Chapter 1 When You Suddenly Learn

When you suddenly learn that you have been caught in the torrent of time, that the world you know is ten thousand years in the past, and that everything you have experienced is history from ten thousand years ago, anyone would fall into tremendous contradiction and confusion—even a Guardian.

Muru told the Temple Guardian everything he knew. The latter found this shocking fact hard to accept, but he knew that the giant race created by the Mother Goddess would not deceive their own kind, so the news was at least seventy to eighty percent credible. The giant struggled to sit up straight, his gaze falling on Hao Ren: "So… these are the descendants of those rebellious children ten thousand years later?"

Hao Ren spread his hands helplessly. "To be honest, I've explained it to Muru many times. I'm a native-born Earthling and really don't have much blood relation to those rebellious children you're talking about. I don't know what went wrong, but Earthlings look similar to those rebellious children in your eyes."

Muru nodded. "Yes, he's right. His origins are theoretically clean, but his aura does carry the flavor of those rebels. There are many alien species who fled to his planet due to cosmic disasters, so the chaotic bloodline probably arose from that."

"Cosmic disasters?" The Temple Guardian suddenly realized that there were many terms he didn't understand. The outside world had undergone earth-shattering changes without his knowledge.

"The collapse of the Wall of Reality, the deaths of many of Mother's creations, some of the giant Guardians and Source Blood Guardians went mad and lost control, and many strange things happened on many planets," Muru said as he stood up, forcefully helping his scarred compatriot. "The outside world has changed a lot. You've missed a full ten thousand years. It's hard to explain in a short time. Can you still move?"

"I'm alright," the Temple Guardian replied simply, then involuntarily looked at Hao Ren and Lily. He frowned, not concealing his doubts about them. "I can't completely trust strangers, but I trust my compatriots, so I won't be hostile to you for now."

Lily whined softly a couple of times, and Hao Ren smiled. "That's enough. It took Muru quite a while to change his attitude back then."

The Temple Guardian nodded, then very seriously bowed slightly. "Also, your timely rescue just now was greatly appreciated. I thank you for that."

Hao Ren was a bit surprised by this reaction. "Oh, it's nothing—wait, aren't you still wary of us? How come you thanked us so readily?"

"Those are two different matters," the Temple Guardian said solemnly.

Hao Ren scratched his head, thinking that the guy in front of him must be a serious and conscientious fellow, the type who could accurately weigh public affairs and private feelings on a scale. He climbed along the fur on Lily's front leg to the back of her neck, and looked up to ask the Temple Guardian, "By the way, are there any others here?"

The Temple Guardian frowned, seeming to hesitate whether to tell the other party about the situation here, but after a little thought, he realized that the secret he was guarding was already something from ten thousand years ago, so he pointed to the door not far away. "One of my companions is guarding the Holy Vault inside, and another is on the plaza in front of the temple. She should be over by the anti-air array. I heard gunfire just now."

"The warrior by the anti-air array has already fallen," Muru said in a low voice. "A heroic death. She destroyed an enemy aircraft and then died on the gun emplacement, and this human named 'Hao Ren' used his warship to destroy the remaining enemies, helping her complete her revenge."

The Temple Guardian fell silent, then after a moment drew a circle on his chest with his hand. "She was a brave recruit, who knew no fear. She was worthy of the life Mother gave her. It seems that only Sif and I are left here now."

Muru looked at the tightly closed temple door. "Can you take us inside?"

"Of course." The Guardian nodded, raised the long staff in his hand, and a bright bolt of lightning shot from the end of the staff, striking a stone mirror at the top of the door. The dark red runes floating on the door dissipated, and the heavy black-gold doors silently retreated to both sides, revealing a long passage.

The Temple Guardian walked ahead, leading the group into the magnificent hall. Hao Ren saw that the interior of the hall was similar in style to the interior of Muru's spacecraft back then. Although most of the place was built with black materials, it did not appear gloomy and oppressive. A clever use of optics and perspective techniques made the huge sculptures and tough lines on both sides of the corridor present a dignified and majestic texture, thereby weakening the dark atmosphere of the place. On both sides of the corridor, one could see neatly arranged lighting facilities and high skylights, and in the long beams of light shining down from these light sources, one could see strips of cloth hanging down from the high sky every so often. The cloth was painted with complex and difficult-to-understand patterns, vaguely similar to the religious paintings of the Holletta Radiant Church.

All these traces indicated one thing, that this place was sacred and special.

Izhaks walked beside the Temple Guardian. He asked casually, "What's your name?"

"Lementusa," the Temple Guardian replied, a little curious. "Where do you come from? I've never seen a creature like you in this universe... you're a bit like the demons living on the scorching planets, but your aura is completely unfamiliar. Mother should not have created a species like you."

"I am indeed a demon, but I come from another world," Izhaks said with a low laugh, "and we have more companions from other worlds."

Lementusa had heard the words "another world" more than once, but he didn't seem to be very interested in it. The only thing he was concerned about was the Godslayer War, although this war was already an old story from ten thousand years ago, for him, it was something he had just experienced. "Muru, the final result of this war..."

"You should already know the result," Muru paused slightly and lowered his head. "There were no victors. The Origin Star disappeared, and those rebellious children were exterminated. Now there are no gods and no guardians in this universe. Those are all things from ten thousand years ago."

Hao Ren immediately looked at Lementusa nervously, afraid that the giant would not be able to withstand the mental shock of hearing about his mother's explosion and would transform on the spot like those brain monsters. However, it seemed that in the absence of a mental connection and without witnessing that scene with his own eyes, the Guardian Giant would not suffer too much of a shock. Lementusa did not lose control—of course, there was an even bigger reason, which was that he had gradually learned about the fall of the God Kingdom during the battle. Now, he was not surprised by the news Muru brought.

Noticing that the atmosphere became unusually depressing for a moment, Hao Ren naturally knew that he should remind them of one thing immediately. "By the way, the Creator Goddess should not have fallen!"

Lementusa immediately looked down at him. "What's going on?"

"There are still some Second Sons in this universe who worship our Mother, and they seem to still be able to hear her whispers," Muru explained from the side. "Also, Hao Ren has conducted a series of studies, and he believes that our Mother's divine reaction is still there, and she can also unconsciously respond to prayers, so she should be sleeping in some anomalous space. Now our main action is to find the clues left by the Mother, and to find surviving Guardians like you."

These words indeed gave Lementusa great encouragement, and he looked at Hao Ren with burning eyes. "Is this really true?"

"I'm not lying," Hao Ren said with a confident look. "And haven't you noticed the divinity on me? I also have a great god behind me, so I'm a professional. And finding this Surun Gate star system is a major progress in our actions—this star system was blasted into the dark realm along with the Origin Star. Finding this place is like touching the threshold of the dark realm."

Hao Ren roughly explained his work and the situation on the planet Tanagus to the other party, but after all, there was a time difference of ten thousand years, and Lementusa had no concept of the current situation in the universe, so he was confused. But in any case, the Guardian was still greatly encouraged by the words of Muru and Hao Ren. He knew that he had fallen into great despair when the Origin Star fell and contact with his Mother was lost. If it weren't for the mission of guarding the Holy Temple, his fate would have been the same as those of his compatriots who had mutated into brain monsters. But now, a faint hope had finally pulled him back from the edge of the cliff.

Lementusa was silent for a long time, his fist slowly clenching. "You said those rebellious children have been exterminated? What exactly happened?"

"The rebellious children attacked their creator, which is not tolerated by the will of the universe," Muru said with undisguised pleasure on his face. "The moment the Origin Star exploded, their entire race was obliterated by the laws of the universe."

"But what about the situation on this planet?" Izhaks asked in confusion. "The rebellious children here are still alive."

"Probably because of the influence of the dark realm," Muru speculated. "The Surun Gate was pulled into the dark realm along with the Origin Star, and the curse of extermination was blocked, so the rebellious children who stayed here were lucky enough to live a few more hours."

Lementusa listened to this from the side, noncommittal.

Because he didn't know what the "dark realm" meant at all—only the Guardians who hadn't been blasted away with the God Kingdom back then called the strange phenomenon of that year that.