by midnight.

Heragor flew over the ruins, the figure of the golden dragon was like a shooting star in the darkness, his gaze slowly swept across the completely changed city below, and his sight extended along the undulating ruins, Stretching to crumbling cities, crumbling mountains, and the walls and ornate roofs of once-glorious palaces buried among the mountain debris.

All of this was shrouded in darkness due to the dim light of the sky, but a clear pale golden track appeared in Heragor's vision. Emerged from these ruins, and gathered behind the distant mounds like a trickle.

With vigilance and vigilance, he walked around the mound, and a pile of completely collapsed building roofs appeared in his field of vision—even though it was beyond recognition, Heragor could still see the pile of buildings at a glance. Certain familiar structures among the ruins.

This is the building on the highest peak of Agondor in the past, part of the main body of the "Upper Temple". Those trickling light golden streams finally converged to this place, and this convergence process seems to have come to an end.

Heragor immediately lowered his altitude and flew towards the pile of broken bricks and broken tiles. A layer of golden light floated on his body, and he had already turned into a human form when he landed—such a small body made it easier for him to explore the collapsed ruins, because The once glorious and magnificent building has now completely collapsed, and the corridors and door openings that used to allow giant dragons to strut their heads are now only left with narrow gaps.

After searching around, Heragor finally found a crack that seemed to lead to the deep inside from the side of the collapsed roof. He narrowed his eyes and confirmed again that there was a pale golden glow floating in his vision, and then he did not hesitate. burrowed into this gap.

The inside of the rift was narrow - but still free for him in human form.The road ahead was very dark, winding like a deep cave, Heragor had to summon a ball of light to assist his vision: after losing the protection of the gods, he had lost all his abilities including real vision, insight into time and space, Most of the supernatural powers such as immortality can only rely on the spells of these mortals to act.

After drilling through the crooked and collapsed buildings for an unknown amount of time, Heragor felt that the space around him became slightly empty, and he crawled forward for a while, when suddenly the light in his vision dimmed— —

This means that the lighting sphere flew into a relatively wide space, and the surrounding emptiness caused the lighting effect of the sphere to decline.

Heragor quickly sensed the surrounding atmosphere, then raised his hand, and more lighting balls emerged from the air, and quickly flew to every corner of this space, completely lighting up the entire empty area .

He saw a crumbling and twisted place. The ground and curved walls in his field of vision made him quickly judge that this was the rotunda he was most familiar with, and then his eyes fell involuntarily on the center of the hall. ——That was the high platform of the holy seat, and it was also the place where the gods stood for a long time.

For a brief moment, he seemed to really see a familiar figure standing there, looking at him with the same calm and indifferent expression on his face, but in the next moment, that illusion disappeared, and the figure in his vision disappeared. There was no familiar figure at all, but there was one... something that he didn't expect.

Heragor froze in place for a while, and during this brief moment of stupefaction, two familiar breaths came from behind him: Baloger and Andal finally caught up, following the traces left by Heragor Also entered this rotunda buried in the ruins but still relatively intact.

The hall was brightly lit by the lighting sphere, and the interior was unobstructed. Balogar and Andal drilled out of the gate where there was only a small hole left. They saw Heragor standing in front for the first time. , Just about to go up to say hello and inquire about the situation, he immediately noticed the direction of Heragor's line of sight, and followed his line of sight to see things in the center of the hall.

"This is..." Andal felt the corners of his eyes twitch unconsciously, and a complex feeling of vigilance, vigilance, nervousness and absurdity rushed into his heart, "This is what you feel ?”

Heragor stepped forward and came to the former seat of the holy seat, his eyes fell on the pale golden dragon egg, and he nodded after a long time: "...It is indeed this one, now I can be sure."

"What is this?" Balogar followed from behind and asked subconsciously.

Andal said blankly: "Can't you see it? This is a dragon egg."

"Of course I know it's a dragon egg!" Balogo said suddenly, "I'm asking how this thing came from—how...how did this dragon egg end up in this place?!"

"If my perception and guess are correct, I'm afraid it wasn't here a few minutes ago," Heragor said in a low voice with a complicated expression, "I just saw the convergence and flow of some...'thing', it It was separated from every corner of this land, and then gathered in this hall to form this dragon egg, all of this really happened just now."

"...Some sort of arrangement in advance?" Andal thought about it instantly, "Look carefully, is this...'His'?"

Without Andal's reminder, Heragor was already carefully observing the dragon egg.He knew that he had received too much immersion around the gods, and the essence of his life had changed, so he could see some "information" that ordinary dragons couldn't see, and with the help of these special eyes, he carefully observed After a long time, I shook my head: "No, 'He' has not come back, at least I can be sure that this is definitely not a 'God'."

"This... can't be explained..." Balogel frowned tightly. As a former researcher, he was deeply confused at the moment, "This does not conform to the part of the theory we know..."

"So this is the part we haven't known for millions of years." Andal glanced at Balogar, and at this moment, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed something near the pale golden dragon egg.

It was a metal plate of unknown material, lying quietly among the rubble. It seemed to have been buried here for a long time, waiting for outsiders to discover it. The moment he saw it, Andal A series of strange thoughts popped up in my mind—even if the temple collapsed, even if the entire city had been razed to the ground, this metal plate was not buried deep where no one could find it, as if some kind of incredible power Playing with cause and effect and coincidence, let it appear in front of me at this moment.

Heragor also noticed the metal plate. Following his intuition, he walked towards the pile of rubble, reached out and picked it up from the rubble, and then his eyes turned to the thing that was only one foot square.

The next second, as his eyes fell on the metal plate, words appeared on the surface of the latter, and the moment he saw the words, Heragor, Baloger and Ann who were approaching behind him Dahl's eyes froze instantly:

"Article [-]: As a natural phenomenon, 'gods' never perish in nature.

"Article [-]: The 'gods' in the eyes of mortals are only the ripples produced by the interaction between the above-mentioned natural phenomena and the 'observer group' of mortals.

"Article [-]: Although the gods will never die, the interaction process between gods and mortals is controllable, can be terminated, can be transferred, can be actively strengthened or weakened, or more interference.

"Fourth: Gods and mortals alike are tiny ripples in a larger ripple.

"Rule Zero: If you see this, it's all true if you"

Heragor suddenly felt dizzy. In this brief moment, he saw some words appearing behind the metal plate "Article Zero". He even saw the content of those words and understood some things that he absolutely couldn't understand , knowledge that is absolutely untenable, but in the next moment, he found that there was only a blank space in that position. He had never seen what he had seen, nor understood what he had understood—he did not know what he had just seen. Whether the first four items in his book have changed, and he doesn't know whether he or the world in his eyes has been reorganized, his eyes naturally move down, and he no longer remembers that there is another conclusion behind the zeroth item.

Certain memories were blown away with the wind, leaving only imperceptible ripples in the high dragon priest's mind.

Heragor saw the end, and a new text emerged at the end of the metal plate:

"Give it all to Gawain Cecil—that's the necessary element of the third story."

Chapter 1056 Recovery

In the next few minutes, there was only silence in the abandoned and collapsed hall, and the three pairs of eyes fell on the metal plate with a strange material, until the words on the metal plate gradually disappeared, and even the metal plate itself disappeared. Bits of it melted into the air—it turned into specks of light dust, and slipped from Heragor's hands, leaving no trace left.

Baloger finally couldn't help breaking the silence: "What does the third story mean?"

"...When Gawain Cecil visited Tarrond, 'He' once told him two stories, two stories about gods and mortals," Heragor rubbed his fingers, as if I can still feel the real touch of the metal plate just now, "'He' said at the time that there was a third story, but that story hasn't happened yet..."

Baloger looked into Heragore's eyes: "So do you understand the meaning of 'His'?"

"I don't understand," Heragor shook his head, "and I still don't understand it... I have spent more than a million years trying to decipher every metaphor that 'He' said, and I can only understand part of it in the end , some things... are destined to be beyond our comprehension."

"Then what do you think about the previous few items?" Baloger asked again, "These things...are they really left by 'He'? Why did 'He' leave these?"

Heragor didn't answer, he was just silent, thinking for a long time in the silence, and finally said softly as if talking to himself: "Perhaps... this is the only thing that 'He' can tell us when the shackles are cut off. Listening knowledge."

"Obviously, 'He' also wanted to tell that human named Gawain Cecil," Andal broke the silence until this time, the old dragon looked back at the faintly golden dragon in the center of the hall Egg, said with a somewhat complicated tone, "Hragor, you decide what to do."

"...Let's do it," Heragor said after being silent for more than ten seconds, "In the final analysis, the fate of Tarrond has been inextricably linked with the trajectory of that human being. The turning point of history and the His actions are closely related, and perhaps in the next long period of time, this connection will continue, 'He' probably foresaw all this, so he arranged these things in advance."

"Well, since this is your judgment," Baloger spread his hands, "Anyway, we have decided to return to the mortal world. It is also a good way to establish a connection with one of the most powerful countries in the human world. beginning."

Andal's gaze was always on the dragon egg, and he couldn't help but said at this time: "Hragor, do you think this dragon egg is safe? Could it... be a harbinger of some kind of dangerous return? ?”

"Do you still remember the 'first' and 'second' we saw just now?" Heragor didn't answer directly, but asked Andal, who nodded after a little thought: "Of course I remember—" ——First, as a natural phenomenon, "God" will never die in essence. Second, "God" in the eyes of mortals is only the result of the interaction between the above-mentioned natural phenomena and the "observer group" of mortals. ripples."

"I believe in these two items, so we don't have to worry about this dragon egg," Heragor said slowly, "For the Dragon Clan, the gods we know have left."

"Then how do we deal with it? Speaking of which... do you think this egg can hatch?" Balogel looked at the dragon egg with a strange expression. As a scholar, he didn't know which theory to use to face it at the moment. The strange situation in front of me, "Ah, I thought of another question - the message just now said 'give it all to Gawain Cecil', does this 'everything' include this egg?"

The huge abandoned hall was quiet for a while, and it took a long time for Heragor's voice to sound a little dull: "...you asked me."