Chapter 1314 - The Desolate Old Battlefield (2/2)
Before she could complete her sentence, Lily bounded over excitedly. “I heard it! I heard it! But since I didn’t see you guys react, I thought I was hearing things…”
Hao Ren and Vivian glanced at each other, thinking in unison, Damn that dog’s hearing.
Right then, the thundering voice of the Lord of the Mountains put a stop to their banter. The rock giant pointed rather happily at an argent obelisk in the distance. “Ah, the monitoring station. It’s still there!”
The monitoring station was a two to three-meter-tall obelisk, and at first glance, it looked like some memorial plaque with many shiny runes inscribed on it. Only when they got close did they find out that it was not rooted to the ground. Rather, it was a floating object hovering about a meter above ground. There was a concave platform at the bottom, and between the platform and the obelisk was a web of innumerable lines, where data exchange seemed to be occurring.
The obelisk was simply a grand monument to most people, but for the Lord of the Mountains and his kin, the equipment was a tiny thingamajig that required them to bend to operate. Geddon was on one knee as he placed his hand on the argent surface of the obelisk and read the data within. Hao Ren took the opportunity to ask a few questions, “So this Forgotten Abyss… I mean the ‘old world’, does it have any surviving force that’s still capable of fighting? Like that army of automatons you had before?”
“Any surviving forces?” Geddon was stunned for a moment, before he shook his head slowly. “Probably not.”
“Probably?”
“We fell under Lockmarton’s thrall three centuries ago, but in truth, the Wardens lost control of the Forgotten Abyss about a thousand years ago.” Geddon’s tone was demure as it was obvious that he was recalling bitter memories from the past. “So, simply put, for the past ten centuries, there have technically been no guards in this prison. No one knew what actually happened, and we had no idea if the automated systems we left behind were still working, or if they were destroyed… until today. We have been clueless. But with this monitoring station, I should be able to grasp the situation soon enough.”
“We have failed in our duty.” Another warden sighed.
Hao Ren did not say anything, and only mentally communicated with the MDT to sift through the information that the probes had sent back. Lil Pea hugged his arm as she curled up, behaving for once.
At that moment, a light burst out from the obelisk in Geddon’s hand, and a holographic projection appeared. The image was blurry. A soldier in full armor appeared in the projection, and the background was a scene of chaotic, frantic warfare. Reports came streaming from the projection. “The 17th recording… Lost ground… We have failed to reclaim our base… Still unable to contact the Warden’s Army… We are… at the Scorched Plains… We will hold until the… Bzzzzt.”
The projection came to an end. Geddon seemed stunned by the information he just saw, mumbling under his breath, “Mortal soldiers…”
Hao Ren immediately asked, “When was that recorded?”
“Seven centuries ago,” Geddon said. “It was the last data received by the station.”
“This army was probably doomed.” Vivian sighed. “But why were there mortal armies here?”
“They were the ‘Spirit Braves’ mentioned earlier,” Geddon explained. “The strongest and the best of mortal spirits. They had faith in Mother and willingly joined the Warden’s Army after death. They were revived in this nightmarish world to fight against Lockmarton. They are auxiliary units of the Warden’s Army, not the main force though.”
“Yet they lasted way longer than the main force,” Lily quipped nonchalantly.
Geddon lowered his head, and only spoke after a good while, “You are absolutely right.”
Hao Ren recalled the war cries he heard earlier. He heard it, Vivian heard it, and Lily had clearly heard it. They were definitely not hearing things!
In that split moment, that faint sound rang by his ears again and as he looked up, he squinted.
Massive, foreboding darkness had appeared on the horizon!