The Giant Dragon descended from the sky, its wings sweeping across the sky like a banner that blotted out the sun.
This was a creature of legend. Since the beginning of the history of the mortal kingdoms, the topic of the Giant Dragon had always been an important part of various legends and even myths. And they were not just legends. Various eyewitness reports and unexplainable traces of the Dragon's Arrival all over the world seemed to indicate that these powerful creatures really did exist in the world. They had been wandering around the edge of the known world, watching the development of this world with a certain purpose.
So, from the venerable masters of occultism to the bards who sang in the streets, from analyzing the absurd stories circulating among the people to studying the ancient scrolls recorded by the royal family day and night, all kinds of people had used their own perspectives and methods to study the secrets behind these rulers of the sky. They tried to find concrete evidence of the existence of the Dragons, and even tried to communicate with these powerful and mysterious creatures for their own purposes. But in the end, these efforts were all in vain.
The truth was that since the beginning of civilization, no force had actually come into contact with these dragons, and no one had even publicly proven the existence of the dragons.
Until today, the dragons had really come.
And they came specifically for a meeting …
The situation was so bizarre that it was beyond the imagination of the bards who specialized in making up stories of the Giant Dragon. Perhaps even the most outrageous playwright would not dare to put such a script on the stage. But all this happened right under everyone's nose, and the impact was so great that the representatives did not know whether to exclaim or applaud for this scene. They did not know if this scene was shocking or ridiculous. And in this state of bewilderment, they missed the opportunity to get up and applaud. The dragons had already landed on the open ground outside the Stone Ring of Oaths.
In the intertwining light curtain, the Giant Dragon transformed into human form and walked to the empty seats under the stone pillars in front of the stunned representatives. The scene was so quiet that when the first applause sounded, it was particularly abrupt inside the Stone Ring. But eventually, people gradually came to their senses and applauded in the hall.
Wenna Baizhi recovered from the shock. First, she glanced at the Giant Dragon in human form, then at the representatives of various countries around her. After a moment of thought, she whispered to her friend beside her, "It seems that many people's plans have been disrupted … Now, other than the three empires, no one has the initiative."
"Let's see how it goes …" Camilla finally recovered from the shock. The orc leader shook her head and said, "It's actually a dragon … The situation has changed so much that I can't understand it."
Wenna nodded gently. Then she felt magical waves rising from the stone pillars in all directions. A layer of almost transparent energy shield formed between the stone pillars and quickly closed over the hall. The wind from the wilderness was blocked out by the shield, and a warm and comfortable air flow slowly inside the Stone Ring.
Everyone quickly understood that with the arrival of the last representative, the next process had begun. No matter how curious they were about the Giant Dragon, they had to put it aside for the time being.
A moment later, Gwen's voice rang in the hall.
With the help of the magical effect surrounding the entire Stone Ring?
His clear and powerful voice spread to every corner of the hall. "Welcome to our farthest guests, and welcome to every friend sitting here at this moment. Now that everyone is here, our meeting officially begins. "
Applause?
Then it quickly subsided?
What followed was a short and boring opening speech. As the initiator of this meeting, Gwen used simple words to introduce the background of this meeting, the situation of the participating countries, and the main topic of this meeting.
The content of this stylized introduction was already known to everyone present, and now it was just a formality.
When this formality was over?
Why did Gawain suddenly stop?
Gwen's eyes swept across the hall, and everyone's attention was quickly focused on him. It was not until a few seconds later that Gwen broke the silence again. "I think everyone has noticed one thing.
That is, our meeting this time is a little special.
We are not in the safe and comfortable city, but in this desolate wilderness. Perhaps some of you will feel uncomfortable because of this, and perhaps some of you have already guessed the purpose of this arrangement. I will not continue to beat around the bush here.
"It is my decision to arrange this meeting in the wilderness?
The purpose is actually very simple: I just want to let everyone take a good look at this place. "
As his voice trailed off, a low buzzing sound suddenly sounded from around the hall.
Then, under the astonished gaze of all the representatives, the towering ancient stone pillars suddenly glowed brightly.
One after another, light curtains shone from the top of the stone pillars obliquely. In the intertwining light and shadow?
A large area of holographic projections lit up one after another.
In the blink of an eye, the space between every stone pillar around the Stone Ring of Oaths was filled. The entire conference hall was instantly surrounded by magical illusions.
Only the sky directly above still maintained the appearance of the real world, and on those holographic projections, what appeared was a scene of devastation that made everyone feel depressed.
The rotting and mutated twisted jungle, the dark and decaying land, the dirty clouds that occupied the sky, the roaring radioactive storms, the mutated giants that wandered in the distance, and some ruins that could vaguely be seen to have once been buildings, but now only skeletons were left behind …
Many people got up and looked around in shock, while some forced themselves to sit still, but when they looked at the images, they could not help but frown. But more people quickly calmed down, and they looked thoughtful until Gwen's voice rang in the hall again. "For the representatives from the Four Kingdoms and other areas around the wasteland, these scenes may not be too unfamiliar, but for those who live on the outer edge of the continent, these things may be more like nightmarish illusions created by illusionists. They look like hell, but unfortunately, this is the world we live in, and the things around us."
A part of the holographic projections at the edge of the conference hall faded away, and at the end of the wide field of vision between the stone pillars was the Great Wall in the direction of the Gondor wasteland.
"These images are from real life, collected by Cecil, Typhon, and the border sentries of the Silver Empire at great risk. Some of them are the distant views in the Gondor wasteland, while some are from the foot of the Great Wall, from the 'safe zone' in theory, but in reality, it has been severely corroded in the past centuries. Ladies and gentlemen, before we formally discuss the benefits of joining the Alliance, before we consider how to distribute the benefits, before we argue about our seats, markets, traditions, and conflicts, we must first look at these things and understand what kind of world we live in. Only then can we all remain sober and make correct decisions while sober.
"The Great Wall, led by the Silver Empire hundreds of years ago, built by the nations of the continent. It has stood for seven centuries, and many of us may have forgotten its existence with the passing of time, and have also forgotten the great price we paid to build it. Many of us live in the safe zone far away from the wasteland, and if not for this conference, many of us may not have come here in our entire lives. But the wasteland will not disappear because we forget. Those things that threaten the survival of all mortals are part of the natural order of this world, and will always be there, waiting for us to let our guard down.
"And what's worse is that the Gondor wasteland is not the only threat to our survival in this world, and it's not just another Mana Tide."
As Gwen's voice trailed off, the holographic projections surrounding the stone ring changed, and it was no longer just the images of the wasteland. People saw the inland river gunboats fighting on the Gorgon River, the Crystal Cluster army raging on the riverbank, the ruined cities and villages in the plains and valleys, and the armies of Typhon and Cecil confronting each other in the snowstorm … These images were presented in the most impactful and unreserved way, and many of them could even make the viewer feel fear from the bottom of their hearts. The reason for the impact was simple: they were all real.
This was the 'material' that Gwen had been accumulating for a long time, the precious first-hand information of a series of disasters. He deliberately did not do anything to these images because he knew that the representatives who came here for the conference … needed a little sensory 'stimulation'.
In the end, these constantly changing holographic projections all stopped at the same scene.
It was the most shocking aerial shot of the Winter Fort front line: smoke billowed on the scorched plains, flames and lava spread wildly, the destroyed human defense line burned layer by layer, the twisted steel wreckage and human bodies were piled up together, and the ferocious and bloody giants were climbing the mountains at the end of the battlefield, and at the feet of the giants, blood and fire were everywhere.
This was the moment before the Winter entered the battlefield and the moment when the God of War was out of control. There was no doubt that the impact it brought had surpassed all the previous images. Even if the God of War had fallen, and the accompanying divine influence no longer existed, the images of madness, divinity, humanity, death, and survival still suffocated many people.
Wenna felt her heart pounding, and the gray elf leader felt tremendous pressure in front of these images. At the same time, she heard a low voice coming from beside her. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw that Camilla had stood up. The brave and battle-ready orc queen was staring at the holographic projection, her vertical pupils were full of vigilance, her back was arched, and her tail was raised high behind her like an iron rod.
This was the alert instinct of the orcs, stimulating the fighting factor in her blood.
But fortunately, the images did not continue. As Gwen's voice sounded again, the holographic projections around the Stone of Oaths dimmed and disappeared one after another. The desolate wilderness once again appeared before the eyes of the delegates, and many of them were obviously relieved.
Camilla slowly sat down, and a whining sound came from her throat. She then murmured in a low voice, "For the first time, I found that … this barren wilderness looks quite cute."
"Are you okay?" Wenna could not help but ask with concern. "You were completely agitated just now."
"I'm fine …"
Gwen was very satisfied with the effect of these images.
Thanks to the structure of the ring-shaped conference hall, he could see the reaction of everyone present. Many of the delegates were actually worthy of their status. Even though they had witnessed the disaster in such a shocking way at such a close distance, many of them were actually very calm, and they were seriously thinking about something. But no matter how calm they were, after seeing those images, their eyes could not help but turn solemn — and that was enough.
Gwen was not here to intimidate anyone, nor was he trying to create an atmosphere of fear. He just hoped that these people could face the facts and focus their attention.
"This is what I want everyone to see. I'm sorry, but it's not a beautiful scene, nor is it a beautiful advertisement for the future of the Alliance. It's the bloody truth," Gawain said slowly. "And this is the biggest premise that I called for this meeting.
"Before we discuss interests, we first want to survive in this dangerous world, to avoid similar disasters that could destroy our civilization, and to make this world safer, we gathered here. Perhaps many of us did not realize how close we are to the wasteland before today, and how close we are to a destructive war and a supernatural threat out of control. But after today, we must face this fact:
"Our world is not safe.
"So, in order to survive in this unsafe world, in order to let our descendants survive in this world for a long time, is it necessary for us to form an alliance to help each other? Let us resist the natural disasters together, survive the crisis together, and at the same time, reduce the disputes between countries and reduce the self-consumption of mortals. Should we form such an organization? Even if everything will not develop in the most ideal direction, should we still work toward this ideal direction? "
There was a slight commotion among the representatives in the conference hall. Some of them exchanged glances with each other. Many of them thought that it was time to vote, and some of them were wondering if they should raise some 'questions' before the vote, so that they could have more chances to speak. However, Gawain quickly said, "Everyone, please wait for a moment. It's not the voting stage yet. Before we formally finalize the decision of the Alliance, let us first invite Miss Melita Pânia, the ambassador from Tarlonde to speak. She has brought us some news from outside the territory of our current civilization. "
The Giant Dragon is going to speak?
The representatives were instantly energized. A large number of curious eyes immediately focused on the red flag with golden stripes. Under these gazes, Melita stood up with a serious look. She calmly looked around the room, and then said in a low and solemn voice, "We have killed our gods — all of them."
This explosive speech instantly made the representatives more energized than before …
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