================================
Chapter 370: Era of Gods
================================
“When you wake up, the era of Gods would have already begun.”
Are we in a novel? Because this is just too much and too impossible to comprehend.
—the era where everyone is entitled to be [Gods] of their own universes? How’s that going to even work for everybody? Wouldn’t everyone just live inside their own worlds and be their own kings?
……be their own [Gods]?
It was an utterly ridiculous notion. If that happens, then what would happen to the real world?
What would happen to his plans?
Weak but awake, he still verbally resisted.
“I refuse to be defeated like this. I will achieve my goal and I will never lose to you… never... you will never control me!”
Goldwyn stretched a hand, speaking, “My most cherished wish…..”
“…?!” AG wanted to resist but he was still weak.
The outstretched hand reached his face and then caressed it like a father does to a young kid. It was a very fatherly act to his son.
“…is that you are capable of doing so.”
It was a twisted kind of love.
AG felt warm but hated it.
He tried to resist but he was really weak.
“Nooooo!! This is not over yet…!!! Grgh! Let go of me you bastards! Let me—arrrgghhh…”
“Yes. My son, sleep now and skip this generation. The world you are planning to create, I’ve already created it. That city is but an outer shell… I am not your enemy. The real battle will start as soon as you wake up.”
“Goldwyn!!! GOLDWYYYYYN!!!”
For some reason, although he hated the man, he could feel that this is the last time he would be seeing him.
He hates him but at the same time, he also loved him so much. AG is an orphan and Goldwyn was the only parent he had ever known.
When was the last time Goldwyn sent him back to sleep? Decades ago! How old was AG? But even though this action between the two of them was awkward because of their ages, between just the two of them, there was nothing else to hide.
The other is always going to be a father and the latter was always going to be a son.
In the end, AG resisted not because of his hate but because of love.
He wanted to stop the man, whatever he is trying to do after this. He felt that the words he spoke of back then in Geneva were all planned.
Goldwyn deliberately made him hear their talk of a Project Salvation back then.
AG could feel it in his bones, this might actually be the last time he was going to see Goldwyn.
He wanted to stop him. He wanted to say a few more words… but…….
It was already too late.
“Sssshhh… good night, son.”
In the end, no, from start to finish, that creepy look of doting and fatherly love never left the face of the man named Goldwyn.
Just thinking how twisted this scene was, nothing could be said about the two of them aside from an awkward sigh.
The lid closes and AG closed his eyes as the gas that brought an effect entered his body. After just a few minutes more, the cryo-elements began its work and Augustus Laniary was forcefully put to a deep sleep.
“It is done.” Goldwyn heaved a sigh.
A man approaches from behind him and bowed to whisper a report, “Sir, the chopper is waiting.”
“Yes. I’ll be right there.”
The man in lab coat was AG’s Tech Assistant back in Fort Magsaysay, the one with the big round rim glasses. He heard the last sounds of the cryotube hissing with a lock and sighed.
“Sir, I have located the Artifact.”
“Good work. Bring it to me as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir.”
Right after he spoke, Goldwyn ‘disintegrated’ into tiny fragments of silvery specks of metallic sand that ‘went’ back into a disc lying on the floor.
The three bodyguards picked up the disc and arranged for the corpses of AG’s body guards to be disposed off accordingly.
As they went out of the villa, there was a chopper with its blades rotating steadily.
On the background was a familiar city in Zealand.
It was a quiet and isolated executive place that is more than 200M in real-estate prices. And so it was also expected that the commotion attracted no witnesses or observers.
The chopper departed and the villa was left alone.
It would be years —decades— more before the person sealed inside the villa is freed from his long cold sleep.
*****
Back in Goldwyn City…
The Head of the Goldwyn Family, the self-named “Goldwyn” himself sits on his medi-chair and the tubes and wires still attached on his back blinked with lights as if they were sending actual electrical signals directly to his body.
He opened his eyes, smiled, stretched his hand, and picked up a glass of wine to sip the contents until he was satisfied.
“It must proceed smoothly.” His words sounded like a command.
Was he trying to convince someone?
There was no one in the room and he only spoke to himself as he watched the events on the large projected monitor on the wall.
In it was a scene of an ancient city… with crowds and crowds of people flocking its streets.
It was a city straight out of a fantasy story.
Looking at it would give you the impression that it wasn’t a city in the real world but a city in some fantasy world —with Elves, Dwarves, Beastmen, and a lot more fantastical creatures living a normal life like any other.
There were creatures found in the children books as well like gnomes and the playful little pixies that when taking their adult forms would have varying levels of beauty ranging from continent-destroyer up to world-shaker —all of them females.
Yet it was only a very tiny fraction of that world in the projection in the wall.
Goldwyn sips his wine and leaned his back to get a relaxing posture.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He heaved another breathe, “It’s too soon.” He sips again and murmured, “It’s two years too early from the projected plans in the blueprint. Sigh, he really did a work on us… that Janus…”
He sipped another batch of wine and smiled at the sweet taste of it. He leaned back on the chair with a sigh, and the wires and crystal-clear tubes smoothly followed his movements.
There was nothing he could do. He was nothing more than the story teller and AG was threatening to ruin their —his— plans.
“You will understand when you wake up.” these were his last words as he went back to slee—observe the world inside.
*****
Terroa is a part of the game and the game needs the operators to make it work. The operators rely on the subscription fees of the players to earn the operational expenses, giving them purpose to continue making it work.
But if the players became bored or furious since they can’t enjoy the game anymore because the things that make it enjoyable were gone, then the subscription fees will not come.
—if that happens, the operators would get no juice to let the game continue running.
—if that happens, they might pull the plug.
—if that happens, the world that’s keeping Baron alive will vanish… and the Genesis Chamber will go down the drain as well… killing his parents as well and depriving him of any hope of reuniting his family.
—if that happens, everything he’d done so far would have all been in vain.
—if he let that happen, what is there to live for?
As everything comes into perspective to Siva, he finally realized —no— he finally knew what Janus was talking about.
……a message that Gabriel delivered to him…
It was a request.
—to give this world a chance!
“The truth… the truth……..” he staggered back a step but because Cortana was also controlling the BMA, it only looked like a miniscule inch of him ‘hovering’ backwards. She didn’t let Siva fall into another one of his emotional stupor.
“Rex?”
“I-I’m okay… I’m alright.” he looked at the Elf and Siva asked him, “Tell me, have you always known that this world has a definite ending?”
[Oh, so have you discovered it? Janus said that it will take a lot of time before you finally realize the importance of your existence. As far as I’m aware of, Terra wouldn’t have let this world burn in your hands back then without leaving anything. I know her and I know that she had left you something to cherish… a reason to save this world.]
—Gaia, as one of the first sentient beings of this world should be aware of it.
–—aware of the truth of the Immortals…!!
If that’s the case... then why did the Gods and the Immortals fought each other back then?
The answer was simple and he already knew why.
——because Lucifer became aware and when he had failed, for some reason, Mefisto was aware of it as well….. that by being one of the Trinity Gods will give any Immortal a chance to get outside this sealed universe!
Scion felt confused with the Elf’s words that seem to imply something else.
“…this world…”
Although what he came to realize was not really what he first thought it was. The revelation he had pieced together is still grave news, not only to him but to all the people in this world, most especially to Baron and his parents.
“…….this world is bound to end soon. No. It was scheduled to end, no matter what. And these [Memory Crystals] were meant to preserve the memories of the worlds hat existed inside this universe and give it a chance to be birthed in another universe once again.”
“Rex… does this meant that the use of this thing, this [Memory Crystal], is like… like a seed?” It was Scion who rephrased it and the Humans who had heard Siva’s indistinct mutterings all felt the large importance of the words Siva spoke of earlier.
—about the certain uses of this [Memory Crystal].
But then again, only a few ‘certain’ individuals are able to utilize this item. And so, without Teacher’s [Instructions], the Humans wouldn’t have been able to use this artifact in the first place.
With that said, does that mean that all these years that the Humans have kept their vow to follow the Teacher’s [Instructions], they are nothing more than factory workers, spreading the products that the Teacher wanted The Alliance to distribute?
Thus, does that mean that they never owned the artifact in the first place?
Hojer was shocked and fear spread on his face as his thoughts run on something.
“I won’t accept it!” he yelled. “My research is yet to finish! I won’t hand this crystal to anyone else!”
Siva felt angered, “And who told you it’s your own to even have a say on who’s hand it’s going to land, huh?!”
“It’s ours!” Hojer kept a high-toned voice. “It was entrusted to us by the Teacher and until the right person appeared, we were told to continue our production of the objects that he wanted made!”
Siva was enraged, “Well now, open your eyes and see for yourself…… the person you’ve all been waiting for is here.”
With that, Siva turned to Scion and said, “Take the crystal. It is part of Terra’s Legacy.”
“Eh?” she felt her mind going blank. She wasn’t unfamiliar with Terra. But to hear that it was part of her legacy, this truly shocked Scion.
“Stop it!” Maki yelled and Hojer squirmed as if to force his old bones to resist the [Bind] spell.
[Ara…ara….. isn’t this a sight to behold?]
“Whoever wants to die, I can help you.” Siva was really angry right now. Who told these Humans to be conceited so as to think they have the right to own what belongs to his mother?
Janus merely made them borrow it and yet these Humans think they already own the thing.
With a rise of his palm, space fluctuated and a few sharp strands of hand-sized blades —the big parts of the BMA that wasn’t suited to be part of his Black Knight Armor that numbered a total of 99 triangular dark blue blades— floated around him and made eleven nonagonal shields that look like guardian ghosts as they floated quietly.
The scary apart about these shields were the fact that the parts that made them were clearly visible, meaning, these eleven shields were nothing more than its mask and the real threat is the fact that it was actually made up of 99 floating blades.
“Black Ironwood Alloy?” Maki made a surprised exclaim as he stared off those shields. “So the resources you needed are for your own personal usage, and not for your country?”
“Wrong. They are indeed for the defense of my own country.”
Siva lifted his hand and the shields moved.
They closed in on Maki, Hojer, Higginson, and to the few closest members of the lab team.
Since there are not enough shields, two shields broke off and rounded up the rest of them. It was a forceful stance, it was a hostage situation. He looked at Higginson and declared.
“I haven’t forgotten our oaths and you should not forget yours as well. I never knew the existence of this [Memory Crystal] in the first place but I am telling you now: possessing this crystal will bring disaster to the human race. If you have this, and once the Demons learned of its location, then you can be assured that the Demons will never stop until they get this off your hands. Destroying your entire race will just be a side job to them prior to acquiring the Memory Crystal.”
Higginson, albeit afraid, listened to what he said unlike Maki who roared angrily, skeptical of the contents of his words.
Even Hojer became a listener, “Do you mean that this thing attracts those wretched demons?”
“Yes.” Siva asserted, “And I assure you now, what you’ve so far of the demons is nothing more than but the tip of the tip of the iceberg.”
They haven’t seen the full force of the LAGRAM Armada?! Then what about that war, 56 years ago where the entire planet was swarmed from all sides and the skies were blotted by darkness for months without the people ever seeing the light of day and the demons kept on coming forwards to kill them?
Is that still the tip of the tip of the iceberg?
Perhaps reading his mind, Siva snorted, “You are still unaware of the true terror of the LAGRAM Alliance... what you’ve seen so far are nothing but the surface of what makes up their masks. How, or why do you think they swarm the universe and conquer every planet, plunder, burn all and every world they come across to? It’s because of this! It is because of the [Memory Crystal]… this is one of the biggest reasons why they exist!”
Of course, Siva couldn’t tell them that another big reason why they’re attacking Terroa is because it has the legacies left behind by Janus and Terra.
Mefisto wants them all for himself... or at least just Janus’s legacy.
“I can’t let you attract the demons in this planet. I still haven’t found my brother. And we have a deal and an oath to keep. This Artifact is safer with us than in any place in this planet. If you’d still insist that I let this Artifact wait for the day it is stolen in your vault and jeopardize the safety of this planet, then I will destroy this facility and forcibly take this away from you. Otherwise, we all walk away with our lives and our pockets full of resources.”
Siva was yet to receive the promised resources while the Humans have already started to process the resources he had given them.
The amount of Dragon Blood, Scales, flesh, and the three bone spikes he had given them were all enough to actually enhance an entire country’s army into a level of myth.
While he, aside from this tour, has yet to get the promised resources and results of the search he had commissioned on them, how they’re going to compensate him after this mess is now his main concern.
“When this Elf came into existence, it had also released that information to our enemies. What do you think will happen after that?”
The Humans became confused as well as Scion and most especially the High Elf in question, Gaia.
[What are you talking about?]
[What Boss meant is that when Janus died, it was Mefisto who killed him. He absorbed his Essence and became aware of a few of his arrangements for the sake of this world. There is reason to be afraid since it was Janus himself who arranged it so that you’d be called as soon as Terra’s Legacy closed in to the Artifact. It’s lucky if Mefisto wasn’t aware of it but if he is……]
It didn’t matter if Cortana finishes her words, even Maki —considering what Siva said about the war 56 years ago managed to wring his circuits— is able to determine what the ‘worst case scenario’ will be if Mefisto….. the one who led that war 56 years ago… actually became aware of the location of this facility. The High Elf pale in fright as soon as she heard those words.
She was once part of Janus and so she is aware that there is indeed the possibility of Mefisto, the Devil, to know of Janus’ plans for Terroa if he had absorbed his essence.
Devils corrupt…
They absorb…
It was better to expect the worst than to plan out after losing the high ground.
“We have to extract this [Memory Crystal] out of this location as soon as possible.” Siva said as he urged Scion, “Please, Mandy, secure my mother’s treasure.”
“I-I-I understand.” Scion steeled herself as Gaia gave way and watch her.
Scion walked over the barrier, passing through it like it was only air. Until she was 5m away from it, she extended a hand and the crystal emitted one beat of Mana fluctuation and at the next instant…
CHUB!!!
The [Memory Crystal] disappeared.
“Where’d it go?!” the Humans were all shocked at the sight of their precious Artifact disappearing in front of them.
Maki screamed and Hojer lost all his ‘fascinated’ façade of expressions as it seemed that Siva had just stolen all of their survival from their lives.
“What have you done?!” Maki cried, “What right do you have to deprive us of our purpose?!”
.
.
================================
While the shadows prepare for the coming…
The Gods gathers power inside their game!!!
================================
.
.
.
.
.
Next Chapter: Maki explodes with power.
.