Alka and his companions, piloting the Voice of the Dawn, landed on a stretch of ocean. There were no reference points around them; it was just a vast, boundless ocean.
Everyone was on deck, while Urulius stood in the center, raising his dragon's head and gazing at the sky above them.
"Is this the place?" Alka asked uncertainly.
Because there was nothing here.
There were no reference points, nothing special; it was just the same sea they sailed through as usual.
But this was their destination.
Alka even opened her eyes, capable of prying into secrets, but still saw nothing.
If this were true, then the defenses here were truly rigorous, almost godlike.
Ululius looked at the puzzled crowd and nodded. "It's right here, all around us. It's hidden because it's hidden.
It's hidden so deeply that no one can find it, not even a god."
As he spoke, Ululius spread his wings, poised for takeoff.
But his wings didn't flap; instead, he held them in place, his head held high. The crystal pillars on his body began to shimmer with a brilliant light. Then, Ululius opened his mouth and chanted a language that Alka and the others couldn't quite understand, but they could hear its meaning. As he uttered it, it drew upon the surrounding magical energy.
"I sing here! I am the Dragon of Radiance, I am the Dragon of Prismatic Light. The Radiant Stone will mend the world.
We will, with our radiant bodies, fashion the outer shell of the world, protecting its everlasting radiance!"
A faint light began to flicker around them, words that resembled both an incantation and a declaration. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Alka's penetrating eyes finally detected the hidden fluctuations in the air.
The fluctuations grew wider and more frequent, and the surrounding light flickered more and more.
Then, a patch of daylight completely obscured everyone's vision, and the daylight flashed by. And the place where they were also underwent a different transformation. They were still floating on the sea, and the surface of the sea remained unchanged.
However, when they looked up at the sky, a huge building constructed of white stone and some crystals floated above them.
This huge structure cast a shadow over them, but it was surrounded by a large amount of rubble.
From below, they could not clearly see the structure's top, but from the floating rubble, they could tell that it had become a half-complete ruin.
The rubble was all various building walls or pillars, with carvings and patterns visible on them, and structures similar to door frames and windows. These were likely the exterior walls of a building complex.
They floated in the sky, as if frozen in time.
"As expected, it's already in ruins?" Ululius muttered to himself, seemingly unsurprised by the scene before him.
"Is this the place you were talking about?" Jason asked, looking at the building floating above them.
Ululius nodded. "The radiant city of Naphpas, the first city in the sky."
"How do we get up there? Fly?" Sofia asked.
"The gravity around here isn't right," Julia said, suddenly pushing off the boat with all her might.
She floated lightly upwards into the sky.
Seeing this, everyone followed suit, and the puppet girls seemed to enjoy the experience immensely.
Pororo leaped up with a sudden leap, soaring like an arrow. Just as he was about to collide with a piece of gravel, he quickly used his hand to cushion his impact.
However, perhaps because he had exhausted his strength a little, he collided with the gravel but was not injured. Instead, the gravel floated slightly upwards with his impact.
Everything here seemed to have lost its gravity.
Urulius spread his wings and soared effortlessly, moving effortlessly with a simple flap of his wings.
Arka leaped with Lucelia to the nearest piece of gravel, landing firmly on it as the gravel swayed.
The gravel beneath their feet seemed to be from a pillar, adorned with a circular crystal ring.
Everyone, in this zero-gravity space, displayed their unique abilities, rapidly climbing upwards.
They wanted to see the massive structure towering over them and see what it had become.
Sofia flew up, transformed into a blue meteor, and grasped Alka's hand.
The two of them soared into the sky at breakneck speed.
Then, they slowed down, slowly soaring into the sky. Finally, they had a full view of the floating building before them.
It was a massive, fortress-like structure.
Or perhaps a massive castle.
The fortress's architecture was composed of white materials, embellished with silver metal and nearly transparent crystal.
Countless towers and spires had collapsed, revealing that nearly half of the city had collapsed, making it difficult to spot any completely intact buildings.
However, nothing was completely destroyed; most were missing sections, scattered in rubble.
The majority of the main structures remained intact.
Even the surrounding walls and fortresses were riddled with gaps and potholes.
The ruins, which were still relatively well-preserved, offered a glimpse into its former glory.
Jason and the others also flew over to Alka and the others, floating lightly in mid-air.
Only the puppet girls paid no attention to this, instead jumping and playing on the rubble of the ruins.
Urulius flew up and looked at the ruined castle.
"If it were intact, it would be as beautiful as in my dreams."
"Should we go in? Are there any defenses?" Alka asked from the side.
Although a fortress like this may appear to be in ruins, most of the damage is to the roofs of the buildings.
The foundation and lower levels of the entire building are relatively well-preserved.
Not to mention that even within the broken ruins, the rubble still floated around the fortress, suggesting that many of its defenses might still be intact, or even in operation.
"No need. This place has long lost its power source. All that remains is an empty shell that's inconvenient to carry away."
Urulius said, flapping his wings and gliding towards the fortress.
Everyone watched and flew over, emitting magical energy from their arms, allowing them to soar without any support.
Soon, everyone followed Urulius and landed on the building together.
Underfoot was the pristine white floor, the stone smoothly cut from a single block.
It was hard to imagine that this ruin had survived here for tens of thousands of years.
Silver metal, white boulders, and dazzling crystals—these materials together formed the entire fortress.
The architectural style was captivating, as if it had emerged from mythology; even the ruins were breathtaking.
Before them stood a massive doorframe.
The doorframe stood seventeen or eighteen meters tall, broken at the top on each side, each with its own distinct shape.
Judging from the structure, there were likely no gates.
One after another, massive objects resembling crossbows and artillery pieces sat atop the city walls. Some had vanished due to gaps, but most had completely collapsed or been completely destroyed, falling to the ground.
They were clearly scrapped.
The group passed through the gate frame and entered.
They faced a vast plaza, and in its center stood the statue they had just clearly seen.
It was a giant dragon roaring toward the sky, flanked by several other dragons, fluttering around it in battle stances.
These dragons looked almost identical to Urulius, likely belonging to the same class of crystal dragons.
The group stood beneath the dragon statue, looking up at the surrounding buildings. Everything around them seemed enormous: the massive city walls, the massive buildings, the massive doorframes, and the massive, half-collapsed spires.
"Descendants, come to me."
A vast, commanding voice echoed, and everyone instantly became alert. Treasures appeared beside them.
They looked in the direction of the voice.
Inside the square stood a massive door.
The massive door stood nearly ten meters tall, and about four or five meters wide.
Above the door were carvings of two giant dragons dancing, and a dense mass of flying dragons. Below, figures resembling dragon-men held weapons.
"Descendants, come to me."
The voice echoed again, identical to the last time, not even the emotion changing.
"Not a real life, like emotionless emotion," Alka said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Then she looked at Urulius beside her. "Let's go in. I can sense he's the one guiding me here."
Everyone nodded and followed Ululius toward the building.
However, they didn't let their guard down. They kept their treasures visible, ensuring they could be immediately involved in the battle.
Ululius and the others arrived at the gate.
On either side of the gate were two rows of courtyards extending outward, with massive stone pillars propped up beside them.
It felt as if this were a giant's palace.
Ululius raised his paws, pressed against the door, and pushed it open with force.
It seemed like no one had opened this door in ages. With a resounding click, the door slowly swung open.
Perhaps because the interior was so empty and vast, the sound echoed through it.
As the gate swung open, everyone looked inside.
What a sight! A vast hall.
‐‐ It seemed as if countless giants were meeting here.
‐‐ The dome rose thirty or forty meters high, inlaid with countless intricately carved crystal panels.
‐‐ The entire hall's area rivaled the vast square outside; it was so vast and spacious.
‐‐ Using an unknown technique, these crystal panels depicted various scenes. Some seemed to be wars between gods.
‐‐ It seemed to be a war between gods and dragons, and others seemed to be fighting between various strange creatures and powerful humans and various evil monsters.
‐‐ Beneath the dome, towering stone pillars crowned it.
‐‐ These crystals seemed to emit a natural light, illuminating the entire hall.
‐‐ At the innermost part of the hall stood a massive throne.
‐‐ The throne was made of pure, transparent crystal, and upon it could rest a dragon over ten or twenty meters long.
Atop the crystal throne was indeed a sculpture resembling a giant dragon.
The two sides beneath it were remarkably empty.
Various crystal murals were inlaid around it, and even the floor was paved with a translucent material like white jade.
Everyone was stunned by the scene.
They had arrived at what seemed to be a gathering place for the gods.
They seemed to glimpse what this place had once been like.
A massive crystal dragon, several times larger than Urulius, clad in a vast, majestic crystal.
It sat perched atop the throne, gazing down at the beings below.
On either side were a variety of enormous creatures.
Giants, dragons, monsters, gods.
Humans and dragonkind, densely packed like ants, also took their places around it.
This seemed to be a scene from its heyday.
The illusion vanished in an instant. Everyone's minds gradually withdrew.
"Descendant, come here." The voice rang out again, its words changing.
Suddenly, they seemed to see the dragon on the throne speaking again.
However, the throne was empty. Urulius walked slowly through the hall, his heavy footsteps echoing loudly.
The dragon, still only a young man, stopped at the foot of the throne.
It raised its head and looked down at the throne.
Alka and the others also came behind Urulius, gazing at the empty throne.
A breeze seemed to blow.
As the breeze blew, a large, majestic figure appeared on the throne.
The enormous dragon they had seen in the illusion appeared upon the throne, perched atop the massive crystal throne.
The crystal's radiance illuminated its slightly ethereal form.
The enormous dragon's head lowered slightly, gazing at Alka and the others, and at Ululius standing before them.
"Descendant, you have arrived."
Looking at this majestic figure and that commanding voice, Ululius lowered his head slightly, a gesture of respect.
Alka and the others also bowed their heads slightly.
"Tens of thousands of years have passed, and you, descendant, have finally arrived before me."
As he spoke, his emotions finally showed.
Suddenly, his words turned serious: "Look at me, my descendant. Do you remember your innate duty? Do you remember the responsibility that flows through your blood? Do you remember the pressure this world has placed on you?"
Urulius lowered his head: "I remember my innate duty. I accept the responsibility that flows through my blood, and I bear the pressure the world has placed on me."
"Then are you willing to pay?"
"I am willing to pay, grandfather."
"Very well, descendant, my child's child."
The behemoth's majesty seemed to fade as he spoke, a tone that seemed inappropriately tender.
He extended his dragon claws, but the gentle movement pierced Urulius's head. Everything was a false illusion.
But the dragon didn't seem to care. He stared at Urulius.
"Remember your duty, descendants. Now bring your warriors to receive the final legacy."
As he spoke, the crystal of the throne radiated a brilliant light, and the surrounding crystal murals also shone. These lights converged in the center of the hall, where crystals spread out layer upon layer, freezing the entire hall into a crystal world.
The crystal's multiple facets illuminated everyone, reflecting their appearances.
And in the frozen center, a thin, exceptionally smooth crystal surface appeared.
But the crystal surface rippled like water, and everyone could not see the other side of it, but rather an endless crystal space.
Urulius turned to look at the thin surface, then back at Jason.
"Let's go, warrior."
Jason seemed to understand something, nodded, and let out a long breath. He glanced at Alka and the others, then followed Urulius to the crystal surface.
The two of them passed through the crystal surface and disappeared.
Alka and the others stood there, puzzled by the situation, but unwilling to ask too many questions.
He turned to look at the throne behind him.
Above the throne.
The massive figure still hovered above it, unwavering.
He lowered his head slightly to look at Alka and the others, who remained standing.
"Tell me about the damaged world outside."