Rushing through the pitch-darkness where not even a hand is visible, Garon quickly returns to his domain. After calming some of his kin panicked by the dark invasion, he flies to the top of the ice cliff, opens the gate, passes through the corridor, and enters the fortress's main hall.
Compared to the now-darkened far north ice field, the fortress's main hall remains relatively bright due to the glowing crystals embedded in the surrounding walls. The soft glow emanates from these crystals, as if untouched by darkness, although noticeably dimmer than before.
As soon as Garon returns, the air beside him ripples slightly.
Yuna's figure emerges from the air.
"Garon, the air seems to be filled with an ominous and evil presence."
"Is it the doing of that Primordial Sun God you spoke of?"
Yuna didn't go outside, but even from within the fortress, she sensed the continuous emergence of darkness and cold when the black light seal array activated. Though the surrounding light remains bright, it's dimming at a slow yet unstoppable pace.
Not just sunlight, moonlight, and starlight, but even the light emitted by gems and crystals is gradually being devoured.
The Primordial Sun God, this barbaric god, repels all light except for His own dark light.
Under His corruptive power, Noah's Continent is visibly sinking into total darkness.
"It's Him."
Garon nods.
"I don't know what He did, but He's sealed off this primary material world."
Pausing, Garon continues in a serious tone, "Dimensional teleportation spells, spatial teleportation spells, none can be cast. We're trapped on Noah's Continent, unable to leave."
Yuna nods lightly, "I've noticed as well."
Despite speaking, there's no hint of worry on Yuna's face.
She looks at Garon, her face revealing a content smile.
"Don't be afraid."
"Just now, I sensed the presence of an elder Force Dragon, a guardian Force Dragon elder who noticed the anomaly here. Using force as a medium, it communicated across dimensions with me, telling me not to worry, as it will keep an eye on this place."
"The Force Dragon elder said the primary material world imposes certain restrictions on it, so it will only come here if I'm in danger."
Garon shows a look of surprise.
Like the river of time, the force field composed of force is omnipresent, an existence form that even the crystal walls cannot block, and the black light seal cannot isolate the transmission of force.
However, the fact that Yuna immediately received a message from a Force Dragon just as the anomaly occurred here makes Garon feel a bit envious.
Thinking about it, it's reasonable.
Legendary dragon species are scarce, and young Force Dragons are always under the watchful eye of powerful Force Dragons. The activation of the black light seal immediately drew the attention of Force Dragons to the changes in this plane.
There are many primary material worlds under the control of deities, but there are only a few offspring of Force Dragons.
Strong older Force Dragons wouldn't ignore a young Force Dragon in danger.
Garon instinctively looks around, extending his mental power to observe the surroundings.
Apart from the gradually dimming light, he discovers nothing.
"It's possible a Force Dragon is watching over Yuna right now."
Garon suddenly feels somewhat self-conscious.
When using time reversal, he can see another world and another time through the river of time. A powerful enough Force Dragon might also be watching this place through the force field.
Normally, it might not pay special attention, but given the current circumstances, it's very likely observing in secret.
With this thought, Garon straightens up, declaring nobly, "Even if the Force Dragon elder cannot teleport here, Yuna, I will protect you."
Yuna blinks, a light purple gleam in her eyes showing amusement.
"Okay, then I'll just hide behind you."
The light in the fortress's main hall continues to dim, shadows quietly spreading.
However, the atmosphere, heavy at first, relaxes somewhat.
"Yuna, what age is the Force Dragon elder who communicated with you?"
After a brief thought, Garon asks.
The primary material world not only resists deities and repels divine power, but powerful beings of divine-like power are also repelled due to their environmental and spatial effects. Thus, divine-like beings rarely live in the primary material world, mostly residing in outer planes.
However, beings of divine-like power face fewer restrictions than deities.
With enough caution, beings of divine-like power can manifest in the primary material world, exerting more potent forces than a deity's avatar.
From Yuna's words, it's evident the Force Dragon is restricted by the primary material world, indicating a level of power comparable to deities.
Likely, it's an ancient dragon or even a primordial dragon.
Legendary true dragons, unlike ordinary dragons, face no insurmountable barriers. Simply living through time ensures their growth into primordial dragons.
Moreover, the classification of true dragon ages caps at primordial dragons.
There's a significant difference even among primordial dragons.
A 1,200-year-old is a primordial dragon.
A 12,000-year-old is also a primordial dragon.
If it's a primordial Force Dragon of tens of thousands of years, even the Primordial Sun God would find it a headache.
Yuna shakes her head, "I'm not sure, but it's at least an ancient dragon elder."
Garon nods, not pressing further.
This way, even in danger, he might not need to use time reversal.
Every use of time reversal costs him, hindering his growth progress significantly.
Just as Garon relaxes slightly, he hears a whispering murmur in his ears, unclear in language but distinct in meaning, and familiar to Garon.
"He was born in the black mist, He is the creator of the black mist."
"He brings darkness, He brings light."
"He writes life, He rewrites death."
"He is the creator of all, He is the supreme Sun."
The repeated murmurs, like overlapping voices from different distances and directions, incessantly whisper in Garon's ears.
The voice carries a strong seductive power.
Garon naturally becomes curious, followed by a slight reverence. He focuses, casting several protections against evil, expelling the voice.
Garon turns to Yuna.
Yuna frowns slightly, "Garon, I heard some voices."
The Primordial Sun God has begun His corruption of this world's beings.
Garon looks around.
Unnoticed, all glowing crystals in the fortress's main hall have extinguished, plunging the area into darkness. The murmuring prayers, accompanying the darkness, involuntarily draw one in.
"Focus, do not be lured by His seduction."
Garon says, preparing to cast protection against evil on Yuna as well.
"It's okay, my force field can isolate the voice."
As she speaks, an invisible force field covers Garon, Yuna actively shielding him from the darkness's corruption.
"This voice won't have much effect on the strong."
"But for ordinary beings, it's almost irresistible."
As Garon thought.
At this moment, beings exposed to the darkness, whether intelligent beings, beasts, magical creatures, or ferocious species, suffer from the whisper's seduction, many showing signs of struggle, fleeing in the darkness, unable to escape the omnipresent, mind-invading murmurs.
With time, some beings' expressions become dull and rigid, their eyes showing black blood vessels.
The pervasive darkness silently enters these beings, surrounding them with a mist-like light, their skin splitting to reveal flesh, or growing dense eyeballs and slippery tentacles, or deformed claws and tails.
These mutated beings, emitting painful and deep roars, increase in number.
In a dense forest, a six-person human adventurer team was gathering magical plants when the sudden darkness lost them in the deep, indistinguishable woods.
Cold and dark, they light a bonfire.
The crackling wood burns, sparks fly, and the orange glow dispels the surrounding darkness.
A burly, bearded man looks into the darkness, his face showing palpable fear.
"Did you all hear that voice just now?"
He asks his companions.
"I don't know what dark demon that was, but thankfully light can dispel darkness."
"However, the wood burns much faster than usual. Is it the effect of the darkness?"
An adventurer frowns.
Adventurers accustomed to spending nights outdoors notice the fire burning differently, as if eroded and suppressed by the darkness, dimming quickly.
To avoid being engulfed by the darkness, they continuously add branches and trunks.
"We're in the forest; we don't lack fuel. Let it burn faster if it must."
A female adventurer, worried, says, "I just don't know how long this darkness will last, how vast it is"
Suddenly, a subtle rustling sound arises nearby.
The group instantly holds their breath, gripping their weapons, their faces alert, looking around.
The fire burns, its light flickering on their tense faces.
In their vision, beyond the darkness, nothing is visible.
But a feeling of being watched, scrutinized, arises, the cold from the dark invasion causing goosebumps, filling their hearts with chill.
The adventurer team moves closer together.
Simultaneously, heavy breathing sounds as a terrifying creature enveloped in black mist steps out of the darkness, its horrifying figure reflected in their shocked eyes under the firelight.
It's a manticore.
Or rather, a horrifying monster resembling a manticore.
Its flesh rots, black blood vessels squirming underneath, black mist forming tentacles flailing, resembling venomous snakes attached to its body. In the decaying flesh, eyeballs roll, casting malevolent gazes.
The mutated manticore eyes the bonfire behind the adventurers.
With a roar, countless eyes on its body show hatred, then it leaps forward.
Crack! One adventurer's face freezes in shock, feeling pain at the waist, then the world spins before finally making close contact with the leaf-strewn ground.
The mutated manticore tears one adventurer in half, its claws wrapped in black mist extending to engulf the burning bonfire.
The fire extinguishes instantly.
Darkness, like a shadow, encroaches.
Then, in the pitch-black forest, screams arise, abruptly ending, startling a few black mutated birds.
Garon casts a light dance spell.
Magic consumed, light re-emerges around him, dispelling the nearby darkness.
"Maintaining light consumes much more magic than usual."
Whoosh! Flames ignite on the ground, burning, their light illuminating the space, but like the light dance spell, the fire's glow is dimmer than normal, extinguishing at a faster rate.
Garon tries a few times, quickly understanding that whispers accompany being in darkness.
The Primordial Sun God's dark corruption isn't unsolvable.
However, in such a world, to remain unaffected, one must constantly have light to guard oneself. Whether igniting material for light or creating light with spells, neither is a long-term solution.
Garon takes out a magic gem.
The gem's luster is robust, emitting a soft glow in the darkness, though the pure magic within also slowly depletes, not without loss.
Soon, some leaders of Garon's kin seek an urgent audience with him.
Garon leaves the fortress, looking down.
Krichens casts a seventh-level spell, Domain of Radiance.
Soft light illuminates the area around the ice cliff for several kilometers, dispelling the omnipresent darkness.
Far north spirits, ogres, winter wolves, ferocious frost tigers, two bear cubs, three young dragons... Many beings cram here, the Domain of Radiance's area somewhat insufficient. Krichens grits his teeth, expending more magic, gradually expanding the domain's range to combat the darkness.
Meanwhile, on the dark-enshrouded land, some mutated beings appear.
Garon glances at them, feeling a chill in his heart.
The mutated beings, exposed to the darkness, are attracted by the Domain of Radiance, continuously arriving from all directions, attacking Garon's kin inside.
Krichens spends a lot of magic on the Domain of Radiance to resist the darkness. Fred assists Garon's kin, casting powerful sculpting spells, blasting the mutated beings to pieces.
Winter wolves roam the edges, tearing apart stronger individual mutated beings.
Two white dragon guards join the fight.
They fly low, using their breath to turn mutated beings into ice sculptures.
"How ugly."
Yuna, invisible beside Garon, comments disdainfully.
Garon's face darkens slightly, his gaze sweeping over the attacking mutated beings.
Among them, he recognizes white hunting dogs with full fangs and muscular crocodile-like dread lizards. Though grotesquely mutated, Garon recognizes these beings were once his kin.
"The white crystal mine area is probably worse off."
Garon sees his kin as his treasure, unlike other evil dragons who take pleasure in tormenting and killing their subjects.
His kin, including powerful winter wolves and dragon-blooded ogres, aren't easily corrupted by darkness. However, many weaker but uniquely skilled beings likely remain unaffected.
"Balton!"
Garon calls out sharply.
He retrieves Wrath of Winter, tossing it down the ice cliff.
Rumble... The dark giant, always in standby mode near the cliff base, almost merging with the ice cliff, slowly opens its eyes, shattering a layer of ice crystals covering its body.
Wrath of Winter traces a cold arc in the air, landing precisely in the hands of the dark frost giant.
"Winter!"
Balton roars.
Crack, crack... Armor extends from the contact point between the frost axe and palm, quickly covering Balton's body.
After being controlled by the soul cage for about two years, Balton has become Garon's complete servant, revering Garon above all and regaining most of his sanity.
"Kill all those beings, then create ice walls to protect this place."
Following Garon's command, Balton strides forward, dragging Wrath of Winter, its heavy mass trembling the ground with thunderous footsteps.
The far north ice field lacks powerful individual beings.
Due to Garon's rule, powerful beings either became his kin, were expelled, or killed for disobedience. Though numerous, the mutated beings are not very strong.
With Balton, the legendary frost giant, joining, the situation quickly stabilizes.
He rampages through the mutated beings like a tiger among sheep, cutting down swathes of them with dark strikes from Wrath of Winter, leaving only ugly, disgusting corpses.
However, Garon notices the strong vitality of the mutated beings.
Without Balton's intervention, relying on the rest of his
kin to kill them all would have required considerable effort.
Balton pursues to the edge of the Domain of Radiance, engulfed in darkness.
However, the dark frost giant's power seems to have no conflict with the surrounding darkness, appearing unaffected by the dark corruption. Garon checks the soul cage; Balton's soul shows no anomalies.
Next, Balton slams Wrath of Winter into the ground.
Countless ice elements converge, creating an unending stream of frosty air. Sharp ice crystals rapidly grow, forming a menacing, deep forest of ice crystals around the ice cliff fortress.
"Balton, go to my other territories, clear out the mutated beings around them, and then continue to create barriers."
Balton nods, responding solemnly, "As you wish, master."
No longer a completely emotionless puppet as he was initially, this legendary servant, now subtly influenced by the soul cage, follows Garon's commands more adeptly. The effect of the soul cage is profound, subtly rewriting Balton's psyche.
The dark giant runs off, gradually disappearing into the dense darkness.
By this time, the Domain of Radiance has stabilized.
Krichens and Fred fly to the fortress, paying their respects to Garon before expressing their concerns, "Lord, do you know what's happening?"
"Our teleportation spells are all ineffective; Noah's Continent seems to be sealed."
Unaware of the Primordial Sun God, they were unprepared for the sudden dark invasion.
Garon explains briefly, "A barbaric god has set its sights on Noah's Continent."
After speaking, Garon remains silent, gazing towards the south.
Krichens and Fred, filled with questions but not daring to disturb Garon further, exchange worried glances, seeing the tension on each other's faces.
The far north ice field, a remote and harsh land, experiencing such changes suggests even more danger in densely populated areas, with more mutated beings and ordinary beings struggling to survive.
Garon muses, "The Light Church is probably restless by now."
Simultaneously, a slender white figure rushes through the darkness, heading towards the fortress in slight panic.
The white dragon mother, seeing Garon standing on the ice cliff's peak, feels somewhat reassured, then quickly approaches and lands beside him.
The young dragons instinctively draw closer to the white dragon mother, who, however, ignores the restless hatchlings, turning her gaze to Garon instead.
"I was sleeping peacefully when some unsightly creatures dared to sneak into my lair and attack me."
The white dragon mother looks around, her vision filled with pervasive darkness.
"The entire far north ice field has turned dark, and there's this voice in my head babbling non-stop. I got a bit scared and came to you."
The white dragon mother looks hopefully at Garon, recognizing the seriousness of the situation and quickly seeking what she considers the safest place.
Within the Domain of Radiance, free from darkness, the whispering in her mind ceases, calming the white dragon mother's panicked expression.
Garon's face remains expressionless as he nods, saying calmly, "Then stay here for now, look after Xil and the others, and don't venture out rashly."
As he speaks, Garon's gaze shifts, opening the dimensional space.
Teleportation spells may be ineffective, but the dimensional space remains accessible.
He retrieves a trembling communication crystal, resonating with Luna's magical vibrations.
Garon channels magic into the crystal, revealing a projection of a golden-haired, fair-skinned humanoid figure in front of him.
The narrative continues, illustrating the challenges and adjustments characters face in a world now shrouded in darkness and under threat from a powerful, corrupting force. Through strategic use of their abilities and the support of allies, they strive to protect their domain and counteract the pervasive darkness that threatens all life on Noah's Continent.
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