The Creators: From Night City

Page 351

“Darkness shrouds the East. I will not have a day of peace until evil is eradicated. My team and I want to scout out the area around the monastery first.”

Jiang Bing naturally couldn't stop others from voluntarily working overtime.

After seeing off the group of paladins, he couldn't wait to return to the command room, eager to see what the Tree of Enifos had called top secret.

Skipping the complicated unlocking steps, Jiang Bing didn't even use an alchemy crucible. After the golden flames briefly seeped into the bark, he violently removed the 'security door' and extracted a stream of information.

This is a video, a first-person video with the Tree of Enifos as the recorder.

Thousands of years ago, the Candulas Mountains were still majestic, but the Great Forest was then just a fertile basin with sparse vegetation.

Surprisingly, however, a terrifying hole runs across the sky in the footage, making the entire canopy look like it has been cratered and torn apart like the surface of the moon.

A man with gray hair and weathered eyes suddenly took center stage in the shot.

“I am Vasily, the first human of Sanctuary, and the first offspring of angels and demons.”

The self-proclaimed Druid founder, Vasily, looked hurried and tired, as if he had been on a long escape.

He didn't waste any words; he immediately delivered a bombshell.

"Angels and demons conspired against humanity, or rather, they never imagined that we are the ones who are closer to the true nature of 'god'."

"The Worldstone cannot be freely controlled by angels and demons; they are not fully recognized by this supreme artifact."

"Only we, we Nephalem, we humans born by accident from the union of angels and demons, are more likely to be accepted by the Worldstone."

“But we have run out of time.” The weathered man sat down casually on the ground and smiled bitterly at the Enifus Tree, which was still a sapling. “The Worldstone is the exclusive possession of Heaven and Hell. When they discovered that this artifact, which they had been fighting over for tens of thousands of years, might be manipulated by other forces, they united for the first time.”

Vasily looked up at the sky, at the sanctuary barrier that had been breached by the combined forces of the Higher Heavens and the Burning Hells.

"Udixian was a fool, but also a good person. After banishing Heaven and Hell, he chose to seal the potential of all mankind with the Soul Stone so that humanity could survive, ensuring that this powerful force could never reappear in the world."

Whether he believed that this would eliminate the suspicion between heaven and hell, I do not know. The reason why he made such a decision is also sealed away forever with his "sublimation." But the fate of mankind cannot be handed over to others to decide.

At this point, Vasily seemed to be under some kind of curse, his brows furrowing slightly as if he were in great pain.

"Angels and demons are using the Worldstone to erase all human memories of this war from their minds. They want to use this to cover up humanity's potential and lock us back into the cage of ignorance."

"I don't deny that this is a good thing for ordinary people, after all, being able to live a stable life is a luxury."

“But I hope this secret will not be lost. Humanity should always have a weapon that can destroy everything, so I left it behind, Enifus.”

"I will grant it a near-infinite lifespan, the ability to connect with nature, and utilize its characteristics as a plant to circumvent the Worldstone's memory erasure."

The first druid of Sanctuary brought his face close to the 'camera' and said with a bitter expression, "Before Uldyssian's 'Ascension,' our most powerful Nephalem, Rathma, had already been targeted by his father, Inarius, and could only hide in the shadows. Our strongest warrior, Bul-Kathos, chose to face everything and accept the erasure of his memories. As for Ys, he became obsessed with the realm of elements, unable to extricate himself, and indifferent to worldly affairs. Only I can push this matter forward, and only I, who spend my days with the wilderness and nature."

"If future generations see this record, I believe you will have already gained Enifus's approval. I hope you will remember that if one day angels or demons sweep across the earth again, and the world is about to collapse, or if humanity becomes a slave to angels or demons, controlled by religion and losing its future, I hope you can shatter the World Stone that has protected us and also restricted us, and win a glimmer of hope for humanity."

"Note that the Worldstone cannot be broken by ordinary forces. It is naturally immune to many kinds of damage. Legend has it that only the holy light weapons representing the five angels of the High Heavens or the dark power of the seven demon gods of Hell can destroy the Worldstone. Of course, this is not entirely true."

Vasily smiled smugly: "The energy emanating from the Worldstone can do the same. Udixian once briefly manipulated the Worldstone to forge a weapon for himself. After his 'sublimation,' I collected his weapon and hid it on an island in the western part of the Frozen Sea. You only need to follow the traces of this power to find where that weapon is hidden."

A pale purple, flickering ball of energy shone between the Archdruid's hands, and he scattered this 'key' into the Tree of Enifos.

“I will travel westward, leaving behind similar measures as much as possible along the way. I am not sure if Enifus will be able to complete its mission. In fact, I am not even sure if all these measures will be able to preserve this history, but I will do my best before it is forgotten.”

The Archdruid rubbed his face, which was haggard from resisting the effects of the Worldstone for so long, stood up, and prepared to continue his journey.

He took two steps, then hesitated and turned back.

"May humanity endure," he concluded.

The record in the bark of Enifus ended there, but the sheer amount of information it contained left Jiang Bing feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

Who is Wu Dixian?

What exactly was this battle that Enifus called the War of Original Sin?

Does 'God' refer to the 'Anu' that Jiang Bing remembers?

Where is that weapon that can destroy the Worldstone hidden?

Jiang Bing does recall the World Stone; it should be hidden in the World Stone Fortress atop Mount Arreat, guarded by three burly barbarian men.

Fortunately, Jiang Bing knew the importance of consulting experts when in doubt.

When he found Deckard Kane, the old man was drying his boots in the doorway.

Before the other party could speak, Jiang Bing preemptively asked, "How much do you know about the War of Original Sin?"

Deckard Kane looked up, bewildered: "Huh?"

Chapter 720 The Blind Monastery

As it turns out, while Deckard Kane may have known a fair amount, he didn't actually know that much in the end.

But Jiang Bing's trip wasn't entirely fruitless; he learned a very interesting story from the old man.

The most widely circulated creation myth in the world.

The story is quite clichéd, no different from other creation myths.

In the beginning of time, there was a chaotic void, shaped like a chicken egg, within which lived a divine being named Anu.

As time went on, He became increasingly bored and began to ponder how to achieve a higher level of perfection. In order to evolve, He eliminated His evil and discordant parts from His body, thus creating a boundary between good and evil, forming two opposing forces.

The good one is 'Anu', and the evil one is the seven-headed dragon Tasamat.

Since ancient times, good and evil have been irreconcilable. Both beings were trapped in an egg with nowhere to go, thus beginning a long and immeasurable period of fighting.

However, both of them originated from the original 'Anu' and were taught by the same master. They could not break each other's moves and could only wear each other down until they both perished.

Their final blows collided, creating an unprecedented explosion, and the world was born.

At the very center where the two energies converge, a magnificent, enormous, blood-red gemstone condenses—this is the World Stone, also known as the Eye of Anu.

This thing is the condensation of the rules at the beginning of creation, the root of this universe, the cornerstone of all time and space, capable of changing reality and creating everything.

The bodies of the two powerful figures did not decay after their deaths, nor did they grow red hair, nor did they suffer any ill effects in their later years. Instead, one ascended into the distant, dark sky and became a high-level paradise, while the other spiraled down and became a burning hell.

Anu's corpse contained the lingering essence of 'good', giving birth to angels representing 'light', while the evil dragon's corpse also contained the root of 'evil', giving rise to demons representing 'darkness'.

Five powerful individuals were born from among the angels: Imperius, the Archangel of Courage; Tyrael, the Archangel of Justice; Auriel, the Archangel of Hope; Itherael, the Archangel of Fate; and Malthael, the Archangel of Wisdom, who together lead the High Heavens.

The seven heads of the seven-headed dragon transformed into the seven great demon kings of hell.

They are: Dur Mephisto, the Lord of Hatred; Thor Baros, the Lord of Destruction (also known as Baal); Al Diablo, the Lord of Fear; Andariel, the Lord of Pain (also known as the Lady of Pain); Duriel, the Lord of Suffering (also known as the Lord of Maggots); Azmodan, the Lord of Original Sin; and Belial, the Lord of Lies, who rule Hell.

These two newly established companies, one above and one below, are sandwiched between the Chaos Realm where the Worldstone resides. In order to seize ownership of the Worldstone, these two groups have picked up the traditional skills of their predecessors, and a long and eternal war has begun around the Chaos Realm.

Deekater Kane finished recounting the creation myth, but the story gave Jiang Bing a deep sense of familiarity, making him feel as if it were a composite version of many creation myths circulating on Earth in his memory.

He even suspected that when the great 'Anu' created the platform, he was too lazy to come up with a solution and simply copied it, directly adopting the excellent solutions from his peers.

But he had no evidence, and he didn't dare to ask.

But he finally understood why the Nephalem, the first humans born from the union of angels and demons, were so powerful.

So they are all the human forms of the original 'Anu', each a blood relative of the creator god from a different generation, quite like a combination of light and darkness, an invincible and cowardly web novel trope.

Doesn't that mean that every human in Sanctuary is a miniature version of the creator god, and has the potential to become a god?

Thinking of this, Jiang Bing glanced at Deekason, who was secretly smelling his boots to see if they still smelled, and swallowed back the complaints he was about to vomit.

Kane is in serious trouble at the very least.

The two chatted about some interesting anecdotes about demons before going their separate ways.

With a major battle looming, we must seize every second to make preparations for the war.

Two days later.

The wind in the Tammo Heights was terribly cold; it felt like a knife cutting into your face, making you squint and purse your lips.

The barbarian ignored the cold winds imbued with dark magic, his skin largely bare, gazing calmly at the distant monastery.

Jiang Bing was also observing this military fortress.

You're saying this is a monastery?

Jiang Bing stroked his chin, wanting to grab Akara by the collar and slap her conscience, asking how she had the nerve to call a fortress with walls over thirty meters high a monastery.

However, the predecessor of the Blind Monastery was the East Gate Fortress, so the existence of high walls and strong fortifications is a normal situation.

The upper and lower limits of productivity in this world are quite absurd.

Ordinary farmers have to toil in the soil all day long just to barely make ends meet, but extraordinary individuals, with the aid of magic, can easily build a bunch of 'spectacular' structures.

The fortress was built in a canyon, stretching for thousands of meters, firmly blocking this natural gap in the Candulas Mountains.

The magnificent city wall was not an ordinary brick and stone structure, but was built by the sorcerers who accompanied the army at the time, who forcibly shaped and laid the foundation on the earth, and then extracted, melted and shaped a single giant rock block from the nearby mountains.

Numerous towers and smaller watchtowers are evenly distributed atop the city wall. The main towers, reaching tens of meters in height, are also integrally formed and seamlessly connected to the city wall.

The walls used to conceal their figures were all magically reinforced, gleaming with a black iron-like luster.

The existence of such an unimaginably thick, monolithic city wall and towers renders conventional siege weapons (catapults, battering rams) almost completely ineffective, and the hellish catapults used by the demons would likely be unable to cause any structural damage to it.

Not to mention that the already impregnable city defenses were further strengthened by the demons using blasphemous hellish magic.

The gray city walls were now covered in blood and flesh, appearing stained with blood. Numerous blasphemous hellish characters and twisted patterns covered the walls, and magic flowed, constantly reinforcing the overall structural stability.

"What are those things?" The barbarian, relying on his sharp ears and eyes, was the first to notice the anomaly and asked his companion, pointing to the city wall.

Every few dozen meters, a large scarecrow stands on the city wall, continuously radiating invisible spiritual light and exuding dark magic.

“An energy node of Legion magic,” said the female mage Isendra.

"Profane flesh magic, those are all cursed and bound souls." The necromancer loathed the demons' actions that disrupted the balance of life and death.

A large number of demons lined up on the wall, watching Jiang Bing and his reconnaissance team warily.

Chapter 721 Demonic Technology Shocks Body and Mind

A large number of drones were launched by the siege forces at the rear, but before they could even get close to the sky above the city wall, they were all destroyed by a rain of arrows rained down from the top of the wall.

Fortunately, [Reverse Entropy] also has reconnaissance drones that can fly even higher.

The drone, equipped with optical camouflage, was taken off by an Edos-like being, who simultaneously activated the optical camouflage to achieve physical invisibility.

However, the demons clearly possess magical reconnaissance abilities.

A bright black light rose from the live crossbow on the city defense platform, soaring upwards and instantly flying thousands of meters high, heading towards the stealthy drone.

The operator initiated an emergency evasive maneuver, but the dark light managed to slightly change direction, altering its flight trajectory the instant it approached the drone and precisely shattering it into scattered fragments.

But the drone has met its demise.

A picture was quickly sent to the entire combat channel.

It was an eye, a huge eye of flesh and blood, coiled and entwined on a tower within the monastery.

"lily"

Jiang Bing called for the engineers stationed at the rear base.

“Show the photos to our demon expert, Deeka Kane, and ask him what he thinks.”

Soon, the relevant intelligence was sent back.

“The Grief-Eyed Demon, a strange demon from Hell, I never thought I would see it in the mortal world,” Deckard Kane said with a fanatical expression, clutching his thick diary.

"It feeds on the eyes of living beings and is said to possess the power to see through everything."

Whether it can see through everything is unknown, but seeing through optical camouflage is obviously not a problem.

Clearly, this Grief-Eyed Demon was being used as a radar by the demon.

Soon, the living radar, following the direction of the drone's flight, spotted the reconnaissance team lingering near the monastery. Its enormous, eyeless eyes stared at them through the thick city walls.

Jiang Bing instantly sensed the malicious gaze.

The next moment, a dark light rose from behind the wall and fell towards the crowd with lightning speed.

However, the impact did not occur.

A giant crossbow bolt, its black surface gleaming faintly, was gripped in Jiang Bing's hand. The dense dark magic reacted violently with the golden flames protecting his body, hissing and crackling.

“This is a magical artifact, it should be anchored with the magical power of precision and penetration.” Isendra made the judgment with confidence after only glancing at the crossbow bolt.

"It seems that some demons have already made use of that Horadrim Hammer." Jiang Bing chuckled as he tossed the dark weapon, which was clearly forged recently.

"Chasi would be devastated if he found out."