Children of the Final Plague

The violent roar and tremors roused Lily from her unconsciousness.

She looked around in confusion, a strong wind blowing in her face, and she felt herself flying through the air, with wing-like alchemical machines hanging from her back and waist. The events that had happened earlier came to mind.

Severely injured by Cuixisi's sneak attack, the highly corrosive mysterious element instantly entered her body, causing distortion and erosion. Even though Kang De Extraction and decomposed the toxins for her at the fastest speed, he was still greatly weakened.

Later...

She begged Kang De to leave quickly, but Kang De ordered the alchemical armor to take her away while he stayed behind to hold off Cuixisi. Watching the Fire Thief disappear into the distance, she struggled desperately, her mind turbulent, her injuries and exhaustion overwhelming her, and then she fainted.

The dragon race's superior physical attributes and healing abilities allowed her to quickly regain consciousness.

But what lies before us is no longer the scorching, dimly lit River of Origin.

Instead, it was a deep, icy blue.

We have returned to the blue zone from the red zone.

--Kang De!

That person's image flashed through her mind, and Lily struggled, saying, "Put me down!"

"Madam, please don't let your father's good intentions go to waste."

The tremors from the lower levels even reached here, and rubble continued to fall from the surrounding stone walls. The terrifying aftershocks indicated a fierce battle, but Lily's surprise didn't end there.

"Father?"

She remembered the voice.

Lily paused for a moment, then shouted, "Since you have your own consciousness, you should come with me to help Kang De! Although he is Fire Thief and his alchemy and spatial magic are very powerful, as a warrior, his strength and skills are inadequate! He simply cannot withstand Cuixisi's surprise attack!"

Horus hesitated and remained silent.

After a short while, it said, "I was given intelligence and life, but without any mandatory contracts or rules. I possess the ability to distinguish right from wrong and judge what is right and wrong, as well as the right and reason to make independent decisions. I also possess emotions similar to those of intelligent beings. Madam, reason and emotion are conflicting within my soul, and worry is burning my essence. Please believe me, I want my father to be safe and sound even more than you do."

Lily said urgently, "Then let's do it right away..."

But my answer remains no.

"Why?"

Horus said calmly, "Because I believe in my father, just as you and Lady A Xing believe in him."

The Dragon Girl froze, then became even more agitated, saying, "It's different! There are limits to everything! He was clearly being reckless, and he was blinded by A Xing's situation! That's why he did something so suicidal!"

"Yes, madam, you're right about the first part. Father was putting on a brave face, and he lost control of his anger because of what happened to Ms. A Xing, but he was definitely not courting death. I know him better than you do."

Horus said slowly, "Father is more afraid of death than you think. It is precisely because he is afraid of death that he acts tough. He has always acted tough. In Glittering Sand, when he was weak, he chose to act tough when facing an entire viscountry of enemies, and he killed them all. He did the same in Valentan, he did the same in Danfeng Lucerne, and he did the same in other things that you don't know about. He will do the same this time."

"I regret his stubbornness and his choice."

"But he was full of confidence."

"When he made up his mind, he must have chosen to give up something, but not his life. He feared death more than you think because the people he cared about wanted him to live. And those people were far more numerous than you can imagine or know."

"Therefore, I trust Father's judgment and decision. We have no room to interfere in the battles to come, especially since your injuries are no longer sufficient for high-intensity combat."

Horus said in a deep voice, "Therefore, madam, please leave with me."

The Transformers's voice was deep and composed, with a magnetic electronic synthesized voice that exuded leadership qualities, making people feel at ease and extremely reliable. It was specially trained based on the Transformers.

It's utterly unimaginable that before this, when Kang De ordered him to take the A Xing away, the Iron Son's voice and opposition were even louder and more vehement Lily's.

Lily remained silent.

The excruciating pain in her abdomen continued. Cuixisi's attack hadn't just torn flesh apart; the greatest drain and pain came from the terrifying erosion and corruption, which had consumed a large amount of her vital energy.

Although the Dragon Girl could still shout loudly, she knew that her fighting power had been greatly reduced. She was even cold-handed and sweating profusely, and the fear and despair from before still lingered in her heart.

"At least..." she said, "Put me down, I'll leave on my own, and you go back to help Kang De."

"Though I would very much like to do so," Horus replied, "My father's orders are to send you to the entrance to the underworld, and I also favor this option, because I want to ensure you don't have the strength to secretly follow him back."

"You!"

"Please don't speak. I need to get you to a completely safe place. The less time we spend, the faster I can get back to my father."

Horus threatened, "So please don't interfere or cause trouble, and don't try to struggle or get rid of me, madam. I must tell you that as a highly sophisticated alchemical mechanical life form developed and created by my father, my internal structure is intricate yet fragile. Any attack or collision could damage my structure, severely impacting my combat capabilities and functions. Therefore, if you don't want me to be unable to fight due to functional impairment, then don't harbor any intention of launching a surprise attack to suppress me and then going to aid my father..."

"... Okay, shut up, you're too noisy!"

After saying that, Lily let her arms and legs hang limply, allowing Horus to hoist her into the air and fly forward at high speed, without uttering a sound, probably having resigned herself to her fate.

But endless regret and resentment gnawed at his heart.

Ultimately, she was powerless to protect others and could only let others protect her.

The wings spewed jets of flame, Horus accelerated forward.

Passing through the steep cave slopes, traversing the icy blue world, this is already the Blue Zone, where glowing plants and crystal clusters shimmer with a dreamlike light, like a fairyland. However, the icy blue radiance is now gradually changing color, becoming deeper and more sinister, as the surging River of Origin at the bottom gradually influences the wonders above.

After all, before the ancients set foot in this underground world, it was desolate, silent, and utterly dark.

Seeds are sown, rivers flow, mysterious elements permeate layer by layer, and over thousands of years, time slowly catalyzes and nurtures them, resulting in this transformed landscape.

As Lily passed through a dreamlike sea of crystal flowers, her body trembled at first, then she struggled to get up.

"Wait a moment!"

Horus was growing impatient. The Transformers talked about trust and obedience, but their anxiety was intensifying. They wanted nothing more than to fly to the entrance, abandon the Dragon Girl, and return to fight alongside their father. They'd finally managed to calm the mother dragon down, and now this?

It said impatiently, "What are you waiting for? Father is downstairs having a fight with Cuixisi, don't bother looking!"

Lily didn't understand the slang, but that wasn't the point.

She shouted, "Look down! It's gone!"

Horus asked, "Who?"

"I don't know which one it was, it was so rotten it was unrecognizable—but it's gone!"

The Dragon Girl shouted sharply, "It's the giant dragon we saw here!"

The Transformers's wings retracted, and it suddenly descended, releasing Lily at low altitude. Then it transformed into a human and landed in the dreamy blue sea of flowers, its visor radiating light as it scanned its surroundings.

Lily landed gracefully, frowning and clutching her lower abdomen. "It's true... it's gone."

They discovered the dragon's corpse in a dreamlike sea of flowers when they found the entrance to the passage and followed the corridor into the Blue Zone. They also found the Echo Stone it left behind.

Today, its enormous and deformed body has vanished without a trace.

Horus, alert to his surroundings, released miniature probes to scan in all directions. The Dragon Girl surveyed the mess on the ground, the crushed glowing flowers, and the traces of corrosive blood seeping into the earth. After a while, Lily looked incredulous and exclaimed in surprise.

"No ambush was found; it shouldn't be nearby," Horus said. "How so?"

"It..."

Lily swallowed hard and said slowly, "It might have turned into human form."

The Transformers was startled. "What? Wasn't it already dead?"

The Dragon Girl remained silent, her pale face showing an unprecedented solemnity.

After a moment of silence, she slowly said, "You've seen Cuixisi's appearance, as well as Wei'insi's and Luzi's. Tell me, are they alive or dead, corrupted and defiled by the mysterious elements?"

Horus blurted out instinctively, "Of course, alive..."

It suddenly fell silent, and the red light emanating from its mask trembled violently.

Lily lowered her eyes and whispered, "This substance is unheard of and unseen before, but it has exhibited a new property... Is that strange?"

There are countless examples throughout history of extraterrestrial substances eroding living beings and transforming harmless life into cruel and insane alien creatures; such examples are not surprising.

Horus analyzed for a moment, then decisively stated, "We need more information!"

"Then let's hurry up."

Where can I find more information?

Besides Cuixisi, the dragon delegation that entered this place and met with misfortune consisted of six dragons. They encountered four of them: the mad dragon Aocheweier, the unknown dragon corpse in the Crystal Flower Sea, Luzi who was corrupted by Cuixisi in front of them and then committed suicide, and Wei'insi blocked and delayed them.

Apart from the fact that Wei'insi was banished to the White Mist World and killed by Kang De, there are three surviving remains: this one has disappeared, Luzi committed suicide by falling off a cliff, and Aocheweier was left behind.

But Luzi's body is deeper down, and going there now is dangerous.

So...

Leaving the blue zone, head towards the desolate upper stone forest abyss, a green land teeming with fungi, plants, water, and even tiny life forms—a relatively normal ecosystem.

With the dragon's powerful memory and the Transformers' even more extravagant memory bank, they quickly located the site of the mad dragon Aocheweier's Dragonfall.

The dragon corpse vanished, and there was no trace of any large dragons passing by.

It clearly changed shape and left silently.

Only two of the three cases were confirmed.

But for this terrifying and unknown mysterious element... two examples are enough to confirm it.

The secrets of Space-Time Flashback, the voices instigating Cuixisi to evil, ancient secrets, a grander conspiracy—and now, the intrigue and threat stem not only from Cuixisi's ambition for "ascension," nor merely from his desire to raise the River of Origin to the heavens...

Lily took a deep breath. "Where... did they go?"

Horus replied, "Two possibilities."

The first type: they all went to help Cuixisi in the battle.

This is unlikely, and if it were, Horus would inevitably run into them along the way as he leaves with Lily.

So, the second option...

The Dragon Girl and the mechanical body exchanged a glance. Then, Horus transformed into wings and soared into the sky. The Dragon Girl leaped up, locked the lock, and propelled the flames from the nozzle, shooting off into the distance like a falcon.

Since we know the way, verifying it will be quick.

They sped along until they arrived at the entrance to the underground world.

Looking at the familiar scenery around her—the babbling brook, the clusters of fungi, the quiet greenery— Lily felt a surge of sorrow.

She, A Xing, and Kang De entered the underground world from this place, but now only she has returned. A Xing's fate is unknown, Kang De is fighting for his life with Cuixisi below. In the blink of an eye, everything has changed. After passing through a nearly two-thousand-meter-deep underground cave, she arrived here and was attracted by the magnificent and unique scenery. The memories of that time were still vivid in her mind, but it felt like a long time ago.

Let's go.

The cave, 1,800 meters deep, eventually leads here, winding and turning countless times. The journey here took a lot of time, mainly to find the right direction... but the return trip was much faster.

They sped upwards unimpeded, their flames gleaming in the darkness.

Upon reaching the surface, the scene before them vanished. The steel fortress that had been built above the entrance had mostly collapsed, and its steel dome had been completely destroyed.

The Dragon Girl's mind jolted, and she soared into the air. Flames raged all around, arrows flew and shouts rang out, and magical light shone in the distance. Hot air balloons in the sky deployed long-range firepower platforms, and attacks were ready from all directions.

Then, a familiar voice rang out. "Friendly troops!"

The order was obeyed without question. The Dragon Girl looked in the direction of the voice. Stella waved her staff, her blue and white robes fluttering in the wind, and she rode a white horse galloping over.

Lily landed a short distance away and asked urgently, "What happened?"

Stella shouted at the same time, "Where's Kang De!"

They both paused simultaneously. Stella stared at the dragon before her, still wary of this mysterious mother dragon who had seduced Kang De, but she also remembered Kang De's words.

"Princess Stella," Horus, transforming into human form beside Lily, "Please trust her."

Her Highness took a deep breath. "Dragons... Just a short while ago, several giant dragons broke through the steel fortress built by Kang De and flew away into the distance."

Lily's expression changed drastically. "Which direction?"

Stella pointed. "At sea... our aviation mages tried to give chase, but couldn't keep up with the dragons' speed; they could only see them flying out of Goth territory in the distance..."

"... Did they join up with the dragon army in the outer sea? That shouldn't be the case, they clearly already... If they've been discovered... what is their purpose...?"

Lily muttered to herself rapidly, her words flowing like a torrent.

"I'm afraid it's more than that. The four dragons split up, with only one flying towards the direction of the dragon army's encampment," Stella said urgently. "So, what about Kang De!?"

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PS1: Speaking of which, the titles of these chapters are quite catchy: The Chosen of the God of Creation, The Pain of the Past, The First Descent of the Veil, Chamber of Ascension. Sigh, the content itself is quite serious, it's just that it gets a bit late in the series...

PS2: By the way, the title of this chapter is also quite fitting. (laughs)