Wasteland Echoer.

Chapter 634 Falling into Darkness (Part 1)
Sky!

A magnificent sky!
In the deep blue sky, graceful arcs rise slowly from the south, like leaping meteors, quietly heading towards Belogersk, the most central location in the Transnabuya Mountains, accompanied by subtle, almost imperceptible sounds.

Each bright, shooting star-like spectacle resembled a firework launched into the sky by the Khitan Lis people to celebrate the New Year, dazzling and magnificent, as if celebrating something.

However, the people of the Flame Empire always choose the dead of night, the most bustling and darkest time, to make the sky appear as bright as day. But now, Shaneva has released them when the sun's radiance is nearing its brightest.

A few seconds later, as the first "artificial divine punishment fire" exploded in the southeast corner of Belogersk, two loud sounds that almost shattered eardrums were followed by a beautiful mushroom cloud rising into the sky.

However, before Dark and Adaloni could fully react and find a building to hide in, the second "artificial divine punishment fire" burst forth with its most beautiful, brilliant, and terrifying radiance half a kilometer in front of them!

……

"New Era 06: The moment the Creator created the world, this world, this universe, was already heading towards destruction. All existence is for death, and all death is to welcome new life. Life and death, if placed in the unchanging universe, lose all meaning."

"Humans may not be the most superior race created by the Creator; in fact, their many flaws are fatal. Yet, throughout the endless cycle of reincarnation, the Creator has never intended to annihilate them completely. Each time, just as winter is about to end, the life force of spring revives, and humanity will ultimately usher in a new world after its most extreme destruction." — *The Dark Book*

Under the relentless bombardment of divine fire, the entire city of Belogersk was instantly transformed into a sea of ​​flames. The cries of humans filled the air, and the Nabsk Guard, hastily prepared for battle, discovered to their horror that they were utterly incapable of retaliating against the enemy.

About thirty-five minutes later, during the brief interval between the first round of "artificial divine punishment fire" bombardment organized by Shaneva, two lone "old-fashioned divine punishment fire" were launched from near the "Former 01" military fortress and blasted towards the surface of the "Former 08" military fortress.

The rising "seven-colored" mushroom cloud somewhat salvaged some of the dignity of Nabrius, who had been badly beaten in this sneak attack.

……

"The cannon fire rises."

"Amidst the raging flames, passion fades away."

"The dead never come back to life."

The rhythmic Khitan-style Japanese haiku, accompanied by the eerie and disordered sounds of the Crusader's traditional harpsichord, jolted Dak awake from this bizarre and extremely unsettling state of mind.

He spat out the slightly fishy-smelling saliva from his mouth and looked around at the dim surroundings.

It seems that the explosion of the "artificial divine punishment fire" had affected the abandoned buildings near the "Former 02" military fortress, causing a small area on the surface to collapse and fall into the underground ruins.

After all, when he looked up, there was indeed a patch about the size of a fingernail that shone with a sunlight-like quality, which seemed out of place with the surrounding environment.

Based on his military knowledge, Dark judged that if the area was the size of a washroom, they would be about 500 meters underground. To return to the surface, Adaloni would have to immediately grow wings and carry him back as a dragon.

Fortunately, although the place was unusually dark, as if he had fallen into a gloomy ancient castle where demons and beasts lurked, his dark magical power allowed him to barely see the things around him in the dim environment.

"Adaloni, wake up." Dark shook Adaloni, who was lying at his feet and seemed to have a head injury.

At his urgent call, Adaloni barely opened his eyes. After seeing that the person in front of him was Dark, he breathed a sigh of relief and touched the blood seeping from his forehead.

“Shaneva really dared to use ‘Heavenly Punishment Fire’! She’s really gone mad, and the Crusaders have gone mad too, actually cooperating with that idiot Shaneva’s command.” Adaloni swayed as he got up.

Immediately afterwards, the "Khitan Lis Ring" around his neck, which was slightly warm and emitting a dark red light, suddenly tightened, causing Adaloni to feel suffocated for several seconds before it suddenly loosened, forcing him to gasp for breath.

However, Dak noticed that after the "Khitan Lis Ring" returned to normal and stopped emitting light, the wound on Adaloni's forehead, which had been constantly oozing blood, had already healed without leaving a scar, leaving only some brown bloodstains that could be wiped off easily.

“‘Khitan Ris Ring’ seems to be healing your wounds, Adaloni.” Darke pointed to his neck.

“Oh, perhaps he has evolved.” Adaloni laughed, pointing to the “Khitan Ries Ring” around his neck:

“Anna and Hoshino Shota told me some ways to obtain information, and I tried it. In my dream, I tried to say a few words to Yan Jun. Yan Jun told me in a distorted voice that he had evolved this ‘Khitan Lis Ring Jade’ through ‘fate’ and he hoped that I could finally and completely restore my identity as a dragon and save ‘Great Yan’.”

"Salvation? 'Great Yan'?" Dark was a little unaccustomed to this sudden "Khitan Lis" word and hurriedly asked.

“Yes. I suspect that the situation in the Flame Empire isn't actually as stable as rumors have circulated in the Western Continent for the past few centuries.” Adaloni said with a disdainful smile.

"What do you mean by the only country to defeat the 'heartless virus'? What do you mean by a fairyland flowing with milk and honey? What do you mean by the light of hope for mankind, the place where the sun rises? These are just metaphors people use to express their dissatisfaction with the Federation and the Empire, which they cannot express directly."

“When I awoke at the Gate of Carlos near Lake Jobel, it was around the middle of the Third Age. Back then, Ivan XXII hadn’t yet come to power in Crusad, and Khitanris was one of the earlier nations to industrialize.” “I remember that. The Khitanris didn’t start late, but they never really participated in the struggle for international hegemony.” Dark sat on a stone slab without any writing on it, resting and trying to recover his strength while chatting with Adaloni.

“Yes, the so-called ‘Western Reforms’ weren’t completed too late, but by then, Khitanris had already been in chaos twice. Two young emperors were killed, and after the Luo family seized power, they carried out a large-scale purge of opponents. If it weren’t for the trade revenue from ‘Jurim’ and the ‘Heavenly Punishment Fire Plan,’ they probably wouldn’t have survived until the ‘New Yuan Crisis.’ However…” Adaloni wiped the blood off his head completely, stood in front of Dark, and began to recount:

"I have feelings for 'Flame Lord'. Don't be fooled by the fact that I've lost most of my dragon power; in the early Second Era, I fought alongside the Dragon King. My dragon form is definitely more ferocious than any beast you've ever seen, more imposing than any 'monster,' and more handsome than any human."

"'Yan Jun' almost saved the entire dragon race. Without him, the dragon race would probably be history, and dragons would also be history. People nowadays would probably doubt whether the dragon race really existed in history, or whether it was just a totem created by people."

"In that case, are you willing to come with us to the Flame Empire?" Dark asked, looking at Adaloni with expectant eyes.

"Perhaps this is the only way." Adaloni waved his hand helplessly and said:

“Shaneva has gone mad. Regardless of who wins this war, him or Nabrius, the Crusad Federation will disintegrate. This place will soon become a living hell like the West. Staying here will do me no good. Since the ‘Great Flame’ still exists, I’ll go there and at least be respected by them like a god.”

"However, I'm more curious as to why 'Flame Lord' appeared to me... well, I guess you could call it a dream, asking me to save 'Great Flame'. He even used energy fluctuations to evolve this 'Khitan Ries Ring Jade' by one level. Now, it can accelerate the healing speed of my wounds when I'm not suffering any further damage."

“Perhaps it’s a program set within the ‘Khitan Ris Ring Jade’,” Dark tried to explain in the most understandable way possible.

"Only dragons can use it, so those dragons who can use the 'Khitan Lis Ring Jade' are the so-called 'Chosen Ones.' As your dragon bloodline continues to rise, the 'Khitan Lis Ring Jade' will transmit information to you according to its pre-set parameters, or unlock its power. If you believe that this is the 'Flame Lord's' request, then you should obey the late lord's 'decree' and at least go to the East to take a look."

"Alright, but..." Adaloni looked around, a hint of helplessness in his voice.
“We should find a way out. It must have been the ‘Heavenly Punishment Fire’ that caused the ground to collapse, which is why we fell into these ruins. But I can sense that the sacred object that caused the ‘Khitan Ris Ring’ to tremble three days ago is right here.”

"Ruins usually contain treasures; otherwise, there wouldn't be independent armed groups like 'Ruins Hunters' that don't submit to any particular side. As far as I know, most of the ruins excavated by the Crusad Federation contain relics, monsters, or technological artifacts left behind by the old empire. However, most of them are unusable, or are like chicken bones—'tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away'," Dark analyzed.

“I think we should prioritize finding an exit and leaving this place first. As for the sacred object that can ‘awaken your dragon bloodline,’ we’ll find it if we’re destined to. However, Adaloni, if you can briefly regain your dragon form and fly away, we won’t need to look for any exit.”

Dark grinned mischievously and pointed to the only bright area overhead, which was still intermittently emitting sunlight and was shimmering with an orange-red glow, and teased.

“It’s difficult, but not without hope. Since wearing the ‘Khitan Ris Ring’ and taking the dragon scale powder given to me by Hoshino Shota, I can feel the dragon bloodline within me gradually awakening. If a sacred object were to infuse energy into my body and successfully activate my dragon bloodline, it wouldn’t be impossible.” Adaloni displayed a rare confidence in the face of adversity.

However, the next second, a rapid coughing sound caught their attention.

"There's someone else!" Dark exclaimed, turning around to see Maxim, dressed in a federal army uniform, standing in the direction of the cough.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Dak followed Adaloni forward and gently helped Maxim up, letting him lean against the blank stone tablet where Dak had been sitting.

However, Maxim's condition was even worse than before. He seemed to have hit his head when he fell from the height. If he hadn't been a superhuman with regenerative abilities comparable to those of the Lost Ones, the head wound would probably have killed him.

At this moment, a small section of Maxim's skull had collapsed, and blood and brain matter were gushing out from the broken area. His other arm had also been severed by a sharp rock nearby, and together with the arm that Dak had severed, it was wriggling and crawling on the ground with difficulty, as if trying to return to its owner.

“It’s mutated. It seems there really is a sacred object here.” Adaloni acted swiftly, stepping forward and stomping hard on the two broken arms that were already turning black and were beginning to grow hair, tentacles, and eyeballs.

With two soft "plop" sounds, the arms were crushed and rotted like tofu, turning into a pile of decaying minced meat.

“Generally speaking, sacred artifacts are found where the ‘Sorrow’ is concentrated. Especially near sacred artifacts related to our dragon race, there are probably more than just ‘Sorrow’ present,” Adaloni explained.

"Darkness and light are two elements that coexist in harmony. The extreme light will be surrounded by the extreme darkness, and the place where the darkness is most concentrated is often the place where light is born. However, he no longer belongs to this superhuman kid."

"What...are you planning to do?" Dark asked, looking at Adaloni.

“When a superhuman is near death, they may regress into a ‘heartless person,’ and there’s such a strong ‘sorrow’ here. Look, his wound is already mutating. If they leave here immediately, there might still be a chance to save him,” Adaloni said, pointing to the writhing skin at Maxim’s wound.
"This flesh has already broken free of his will and is acting on its own. If we don't kill him now, he'll turn into any monster that neither you nor I can predict. Aren't the soldiers of their Federation prepared to have their cores severed so as not to burden their brothers after infection?"
“Severing the core will damage their hearts, and the limited gas emitted from them will suppress most of the ‘heartless virus’ and the growth of extraordinary powers. You should be able to find it by touching his chest.”

Dak reached into Maxim's chest and easily found the palm-sized "Ending Core," which had the words "Sacrifice yourself to protect your comrades" written in Krish in large characters.

“Place it on his chest, then pull it away. That will save us a lot of trouble. Dark, you don’t really want him to turn into a monster and hurt us, do you?” Adaloni advised casually.

“Of course not. After all, Shaneva has gone mad, and Maxim seems to have gone mad too.” Dak said, placing the “Ending Core” on Maxim’s chest. After thinking for a moment, he thoughtfully tucked it inside his coat to secure it before pulling the fuse.

With a soft thud, Maxim's body completely lost its life.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Dark finally spoke:

"It seems we haven't gone mad yet."