A cold, clear understanding flashed in Linde's eyes, like lightning streaking across the night:
"Therefore, the God of Fusion seeks the forced fusion of flesh and soul, attempting to transform all things into amorphous lumps of flesh, returning them to primordial chaos; while the pollution in the Shadow Abyss this time is more inclined to the erosion and assimilation at the level of information and energy, attempting to incorporate everything into its chaotic data flow... This is merely a manifestation of their different 'preferences' or 'methods,' but their core and fundamental purpose remains consistent—to return order to chaos?"
"That's one way to understand it."
Amaserac spoke slowly, his voice carrying a weariness from witnessing too many repeated tragedies, “They are like a group of predators who are always hungry, following their most primal instincts. And a world like the continent of Til, with its sound laws, active energy, and a nascent and still thriving civilization, is, in their perception that cannot be measured by common sense, an incredibly delicious and alluring ‘prey’.”
"So, where exactly do they originate?"
Linde pressed on, his tone leaving no room for argument; he needed more precise information to plan for the future.
"Is it lurking in some unknown dark corner of our universe? Or... from a more unsettling realm beyond the universe?"
The unsettling prompts on the system interface flashed through his mind, and he had a vague feeling that the answer might point to the latter.
A rare hint of hesitation appeared within Amazelak's vast wave of will, as if he were touching upon a taboo that even he himself feared.
"...It cannot be determined. The inscriptions on the oldest dragon tablets vaguely suggest that they may have originated from the 'flaws' at the beginning of the birth of our universe, the shadows that inevitably arise with the establishment of order, the opposite of light; but some of the most adventurous and powerful 'Astral Travelers' in the history of the dragons, when exploring the dangerous forbidden zones of the astral plane where even light is swallowed, captured some fragmented and mind-shaking pieces of information that vaguely pointed to... the 'Void' outside our universe."
"Void..."
Linde repeated the word in a low voice, as if his tongue tasted an absolute coldness and deathly silence, an ultimate unknown that even the concept of "nothingness" could not fully describe.
The mere concept caused the purple crystal deep within his consciousness to tremble slightly, emitting a warning wave.
"It is a 'nothingness' that cannot be measured by length, time, or even any known physical rules; it is the absolute opposite of order, existence, and meaning."
Amaserak's voice carried an unprecedentedly serious warning: "If they truly originate from there, then what we are facing may not just be 'predators' acting on instinct, but something that represents ultimate annihilation, attempting to drag the entire ordered universe into eternal cold and silence... 'erosion' itself. That will be a war... on the level of survival."
This conjecture sent a chill through Lind's already frozen heart.
If the opponent is some kind of natural law or rule-based disaster on a cosmic scale, how insignificant and powerless would the strength of an individual or a single civilization appear before it? This is far more despairing than facing an enemy with a clear will and whose thoughts can be fathomed.
"Dragons...and other ancient races with equally long histories and profound heritage, have there ever been large-scale, decisive conflicts with them over the long course of history?"
Linde took a different approach, attempting to find lessons and potential weaknesses in history.
Amaserak's enormous dragon eyes slowly closed, as if overwhelmed by the burden, before opening again a moment later, revealing a deep-seated weariness and vicissitude in his amber pupils.
“Yes, it has. In an era far older than the Zedu civilization, so ancient that even the memories of the dragon race’s heritage were beginning to fade, and even in my own time as a young dragon, just hatched and full of curiosity about the world… the continent of Tiel, and even this vast star field where we are, has experienced more than one devastating ‘Great Purge’.”
"That was not a war in the usual sense, but... a catastrophe that swept everything."
The stars went out one after another like candles being blown out, and the continental plates collapsed and sank under indescribable forces. Countless civilizations that were once glorious and prosperous, with their magical skills reaching the pinnacle, vanished completely into the long river of history, like sand paintings wiped away by an invisible giant hand, leaving not even a trace.
Even the mighty dragon race was nearly wiped out in that catastrophe, their bloodline severed and their knowledge obscured. We... are merely the descendants of a tiny, lucky few who struggled to survive that catastrophe.
His gaze refocused on Lind, a gaze imbued with an unyielding solemnity that had traversed countless cycles of destruction and rebirth:
“Each time, the way these ‘cleaners’ appear, their methods of attack, and the intensity they exhibit are different, as if they are constantly evolving, but the utterly destructive nature they bring to order itself has never changed.”
Based on the periodic fluctuations of certain cosmological constants observed by the Dragon Clan, and calculations using fragments of ancient prophecies obtained at the cost of lives… a new wave, whose scale and intensity may far exceed anything we have ever recorded before, is gathering power in distant deep space, slowly… approaching.
"That is why, despite our differences and ancient covenants, Elessia, Urano, and I were ultimately willing to sit down and accept the new order framework established by you—a being who is not a god, yet possesses the power to kill gods and a vision that transcends time."
Internal strife and pointless waste appear both laughable and pathetic in the face of a threat that concerns the survival of all living beings.
We must set aside our differences, unite all forces that can be united, and integrate all resources and wisdom to prepare as fully as possible for the final test that may come in the not-too-distant future.
Linde remained silent for a moment, standing quietly before the mountain-like dragon, as if he too had become a statue.
The grand and brutal picture revealed by Amazelak unfolded slowly in his mind like an incredibly heavy scroll, connecting his previous guesses and the scattered information he had obtained from the Kingdom of Tiorantis and the Zedo Key.
The truth of the world is far darker and more... dramatic than he had imagined in the Black Rock Territory laboratory.
“So,” Lind’s voice broke the silence, carrying a cold, penetrating force, “these sporadic infiltrations and contaminations we are facing now are very likely just advance reconnaissance before the arrival of the ‘ultimate wave’? Or, a battlefield ‘softening’ and intelligence gathering process before the main force truly arrives?”
"Very likely."
Amaserak nodded heavily, his massive head creating a slight whirlwind in the surrounding airflow.
"They are testing the strength of our world's defenses, looking for weaknesses in the world's rules and regulations, adapting to our energy environment and fighting style, and even... cunningly exploiting our internal contradictions and rifts."
The 'information cocoon' you previously discovered and eliminated is clear evidence that they are attempting to use the technological legacy of extinct native civilizations as a vehicle for more covert infiltration and adaptive evolution. This form of invasion is more difficult to defend against and...more dangerous than simple violent destruction.
Linde raised his head, his purple eyes burning with what seemed like a cold flame—an extreme calmness and fighting spirit that was ignited in the face of dire circumstances.
"It seems that our previous preparations, whether it was the establishment of the Spark Charter or the integration of internal forces, were far from sufficient."
We cannot be satisfied with merely passive defense and post-event internal cleanup.
We must find a more proactive strategy… For example, could we trace their source signals in reverse? Or, could we do something at their stronghold, or their gathering place? Even just a limited reconnaissance or jamming operation?
Amarselak let out a low sigh, like the grinding of millions of rocks, or a sigh from the depths of the earth, a sigh filled with helplessness:
"It's difficult, the children of the outliers. Their tracks are like ghosts in the cosmic microwave background radiation, elusive and traversing the dimensional gaps that even astral dragons fear, making it hard to pinpoint their exact source."
Forcibly pursuing deep space tracking will most likely result in getting lost in the boundless and dangerous astral labyrinth, or being drawn into those void rifts where even the rules of spacetime are disordered.
The most powerful and adventurous 'Astral Travelers' in the history of the Dragonkin all attempted to explore deeper into the cosmos with unparalleled strength and courage, but most of them...never returned. Only a very few sent back fragmented, vague, and terrified messages before completely losing contact.
"But it's not like there are absolutely no clues, right?"
Lind keenly caught the extremely subtle reservation in Amaserak's words, like a glimmer of light in the darkness. His intuition told him that this ancient being must know something.
The ancient dragon stared intently at Lind, its amber eyes seemingly conjuring countless possibilities, engaging in deductions and weighing decisions far beyond the comprehension of mortals.
He was assessing the risks and potential benefits of sharing this information, and examining whether Lind had the ability and the will to bear such a heavy secret.
"……really."
After a long silence, Amarselak seemed to have made up his mind, a resolute determination shining through his grand will.
"Deep within the most secret heritage of the Dragon Clan, protected by the will of successive Dragon Kings, are several fragments of star maps obtained by ancient sages at the cost of their lives."
They marked the coordinates of star systems that were considered by observers throughout history to be frequent activities of 'extraterrestrial evil gods' or had unusually strange energy reactions, which were incompatible with any known laws of natural celestial bodies.
But I must warn you, those marked places... are all perilous places where even demigods would face certain death if they stepped into them; they are deserts of order and breeding grounds of chaos.
Even with your current power—a return from godhood, a being of both light and darkness—going there rashly would be extremely dangerous, with a very high chance of death.
"I need those coordinates."
Linde's voice was calm and unwavering, as if stating a given fact, but beneath that calm lay a determination as cold as iron for millions of years.
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