Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high! Chapter 1090 - 740: The Lost History
Previously on Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!...
Within the chasm lay a profound, shadowed corridor, intricately laced with energy conduits and arcane sigils.
"Enter!" Bai E plunged in first.
Astra, casting a backward glance at the closing pursuers and their barrage, clenched his jaw and guided his mecha forward.
Once they were inside, the fissure began to seal itself, momentarily obstructing the external artillery and those in pursuit.
The passage beyond was hushed, the only sounds being the subtle hum of the mecha's engines and the infrequent, faint pulses coursing through the energy lines.
They proceeded cautiously into the depths of the passage.
As they journeyed, more dormant defense systems and constructs were observed, yet due to passing some form of 'verification,' these installations remained inactive.
It was unclear how long their advance had lasted when the passage abruptly widened.
They had reached a colossal, vacant chamber.
The chamber's ceiling soared to an unfathomable height, its walls adorned with reliefs so intricate they depicted the genesis and demise of stars, alongside the ebb and flow of civilizations.
At the heart of the hall, suspended in the air, was an elaborate three-dimensional construct. Fashioned from countless dark gold energy runes, it resembled a miniature cosmos or perhaps a central control nexus.
Directly below this marvel sat a figure, seated silently upon a throne of the same pale, unadorned yet majestic metal.
Its form was ethereal, akin to a projection coalesced from spiritual energy, data streams, and a detached will.
It manifested as an indistinct humanoid shape, adorned in archaic vestments and crowned with a tri-pointed diadem, gripping a scepter.
Its facial features remained obscured, save for two points where icy blue flames burned, suggesting an awareness that transcended space and time.
As Bai E and Astra's mechas entered the chamber, the figure on the throne slowly... raised its head.
An incomprehensible will, as boundless as the cosmos and as ancient as eternity, yet intensely cold, permeated the hall like an unseen tide, pressing down upon their very souls.
A voice, serene and devoid of emotion, yet resonating directly within their minds, slowly spoke:
"Outsiders... you have at last reached my presence."
The entity on the throne, its twin blue flames flickering, calmly observed the two mechas within the hall.
A colossal, ancient, and chilling will surged like a silent ocean, neither hostile nor welcoming, but rather in a state of profound assessment.
Following a moment of stillness, Astra was the first to end the silence.
He had never conceived that such an ancient being, far exceeding present human comprehension, resided within these ruins.
Nonetheless, the present demanded confrontation.
He inhaled deeply, endeavoring to address the situation with the poise befitting the royal protocols of the Golden Federation.
Operating the 'Destiny Arbiter' mecha, he inclined it slightly forward, executing a simplified gesture of deference.
"Ancient entity..." Astra's voice, amplified by the mecha's comms, conveyed both reverence and uncertainty.
"We are explorers from the current epoch's Golden Federation; I am Astra. Beside me is Bai E of the New Bauhinia Republic. We intend no disrespect to your repose, but our civilization faces a dire predicament, and we seek knowledge and strength from this place that may aid us."
The figure upon the throne, its blue flames intensifying slightly, seemed to 'regard' Astra.
That voice, echoing directly in their souls, spoke once more, still dispassionate but tinged with an ineffable subtext.
Perhaps it was the weariness of eons, or maybe a trace of icy mockery.
"Golden Federation... New Bauhinia..." It repeated these names slowly, its enunciation ancient and resonant, "Have new civilizations arisen? How much time has elapsed since the cataclysm that brought all to an end?"
"Cataclysm?" Astra seized upon the word instantly.
"We refer to it as the 'Golden Fall' or perhaps the 'Twilight of the Gods.'"
The voice of the ancient will remained placid, commencing a retelling of a history lost to the ages. "In an epoch so remote it beggars your imagination, a civilization flourished in the material cosmos, reaching unparalleled splendors—we knew them as the 'Creators,' and in your lore, they may be known as the 'Golden Humans.' They were not a singular species but a confederation of many intelligent races, flourishing when both spiritual power and technological prowess attained unimaginable peaks. They reshaped solar systems, sculpted worlds, and could even subtly manipulate cosmic laws, standing as the undisputed sovereigns of the material universe."
Its gaze seemed to penetrate the veils of time and space, returning to that long-vanished era.
Within existence, there were beings born intrinsically to the material universe, ancient and foundational—the divines of the material world. These were not the 'gods from higher dimensions' born from the collective thoughts of intelligent lifeforms as you know, but rather embodiments of specific laws or ideas. 'Creators' and these primal divine beings weren't in a superior-inferior relationship; they were more akin to... peers, or perhaps... 'partners' who upheld the cosmic equilibrium. "But that balance shattered after a conflict," the ancient will conveyed, its tone experiencing the first subtle ripple, a frigid agony imprinted into the very core of being.