MTLNOVEL Chapter 489: Dawn
On the streets of the Zhengxu Democratic Republic, at some unknown time, cursors appeared, and a multitude of light particles formed humanoid shapes out of thin air.
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The newly descended players quickly discovered the streets had changed. Zhengxu's soldiers were approaching with ill intent, their names displayed in red.
This didn't affect the players' judgment.
The moment Zhengxu soldiers revealed their health bars, the players who had been holding back for a month immediately drew their weapons, grimly smiling even more cruelly than their foes.
"Therefore, I must not only praise humanity, praise civilization, praise life."
With a heavy gaze, he raised his hand and pounded his chest, declaring:
"Long live the light."
The storm outside became more intense, the atmospheric pressure dropping lower, threatening to cause unconsciousness and suffocation from imbalance.
But for the people of the Outer World, this was long familiar.
A girl was wandering the Outer World; they called her simply "this girl," a name rather common in the Outer World.
The people of the Four Nations, used to beauty filters and tech-enhanced beauties, wouldn't glance twice at a girl with cold, pale skin, covered in frostbite and with small eyes. Yet she was the most common sight here.
Not long ago, this girl lost her last family member—the big boy she had just met two days ago, who called everyone by the same name.
He had gently promised her that for just two lumps of coal, he'd protect her.
Half an hour ago, everyone had been swallowed by the wave of the Apostle of Entropy.
Yet he kept his promise: with his last strength, he floored the throttle, and the speeding car managed to carry her away from the red-black storm of Ersha.
The girl left the fuel-less car, walking on foot through the Outer World's snowstorm.
She was headed to the nearest human settlement, where even if the place might be filled with outlaws, she was, after all, a girl. Trading her body for shelter and warmth might be worthwhile, even if they tired of her; at least she would taste some human care beforehand.
That would be enough.
Hope didn't exist in the Outer World, not even until forty years ago before the 'Hydrogen Bomb Dawn'; people never imagined what the sun and blue sky looked like.
This girl learned the story from a pimp.
As long as she lived, maybe she'd get a chance—another hydrogen bomb, a fleeting dawn, then amidst that gleam, she'd see the radiant sun.
To be honest, it wasn't just her dream; it was everyone's dream.
Suddenly the girl stopped in her tracks.
She saw the ruins of a Red Arrow city ahead, evidently left by a malfunctioned barrier generator. Even the Red Arrow troops had evacuated.
The girl froze for a moment, then ventured into the snow-buried city.
Everyone had already fled, leaving the city streets empty. She carefully scavenged some items, then found a relatively secure and warm spot—a church.
Seemingly, due to the devotion people invested in their faith, it was still fairly intact, the roof mostly solid, the walls thick.
The girl hid in the church, setting up a fire for warmth. She'd also found some food, like an expired cat food can, a half-bottle of water, and even a piece of chocolate.
This was truly her luck.
At that moment, she suddenly realized why the people of the Red Arrow Empire had built churches.
She hadn't been raped today, survived the Ersha crisis, escaped disasters, and found food and shelter—truly as if blessed by a deity.
Thus, she felt obliged to do something, even though she didn't have faith, for the Outer World demanded equivalent exchange. If the deities in the void aided her, she should return some gratitude.
The girl turned around, approached the idol in the church, picked up a broom, brushed away the snow on the idol, then lit a candle. She breathed into her hands, spat, rubbed them together, and cleaned her palms.
Assured of this basic rite, the girl sincerely approached the idol; even as a vagabond of the Outer World, she understood what the Red Arrow Empire's state religion was.
The girl knelt, left hand enveloping the right fist against her heart, and earnestly prayed to the divine:
"I thank you, supreme 'God of the Present World,' sovereign of spacetime and space, and I don't know what other titles you hold, but should I learn, I promise to supplement all those titles to you, Chief God."
She spoke awkwardly, her words absurd, lacking elegant expression, riddled with grammatical errors but brimming with sincerity.
"Thank you for protecting me, granting me food and peace. Thank you for allowing everyone to fulfill their promises. Thank you; I can live until now. I don't know how to say it properly, but I feel I should express my thanks. Essentially, just, many thanks to you."
She bowed her head, pleading:
"If possible, great deity, I have a dream. It may trouble you, but whatever test you set, I can endure."
A snowflake landed in her eyes; she took it as a divine sign and became excited:
"I wish to see sunlight. I heard that forty years ago, Azure Star experienced a 'Hydrogen Bomb Dawn,' and people said the sunlight was golden, the sky azure. I don't understand what those mean, but I want to see what they're like."
"Not just this girl's dream but everyone's dream."
"We strive wholeheartedly, pray to you earnestly, hoping you'll heed my plea and recreate the miracle of light."
"Your Excellency All-Saint Léon."
Thud!
A rusty wrench fell to the ground.
"Huff... Ha... Huff..."
Nomi knelt on one knee, her arms devoured by the Apostle of Entropy.
The sky no longer held the flying Apostle of Entropy.
However, the relentless battles she fought left her trapped on the battlefield, the air thick with accumulating Ersha material.
The unchecked increase of entropy continuously accrued, hampering her regeneration abilities, the aging rate outpacing the regeneration rate.
She gasped heavily, unable to muster the strength to stand.
"Is it... over?"
Nomi lifted her gaze, staring ahead.
The dark blue and vermilion auroras still stood on the ground, amidst the white sands and swirling snow, with ancient voices ceaselessly praising the greatness of Lord Entropy.
Before long, the auroras gradually shimmered and transformed, and a towering slender figure emerged from within.
Measuring 20 meters tall, its form was nebulous, existent and illusory, unshaped, resembling a human form but indescribable through words and traits.
Merely gazing at it felt like having a dictionary forcibly crammed into her brain, torrents of information bombarding her mind, overtaking her thought and basic computation, even basic bodily functions unable to maintain.
Nomi glimpsed it for only a moment, her brain overheated and burst, blood coagulating midair, falling as red snow. She tilted her head, her skeleton and flesh reconstructing and normalizing.
The barely regenerated brain adapted slightly, letting her grasp one realization:
'This opponent is powerful; unbeatable.'
Indeed, it's always been like that, the enemy strong and invincible.
Thus, she turned her head, stubbornly glaring at her opponent.
Snap!
Her brain exploded once more, Arcane Energy activating for regeneration.
After a few gasps, Nomi immediately peered towards her foe again.
After several repetitions, she finally managed to briefly adapt to the opponent's form, qualifying her to gaze directly upon them.