Prophet of Regret and Extinction

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As he stepped into this unimaginably grand underground ruin, even Sui Meng, worldly and iron-willed as he was, could not help but feel a trace of emotion and indescribable shock deep within his heart.

It was not because of its immense scale.

Though that was indeed impressive—the colossal stone pillars seemed to bear the weight of the entire planet, while the towering dome vanished into the shadows, its architectural scale far beyond ordinary human standards—what truly moved Sui Meng was the sorrow and extinction permeating every corner of the place, so dense they seemed almost tangible.

He could not help recalling his experiences in Universe 18, StarCraft.

The Xel'Naga ruins there had likewise been magnificent and imposing, filled with incomprehensible godlike technology and the majesty of Precursors.

But their atmosphere had been cold and aloof, an empty shell left behind after "gods" had fallen asleep or departed, devoid of emotional warmth.

After all, in that universe, the Xel'Naga had indeed been regarded as creator gods. In the end, they had chosen to merge with his father, Emperor Sui Yang, becoming part of his father's power and knowledge, part of the Empire's foundation.

In a sense, in Universe 18, his father had already replaced the Xel'Naga and become the embodiment of that universe's supreme laws.

The Tavolantis ruins before him, however, were completely different.

There was no divine transcendence here, only the elegy of a civilization.

Just as the War Maiden had sensed, every cold stone and every carved line seemed to silently mourn their former glory, the struggle that followed, and their final desperate self-sacrifice.

This overwhelming desolation, belonging to the collective end of an intelligent species, struck the heart far more deeply than any temple of gods.

Halsey, on the other hand, swiftly entered her own "analysis mode"