The truth of the apocalypse was finally revealed and it was not what everyone had imagined.
Apparently, the goddess was not a product of this planet, but an ancient spirit who sowed the seeds of life in the universe.
Also, it was not the goddess who ended the world, but the First Sowing, hence the reason the first pope of the Disciples of Glory called the powerful creatures born out of the Original Seed the "First Borns".
Hao Ren could almost imagine the epic history of creation in his mind: somewhere in the universe, a seed bearing massive primordial life and magical powers pierced through the atmosphere and crashed down on the barren surface of a planet. The seed fell next to the water, or somewhere in the ocean. Life broke out from the seed and the first spring of life on the planet was created.
The supernatural power of the seed quickly sprang the barren planet into life, creating the earliest powerful creature. Millions of years then passed and the powerful creature fell asleep. Then, a second batch of intelligent beings spouted out from the "seed" to fill the void.
These second-batch beings were small, but agile. Their fervent curiosity allowed them to develop a brilliant civilisation and embark on a journey of exploration. Eventually, these daring beings began to find interest in the magical power that had created them in the first place. They found the seed that crashed on the planet millions of years ago. From it, they attempted to acquire the power of creation, which would allow them to control the world.
The First Sowing was thus awakened, infuriated by the actions of their brethren. They launched an apocalyptic war to reset the ecosystem of the planet with help from the short-lived Third Sowing, vowing to clean the earth of the arrogant brethren along with everything and anything they had ever created.
In that critical juncture, the seed's safety switch was triggered and the actions of the First Sowing were cut short. This inadvertently saved the Second Borns from extinction.
However, the First Borns did not disappear. They were just asleep in the depths of the earth, waiting for the day of awakening. When the time comes, the plan to reset the ecosystem, which had been delayed for 10,000 years would be continued to turn the planet into a pool of blood.
Hao Ren took a deep breath as he slowly turned to look at the heart, which was soaked in a pool of blood. He now knew who the First Born was.
The four ascetics were still in a state of shock. The revelation had a greater impact on them than it did on Hao Ren, the pagan. Big Beardy's face became pale and for a long moment, he could not say a word. He then mumbled to himself about some long-forgotten secrets. "According to legend, the earlier popes of the Disciples of Glory devoted themselves in uniting all the kingdoms in the world, and tried to establish an all-powerful kingdom as well as develop lost ancient technologies..."
Shortly after, another ascetic whispered, "But, the fourth pope met opposition in carrying out these policies. He was assasinated by heretic extremists."
Big Beardy's eyes were unfocused. "Then in a haste, the fifth pope was elected. The secret record of the Church states that the fourth pope had some manuscripts, which he had inherited from the earlier popes and wanted to pass to his successor. But, the manuscripts were lost during a chaos..."
Hao Ren looked down at the parchments on the altar. He knew what the lost manuscripts were all about—perhaps, it was the unabridged version. But the things that the first pope were worried about was not avoided; his plan tanked. No one knew the truth about the apocalypse and no one knew about the fearsome forces out there!
Y'zaks furrowed his brows together. He looked at the heart in the centre of the cavern, thinking to himself whether he could take the First Born out before it woke up. He was hesitant. Meanwhile, Becky pointed at the parchments, trembling. "According to the manuscripts, the First Born is about to wake up!"
"Also, according to the message, we have allies." Big Beardy was connecting the dots. "It's about the truth of the Chosen Ones! The Chosen Ones must be the forthcoming help before rhe First Born awakens!"
Instantly, their eyes landed on Hao Ren. Then, the penny dropped: they had all been wrong about the Chosen One!
Hao Ren and his company could not possibly be the aliens who signed the covenant with the ancient mage emperors. He could not have possibly been the help the first pope had prophesised three thousand years ago. He was just an inspector living on piece-rate compensation plan who came by just to conduct a household check!
The real Chosen One hadn't come yet!
"So where's the promised help?" Becky's voice was quivering. "But then is that tree supposed to wake up so quickly?"
"I'm afraid, yes." Y'zaks said with a low tone of voice. "Just think of the recent strange phenomena in Dragonspine Ridge, and the rock giants that were loitering at the blood lake—if they were soldiers created by the ancient Magic Emperors, then there's no prize in guessing who they were after. Who are they going to war with?"
Y'zaks' analysis had everyone silenced. They realised the clock was ticking almost close to midnight. "The First Born, I'm afraid, will awaken soon!"
At that exact moment, the thumping of the 'heart' suddenly stopped. But after a moment, it resumed with an even more forceful thuds!
The constant 'lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub' sound of the heart kept pounding at them, the red pulse became brighter in keeping up with the thuds. The roots attached to the heart were also pulsing a faint red glow. Lily i gasped. "Guys, I think we've just awakened it!"
Instinctively Hao Ren pulled out his gun out from the dimensional pocket; it was the most powerful weapon they were having right now. He aimed the gun at the 'heart'. Before he pulled the trigger, hs asked, "Could it be killed this way?"
The MDT performed a wide-area scan and stopped him immediately. "No. It's not going to work. There are several similar organs in the nearby caverns. This is not its weakest part."
Hao Ren had cold sweat trickled down his back. "Then what?"
"...evac immediately! Leave Dragonspine Ridge!" The MDT ran a quick calculation and came out with the best plan. "This is a super life form of several hundred kilometres across. No conventional weapon would do damage to it. Only a very large scale destruction could we see chances of success. But anyway, Beinz would be destroyed completely!"
Then it quickly examined the signal pulse in the roots. "It's waking up... but we still have three days! Get everyone out!"
Three days...there were only three days!
Hao Ren nudged Big Beardy and said, "Go to Ophra and Gelton, tell them what's going to happen! Quick!"
"What about you guys?" Big Beardy asked.
Hao Ren clenched his teeth, looking at the 'heart' which had more activity now. "We can create some troubles to delay it!"
Big Beardy stared deeply into Hao Ren's eyes and nodded at him. "Be careful... don't waken it up too soon!"
Big Beardy and the three ascetics left the cavern. Their understanding of the world was completely shattered in the last ten minutes. Now they were treating Hao Ren like God. Soon, there would be more people like them whose thought would be provoked before being shattered into pieces. But Hao Ren hadn't the time to think about those consequences, his only worry now was how to keep the thing from waking up!
Lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub...
Unlike previously, the thumping sound of the 'heart' became much forceful. Even the blind would've seen the giant thing was awakening. Hao Ren had vaguely felt that the ancient being had a thousand-year rage waiting to be unleashed.
Becky was wielding her sword and waving her magic scrolls frantically. But she cried out eventually. "Are you kidding me? How could we possibly fight this monster?"
Hao Ren hadn't responded. He instead looked at Vivian. "You've got neurotoxin?"
The truth of the apocalypse was finally revealed and it was not what everyone had imagined.
Apparently, the goddess was not a product of this planet, but an ancient spirit who sowed the seeds of life in the universe.
Also, it was not the goddess who ended the world, but the First Sowing, hence the reason the first pope of the Disciples of Glory called the powerful creatures born out of the Original Seed the "First Borns".
Hao Ren could almost imagine the epic history of creation in his mind: somewhere in the universe, a seed bearing massive primordial life and magical powers pierced through the atmosphere and crashed down on the barren surface of a planet. The seed fell next to the water, or somewhere in the ocean. Life broke out from the seed and the first spring of life on the planet was created.
The supernatural power of the seed quickly sprang the barren planet into life, creating the earliest powerful creature. Millions of years then passed and the powerful creature fell asleep. Then, a second batch of intelligent beings spouted out from the "seed" to fill the void.
These second-batch beings were small, but agile. Their fervent curiosity allowed them to develop a brilliant civilisation and embark on a journey of exploration. Eventually, these daring beings began to find interest in the magical power that had created them in the first place. They found the seed that crashed on the planet millions of years ago. From it, they attempted to acquire the power of creation, which would allow them to control the world.
The First Sowing was thus awakened, infuriated by the actions of their brethren. They launched an apocalyptic war to reset the ecosystem of the planet with help from the short-lived Third Sowing, vowing to clean the earth of the arrogant brethren along with everything and anything they had ever created.
In that critical juncture, the seed's safety switch was triggered and the actions of the First Sowing were cut short. This inadvertently saved the Second Borns from extinction.
However, the First Borns did not disappear. They were just asleep in the depths of the earth, waiting for the day of awakening. When the time comes, the plan to reset the ecosystem, which had been delayed for 10,000 years would be continued to turn the planet into a pool of blood.
Hao Ren took a deep breath as he slowly turned to look at the heart, which was soaked in a pool of blood. He now knew who the First Born was.
The four ascetics were still in a state of shock. The revelation had a greater impact on them than it did on Hao Ren, the pagan. Big Beardy's face became pale and for a long moment, he could not say a word. He then mumbled to himself about some long-forgotten secrets. "According to legend, the earlier popes of the Disciples of Glory devoted themselves in uniting all the kingdoms in the world, and tried to establish an all-powerful kingdom as well as develop lost ancient technologies..."
Shortly after, another ascetic whispered, "But, the fourth pope met opposition in carrying out these policies. He was assasinated by heretic extremists."
Big Beardy's eyes were unfocused. "Then in a haste, the fifth pope was elected. The secret record of the Church states that the fourth pope had some manuscripts, which he had inherited from the earlier popes and wanted to pass to his successor. But, the manuscripts were lost during a chaos..."
Hao Ren looked down at the parchments on the altar. He knew what the lost manuscripts were all about—perhaps, it was the unabridged version. But the things that the first pope were worried about was not avoided; his plan tanked. No one knew the truth about the apocalypse and no one knew about the fearsome forces out there!
Y'zaks furrowed his brows together. He looked at the heart in the centre of the cavern, thinking to himself whether he could take the First Born out before it woke up. He was hesitant. Meanwhile, Becky pointed at the parchments, trembling. "According to the manuscripts, the First Born is about to wake up!"
"Also, according to the message, we have allies." Big Beardy was connecting the dots. "It's about the truth of the Chosen Ones! The Chosen Ones must be the forthcoming help before rhe First Born awakens!"
Instantly, their eyes landed on Hao Ren. Then, the penny dropped: they had all been wrong about the Chosen One!
Hao Ren and his company could not possibly be the aliens who signed the covenant with the ancient mage emperors. He could not have possibly been the help the first pope had prophesised three thousand years ago. He was just an inspector living on piece-rate compensation plan who came by just to conduct a household check!
The real Chosen One hadn't come yet!
"So where's the promised help?" Becky's voice was quivering. "But then is that tree supposed to wake up so quickly?"
"I'm afraid, yes." Y'zaks said with a low tone of voice. "Just think of the recent strange phenomena in Dragonspine Ridge, and the rock giants that were loitering at the blood lake—if they were soldiers created by the ancient Magic Emperors, then there's no prize in guessing who they were after. Who are they going to war with?"
Y'zaks' analysis had everyone silenced. They realised the clock was ticking almost close to midnight. "The First Born, I'm afraid, will awaken soon!"
At that exact moment, the thumping of the 'heart' suddenly stopped. But after a moment, it resumed with an even more forceful thuds!
The constant 'lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub' sound of the heart kept pounding at them, the red pulse became brighter in keeping up with the thuds. The roots attached to the heart were also pulsing a faint red glow. Lily i gasped. "Guys, I think we've just awakened it!"
Instinctively Hao Ren pulled out his gun out from the dimensional pocket; it was the most powerful weapon they were having right now. He aimed the gun at the 'heart'. Before he pulled the trigger, hs asked, "Could it be killed this way?"
The MDT performed a wide-area scan and stopped him immediately. "No. It's not going to work. There are several similar organs in the nearby caverns. This is not its weakest part."
Hao Ren had cold sweat trickled down his back. "Then what?"
"...evac immediately! Leave Dragonspine Ridge!" The MDT ran a quick calculation and came out with the best plan. "This is a super life form of several hundred kilometres across. No conventional weapon would do damage to it. Only a very large scale destruction could we see chances of success. But anyway, Beinz would be destroyed completely!"
Then it quickly examined the signal pulse in the roots. "It's waking up... but we still have three days! Get everyone out!"
Three days...there were only three days!
Hao Ren nudged Big Beardy and said, "Go to Ophra and Gelton, tell them what's going to happen! Quick!"
"What about you guys?" Big Beardy asked.
Hao Ren clenched his teeth, looking at the 'heart' which had more activity now. "We can create some troubles to delay it!"
Big Beardy stared deeply into Hao Ren's eyes and nodded at him. "Be careful... don't waken it up too soon!"
Big Beardy and the three ascetics left the cavern. Their understanding of the world was completely shattered in the last ten minutes. Now they were treating Hao Ren like God. Soon, there would be more people like them whose thought would be provoked before being shattered into pieces. But Hao Ren hadn't the time to think about those consequences, his only worry now was how to keep the thing from waking up!
Lub-dub-lub-dub-lub-dub...
Unlike previously, the thumping sound of the 'heart' became much forceful. Even the blind would've seen the giant thing was awakening. Hao Ren had vaguely felt that the ancient being had a thousand-year rage waiting to be unleashed.
Becky was wielding her sword and waving her magic scrolls frantically. But she cried out eventually. "Are you kidding me? How could we possibly fight this monster?"
Hao Ren hadn't responded. He instead looked at Vivian. "You've got neurotoxin?"
