Chapter 965: Chapter 964: The Ancient God Cataclysm and the Voyagers

The Voyagers are not native to this planet; they are merely passing travelers — in those distant, faded memories of the Dragon God, which even the gods find somewhat obscure, this planet’s ancient times were a world more aligned with Gawain’s "fantastical imaginations," a world devoid of orbital megastructures, satellite clusters, or space stations.

A world of swords and magic, kingdoms, and dragons.

"...At that time, the Loren Continent was a little closer to the North Pole than it is now — the entire civilized world was slightly colder than it is in this era. The Dragonkin were the first to inhabit and thrive in Talronde, establishing their own kingdoms, while several other intelligent beings lived on the Loren Continent and two other lands — initially scattered into nearly a hundred tribes and small countries, they eventually formed a few larger confederations or empires, and for a long time, the dragons of Talronde coexisted with other races of the world..."

"The two other lands you mentioned?" Gawain couldn’t help but interrupt the Dragon God’s narrative, "Are they the lands now situated on the east and west of the Loren Continent?"

"Yes," the Dragon God nodded, "The mortals of the Loren Continent are now unaware of their existence, but in the ancient language of the Dragonkin, they are known as ’Kaldor’ and ’More’ — the Kaldor located to the west of the Loren Continent is the ancient homeland of the silver elves... but that was tens of thousands of years ago."

Gawain’s heart pounded — each piece of ancient knowledge casually mentioned by the Dragon God was a tremendous gain for him!

"The elves indeed migrated from another continent across the western sea to Loren?!" he couldn’t help but ask, "Then do you know why the primordial elves migrated to the Loren Continent back then?"

"I’m sorry... even the Dragonkin cannot continuously monitor the entire world, especially after the Inversion Tide formed new restraints, further limiting the scope and exploratory capacity of the Dragonkin, and my vision is confined by the vision of the Dragonkin — I’m not even clear about things far away from Talronde," the Dragon God shook her head, but then added, "However, within the extreme limits permitted by rules, Talronde occasionally sends ’Farwalkers’ for rapid distant exploration. Approximately four centuries after the elves migrated to the Loren Continent, one Farwalker squad briefly flew near Kaldor — based on their cursory observation, Kaldor had already turned into a wasteland."

"Turned into a wasteland?" Gawain’s tone was filled with astonishment, "The elves’ homeland has become a wasteland?"

"Yes, an unmistakable wasteland, with scorched earth, plants extinct, and massive charred city ruins everywhere along the coast, seemingly abandoned for centuries," the Dragon God said, "The elves didn’t migrate due to exploratory actions or limited living space — their homeland was destroyed by some calamity."

Gawain’s curiosity fully aroused, he couldn’t wait to ask: "...What about the ancient land known as ’Kaldor’ now? Has it recovered? Are there inhabitants?"

The Dragon God slowly shook her head.

"According to the last observation in Kaldor’s direction by Talronde two centuries ago, it remains shrouded in deadly toxic substances and radioactive contamination... the wasteland shows no signs of recovery, although the Farwalkers did not penetrate the continent’s interior, it’s unlikely there would be any survivors in such an environment."

"...Alright," Gawain sighed regretfully, silently memorizing the name Kaldor and the "More" ancient land he had just heard about, then returned to the previous topic, "Shall we continue the topic about the Voyagers?"

The Dragon God showed not the slightest impatience, not angered in the least by Gawain’s repeated questioning and introduction of new topics; she merely nodded and continued recounting those ancient times —

"...Back then, the Voyagers had not yet arrived, and the races living in this world were merely existing in confusion — even the Dragonkin were but a member of the bewildered Mortal Races. My memory about that era isn’t clear since everything occurred before my ’fusion,’ but one thing I remember distinctly...

"In that civilization, wars were frequent, and even divine warfare was not uncommon."

Gawain’s brow instinctively furrowed.

"Why?" he instinctively asked.

The Dragon God instead asked a question: "Reasons? In the mortal world, when has the continuation of wars ever needed a reason?"

Gawain momentarily did not know how to respond.

"Mortals are always eager for conflict; their history cycles chaotically between prolonged war and brief local peace — this is the answer I have come to after observing this world for 1,870,000 years. Back then, the various nations on this planet were entangled in such unending conflicts, unable to form an absolutely powerful Empire, nor establish a relatively stable balance, and even the Dragonkin of Talronde, several times, became involved in continental and intercontinental wars, either proactively or passively...

"In the memory I inherited before the ’fusion,’ I still remember the scenes from that time... massive airships crossing continents, the pioneering knights fighting on the plains, nations allying and breaking alliances, figures hailed as heroes rising and quickly falling into obscurity, and such prolonged disputes encompassing almost all intelligent beings worldwide eventually influenced the ’collective mindset,’ which nearly destroyed that civilization cycle."

The Dragon God paused briefly, and Gawain immediately reacted: "The gods of that era... were also warlike?"

"Yes, the continuous years of warfare gave rise to a large number of civilians living from birth to death in a state of war, and such civilians would regard war as part of their worldview. Once this population reached a critical mass, the trend in their thoughts began to change — the deities became belligerent... no, worse than belligerent; the gods of that era became bloodthirsty, turning into manifestations of some insane slaughter, terrifying and dark."

When the Dragon God reached this point, she slightly shook her head, and within her calm demeanor, there seemed to be a hint of lingering fear. Initially, Gawain thought he was mistaken, but he quickly understood why she was so concerned about this.

1.87 million years ago, the Dragonkin also believed in their own gods.

If the shift in ideology at that time affected the entire world, then the gods worshipped by the Dragonkin were obviously not spared. The Dragon God mentioned moments ago that Talronde had proactively or passively been drawn into global warfare several times back then. It is clear that the gods of the Dragonkin were among those that became bloodthirsty and terrifying, although the Dragon God does not seem to have lost control or become twisted. However, as a deity born from the fusion of many gods, it must have been affected, retaining many bad memories at the very least.

Gawain did not rush the other party. After a few seconds, the Dragon God continued: "When mortals realized something was wrong, it seemed too late. Malicious divine revelations and ’Spiritual Enlightenment’ directly affecting the minds of mortals descended across the world, pushing the entire world into an age of darkness and madness almost overnight. All wars spiraled out of control, warfare lost its moral boundaries, and the gods incited fervent church armies to slaughter defenseless civilians. Uncontrolled priests performed bloody rituals to please their gods... The Wanderers from the Outer Realm, that was the true divine catastrophe.

"Unlike the ’Mad Gods’ you know, which go insane upon crossing their critical points, the gods of that era completed a bloody transformation while fully conscious. They did not lose control, but instead, were influenced by the paradigm shift in the mortal world, which legally placed the power of slaughter in their hands. These conscious and bloodthirsty gods were more terrifying than the Mad Gods."

"Was Talronde affected at that time too? What were the Dragonkin doing?" Gawain finally couldn’t help but ask.

"Faced with global ideological change, no one can escape unscathed unless they completely isolate their race from the start, refraining from participating in international affairs and preventing their people from knowing about any external changes," the Dragon God said earnestly. "Talronde was affected too—the dragons were involved in warfare more than once. When the gods worshipped by other races descended into darkness and brutality, that bloodthirsty impulse spread to Talronde like a plague, infiltrating the faith system of the Dragonkin, affecting the gods of Talronde.

"However, Talronde’s situation was much better than other places. After all, it was located in the Arctic region, and only dragons of great innate power could survive in the then less hospitable environment of Talronde. The geographical isolation prevented the chaos from other parts of the world from quickly spreading there, granting the wise among the Dragonkin the time to contemplate and respond.

"Upon realizing that the entire world was in turmoil, the dragons began formulating countermeasures, and thanks to the Dragonkin’s then high level of civilization and understanding of the world, scholars successfully identified the root of the problem. By analyzing worldwide anomalies, they even deduced some rules regarding the gods—for instance, they realized that it was the mortal ideological shift influencing the decrees of the gods.

"Thus, the Talronde Senate at that time made a decision, a ’self-rescue decision’ whose fortune remains uncertain..."

Gawain felt his feelings surge with the Dragon God’s narrative, and as soon as the other paused, he couldn’t help but ask, "What decision?"

"Seal off Talronde, cease concern for worldly affairs, and then—reinforce the purity and stability of the Dragonkin’s ’Orthodox Belief System’."

At the mention of those words, an ominous feeling crept into Gawain’s mind.

The Dragon God continued: "At that time, no dragon realized the connective chains between the gods and mortals, nor did anyone think that the gods might entirely oppose civilization in some sense. Even as global situations worsened due to the bloodthirsty gods, the Dragonkin first thought of ’repairing’ their belief system rather than abandoning the traditions and faith sustained for millennia. Thus, they formulated a massive and orderly plan to enhance their faith, centering on making community members once again devoutly believe in the traditional gods in the ’correct’ manner, returning the gods to their rightful place.

"Many temples were repaired or renovated, ancient texts were revised and supplemented, community members reclaimed waning old disciplines, and Talronde sealed all external passages as if the outside world had disappeared. The Dragonkin became entirely immersed in the ’collective practice’ of reconstructing and restoring their spiritual world, which lasted for many years."

"Completely finished," Gawain couldn’t help holding his forehead with a long sigh. "I think I now understand why the Dragonkin have been left behind..."

The Dragon God nodded: "Indeed, it now seems that this faith reconstruction plan had terrible consequences later on, but at the time, no one knew this, and back then... this faith reconstruction plan was effective.

"The gods of the Dragonkin, which had begun to mutate, did stabilize quickly. The mental deterioration of community members and the negative spiritual enlightenment phenomenon were rapidly curbed, and Talronde soon became a safe haven; these were visible changes.

"Meanwhile, beyond Talronde, the world was plunged into a purgatory, the entire planet steeped in a cycle of slaughter and sacrifice; war with no boundaries and bloodthirsty battlegrounds were everywhere..."

"... No one can predict fate in advance, and even past histories often seem beyond comprehension to future generations," Gawain shook his head. "So what happened next?"

"Then... the Voyagers appeared," the Dragon God said solemnly. "They came from the depths of the universe and altered the fate of the entire world."

He paused for a moment before picking up the cup from the table, taking a small sip before continuing.

"The Voyagers... they are a civilization shrouded in mystery. They call themselves mortals but seem entirely unaffected by the ’divine chains.’ They do not believe in any gods in this world, and no gods in this world can sway the mind of even their most ordinary member. I don’t know if they managed to break free from these chains or inherently possessed some kind of special attribute.

"The Voyagers broke free of their home planet’s restraints many eons ago, becoming a civilization freely traveling through the universe. They migrate and explore between star systems, seemingly intent on traveling the entire universe or searching for something within it. On their journeys, they are often attracted to planets inhabited by intelligent beings, where they make short stops and avidly help these planetary inhabitants break their chains with the gods."

"Dearly helping the locals break their chains with the gods?" Gawain was taken aback. "What’s this hobby..."

"Regrettably, no one knows why the Voyagers do this... It seems they have a compulsion to perform such deeds since the day they set sail," the Dragon God recalled, "According to their own account, our planet wasn’t on their original navigational map. However, the intense ’entropy background pulse’ that erupted suddenly from this planet caught their attention, which is why they came here."

From what happened thereafter, even if the Dragon God did not elaborate, Gawain could piece it together completely.

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