Chapitre 50: Dirge 【Volume One: Story Complete】
In the early morning, the sun pierced through the clouds, casting a long-awaited warmth upon the pinnacle of the clock tower, where a golden-haired youth sat motionless at the edge of the rooftop.
Ezreal's handsome face bore a complex expression, intertwined with pain and regret.
The once radiant and cheerful boy now gazed blankly at the enormous pit before him, resembling a marionette that had been irreparably broken.
Tianxin City—erased from existence.
Throughout history, many illustrious emperors and legendary generals have boasted, in jest or in anger, of wiping a city from the map.
Yet, ultimately, their actions resulted in little more than the slaughter of the majority of its populace and the displacement of survivors to distant lands, leading the city into gradual decay and obscurity.
However, Tianxin City was annihilated—not merely a metaphorical expression or a lighthearted jest among friends, but truly, unequivocally, obliterated from this world.
From above, one could see that the streets, alleys, taverns, official residences, homes, inns, and train stations that once defined this city had vanished completely.
All the splendor and clamor that once filled the city had now dissipated into nothingness.
In its place lay a vast and gaping chasm…
A true super pit, so immense that traversing it on foot would require a full day of uninterrupted walking.
It seemed as if a colossal meteor from the heavens had crashed here, obliterating all traces of the city.
Not even a fragment of crumbled brick could be found; amidst the desolate mountains surrounding the site, it felt as though a city had never existed at all.
Only a few broad avenues, akin to veins of blood, connected the distant mountains to this place, yet these roads were severed by the central pit.
Where a city should have stood, linking these thoroughfares, now only a single, precariously leaning "pillar of earth" remained—the clock tower.
This structure, once the heart of a great magical array during the catastrophe, was the sole remnant barely clinging to existence.
However, the walls of this already ancient edifice bore the scars of tremendous energy, ravaged by fierce winds, leaving them in a state of disrepair.
Standing in the morning light, the clock tower appeared to sway precariously.
Before Ezreal's eyes lay a scene reminiscent of the aftermath of an apocalypse, a haunting desolation where all life had been extinguished.
The golden-haired youth fell into silence, rendered speechless.
He had remained voiceless for hours, as if destined to remain in this state of silence forever.
In the background, a gentle melody began to rise…
In the stars, snow fell,
Treading the footprints of memory, seeking
The tranquility of yesteryears.
The dreams that take flight, eternal blessings in prayer,
Under the morning sun,
Wield your wings of rebirth,
Close your eyes, and soar away from this earthly path.
Once upon a time, everything returned to its end,
Alone, standing in an infinite expanse,
Looking back,
What remains in that radiance
Is the tranquility you long for…
Amidst the soft and elegant song, the blue-haired songstress stepped into the warm morning sunlight, softly humming a melody akin to celestial music.
Standing at the edge of the rooftop, the woman named Freya slowly extended her arms, as if to embrace the sorrowful earth.
In the morning light, the golden-haired youth leaned silently against the crumbling ruins, his gaze hollow and devoid of strength.
Beside him, the beautiful blue-haired songstress gently opened her arms, allowing the soft sunlight to grace her alluring silhouette with a delicate golden hue—like a goddess of beauty, embodying the goodness of the world.
As the last notes of the "Dirge" faded, Freya did not disturb the boy's silence.
She merely lifted her head, gazing at the sun in the azure sky, which offered no warmth to the world below, her clear eyes filled with gentle compassion.
In the distance, a billowing cloud of dust surged along the road leading to the imperial capital, Maple Leaf Snow.
Countless well-equipped knights rode forth, their military ranks orderly and imposing, the several hundred-strong contingent exuding a terrifying presence as if facing a million-strong army.
Leading them was a golden-haired girl clad in sleek silver armor, charging forth like a flood breaking through a dam.
The road was pristine.
The thick snow that blanketed it yesterday had been swept away by the fierce winds of immense energy, exposing the slightly damp, hardened earth beneath.
Soon, everyone realized that the road ahead was blocked, arriving at the edge of the massive pit. All the knights halted in unison, reining in their steeds.
Yet, even as members of the most elite legion of the Empire, having witnessed countless brutal battles on various fronts, when confronted with this expansive pit, they could not help but gasp in shock.
It was a terror that transcended the mundane, a dread that pierced through the cosmos, carrying with it the most profound despair that swept through their hearts.
Like a frail mortal witnessing a giant shatter the sun with a single blow, they felt as if the gates of hell loomed before them—a fear that inevitably arose when lesser beings confronted the overwhelming calamity wrought by superior powers.
"This level of destructive force, coupled with the terrifying fluctuations sensed by Lady Sona last night... Surely, a saintly power has intervened?"
Beside the girl named Lux, her aide gazed apprehensively at the pit, murmuring, "To annihilate hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in one fell swoop—how cruel of a saint."
Lux remained silent, striving to maintain her composure as she observed the unfolding scene.
Just last night, far away, the saintly guardian of the Empire, Lady Sona, had sensed the eruption of saintly power in the southern provinces.
Due to the proximity of the Winter Embrace Forest, the Empire's high command initially suspected that a beast was evolving into a holy domain, hastily notifying Lux, who was on a mission in the southern provinces, to investigate the situation.
For if a beast were indeed evolving in the Winter Embrace Forest, it would spell disaster for the Empire.
Yet, unexpectedly, what awaited them was not the terrifying spectacle of a holy domain beast, but this scene of utter despair—Tianxin City, utterly erased from the continent!
"Who... could have done this?" gazing at the scene before her, feeling the uncontrollable fear of her soldiers, Lux found herself at a loss. "Why unleash such devastation upon so many innocent lives?"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone