Chapter 245

"Stop!"

"Fall back! Hurry, fall back!"

A colossal shadow swallowed them inch by inch. Only then did the guards atop the Southern District's walls react. Shoving one another aside, they fled in panic, scrambling toward the stairways.

Watching from high above, Sela threw back her head and laughed.

More than a hundred black dragons surrounded the gleaming white skeletal remains as they plunged toward the city walls like an immense warship descending from the heavens!

Ye Zheng had told her, Lu Qi, and the others to watch over them, to conceal their existence.

But why should they hide?

Why should they continue concealing themselves?

If the people refused to accept them...

Then let those people die!

As the charge accelerated to its limit, her body seemed to lose all weight, as though her heart itself had become light enough to float. The only sound filling her ears was her own wild, unrestrained laughter. Her crimson eyes, usually clouded with gloom, now blazed with pure exhilaration, widening further and further with ecstatic delight.

Then, through the blur of rain rushing past her vision, Sela spotted a lone figure standing before the city gate.

The smile stretching across her face widened even further.

But the instant she recognized who it was, that smile abruptly collapsed into a scowl.

This rain was truly a nuisance.

She'd thought Ye Zheng would be waiting for her.

Instead, it was that cockroach of a man who simply refused to die!

Pei Xi stood before the city walls with his sword in hand.

Behind the walls, frantic footsteps and desperate shouts echoed without end, only hardening his resolve to stop Sela at any cost.

The longsword blazing with golden radiance seemed to have become the last remaining light between heaven and earth.

The recording devices mounted upon the city walls faithfully projected the scene across the entire empire. Some cried out the warrior's name. Far more simply held their breath, waiting for the decisive moment to arrive.

The rain hammered down like war drums.

Dragons unleashed earth-shaking roars.

Before the overwhelming black tide bearing down upon him, Pei Xi's hand had already fused completely with the golden sword. Closing his eyes in perfect concentration, he gathered every last ounce of strength within him and brought the blade crashing downward in a strike powerful enough to shake the world itself.

Invisible waves of force overturned the earth, tearing open a bottomless chasm. An unstoppable gale of sword energy split the heavens as it slashed toward the sky-obscuring black behemoth.

The onrushing black behemoth unleashed a furious roar so deafening it nearly stole Pei Xi's hearing. Before he could make sense of what was unfolding before him, the violent shockwave hurled him through the air and slammed him into the city gate.

Agonizing pain shot through his back. Darkness swallowed his vision. Bracing himself with both hands, Pei Xi forced himself back to his feet.

Then he realized something. The city wall was still standing. Had he actually stopped Sela?

Beyond the gate, dust billowed across the battlefield. The yellow haze blanketing the sky concealed everything from view.

Only after a long while, as the dust slowly settled, did Pei Xi finally make out the scene before him. His blue eyes quivered, widening in stunned disbelief.

An unimaginably enormous skull blocked the city gate. Half of it had sunk into the earth, yet it still stood as tall as the city wall itself. Behind it stretched an unbroken line of gleaming white vertebrae, climbing higher and higher into the distance, as though it had lost control in midair before crashing violently into the ground.

Pei Xi slowly stepped out from beneath the city wall. His gaze swept across the battlefield. Sela was nowhere to be found. The giant dragons that had carried the skeleton had already flown away.

Even the rain had softened into a gentle drizzle, flowing like a veil of white gauze that a single stroke of the sword could cut apart.

He'd actually done it. With the Divine Sword, he'd successfully stopped Sela!

Pei Xi drew ragged breaths as a smile welled up from the depths of his heart. He didn't know where Sela and the others had gone, but protecting the city wall while leaving the remains behind was a devastating blow to her. He could feel that Sela's power depended heavily upon those remains.

He walked toward the massive white skeleton. Glancing back, he discovered that every projection machine on the ground had been smashed to pieces. That wasn't surprising. Even the ancient, solid city wall was still trembling, constantly shedding dust and broken fragments of stone.

Yet when he looked upward, he saw that machines still remained mounted atop the city wall, faithfully continuing to broadcast everything to the people of the empire.

The exhilaration of victory dulled Pei Xi's unease. He bent down to retrieve the Divine Sword, which had been knocked from his grasp during the clash. Then his eyes narrowed. His gaze locked onto the fractured earth.

Beneath the colossal white remains yawned a massive fissure, perhaps carved open by the Divine Sword, or perhaps widened by the catastrophic impact moments earlier. The earth resembled a mortally wounded warrior, its scars split so deeply they seemed to expose naked bone.

Within that fissure, he saw white bones that had never belonged to the earth.

Pei Xi slowly lifted his head. Somehow, without him even noticing, the rain had stopped. Gentle sunlight filtered through the hollow skeleton overhead and spilled across the ground, yet he felt no warmth. Instead, a chill seeped into him, colder than the terror he'd felt while facing the swarm of giant dragons head-on. It burrowed into his bones until his entire body trembled.

He turned around. His eyes settled upon the brand-new machines still mounted on the city wall. In that instant, Pei Xi understood exactly what Ye Zheng intended to do, and the horrifying suspicion buried deep within his heart was finally confirmed.

“No… impossible!”

The yellow dust and smoke slowly dispersed. Far away, within the Imperial Palace a thousand miles away, the few people witnessing the scene stood frozen like statues. Those quick enough to grasp the horrifying truth had already pieced it together, yet seeing the Emperor rise to his feet in a fury, they wisely remained silent.

“Someone! Pass down my order—shut down every projection across the entire nation!”

The attendants present froze for a brief moment, unable to respond. Only after the Emperor roared the command a second time did Heath, standing behind him, snap back to her senses and hurry out of the banquet hall.

He settled back into his seat and greeted his guests with a composed smile, as though that brief lapse in composure had never happened. Even so, the looks the others cast his way carried an unmistakable trace of fear. They had clearly reached the same conclusion.

If those black monsters had reminded them of the Demonic Dragon from five hundred years ago, then that colossal skeleton that had appeared out of nowhere... even through the blurred projection, it radiated a soul-crushing pressure that shook the heart.

There were also those suspicious white bones lying beneath the Southern District's city walls...

【Good day, everyone.】

【I am the Papess of the Empire, the Saintess of the people, the Agent of God, Ye Zheng.】

The Emperor, who'd only just resumed his seat, shot to his feet once again. He drew the sword at his waist and swept his gaze across the room in guarded vigilance, startling the elderly Bishop Colonna so badly that he let out a cry and toppled from his chair.

“Ye Zheng? Ye Zheng!"

【Today I'm forced to seize this opportunity to expose the vile lies of the Aston Imperial Family and reveal the sorrowful truth to everyone.】

“Where is she? Where is she!”

Confronted by the Emperor's drawn sword, the attendants instantly fell into a panic and dropped to their knees. At last, someone answered in a trembling voice, “The Papess... the Papess is in the Papal Palace.”

The man with those blazing golden eyes swept his gaze across the room, only to find everyone staring back at him in horror, as though they hadn't heard any mysterious voice at all. They were looking at him like he was a lunatic gripped by auditory hallucinations!

Impossible. Ye Zheng's words had clearly not been directed at him. She had to be somewhere else, bewitching his subjects. Through some unfathomable trick, she was even using it to provoke him!

Vincent Aston was on the verge of losing his mind with fury. His words dissolved into incoherent outbursts. One moment he was shouting, “Ye Zheng is lying,” the next, “Seize Ye Zheng,” then, “Stop Ye Zheng.” Yet not a single person present dared step forward. They could only stare at him in stunned silence, their eyes drifting from time to time toward the projection.

Before every projection was forcibly shut down, they watched a company of austere white-robed knights encircle that terrifying white skeleton. It was the Order of Sacred Conduct, the force the Papess had stationed in the Lower District long ago.

At that sight, those the Emperor had invited to witness the Papess's downfall fell into silence. Even if they couldn't completely piece together everything that had happened, instincts sharpened by years navigating the battlefield of power told them one undeniable truth.

This wasn't the Papess's end. It was far more likely the end of the Aston Imperial Family.

Inside a small cottage beside the grasslands of the Western District, a young girl sat silently beside a radio, her eyes vacant and unfocused.

【As you can see, before the city walls of the Southern District in the Lower District now lies a white skeleton. Giant dragons bearing an uncanny resemblance to the Demonic Dragon brought it here... delivering it atop another set of remains.】

【The white bones buried deep beneath the earth are long and slender. Those are wing bones.】

The young woman's calm, measured voice echoed through every street and alley. The massive projections in the public squares had already disappeared. Instead, ordinary radios carried her words through crackling speakers. Yet people's hearts tightened even more painfully than they had when they witnessed the swarm of giant dragons descending to attack. The plaza, packed with thousands of people, had fallen so utterly silent that the only sound left was the steady rise and fall of countless breaths.

Some had already sensed what was coming. Their fists slowly tightened, and their eyes gradually reddened.

【They are the remains of the Demonic Dragon.】

【In other words, true dragon bones.】

In the Eastern District of the Lower District, Wen Xin sat alone in her study, recording Ye Zheng’s speech. Slowly, she removed her glasses. Her gaze remained fixed on empty space. So this was the truth... How could the people of the Upper District toy with them so cruelly?

Her hand trembled. The glasses slipped from her fingers and shattered against the floor.

At the sharp clatter, Lu Qi hurriedly turned around, only to find the water bucket overturned across the floor. Her mother rushed over in a daze and pressed her ear tightly against the radio. The cheeks that years of relentless labor had left sagging quivered uncontrollably.

【Even before I became Papess, I'd already begun investigating in secret. The skull of the Demonic Dragon was buried in the Eastern District of the Lower District. The spine of the Demonic Dragon was buried in the Western District of the Lower District.】

【Just now, I also learned that the wings of the Demonic Dragon were buried in the Southern District.】

Inside the deathly silent banquet hall, the Emperor clutched his head and roared, “Lies!” With a furious sweep of his arm, he sent every plate and utensil on the dining table crashing to the floor. Priceless vessels exploded into fragments.

Five hundred years ago, he had personally overseen the burial of every dragon bone. The dragon bones beneath the Southern District had never been buried there. Ye Zheng was fabricating evidence. She was deceiving his subjects!

【The Upper District has no dragon bones buried beneath it. It has enjoyed five hundred years of peace. Meanwhile, the Lower District and the Middle District, forced to live atop dragon bones day after day, have endured the threat of Aberrant Realms year after year...】

【The Astons deceived us. The power of the dragon bones draws the Aberrant Realms to them!】

The young woman's voice rang out in stern condemnation. 【The Aston Imperial Family used us. They forced us to shoulder the threat of the Aberrant Realms while they sat high upon their throne, enjoying the resources those Realms brought them!】

【…This is the truth behind the dragon bones. We've been deceived for centuries.】

As the words ended with a helpless, grief-stricken sigh, someone finally broke down. Tears streamed freely down their face. In a plaza within the Middle District, a well-dressed middle-aged man cast all dignity aside, collapsed onto the street, and sat there in utter despair.

He had worked himself to the bone, desperate to claw his way into the Upper District. He had always been grateful that the great figures of the Upper District had graciously allowed him to live a stable life. Grateful that they'd been willing to bestow a tiny fragment of dragon bone upon the Middle District so it wouldn't descend into the same misery as the Lower District.

He had written countless articles fiercely denouncing Wu Shu, condemning her for betraying the expectations of her hometown and the goodwill of the Imperial Family. More than once, he'd wished he could take her place and retrieve the dragon bones himself...

Yet the truth was... from the very beginning, the Imperial Family had placed the dragon bones in every other district to protect themselves, deliberately drawing the Aberrant Realms toward everyone else!

As they watched ignorant commoners scramble to curry favor with the Imperial Family and the powerful elites of the Upper District, desperately coveting dragon bones that had belonged to them all along, those people must've thought they looked utterly pathetic, hadn't they?

The overwhelming majority of Upper District citizens, having only now learned the truth, fell into complete silence.

Elsewhere, the air filled with weeping, laughter, and furious curses. People listening to the radio poured out of their homes and flooded into the streets. Some ground coins bearing the Imperial Family's crest beneath their heels. Others smashed anything connected to the Imperial Family the moment it caught their eye.

Inside an Ability Academy in the Lower District, students stared at their teachers in stunned disbelief. Only moments ago, they'd sworn to win the next Ability Tournament championship so they could earn dragon bones.

“No! What the Papess said isn't necessarily the truth! Demonic Dragons, dragon bones... none of us have even seen them with our own eyes!”

A young girl shot to her feet and shouted at the entire class, “A relative of mine serves as a guard in the Upper District. He told me he was assigned to watch over the dragon bones. Those dragon bones were pitch-black, the kind of color only something demonic could have...”

“Sit down. Stop embarrassing yourself!”

Her desk-mate shoved her back into her seat and hissed through gritted teeth, “That's Ye Zheng. The Saintess. The Papess. God's Chosen... Everything our generation has today is because she fought for it...”

The young girl said nothing more. It was only through the encouragement of Ye Zheng and her Order of Knights that her parents had finally made up their minds to send her to the Ability Academy.

Just as the entire empire descended into a vortex of chaos, Ye Zheng’s voice rang out once again.

【I, in my capacity as Papess, promise that the Church will recover every dragon bone. Once reclaimed, those dragon bones will be placed under the protection of the Order of Sacred Conduct, and all residents living nearby will be safely evacuated.】

Those who had been consumed by despair slowly lifted their heads. Their hands rose instinctively to their ears, as though reaching toward the warmth of a campfire on a freezing night.

【Furthermore, in the name of Ye Zheng, I promise every one of you this. I will drive back every Aberrant Realm. No one will have to live in fear or anxiety any longer. Together, we'll bring this dark age to its end!】

Her clear, resolute voice echoed through every street and alley across the empire. Little by little, people abandoned their reckless destruction. Anger and confusion still lingered on their faces, yet a glimmer of light and hope gradually returned to their eyes. Before they even realized it, those eyes had filled with burning tears.

For the first time in five hundred years, someone had made a promise to this land. A promise to bring this endless calamity to an end.

No one had ever dared to make such a vow. How could anyone possess such unwavering resolve and indomitable determination?

Standing beneath the walls of the Southern District, Wu Shu casually tossed the white bone in her hand. Only moments earlier, she'd used that very piece of bone to lure those people into charging in that direction, nearly getting herself burned to ashes in the pincer assault from both sides.

Ye Zheng's voice echoed in her ears. Only this time, it wasn't a private command meant for her alone. She was speaking openly to the entire nation.

What a masterful move. The Emperor's vision had extended no further than exploiting fear to inflame hatred. Ye Zheng had taken that very fear he created and, at the instant people's hearts were at their most vulnerable, hurled the explosive truth before them. Then, just as their emotions and confidence had sunk to their absolute lowest, she personally offered them a hope powerful enough to stir their very souls.

No one could refuse a hand so warm, so resolute.

Ye Zheng's voice continued to drift softly through her ears. After making her promises, her tone gradually gentled until it was as soothing as a lullaby.

【From the second volume of the Divine Revelation: ‘I shall remain undefeated for eternity amid darkness and despair; I shall burn away the old days and embrace the newborn.’ Let these words strengthen and encourage us all.】

【Please believe... God loves the people of this world.】

【…And I, love you all.】

As the final words faded, the radio fell silent.

Countless people remained standing before their radios, unwilling to leave. Their eyes glistened with tears, yet their hearts grew steadier than ever before, as though an unbreakable strength had been poured into them anew.

In less than ten minutes, the towering edifice that had long stood within people's hearts had come crashing down, only for another to rise in its place from the very ruins.

Leaning against the city wall, Wu Shu suddenly covered her mouth. Her shoulders quivered faintly, the same posture she always took whenever she tried to suppress her laughter. Yet this time, tears streamed down without warning, soaking the back of her hand.

How strange. Why was she crying? Even when she'd seen her father viciously denounce her in the newspapers, not a single tear had fallen.