The voyagers were not the natives of this planet. They were just a group of passersby. In the Dragon God's distant, faded, and even a little fuzzy memory, the ancient era of this planet was more in line with Gwen's fantasy world. It was a world without orbiting giants, satellites, and space stations in space.
It was a world of swords and magic, kingdoms and dragons.
"… At that time, the Loren Continent was a little closer to the North Pole than it is today. The whole civilized world was a little colder than it is today. The Dragons were the first to multiply and build their own kingdom in Tarlonde. Several other intelligent races lived on the Loren Continent and the other two continents. They were initially scattered into nearly a hundred tribes and small countries, and later became several larger unions or empires. For a long time, the dragons of Tarlonde and the other races of the world co-occupied this world … "
"You mean the other two continents?" Gwen could not help but interrupt the Dragon God's narration. "Do you mean the continents on the east and west of the Loren Continent?"
"Yes." The Dragon God nodded. "The mortals on the Loren Continent don't know of their existence now, but in the ancient language of the Dragons, they are called 'Kaldo' and 'Moore' respectively. Kaldo, located in the west of the Loren Continent, is the ancient homeland of the Silver Elves … But that was tens of thousands of years ago."
Gwen's heart pounded. The ancient knowledge that the Dragon God inadvertently mentioned was a huge gain for him!
"The elves migrated to the Loren Continent from another continent in the west of the sea?" Hao Ren could not help but ask, "Then do you know why the first elves migrated to the Loren Continent?"
"Unfortunately … even the Dragons can't monitor the whole world continuously, especially after the Reverse Tide formed a new shackle. The Dragons' range of activity and exploration were further limited, and my vision is limited by the vision of the Dragons. I don't even know why they are too far away from Tarlonde." The Dragon God shook his head, but then added, "But Tarlonde will occasionally send some 'travellers' to explore the distance quickly under the limited conditions permitted by the rules. Almost four centuries after the elves migrated to the Loren Continent, a group of travellers briefly flew near Kaldo. According to their rough observation, Kaldo has become a wasteland."
"A wasteland?" Gwen's voice was filled with shock. "The homeland of the elves has become a wasteland?"
"Yes, a very obvious wasteland. The earth is scorched, the plants are extinct, and there are huge, charred city ruins everywhere along the coast. It looks like they have been destroyed for centuries," the Dragon God said. "The elves did not migrate because of limited space or exploration. Their homeland was destroyed by some kind of disaster."
Gwen's curiosity was completely aroused. He could not wait to ask, "How is the ancient continent called 'Kaldo' now? Has it recovered? Is there anyone there? "
The Dragon God slowly shook his head.
"According to Tarlonde's last observation of Kaldo two centuries ago, it was still shrouded in deadly toxic and radioactive pollution. The wasteland showed no signs of recovery. Although the travelers did not go deep into the continent, there should not be any survivors in that environment."
"… Alright." Gawain sighed regretfully. He silently memorized the name 'Kaldo' and the ancient continent 'Moore' that he had just heard. Then, he changed the topic. "Let's continue our previous topic. It's about the Voyager."
The Dragon God didn't show the slightest impatience. She wasn't annoyed by Gawain's repeated questions and new topics. She just nodded and continued to talk about the things that happened in ancient times.
"At that time, the Voyager had not yet arrived, and the various races living in this world were just living in ignorance. Even the Dragons were just a member of the ignorant mortal race. My memory of that era is not clear because everything happened before I 'merged into one'. But there is one thing that left the deepest impression on me …
"The civilization of that era was full of wars. Even wars involving the gods were not rare."
Gawain furrowed his brows subconsciously.
"Why?" He asked instinctively.
The Dragon God asked in return, "Why? The mortal world is always at war. Since when do you need a reason? "
Gwen did not know how to answer for a moment.
"Mortals have always been keen on fighting. Their history has always been a chaotic cycle between long wars and short and partial peace. This is the answer I got after watching this world for one million eight hundred and seventy thousand years. Back then, the various countries on this planet were caught in such a cycle of endless fighting. They could not form an absolutely powerful empire, nor could they form a relatively stable balance. Even the Dragons of Tarlonde were actively or passively involved in the wars within and between the continents several times …
"In the memory I inherited before the 'fusion', I still remember the scene at that time. Huge airships crossed the continents, the Knight's Order fought on the plains, countries formed alliances and abandoned them, and heroes rose and fell into the dust quickly. And such a long dispute that involved almost all the intelligent races in the world finally had an impact on the 'collective mentality'. It was an impact that almost destroyed the civilization of that era."
The Dragon God paused for a moment, and Gwen immediately reacted. "The gods of that era … were also warlike?"
"Yes, the years of continuous war gave birth to a large number of civilians who lived in a state of war from birth to death. And such civilians would see war as a part of their worldview. When such a population accumulated to a certain number, the tendency of the collective mentality began to change. The gods became warlike … No, it was worse than warlike. The gods of that era began to become bloodthirsty, becoming … like the incarnation of some kind of mad slaughter, terrifying and dark."
At this point, the Dragon God shook his head slightly. There seemed to be a trace of lingering fear in the depths of his calm expression. Gwen thought that he was mistaken at first, but he soon understood why the Dragon God was so concerned about this.
The Dragons of 1.87 million years ago … also believed in their own gods.
If that change in mentality back then had affected the entire world, the gods that the Dragons believed in were not spared. The Dragon God had just mentioned that Tarlonde had been involved in the flames of war all over the world several times, either actively or passively. So it was obvious that the Dragons were among the gods that became bloodthirsty and terrifying. Although the Dragon God did not appear to have lost control, as a god born from the fusion of other gods, he was probably affected to some extent, or at least retained many bad memories.
Gwen did not rush him. After a few seconds, the Dragon God continued, "When the mortals realized that something was wrong, it was already too late. Malicious oracles and 'spiritual enlightenment' that directly affected the minds of mortals began to descend all over the world, and the entire world entered an era of darkness and madness almost overnight. All wars began to go out of control, and there was no bottom line in the conduct of war. The gods incited the fanatical army of the Holy See to slaughter the defenseless civilians, and the out-of-control clerics held bloody sacrifices everywhere to please their gods … The outworld wanderers, that was the real disaster of the gods.
"Unlike the 'mad gods' you know who went mad after crossing the threshold, the gods of that era completed their bloody metamorphosis completely in a sober state. They did not go out of control, but the mentality from the mortal world adjusted the authority of all gods, allowing them to 'legally' wield the authority of slaughter. And these sober and bloody gods were even more terrifying than the mad gods."
"Was Tarlonde also affected at that time? What were the Dragons doing? "Gwen finally could not help but ask.
"In the face of a global change in ideology, unless the race was completely sealed from the beginning, not participating in any international events, and not letting the people know about any changes in the outside world, no one could stay out of it," the Dragon God said in a low voice. "Tarlonde was also affected. The dragons were also involved in the war, and more than once. When the gods of other races slipped into the dark and tyrannical, the bloodthirsty impulse also spread like a plague to Tarlonde, into the Dragons' own belief system, and began to affect the gods of Tarlonde.
"But Tarlonde's situation was much better than other places. After all, it was in the North Pole, and only the powerful Giant Dragon could survive safely in Tarlonde, where the environment was not so friendly at that time. The natural geographical isolation prevented the chaos in other parts of the world from spreading quickly here, and it also gave the Dragons time to think and react.
"After realizing that the whole world was in trouble, the Giant Dragon began to formulate countermeasures. And thanks to the Dragons' higher level of civilization and understanding of the world at that time, the scholars successfully found the root of the problem. They even analyzed the clues of a series of changes around the world and concluded some rules related to the gods. For example, they realized that it was the thoughts of the mortals that affected the judgment of the gods.
"So, the Senate of Tarlonde at that time made a decision, a 'self-preservation decision' that could be considered lucky or unlucky …"
Gwen felt his emotions fluctuating along with the Dragon God's narration. Just as the Dragon God paused, he could not help but ask, "What decision?"
"Seal Tarlonde, stop paying attention to the affairs of the world, and then re-purify and stabilize the Dragons' 'orthodox belief system'."
Hearing the Dragon God mention the words, Gwen suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.
The Dragon God continued. "… At that time, no Giant Dragon realized the chained relationship between the gods and mortals, and no one thought that the gods would stand against civilization in a sense. Even if the whole world was deteriorating due to the gods' bloodlust, the first thing the Dragons thought of was to 'repair' their belief system and not abandon the traditions and beliefs that they had upheld for thousands of years. So, they formulated a massive and orderly plan to strengthen their belief system, and the core of it was … to let the members of the race believe in the traditional gods in the 'correct' way, and let the gods' return to their rightful place '.
"Many temples were repaired or renovated, ancient books were revised and supplemented, and the members of the race picked up the old precepts that were waning at that time. Tarlonde closed all external channels, as if the outside world had disappeared, and the Dragons were completely immersed in the 'collective training' of rebuilding and repairing their spiritual world … It went on for many years."
"It's all over." Gwen could not help but facepalm and let out a long sigh. "I think I understand why the Dragons were left behind …"
The Dragon God nodded. "That's right. Now it seems that the plan to reconstruct faith had a terrible follow-up effect. However, no one knew about it at the time, and it seemed that … the plan to reconstruct faith had indeed taken effect.
"The Dragons, who had begun to mutate, quickly stabilized, and the mental deterioration of the members of the race and the negative spiritual enlightenment phenomena were quickly curbed. Tarlonde was soon safe, and these were visible changes.
"And the world outside Tarlonde had become a purgatory, and the entire planet was immersed in the cycle of slaughter and sacrifice. Endless wars and bloody battlefields were everywhere …"
"… No one could predict fate in advance, and even history that had already happened was often beyond reason in the eyes of the latecomers." Gwen shook his head. "Then what happened?"
"Then … the Voyagers appeared," the Dragon God said in a low voice. "They came from the depths of the universe and changed the fate of the entire world."
He paused for a moment, picked up the cup on the table, and took a sip before continuing.
"The Voyagers … they are a civilization full of mysteries. They call themselves mortals, but they seem to be completely unaffected by the 'divine chain'. They do not believe in all the gods in this world, and all the gods in this world could not shake the mind of even the most ordinary member. I don't know if they have found a way to break free from the shackles, or if they have some kind of uniqueness in themselves.
"The Voyagers broke free from the shackles of their home planet many, many years ago and became a civilization that traveled freely in the universe. They migrated and explored from one star system to another, as if they were obsessed with traversing the entire universe, or looking for something in the universe. And in their travels, they were often attracted by planets where intelligent races lived, and they would stay on these planets for a short time, and … they were keen to help the intelligent creatures on these planets to break the chains between them and the gods."
"Keen to help the locals break the chains between them and the gods?" Gwen was startled. "What kind of hobby is that?"
"Unfortunately, no one knows the reason why the Voyagers did this … They seemed to have some kind of obsession, and have been doing this since the day they set sail," the Dragon God said as he recalled. "According to them, their original route plan did not include our planet, but the sudden burst of a strong 'chaotic background pulse' on this planet caught their attention, and they came here."
What happened after that, even if the Dragon God did not mention it, Gwen could fully connect the dots.
(End of Chapter)
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