บท 413: Chapter 413: Garon: The Seven-Tier Scepter and Its Fate with the Dragon Court
In the secluded residence of the Duke of Wind, within the Valley of Aegis.
Surrounded by rocks, fresh flowers, and a stream garden, the figures of Cestra and Gothard slowly materialized, having passed through the barrier of the Valley of Aegis using their bloodline as the key.
The seven-tier scepter was a sacred artifact created during the zenith of the Duke of Wind's empire.
During the battle between order and chaos, a hero of the Duke of Wind used this scepter to pierce through the body of the wolf spider Miska, gaining the authority and extraordinary divine power of the gods, fortifying and amplifying it. Even now, with only three tiers remaining, it is still a treasure of magnificent stature.
It guards the entire Valley of Aegis and serves as its core.
Should an external enemy invade, with the power inherent to the Dukes of Wind themselves, coupled with the protection of the three-tier scepter, it would be difficult to penetrate the Valley of Aegis without a large-scale and high-quality legion.
There are few Dukes of Wind within the Valley of Aegis.
However, due to being immortal beings, some of them have even experienced the battle between order and chaos, their ages so ancient they are untraceable, and their individual strength has reached the demi-god level.
If Garon had their age, he could already declare himself invincible.
The Dukes of Wind, as immortals, have a low innate ceiling of talent and require an extremely long age to reach the demi-god level, and without fortuitous encounters, they can progress no further.
However, for those living in the main material world.
The level of demi-gods is already sufficient, because that is the limit allowed by the main material world.
The Valley of Aegis, although not strong, still houses a dozen ancient demi-gods, along with the three-tier scepter, enough to face many unexpected threats.
This is also why the demons are biding their time, lurking and waiting.
If they cannot take down the Valley of Aegis with a blitzkrieg, and in doing so attract the attention of the gods, leading to the gods' avatars coming to aid the Dukes of Wind, the abyssal demons would return without any achievements, and the future Dukes of Wind would only become more vigilant.
Thus, after the chaos, they patiently wait.
She waits for a suitable opportunity.
In today's multiverse with endless realms and countless beings and gods, perhaps, only After the Chaos knows the scepter and the Valley of Aegis better than even the ordinary Dukes of Wind or the ancient ones who have lived from the distant past.
From the wolf spider Miska, this general, prince, and lover of After the Chaos, from the moment it was sealed.
After the Chaos has been devising ways to rescue it from the seal.
Therefore, she has deeply understood the nature of the immortal beings like the Dukes of Wind and their territory and sacred scepter of the Valley of Aegis, and has always been tracking the traces of the Valley of Aegis, coming close several times.
The weakest moment of the Valley of Aegis barrier, which After the Chaos is waiting for, is—when the Valley of Aegis breaks the dimensional barriers and is about to shift to another main material world.
In this moment.
The Valley of Aegis will unleash most of its power to perform the dimensional transfer, smoothing out spatial fluctuations, concealing its traces, etc. This will cause the Valley's barrier to temporarily weaken.
"Gothard, how do you feel about this trip outside?"
Cestra and Gothard walked towards the center of the Valley of Aegis, while Cestra asked the young Duke of Wind.
They had both reverted to their original forms.
Their tall, robust humanoid bodies, with distinctly layered ebony-like skin, stood about three meters tall, resembling small giants.
The three-thousand-year-old just of age Duke of Wind pondered for a moment, then said, "Unlike the orderly Valley of Aegis, outside the Valley, I saw order, chaos, good, and evil. Some creatures' thoughts and malignancy are unimaginable to me, but there are also a few who adhere to order and respect for life, which I admire."
The Dukes of Wind, favored by the gods of order in the past.
Undoubtedly, the nature of the Dukes of Wind is orderly and good.
Even though they were nearly annihilated in the war and have only a few hundred of their kind left, the vast majority of the Dukes of Wind are still inherently good and adhere to order.
Cestra nodded calmly and said, "Where there is light, there are shadows; where there is order, there naturally exists opposing chaos."
"The Valley of Aegis is a place of order. You have grown up in a world of order, and
it's inevitable that your way of thinking might be somewhat narrow and lacking. But I hope you understand that order is not the only way. It is even more rare and valuable to uphold order in a chaotic world."
"It seems you have come to understand this now."
Each Duke of Wind can generally only have one descendant in their lifetime, and reproducing even that one offspring requires many stringent conditions. Those who can produce multiple offspring are one in a hundred, which after suffering severe damages, without external assistance, it would be very difficult for this race of immortals to return to its former glory.
Therefore.
Every individual is a precious asset to the Dukes of Wind of the Valley of Aegis, so much so that the birth of a new clan member is celebrated with festivities throughout the Valley.
The elders of the Valley of Aegis take great care in educating the young Dukes of Wind.
As they walked towards the center of the Valley of Aegis, the two Dukes of Wind, one older and one younger, communicated with each other.
Seeing the young Duke of Wind's gaze wandering as if he was preoccupied, Cestra's gaze shifted slightly and said, "Worried about Naomi and Charles?"
Charles refers to the little silver dragon Garon had transformed into, using his own brother's name.
Gothard nodded and said, "After they left us, I don't know if they will encounter danger again, and if they do, whether they can turn it around."
With a sigh, the young Duke of Wind displayed a clear look of concern, gazing outside the Valley of Aegis in the direction where he had parted with Naomi and Garon.
Having adventured together on the planet of Francess for a year, the young Duke of Wind, newly exposed to the outside world, found it hard to forget this experience and could not ignore the young sorceress and the little silver dragon, but the Valley of Aegis was about to set sail and leave, and as a Duke of Wind, they could only leave and could not allow other beings to enter the Valley of Aegis.
"Don't worry."
Cestra said calmly.
Although not the most powerful and ancient of the Dukes of Wind, Cestra was old enough, over ten thousand years, to have accumulated enough wisdom and insight to see through many things at face value and understand their essence.
"They will be alright."
"Although I cannot be sure, perhaps the incident-free journey we've had is precisely because of Naomi and Charles who accompanied us."
The young sorceress and the little silver dragon were not strong, vulnerable and helpless in the face of danger, but in Cestra's eyes, there seemed to be a thick mist swirling around the young sorceress and the little silver dragon, making it always difficult to figure out and see through.
The intuition of an elder told Cestra that these two randomly encountered travelers from another world were not as simple as they seemed on the surface.
But that's all Cestra knew.
"Why do you say that?"
Gothard was puzzled.
He, for his part, couldn't see anything.
After thinking carefully, Cestra shook her head and said softly, "Just some experience and intuition of an elder. I've always believed in my own intuition."
Hearing the words of the older Duke of Wind, Gothard pondered and said, "Could it be that the powerful members of their family haven't been left behind and are just following in secret? And perhaps they are even stronger than you, so you can't detect them."
Cestra pondered and said, "That's possible."
"But over the course of a year, not a trace or hint has been revealed, making me unable to have the slightest direct perception. If there is someone in secret, their strength might be comparable to the oldest elders in our clan."
Dukes of Wind.
As the name suggests, this race of immortals possesses abilities related to wind, and wherever there is wind flow, the perceptual acuity of the Dukes of Wind surpasses the imagination of ordinary beings, hence Cestra's previous statement.
If they can evade its wind domain perception, they are likely beings far beyond its own level.
As they talked.
The two Dukes of Wind arrived at the center of the Valley of Aegis.
What came into view was a raised platform covered with fresh flowers and green grass. At the highest platform, a three-tier golden scepter was inserted, and a faint light radiated from it, permeating the air of the entire Valley of Aegis.
According to the tradition of the Valley of Aegis.
The Dukes of Wind returning from the outside world would pray to the three-tier scepter, bathing in its glowing light to dispel any impurities or curses possibly contracted from the outside world and receive the protection of the three-tier scepter.
In fact, there is a purification when passing through the barrier of the Valley of Aegis.
Common curses, magical marks, and the
like are directly eliminated.
But compared to praying directly to the three-tier scepter, the effect is much less.
Moreover, it is also common for the Dukes of Wind to come here on regular days to pray to the sacred artifact for a bright future for the Valley of Aegis and the safety of their clan members, etc.
"Holy core of the Valley of Aegis, the golden scepter of the wind."
"Cestra, Gothard, travelers returning home pray to you, please grant us your sacred light, let us bathe in it, cleanse our wounds, comfort our spirits, and dispel evil"
The two Dukes of Wind raised their necks and closed their eyes.
Standing silently, the three-tier scepter cast a thicker light, like a golden curtain, enveloping the Dukes of Wind.
Under the scepter's light, the two Dukes of Wind seemed very comfortable, their faces showing a peaceful and tranquil expression, almost forgetting the passage of time.
On the bodies of the Dukes of Wind, two ring-like marks appeared and disappeared, vanishing into nothingness in the light.
At the same time.
On the outskirts of the Endless Great Forest, in a delicately decorated hotel room with rosy red interiors and a faint scent of incense in the air, a man with silver hair and eyes as deep as the stars stirred slightly and uttered a light exclamation.
It was Garon, who rarely maintained a human form, currently snuggling up with Naomi, transformed into a young sorceress.
"What's wrong?"
The girl lifted her eyelids, her voice lazy.
"The time mark I placed on the Dukes of Wind has been erased."
Garon looked towards the direction of the Valley of Aegis and said.
When the time mark underwent changes, he felt it instinctively, looked around through the time mark, and then saw it gradually being erased under the light of the three-tier golden scepter.
"This is probably the legendary remaining part of the seven-tier scepter that severely wounded the wolf spider Miska."
"Although the time mark was just casually imprinted by me, its concealment is very strong, and generally even divine saints cannot detect it."
"To discover and erase the time mark... it is truly worthy of being a sacred artifact of the Duke of Wind's empire in its heyday, capable of severely injuring a demon prince."
Garon had already pinpointed the location of the Valley of Aegis.
Although the Valley of Aegis is equipped with a maze of detection arrays, and the time mark becoming invalid should theoretically confuse the location, for Garon, who had already discovered its whereabouts, it didn't do much good. Since he resides within the river of time, it is difficult to escape Garon's perception.
Garon's perception ability, previously mainly based on the sensory powers of a true dragon.
Elemental vision, energy perception, biological scent, heat, vibration, and more.
But with the passage of time and the increase in strength, his connection with the river of time has strengthened, and now Garon's perception is mainly conducted through the river of time, rendering most anti-detection methods ineffective against him.
"And, the seven-tier scepter is formidable because it is originally a top creation of an immortal empire in the main material world, and it received the divine power and authority of nearly all the gods of order."
At the time, when the Duke of Wind hero risked his own death to pierce the body of the wolf spider Miska with the seven-tier scepter.
Whether it was the gods of order who descended in the flesh to the main material world or those outside the material realm, they all keenly seized the opportunity to seal the demon general, collectively blessing the seven-tier scepter.
The blessing of the gods is not empty talk.
A formal blessing requires the gods to expend extraordinary divine power.
Even a mortal, if fortunate enough to receive the collective blessing of the gods of order, could probably ascend directly to a demi-god.
Generally speaking, it is rare for an item or being to receive a blessing from a god, and with the pride of the gods, the likelihood of multiple gods blessing the same item or being at the same time is extremely slim.
Therefore, the experience of the seven-tier scepter is irreplicable.
It is unique.
"The seven-tier scepter, with four tiers embedded in the body of the wolf spider Miska, locking its power."
"As for the remaining part that erased my time mark, hidden in the abyssal demons of the Endless Great Forest, it is highly likely for the remaining three tiers of the scepter."
The girl in the form of Naomi blinked her light purple eyes and drooled, saying, "It sounds like a good thing, hey, if we save the Dukes of Wind of the Valley of Aegis, taking these three tiers of the scepter as a reward wouldn't be too much, right?"
Garon chuckled and said, "The abyssal demons have been pursuing the Valley of Aegis
, not to kill the Dukes of Wind, but for the scepter."
"Letting the Dragon Court safeguard the scepter can bring peace to the Valley of Aegis."
"Besides, it's better to keep such a dangerous item, capable of unsealing a demon prince, in our own hands."
After all, the collecting habit inherent in the nature of a true dragon had kicked in.
"I'll leave here first to prepare for what might happen next."
"The opponent is a demon, after all, and it's very likely we'll encounter After the Chaos, so we need to be more cautious."
In fact, Garon could ask the gods of order for help.
To say nothing else, the gods of the heavenly mountain would definitely be eager to strike against demons, but then the gods would have a reason to reclaim the remaining three tiers of the scepter.
Originally, they were not too keen on leaving such an item in the care of the Dukes of Wind.
But the scepter was originally created by the Dukes of Wind.
Faced with the Dukes of Wind, who had made great contributions to the gods of order and whose tribe was nearly annihilated, the gods of order, for the sake of face, did not directly demand the scepter after the war ended.
Later, the Valley of Aegis secluded itself, not only to avoid demons.
The Dukes of Wind were also avoiding the scrutiny of the gods, unwilling to have any entanglements with the deities.
"What preparations will you make?"
Naomi asked curiously.
Garon smiled slightly and said, "Setting traps in advance for these demons, just right, to test some of my new abilities."
He paused, and under Naomi's gaze, Garon explained, "A new ability I awakened after awakening, very suitable for the current situation where we have already discovered the enemy, but they know nothing about it."
Next, a barely detectable faint silver light flew out of the hotel room, entering the Endless Great Forest.
Avoiding the location where the abyssal demons were, under the premise of not alarming the demons, this silver light roamed around various places in the Endless Great Forest, stopping momentarily at certain locations before moving on to the next, repeating the process.
Inside the Valley of Aegis.
As the light from the scepter gradually faded, the two Dukes of Wind slowly opened their eyes, feeling as if their bodies had been purified, comfortable and warm.
At the same time.
After opening their eyes, they saw a figure appearing near the altar holding the scepter, silently standing.
Seeing the sudden appearance of the person, Cestra and Gothard did not show any alert or defensive expressions.
Instead, the two Dukes of Wind respectfully greeted, "Elder Kreins, well met."
The figure near the scepter was also a Duke of Wind.
Its ebony-like skin displayed even more patterns, orderly and crisscrossing, which in the eyes of the Dukes of Wind, spoke of ancient, long-passed years.
The Valley of Aegis does not have a unified leader, but is led by joint decisions from the twelve eldest elders.
These elders all experienced the battle between order and chaos, living from epochs untraceable to the present as ancient Dukes of Wind. Because of their hermaphroditic self-reproducing nature, most of the Dukes of Wind in the Valley of Aegis today are descendants of these elders.
Kreins.
One of the twelve demi-god elders of the Valley of Aegis and Cestra's direct ancestor, Kreins, at over twenty thousand years old, is but a junior in front of him.
Kreins has a pair of dull, lightless eyes.
Turning his gaze, he looked at Cestra and the just-of-age Duke of Wind and said, "Just returned from the outside world?"
His voice was weak, like the low hum of a disintegrating wind, which to the ears of his kin sounded somewhat world-weary.
The two Dukes of Wind nodded and said, "Yes."
Kreins withdrew his gaze, merely silently looking at the three-tier scepter, his eyes showing a trace of reminiscence as if recalling the glory days of the Duke of Wind empire, remaining silent.
However, occasionally, his expressions shifted slightly, revealing an undisguised hatred and despair.
After a while.
Noticing that the two Dukes of Wind had not left after praying to the scepter, Kreins looked at the broken scepter, now only three tiers, and said, "What do you think the Valley of Aegis would be like now if we hadn't assisted the gods of order in the war and tried to preserve ourselves instead?"
Cestra hesitated and did not answer.
The young Gothard thought for a moment and said, "In that case, perhaps the Valley of Aegis would still have few of our kind, because the empire would still exist, and we wouldn't need to hide and seclude
ourselves in the Valley of Aegis."
Hearing the word "empire," Kreins fell silent for a moment, then nodded and calmly said, "You're right."
"If the empire still existed, members of our kind, like you who have just come of age, could freely travel in the outside world and be respected and revered, rather than being disregarded as we are now."
Somewhat self-mockingly, Kreins said, "How many beings would know of us, the Dukes of Wind, now?"
"We paid a price of blood and fire, only to earn a title of vanguards of order and a fragmented, nearly annihilated race."
"If I could do it all over again, I would do everything in my power to convince the empire to remain neutral, rather than assisting the gods against the demons."
He was no longer speaking to Cestra and the others, just venting the heavy dissatisfaction in his heart.
"However, time cannot be reversed, and what has happened cannot be changed."
After saying this, regardless of Cestra's response, Kreins looked at the scepter, standing silently and staring like a statue.
Soon, Cestra and Gothard respectfully took their leave, then departed from the center of the Valley of Aegis. After they left, Kreins remained in place, motionless like a statue.
"Half of the elders give me a very gloomy feeling, burdened with heavy thoughts, and they don't like the gods."
On the way, the young Duke of Wind said.
Cestra's gaze sharpened, and he reprimanded, "Do not discuss the elders. They experienced the battle between order and chaos, witnessed the fall of our empire, and led the Valley of Aegis through its darkest times to recovery, giving us what we have today. Without the elders, our race would have completely perished."
The young Duke of Wind was still curious.
"But why..."
He continued to inquire.
"You'll understand later."
Cestra sighed and interrupted Gothard's unspoken question.
Although he had not experienced the era of the elders, Cestra understood their psychology.
The nature of the Dukes of Wind is orderly and good, but that does not mean they do not experience emotions like disappointment, hatred, and anger.
Unlike the younger Dukes of Wind, who only heard about the former empire, the empire of the Dukes of Wind, from history, the ancient elders who participated in the battle between order and chaos once watched helplessly as the gods stood by for their own preservation, powerless as their kin died and their empire shattered.
With such experiences, it is natural to struggle to maintain a usual state of order.
Not to mention, the current decline of the Valley of Aegis, in contrast, is a constant reminder of the former strength of their empire.
Additionally, some time after the war ended.
Among the Dukes of Wind, a view emerged suggesting that the wolf spider Miska and its demon legion retreating into the main material world of the Duke of Wind empire might have been deliberately driven by the gods, intending to use the hands of demons to weaken the increasingly powerful immortal empire.
Whether this view is true or false, no one can be sure.
But what is certain is that an empire in the main material world, entirely composed of immortals, is not a good thing for the gods.
The more powerful, the more likely to lack awe.
As immortals and members of the order faction, the original empire of the Dukes of Wind had friendly relations and certain connections with the gods of order, but they did not worship the gods.
And regardless, the weakening of the Dukes of Wind has become a fact, and it is significantly related to the actions of the gods in the war against the demon prince.
Now, half of the elders in the Valley of Aegis harbor hatred towards the gods.
Influenced by them, a portion of the older Dukes of Wind, like Cestra, also despise the gods, although they rarely show it.
After all, what use is hatred?
The gods sit high above, while they are merely struggling to survive, almost forgotten on the fringes of the world.
Time quietly passes.
During this time, the Dukes of Wind in the Valley of Aegis began to gather more frequently than usual at the location of the scepter to pray.
Because the Valley of Aegis is about to leave this place and move to another main material world. The Dukes of Wind are praying for blessings, hoping that the Valley of Aegis can remain peaceful and harmonious in the next main material world, living in isolation from the world.
And so, two months later.
In the bird-song filled, pleasantly warm Valley of Aegis, the twelve elder Dukes of Wind surrounded the golden scepter, seated in a circle. They raised their right hands, and streams of blue wind, like chains, burst from the wrists of each elder, connecting to the three-tier golden scepter.
Migrating
the space of the Valley of Aegis, taking the entire valley and its people to another main material world, is not an easy task.
They need to concentrate fully.
Humming sounds.
As the three-tier scepter vibrated, an invisible golden light burst from the center with the scepter, turning the entire Valley of Aegis into a golden realm.
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