The sudden awakening of the wardens shocked everyone. Lily's barbarian soldiers were screaming, but only Hao Ren seemed to have expected it. He looked up at the first 'colossus' to wake up, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly. "It seems that you have gotten rid of the shackles of the power of Chaos."
The twenty-one wardens gradually woke up. Gravel and dust slid off their bodies. These giants made of rock and steel made a clattering sound as they moved. The majestic colossus, the first to wake up, looked down at Hao Ren. "A sacred power has dispelled the shadows in our souls. We saw you fighting in a daze. We don't know who you are, but you have repelled the Annihilators."
The colossus spoke very slowly, with a rumbling echo in his voice. It seemed that the long period of immersion had left him in an extremely weak state. But Hao Ren could feel powerful energy was rapidly regenerating in the colossus' body. Apparently, these ancient warriors had a strong recovery ability.
He nodded slightly, roughly guessing the reason why the colossus had gotten rid of Lockmarton's control and awakened from its slumber.
Thanks to Lavinia, the zealous believer of Armageddon wanted to release Lockmarton, but she had accidentally activated the divine disc stolen from Hao Ren. The energy of the disc did not match the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, but it had the same purifying effect as the divine power of the goddess of creation. The divine power that poured out of the disc had sensed the energy conflict in the bodies of the twenty-one wardens and poured into the bodies of these demigods!
The final result would obviously make the believers of Armageddon curse, but it was unexpected good news for others: the wardens had gotten rid of the nightmare that corrupted them and had woken up!
Under the reassurance of Calaxus and Lily, the slightly panicked soldiers quickly calmed down. Except for the necessary personnel who were taking care of the wounded, the rest quickly gathered in front of the twenty-one wardens. The super-creatures from Hao Ren's house who had just been teleported were not very clear about the situation, but after all, they had rich work experience. They appeared calmer than the others and immediately came up behind Hao Ren.
"You're the leader of the ancient wardens?" Hao Ren looked up at the giant's majestic stone head as if he was looking at an ancient Greek statue. "You've been corrupted for three centuries? Which stage has Lockmarton broken through to now? "
"I am Loken, the King of Kings, the leader of the Guardians of the Old Days. I was ordered by the Creator to suppress the Original Sin, Lockmarton." The giant seemed to be slowly waking up from his slumber, his mind becoming clearer. He squatted down to make it easier for him to speak to Hao Ren and the others. "However, Lockmarton's cunning is beyond imagination. We have failed in our mission, and the darkness has invaded our souls. We have even become the minions of the power of Chaos … Now that the core of the Forgotten Abyss has been completely opened, Lockmarton's spiritual body is no longer bound. It is wandering the barren land and has formed a physical body. However, Mother's divine power is still sealing the final door, and its lock is the Ark of the Sacred Covenant before you. Praise be to our Mother, you have stopped those minions at the last moment. We still have some time. "
"I believe you have felt another type of divine power washing over you," Hao Ren said quickly. "You should be able to understand my origins from this divine power. So now is not the time to waste to prove my identity. I am here to solve the problem. Tell me what to do."
"You must destroy Lockmarton's physical body again, and seal his spiritual body again," Loken said. "Or … if you can do it, completely destroy it."
Another warden beside Loken continued, "But to complete this almost impossible task, you must enter the Forgotten Abyss and fight against that monster in the Eternal Battlefield. Otherwise, its power will leak into the real world. Even if it is just a little bit, it will be enough to destroy the mortal world that is already on the verge of collapse."
Hao Ren looked up at the crystal pyramid. "So we still have to find a way to open the Ark of the Sacred Covenant … but that will require a key. You may not know this, but the Cassouin Grand Temple that stored the key had fallen many years ago, and the divine artifact is now missing. "
Loken seemed to smile. "The Cassouin Grand Temple? Ah, there is indeed a deceptive thing stored there, but the real disc was never there in the first place! "
"What?!" Hao Ren was really shocked this time. "You are saying that the Radiant Disc in the Cassouin Grand Temple is fake?"
While he had never seen what the disc looked like in the Cassouin Grand Temple, he never thought that the Radiant Disc that both the Church of the Goddess and the Cult of Armageddon believed in was fake! The secret of the Cassouin Grand Temple had been circulating between the two sects for so many years, and it turned out to be a deceptive cover!
"Lockmarton's corruption of the hearts of mortals is unimaginable. So from the beginning, we foresaw the appearance of the fallen like the Cult of Armageddon, and we also foresaw that one day, the forces of the secular world would enter the cave of the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, and no matter what their intentions were, they would put the Ark of the Sacred Covenant in danger," Loken rumbled. "Like a mother, we love those energetic mortals, but we also know their weaknesses. So from the beginning, the Radiant Disc was stored in a place no one would expect. But one day, Lockmarton would send his minions to find the key to the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, so it was necessary to leave a cover or two in the secular world … "
Lily jumped up anxiously. "So where is the real disc?!"
"Here —"
Loken said faintly, and then suddenly raised his hand and stabbed himself in the chest without hesitation!
Following the ancient warden's action, the other twenty colossi did the same thing: they raised their hands and stabbed themselves in the chest!
But the expected scene of rocks flying did not happen. Under everyone's dumbfounded gaze, a black hole appeared in the chest of the twenty-one wardens. The hole was filled with fog as if it led to another dimension, and in the depths of the dimension, there was a faint glimmer of light.
The wardens reached their stone palms into the hole, stirring up layers of ripples.
Loken took out an irregularly shaped shard from the hole in his chest. The shard was translucent and looked like some sort of crystal. Its material was very similar to the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, and in the hands of the other twenty wardens, there were also shards of the same material.
"Since it is a prison, the key should have been with the wardens from the beginning," a female colossus said slowly. Her voice was deep and rumbling, but there was a hint of feminine gentleness in it. "Even after hundreds of years of being consumed by Chaos, there was a final safety lock in the depths of our souls, ensuring that the location of these shards would not be known by evil. And even if Lockmarton completely destroyed us, he would not be able to get his hands on the key — because the ring can only be reassembled when all twenty-one wardens are awake!"
The twenty-one crystal shards floated up from the colossus' hands and spun rapidly in the air. They came together, and after a series of dazzling runes, they finally reassembled into a complete crystal disc!
"It's actually crystal …"
Hao Ren looked up at the dazzling crystal disc as he muttered to himself. At the same time, there was a look of surprise on his face.
It was a crystal disc! Not a Gilded Disc!
After a brief moment of surprise, he turned to look at Muru, only to find that the guardian giant also had a look of confusion and surprise on his face.
Clearly, Muru did not know the origin of the crystal disc — it seemed like this thing was not part of the Creation's Engine after all!
While Hao Ren and the rest were still in shock, the crystal disc had completed its reassembly and activation. The King of the Lords, Loken, raised his hands, and like Atlas lifting the sky, he slowly placed the giant-like disc into the groove of the Ark of the Sacred Covenant.
With a dull thud, the disc and the wall of the pyramid fitted together seamlessly, and the entire Ark of the Sacred Covenant began to emit a gentle white light. Hao Ren heard a soft but mechanical voice speaking in his ear.
"Final protocol activated — Collow security system online, accepting preset command set — all levels of barriers entering controllable mode.
"Reporting current system status — stability at 30%. Central area overflowing. Buffer zone contamination at 85%. Alert zone contamination at 60%. Final defense zone contamination at 50%. Overall security status: Extreme Danger.
"Warning: Prison is in a state of contamination. Lockmarton overflowing index is over 50%. Containment will be ineffective. Distress signal has failed. Warden is advised to take the final protocol immediately!"
Loken's voice came from above. "The final protocol is to push the entirety of Collow into the world's boundary. Beyond the orderly universe is the ultimate realm of nothingness and vastness. This crystal disc is the key to open the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, and when combined with the Ark of the Sacred Covenant, it will become a powerful 'engine' capable of pushing the dimension of Collow out of the orderly universe. Once this process is initiated, everything will be destroyed."
"Wait a minute, you said … engine?!" Hao Ren heard the keyword and immediately understood what Loken meant by 'beyond the orderly universe' and 'the realm of nothingness and annihilation'. "You mean this thing is an 'engine' capable of pushing a part of the cosmic structure into the void?"
"Looks like you also know about the situation beyond the world's boundary?" Loken was a little surprised. "As you said, the Ark of the Sacred Covenant is such an engine."
The MDT immediately floated to Hao Ren's side. "Partner …"
"I've thought of it too." Hao Ren nodded. "With the disc as the activation core and the Ark as the body, to push the universe or part of the universe away from the coordinates of the void … This is probably the prototype of the Creation's Engine!"
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