The Sky Kingdom, Sinapus.
This was a kingdom located above the firmament, far above the peak of Mountain Paradise. This was where the gods resided, and where the light shone.
In the vast sea of clouds, one could vaguely see huge white towers towering among them. Pure white circular platforms rose and fell in the clouds, and from time to time, elegant and pleasant bells could be heard.
But as far as the eye could see, not a single person could be seen in this beautiful, sacred, and solemn city.
It was the same even in the sanctuary at the highest point of Mountain Paradise.
In the main hall of the "Glory Sanctuary", not a single person could be seen. There were only ten white stone slabs that were more than thirty meters tall erected in the center of the sanctuary.
They were arranged to form a circle.
Metal and copper wires could be seen spreading from behind these stone slabs, and then forming unique patterns on the walls — that was the symbol of the gods, the holy emblem.
"We have failed."
An old voice emerged from the stone slabs, and along with this voice, one of the ten stone slabs began to emit bright and dazzling sunlight.
"Now, our world has reached the most critical juncture. Everyone, we must do everything possible to prevent the tragedy from happening.
This time, the lower realms have come in full force, and I can feel that the Wheel of Fate has begun to turn again. I'm afraid that it won't be long before we face the final judgment. "
"This is their conspiracy. This is what they have always wanted to do. For this judgment, the old fellows in the lower realms have been planning for thousands of years. Now, it seems that they have clearly found a chess piece that can reflect their will. However, our preparations are not sufficient."
Another voice sounded, and along with it was a blue radiance.
"The bloodline of the Son of God has been eroded, and the original plan is no longer feasible. We must change our approach and strategy, and make a decision as soon as possible.
Otherwise, we can only watch helplessly as the Final Judgement Day arrives. "
"But, for now, we have no better way."
"No, we do!"
A thunderous voice suddenly rang out, followed by lightning that danced and spread in the void.
"We can activate the 'Hound Plan', which is what we have been preparing for. Everyone!
Now is the time for the 'Hound Plan' to be activated! "
"But …"
Hearing this voice, the aqua blue light dimmed slightly, and then became bright again.
"But the 'Hound Plan' has always been the God of War's responsibility, and we all know that in this situation …"
She didn't finish her sentence, but the stone slabs that were whispering to each other once again remained silent.
Although they had no line of sight, they seemed to be looking at one of the stone slabs at this moment. Unlike the other bright white stone slabs, this stone slab was unusually dark, and there were even many cracks on its smooth surface.
Fortunately, the stone slab still retained its original form.
On the other side, the stone slab was completely broken, and only half of it was left.
"Time waits for no man, everyone."
The thunderous voice spoke again, and then fell into a decisive silence, as if it did not intend to say anything more.
Along with the disappearance of this voice, the entire Sanctuary fell into silence once again.
After an unknown period of time, the dazzling golden light flashed again, and the old voice appeared again.
"Let's begin the voting. I think we really have no choice but to restart the 'Hound Plan'. Please vote."
At this point, the stone slab flickered, and a golden radiance emerged from within.
After a while, a few different colors also appeared on the other stone slabs.
In the end, apart from the two seemingly damaged stone slabs, there was only one stone slab that remained untouched.
"Do you have any other opinions?
Rewini? "
"I don't know …"
Facing the old voice's question, the aqua blue light flickered once more.
"However, I always have a bad feeling that the current 'Hunting Dog' plan isn't complete. Moreover, when Maca was in charge of this plan, not every one of us knew exactly how it worked.
Under these circumstances, rashly activating the 'Hound Plan' might backfire … "
"But we have no other choice."
"..."
As the old voice spoke again, the aqua blue light became much dimmer. A moment later, a long sigh sounded from within.
"Let's do as you wish then."
Then, the aqua blue light finally shone.
"Alright then, unanimous decision."
Along with this statement, the entire sacred hall emanated a dazzling radiance like the rising sun.
The dazzling radiance emanated from within the Saint Hall and in an instant, even the azure sky turned snow-white under the dazzling radiance.
At the same time, amidst the clouds, the originally still tower suddenly moved. It began to tremble. Shortly after, golden lines extended from the bottom of the tower all the way up to the top of the tower.
From afar, it looked as though a totem was drawn on the towers.
Shortly after, the towers began to transform.
Metal cylinders that were almost two meters tall spun and extended out of the tower. They were like pine tree leaves densely covering the entire tower.
At the next moment, the metal cylinders roared as they blasted out of the tower, bringing along dazzling trails of light as they descended from the clouds.
Stars shone brightly.
Under the pitch-black curtain of the night, people gazed in astonishment at the golden radiance streaking across the sky and falling to the ground.
It was like a large meteor shower. No one knew why there were so many meteors streaking across the sky, and no one knew where these meteors were going to fall.
Be it nobles or civilians, the only thing they could do was to widen their eyes, gape, and stare blankly at the continuous streaks of light streaking across the sky.
Water Cut Town was an inconspicuous small town on the Klein Continent. Or perhaps, it should be said that, like other small towns, the people here lived a life where they worked from dawn to dusk.
To them, a stable life had become the most important thing.
It was due to this reason that when the residents of this small town witnessed hundreds of meteors whizzing down toward their homes, they panicked.
The whistling meteors crashed into the ground one after another, producing loud noises and sparks.
On the other hand, the residents of Water Cut Town screamed frantically, hugging their children and relatives as they scurried around like headless flies.
Most of them ran into the forest at the side, hoping to avoid the meteors.
At that moment, the terrifying wild wolves and giant bears in the forest had long been forgotten by the residents. Right now, the only thing on their minds was to get away from this place, far away, and away from this place shrouded in meteors!
Boom!!
"Argh!"
Another meteor landed, startling the young man who was sprinting forward and causing him to fall to the ground.
His body trembled as he stared at the huge crater in front of him. At the same time, he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. He was thankful that his legs weren't as strong as before. If not, perhaps he would have been crushed to death by this meteor … Hmm?
It was only at that moment that the young man realized that something was amiss. He lifted his head in astonishment and scanned his surroundings.
It was only then that he realized that the surroundings had become dead silent.
Apart from the smoking craters, there was nothing else falling from the sky. The surroundings had become incomparably quiet.
As far as the eye could see, the only things that could be seen were the smoking craters and the smashed, dilapidated houses.
For some reason, the world was so quiet at that moment. Even the barking of dogs seemed to have disappeared.
What's going on?
Looking at the scene in front of him in confusion, the young man stood up and looked around in fear.
In the places not far away from him, some of the town's residents also came back to their senses. They either poked their heads out from under the broken bricks and tiles, or raised their heads to look at the pitch-black night sky.
But apart from the shining stars, there was nothing else.
Clatter …
Until this moment, a subtle metallic sound caught the young man's attention. He couldn't help but turn his head in the direction of the sound.
Then, the young man was surprised to find that in the crater in front of him, it wasn't the bright red glowing stone that he had imagined. On the contrary, it was a tall metal cylinder.
No matter what it was, in short, it definitely wasn't formed naturally.
What exactly is this?
Gazing at the metal cylinder, the young man couldn't help but feel a strong sense of curiosity. He walked down the ramp, came to the side of the metal cylinder, and observed it carefully.
The metal cylinder wasn't as hot to the touch as he had imagined. On the contrary, it felt somewhat ice-cold.
Moreover, the metal cylinder was also engraved with beautiful and sacred patterns.
As an illiterate apprentice who had never left the town, the young man didn't know what this symbol meant.
But he also sensed the nobility and majesty emanating from the patterns and symbols.
The young man couldn't help but extend his hand and touch the metal cylinder.
Ssss — — —!
The instant the young man's hand touched the metal cylinder, all of a sudden, a soft sound sounded from within. Then, the tightly shut metal cylinder suddenly blossomed like a flower.
Looking at this scene, the young man instinctively retracted his hand and tried to retreat.
But it was a pity that it was too late.
At the next moment, a sacred, beautiful brilliance flew out of the cylinder, drilling into the young man's body through his opened mouth.
Shortly after, the young man's body emanated a dazzling radiance from the inside out.
Shortly after, the radiance emanating from the young man's body 'coalesced' into an eggshell-like existence.
After a few moments, it turned into specks of light dust and vanished into thin air.
The young man who was wrapped in the radiance reappeared.
But now, he no longer had his original appearance.
That shy and bashful young man had completely disappeared.
In his place was a tall, burly, fair-skinned man clad in silver-whitish armor. He had a head of long, platinum blonde hair and wore a unique, one-piece white armor.
On the man's back, a pair of pure white wings of light gradually appeared, curled up, and disappeared into his back.
The young man opened his eyes, lowered his head, and gazed at his body.
Then, he clenched his fists, walked up to the metal cylinder, and retrieved a sacred and gorgeous sword from his internal force, as well as a shield embedded with holy runes.
Then, he skillfully placed his weapons on his back, walked out of the pit, and lifted his head to survey the surroundings. At that moment, as far as the young man's gaze went, people who were dressed similarly to him walked over one after another.
On the other hand, the town residents were nowhere to be seen.