Chapter 456: Chapter 376: The Bells of History

"This war will soon end."

Seeing that the Third Prince delayed his action, the Pope finally reminded him, "This is your last chance."

"What if I refuse?"

The Third Prince asked in return.

From the situation, all he needed to do was bow to the Pope here, and he could buy some time for himself and Earth Wolf Twelve. After the war ended, whether they would have to deliver speeches as commanded by the Ashen Church was an unknown.

But then, the Third Prince hesitated.

The Pope must also have thought of this obvious "loophole." For a person as suspicious by nature as him, a promise would certainly not be satisfactory.

The Third Prince then realized, this place was the Holy City, they were right beneath the grand cathedral in a secret space.

And what the Ashen Church was best at was spiritual control.

"Oh? Have you noticed?"

The Pope seemed to see through the Third Prince’s mind and candidly admitted, "You’re right, this is a ritual, a proof of your determination."

Once a pact was formed, it would be branded into the soul.

Just like the humans of the Ashen Empire who had willingly made a pact with the Sun King, devoting everything of theirs to their deity in return for the deity bringing light to the world.

"You are just on a path once trodden by your predecessors."

"But as I understand it, the Sun King chose humanity out of benevolence and love, not to lock them in with iron-clad pacts,"

said the Third Prince.

The Pope was somewhat surprised, "It seems you’ve seriously listened to the teachings in the sacred songs, but you should understand, all those are the consolidated versions for external propaganda."

In the praises of the Believers, the Sun King naturally is a righteous, fair, loving, and omnipotent deity.

And those parts unfavorable to his image were all omitted.

...

Meanwhile, in the Land of Eternal Night, at the top of the high tower.

Duan Mingyuan shrank back his right hand that had touched the throne, and when he regained his senses, the ground under his feet was already covered in greenery, with intertwining vines crawling up the entire tower.

Just now, he had undergone a lengthy process.

Aside from the Dark Night Witch and the one who rolled down the mountain, number 1721, the Primordial Void Demon had once sent out 666 Consciousness Fragments, most of which failed during the merger with the hosts; human bodies find it tough to contain a demon’s soul, and all the "dead" consciousnesses would return to the Land of Eternal Night, bearing with them everything they had witnessed.

All these memories had flashed through Duan Mingyuan’s mind.

The disappearance of the "Black Mud" and the Sun King occurred at the same era, and likewise, in that same era, another catastrophe of great significance to humanity occurred.

The Ashen Empire was destroyed due to the planet’s "Cocoon" conversion.

In the thousands of years that followed, the refugees from the Ashen Empire fought against the "Cocoon" conversions happening on various planets.

Among the many will fragments sent out by the Demon Ancestor, there was one extremely special existence.

It merged with a devout believer of the Ashen Church.

This Angel Envoy detected the threat from the Land of Eternal Night but was willing to use himself as a test subject, allowing the echo of the Void Demon to reside within his body. He harbored the thought of reforming the demon, prompting the Believers to imprison him.

He was also the last Angel Envoy recorded by the Ashen Church to have been personally chosen by the Sun King.

That is why this memory fragment contained many details not recorded in the "Genesis."

One of which was the Sun King’s experiment.

Contrary to the public stance of the Ashen Church, the Sun King, upon sensing his life nearing its end, did not gladly accept the arrival of death. Instead, he initiated a series of experiments throughout the Ashen Empire, obsessively studying the nature of energy itself. The method by which Ashen Believers now gather Scorching Sun Power through faith is a product of that era.

However, during the final years of the Sun King’s rule, the energy that was "levied" was not used to expand the empire’s infrastructure but was instead directed toward the Golden Throne that the Sun King personally crafted.

In essence, the Golden Throne was a massive receiver of Scorching Sun Power.

Yet with this method, he could only slow down the rate at which the Sun King disappeared and could not solve the problem of energy depletion at its root.

It was not until he continually researched that the Sun King thought of another possibility.

The soul must be attached to a body to exist. Although his energy could temporarily detach from the body, that would cause the rate of energy dissipation to increase by several times.

Therefore, he had to find a brand-new vessel.

At first, he turned his attention to humans but soon realized that their frail bodies could not bear his soul and will. He needed something broader, something more special.

Such as the planet itself.

During the years the Angel Envoy was imprisoned, the Sun King had abandoned the planet of the Ashen Empire. Yet, whenever there were major issues concerning the destiny of the empire, both the imperial and church elites would seek his advice.

This period of peace lasted until the end of the Ashen Empire.

The Primordial Demon’s symbiosis extended the Angel Envoy’s life, allowing him to witness the Ashen Empire’s transition from prosperity to decay. When the Angel Envoy warned the imperial and church leaders that he foresaw their homeland being destroyed in a solar storm, the empire’s leaders believed that the soul of this envoy had been corrupted by the Void Demon.

Of course, that was the part the Ashen Empire claimed publicly.

The truth was, the Angel Envoy believed that the empire should help its citizens find a new home before the solar storm arrived, a concept that contradicted the views of the Archbishop at the time.

The Archbishop firmly believed that for the Ashen Empire, it was just a trivial trial, and they had sufficient ability to overcome this crisis.

The real reason that the Angel Envoy was convicted and branded a traitor was that he "slandered" the Sun King.

The Angel Envoy closely observed the changes in Scorching Sun Power and believed that such changes were the aftermath of the Sun King’s initial experiments.

The Sun King wanted to create a new vessel on the planet the Ashen Empire occupied that could house his soul, but ultimately, he failed. Perhaps even the Sun King himself did not realize that these failed experiments had yielded something else.

Or perhaps, the all-knowing, all-powerful Sun King was aware of this but chose to ignore the risks to prolong his own life.

In Duan Mingyuan’s view, this envoy had indeed been corrupted.

But it was specifically the will of the Demon Ancestor that severed his contract with the Sun King, allowing him to see the flawed side of the Sun King.

Regrettably, at that time, the empire’s leaders ignored his warnings and imprisoned him in a secluded cage.

When the solar storm arrived, the evacuation fleet did not come to rescue him.

And this devout believer also accompanied his homeland to its end.

"What ... did you see?"

The Dark Night Witch had come up behind Duan Mingyuan at some point, patiently waiting there.

She saw that Duan Mingyuan had not mounted the throne but was merely touching the faint human figure on the throne with his right hand, seemingly engaged in some communication beyond ordinary knowledge.

"I saw some negative feedback that is not favorable to the wisdom of the Sun King,"

Duan Mingyuan concluded, "From the information I currently hold, it is very likely that the ’Cocooning’ of the planet was caused by the Sun King."

A powerful, insane researcher, in an act of desperation to prolong his dwindling life, carried out these mad actions.

If these accusations hold true ...

It would undoubtedly become the biggest lie told across the centuries.

Everyone had concluded that the ’Cocooning’ was a catastrophe brought by the Void Demon.

Even He Ya herself believed as much.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read