Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 524 The Call of Light and Darkness (Part )

"Age 1001: Light and darkness must exist in the world at the same time, like water and fire, opposing each other and complementing each other. Light covers sin, and darkness breeds holiness. Light and darkness pursue each other, and will eventually meet in the realm of life, death, fire and ice. When the two disappear together in the world, the Creator awakens, and the universe and the world disappear." - "Dark Book".

Cruzde Federation, Arctic Special Zone, Old Arctic Zone, east of the Winternos River, the point where the “Red Fantasy Ruins” disappeared.

Dark and Wolfya, who fell into the "Red Fantasy Ruins" from a great height, brushed off the dust on their bodies and looked at the entrance that was sealed again with stone bricks that emitted a strange blue glow, realizing that they had made the right choice.

After leaving the settlement in the Bishluna area, Dak and Wolfya heard that the Federal Council had launched a battle near the Wind Wall, so they drove their mechanical vehicles non-stop to the outskirts of the area where the fighting was most intense.

With the information left by the "Eternal Red Lord" and the "Echoer" transmitted by the "Old Radio", Dak and Wolfya finally found the shortcut leading directly to the "Red Fantasy Ruins".

Enduring the pain from the fall, Dak and Wolfya stood up and took out the "Everlight" flashlights they carried with them. Relying on the weak and dim light, they could barely see the surrounding situation.

This seems to be a world, but it is not a normal world. The surrounding environment is indeed filled with substances that are very familiar to humans, but they are arranged and combined randomly in extremely strange ways.

Looking down, Dak discovered that the hanging lamps that were supposed to be hung on the walls in the underground palace, tunnels and other areas were now embedded in the brick and stone floors, spewing flames toward the ground, completely losing their original lighting function.

Continuing forward, Dak discovered that the walls, roads, and domes had disappeared one after another, leaving only countless star-like points of light appearing and disappearing in and out of his sight. In front of him was only a floating bridge made of a mechanical heart that emitted a deep green glow.

Stepping into it, Dak felt that he had been placed in a dimensional space outside the universe and material realm that we were unknown to but really existed, as if it was directly created by the Creator. There was no room for humans in it to retreat, because the world behind them was being slowly swallowed up by the endless void at a steady speed.

Until he and Wolfya reached the other side of the Green Floating Bridge, a huge door over thirty meters high instantly occupied their entire field of vision.

Looking up, Dak felt that this huge gate seemed to have experienced a blasphemous curse, and was filled with the breath that seemed to come out of an endless abyss.

This door seems to be made of metal and rock interwoven, pieced together, and fused together in a strange but very fitting state.

"Another... Karlov's Door?" Dak asked in a hoarse voice in this space of darkness and chaos, looking up at the huge door that seemed to flash out from the fog of the bottomless abyss.

"Maybe it's the Karlov's Gate, the one that connects reality to the mysterious, dark realm of the dragon clan, or maybe not. I remember that Ivan XXII admired the Karlov's Gate very much. In fact, according to the documents of the Old Empire declassified by the Federal Council, the Karlov's Gate may not have originally led to the land of windmills and wheat fields that the dragon clan yearned for." Wolfya analyzed, looking up at the giant dragon sculpture in the center of the giant gate that was looking up at the direction of the universe.

"Is it a field related to the Creator?" Dak murmured, and inadvertently reached out to touch the giant door, feeling the icy texture brought by the condensation of the water-based magic power on it.

"That's right." Wolfe nodded.
"According to the document 'Decryption of Karlov's Gate', the great prophet Aidari Sage once used the 'Looking Back' ability of the 'Prophet' to trace back distant stories. He discovered that before the dragon clan colluded with the Lord of Darkness, the destination of the Karlov's Gate should have been the 'Temple where the Creator sleeps'.

"Rumor has it that the Creator may not have a physical body. His body exists in a higher-dimensional 'Supreme God Realm' in a similar way to an energy body. But in order to communicate with the world He created, when He is with nightmares, He will project His body onto the three-dimensional world, leaving behind countless clones that can communicate."

"Then, since the Creator has countless clones and we can easily communicate with them, what is the meaning of the 'temple' that exists in the depths of the universe?" Dark frowned and asked in confusion.

"A symbol, just like the Karlov's Gate. Ivan XXII once regarded it as a medium to the ultimate realm of mysticism, and as the boundary between Cruz's Steam Age and Classical Age. The appearance of the Karlov's Gate symbolizes that the source of magic power has begun to dry up, and steam has gradually dominated the entire world. All mysteries will eventually fade away and become commonplace and knowable things." Wolfya explained.

"If the 'Temple' is there, then the believers of God and those who pursue the ultimate truth of mysticism will have their ultimate goal, right? People in the Steam Age and the Wasteland Age want to know the secrets of the Creator and the true logic of the existence of this world, so even if they have a mental breakdown and become crazy, they still want to touch those things that cannot be looked at directly, right?" Dak said, taking out the "Tear of Bizuni" picked up from the "Kushen Ruins" from his neck, and continued to analyze:
"This huge door here is also hinting to us that the world behind the door is the 'Red Fantasy Ruins', which is full of mystery and death. There may be things in it that are similar to the old days that cannot be looked at directly. It seems that as long as you dare to push the door and peek inside, you will immediately fall into madness. "But, the 'Old Radio' told me that 'the thorny land opposite the gap behind the Gorgon has hidden echoes of flames and red light'. You and I both know what it means. If we open this door, we can find the 'Heavenly Punishment Fire' of the 'Master', and we can see the 'Evil God Echoer' who has reached an agreement with me. I promised him... I want to find him."

As soon as Dark finished speaking, the "Tears of Bizuni" in his hand began to emit a dazzling holy white light. After a few seconds, the "Tears of Bizuni" merged into the palm of Light's right hand and became a scarlet eye with semi-autonomous consciousness.

"This is the most primitive form of this ordinal monster. I will use its first ability to try to control unconscious dead objects." Wright said, muttering the Central language used to bind spirits. He stretched out his hand and aimed his terrifying eyeballs, which made people tremble and fear, at the center of the giant gate.

"I know that it can completely control, enslave and manipulate a single intelligent individual, but we may not know that those stones, dead trees, flowing water, and steel actually have their own wisdom and life."

"This is an absurd argument, Dak. If this is what the patriarchs of St. Ivan's Cathedral told you, I will smash their statues. If this is the view instilled in you by the 'Tears of Bizuni', you must promise me to destroy it after leaving here." Wolfya said in a serious tone that brooked no room for argument.

As if sensing the angry aura emanating from Wolfya's body, a ray of pure black "light" flashed in Dak's gray eyes.

Immediately afterwards, his body trembled slightly, his feet slipped, and his right hand pressed on the center of the sunflower that symbolized Cruz.

Suddenly, a light blue ball of light appeared in the air, and dreamy, beautiful, gorgeous and pure snowflakes continued to emerge outward. The entire surface of the giant gate was soon covered with a layer of fuzzy white ice crystals, like a scratched mirror.

Soon, Dak felt as if his body was turned inside out. He screamed at the top of his lungs in extreme tearing and pain.

He found that his brain tissue had replaced his original hair, and the skull had become a protection for his scalp. The entire brain was exposed to the outside, while the inside was filled with worthless hair.

An intense pain swept through his mind and soul, as if someone had opened his crown with a pair of bamboo chopsticks specially made by the Yanhuo Empire, and was constantly stirring his brain, trying to taste the ultimate delicacy in the world.

About five or six seconds later, Dak "saw" that his bones had turned into skin, with all his muscle tissue exposed. The original skin had disappeared, and his bright red internal organs were hanging on the bones, swaying, swinging, and drooping, as if they could fall to the ground at any time.

"World...world...[Order]...[Order]...[Chaos]...[Chaos]..." In a trance, Dak heard an extremely old voice, reciting these three simple words with difficulty in the Cruz German language that he was particularly familiar with.

Until a broken sound pulled him back from his brief confusion, and his mind and soul, along with his normal body, returned to reality.

"The door is broken, Dake. The 'Tears of Bizuni' is indeed the key to opening the 'Red Fantasy Ruins'." Wulfya looked at the messy rocks and rusty metal on the ground and said excitedly:

"The manuscripts Ivanov left for us Cruz's descendants record his habit, which is that whenever he participated in the design and research of a project, he would leave a shortcut to reach the core area or destroy it.

"Now, the giant gate is broken, which just proves that this 'wind wall', the guardian 'new snake girl' here, and even the 'artificial fire of punishment' are indeed the work of Ivanov. If Ivan XXII is the sinner of the Wasteland Era, then Ivanov is the executioner of our tragic fate.

"However, we should not complain about the past now, but look forward. Every minute we delay now, the possibility of the 'Master Controlled Heavenly Punishment Fire' exploding increases. After this door is opened, even if we officially enter the 'Red Fantasy Ruins', the truth behind all the mists will soon shed the veil called 'darkness'."

“Yes, Wulfya.” Dak looked at the blue and red chaotic area formed after the giant gate shattered and said:
"However, I smell a power that does not belong to our continent. This power grows and spreads according to the law called 'darkness', following rules that are completely different from those of nature. It will bring evil and cruelty beyond the limits of human cognition... I smell... the damp, rotten, and fishy smell of the seabed. That is... the breath of 'ancient' power."

(End of this chapter)