r18novel Chapter 86: Hall of Heroes
Chapter 86: Hall of Heroes
Hong and Taino stepped through the open metal door, and a complex aura of rust, blood, and decay instantly enveloped them.
The interior of the passage was far more expansive than imagined, resembling a bottomless canyon. The ground beneath their feet was not flat, but covered with a thick layer of metallic dust and countless fragments of bones. Each step produced a "crackling" sound, which was particularly jarring in the empty environment.
The alloy walls on both sides were covered with hideous claw marks and terrifying traces of energy explosions. Some places were even pierced by immense force, revealing the complex mechanical structure behind them.
"The weakest traces of these energy explosions could only have been left by the self-destruction of a World Lord-level powerhouse. Moreover, judging from the density and types of damage, a massive siege battle likely took place here back then. The warriors of Sword-Devouring Star were using their lives to buy time for the escape from this fortress."
Qiu Jian's virtual figure emerged from Hong's wrist. He surveyed the surrounding carnage and stated a cruel fact.
Taino's bloodline connection became even stronger here. As if drawn by an invisible force, his eyes were vacant, and he uncontrollably led Hong along a route deeper into the fortress.
They walked through several enormous corridors that resembled abandoned city streets, and finally stopped in front of a gigantic alloy door that was hundreds of meters high.
The door was a dark, blood-red color, engraved with countless intricate and mysterious patterns, resembling an ancient, ferocious beast silently crouching at the edge of this ruin. The stench of blood and the fluctuations of energy seeping from the tightly closed door nearly suffocated Taino on the spot.
He stretched out his slightly trembling hand and tried to open the door with the power of his own bloodline.
The moment his blood touched the intricate runes on the door, the entire massive door lit up. The complex runes burst forth with a dazzling red light.
"Boom!"
With a heavy rumble, the door slowly opened to both sides.
The sight behind the door made Hong pause for a moment.
It was not the treasure trove or control center he had imagined, but a vast "Hall of Heroes".
Tens of thousands of transparent crystal coffins floated silently in this vast and boundless space.
Within each crystal coffin lies a warrior of the Sword-Loving Star. Their life force has long since ceased, but their bodies have remained immortal for millennia under the protection of some mysterious power.
At the very center of this hall stood a golden coffin, dozens of times larger than any of the other coffins. Inside lay a middle-aged man clad in dark gold armor, his face exuding an incomparably dignified air.
As Taino stepped into the area of the Hall of Heroes, the golden coffin suddenly burst forth with dazzling light. A lingering projection of consciousness was fully activated by Taino's bloodline power.
The illusory figure of a majestic man clad in armor slowly emerged from the golden coffin, gazing tenderly at Taino, whose face was streaked with tears.
"Welcome back, child who has been away from home."
The majestic voice of the man, carrying the weariness and vicissitudes of countless years, echoed in the empty hall.
"You...you are?" Taino's voice trembled. He could feel that the aura of the powerful person in front of him resonated with the memories in his bloodline.
"I am Azure Thunder, the captain of the personal guard under the Star Lord. What you see before you are the last 37,000 heroes of the Sword-Loving Star."
The images of Azure Thunder reveal the brutal truth of the cataclysmic disaster that occurred tens of thousands of years ago.
"Tens of thousands of years ago, our allies on the Sword-Loving Star betrayed us. They colluded with our mortal enemies, the Machine Race, and launched a long-planned surprise attack on our home planet while our star lord was away and missing."
"The war came too suddenly. Countless soldiers were slaughtered in their own homes before they even had time to put on their armor. This war fortress was the last spark ship we sent out, after exhausting the strength of our entire civilization."
After recounting all this, the image of the bodyguard captain, Cang Lei, became increasingly ethereal. His gaze shifted to Hong.
"Powerful outsider, thank you for bringing our child home. Deep within this fortress, the commander under the Star Lord personally oversees the defenses. Perhaps there you will find what you seek."
But then, the image of Azure Thunder issued a final warning.
"However, be careful. To eliminate any future threats, the Machine Race left behind a vicious 'Mechanical Curse' in the core area of the fortress. That power has corrupted our last line of defense. Although the puppets have been weakened considerably over the long years, we still need to deal with them on a small scale. Go, child, go and receive the final legacy of the Blood Shadow Commander..."
Before he finished speaking, Cang Lei's image completely vanished, turning into specks of golden light that merged back into the golden coffin.
Hong and Taino proceeded along the only passage of the Hall of Heroes toward the deepest part of the fortress.
As they stepped into a long, narrow metal corridor, a piercing alarm suddenly and wildly blared throughout the entire corridor.
Inside the walls on both sides of the passage, combat puppets that had been dormant suddenly had their eyes glow with an eerie crimson light. Their movements became chaotic, filled with madness and destruction, as they roared and broke free from the walls, rushing madly towards Hong and Taino.
The puppets' attacks were imbued with a grayish-black corrosive energy. When their attacks touched Hong's unfolding field of light, the field's barriers emitted a "sizzling" corrosive sound, and tiny gaps appeared as they were eroded.
"Back off!"
Hong gave a low shout, shielding Taino, who was almost entirely defenseless, behind him. The black spear in his hand hummed, unleashing its full power, as he single-handedly confronted the endless torrent of puppets.
"open!"
The genetic energy within Hong's body was operating at an unprecedented speed. With the amplification of twenty times from the first level of the "Blood Blossom" secret technique, every shot he fired carried terrifying, destructive power.
Within the narrow passage, a bloody storm of slaughter erupted instantly. Hong's figure darted among the puppets. With each flash of the black gun, a puppet was torn to shreds by the terrifying force of the impact.
Single-handedly, he carved out a path paved with metal debris on this essential route to the core.
At the end of the corridor is a huge circular central hall.
Wherever the light of the domain reached, what came into view was a scene of extreme carnage.
The hall floor was piled high with layers of bones and broken weapons and armor. Judging from the style of the armor, Qiu Jian identified that a large portion of them belonged to the most elite guard legion of the Sword Devouring Star back then.
At the very center of the hall stood a colossal throne made entirely of an unknown black crystal.
Seated on the throne was a tall skeleton that was extremely well preserved.
This skeleton was nearly twice the size of an ordinary person, clad in a magnificent and intricately designed dark purple body armor. Even after tens of thousands of years since its demise, it still exuded a chilling, invisible pressure.
The moment Taino saw the skeleton, it was as if all the strength had been drained from his body. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face. It was a grief and sorrow etched deep within his very genes that overwhelmed him.
"It's the 'Purple Star' commander... This is the battle armor of 'Purple Star,' one of the three commanders under the Star Lord!" Qiu Jian's voice also carried a hint of barely perceptible tremor.
Hong's gaze, however, did not linger on the skeleton.
His gaze was fixed on the skeleton's still tightly clenched right hand.
There, a rhomboid crystal, roughly the size of a fist, emitting a soft red glow, lay quietly. Within it lay a pure and powerful energy so terrifying that it chilled Hongdu to the bone.