After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 71.1

“Meow meow meow!”

The little short-legged cat curled up, shrinking like deflated cotton candy, its pupils trembling as it gazed at the young man before it.

The other seemed to notice It, his gaze slowly moving towards It, jade-colored eyes containing a gentle light.

The little short-legged cat thought in confusion, timidly stating the young man’s identity.

“Se-Second Brother… meow.”

It was stunned, thinking Second Brother was in a very deep dream. Third Brother had searched for a very long time but couldn’t find Second Brother, so why had Second Brother suddenly appeared?

Without any warning, so It was scared to the point of mental confusion.

Even so, It wasn’t scared enough to leave Father. Its small paws weakly clutched the blanket.

This weak and pitiful appearance would have certainly broken Xiu Si’s heart if he were awake.

The young man was lost in thought, suddenly reaching out his hand to stroke the little short-legged cat’s face, as if about to do something.

“Meow!”

Celerios was nearly frightened to death, curling up like a ball and covering its head.

A few seconds later, the expected “head pat” didn’t come. Instead, It heard Its father’s slightly sleepy voice, filled with warm concern.

“Cele, what’s wrong?”

It raised its face dazedly, finding the young man had disappeared. Its father was looking at It, dark eyes showing a bit of bewilderment, as if not knowing what had happened. He seemed to have been woken by Its “meow” just now.

The little short-legged cat was dumbfounded, not knowing what had happened. In Its heart, It suddenly thought – was Second Brother just now an illusion?

But It scratched with Its paw and looked closely. The cotton blanket covering Its father was so real.

It could adjust its effects according to changes in room temperature, keeping the body warm and providing the ultimate sleeping effect.

Among Its siblings, only He, Second Brother, or Inpos could make such a magical item.

Just now, Second Brother had indeed appeared. However, as soon as Father woke up, He disappeared.

Celerios tried to turn His brain gears, pondering what exactly was going on.

Second Brother seemed like… Father’s dream.

Or perhaps, He had always been in Father’s dream.

So when Father woke from his dream, Second Brother disappeared.

Celerios’ brain couldn’t process it, His eyes glazed over.

Seeing this, Xiu Si couldn’t ask It further.

He had been sleeping lightly just now, waking at the slightest noise. He vaguely heard a frightened cat cry, thinking something had happened. He immediately woke up, but when he looked… it seemed like nothing was there?

“What happened?”

The little short-legged cat immediately shook Its head. A silly cat had its own way of playing dead. It lowered Its head, snuggling against Its father, and pretended to sleep on the spot, making even breathing sounds.

“…”

Xiu Si looked left and right but didn’t see any mice or spiders.

Things that would scare a kitty seemed to be just these, right?

He thought silently, and as his gaze fell, he finally noticed he was covered with a blanket.

Had Celerios covered him?

Xiu Si suddenly realized, feeling touched. He looked at the time – it was already past midnight.

Yes, he had been too tired earlier and fell asleep accidentally.

Xiu Si glanced at the desktop.

On the table lay a half-reconstructed Holy Knight’s Sword.

With his mental energy almost bottoming out now, could he continue to force himself?

Maybe he should just sleep.

But if he was going to sleep, it would be better to go back to the bedroom. Excessive training wasn’t good either; one needed to balance work and rest.

At the very least, he shouldn’t make the children worry.

He thought for a moment, then picked up the little short-legged cat and returned to the bedroom.

The little ragdoll had left in a hurry, but fortunately didn’t forget to leave a sleeping substitute ragdoll, otherwise Xiu Si would have worried to some extent.

****

The Oedipus Empire was calm on the surface, yet the imperial palace remained brightly lit throughout the night.

As the king of a nation, Levin simply couldn’t fall asleep on a day like this.

He raised his head to gaze at the meteor shower. Even the most dazzling starry sky didn’t seem beautiful to him; he only felt it harbored great danger.

A king had access to a king’s intelligence.

He knew that Norman Til had single-handedly invaded the Divine Kingdom of Destruction.

Logically speaking, the Goddess of Harmony’s rules of harmony should have applied to Norman Til as well.

Had Norman Til’s sudden attack on the Divine Kingdom of Destruction not broken the rules of harmony?

Those who questioned this certainly didn’t know that Norman Til carried the blessing and protection of the Goddess of Harmony herself.

The Goddess of Harmony was a “tolerant and magnanimous” deity. She would discern right from wrong, strong from weak. In a situation where the weak challenged the strong, Norman Til was hardly constrained by any debuffs.

Levin, with his mere twenty-some years of life, though experienced, had never witnessed such a terrifying clash between powerful beings.

He couldn’t see exactly what was happening on the scene, but the excitement and trembling he felt made his blood boil, making it impossible for him to sleep!

He believed that on this night, many taverns were staying open all night, with countless people discussing the possible outcomes.

At the same time, those wandering poets were surely closely observing the situation, seeking to know the truth and fuel their imagination.

So… how would the battle unfold?

A red glow spread across the sky, as if someone had set a great fire above the heavens, the flames spreading wildly, burning across mountains and fields.

Federi was the Evil Dragon King, later self-proclaimed as the Evil Dragon God.

Some said He had been hunted by an otherworld god and accidentally fell into the ruins of the God of Destruction, lucky to obtain the authority of the God of Destruction.

Among the various accounts, one must have hit the mark.

But what did it matter if one was correct? The most important thing was to defeat Him.

Levin was on tenterhooks. As he looked up, he suddenly noticed dozens of eyes appearing out of thin air at the edge of the starry sky.

Divine eyes like stars were also watching the battle in the Divine Kingdom of Destruction, gauging the strength and weakness of the human race.

“…I hope They won’t interfere,” Levin thought. Perhaps among the gods, some also didn’t want the God of Destruction to return.

Back then, They had joined forces to kill the God of Destruction. If the God of Destruction were to return, He would naturally destroy Them too.

Gods were all vengeful. The better Their memory, the less They could tolerate past humiliation.

The God of Destruction was an extremely arrogant deity and probably wouldn’t let Them off.

Levin was so nervous he couldn’t even drink water.

This battle lasted for about half an hour, and in the end, there was no clear winner.

Federi unleashed his power, and Norman Til chose to evade, easily escaping unscathed.

One-fifth of the Divine Kingdom of Destruction’s territory was affected by the battle, suffering significant losses.

After news of the battle came down, almost all of humanity was in an uproar.

“As expected, it had to be Norman Til. He’s gotten even stronger!”

“The mere Divine Kingdom of Destruction is nothing to fear now.”

“Hey, neighbors, don’t get carried away. We haven’t defeated the Divine Kingdom of Destruction yet. Can you be a bit more cautious?”

“I find it most incredible that he’s only ranked second among humans. Either the first-ranked is too strong, or the God of Rankings got it wrong!”

“I think it’s a mistake. Norman Til is the strongest human today, and I won’t accept any opposing opinions!”

After this battle, human morale soared.

The kings of various countries all breathed a sigh of relief.

The Hammurabi Empire was filled with laughter.

After staying up all night, everyone was both excited and exhausted.

Old General Hilton said shamefully. “I underestimated our current human champions.”

Keeping one’s head down for too long inevitably leads to feelings of inferiority. He had been worried and anxious, but Norman Til had proven with his achievements that humans were not inferior to gods.

Actually, they shouldn’t have been like this. When the heroes were still around in the past, humans had once been highly confident. However, history tends to repeat itself in cycles. After the fall of the strong and the decline of human power, they would return to that period of fear.

And every time this happened, there would always be heroes who stepped up to shoulder the burden and rebuild human confidence.

In the imperial palace, the old emperor sighed. “It’s just a pity he doesn’t want to belong to any faction.”

Hilton was slightly stunned, his eyes thoughtful for a few seconds before he spoke frankly. “Your Majesty, this is not a ‘pity’. For a hero like him, not belonging to any faction is the best.”

If time were turned back 50 or 60 years ago, he would have surely been killed for saying such words to the emperor.

Because when this emperor was young, his dream was to conquer the continent and unify humanity. For this, he recruited heroes from all over the world and launched wars wherever he could. Anyone who opposed him would be beheaded without him having to say a word. Now the tyrant had grown old and become a benevolent ruler, but some deeply rooted thoughts would accompany him until he was laid to rest.

A complex look flashed in the old emperor’s eyes, and after a long time he said, “In any case, we must first overcome the crisis before us.”

“Yes.”

Hilton nodded solemnly.

****

In the morning, around 7:30 Hammurabi time.

Norman Til appeared at the military meeting without a scratch, as if last night was just a warm-up. His expression was relaxed, his eyes calm.

People came upon hearing the news, speechless, feeling the distance between them.

He was a max-level human champion, able to confront Federi, who was at the level of a god-king, and still easily escape unharmed.

Federi didn’t even dare to chase after him.

This achievement was shocking just to think about!

The conference room was filled with high-ranking generals, everyone in high spirits, a change from the recent oppression.

Hilton hurried over, walked up to Norman Til, and asked with concern, “Your Excellency Norman Til, how was the battle last night? Were you injured?”

Norman Til nodded and replied. “A small injury, already healed. The opponent was powerful, but last night wasn’t even His full form, just an avatar. If it had been His full form, I might not have been so lucky.”

He was very humble, had reviewed the battle afterwards, showing meticulous thought and extraordinary insight.

The composure and caution of a battle-hardened warrior.

Hilton was affected by this aura and almost didn’t react.

“Not His full form?”

Eve beside him caught the most important piece of intelligence.

Hearing this, everyone, including Hilton, immediately came to their senses, their expressions serious.

Don’t just be shocked, the key is how to deal with the Divine Kingdom of Destruction!

Hilton asked: “Your Excellency Norman Til, could you please elaborate on your findings?”

Norman Til nodded and analyzed. “After yesterday’s battle, I found that it wasn’t His main body. His main body should be busy transforming somewhere else.”

“Actually…”

Hilton was stunned and exchanged glances with the other staff officers.

Eve immediately said. “In other words, the Divine Kingdom of Destruction is actually just putting up a front?”

“Something like that. We thought they had a god-king level being eyeing us covetously, but in reality, Federi’s main body is not in the Divine Kingdom of Destruction. He should be residing somewhere else.”

As he spoke, Norman Til casually opened a projection screen.

On it, flames flickered, and in the midst of the raging fire stood a thin, dog-headed humanoid figure.

The dog head observed from afar, red eyes staring at the opposite side of the screen, showing no emotion, its gaze unfathomable.

Norman Til slowly said. “The Beast God created many beast-men. Historical records mention over a hundred followers, of which twelve joined Federi, becoming the so-called Twelve Leaders. According to current intelligence, ten leaders have already died in the Oedipus Empire, killed by the Abyss Lords. Two leaders remain, one dragon-headed and one dog-headed. Among them, the dragon-head’s strength is average, at most an ordinary god level. The dog-head’s strength is unknown, with deep schemes, not easy to deal with.”

The staff officers hadn’t said anything yet, but he had already sorted everything out. His ability to gather and analyze intelligence was also extraordinary.

Norman Til put away the projection, and several ethereal figures of elves appeared around him.

They were only palm-sized, with wings on their backs, and clothes woven from flowers and grass, colorful and beautiful.

Some people saw the elf race for the first time and couldn’t help but widen their eyes.

Legend had it that Norman Til possessed the blessings of seven great Elf Kings. They thought it was made up, but never imagined… it was true!

Not only did he have the elves’ blessing, but he also carried a few elves with him.

No wonder he had just returned from the battlefield, yet there was a fragrant aroma of flowers and grass about him.

Norman Til said, “Also, the elves told me that this dog-head is at least over 8,000 years old, one of the Beast God’s earliest followers. Originally very loyal to the Beast God, he later became greedy and stole the Earth God’s divine core that the Beast God had seized. The Beast God flew into a rage and killed him on the spot, but he used some unknown means to cling to life for 6-7,000 years, only resurfacing in the last thousand years or so.”

Everyone was stunned again, thinking, truly worthy of being an all-around powerhouse, he had even found out all this. Could Norman Til perhaps resolve this human crisis single-handedly?

They… couldn’t even find the right moment to interject.

Eve nodded and looked at Norman Til, “I see. In your opinion, what should we do now?”

Norman Til looked at everyone and said directly, “The focus is on Federi. The Divine Kingdom of Destruction itself isn’t strong in combat. It’s incomplete, a patchwork of fighting power, not united, lacks cohesion, and is easily scattered. It’s manageable.”

“The key is to find Federi’s main body. He should be hidden somewhere transforming, currently digesting the power of the God of Destruction.”

“We need to stop Him. First, we need to find His location.”

Everyone strongly agreed.

But how did they know where Federi was?

The continent was so vast, and there was an even more boundless subspace. Since Federi was transforming, He must be in a very safe place.

They had just learned that Federi wasn’t in the Divine Kingdom of Destruction, how could they know where Federi might be hiding?

At this point, some staff officers couldn’t help feeling ashamed.

But Norman Til continued. “I have a few suspicious locations in mind, I’ve already sent the elves to search.”

Everyone was shocked again. What incredible initiative. He had just fought a great battle last night, and today he was already searching for the external enemy?

Norman Til was truly worthy of being a top-tier human powerhouse!

In just over ten minutes, they had refreshed their understanding of human champions.

What they couldn’t do, Norman Til could do. What they couldn’t think of, Norman Til could think of.

The gap between people was truly not small.

It was really fortunate that Norman Til stood on the side of humanity.

“However, He might not be in the places I suspect,” Norman Til said frankly. “I have ways to deal with god-king level beings, but if Federi takes that step, advancing into the ultimate…”

He suddenly paused, and everyone’s pupils trembled.

[Ultimate Existence] was too distant for humans.

There had never been a glorious feat of a single entity successfully vanquishing an Ultimate in human history.

At most, they could join forces to vanquish, barely driving the opponent away, let alone killing or destroying them.

Moreover, most Ultimate Existences were conceptual gods, and humans still lacked the ability and rational conception to eliminate concepts.

Norman Til lowered his eyes and continued. “If He becomes an Ultimate Existence, then humanity has only the path of destruction.”

The conference room fell silent.

It should be known that the God of Destruction was quite outstanding among the Ultimates. Ordinary Ultimates might still be manageable, but what concept was “destruction”? One could imagine how hopeless it would be without even thinking.

To touch destruction was to be destroyed.

Norman Til said, “Therefore, we must find Federi as soon as possible, prevent Him from devouring the power of the God of Destruction, and returning as the God of Destruction.”

Everyone’s expressions changed.

But regarding finding Federi, did they have any reliable intelligence or methods?

Several staff officers looked at each other, only seeing helplessness and resignation.

Norman Til seemed to understand this point and said, “Anyway, I will find a way to locate Federi.”