Wasteland Echoer

"Age 1001: Light and darkness must exist in the world at the same time, just like water and fire, opposing each other and complementing each other. Light covers sin, and darkness breeds holiness. Light and darkness pursue each other and will eventually meet in the territory of life, death, fire and ice. When the two disappear together in the world, the Creator will awaken, and the universe and the world will disappear with a bang." - "Dark Book".

Cruz Federation, Extreme Cold Special Zone, Old Extreme Cold Zone, East of the Winternos River, "Red Fantasy Ruins" disappearance point.

Dak and Wolfya, who fell from a high place into the "Red Fantasy Ruins", patted the dust on their bodies, looked at the entrance that was re-sealed by the strange stone bricks emitting a faint blue glow, and realized that they had made the right choice.

After leaving the settlement in the "Bersluna" area, Dak and Wolfya heard that the Federal Committee had launched a battle near the "Wind Wall", and they drove the mechanical chariot to the outskirts of the most intense fighting area.

With the information left by the "Lord of Eternal Red" and the "Echoer" transmitted by the "Old Radio", Dak and Wolfya finally found the shortcut leading directly to the "Red Fantasy Ruins".

Enduring the pain from the fall, Dak and Wolfya stood up and took out the "Eternal Light" flashlight they carried with them. Relying on this weak and dim light, they could barely see the surrounding situation.

This seemed to be a world, but it was not a normal world. The surrounding environment was indeed full of materials that humans were very familiar with, but they were randomly arranged and combined in an extremely strange way.

Looking down, Dak found that the hanging lights that should have been hung on the walls in the underground palace, tunnels and other areas were now embedded in the masonry floor, spewing flames into the ground, completely losing their original lighting function.

Continuing to move forward, Dak found that the walls, roads, and domes disappeared one after another, and only countless star-like light spots appeared in and out of his sight. In front of him was only a floating bridge composed of a mechanical heart emitting a deep green glow.

Stepping into it, Dak felt that he was already in a dimension space that we didn't know about, but it really existed, as if it was directly created by the Creator, outside the universe and the material realm. There was no room for humans to retreat, because the world behind them was being slowly swallowed by the endless void at a steady speed.

Until he and Wolfya arrived at the other side of the Green Floating Bridge, a huge door over 30 meters high instantly occupied their entire field of vision.

Looking up, Dak felt that this huge door seemed to have experienced a blasphemous curse, filled with a breath that seemed to be surging from the endless abyss.

This door seemed to be made of metal and rock interwoven, pieced together, and fused together in a weird but very fitting state.

"Another...Karlov's Gate?" Dak asked in a hoarse voice in this space intertwined with darkness and chaos, looking up at this huge thing that seemed to flash out from the fog of the bottomless abyss.

"Maybe it's the Karlov Gate, the gate that connects reality to the mysterious, dark realm of the dragon race, or maybe not. I remember that Ivan XXII worshipped the Karlov Gate very much. In fact, according to the documents of the old empire declassified by the Federal Committee, the Karlov Gate may not have originally led to the windmill and wheat field that the dragon race yearned for." Wolfya looked up at the giant dragon sculpture in the center of the giant gate that looked up at the direction of the universe and analyzed.

"Is it a realm related to the Creator?" Dak murmured, inadvertently reaching out to touch the giant gate, feeling the icy texture brought by the condensation of the water source magic power on it.

"That's right." Wolfya nodded:

"According to the document "Decryption of the Karlov Gate", the great prophet Aidari Sage once relied on the "Looking Back" ability of the [Prophet] to trace back distant stories. He found that before the dragon clan colluded with the Lord of Darkness, the destination of the Karlov Gate should be the "Temple where the Creator sleeps."

"It is rumored that the Creator may not have a physical body. His body exists in the "Supreme God Realm" of a higher dimension in a similar way to an energy body. But in order to communicate with the world He created, when He is with nightmares, He will project His body on the three-dimensional world, leaving countless clones that can communicate. "

"So, since the Creator has countless clones, if we can easily communicate with them, what is the meaning of the "Temple" that exists in the depths of the universe? "Dak frowned and asked in confusion.

"A symbol, just like the Karlov Gate, Ivan XXII used it as a medium to the final realm of mysticism, and used it as the boundary between Cruz's Steam Age and Classical Age. The appearance of the Karlov Gate symbolizes the beginning of the exhaustion of the magic source power, and steam gradually dominates the entire world. All mysteries will eventually fade away and become commonplace and knowable things. "Wolfya explained.

"If the 'Temple' is there, the believers of God and those who pursue the ultimate truth of mysticism will have the ultimate goal, right? People in the Steam Age and the Wasteland Age want to know the secrets of the Creator and the true logic of the existence of this world. Therefore, even if they have a mental breakdown and become crazy, they have to touch those things that cannot be seen directly, right? "Dak said, taking out the "Tear of Bizuni" picked up from the "Kushen Ruins" from his neck, and continued to analyze:

"This giant door here also hints to us that the world behind the door is the 'Red Fantasy Ruins', full of mystery and death. There may be things that cannot be seen directly inside that are similar to the old days. It seems that as long as If you dare to open the door and peek inside, you will immediately fall into madness.

"However, the 'old radio' told me that 'the thorny land opposite the gap behind the Gorgon contains the echoes of fire and red light'. You and I both understand what it refers to. Push away Through this door, we can find the Controller's Fire of Heaven's Punishment, and we can see the Evil God Echoer who made an agreement with me... I promised him... I will find him."

As soon as Dark finished speaking, the "Bizuni Tears" in his hand began to emit a dazzling holy white light. After a few seconds, the "Bizuni Tears" merged into the palm of Wright's right hand and became a scarlet with semi-autonomous consciousness. eyes.

"This is the most primitive form of this sequential monster. I will use its first ability to try to control unconscious dead objects." Wright said, silently reciting the Chinese language used for spirit formation, and stretched out his palms. He came out and aimed at the central area of ​​the giant door with his terrifying eyeballs that made people feel trembling and frightened.

"I know that it can completely control, enslave and control a single intelligent individual, but we may not know that those stones, dead wood, running water, and steel actually have their own intelligence and life."

"This is a ridiculous argument, Dark. If this is what the Patriarchs of St. Ivan's Cathedral tell you, I will smash their idols. If this is the 'Tears of Bizuni' instilled in you "You must promise me to destroy it after leaving here," Wovya said in a serious tone that could not be ignored.

As if he felt the angry aura emanating from Wulfya's body, a pure black "glow" flashed in Dark's gray eyes.

Immediately afterwards, his body trembled slightly, his foot slipped, and his right hand hit the center of the sunflower that symbolized Crusted.

Suddenly, a light blue ball of light appeared in the air, and dreamy, beautiful, gorgeous, and pure snowflakes kept popping out. The entire surface of the giant door was soon covered with a layer of fuzzy white ice crystals, which looked very similar. Scratched mirror.

Soon, Dak felt as if his body had been turned inside out, roaring at the top of his lungs under the extreme tearing and pain.

He found that his brain tissue had replaced his original hair, and his skull had become a protective scalp. His entire brain was exposed to the outside, while the inside was filled with worthless hair.

A severe pain swept through his mind and soul, as if someone took a pair of bamboo chopsticks specially made by the Fire Empire, opened his Tianling Cap, and kept stirring his brain, trying to taste the ultimate delicacy in the world.

After about five or six seconds, Dak "saw" that his bones had turned into skin, and his muscle tissue was completely exposed. The original skin disappeared, and the bright red internal organs hung on the bones, swaying, Swinging and drooping, it seemed that it might fall to the ground at any time.

"World...world...[Order]...[Order]...[Chaos]...[Chaos]..." In a trance, Dak heard an extremely old voice, using the word "Cruise" that he was particularly familiar with. German, chanting these three simple words with difficulty.

Until the broken voice pulled him back from his brief confusion, and his mind and soul returned to reality along with his normal body.

"The door is broken, Dark. 'Bizuni's Tears' is indeed the key to the 'Red Fantasy Ruins'." Wulfya looked at the messy rocks and rusty metal and said excitedly:

"The manuscripts that Ivanov left to our Krusted descendants record his habit, that is, whenever he participates in the design and research of projects, he will definitely leave a trail to reach the core area or destroy it. Their shortcuts.

"Now, the huge door is broken, which just proves that this 'Wind Wall', the guardian 'New Snake Girl' here, and even the 'Artificial Fire of Punishment' are indeed the work of Ivanov. If we say, Ivan XXII is the sinner of the Wasteland Era, then Ivanov is the executioner of our tragic fate.

"However, we should not complain about the past now, but look forward. Every minute we delay now, the possibility of 'Mastering the Fire of Punishment' exploding increases. Once this door is opened, even if we officially enter "Red Fantasy Ruins", the truth behind all the fog will soon fade away from the veil called "darkness".

"Yes, Wulfya." Dark said, looking at the blue and red chaotic area formed after the giant door shattered:

"However, I smell a force that does not belong to our continent. This force grows and spreads according to the law called 'darkness', and follows completely different rules from nature. It will bring about things beyond the limits of human cognition. The evil and cruelty...I smelled...the damp, rotten, fishy smell of the seabed, which was...the smell of 'ancient' power."