* Crack … *
* Crack … * Crack … *
No one could tell what kind of sound it was, but when they heard it, it seemed to be able to pierce through their bodies and rush into their souls, causing them to shiver uncontrollably in the cold and snowy night.
The desolate north wind moaned as it blew through the world. Snow danced in the wind and split the sky into pieces. Layer upon layer of snow covered the land, and from afar, it looked as if the land was covered in silver. It was a desolate place.
It was not midnight, but dusk, but the sky was as dark as night. It gave off a heavy feeling, as if something was pressing down on their chests, making it difficult for them to breathe. A huge outline could be seen on the silver land. It was a majestic city, and it looked as if a huge beast had arrived.
In the center of the city, there was a towering altar in the shape of a pagoda. It was in the shape of a heptagon and was entirely black. It pierced through the clouds, standing tall and unmoving in the violent snowstorm. The whimpering sound of the wind blowing past the altar was mixed with this kind of crackling sound. It spread into the distance, carrying a primitive roughness with a unique charm.
"Is there still hope … Is there still hope …?"
A hoarse mumble drifted out from the altar in the snowstorm. It seemed to have fused with the wind, and it became indistinguishable.
"If there is hope, then where is it? If there is no hope, then why did you let me see it?!" The voice seemed to have gone mad, and it was almost hysterical as it roared and echoed in the sky.
At the bottom of the altar were countless figures wearing woven rush raincoats. From a distance, one could see that there were hundreds of thousands of them. There were men and women, and they surrounded the altar in a dense formation. They didn't move, but they seemed to be burning with passion. It was as if a single word from the person on the altar would be enough for them to give their all.
The snow became even heavier.
"Since you let me see it, then there is definitely hope, but … where is the hope?!" The hoarse voice on the altar was filled with bitterness and sorrow, and it did not disappear even after a long time had passed.
"Today, the bright yellow returns, the three Tai reclaim the land, the snow and wind come, the Eternal Creation, I will calculate the Berserkers' Heaven once more!" The voice suddenly became louder, and no one knew what method was used. The clouds in the sky changed color, and countless snowflakes suddenly stopped falling. Then, they all rolled back, whistling from all directions, and gathered together, causing heaven and earth to tremble!
There was no more snow falling from the sky. All the snowflakes had gathered to form a huge, snow-colored dragon. As soon as the dragon was formed, it raised its head and let out a mournful roar. Everyone who heard it felt their hearts tremble as if they were going to be torn apart by it.
Waves of shocking blood seeped out from the body of the Snow Dragon, very quickly covering its entire body, causing the Snow Dragon to become a blood dragon. With a mournful roar, it struggled to charge towards the sky. Like a shooting star, it pierced through the horizon, as if it wanted to blast a hole in the sky, to open up a hope.
Its speed was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it was endless. As booming sounds reverberated in the air, it seemed as if the dragon had crashed into some invisible barrier. The world trembled, and a buzzing sound spread out in all directions. The blood dragon once again let out a shrill scream of pain, and its body started crumbling layer by layer at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At the instant it was about to completely shatter, the hundreds of thousands of silent people under the altar all formed seals with their hands, bit the tip of their tongues, and coughed out a mouthful of blood. That blood seemed to be guided by some sort of power and charged into the sky like a sea of blood. It charged towards the crumbling blood dragon, and once it fused with it, it caused the dragon's crumbling momentum to weaken, and it rushed even higher into the sky.
The blood dragon flew higher and higher, and everyone's gazes gathered on it, but at that moment, the blood dragon shuddered and let out a shrill roar that spread through tens of thousands of lis. It could no longer stop its body from crumbling, and it turned into countless blood-colored snowflakes that fell from the sky. From the distance, the world had already been dyed crimson.
At the instant the blood dragon crumbled, a voice that was completely different from the shrill roar came from its mouth!
"Death …"
"Death …" There was an old man in a purple robe sitting cross-legged at the center of the top of the altar. His face was covered in wrinkles and brown spots. As he mumbled, he opened his eyes, but there was no light in them. It was clear that he was blind.
There was a complete spine before him, and it was shining with a ghastly white light. He held a stone slip in his right hand, and it stopped on the thirteenth spine.
He looked at the sky quietly with his empty eyes, and after a long, long time, he let out a long sigh.
"Tell the King of Everlast Empire … that I've done my best …"
As he spoke, his right hand, which held the stone slip, moved once again on the strange spine. It rubbed against the beast bone, letting out cracking sounds as it spread into the distance. There was a desolate air about him, and it fused with his voice, giving off a sorrowful loneliness and desolation.
"As the Elder of the Great Everlast Empire, you cannot see the world that I see …"
"You … cannot see …"
"I hope …"