Thirty minutes later, Carador had completed his inspection of the entire camp. He returned to the platform where the three leaders were waiting.
"What's the situation?" Andal looked at the red dragon who had landed on the platform. "Are there any dragons praying or doing anything like that in the camp?"
"No, there are no dragons praying." Carador shook his head with a weird expression on his face. "Logically speaking, no one would pray … We have paid such a huge price to break free from the shackles and mental corruption. If we go back and rebuild the gods now, won't all our efforts be in vain?"
Andals, however, was still frowning. Balogel, who was beside him, said in a deep voice, "… However, not all dragons have a clear mind. In the severe pressure and the mental trance caused by the booster's backlash, compatriots with weak willpower may still pray to supernatural forces to save themselves … Not to mention that this kind of prayer is their 'instinct' for a long time."
"But normally speaking … the shackles cannot be rebuilt in a short time, at least not in a race's memory cycle." Andal shook his head. "And even if the shackles and the steel seal were to come back, it would require a huge amount of faith support. This is not something that can be achieved by the 'conversion' of a few survivors under pressure. Besides, Carador has also patrolled the camp, and there are no dragons praying at all."
"But the whole of Tarlonde is huge, and we can't be sure of the situation in other areas." Balogel looked into the distance as if searching for something in the wilderness. "What if … there are a large number of survivors in one area, and they choose to rebuild the church after they wake up, and the number exceeds the threshold …"
"The possibility is too low." Andal immediately said. Then he noticed that Helagol had been silent since the beginning. He could not help but ask, "Helagol, what are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking, what you said makes sense." Helagol finally looked up from his contemplation. His gaze slowly swept across his two old friends. "We have paid a huge price to carry out the rite of passage. At least in a race's memory cycle, the effect of this ritual is irreversible. What's more, I don't think the will of the Dragons is so weak that they will bow down in such a short time. Even if some of our brethren can't withstand the pressure and start praying again, the number of surviving Dragons in Tarlonde is far from enough, and the time is far from enough … It's impossible for them to return. This doesn't make sense."
Andal and Balogel looked at each other. They saw the solemn look in each other's eyes. Andal first looked at Helagol. "But you did feel something just now, didn't you?"
"I did feel something … but don't you think it's strange?" Helagol looked unusually serious. "Why am I the only one who felt it? Why is there no echo in your mind? "
Andal and Balogel looked thoughtful. They heard Helagol continue. "If 'he' is really back, then 'his' voice should be everywhere. This is the most basic authority of a god, and it cannot be resisted by any individual … Since you can't hear it, it means that what I heard is not the voice of 'god' …"
Balogel frowned. "You mean …"
Helagol did not answer for a moment. Instead, he looked up in the direction of the ruins of Agundor. He narrowed his eyes slightly as if he was carefully perceiving some subtle connection in the atmosphere. This perception lasted for a few minutes before he looked away. "… I felt it again, but you didn't hear anything, right?"
Balogel and Andal looked at each other and shook their heads at the same time.
"I vaguely saw it." Helagol took a light breath. He walked to the edge of the platform, and a faint golden light gradually rippled around him. The huge figure of the Giant Dragon slowly emerged from the light. "I have to go over there to confirm the situation."
As his voice trailed off, the hundred-meter-long golden Giant Dragon had spread its massive wings in the twilight. With a roar of magic surging in the air, Helagol rose into the air and quickly flew towards the depths of the ruins of Agundor.
Balogel and Andal stood on the platform. Probably because their leader left too decisively, they did not seem to react for a while. Balogel looked into the distance. After a few seconds, he could not help but say, "I'm a little worried about his condition. Andal, the leader's condition doesn't seem right."
"… He has been a high-ranking dragon priest serving the gods for more than a million years. I do suspect that this long 'soaking' has changed him from the bottom," Andal said in a low voice. "This change may not have affected his mind, but it may have affected his' essence '… Carador, you and Ducamore take care of the camp. Balogel and I will follow up to check out the situation."
…
Turbid clouds gathered again, shrouding the already dim sky of Tarlonde. The remaining light of the giant sun was blocked by the clouds, and the ruins of Agundor were shrouded in darkness like midnight.
Helagol flew over the ruins. The figure of the golden Giant Dragon was like a meteor in the dark. His eyes slowly swept across the completely changed city below. His eyes extended along the rolling ruins all the way to the collapsed city, the collapsed mountains, and the once magnificent palace walls and gorgeous roofs buried in the wreckage.
All of this was shrouded in darkness because of the dim sky, but Helagol saw a clear pale golden trail in his vision. He clearly saw something invisible to the naked eye emerging from some of the ruins and gathering behind the distant mound like a trickle.
Vigilant and alert, Helagol bypassed the mound, and a pile of completely collapsed roofs appeared in his vision. Although it was beyond recognition, Helagol still saw some familiar structures in the ruins.
This was the building on the highest peak of Agundor in the past, part of the main body of the "Upper Sanctum". The trickle of pale golden light finally gathered in this place, and the gathering process seemed to be coming to an end.
Helagol immediately lowered his altitude and flew toward the pile of broken bricks and tiles. A layer of golden light floated over his body, and when he landed, he had already turned into human form. This smaller body made it easier for him to explore the collapsed ruins because the once magnificent building had completely collapsed. The corridors and doorways that could allow the Giant Dragon to walk with his head held high were now only narrow gaps.
After searching around, Helagol finally found a crack on the side of the collapsed roof that seemed to lead to the depths of the building. He narrowed his eyes, and once again confirmed that there was a pale golden glow in his vision, and then without hesitation, he went into the crack.
The inside of the crack was narrow, but for his human form, he could still move freely. The path ahead was dark and winding like a deep cave. Helagol had to summon a light orb to help with his vision. After losing the protection of the gods, he had lost most of his divine powers, including True Sight, Insight into Time and Space, and immortality. Now he could only rely on the spells of these mortals to move.
After crawling for a long time in the crooked and collapsed building, Helagor finally felt that the space around him had become a little more spacious. He crawled forward for a while, and suddenly, the light in his field of vision dimmed.
This meant that the illuminating orb had flown into a wider space, and the emptiness around caused the illuminating effect of the orb to decrease.
Helagol quickly sensed the aura around him, then raised his hand and waved. More illuminating orbs emerged from the air and quickly flew to every corner of the space, completely illuminating the entire open space.
He saw a decayed and twisted place. The ground and curved walls in his field of vision allowed him to quickly determine that this was the rotunda he was most familiar with. Then his eyes involuntarily fell on the center of the rotunda. It used to be the high platform of the Holy See, and also the place where the gods used to stand for a long time.
For a brief moment, he seemed to see a familiar figure standing there, looking at him with the same calm and indifferent expression as before. However, the next moment, the illusion disappeared. There was no familiar figure in his field of vision at all, but there was … something he did not expect.
Helagol was stunned for a moment, and it was during this brief moment of daze that two familiar auras came from behind him: Balogel and Andal had finally caught up with him and followed Helagol's trail into the rotunda that was buried in the ruins but still relatively intact.
The hall was brightly lit by the illuminating orbs, and the interior was unobstructed. Balogel and Andal crawled out of the door that was now only a small hole. They saw Helagol standing in front of them at first glance. Just as they were about to greet him, they noticed Helagol's gaze and followed his line of sight to see the thing in the center of the hall.
"This is …" The corner of Andal's eyes twitched involuntarily as a mixture of vigilance, alertness, nervousness, and a sense of absurdity welled up in his heart. "This is what you sensed?"
Helagol stepped forward and came to the place where the holy throne used to be. His eyes fell on the pale golden dragon egg, and after a long while, he nodded. "… Yes, this is it. Now I can be sure."
"What's this?" Balogel asked subconsciously as he caught up with them.
Andal said expressionlessly, "Can't you see? This is a dragon egg. "
"Of course I know it's a dragon egg!" Balogel said at once. "I'm asking how this thing came about. Why … why is this dragon egg here?"
"If my perception and guess are correct, it was not here a few minutes ago," Helagol said in a low voice with a complicated expression. "I just saw some … 'thing' converging and flowing. It seeped out from every corner of the land and then converged in this hall to form this dragon egg. All of this really just happened."
"… Some kind of arrangement in advance?" Andal immediately made the connection. "Look carefully again, is this … 'he'?"
Without Andal's reminder, Helagol was already carefully observing the dragon egg. He knew that he had been influenced too much by the gods, and the essence of his life had changed. So he could see some 'information' that ordinary dragons could not. With the help of this pair of special eyes, he carefully observed for a long time before shaking his head. "No, 'he' did not come back. At least I can be sure that this is definitely not a 'god'."
"This … can't be explained …" Balogel frowned. As a former researcher, he was now deeply confused. "This is not in line with the theory we know …"
"So this is the part that we have not known for millions of years." Andal glanced at Balogel, and at this moment, he suddenly noticed something near the pale golden dragon egg from the corner of his eye.
It was a metal plate of unknown material, lying quietly in the rubble. It seemed to have been buried here for a long time, waiting for outsiders to find it. The moment Andal saw it, a series of strange thoughts came to his mind. Even if the temple had collapsed, even if the entire city had been razed to the ground, this metal plate was not buried in a place where no one could find it. It was as if some incredible force had played with karma and coincidence to make it appear in front of him at this moment.
Helagol also noticed the metal plate. Following his intuition, he stepped toward the pile of rubble, reached out, and picked it up from the rubble. Then, he looked at the one-foot square object.
The next second, as his gaze fell on the metal plate, words appeared on the surface of the metal plate. The moment Helagol saw the words, Balogel, and Andal, who were approaching from behind, froze.
"First, as a natural phenomenon, 'God' will never die in essence.
"Second: 'God' in the eyes of mortals is just a ripple caused by the interaction between the above natural phenomenon and the 'observer group' of mortals.
"The third rule: Although the gods will never die, the interaction between the gods and mortals is controllable. It can be stopped, transferred, actively strengthened or weakened, or even interfered with.
"The fourth rule: Be it gods or mortals, they are all tiny ripples in a larger ripple.
"Zeroth: If you see this, it proves that everything is correct. If you …"
Helagol suddenly felt dizzy. In this brief moment, he seemed to see some words appear behind the 'zeroth' metal plate. He even saw the content of the words and understood something that he could never understand. But the next moment, he found that there was only a blank space. He did not see what he had seen, nor did he understand what he had understood. He did not know if the first four things he saw had changed, nor did he know if the world in his or his eyes had been reorganized. His gaze naturally moved down, and he did not remember that there was another conclusion behind the zeroth.
Some memories dissipated with the wind, leaving only undetectable ripples in the mind of the high-ranking dragon priest.
Helagol saw until the end, new words appeared at the end of the metal plate:
"Leave all this to Gwen Cecil. This is a necessary element of the third story."
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