Outside Black Stone City, as the sun set.
Beneath the colossal statue, atop the sacrificial platform, the Dinosaur Elder had sat there for many days without interruption.
Whether it rained or blew fiercely, the elder remained seated there in peace.
Its eyes were half-closed, its body trembled slightly, yet it had never moved.
Several priests sat alongside the Dinosaur Elder.
These past few days, neither the Dinosaur Elder nor the priests had eaten so much as a morsel.
Given the Dinosaur People's natural constitution, a single full meal could sustain them for a month without food.
But unlike the Dinosaur People in their prime, the Dinosaur Elder was already very old.
After going without food for so many consecutive days, while enduring torrential rain and the occasional fierce wind, its body had naturally grown weaker and weaker.
Why had the Dinosaur Elder chosen to sit here?
First, it wished to pray for the tribespeople who had gone on the expedition, seeking that faint comfort of the heart through devout faith.
Second, the Dinosaur Elder had already sensed death drawing near. Rather than die in the empty hall of Black Stone City, it preferred to die beneath the gaze of the gods.
It no longer struggled, nor did it stubbornly hope to see the majestic form of its Father God once more in its remaining short days.
So, it intended to end its life beneath the statue of the Father God.
A successor had already been chosen. Whatever the Children of Lava would face from here on, they could only fight for and seize for themselves.
If it could enter the gods' kingdom after passing on, then it would pray for the Children of Lava and bless them. That was probably enough.
The Dinosaur Elder intended to pass away in meditation before the statue as a devout believer, and the priests of the Sacrificial Order did not stop it.
For a devout believer, this was instead the course most in line with the Lava Populace's understanding of faith in this age.
It was an honor, the finest choice for a believer to return to the gods' embrace and kingdom.
For a race of universal believers, this truly counted as a dignified death.
The elder who had devoted its entire life to the growth and prosperity of the race was now about to return to the gods' embrace. Naturally, the Dinosaur People of Black Stone City had been filled with sorrow and unease these past few days.
Ahead of them, tens of thousands of Dinosaur People warriors had set out on an expedition; behind them, the elder was about to pass away. The emotions this brought were bound to be intensely unsettling.
The Dinosaur Elder had always been the firmest spiritual pillar in the mortal world for the Dinosaur People. Now that they were suddenly about to lose that pillar, even with a successor, the people were still filled with anxious uncertainty.
Many Dinosaur People wanted to see the elder off one last time, but the Sacrificial Order had said that the elder wanted quiet and wished to find a moment of peace at the end of its life. Thus, most ordinary Dinosaur People could only stand atop Black Stone City's towering walls and watch from afar.
At the same time, they silently prayed in their hearts, praying that the elder would gain eternal life and happiness in the gods' Divine Kingdom.
"Ah-father, is Elder truly going to die?"
On Black Stone City's lofty walls, a Dinosaur People child held his father's hand and looked up in confusion.
"No, Elder will not die. Elder is merely returning to the gods' embrace; Elder is going to the Divine Kingdom of our Father God, the great Lava and Earth. There, Elder will serve Father God forever and enjoy eternal tranquility."
The tall Dinosaur People man picked up his child and placed him on his broad shoulders.
"Oh, then have you seen Father God's kingdom, Ah-father? Is it fun there?" The child's innocent eyes gleamed.
Then, the child's crying quickly rang out from the city wall.
Was the Divine Kingdom a place for him to play? Blaspheming the gods—he deserved a beating!
The Dinosaur People were very straightforward when educating their children. Their children also had thick hides and could take a beating, so Dinosaur People children being beaten from childhood onward had practically become a hallmark of this age.
After disciplining the child, the adult Dinosaur People man turned his gaze toward the distant plains, toward the few blurry figures visible atop the platform, while the child wore a wronged expression and did not dare sniffle any further.
"What will life and the future of the race look like after Black Stone City loses Elder? It truly worries me."
"Isn't that so? But now we can only hope that Lord Dunba truly is the wise priest Elder said he was," a Dinosaur People person at the side of the crowd sighed and replied.
"Yes, we can only hope so. But the tribespeople are very uneasy now! Who knows how those warriors on the expedition are doing? Those Children of Wind are unreliable too. They haven't sent back any news for days. It truly makes one worry."
"Alas, Near Sea is still quite far from here. Besides, The Alliance's warriors have only just arrived, and they may need to discuss the campaign. Let us wait patiently a little longer!"
"By the way, Goro, how are things over at Eternal Frozen Ice Land? That restless 'Great Worm' hasn't caused any trouble along the border, has it?" A Dinosaur People person beside him abruptly changed the subject and asked Goro.
"For now, it is still behaving itself. But that sleepy Evil God always moves toward the borders of our Pastoral Land whenever it awakens. The temperature there has dropped greatly, and we have even had to restrict the grazing grounds of the Black Ox. I actually returned this time to report this matter to the Sacrificial Order. If possible, I even hope the elders of the Sacrificial Order can send their most elite warriors to try driving that Evil God away."
"Alas, I never expected that I would happen to encounter the Children of Water asking us for help upon returning. Though everyone had long expected it, everything happened far too suddenly."
Goro sighed as he gazed at the distant horizon, and a trace of deep concern appeared in his eyes.
Seeing Goro like this, the Dinosaur People person beside him also looked worried, but then seemed to think of something and said,
"Sending elite warriors will probably be difficult. After all, the Holy City only has its final defensive force left now. But many of our Blood Kin did not participate in this expedition. Haven't the elders of the Sacrificial Order considered assigning our brothers to you?"
"Blood Kin?" Goro smiled bitterly.
"Our Blood Kin cannot be deployed so casually. At the Holy Mountain of the Great Volcano, we rely entirely on our Blood Kin to guard those unhatched young. You should know that those eggs are the future of us Children of Lava. We cannot afford even the slightest lapse! And the Earth-Drilling Demon Worms underground have also become increasingly restless. Alas, in short, the state of our age has always given me a deeply uneasy feeling. Perhaps this is the world's new trial for us, the people of the Four Gods of Order!"
This time, the Dinosaur People person beside Goro fell silent as well, sinking into deep worry.
Yes, the peaceful years that had lasted for several thousand years were finally going to be shattered.
Whether Order could continue standing firm in this chaotic world had become harder and harder to see.
If only our Father God were still here, and had already awakened. But where was our Father God now?
As the new generation of Dinosaur People, almost none of the current Dinosaur People had ever seen the face of their Father God. All they knew came from the records of the Sacrificial Order and the distant divine statues.
Upon Black Stone City's walls, the vast crowds watching the elder from afar discussed the race's future to varying degrees, all looking troubled and worried. The other three races, who had come merely to watch, seemed comparatively calm.
However, at some moment amid the worry, unease, and clamor, an intense rumble suddenly erupted from beneath the earth.
The rumble made the entire ground quake, shaking the buildings and people alike from side to side as though an earthquake of magnitude five or six had struck.
For a moment, everyone among the Four Races was seized by terror and scrambled to find the dreadful thing that had caused the earth-shaking rumble.
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