Chapter 1179
Lord of Hope, City of Dawning Light
As the dim yellow petrifying light receded from Rock Cell City, black thorns crawled all over the city.
In reality, these were the “emasculated” Sin Thorns by Eivass.
He controlled the Sin Thorns through his power as a Sin Eater Beast, draining their power almost completely, leaving only hollow shells. Then, he used a blessing ritual to implant the original body of these “de-toxified Sin Thorns” into the stone slab for trade, mixing the Void Power into the power transmitted by the Amber, thus polluting and transforming it, causing it to lose its original properties.
Thus, the power of the Void disintegrated the petrification, much like sprinkling salt on a leech.
However, although Eivass had tried his best to filter out the “toxicity” of the Sin Thorns through the consecration ritual, their harm to the Extraordinary remained unavoidable.
Specifically, it manifested as a feeling of weakness—just as one’s body becomes weak and powerless after a serious illness.
The diluted Sin Thorn power mixed into their bodies through the petrifying light would continuously dissolve their Extraordinary Power. This would require several nights of sleep and constant replenishment of mana to flush out, in order to gradually alleviate the symptoms.
This process was akin to the immune system killing foreign pathogens, causing the host to experience severe discomfort. Accompanied by that feeling of powerlessness, they would also suffer from fever, thirst, and drowsiness until the Void Power was completely cleared.
However, for ordinary people who had no Extraordinary Power at all, they felt no discomfort.
Based on this characteristic, it inadvertently possessed a novel quality—allowing Eivass to easily distinguish the Extraordinary hidden among the crowd.
Anyone who had been petrified before would inevitably undergo this judgment.
Lily, meanwhile, lurked in the shadows of the Sin Thorns, leaping throughout the city and recording the state of everyone.
Their memories were frozen at the moment before petrification. However, because they had not been completely petrified, they still possessed vague perceptions and experienced hallucinations as if in a dream.
When the dream-like illusion ended, they discovered that the water in the city was no longer flowing… The sense of fear swept through the hearts of the people. This was far clearer than the fatigue caused by prolonged petrification, and the pain of resisting the Sin Thorn power within their bodies.
Any Anxi person knew how this happened.
Their Lord had died!
Not only had their Lord died, but he had not passed on his power before his death.
This meant that Rock Cell City had lost its qualification as a city-state. All of them would either become refugees, slaves to other city-states; or be forced to join the Rebel Army, living in the depths of the desert outside the city-state, surviving with difficulty and attempting to resist all Lords; or become the Arid Water Army, plundering other water-rich city-states.
Whichever future they chose, it meant they had lost their future—
But just as the people fell into chaos, the city’s great bell was struck.
It was the “Thirst Stone Bell” used by the Lords to summon citizens. Generally, it would be used to announce important matters or to summon people to witness an execution—the latter occurring more frequently than the former.
It was made of a rare material called “Thirst Stone.” It could make all those who heard the sound feel thirst, and only by getting close to it could this unwarranted thirst be alleviated.
Thus, no one could refuse the summons of the great bell.
In Anxi, thirst was a ubiquitous yet most unbearable suffering.
At this time, the residents of Rock Cell City had completely fallen into panic and chaos. In their confusion, they could only follow the sound of the bell towards the central plaza, like a flock of sheep driven by a whip.
When they arrived at the plaza, they saw the corpse of the former Lord, Honest Afshien, hung on the gallows.
People might not know the name of the Lord, but they certainly knew his appearance. Not to mention, the fat man was wearing the magnificent knitted robes worn only by Lords.
And the people standing beside the Lord were likely those who had killed him.
Some foreigners, and a Ritualist.
“What have you done!”
“Murderers! Sinners!”
“Look at the black thorns, they must be servants of the Sand Devils!”
The people cried out in despair, unleashing hysterical, shrill, painful, and impassioned curses: “You will all sink into the quicksand!”
“I will kill you!”
“Kill them, they must be rebels!”
“Offer their heads to other Lords, maybe they will let us into the city…”
“Who are you dreaming about, fool! Throw them into the salt pond, and all die together!”
It was not just the Free People cursing Eivass and his group.
Even the slaves cursed them together.
At a glance, not a single person felt the joy of liberation at the death of their Lord.
But even so…
Even with such hatred, such madness, such hysteria, such cursing.
Not a single person dared to step forward and act.
— After all, being able to kill a Lord meant they were far stronger than themselves. So why would they attack the strong?
If they dared to resist the strong, they would not have been ruled by Lords until now.
Looking at this scene, Eivass remained silent. His heart was somewhat heavy.
Not because he was being cursed, but because he now profoundly understood what the Anxi people truly thought, and how they perceived their Lords and Anxi culture.
“Sherlock.”
Eivass called out softly.
Although he had inherited the contract, he had not grasped the Lord’s power. Because of this, the contract signed by Afshien and Abyss Heavenly Envoy naturally terminated.
Moreover, the Sin Thorns themselves absorbed water.
When the city recovered from petrification, all the water in the waterways had been absorbed by the Sin Thorns. And no new water flowed in, turning the entire city into a dry city.
Therefore, Eivass understood why they were so angry and desperate.
Without water reserves, they couldn’t even leave Rock Cell City—traveling in the desert also required water. But they couldn’t carry water with them, meaning they had no ability to reach the next city alive.
They didn’t even qualify to become slaves; they would only become dry corpses buried by the yellow sand in the desert.
That was a genuine… doomsday that had already descended before their eyes.
It was no wonder they had mental breakdowns and wanted to die together. For them, this was indeed the only future. The thirst awakened by the Thirst Stone Bell tormented their will, constantly reminding them of their future.
“Ah, I understand.”
Sherlock clearly understood this as well.
His mood was equally heavy. It was only then that he truly understood the happiness of the Star Antinomy and Avalon people.
When he had not yet left Avalon, he only felt that Avalon was full of gangs and criminals. The entire society was rigid and full of sin.
When he traveled to the Church, he discovered that those Elves were also crazy, and had their own conspiracies and incurable diseases.
And when he arrived at Star Antinomy, he learned that a country’s unemployment rate could exceed 50%, a local leader could even print counterfeit money for hundreds of years, a country’s factions could be so chaotic that everyone was an enemy to each other, royalty in a country could have no reliable members in the entire family.
When he arrived at Iris Flower, he learned that—some countries’ safety at night was so poor that one could die just by going out. The Child of the Moon directly controlled the entire country, and a nation had become a blood bank and a sheep pen.
…But it was only until Sherlock arrived in Anxi that he realized how fortunate all the people above were.
They actually had food to eat and water to drink—a nation where people found it incredibly difficult to live until tomorrow. Even if they lost their dignity, their freedom, their future, their everything, they still wanted to live for one more day, one more hour, one more minute.
A strange emotion surged within him, and Sherlock tightly gripped his staff.
He responded in a low voice, “Leave it to me.”
Then, facing the distorted faces, hysterical screams, and citizens attacking each other in chaos—
He summoned an endless spring of clear water.
In that instant, the curses, the scolding, the roars, the crying, the shouting, the fighting… all stopped abruptly.
The people’s expressions changed instantly.
They knelt on the ground in disarray, prostrating themselves and cheering.
They laughed, praised… and worshiped devoutly.
“My Lord! My Lord! My Lord!” the people cheered.
“Grant us new water!” the people fawned.
It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion. It was as if what was hanging there was not their “beloved” Lord, but an unknown wild dog.
Hundreds, thousands of people knelt on the ground. Like a pack of domesticated dogs.
However, Eivass did not find them pathetic.
— at least, those who wanted to live were not wrong.
The problem lay with this cursed land.
Eivass looked at them, raised his right hand, and showed them the most sacred “Lord’s Seal.”
“I am your new master.”
Eivass’s face held no smile.
He declared solemnly, seriously, and with reverence, “I am Eivass…”
At that moment, Eivass hesitated.
According to Anxi customs, there should be a simple and easily understandable word before the Lord’s name.
What should he call himself?
Countless words flowed through Eivass’s mind.
Sun, Light, Shining, Warm, Justice, Fairness, Liberation, Forgiveness, Perfection, Sacred…
And finally, Eivass settled on the title.
“…I am Eivass, Hope Eivass.”
He declared:
“— From now on, this place shall be called the City of Dawning Light.”
(End of this chapter)
