dkrc Chapter 54 [The Prelude to a New Era]
Chapter 54 [The Prelude to a New Era]
The three newly born deities stood in a triangular formation, facing each other.
That fragile temporary agreement has become invalid as each party has achieved its own goals.
Lin Qi held the Frostfire Warhammer, his body burning with golden runic fire and surrounded by pale frost flames capable of freezing everything.
His gaze swept over the other two, and the pulse of the earth and metal blended into a clear melody in his ears.
The Black Tide Monarch carried the pale totem reshaped by the will of war on his shoulder, with endless phantoms of mountains of corpses and seas of blood beneath his feet.
He is the embodiment of the concept of struggle; his breath fills the air with the scent of rust and strife.
Thea's physical form is composed of pure arcane energy and logical symbols.
She simply stood there, and the laws of physics around her began to shift subtly and orderly around her.
The light moved around her, and the dust particles at her feet underwent Brownian motion.
The Black Tide Monarch was the first to break the deathly silence.
He shot a pure will, filled with endless killing and conquest desires, towards Lynch.
This is a provocation of "war" against "casting".
In an instant, Lin Qi's mind was flooded with visions of countless wars: the clash of weapons, the rise and fall of empires, and countless lives turning into dust in the midst of wailing.
That immense destructive will wanted to completely tear apart and corrupt his creative heart as a "craftsman".
Lynch remained unmoved.
He raised his Frostfire Warhammer and swung it at the empty air in front of him.
This hammer blow contained no force and made no sound.
Where the hammer fell, space froze. All illusions about war, all noises about destruction, were "reforged" into the most primal, purest "order" under this hammer blow.
The battlefield, now empty, is shattered.
Lin Qi looked up and stared directly at the Black Tide Monarch.
That was his answer. Your war, in my furnace, is nothing more than a piece of scrap iron waiting to be melted down and reforged.
"Interesting." The crimson abyss in the Black Tide Monarch's eyes began to spin.
Just as he was about to unleash even greater power, Thea spoke.
Her voice didn't travel through the air, but rather resonated directly in their minds as a stream of information.
"Calculation result: Conflicts will cause all variables to return to zero. Meaningless waste."
She raised a slender finger made of light and gently tapped the space between Lynch and the Black Tide Monarch.
A completely new law was forcibly written into this space.
Within this coordinate system, the concept of "confrontation" is nullified.
Lin Qi and the Black Tide Monarch simultaneously felt that their colliding, overwhelming wills, which were about to ignite the entire meteorite crater, vanished without a trace, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.
It was not blocked, nor was it negated.
Rather, it is the act of launching the attack itself that is negated at the very root of the rules.
The Black Tide Monarch's pupils suddenly contracted; this was the first time he had shown genuine fear.
Lynch also felt a chill run down his spine. This ability to rewrite the rules was far more terrifying than any brute force.
After a brief period of probing, all three understood the current situation.
Neither side can eliminate the other in a short time. Once war breaks out, the best outcome will be that all three of them fall from their newly ascended divine thrones.
"This game is not over yet." The Black Tide Monarch snorted coldly and slung the war totem over his shoulder.
He gave Lin Qi one last look; that look was both a promise and a threat.
As soon as he finished speaking, his massive body transformed into a black streak of light that tore through the sky and disappeared into the southern horizon.
Thea turned her gaze to Lynch.
Lin Qi could sense that the gaze was devoid of any emotion; it was simply reading his data and analyzing his composition.
"Your 'hammer' is very interesting and has high research value," Thea's illusory will left behind her last words.
Her body, composed of laws and energy, disintegrated into countless golden arcane symbols that merged into the air. Lila and Valen, who were behind her, were also enveloped by this power and teleported away together.
Inside the massive crater, only Lynch remained.
He looked down at the Frostfire Warhammer in his hand, then looked up at the dwarven camp dotted with lights to the north.
Lynch dragged his weary body back to the dwarf camp.
When he appeared before the surviving dwarves, carrying that giant hammer burning with frost and fire.
The entire camp was in an uproar.
Master Brock was the first to rush over, stroking the warhammer with tears streaming down his face.
"This...this is true divine craftsmanship! You did it, child, you really did it!"
Commander Thorin, leaning on his battle axe, led all the Iron Guard warriors who could still stand to kneel before Lynch.
This time, it was not a tribute to heroes, but the most devout worship of mortals to gods.
"The northern mountains, we submit to you as our king!"
……
Deep in the southern wilderness lies a forbidden land once known as the "Throat of the Tyrant."
A black streak of light descended from the sky, transforming into the form of the Black Tide Monarch.
He looked around, and in his eyes, this barren and chaotic land was the best soil.
He planted the brand-new war totem heavily into the center of the earth.
"Boom—"
Centered on the totem, a vast abyssal power spread outwards.
The earth cracked open, and the mountains shifted.
A magnificent fortress, constructed from jet-black boulders and grotesque skeletons, rises abruptly from the ground, soaring into the clouds.
The Black Tide Monarch ascended to the top of the fortress and sat on the throne carved from the head of an ancient behemoth.
His will, echoing the drumbeats of war, resounded throughout the entire wasteland.
"All souls who yearn for war, all souls who believe in power! Come to me!"
"My Demon King's Palace will be your only refuge!"
……
Inside the Arcane Temple in the Eastern Forest.
Thea's physical form slowly coalesced in front of the broken branches of the World Tree.
She opened her eyes, data flowing through her pupils, and looked down at all the Arcane Council members who had come to greet her in the hall.
She walked up to the huge "Wall of Contribution" and waved.
All the quests, bounties, and reward lists on the crystal wall were erased.
A new line of text, composed of pure laws, appeared on it, radiating a sacred and majestic light.
[Build a magic network, an open-world magic network that reveals the essence of magic. Through this network, you will construct the glory of mages. Future generations will receive a superior education and the ability to easily wield magic. Magic will no longer rely on innate talent.]
Thea had a better eye for the future than the other two gods, and she was more adept at planning for those who came after her. She also understood the importance of scale.
At this moment, the world of Ashem officially entered the "Age of Three Kings," a period of divine conflict.
……
An old house in the countryside, on a rattan chair.
Xu leaned against the sand table, looking at the three distinct and stable sacred auras within it.
"Humans, spirits, beasts, and dwarves—the gods of the other three of the four major races in Western fantasy have already taken their places. So... the human god is about to arrive!"