Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The first descent of the Old Ones.
It was accompanied by the invasion of Blue Star.
Cain Will paid the price of slumber to rewind time.
The time rewind awakened the Holy Dragon, who was weakened and asleep due to creation.
In order to prevent the world it created from making the same mistakes, the Holy Dragon used its own and Cain Will’s origin power to create a system and handed it over to the Person of Origin, while instigating the Person of Origin to plunder the Godhead from Blue Star Will.
The descent of the Person of Origin required a medium.
That medium was the soul of the original King of Winter and a grudge with its key parts severed. The two had a cause and effect, a connection, so Xi Wei was “reincarnated” by the Holy Dragon.
She hoped that during Cain Will’s slumber,
The Person of Origin would help Cain Will protect this continent.
Not only because Cain World was created by the Holy Dragon, but also because Cain Will was the Holy Dragon’s child.
She did not want her child to be devoured by the Old Ones.
The Holy Dragon used part of Cain Will’s authority to constantly monitor the growth of the Person of Origin.
Each player’s login required her to provide a portion of her strength to maintain it.
If the Godhead of the God of the Wilderness was considered the login device,
then the Holy Dragon’s strength was the bridge that pulled players from Blue Star to the login device.
And the current Xi Wei was the bridge for players to travel from the login device to Cain Continent.
Now, from Blue Star to the login device, including the login device itself, has been contaminated by the chaotic will of Cthulhu.
If it were just a little contamination, it would have been quickly removed by the Creator Dragon, but the problem was that, almost simultaneously, eighty percent of the players were contaminated. The power thrown out could not be recovered and even turned against them, making the Holy Dragon increasingly weak.
Many ants can bite an elephant to death. The current Holy Dragon is like a mouse pressed onto a sticky mouse trap by the Dominators of the Old Ones. If it wants to use its strength to eliminate the contamination, it cannot maintain the Crystal Wall System. If it wants to maintain the Crystal Wall System, it can only watch the contamination erode Cain Will, then use Cain Will as a springboard to continue eroding it, and finally everything will turn into chaos.
Gatanothoa, burning with chaotic fire, roamed near the Holy Dragon. Its octopus-like suction cup tentacles touched the Holy Dragon’s scales with a chilling coldness. Its scarlet eyes revealed endless greed, and it opened its bloody mouth to sing:
“That which has risen may sink, and that which has sunk may rise; the abominable waits in the deep for dreams, decay and disorder spread, order and stars fall, the time has come!”
“Folly and disorder shall be the new masters!” – Othuyeg swung its pale tentacles, engulfing the Holy Dragon like a giant sea anemone.
“The stars shine and are hot, they boil and tremble!” – The roar of Cthugha shook the universe, and the surrounding stars instantly exploded under its terrifying radiation.
“The time for the stars to return is at hand, and we shall return!” – Thasa-Thar-Naggah’s lipless face let out a frenzied, terrifying laugh.
As its words fell, the people of the abyss flickered in the darkness between the stars; the servants of the Outer Gods appeared as dense shadows like jellyfish on the dark side of the planet; the Star Spawn revealed their bodies from the twisted, rotating black holes.
Darkness spread, devouring everything.
The brilliant starry sky and universe could no longer be seen.
The Holy Dragon, Cain Will, and Cain Continent were surrounded, at their wit’s end.
A similar terror was also unfolding on Blue Star.
…
…
In Tianchao, Mount Laozu Shudao.
A Taoist priest was cultivating above the Taoist temple.
A few young disciples below were diligently sweeping the ground in the shade of the trees.
Their master performed morning breathing exercises every day.
They were used to it and had seen it many times.
But at a certain moment, the chirping of cicadas abruptly stopped.
The wind ceased—
The sunlight suddenly changed, as if it had subtly expanded and contracted, then became more profound, tinged with a faint blood-red color. The shadow that was originally on the left drifted to the right in a daze.
On the Taoist temple, the Taoist priest who was meditating with his eyes closed suddenly opened them.
Immediately, a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.
He exclaimed in surprise:
“Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!
The path to cultivation is actually here!
So it was! So it was!
Hahahahahaha!”
The Taoist priest rolled down from the roof tiles, laughing maniacally. The young disciples stared blankly and were about to help him up when the Taoist priest suddenly sprang up, somersaulted like a spider, and ran towards the woodshed with all fours, laughing.
The surrounding Taoist boys were scared silly by this scene and stood frozen, not knowing what to do.
Following a sound of “thump, thump, thump,”
They saw their master crawl out of the woodshed, shouting, “So it was, so it was!” with two shovels on his back, and rush into the backyard.
Then came the sound of digging.
After a long while, a few brave Taoist boys hesitantly walked towards the backyard. If they remembered correctly, the backyard was where the past generations of patriarchs were buried…
As they approached,
the sound of digging had stopped.
They only saw their master lying there, his shoulders heaving, as if he were eating something, making a “crunch, crunch” sound. As if sensing the movement behind him, the Taoist priest slowly turned his face.
The Taoist boys’ eyes widened, and they took half a step back.
They saw the Taoist priest holding a piece of rotten, black, rotting meat in his mouth, with a yellow fatty layer covered in dense insect eggs and wriggling maggots. The rotten smell of the meat could be smelled from a long distance.
But even so,
the Taoist priest was still devouring it greedily.
“What? Do you also want to become immortal?”
The Taoist priest, holding the meat, curled his lips into a strange smile.
He was generous, reaching out and scooping a rotten hand from the pit, throwing it at the Taoist boys’ feet: “Don’t say I treated you badly. We have a master-disciple relationship. Let’s ascend to immortality together! Hahahahaha!”
With that, the Taoist priest turned and continued to gnaw.
The Taoist boys gathered at the entrance of the backyard, looking at the arm on the ground. The fingers on the palm were still wriggling, and they felt nauseous, almost vomiting up their overnight meal.
Something was wrong!
Their master was extremely not right today!
The Taoist temple was also not right!
They had to run!
The moment this thought arose,
as the sunlight shifted,
the Taoist boys froze in place as if under a spell.
After a while, the Taoist boy at the front slowly squatted down, inexplicably picked up the severed hand, and then, blankly opened his mouth, stuffing a still-bending finger into it.
“Crunch, crunch—”
“Became… became immortal! This is… this is spiritual energy!”
The Taoist boy’s face turned pale. He saw countless black, unknown objects wriggling along his blood vessels towards all parts of his body, but he smiled happily, his eyes shining terrifyingly.
“Hahahahaha!
Master, I want to become immortal with you!”
The other Taoist boys’ brains also seemed to be activated. They rushed to their master’s side and joined him in enjoying the “immortal feast.”
At a certain moment,
the Taoist priest, who had been eating the longest, suddenly raised his head and roared.
“Haha, I did it!”
*Pfft*—
*Pfft*—
The Taoist priest’s head bulged and wriggled, then suddenly split into three parts. The brains exploded outwards, each part twisting into a new head, but smaller, more shriveled, with ugly features twisted together. Three large mouths were nested with smaller mouths, and rings of yellowish-brown rotten teeth extended into the throat until they were no longer visible.
“Three flowers gather at the top! Three flowers gather at the top!”
The surrounding Taoist boys knelt on the ground, cheering, their eyes filled with envy for the Taoist priest.
Then, the Taoist priest’s body suddenly swelled again. White, pale rotten flesh broke through the clothes, expanding like a giant’s form, completely stretching the clothes. The fatty layer of decay turned greenish and light purple. Countless black worms howled and drilled out of the fat layer, crawling on the Taoist priest’s body, leaving holes the size of a baby’s fist.
Five streams of black energy sprayed towards the sky and converged above his head.
The surrounding Taoist boys prostrated themselves, shouting wildly:
“Five qi come to the yuan! Five qi come to the yuan!”
The Taoist priest’s three faces were turned towards the sky, emitting sharp, ear-piercing, frenzied laughter.
“I did it! Hahahahaha! I, your lord, have done it!”
…
Vatican – St. Peter’s Basilica.
There were no white doves flying in the basilica today.
There was no sound of worship songs.
Only deathly silence.
The Catholic believers drew thick curtains.
Red cloth covered the sacred sunlight.
They gazed at the statue of Jesus, and foul mold and rust grew along the cross.
They praised Allah’s blessings, they praised the glory of darkness.
“Kill me! Enter my heart!”
The Pope stood on the sacred high platform, holding his scepter, his expression ecstatic.
“Eating my blood can ward off evil light!”
“If darkness can comfort the lamb’s soul, please peel off my skin and spread it on the ground!”
“Oh Allah! If you have great power, please extinguish the sun— so that my soul may have a place of shade!”
The believers swarmed forward.
Meeting the Pope’s expectant gaze,
they used their blades to cut open the Pope’s chest.
Take out the heart.
Peel off the skin.
And the Pope continued to sing loudly:
“Most High Heavenly Father Cthulhu!
When the sea level rises,
When the blood moon descends,
When abominations spread,
When abundance sows,
When R’lyeh surfaces,
When the Deep Ones crawl ashore,
When the Night Gaunts howl,
When the stars fall, the age of flesh and blood ends, and all returns to chaos, grant us eternal life!”
The Pope’s skin was indeed peeled off and hung on the sacred white cross. God was stained with blood, the Virgin wept, and the earth’s strong light was indeed obscured, and deep darkness descended upon the earth.
The sea level rose.
R’lyeh surfaced.
The blood moon rose, the sun was without light, and the stars shifted.
At this moment, it was the darkest hour!
