Sword of Dawn

The old priest suddenly felt that he was in a trance. The countless thoughts, guesses and plans that had sprouted along the way all collapsed and became a reality at this moment. All the emotions accumulated three years ago also landed heavily at this moment. He was almost Subconsciously took a step forward, and suddenly felt a long-lost power emerge from the depths of his heart.

His magic power that had been exhausted for 3000 years returned, and his connection with the gods was re-established. He became a priest with magic power and could pray again, just like 3000 years ago.

He took another step forward, and the figure in the radiance became clear, and he felt familiar eyes falling on him, peaceful and warm.

A deep and pleasant voice sounded in the hearts of every priest: "You are here..."

So they burst into tears.

Chapter 1209 The End of Persistence

That is the glory after 3000 years, and the voice after 3000 years.

And 3000 years of history.

Azmore walked forward step by step, just like many, many years ago, when he was just qualified to step into the temple as a druid apprentice, he followed behind his mentor and stepped on the majestic temple with a pious heart. Majestic steps and stone ramps, and behind him, several priests followed his footsteps closely, and they were lined up on both sides according to the different duties of the year.

This is the most noble ritual of meeting, and every step must not be sloppy—even though the youngest among them is already [-] years old, these aging elves still take every step as firmly as a mountain , not bad at all.

Amorn quietly lay prone in the middle of the courtyard, watching the elves walking towards him with gentle eyes-the faces of each of them were quite different from what he remembered. In 3000 years, even if it is The elves with a long lifespan have already come to the end of their lives. These elves who were at least middle-aged back then rely entirely on the "blessing" of being baptized and their strong will to survive to survive until today.Those wrinkled faces were deeply imprinted in Amorn's eyes, and gradually merged with certain shadows in his memory... and finally merged into a sigh.

"Azmaul, you are very old." He said softly.

"Lord..." Azmore walked forward step by step. When the voice of God came directly to his ears, he finally spoke tremblingly, "We have been looking for you for 3000 years..."

"You shouldn't have looked for me," Amoen sighed softly. "I left for a reason—and you could have had a better life."

"We know, but we are willing to go with you!" A high-ranking priest said suddenly, "No matter what the reason is, we are willing..."

Amoen quietly watched the priests who followed him loyally, even today after 3000 years, and sighed after a long time: "It is precisely because there were too many people who were willing to follow me back then... ..."

……

Gawain and Belsetia stood quietly in the distance, beside the "path" leading to the center of the courtyard, watching the priests walk towards the holy deer shrouded in light like pilgrims in religious stories, Belsetia Tia finally spoke softly: "It's been 3000 years... The Chenxing family has thought about how to solve this long-standing problem countless times, but no one has ever thought that this matter will end in this way."

"Ending the curtain in this way...you will have troubles," Gao Wen glanced at the Silver Queen, "It is impossible for these people to go back—and no matter what your explanation is, these people were taken away by you After the 'out of this world'...you spent years trying to resolve the esoteric problem gently, and now this problem can't end peacefully."

"I remember we discussed this before," Belsetia just showed a slight smile, she looked at the priests standing at the feet of Amorn, the smile on her face was gentle and sweet, but the brilliance in her eyes was cold Rushuang, "A lot of people got one thing wrong - the ones I treat with gentleness are always those old men who have made great contributions to the empire and have never really betrayed the Silver Empire. As for the secret sects you mentioned ...what are they worth?"

"It seems that you have already made a plan." Gawain looked away from Belsetia and looked forward silently, "I am worried too much."

"The Silver Empire is huge, and its ancient history has brought about an ancient and complex social structure. Since I ruled that land for centuries, there will always be people who are unwilling to follow me... Now I just finally found an opportunity, Let some of them go to their gods, after all, this is what they have always dreamed of."

When the Silver Queen said this, she suddenly fell silent, as if she was thinking about something, until half a minute later she suddenly asked softly: "In another place, there should be many technicians monitoring the changes here... just now Az After the sages of Morr and the priests stepped into the disobedient courtyard, between them and Amorn..."

"A connection has been established," Gao Wen said in a deep voice, "very obvious, a very stable connection—it seems that even after 3000 years of 'exhaustion' and 'interruption', the devout belief in Amorn in these people's hearts is still there. It hasn't diminished in the slightest, but has grown stronger and deeper with the passage of time."

"That's right... also, if they didn't have such a firm will, even with the elves' lifespan and the vitality bestowed by gods, they wouldn't be able to persist until today," Belsetia lowered her eyelids slightly, "Azmore The sage is nearly five thousand years old."

Then she paused, and then whispered as if she was talking to herself: "It seems that they really can't go back."

……

On the ground of broken and floating boulders, Azmael and the priests sat on the ground, just like the druids and sages sitting around in the forest thirty centuries ago to discuss scriptures and teachings, the power of the gods soaked them and dried them up The soul of 3000 years, the feeling of fullness and peace filled everyone's mind. They discussed the stories of those ancient times, discussed the lush forests, discussed the mountains and valleys, the four seasons and birds and beasts, and the water flowing through the plains. The river, and the eagle flying across the sky - Amorn just looked at them gently most of the time, and in those crystal-like eyes, there was a pure to otherworldly brilliance.

All this went on for a long time, until the sages seemed to have forgotten the passage of time. During this period, a high-ranking priest suddenly seemed to remember something and sighed: "Oh, it would be great if His Majesty Ishtar was still here... ..."

"Kostina betrayed the sacred faith," another high-ranking priest couldn't help but said, "She...she shouldn't..."

"Kostina may have betrayed her faith, but she has never betrayed us," Azmore said in a low voice, and his voice immediately silenced the priests, "There are countless people who can accuse her of reorganizing the church. decision, but only those of us who have survived to this day... none of us have the right to speak."

The old elf's eyelids were drooping, and no one could see clearly the look in his eyes when he said these words, but at this moment, Amorn's voice suddenly sounded, low and soft: "Kosty Na Istar Morningstar...my last priestess, I remember her face. She...been dead for many years, hasn't she?"

"Yes, Lord," Azmore replied immediately, "His Majesty Istar passed away more than 2000 years ago... After you left, she reorganized the Druid Church, took over the entire elf society with imperial power, and abandoned The backlash caused by divine grace and the tremendous pressure she was under caused her to die early, and she herself became the last silver empress with a Christian name—after that, the ruler of the Silver Empire no longer had a Christian name."

Amoen fell silent for an unknown period of time before the priests heard the gentle and majestic voice resounding: "She has been under a lot of pressure, isn't she... well, what a silly girl, she actually did a lot Well...really did a good job...it was me who was too selfish to leave."

Azmore opened his eyes wide, subconsciously propped up his body and wanted to stand up: "Master, you must not..."

He didn't finish his words, and his body didn't stand up—the old elf lowered his head in astonishment, and at the opening and exposure of the priest's robe, he saw that his muscles and skin had become a little bit weaker at some point. As it shriveled, a gray-white color like weathered rock was spreading over his body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In this scene, it was as if the body frozen in time suddenly reacted, recalling that he should have died many years ago.

The old priest suddenly understood what happened, he sighed, then smiled lightly, raised his head and looked around, and was greeted by several faces with the same smile.

"Lord, it looks like the time is near," Azmore said with a smile.

"I can let you stay," Amoen quietly watched these elves who should have died a thousand to two thousand years ago, "abandon this body, abandon everything in the past, and no longer have anything to do with the mortal world Any connection, stay here forever - until the end of time."

Azmore fell silent, and after a long time, he asked softly, "If we stay here, will God come back?"

"...the god is not coming back, the god is dead."

Azmore laughed lightly, then shook his head slowly, and then he propped up his body with all his strength, and little by little let his body, which was rapidly aging, leave the ground—as if he had exhausted his whole body After working hard, he finally succeeded this time. When he turned around, he saw Belsetia and Gawain had come nearby—they were standing there, as if they were waiting for a certain time to approach.

The old priest beckoned lightly, and the young queen came over, and the surrounding ancient priests also stood up one by one. They supported each other and looked at the ruler of the Silver Empire together.

"Your Majesty Belsetia—I respectfully call you Your Majesty," Azmore said slowly, his voice rough and hoarse as if dry branches were rubbing together, "I know that in the past many years, you and your father, And your grandmother, you have been looking forward to us dying every day... Now, it seems that this day has finally come."

Belsetia opened her mouth: "I..."

"Please leave it to us, our time is limited." Azmore raised his hand to interrupt Belsetia's words, and then he slowly raised his hand, pressing his index finger on his forehead, accompanied by a burst of green light flowing slightly As well as a slight skin rubbing sound, a dark green orb gradually bulged and fell off from the old priest's forehead!

The Silver Queen watched this scene in astonishment: "This is..."

"It's hidden on your body, you may find it, but with your intelligence, you will definitely be able to recognize it, and then guess why I prepared this token," Azmore grinned, his teeth were loosening , the voice became more ambiguous than before, "But now, I can give it to you... This is the missing bead on your grandmother's scepter, and it is the last link missing from your imperial power.

"Take it, find my apprentice, he is waiting for you at the foot of that mountain, let him see this bead, and tell him in ancient elf language—the stars have risen, and the leaves have returned to their roots.

"In this way, those elves who sincerely follow us and follow the ancient tradition will disperse. From now on, they will consider you as the legal and only ruler, and those who have not dispersed... Your Majesty, let them Come with us."

Azmore held his hand forward, and Belsetia reached out to take it after two seconds. She hesitated, but couldn't help asking: "If I didn't bring back this orb and that In a word, what will happen?"

Azmore looked at her, stared at her for a few seconds, then shook his head with a light smile: "It doesn't matter—who can really resist the mighty Silver Queen?"

After saying this, the ancient priest who had lived for thousands of years turned his head away, as if leaving the entire mortal world behind, and walked towards the huge and holy giant deer not far away, Behind him, the ancient priests supported each other, but they also followed firmly.

"You still have a chance to change your mind now." Amon's eyes fell on these priests, and his tone gradually became serious. "Going forward, I can't change everything."

Azmore raised his head and looked up at those crystal eyes. Under the clear and warm eyes of the gods, he asked softly: "Lord, after death, is there an eternal kingdom of heaven?"

"...No," Amoen said in a low voice, "There is no eternity for everything, and the gods will fall, and death is a peaceful nothingness—there is only me in front of you."

"Thank you—" Azmore smiled, his completely shriveled body was bathed in the light of the God of Nature, he took a step forward, and slowly opened his hands, "You are with us, we are with you exist."

In a piece of soft and floating white light, the priests from ancient times and the quaint crown sublimated into light together, and melted into the radiance radiating from Amorn's side.

All to nothingness.

Gawain was surprised to see this scene, which was obviously not in line with his initial expectations. He stepped up to Belsetia's side, raised his head together with the ruler of the empire, and watched the remaining brilliance fade away little by little. , dissipated, and half a minute later, the radiance floating in the air finally returned to calm—the barrier set up by the goddess of magic, Mirmina, also faded away.

The shocking scars on the giant deer Amoen appeared in front of Gao Wen again, and the spaceship wreckage that pierced through his body and was crucified on the ground gradually emerged from nothingness, but within a short time, the whole place was restored. It started as if nothing had happened before.

The courtyard of disobedience fell silent, neither the mortals nor the gods opened their mouths, and it took an unknown amount of time before Amoen whispered, "Let's go, they're all gone..."

Belsetia lowered her eyelids slightly: "They have already come to an end, they are just persistent."

"Alright..."

Amoen sighed softly, and at this moment, the radiance wandering around him suddenly stagnated, and that long-lasting and holy aura seemed to have undergone some kind of change at this moment. Gawain sensed something, He raised his head subconsciously, and saw the gigantic deer like a hill swaying slightly in the darkness—the body that hadn't moved at all in 3000 years was slowly rising and falling with his breath. He heard Amoen There was a muffled sound coming from within, as if flesh and blood were filling a hollow body, and water was pouring into a dry river.

The holy giant deer took a deep breath, and then lowered its head, supporting its body with its forelimbs, and then the mountain-like body began to move little by little, and stood up little by little...

Chapter 1210 Liberation

Witnessing all this at such a close distance, I felt an indescribable shock, as if a creeping hill was slowly rising, or as if the earth was rising in front of my eyes—whether it was Gawain or Belsetia, At this moment, their eyes widened due to astonishment, and they even forgot to speak. They subconsciously took two steps back, trying to see more clearly, but the giant deer only raised its head, and the height of its upper body was already reached. It is also difficult to see the extent of the nape when looking up.

And when the giant deer stood up, the ancient alloy wreckage that penetrated its body and was crucified on the ground also made toothache and creaking sounds. At this moment, metals and crystals lost their particularity, and the residual energy inside them seemed to be neutralized and counteracted by some invisible force. As the radiance wandering on the surface quickly dimmed, they began to break and fall off one after another. Little by little, the sounds of flesh and blood wriggling and metal rubbing could be heard from Amorn's wound, and fine grains of light kept falling from the air——

No one could have imagined the pain this would cause, and Amorn kept awe-inspiring silence the whole time, until he was fully upright, until those huge metal wreckages fell to the ground like boulders rolling down a hill, He stood with his head held high in the dark disobedient courtyard, and finally let out a deep sigh, mixed with countless inexplicable emotions.

That is the sigh of humanity.

His wounds finally began to heal, and healed at an unprecedented speed in front of Gawain and Belsetia, and it was only at this time that Gawain recovered from this shocking scene. Su Si seemed to have figured out something, and then nodded slightly: "Congratulations, you are finally free."

"Yeah, freed..." Amoen lowered his head, his voice was low and sweet, but he didn't know who he was referring to by "released", and at this moment, a storm wrapped in arcane light suddenly came from afar The dark and chaotic depths rushed over, and the figure of the magic goddess Mirmina condensed beside Amorn. This lady like a clock tower looked up at the God of Nature who was far taller than her, quietly After staring at it for a long time, he suddenly showed a smile: "Oh, a medical miracle."

"Your jokes make it hard for me to laugh as always." Amoen muttered in a low voice, and his body shrank rapidly in the light, as if he had stronger self-control ability after breaking free from the last restraint, he The body that had become too large during the long years of growing up began to shrink rapidly, first from the size of a hill to the size of a castle, then from a castle to a hall, and finally his body stopped at this size— —It is still huge enough for mortals to look up to, but at least it is no longer as exaggerated as before, and Mirmina no longer has to look up at him.

After doing all this, Amoen exhaled softly, turned to look at Mirmina: "Tell me the truth—did you find out that I can get rid of these things a long time ago? I suddenly remembered now, You have had weird eyes several times..."

"So what?" Mirmina smiled softly, her eyes shrouded in mist slightly narrowed, "It doesn't matter if I say it, and it doesn't matter if you say it... Even if you already have You can't stand up even if you break free from these "conditions" that bind you - you should understand that it's not just these things here that bind you, and it's not even just your own "divine problem". After all, you are too Like a god."

Amorn stood quietly on the broken ground, and did not speak for a long time, neither did Gawain and Belsetia. The old gods broke free from the shackles. After an unknown time, they heard a sigh coming from above, followed by an exclamation: "Actually, I should have known it a long time ago."

Gao Wen didn't speak again until this time: "What are your plans for the future?"

Amoen was silent for a while, as if he was thinking, and then he shook his head with a helpless smile: "Arrangements? What other arrangements can I have? Although I have broken free from these shackles, it is best for me not to show up in this world right now." After all, it may take a long time for Belsetia to completely deal with the mess of those secret sects. Next... I'd better stay here, this will avoid trouble for many people."

"Indeed," Gao Wen nodded lightly, "Although your final 'anchor point' has been lifted, it is not as quick to solve a problem left over from history as the divinity dissipates, and the technical department has to evaluate your The situation will also take a certain amount of time - for a while, you will still be wronged to stay here. But don't worry, this period of time should not be very long, at least compared with your past 3000 years, it will be very short."

"It's not a grievance," Amon said calmly, while shaking his body slightly, "Compared to the past 3000 years, my current state is much better."

Gawain and Belsetia looked at each other, they nodded at the same time, Gawain then said to Amon: "Then we won't bother you here - let's take a good rest, the work of the Theocratic Council this week will also You can pause."

Amoen didn't make a sound, just nodded lightly, and Mirmina waved her hand, letting Gao Wen and the others leave as if chasing away guests.

Gawain and the Silver Queen left, and the huge disobedient courtyard became quiet again. In the endless darkness and chaos, Amorn, who was much smaller in size, stood in the middle of a pile of scattered wreckage, and Mirmina looked motionless beside her. The "God of Nature", finally couldn't help but muttered: "Are you going to stand still like this? Then you are no different from before-at most, you just changed your posture, don't you still stay where you are?" ?”

"I don't know what to do," the former God of Nature said in a low voice after being silent for a moment, "I never thought that I would be freed in this way, and I never thought that this day would come so early... Mi Ermina, can you give me some advice?"

"Give you a suggestion? I want to sit down and finish watching the few dramas I haven't watched before, or go to the neural network to find Ms. Enya to play chess-but in view of the medical miracle that happened to you, I think it should be given You have some healthier suggestions." Mir Mina spread her hands, "Would you like to walk with me? I can take you to the depths of the Shadow Realm. You should have been curious about the scenery of the 'border' for a long time right?"

"I... don't know if it's a good idea to leave here," Amon hesitated, "I've been a long time..."

"Since I haven't left here for a long time, I should get up and take a walk." Mirmina reached out and grabbed the holy antlers on Amoen's head without hesitation, "Come on, don't let The last wishes of the children were in vain—remember their last words? They are with you, just take them away, if it makes you feel better..."

"So you were eavesdropping somewhere just now?"

"...I just have a keen sense, you know, things in the magic field... Hey, let's not talk about this, it feels weird to hold your horn, should I find a rope..."

"Shut up, and let go."

"All right, all right, today you have the final say..."

……

In the military area of ​​the Dark Mountains, in front of the gate of the rebel fortress, Belsetia once again breathed the fresh air from the outside world. She raised her head and looked up at the night sky.

Are there any departed souls among the stars to protect those who remain?

The ancient sages once told the world like this, but at this moment Belsetia knows that the starlight is just starlight, and the souls that go away are gone after all-there is no eternal heaven, everything has an end, even God not excluded.

The past, the end of all things, may have seen through this point, so they took this cold fact as their name, perhaps to warn the world, or perhaps just to remind themselves to remember.

She turned her head and saw Gawain standing beside her. This figure was as tall as in her memory. Although he was not quite the pioneering hero of mankind in her memory, from a certain angle...now The soul in this body has many similarities with the pioneer 700 years ago, and many of my questions... can always be answered in the mouth of this "outsider wanderer".

"Actually, I still don't understand why Master Azmore and several other sages would die so calmly," the Silver Queen suddenly said in a low voice, "Although I said that they can no longer return to the world of mortals , but they can choose to stay in the Shadow Realm, choose to stay with their gods, this should be a supreme honor and blessing for devout believers like them..."

"What they miss is not just Amorn," Gawain shook his head lightly, "what they miss is the era when there was a god of nature—the era of bathing in the grace of God, the era of firm faith, and all things returning to the 'right way' 'Era, even if they know that era is gone, they have held on to it for thirty centuries, and now, that era has really ended in their hearts.

"From the very beginning, those priests had no idea of ​​seeking vitality. They just wanted to give an explanation for their 3000-year perseverance. They were looking for a destination, a destination they should have gone to a long time ago, but they delayed because of hesitation and fear." The destination that has never left—in the eyes of Azmore and the other priests, they are not going to die, they just finally stopped."

Belsetia looked at Gawain steadfastly, her tone was a little surprised: "You have never had contact with Azmore and the sages, but you seem to see everything clearly?"

Gao Wen calmly responded to the empress' gaze, and smiled lightly: "Probably because I have seen a lot."

Having said that, he paused for a moment, with a look of emotion on his face: "Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the choice of Azmore and several sages, Amorn would not be able to break free from those shackles... In fact, from I noticed a long time ago that the legacy of the voyager has a powerful suppression effect on the power of 'divinity', but for individuals without divinity, they are at best extraordinarily strong advanced materials, and Amorn's His divinity is fading every day, and since the various 'de-sanctification' projects I led have been launched on a large scale, his divinity has been fading faster and faster. How could the seal and bondage of the gods have not weakened at all?

"The only explanation is that Amon bound himself in place... As an individual born from the 'trend of thought', his own mind had an overly powerful influence on him."

"Is a god still bound by his own 'thoughts'... This kind of restraint is even substantial?" Belsetia had an inconceivable look on her face, "Then if a god thinks that he is not bound by anything, Would not it be……"

"Unfortunately, we can't verify this, and judging from the existing information, this kind of good thing should not happen," Gao Wen shook his head regretfully, "This world almost never appears so much that we think What happened."

"...that's true."

The two rulers of the empire looked at each other and smiled, and they were teasing this not-so-friendly world that bred all things, but at this moment, a familiar aura suddenly condensed in the nearby air, interrupting Gawain and Bell. A conversation between Setia.

Gawain looked in the direction where the breath came from, and saw Amber's small figure jumping out from the crack in the Shadow Realm, he couldn't help laughing and teasing: "It's really rare——you work overtime at night?"

"Do you think I want to?" Amber just stood firmly on the ground, and immediately complained with confidence, "Who told you to run to this place at night?"

"Okay, I know you're a night owl, and you'll run around at night if you have nothing to do." Gawain waved his hand and asked casually, "What happened, why don't you make a trip yourself?"

Amber curled her lips: "Actually, I just sent you a letter on the way. There was a message from the inside line just now—"

In the middle of her speech, she glanced at the Silver Queen several times, and Gawain nodded slightly to Belsetia, and walked to Amber's side - Belsetia also took the initiative to walk aside knowingly, and brought him with him. The elf guard stood together.

"There's news from the north," Amber whispered next to Gao Wen, "The Grand Consul of Victoria wants to go to Tarrond in person—she's asking for your advice."

"Victoria? Go to Tarrond in person? Is this her decision?" Gawain was surprised, and felt that this didn't sound like the plan that the always calm and indifferent "Duke of Ice and Snow" would take the initiative to propose. However, soon, the surprise on his face faded away, replaced by a short thought, and after thinking about it, he nodded slowly, "It's reasonable..."

"This is your answer?" Amber blinked, "Don't you need to be more specific?"