They could vaguely see what was going on inside the hall.
Through a layer of pale green energy veil at the entrance of the pyramid, Hao Ren could see that the hall was brightly lit, and the vast hall was lined with neatly arranged giant devices, as well as many figures in robes running around, and in the depths of the hall, there was a bright light.
Turning back to look at the phantoms of the past that were slowly turning back into the Black Forest, the group quickly darted into the hall under Rheia's lead.
Rheia's eyes were still shut, and she only reminded everyone to follow behind her to prevent them from tripping over the broken walls in the real world, while Hao Ren's gaze swept across the entire hall.
He saw that there were not many people in the vast building, and the vast space was actually prepared for some mysterious' equipment 'of unknown use. Two rows of tall and faintly glowing square pillars were lined up along the hall, and on the pillars were flowing light and ever-changing runic interfaces, and between the pillars were silver-robed, burly 'technicians' running around, and the surging energy leaped at the top of the pillars, and gathered at the end of the hall.
There was a platform high above the ground, and on the platform stood a beautiful and dignified woman in a luxurious dress.
The woman seemed to be the one in charge of the hall, and she held a platinum staff in one hand, while her other hand seemed to be holding something by her side. She stared at the direction of the hall's door, and the incredibly powerful life force was emanating from her body, and was released into the plaza outside the hall.
So the life force that the 'pyramid' released came from here, a powerful nature-type spellcaster.
And behind the woman was the source of the light that Hao Ren saw earlier, it was a metal prism filled with energy, and the prism was embedded in the platform beneath the woman's feet, and there were countless complex runes flowing around it, and a low hum came from the prism, and echoed throughout the hall.
Vivian nudged Hao Ren's arm and pointed at the platform where the woman was standing. "The smell of blood is coming from there."
Without waiting for Hao Ren to say anything, Rheia nodded and "looked" in that direction with her eyes closed, and the scene in that area immediately began to shake, and in the blink of an eye, a blurry figure appeared.
It was a human who seemed to be lying face down on the ground. It was impossible to tell if he was dead or alive.
The soldiers on the periphery breathed a sigh of relief. It was a human, and they did not know if he was dead or alive. It was better than some indescribable monster.
Hao Ren, on the other hand, frowned and walked toward the unknown figure.
When he got closer, he saw that the human lying on the ground was actually an armored warrior.
He had brown curly hair, dark skin, and his armor was completely different from the armor of most soldiers in this world. It was a black light armor, and it seemed to be made out of a large number of soft metal pieces, and there was a faint light flowing between the gaps of the armor. There was no normal knight's sword or soldier's one-handed sword on his waist, and instead, there was a short black rod about a foot long. Other than that, there were no other weapons, so the short rod was his weapon.
Hao Ren and the rest could not tell who the warrior was, but Charlemagne exclaimed, "This is … a Knight of the Broken Blade?!"
"This is a Knight of the Broken Blade?" Hao Ren was shocked. "The Knights of the Broken Blade under Princess Constance?"
"I've seen the Knights of the Broken Blade when I was young." Charlemagne nodded. "Their attire is very recognizable, there's no mistaking it."
"Why would a knight of the Broken Blade be in a place like this … How did he get here without being consumed by the phantoms …" Hao Ren was shocked, and quickly checked the knight's injuries. There was a large pool of blood on the ground, and the knight's armor was heavily damaged. It was obvious that the knight had escaped to this place while heavily injured. "He's still breathing, hurry up and save him!"
"Strange, the wounds are all healed …" Vivian was the first to notice the abnormality. "Only the armor is damaged, but the limbs under the armor have recovered … Apart from the bloodstains at the scene, there is no bleeding spot on his body …"
"Healed?" Hao Ren frowned. "Is he just unconscious?"
The MDT flew down from Hao Ren's shoulder. "Let me check."
Just as the MDT began to check the knight's condition, Hao Ren's attention returned to the phantom in the hall.
He saw the vague silhouettes of monsters outside the palace gate, and the guards who were guarding the last line of defense in front of the pyramid were already engaged in battle. The slightly distorted sounds of explosions and battle cries came through the energy curtain at the palace gate, and an oppressive atmosphere of impending doom spread throughout the hall.
But the tall silhouettes between the square pillars were not affected at all. They were still methodically adjusting the status of each pillar, and channeling their energy to the mysterious device behind the well-dressed woman.
Hao Ren saw a warrior in silver-white armor coming to the front of the platform. He bowed to the lady and said, "Holy King! The last line of defense is in danger. "
The tall, beautiful woman was indeed the "Holy King" that the guards in the square were doing their best to protect.
"I know." The woman called 'Holy Ruler' nodded lightly. "Stand down. Everything will pass."
The soldiers retreated, and the 'Holy Ruler' raised her platinum staff high and slammed it down.
A loud 'dong' was heard, and the sound of the platinum staff hitting the platform echoed throughout the hall, and the voice of the Holy Ruler rang out. "Citizens of Haersonca, the final moment is here! We have nowhere to retreat, and there is no need to retreat! The continuation of the world is in this battle, I am with all of you, for our descendants, for their present, future, and eternity, take up arms! "
A powerful force of life exploded from her body. This force was unprecedented and unbelievably powerful, and it even formed a visible light green ripple as it rushed out of the hall like a gust of wind, and spread out in all directions with the pyramid as the epicenter.
On the square outside the pyramid, in the city outside the square, and even on the plains outside the city that had been turned into scorched earth and swallowed by the Black Forest, the countless soldiers who died in battle but failed to turn into the Black Forest once again stood up …..
The soldiers who were long dead had once again stepped onto the battlefield with this powerful force of life, but such a miracle did not come without a price.
The figure of the 'Holy Ruler' began to waver, and the arm that was holding onto the platinum staff could not withstand the powerful magic and exploded. Blood and flesh mixed with pieces of clothing splattered onto the platform beneath her feet, followed by her body. Her body began to disintegrate as a series of horrifying wounds appeared on her skin. The flesh within seemed to be unable to withstand the immense pressure and shattered as well, and in a few short seconds, she had lost her life.
And yet, she did not 'die'.
The unparalleled and powerful force of life was still entrenched on the platinum staff, and this force had turned into an uncontrollable storm, and the 'Holy Ruler' who was in the center of the storm was also caught within it. Her disintegrated body was forcefully reassembled and was infused with life, but this life force that defied order tore her body apart once again, and then reassembled again ….. and again.
Finally, the body of the Holy Ruler was completely annihilated in the storm of life, but from the flesh and blood, a plant grew rapidly, and as Hao Ren watched in shock, it grew from a seedling to a towering tree, and in the blink of an eye, it covered half of the hall.
And the metal prism behind the Holy Ruler was charged to the limit, and with a hum, it exploded with a powerful white light.
All the illusions came to an abrupt end.
Rheia did not open her eyes, but everything in the hall had disappeared. The glorious temple, the fighting guards, the mysterious ancient equipment, all disappeared in the white light, and in their place was a dark and silent ruin, and within the ruins were some semblance of wreckage.
The only thing that did not change was the towering tree in front of Hao Ren. It grew in the middle of the ruins, and its roots had completely wrapped around the platform, and its canopy had covered half of the hall.
Between the canopy, there was a faint green light flowing.
The scene was eerily quiet, and no one spoke. The scene that appeared in the last moment of the illusion had greatly shocked everyone, and the fact that they could only watch from the sidelines had magnified the shock several times over.
Hao Ren's side was still fine, but Charlemagne and his sister, as well as their guards, had completely lost their ability to speak.
Lily blinked, and was the first to break the silence. She pointed at the giant tree, "The life force of the Black Forest …"
"That's right." Hao Ren also looked at the giant tree, and even without any supernatural means of observation, he could feel a powerful life force emanating from within the giant tree, and had spread to every corner of the forest, "Until now, she is still releasing her life force … We have finally reached the heart of the Black Forest, the place where the Fountain of Life and the Holy Sanctum are located."
"When did this happen?" Vivian asked the most important question.
"There's no way to tell." As the illusion ended, Rheia opened her eyes as she looked at the ruins around her and shook her head, "After the apocalypse and reshaping, the timeline has been cut off, and many things no longer have a cause and effect connection. Everything that happened here is an illusion from a lost dimension that cannot be verified or falsified, and even if we are sure that all of this happened before, there's no way to trace it."
"But at least we can be sure of one thing — all of this happened before the Umbral Realm was formed, because there was an orbital bombardment earlier," Hao Ren said confidently, "I'm guessing that this is the scene of the inhabitants of this world resisting the corruption of the Mad Lord …"
"But if that's the case, the level of this war is too low." Rheia shook her head, "Orbital bombardment and ground assault … would be considered a tough battle under normal circumstances, but compared to the apocalypse that could destroy the entire universe, it's not enough."
Vivian guessed, "Perhaps this is just a corner of the apocalypse."
Rheia did not comment on that guess.
What they were talking about was beyond the L 'Haronne's understanding, and even after hearing everything, Awenna was still confused. She looked at Hao Ren, then at Rheia, and could not help but ask, "What … are you guys talking about?"
"Some of the myths and legends recorded by the Basilica of the World Tree," Hao Ren said casually, "Once the situation has stabilized, I'll tell you about these legends, but for now … let's take a look at the Broken Blade Knight. MDT, have you figured out why he's unconscious? "
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