Dust and smoke churned across the ground, and the roars of the battlefield were gradually swallowed by silence.
The Shandia chief and the young Gan Fall slowly pushed themselves up from where they had fallen. Before they could even brush the dirt from their bodies, they were both stunned by the sight in the sky.
A young figure wreathed in lightning floated high above.
Arcs of electricity danced around him, like a judge sent down from the heavens, his eyes gleaming with a light that made hearts tremble.
—That was a god.
—At least, he looked like one.
The two leaders nearly held their breath at the same time.
The Shandia chief was the first to recover. He picked up his fallen spear and pointed it at Gan Fall, his voice hoarse with fury. "Great God of Heavenly Thunder!!"
"These Sky Island invaders stole our land!"
"They defiled the legend of Noland and the honor of the ancestors that we Shandia have protected for generations!"
"My people have endured for centuries, seeking only to reclaim our home!!!"
His voice was like a war drum piercing the air, every word carrying the weight of blood and tears.
The Shandia warriors' eyes reddened, and angry breaths rose and fell around them.
At the same time, the young Gan Fall was already brimming with fighting spirit.
He was still far from becoming the calm and benevolent "god" of the future. Instead, he was more like a young Sky Island king, hot-blooded and fierce.
The Shandia chief's accusation ignited his fighting spirit, and he roared back, "You Shandians! All you talk about is your home!"
"But God's Island was clearly the Holy Land first discovered and cultivated by our ancestors!!!"
"You are the unreasonable intruders!!!"
The air above the battlefield suddenly turned scorching hot.
The Shandians gripped their weapons, their fighting spirit fully ignited.
The Sky Island warriors' impact spears began charging, blue light surging around their tips.
Unable to bear the hatred of centuries any longer, the leaders closed in on each other, while the warriors' nerves tightened until they ached.
—Just one more step, one more breath, and battle would erupt again.
At that very moment—
"Screech—!!!"
Lightning suddenly exploded between the two leaders!
Rock descended like a bolt from heaven, flashing down to the ground. With both hands extended, he casually pressed one hand onto the head of the Shandia chief and the other onto Gan Fall's.
The movement was casual, yet it carried absolute suppression.
"You two—"
His tone was as relaxed as though he were scolding children who had gotten into an argument.
"Calm down."
Shandia chief: "?!?!"
Gan Fall: "Uh?! Y-you, let go of me!!"
They both struggled with all their might, muscles bulging and veins standing out, only to discover in horror—
No matter how hard they struggled, their bodies could not even sway in the slightest.
Shandia warrior: "The chief was suppressed with one hand...!"
Sky Island warrior: "Even Lord Gan Fall can't move... Who is he?!"
Shock and fear rapidly spread through both sides.
Just as the leaders of both peoples were being "held down by the head" by Rock—
"Rumble—rumble—rumble!!!"
Deafening engine roars came from the depths of the sky.
Everyone instinctively looked up and saw that, at some unknown time, more than ten strange flying vessels had appeared high overhead, their hulls flickering with power patterns.
Flame Dial nozzles spewed steady flames, holding the vessels in a neat formation like a fleet of the Kingdom of God, hovering majestically above the battlefield.
Pale blue-white smoke drifted from the vessels' side wings, making them look mysterious and awe-inspiring.
The Shandia warriors' eyes narrowed instantly. "W-what kind of monsters are those?!"
The Sky Island warriors tightened their grips on their spears. "An unknown force...?!"
Neither the Sky Islanders nor the Shandians had ever seen ships with such a level of technology.
The existence of these flying vessels completely overturned everything they knew about "civilization."
Rock gently released his hands.
The two men who had been held down immediately retreated to their respective camps, watching Rock and the entire "fleet of gods" behind him with wary eyes.
The warriors of both sides also entered a state of high alert at once—
Yet Rock merely raised one hand slightly, lightning gently flickering around his arm.
He floated above the battlefield, thunder coiling behind him, while more than ten flying vessels silently hovered at his back like attendants to a divine throne.
He smiled faintly. "All right—"
"Let me"
Lightning gathered in his eyes, and his voice suddenly became clear and resolute.
"clear up this misunderstanding that has lasted for centuries."
—
Under Rock's command, the flying vessels tore through layer upon layer of clouds in the White-White Sea like beasts, speeding toward Shandora.
He arranged for two vessels to carry Gan Fall and his Sky Island warriors separately from the Shandia chief and the still-furious Shandia warriors.
The two groups watched each other through the clouds, wary, angry, and uneasy...
As the flying vessels traveled smoothly onward, they found themselves within an unfamiliar technological miracle for the first time, and the fire of war in their hearts was gradually replaced by awe.
—Until they truly arrived there.
When the flying vessels slowly descended, everyone had their breath completely stolen by the sight before them.
What they saw was not ruins.
Not an abandoned city.
It was a Golden City that remained incomparably magnificent despite enduring centuries of hardship.
Golden city walls reflected blazing light amid the clouds, while giant trees entwined towering golden pillars, as though guarding an ancient myth.
The golden statues by the road had long been marked by the passage of time, yet they still stood tall, solemn, and inviolable.
The Shandia warriors' pupils widened. Pointing ahead, their voices trembled beyond recognition:
"T-that... that is... the Golden City...???"
"It's real... It's all real...?!"
In that instant, countless Shandians felt their breaths freeze in their chests.
The legendary great ancestral land, the Golden City... really was in the sky!!!
At that moment, Rock flashed before the Golden Bell.
He raised his fist, lightning flowing around it, his gaze firm.
The next second—
"GONG--------!!!"
Thunder struck the giant bell, and its booming ring shattered the air.
Golden sound waves spread from the heart of Shandora, sweeping across the entire Sky Island like tidal waves, piercing through the White-White Sea and scattering toward the heavens tens of thousands of meters above.
The entire Sky Island trembled.
It was deafening, yet incomparably magnificent.
At that moment, even time seemed to stop.
To the Shandians, this was no ordinary bell.
It was the sound of their ancestors' honor being proven.
The "legend of Noland," mocked by the Sky Islanders for four hundred years, and the "Golden City," twisted by history into a dream, now told them in the most earth-shaking way—
Noland had not lied!
Kalgara had not gone mad!
The Golden City was real, and their homeland was right here!!!
One Shandian after another fell to their knees, tears spilling onto the Cloud Grass.
"Ancestors... we have returned..."
"Our homeland... truly is in the sky..."
Those were centuries of bitterness, rage, grievance, and perseverance...
All proven in this very moment.
To the Sky Islanders, they had always regarded the Kingdom of God as their own Holy Land.
But when the Golden Bell rang out, they finally understood the truth: this land had originally been the Shandians' home.
They had taken another people's ancestral land without ever knowing it.
The Holy Land they had been so proud of had been built upon another people's suffering.
Gan Fall's eyes trembled, and the hand gripping his spear finally loosened.
"So... the beginning of the war truly was that we took their ancestral land..."
The Sky Island warriors slowly lowered their weapons, shame and reverence appearing in their eyes for the first time.
For the first time, the bell allowed them to clearly see the truth of history and understand the Shandia warriors' persistence and grief.
The echoes of the Golden Bell shattered not only misunderstanding, but also centuries of hatred.
It was the sound of peace, allowing both peoples to understand each other's pain and persistence.
It was the bell that redeemed the wronged.
It was the first bridge that allowed the two peoples to truly speak to each other.
As the sound waves faded, swords and spears across the battlefield lowered.
Gan Fall lowered his head and sighed, speaking sincerely. "The Sky Islanders... owe you a heartfelt apology."
"What we fought over truly was your home."
The Shandia chief pressed a fist to his chest and said gravely, "We Shandia... are willing to acknowledge your sincerity."
"The war ends from this moment onward."
Hatred ended in that moment, and both sides finally let go of the blood feud that had lasted for centuries.
Rock floated in the air, watching it all as lightning flickered in his eyes.
Before you continue