The sky and the earth are dark.
Lead-black clouds gathered into an iron curtain, covering the sky and the land and sea of Asgard. The pungent smell of sulfur filled the air, making people's lungs sting and their eyes turn red.
"The explosion guidance matrix has been laid."
"Recheck completed."
"Every department's communication is normal."
"Process No. 6 is ready, Lucas, report the situation."
The communication with noise rang in his ears, and the burly musician dug the mountaineering pickaxe into the rock formation and climbed to the top of the mountain. He grabbed the sharp protruding rocks and hung himself on the rope by the lock on his waist.
When he lowered his head, he saw the deep hole beneath his feet.
It was the cleft at the top of the mountain.
Like a scar leading to the lungs of the earth, the huge cave is silent in the deep darkness. In the darkness, there seems to be singing, and the exaggerated height makes people feel trance-like.
He shook his head involuntarily.
—If you fall into it, how long will it take for you to fall to pieces
"Lucas? Lucas?"
The commander in the communication asked: "Did you hear that? Report the situation."
The musician woke up from his trance. Through the thick mask on his face, his voice became vague and low: "Lucas, take your position and wait for orders."
"Very good, let's enter the final testing process."
Chaotic sounds came from the communication, and in the end, everything was silent, leaving only one command:
"Detonate."
"receive."
Lucas took off the black square box from his waist and followed the alchemists' instructions to verify the direction of the notes. The black box slowly cracked open and red fluorescence flowed out.
drop!
drop!
drop!
A sharp sound sounded from it, accompanied by the sound of the second hand reversing.
Open the outer shell, remove the safety valve, start the countdown, and... let go.
The glowing red fluorescent box fell from his hand into the darkness, and the sharp dripping sound sank deeper into the darkness, as if it was falling straight down to the deepest part of the earth along the crack on the mountain top.
But Lucas didn't have time to take a closer look. The moment the box came out of his hand, he tore off the safety rope around his waist. The huge force pulled his body and flew outward in an arc.
In this etheric chaos, his body quickly fell to the safe area along the zipline.
And just when he was in mid-air, the sound of dripping followed him.
Like a living creature, it climbed out of the crack along the sharp rock wall, surrounding everyone's ears. Then, the earth trembled, and a terrifying roar burst out from the crack on the mountain top.
As the land shook like water waves, a large amount of dust and gravel spewed out from the crack, followed by a burning red light.
The light is flowing, like water, boiling, rising from the deepest depths of darkness, roaring, whistling, gathering in one place, spurting out, rushing into the sky, as if it is going to ignite the iron-gray sky.
Lucas stumbled to the ground, and stood firm with the help of his companions. He turned around, and the black mask on his face was illuminated by the fiery red light.
"God..."
He didn't dare to look anymore, he just lowered his head and prayed softly:
"…please forgive me."
That's a volcano.
The volcano erupted.
After a hundred years of silence, the dead volcano erupted again under the guidance of musicians.
Endless heat surged from the depths of the earth's crust, following the tortuous cracks, and once again broke through the shackles of the rock. Immediately afterwards, a complex alchemical matrix lit up from around the volcano, surrounding that volcano.
The high temperature in the lava is guided by the matrix, and hundreds of tributaries converge into the main trunk, which is converted into new energy and flows to distant cities along pre-drilled channels.
Soon, the erupting volcano became quiet again, and no lava spewed out. Only the top of the volcano was like a big bowl of God's wrath, filled with boiling magma.
The glow of magma lights up the sky.
Thick black smoke rose like a giant pillar and merged into the iron clouds covering the sky.
From a bird's eye view, the world has become so cruel, as if purgatory has reappeared.
In the silence, another loud noise burst out in the far north.
The earth shook.
"It's in the direction of the Asmo Mountains."
Someone looked in that direction and compared the list in his hand: "I'm afraid the second phase of the project is about to be completed, and we can relax for a while. A month of crazy overtime is really unbearable."
Beside him, a group of charred musicians were spread out on chairs, smoking cigarettes, smiling without any grace, showing their white teeth, chatting about taking a bath after returning home and what kind of beer would be the best to drink.
Lucas said nothing.
He is praying.
…
In just one and a half months, Asgard has changed.
Under the power of the musicians, volcanoes were ignited one after another, and the flames emerged on the earth again, turning into endless energy, driving thousands of arsenals to frantically produce war supplies, and countless workers on the assembly lines stayed up all night Sleepless.
The pungent smell of sulfur filled the wind.
The ocean was no longer blue, but turned into a sticky gray-black amid the falling ash.
Thick smoke rose and covered the sky, no stars could be seen, and the sunlight during the day was as luxurious as gold. All you can see is the red color reflected by the volcanic lava.
There were one hundred and forty scars on the earth, and red blood flowed from them. The blood was sucked by humans and turned into power.
Now, humans have the power.
But how can we survive in this hell
…
Asgard Golden Palace.
In the guard of the volcano, on the eternally cold mountain peak, the huge palace made of gold and iron reflected the light of the fire, as if it was burned red by the light.
Under the Golden Palace, countless roars came and went.
It was countless huge machines running roaringly driven by heat. And those dozens of lava streams converged into rivers, evaporating the seawater in the original harbor and turning it into a sea of boiling lava.
In the ocean, there is a dark giant silently bathed in flames.
In the tempering of the flames, the steel giant remained motionless, just silently absorbing the heat in the lava. In the six pairs of dim eyes, sparks called thinking were shining.
And just above the huge chest, layers of huge steel plates that looked like bones and flesh opened like flowers under the pull of the slings, revealing countless complex cables and steel internal organs.
And the beating heart of thunder.
In the dull heartbeat, dozens of musicians descended carefully along the slings, maintaining the alchemical matrix around the heart, carefully guiding this inhuman power to integrate into this inhuman body.
That is the proof of the existence of the gods, the power flowing from the divinity.
—Odin.
But now, the Golden Palace has been opened, and the god has been dropped from the altar and fallen apart. Its meaning of existence has been denied by the new emperor. His divinity has been split into sixteen parts, and each clan has been enfeoffed. Its power has been forged into one A heart that entered the lungs of the giant on land.
Give soul to the puppet, give life to the steel.
But now, in the cold Golden Palace, the new emperor leaned on crutches and quietly looked down at the steel giant bathed in lava with an indifferent expression.
A month ago, when the lame man was coronated and ascended the throne, he declared this to the clan that offered his loyalty.
"—Asgard doesn't need natural disasters, all we need is the north wind."
Now the north wind blows from the sea.
Returning between heaven and earth, with the breath of war.
Iron-like clouds rose from Asgard, covering all directions.
And just at the top of the Golden Palace, the clouds quietly cracked open, like scars, revealing the universe behind it, with stars surging.
Immediately afterwards, the stars were covered by darkness that seemed to be substantial.
The darkness was surging like an ocean, gathering together like living creatures. You could vaguely see countless star-like eyes opening, then closing and extinguishing one by one.
"That's the abyss."
The languid old musician stood behind the emperor, his face pale: "The abyss is being rewritten."
"Has the reshaping of your will been completed?" The emperor turned back and looked at him, "It looks like you are recovering well."
The old musician smiled bitterly and looked at the cracked slate in his arms.
The wedge-shaped notes on the stone slab are slowly emitting fluorescence.
"Your Majesty, in the normal sense, I am dead." The old musician sighed, "I am just a reserved copy now."
"Then, as a copy, continue to serve the empire in place of your original body." The emperor said lightly: "You still have meaning to the empire, and the empire will not allow you to die."
The old musician bowed and saluted.
Beyond the cracks in the clouds, countless eyes in the darkness had quietly closed and disappeared.
"All traces left by the Hundred-Eyed Ones have been erased."
The old musician explained to the emperor what he saw through the lens: "With the provision of the Caucasus at all costs, the Orthodox Church launched the largest holy prayer ceremony in history, transforming the abyss and transforming the divinity and status of the Hundred-Eyed One. . From today on, the existence of the Hundred-Eyed One will be replaced by new gods, all power will be inherited by the new divinity, and the pattern of the Three Pillar Gods will be forever rewritten."
With his words, the dark eternal night ended.
And the divine glow lit up from the night sky.
Amid the praises of countless musicians and priests, the sound of hymns filled the space between heaven and earth, illuminating the clouds and falling on the earth. From east to west, from south to north, the entire world is bathed in this miraculous light.
Above the sky, there is a world shining with all the beautiful lights in the world. Among the countless radiant guards, the throne of God emerged from it. On top of the throne, there was a vague figure, overlooking the world.
But the emperor raised his head with difficulty, staring at the figure overlooking him with sharp eyes.
It's like making an enemy of the gods.
Until the light dissipated and the night sky returned to silence, the emperor never looked away.
"What is that?" asked the emperor.
"Eden."
The old musician replied: "That is the paradise created by Orthodoxy, a realm made of underworld and abyss, the home of all souls in the world."
"Um."
The emperor nodded, "That is our enemy."
"Your Majesty, please think again." The old musician lowered his head and prayed in a low voice: "Now that we have lost Odin, it is quite unwise to start a war with Caucasus."
"Isn't what Asgard advocates a heroic and noble death?"
The emperor's face was as dark as water. He leaned on his crutches and moved his rickety body back to his throne. "For hundreds of years, we have followed the north wind. Now, the north wind has brought war, so we will choose war." .”
"Many people don't think so, Your Majesty, Asgard does not have only one voice." The old musician shook his head, "Now, many people are saying, 'That lunatic wants the entire Asgard to become lame with him. satisfy'."
The emperor smiled, patted his deformed leg, and looked at the old musician: "That's good, isn't it? Then you will understand that a lame person must rely on crutches if he wants to walk."
The old musician was stunned.
The emperor reached out, took out a copper pipe from his arms, and threw it to the old musician: "Look at this."
The copper tube was opened and a scroll slipped out. The end of the scroll was stamped with the national seal of Asgard and the seal of the Red King.
Staring at the provisions, the old musician fell silent.
"Since the enemy has his own god, let us find a god for ourselves."
The emperor whispered solemnly: "From today on, Asgard welcomes the Order as the state religion, forms an alliance with the Holy City, and rewrites the Third, Fourth, and Ninth Amendment Acts - the Holy City will become our strength! Even in the new era It has arrived, but the glory of the empire will not pass away. The heroic spirits of our ancestors will be with the stars! As long as the north wind still cares for us, the Asgardians will not be afraid of any enemy!"
With those words, the night sky was illuminated again.
That is the glow from the Holy City.
Thousands of steel towers erupted with bells, spreading light in all directions. Pillars of light rose into the sky one after another, sweeping away all the haze.
Under the order of the Red King, the huge City of Steel once again played the melody.
The door of the holy relics exhibition room, which had been sealed for hundreds of years, suddenly opened.
In the center of every cathedral, amid the prayers of countless believers and priests, and the hymns of countless musicians, artifacts one after another rise from the altar, bursting with light.
With the fall of the abyss and the rise of Eden, a new round of scorching sun once again ushered in the turbulent etheric world.
One after another, stars rise from the void.
Lost saints were canonized again.
For hundreds of years, the order's massive reserves were once again activated, and legions scattered across the country rode iron whales and broke through the clouds.
Responding to the call of the bell, the Knights Templar, the Knights of the Covenant, the Knights of Mercy, the United Knights of the South, the Gladiolus Friars, and the Knights Hospitaller, who have risen again after many years of silence, have returned again.
The iron boots of the power armor stepped on the steel ground of the Holy City. The collision of iron and iron announced the arrival of war.
…
…
At the same time, in Angelo, the Avalon 9 satellite island, in darkness and silence, the sound of the countdown was echoing.
"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four..."
"three!"
"two!"
"one!"
The moment the countdown ended, a roar erupted from the center of the island.
Countless dragons' mighty lights lit up the night.
Crazy flames spurted out from the darkness, and terrifying power brewed from it, pushing the huge steel structure in the center of the venue to rise toward the sky, as if soaring, bit by bit breaking free from the shackles of gravity, upward, upward, and then again. up.
Tearing through darkness and clouds, overcoming storms and earth.
Fly towards the sky.
Like a giant bending his bow, he shot an arrow into the sky that would never return.
The golden glow spurted out from the "arrow", and as it soared, it hung on the sky, like a miracle.
From slowness at the beginning to unfathomable speed with the naked eye, after dozens of suffocating seconds, the steel creation had flown to a height that was difficult to detect with the human eye, casting a light that surpassed the stars!
In the long silence of the Central Command Room of the Royal Academy, Newton clutched the arm of the person next to him, and his five fingers almost dug into the poor guy's flesh.
But in the solemnity, no one noticed.
They stared at the changing icons on the wall, measuring the arrow's trajectory. In the boring report, he was breathing heavily, and his pupils were filled with bloodshot eyes.
Until the end, even the sound of reporting was gone.
In the sweltering silence, sweat fell to the ground.
Until a hoarse voice sounded from the communication, with a squeaking noise and the sound of electricity.
"Hello? Sound check, sound check, can you hear me?"
The hoarse voice coughed and reported: "I have arrived at the end of the track. The position is fixed. Everything is normal. Please reply when I receive it. Repeat. Please reply when I receive it."
"You can hear me, Your Highness."
Newton had no time to be ecstatic and grabbed the communicator: "Your voice is loud and clear! Report the altitude, Your Highness, please report the altitude!"
"Height...height...let me see..."
After a rumbling sound, a hoarse voice read out the degree on the altimeter: "Nine hundred and forty kilometers, everyone, I am now at an altitude of nine hundred and forty kilometers, the clouds are under my feet, and the earth is round... We succeeded, everyone, we succeeded! We successfully fixed a giant Concordat at an altitude of 940 kilometers! - We have reached the sky!"
The silence was torn and wild cheers erupted.
At the Royal Academy, everyone fell into madness, ecstatic, dancing, throwing materials in their hands towards the ceiling, hugging each other, screaming, and tears streaming down their faces.
Witness this miracle.
Newton was not so rude, he just smiled, lowered his head and rubbed the tip of his red nose, and extended his palm to the burly man beside him: "Thank you for your help, dean, and thank you for the technology and cooperation of the Chainsaw Monks! Without you With help, artificial stars did not succeed so quickly."
"This is the talent of you and His Highness. What we do is just provide some information and technology from the old era."
The old burly priest shook hands with Newton and said solemnly: "Then, according to the agreement, we will use this as a witness. The Chainsaw monks will form an alliance with Angelo. I hope we can create a real future for mankind."
Newton laughed:
"That's how it should be."
…
…
Nine hundred and forty kilometers above the ground.
The sky is dark, there is no air, and even the restraint of gravity has become insignificant.
The steel star hangs high in the universe, slowly rotating with the earth, anchoring itself in the Angel's sky, resonating with the etheric network above the earth, and shedding the glow of dragon power.
Above the stars, the young man's white hair floated like water waves.
In the silence, he lowered his head and stared at everything.
The earth, the sky, this world.
gorgeous.