Bab 210: Chapter 210: Our Minds as One
"Okay, I understand."
After hearing Garon's explanation, Yuna nodded seriously, indicating she would do her best to cooperate with him.
Garon then took a deep breath, drawing the waters of the River of Time into his being with his breath, rapidly transforming it into his power of time. Clearing his mind of all distractions, his gaze became focused and sharp.
Platinum dragon eyes reflected the ethereal River of Time.
As Garon willed it, the power of time within him began to move, emitting a faint glow from the rings of black scales around his neck, chest, and wrists, invisible to ordinary eyes. Like threads, the power of time radiated outward from within, swiftly merging into the surrounding River of Time following Garon's intent.
Yuna watched Garon intently.
She was not a Time Dragon, not favored by the River of Time, nor did she possess the mental strength to see the River of Time directly. However, due to the influence of power energy on the River of Time, she could faintly sense some changes in the River of Time as Garon manipulated his power.
Yuna remained still, waiting for Garon's instructions. As the lead in this experiment, Garon needed only her cooperation in releasing power energy, sparing her the need to worry too much.
Time ticked by.
Garon completely closed his eyes.
In the darkness of the closed eyes, the perception of the world revealed the River of Time, spanning the sky and earth, omnipresent, and incredibly conspicuous. Everything - matter, life, elements - seemed like droplets in the River, with all droplets coming together to form the eternal River of Time.
Garon concentrated a large amount of the power of time.
In an instant, the concentrated power of time, like an invisible rod, was inserted into the River of Time under Garon's control.
Then, with a solemn and serious expression, Garon manipulated the power of time, starting to churn the River.
The power of time, being of the same essence as the River of Time, is the force most capable of communicating with and influencing the River. Under Garon's subtle manipulation, the waters of the River in front of him began to stir from their steady flow, gradually starting to ripple.
Like raindrops hitting a lake, ripples quickly spread.
As the power of time was consumed, Garon was undeterred, even increasing the output of the power of time within him.
Thus, in a world invisible to the naked eye, dense ripples converged into a small vortex, only as thick as a human finger, centered around the power of time Garon had gathered, beginning to swirl, forming a small vortex similar to the phenomena produced by Time Reversal.
It felt natural to Garon, like a fish born to swim.
If he could use this vortex, he could traverse back in time or forward to the future when the River of Time formed such a vortex, where past, future, and present interweave.
However, with his current size, he obviously couldn't pass through such a small temporal vortex.
When using Time Reversal, the vortex formed was half the size of Garon, allowing him to inject his incarnation with the power of time into it. This finger-thick vortex was far from sufficient.
Without sparing the power of time, Garon increased its output, continuously feeding more into the River of Time.
As time passed and more power of time was invested, the finger-thick temporal vortex began to visibly spin and expand, slowly growing to the size of a fist. Although it expanded significantly, it was still not enough.
When Garon continued to feed the power of time into it, the size of the vortex ceased to change.
This was because his connection with the River of Time was not deep enough to affect its flow more profoundly. Even with all his power of time, the largest effect he could achieve was the fist-sized vortex.
At that moment, Garon opened his eyes.
He maintained the temporal vortex and quickly said, "Yuna, concentrate your power energy and compress it towards this location as much as possible."
Yuna couldn't see the River of Time.
However, the stirring waters were more noticeable than the usual steady flow, allowing her to detect the existence of the temporal vortex. With Garon's guidance, she easily found the location of the vortex.
Yuna's gaze sharpened, lifting her dragon claw.
Instantly, wave-like power emanated from the ground, the air, and even from Garon and Yuna's bodies.
This was the invisible and intangible power energy, similar to the power of time.
Under Yuna's control, power energy precisely surged towards the temporal vortex created by Garon.
The moment power energy touched the vortex, something extraordinary happened.
The temporal vortex suddenly paused, as if a pause button had been pressed, motionless. But in the next moment, it erupted, spinning at a rate far exceeding Garon's control, rapidly expanding the diameter of the vortex as it spun, turning into a rapidly spinning ring in the River of Time.
"It works!"
Seeing this happen, Garon's eyes brightened, and his breathing became heavier.
"Wow, power energy can really affect time."
Yuna, too, 'saw' the raging temporal vortex, her face showing shock.
Unexpectedly, Yuna's words resonated directly in Garon's mind.
She hadn't spoken aloud in her shock, but her mental activity was displayed in Garon's spiritual world.
"Yuna?"
Garon tentatively called out in his mind.
"Eh?"
Yuna blinked, surprised as she turned to look at Garon.
Clearly, Garon's thoughts had also directly resonated in Yuna's mind.
"In this state, it seems we can communicate telepathically."
Telepathy is not a rare ability, achievable through certain spells, but Garon and Yuna had not possessed it before.
Not just for communication, Yuna's feelings and some physical conditions were also clearly reflected in Garon's mind, and similarly, Yuna could sense Garon's state.
Through the intertwining of power energy and time, their minds became as one at that moment.
It was a very peculiar sensation.
They didn't linger in this special state for long.
As the temporal vortex expanded to over two meters in diameter, spinning even faster and shaking violently, it seemed unable to maintain itself any longer, on the verge of collapse.
Garon and Yuna both felt immense pressure.
This pressure was mental, as if invisible hands were stirring their spirits, as if an extra string had been added to their minds, being pulled tighter and tighter, on the verge of snapping.
Garon's expression changed slightly.
He felt he might lose control of the temporal vortex.
Even Yuna, merely assisting, showed signs of strain on her face.
"Garon, my power energy is almost drained."
Yuna's voice resonated in Garon's mind.
Similar to her situation, Garon's power of time had rapidly depleted after intertwining with power energy, now reduced to about one-tenth. Moreover, Garon felt a strong sensation that continuing might lead to unpredictable and dire consequences.
"Okay, let's stop together."
Realizing the danger, Garon decisively said.
Then, he and Yuna simultaneously ceased their actions, stopping the supply of the power of time and power energy.
The sensation of their minds as one also dissipated.
Without the catalysis of power energy, the raging temporal vortex quickly slowed down, then gradually stabilized, becoming ethereal again, and slowly returning to the steady flow of the River of Time.
Inside the main nest of the fortress, Garon frowned slightly, observing the River of Time.
The ethereal and vast River of Time was as always, unaffected by the commotion they had just caused, which actually occurred in a very small area. To the entire River of Time, it was inconsequential; after stopping, it seemed as if nothing had happened.
"I had a very unsettling feeling just now."
"Garon, if you couldn't control that vortex, it would have been very dangerous."
Yuna looked somewhat exhausted, but she didn't care, speaking seriously to Garon.
Garon nodded, rubbing his sore head, "I felt the same as you, but this was just the first attempt, and we didn't know what would happen."
"Now that we have a deeper understanding, we'll continue to experiment, gather experience, and improve our methods. Eventually, we'll succeed in operating it properly."
While speaking, Garon's voice rose slightly, carrying a sense of excitement long missed, for this experiment had rekindled the thrill of touching the unknown and discovering a broader world, similar to when he first encountered magic.
"I feel very tired, as if my body has been drained."
Yuna lay down on the spot, her voice becoming much softer.
Like her, Garon also felt exhausted.
The power of time within him had nearly been depleted, and although his physical body showed no change, he felt an unbearable weakness emanating from his limbs. Moreover, the operation of controlling the temporal vortex had also drained a lot of his mental energy, causing his brain to ache subtly.
Drowsiness crept up on him.
Garon's eyelids fluttered, feeling this drowsiness due to exhaustion after a long time.
"Let's sleep, rest."
Garon said to Yuna.
But he received no response.
With effort, he turned his head to look, only to find Yuna had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep, her breaths emitting faint cat-like purrs.
Resisting the urge to sleep, Garon gathered some gems and coins, placing them in front of his head, then buried his face in them, feeling the friction between his faceplate and the coins and gems, and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
Two weeks later, in the Bone Wasteland.
A 42-meter-long super-giant silver dragon soared in the sky, its scales' brilliance not obscured by the gloomy clouds of undead, resembling a small silver sun, highly visible above the Bone Wasteland.
Beside the super-giant silver dragon was an old man wearing a crown and holding a scepter.
Nehemiah, along with the Pope, had arrived at the Bone Wasteland.
With them were the Church of Light's valiant Holy Knights and Light Priests.
Riding nightmare warhorses, undead knights roared, their dark skeletal nightmare horses galloping through the air on blue flames, attempting to flee the Bone Wasteland.
The Pope's face was gentle, looking down from high above.
With a slight movement of the Coronet Scepter, countless white lights converged into threads, piercing through endless deathly aura, cutting through the air, and instantly landing on the undead creatures below.
Sssss. The precise white light threads penetrated the soul fires within the undead creatures, the white light erupting into even more ferocious and brilliant fiery flames, instantly burning the blue soul fires, turning the undead back into skeletons, falling to the ground.
Whether low-level skeletons and zombies or powerful undead knights and necromancers, all were purified and annihilated under the Church of Light's relentless purge, their already dead bodies dying once again.
Merely killing undead creatures without eradicating the environment of the Bone Wasteland was only treating the symptoms, not the cause.
In the past, the Church of Light would not waste significant effort on such thankless tasks, but now, with potential minions of the original Sun God possibly lurking in the Bone Wasteland, the Church gathered all its forces, exterminating all undead here.
The Pope raised the Coronet Scepter high.
Warm white light spread from him in all directions, inspiring courage in the living and strengthening their power.
But this warm light was like fire and sulfuric acid to undead creatures.
Some low-level undead burst into flames, falling in swathes like harvested wheat.
Even higher-level undead were severely affected, their soul fires extinguished under the onslaught of knights and priests below.
Meanwhile, a 30-meter-long skeletal lion king leaped up, its bones faintly enshrouded in elusive black mist, revealed under the light.
It extended its gaunt pale bone claws, lunging fiercely at the Pope driven by deathly aura from below.
The Pope, shining like a small sun, was the most loathsome existence in the eyes of all undead creatures.
The Pope remained motionless, maintaining his divine spell.
Bang! A powerful dragon claw grasped the skeletal lion king's spine, crushing the iron-hard bones like tofu in its grip.
Nehemiah easily ground the skeletal lion king into bone fragments.
Puffs of black mist rose from the shattered bone fragments, hissing as they dissipated under the burning light.
"The power of the original Sun God is indeed nurturing on this land."
"Fortunately, we didn't give Him too much time to lurk; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."
The Pope looked down at the gray wasteland below.
The white tide was cleansing the Bone Wasteland, with fewer and fewer undead creatures still burning with soul fire, soon leaving none, all purified and eradicated by the Church of Light.
However, the Church's forces did not withdraw, sweeping back and forth across the Bone Wasteland, searching for possible hidden undead traces.
"We cannot let our guard down."
"Any clues related to the original Sun God must not be overlooked."
The Pope instructed Kains.
With the undead of the Bone Wasteland eradicated, the minions of the original Sun God might not all be hiding there.
The Church of Light could not yet rest.
After a while, the Pope left the site, and Nehemiah flew towards the distance.
As the Bone Wasteland returned to desolation and the Church's forces began their large-scale withdrawal, the air slightly fluctuated on a slope outside the Bone Wasteland.
Eilina gazed at the situation in the Bone Wasteland from afar, her eyes filled with loathing.
"Damned old man."
"When my lord descends, I'll make sure you have no place to be buried."
She cursed under her breath, gritting her teeth.
The eradication of the undead in the Bone Wasteland, and the death of many subordinates she had nurtured for a time, wasted a lot of her effort.
Meanwhile, the ground churned, and cracks appeared, revealing the enormous, coiling body of the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon, which had not left the Bone Wasteland and had fortunately survived in this land of trouble.
But its situation was not good.
Eilina looked down at the bulging belly of the Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon, her previously hateful and resentful eyes quickly becoming devout, silently praying, and murmuring the prayers of the original Sun God.
The Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon's vacant eyes showed pain.
It struggled briefly.
But in an instant, it was recontrolled by Eilina's illusion, becoming a puppet on strings.
"Great original Sun God, please be patient a little longer."
"Soon, I will find enough sustenance for you, allowing your avatar to be born in this world."
"When you descend, all creatures in this world will celebrate your arrival with the most devout posture, welcoming your light."
The Stone Tomb Serpent Dragon's belly remained unchanged, Eilina kneeled on the ground, murmuring for a while.
Then, she slowly stood up, her copper-colored eyes looking towards the sky, towards the direction Nehemiah had left.
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