After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 35.2

Philip agreed, because apart from this, they had no other choice. Were they supposed to just sit and wait for death? Impossible, they had to resist to the end.

At this moment, an intelligence department advisor looked at Eilinson and spoke with difficulty. “Should we inform all the citizens about the situation?”

The air stagnated again.

If asked whether to inform or not inform, which was better, nine out of ten of them would think it was the latter.

Informing would inevitably cause panic, and they no longer had the power to maintain order throughout the country. The consequences would be nationwide chaos that they could neither predict nor control.

Not informing, perhaps their citizens could face annihilation in peaceful sleep.

What would you choose?

But suddenly, General Ronald said. “Citizens have the right to know their fate.”

The air froze again.

A few seconds later, someone verbally objected, “Citizens also have the right not to know their fate. Such a cruel fate, if it can’t be changed, knowing about it would only bring suffering.”

Ronald turned to look at the speaker.

That person’s eyes were red, and with a trembling voice said, “I don’t want my children to know.”

Just this morning before leaving home, he had told his children – “What? You feel the atmosphere in the city is strange? Don’t worry, Dad will definitely handle it. The crisis will be over soon, you can rest easy.”

How could he tell his children now that it was hopeless, that only death awaited them?

Eilinson looked at that person, her eyes wavering. She bit her lip and said, “Then we won’t announce it. I’ll bear all the responsibility. It’s me who deprived the citizens of their right to know their fate.”

Everyone looked at her, hearing her determination.

Eilinson… a young super-grade magician. Given a hundred years, she would certainly have achieved great things. Yet because of what the previous generation’s king had done, she would die young in the Aust Empire.

Eilinson saw the regret in their eyes but still said firmly. “The empire might not necessarily fall. Think about when the Divine Kingdom of Light attacked – didn’t we luckily survive? As long as we successfully get through this crisis, it will be fine. Believe in the gods protecting the Aust Empire…”

She paused mid-sentence, changed her tone, her expression becoming stern. She looked around at everyone again and said solemnly, “Believe in our own strength.”

The look in everyone’s eyes gradually changed, and then the atmosphere of the entire military conference room changed.

“Ms. Eilinson is right,” Philip nodded and continued.

“Let’s not even talk about the otherworld god’s true form. In breaking through subspace, he will inevitably release many subspace monsters that have been eyeing us. We need to strengthen our defensive magic and be on high alert. We’ll deal with what we can deal with, and for the rest that we can’t handle, we’ll do our best!”

“Yes!”

They all left, rushing to their respective posts.

The Aust Empire had never faced such frequent threats of national destruction at any point in its history, yet this generation had encountered it.

They were being tested in despair, forced to elevate themselves. Because they had little left to rely on.

Watching the commotion in the imperial city from afar, Luo Jie’s lips curved up, revealing a satisfied smile.

People always need to establish confidence first.

With confidence, strength can follow, right?

In fact, you’ve done more than enough. It’s just that foundation is not something that can be built up overnight.

So… what needs to be brought still needs to be brought.

Luo Jie looked up, watching the sky getting lower and lower, gradually showing strange patterns.

Many magicians had observed that a massive energy structure had appeared in the clouds directly above the Aust Empire.

That was the power of a god, a divine law constructed by divine power.

Its scale, reflecting its immense strength, could cover the imperial city and even beyond. Destroying a human country would be the simplest thing.

Oror and others had also seen this scene.

However, they had no choice but to wait.

Within the Aust Empire, almost all the people from the Continental Human Alliance had withdrawn. Those foreigners who were even slightly well-informed had left before today.

Most of those remaining were roles like intelligence officers and recorders, whose task was to document this destruction. For thousands of years, they had always walked at the end of different countries’ histories.

Today, it was just the Aust Empire’s turn.

A young girl who was hanging clothes outside was almost blown over by the strong wind. She cursed and looked up, then froze.

In her more than ten years of life, she had never seen such an ominous sky. It seemed like a giant beast could appear at any moment.

She hesitated, then suddenly someone called her from below. Her expression changed, and she thought, who cares, if the sky falls, the tall ones will prop it up. The imperial military will surely find a way.

“Mom, I’m coming!”

Her voice was drowned out by a huge thunder from the sky.

She turned to look and found the sky full of lightning trees, something she had never seen before!

But the next second, the person below urged. “Why aren’t you coming down yet?”

She paused, then put aside her thoughts, turned and pattered down the stairs, “Coming, coming!”

In the vast imperial city, similar situations were happening in various homes.

They were the ordinary people that the imperial military was striving to protect.

Boom! Another wave of lightning and thunder.

Then, near the imperial city, seven giant pillars descended from the sky onto the ground.

Those with knowledge immediately recognized them as divine pillars used by the otherworld god for anchoring.

He was really coming!

The Aust Empire side raised their vigilance, extremely tense.

Meanwhile, Luo Jie’s gaze was solemn. The last time he had fought with a god was over 3000 years ago. This young body wasn’t at its peak yet, at most exerting 30% of his power. Could it match an otherworld god?

Luo Jie’s gaze changed, then he suddenly smiled, thinking it had to work even if it couldn’t. He adjusted his skill state and once again made himself invisible.

At the same time. 4:30 PM in the Aust Empire.

Above the Magicians’ Association, black clouds loomed, with almost no wind.

Xiu Si was still searching for the source of the baby’s cry, but as he searched, he could only think of one place.

That was – beneath the cemetery.

This possibility was a bit frightening, especially since Xiu Si was somewhat afraid of ghosts.

He wasn’t very scared of otherworldly monsters ravaging and destroying everything, just treating them as animals. But ghosts were different, they were collections of unresolved resentment, hatred, and other emotions.

And they were once human, which was what scared him the most.

Xiu Si was in the corridor, facing the cemetery gate, his expression somewhat hesitant. However, the crying from the other side was getting louder, as if something had happened, like being trapped in a dark place with no way to escape, only able to cry out, hoping someone would come to help.

It was as if a baby had been buried alive underground, crying out to get out.

Although it made his hair stand on end, he couldn’t just ignore it. This was Xiu Si’s nature. On impulse, he stepped into the cemetery.

The two cats followed behind him, also curiously looking ahead.

They also wanted to know what was in there, thinking it might be a limb of the otherworld god or something, but this baby’s cry, how could it be?

Then, halfway through, Xiu Si suddenly realized he hadn’t triggered any magic. He had just entered smoothly like this.

“Why is this…?”

Xiu Si looked at his own hands, trying to check if he had overlooked something.

He seemed to have some protection that shielded him from magic, so ordinary magic couldn’t detect him. That’s why he had successfully sneaked into the Hero Memorial Hall earlier.

Perhaps it was the little black bird’s buff? Xiu Si seemed to have figured out the truth.

The little black bird flew faster than him and fearlessly landed on a tombstone.

Xiu Si’s heart tightened, fearing something might happen to it, but nothing did. It stood there, turned its head, flapped its wings, its black eyes full of intelligence, clearly gesturing for him to come over.

Xiu Si was a bit dumbfounded, thinking his children were really all talented. Hearing the crying getting louder, he hesitated, then followed.

With each step, the crying grew louder, indicating he was likely going the right way. The baby was just ahead.

Xiu Si suppressed his fear of “ghosts” and walked to the tombstone. When he saw the name on it, he was shocked.

Because it had the name of the previous king written on it.

This was actually the king’s tomb?

But why was there a baby’s cry coming from inside the king’s tomb?

Xiu Si could hardly believe it. He stood there, looking around, and upon closer inspection, he realized this place wasn’t just a cemetery, but a sealing ground.

Connecting the limited historical information, Xiu Si deduced that the previous king had been killed by the otherworld god and was still strongly cursed after death. His body couldn’t be handled normally, so it was sealed in the Magicians’ Association.

The magic on the cemetery continuously dispelled the curse on the body, preventing it from spreading out and affecting other places.

But how could there possibly be a baby in this sealing ground?

Xiu Si was completely baffled.

The baby’s voice couldn’t be the king’s, because it was too ethereal, carrying a mysterious overtone, as if containing some kind of power. It didn’t sound human, but rather like some… divine existence.

While Xiu Si was deep in thought, the little black bird did something, triggering a mechanism. The ground suddenly shook, and the floor tiles parted, revealing a gloomy underground passage.

Xiu Si was startled. He turned his head, worried someone might suddenly appear behind him and catch them, but no one did. For some reason, everywhere was very empty today. He turned back, and the troublemaking little black bird proudly puffed out its chest, as if saying, “Father, didn’t I do well!”

Xiu Si was at a loss for words. Normally, he should tell his child not to mess around in such places, but this wasn’t a situation for following rules.

He had never been one to rigidly adhere to rules; surviving in this world required flexibility.

Moreover, he trusted his child. The little black bird should understand this place.

Half a minute later, Xiu Si was walking in the underground passage. With the protection of light, he emitted a glow, so there was no worry about illumination in the passage. This revealed the magic arrays on the walls of the passage.

They were extremely complex, with rigorous structures and ingenious designs, exhausting human magic wisdom.

A god’s curse couldn’t be easily controlled. The empire must have used the highest-level sealing techniques currently available.

Xiu Si was curious and had thoughts of recording these magical runes, feeling they might be helpful to him, but he decided against it. The child was crying more and more intensely, giving him a bit of a headache, feeling like his scalp was trembling.

By the way, he tried to use magic power to protect himself and the two cats following behind, but he found it made no difference whether he used it or not. He simply wasn’t affected at all.

After his resurrection, he seemed to have gained some buffs he didn’t even know about, always taking effect when he needed them.

That was lucky. His hero’s cheat ability had finally come online after more than eight thousand years.

Xiu Si walked through the passage, following the little black bird to a spacious area below the cemetery.

Magic runes were everywhere here, with a density that made one’s scalp tingle. It was hard to imagine how long it took to write them all.

In the center of the space, as he had expected, there was a black stone coffin.

The previous king’s body was most likely inside, and the baby’s cry was coming from here. Perhaps tired from crying, the voice had finally gotten a bit smaller, hoarse, with a bit of a milky tone, occasionally choking up.

Xiu Si felt an indescribable strangeness but still walked over, followed by two equally perplexed cats.

The red cat glanced at the gray cat and thought. “See that? This former king wasn’t just ordinarily crazy. He actually kidnapped a child of the otherworld god, and it seems… even ate it.”

The gray cat nodded, “Saying ‘ate’ might not be quite accurate. A god’s body is essentially an energy body. That king probably absorbed the otherworld god’s child as energy, consuming its divine power, so naturally only its consciousness remained.”

The red cat felt very uncomfortable hearing this. “No wonder the otherworld god was enraged and frantically cursed the Aust Empire. That so-called lost treasure was actually referring to the otherworld god’s child.”

The gray cat looked worriedly at the stone coffin, “But here’s the problem, what state is it in now? It was devoured before fully growing. Is it considered dead or alive?”

The red cat narrowed its eyes, trying to see the inside and outside of the stone coffin clearly. “Its current state… seems like a very, very weak energy, or rather, only a thought remains?”

The gray cat paused, “Then wouldn’t it completely disappear if that thought is broken?”

The two cats exchanged a glance, both realizing the critical nature of this situation, but how could they revive a mere “thought”?

If there was consciousness, there might be a way, but a thought isn’t consciousness. A thought is just some moments of consciousness.

Even with Inpos’s vast knowledge and experience, he had never seen such a situation.

He couldn’t think of any method. It would probably require Agares to have a solution, assuming there was one at all.

Across from them, the little black bird landed on the stone coffin, looking left and right, seemingly facing the same confusion.

Indeed, how does one revive a single thought?

It searched through thousands of years of memories as the God of Darkness but found no method. When a god is reduced to just a single thought, even conceptual gods would prepare to welcome the next consciousness.

Moreover, the otherworld gods exist differently from them. Maybe if this consciousness disappeared, it would be gone for good. It was still an infant, certainly at an unstable stage of divinity, fragile and easy to destroy.

Damn it, of all things, why did the former king have to kidnap an otherworld god’s child!

The little black bird was so angry it kicked the stone coffin.

Then, from the corner of its eye, it saw Xiu Si suddenly approach the stone coffin, seemingly sensing something. He placed his hand on the coffin, his gaze lowered, carrying a gentle tenderness.

The little black bird was struck by this, frozen in place.

Then, it heard the young man speak softly, as if soothing an infant, “Shh, don’t cry. Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Ah…envious. I want to be comforted too!

Wait, is Father actually communicating with a mere thought?!