Chapter 1 The Beginning

A series of earth-shattering sounds came from the direction of the Twisted Woodland, sounding like roars, like thunder, and like the very earth splitting apart. The rumbling seemed to physically chase the team, causing even the battle-hardened elite soldiers to tremble with fear. They could only desperately flee forward along the mountain path.

Everyone dismounted and walked, driving the warhorses ahead of them or simply scattering them at the forked mountain paths. The terrain ahead was steep, and a frightened warhorse would pose a great threat. Moreover, the horses could not help but be terrified by the frightening sounds behind them.

Even after leaving the root network of the Twisted Woodland, the ground beneath their feet continued to tremble. The entire Beinz region was built above a vast underground world, and now that world was collapsing, generating immense power that threatened to tear the Dragonspine Mountains apart. Listening to the constant cracking of rocks within the surrounding mountain walls, Aufra knew they were not yet safe. She once again brandished her sword, urging her soldiers, "Keep moving! Don't stop! We'll be safe once we cross the ridge!"

Elson ran ahead of the group, using his wolf's keen eyes to watch for falling rocks. Every rock that fell here could turn into a stone giant. Far from the Twisted Woodland, these stone giants would not distinguish between friend and foe; they were as dangerous as the Terrorbeasts and tendrils. Encountering them would be disastrous.

Many soldiers were injured during the final evacuation. Almost all the mages had exhausted their mana, and many more were infected by the venomous blood and miasma of the Terrorbeasts. These individuals were now utterly helpless aside from the strength to keep moving. The only ones who could still fight were Hao Ren and his group, as well as Aufra and Elson's 5+1 giant wolves. They had to avoid any battles along the way at all costs.

Despite the dire situation, Aufra's expression remained resolute. Her dust-covered face was as spirited as ever. She knew that the Knights of the Kingdom were waiting at the foot of the mountains on the eastern side. Once they reached there, they would have ample medicine and food, allowing the exhausted mages to regain their strength. Against supernatural beings like the First Born, mages were more useful than warriors.

But honestly, she was well aware of the gap between mortals and ancient beings. Thinking of the terrifying monster that had lurked beneath the Beinz Diocese for ten thousand years, she did not believe that ordinary mages could have any effect.

Hao Ren glanced at Aufra beside him, then turned to Izhaks, "How's the meteor preparation going?"

"The connection is established. The mass is the maximum I can control, a manganese-iron core," Izhaks' eyes flashed with a green demonic fire. "When we reach the mountain ridge, I can summon it down. The power should be enough to completely flatten the area from Beinz Blood Lake to the middle of the Dragonspine Mountains… six Tunguskas."

Hao Ren did the math and realized that this far exceeded the power of human-made nuclear weapons. He felt slightly more at ease: This should be enough to kill the First Born, right?

"Be careful to control the power," Vivian suddenly thought of something. "West of Beinz Blood Lake, beyond the Toxic Plains, is the werewolf kingdom. Don't affect that area."

Izhaks nodded. "Calculated. I'll set up a layer of magical energy barrier. The shockwave will stop in the middle of the Toxic Plains, causing only a slight tremor on the werewolves' sacred mountain at most. But I don't know what the werewolf tribes are doing to deal with this disaster. They should be able to see the changes in the Twisted Woodland…"

Hao Ren was indeed worried about this. Elson, the Cang Lang General, and his elite werewolves were probably even more concerned about the situation in their homeland. But the situation was pressing, and even with great ability, mortals could not go to the sacred mountain to deliver messages or investigate the situation. The group had to suppress this worry for the time being. As long as Izhaks' meteor could successfully kill the First Born, there would be no need to worry about the werewolf tribes.

"If the meteor doesn't work… is the 'First Born' powerful enough to destroy the sacred mountain? Or spread even further…" Izhaks suddenly frowned. He thought of the worst-case scenario. "We don't know the extent of its power yet. We only know it can cause geological disasters, but that shouldn't be all it can do."

Nangong Wuyue could hardly believe that the First Born was so powerful. "It can't be that strong, can it? Isn't it just a tree?"

Izhaks shook his head and said nothing more.

After some trekking, the group finally approached the highest point of the mountain ridge. At this moment, a series of collapses suddenly came from the direction of several peaks of the Dragonspine Mountains. Lily subconsciously looked up and cried out in alarm, "Awoo—"

Elson's voice followed, "The North Peak is collapsing! Both the North Peak and the South Peak are collapsing!"

Hao Ren looked up in horror, only to see that the two highest peaks of the Dragonspine Mountains, north and south, were completely covered by a cloud of smoke. Beneath the hazy dust, the peaks could be seen slowly disintegrating at a visible speed. Vivian released a small bat to watch this scene from high above, and was shocked to discover that seventy percent of the western foothills of the entire Dragonspine Mountains were disintegrating!

She told everyone what she had seen. Aufra stared in disbelief. "Is this mountain range all made of stone giants?!"

"No, it shouldn't be. At least the mountain road under our feet hasn't collapsed yet, thankfully, not yet," Hao Ren took a breath. "But this mountain range is definitely a line of defense specifically designed to fight the 'First Born'. I finally understand why the terrain of the Beinz Diocese is so strange—mountains on two sides, the sea on one end, and a canyon at the back. This definitely wasn't formed naturally. Just like the legends say, this was all created by the ancient magic emperors!"

Becky's hand holding her longsword trembled slightly. "They could shape the heavens and the earth, yet they still couldn't stop the First Born…"

Yes, the entire Beinz Diocese was a cage shaped by immense power. The power of the ancient magic emperors was already terrifying, but the ancient civilization was still destroyed by the First Born.

The army of stone giants collapsing from the Dragonspine Mountains quickly formed a gray stone tide, rushing toward the Twisted Woodland. But these massive monsters, which usually seemed so enormous, finally appeared as small as ants in front of the Twisted Woodland: The Twisted Woodland had now completely bulged, turning into a half-bowl-shaped monstrosity. Countless huge, writhing tentacles waved across the surface of this aggregate. The original towering trees lost all their leaves in a creaking transformation, becoming sharp black thorns. This monster, larger than a mountain, did not even deign to look at the gray tide of stone giants beneath it. It simply shook its body slightly, and the surrounding earth collapsed into endless deep pits. The stone giants fell onto a large net woven from roots, instantly losing their vitality and turning into lifeless rubble.

But more stone giants continued to surge toward the "First Born", as if their original intention was to turn into rubble and pile up around the First Born, forming a new layer of rock shell.

Hao Ren and the others had now reached the mountain ridge. Looking back, they saw a terrifying monster that exceeded the limits of human imagination, a monster that would cause anyone who looked at it to lose all will to resist in fear.

A tangled, indescribable aggregate stood between heaven and earth, somewhere between plant and animal. It was as huge as a mountain, without any facial features or recognizable limbs. Countless bizarre tentacles waved across its hundreds-of-kilometers-wide body. The ground beneath its "feet" had completely dissolved, disappearing into the original underground cave or being absorbed by those roots. Now, only endless roots and bizarre tumor-like objects lay beneath this aggregate, making it even more terrifying.

Hao Ren only glanced at this thing before feeling a dizzy spell: Obviously, those tentacles with mental attack powers were releasing energy indiscriminately in all directions.

"Even if we escape… is there really anyone in this world who can fight this creature…" The usually composed Aufra finally showed a look of fear on her face. She realized that today's escape might only be a deferred death sentence—since this creature called the "First Born" had the ability to destroy the Second Epoch ecosystem, it would not stay in this one place. This monster must have the ability to move or spread its power to other parts of the world. With that in mind, what was the point of today's escape?

Hao Ren looked at the chaotic creature. After multiple scans by the data terminal, he confirmed that he could not communicate with this monster. He then patted Izhaks' arm. "Do it."

Izhaks nodded and walked away from the group to transform. Aufra looked at these strange "mercenaries" with a puzzled expression. "What are you going to do?"

"Help you solve something you can't solve," Hao Ren took a breath. "Just watch from the side—but if possible, can you have your soldiers leave first?"

It wasn't that he was worried about anything else, but he was worried that ordinary people couldn't withstand the toxic fumes after the meteor impact. Leaving the mountain ridge would be safe.

Aufra looked at Hao Ren in confusion, then suddenly felt an extremely unsettling power erupt from the big guy. She immediately thought of something and waved to her soldiers. "Keep moving, don't look back!"

After all the soldiers had left, Izhaks' power was finally fully released. In a scorching, acrid smell of lava and sulfur, a massive demon five meters tall stood up from the flames.

"A… a demon?" Aufra was dumbfounded. "There are still demons walking in the mortal world?! What exactly are you people?!"

Izhaks raised one hand towards the sky, guiding a powerful meteor magic, and turned his head to spew a cloud of sparks at Aufra. "I'll explain it to you when I get the chance, little girl. Remember to stand firm!"

The sky quickly gathered an abnormal cloud of fire, and a vast magical power strong enough to change the heavens converged in the center of the fire cloud. The demon standing on the mountaintop guiding the magic, the distorted sky, and the twisted, bizarre, gigantic "First Born" beneath it all made even a heroine like Aufra feel a chill run down her spine. Becky even muttered to herself, "... I'm finally qualified to be hung on the wall… Grandpa, are you watching? Your granddaughter has also completed an epic quest…"

The "First Born" under the fire cloud seemed to sense some danger. Some openings cracked open at its top, and several huge tentacles stretched out. Hao Ren saw this and roared, "Now!"

With a loud bang, a space gate suddenly opened in the center of the fire cloud. This time, Izhaks did not let the meteor appear in the upper atmosphere, but opened the gate directly above the target, letting the meteor fall with the original speed it had in space. His only goal was: the greater the power, the better!

A meteor as large as a small mountain appeared in the space gate. The instant it came into contact with the surrounding air, it was enveloped in a layer of red light. Even with Hao Ren's eyesight, he could only barely see the figure of this super-fast space bomb when it appeared, which showed how fast it was.

But at the same instant, the space above the "First Born" twisted abnormally. The meteor actually stopped in mid-air.

There was no sound, no explosion, as if the film had been stuck. The huge manganese-iron core meteor had just come out of the space gate when it suddenly stopped in mid-air, then floated up and down slightly.

Circles of ripples spread in the space above the "First Born". The data terminal sensed it and let out a shriek. "Holy crap! Anti-gravity field and kinetic energy neutralization field!"

Nangong Wuyue jumped up on the spot. "Is this still a tree?!"

The data terminal shouted loudly, "This was never a tree!"

The "First Born" easily stopped the meteor, which was not technologically advanced enough. The several tentacles it had exposed earlier swayed in the air for a while, then suddenly pointed at the meteor in unison. Each tentacle emitted a strong light at its end, and the manganese-iron core meteor disintegrated into fragments under the strong light.

The "First Born" was unharmed!

Everyone on the mountain ridge stared in disbelief at everything in front of them. Even Izhaks was in a short period of stagnation. Just then, Vivian suddenly noticed another change around the "First Born":

A stream of red trickles began to seep out of the surface of the huge aggregate organism. This stream was the same thick blood that everyone had seen in the cave pool before. These red trickles quickly formed a pool of water around the First Born, then grew at a visible rate.

The "water" in the pool surged, slowly spreading in all directions, devouring and assimilating the rocks and trees that came into contact with it.

Whether it was living or inanimate matter, it seemed to be nourishment for this red liquid. It began to spread at a terrifying speed!

The young nun among the four ascetics suddenly remembered that she had collected a bottle of "water sample" before. She cried out in alarm, and hurriedly pulled out the water bottle from her body. Sure enough, she saw the red water inside surging wildly, corroding the crystal bottle. She quickly threw the crystal bottle out with all her strength.

The crystal bottle shattered on the rocks, and the liquid inside splashed out. The liquid came into contact with the surrounding rocks and soil and immediately began to surge quickly, like a long drought meeting rain. Almost in the blink of an eye, it grew into a puddle of blood the size of a washbasin, then rushed towards the "First Born's" main body along the rocks, continuing to grow rapidly as it flowed downward.

Becky suddenly remembered the legends about the goddess destroying the world that she had seen in various storybooks before: The goddess threw her wine glass to the earth, and the red wine in the glass spilled out, spreading across the earth and burning the sky with a sea of fire, which lasted for days, turning everything in the world into scorched earth…

What it described was not a sea of fire at all, but these things in front of her!

This was the "First Born's" true attack method. Its tentacles might destroy a legion, and its scorching beams might shatter a mountain peak, but to reshape the entire ecosystem, it needed even more terrifying weapons—those red liquids were its most powerful weapons. These liquids would proliferate indefinitely, devouring all the basic elements that could compose organic matter—including ready-made life and inanimate dead objects. This devouring and proliferation would increase exponentially, and no power in this world could stop them from covering the entire planet. The ancient magic civilization was indeed powerful, but it was powerless in the face of this disaster. If it hadn't been for the safety device left by the goddess at the last moment to lock the "First Born's" physiological activity, this planet would not have been able to drag on until today, ten thousand years later!

As the first batch of creatures conceived from the "Seed of Origin", the First Born had the ability to simulate the "Tide of Blood". Presumably these red liquids were imitating the Tide of Blood.

However, it was not important to study what it was simulating at this time. What was important was what could kill it!

"There's no way around it," Hao Ren turned his head to look at the four ascetics and Aufra, who were pale, and suddenly patted his data terminal hard. "So, can the backup plan I discussed with you be used? Give me a straight answer!"

As early as last night, when Hao Ren and Izhaks were discussing the summoning of the meteor magic, they had considered the worst-case scenario: what if the meteor didn't work? Although Izhaks' big move theoretically had more power than nuclear weapons, they really didn't dare to put all their hopes on a meteor, for no other reason than that the ancient magic civilization was not necessarily lower in martial power than Izhaks' hometown!

The ancient magic civilization already had spaceflight capabilities, could establish civilian-level teleportation gates between the Earth and the Moon, could establish colonial cities on alien planets, and could even study forbidden technologies such as artificial life. It could be said that those ancestors had completely surpassed the current Earth in all fields such as aerospace, physics, technology, and chemistry. Even nuclear weapons were probably not cutting-edge technology for them, and even meteor strikes could be done.

But it was such a super-advanced magical civilization that was destroyed by the "First Born" in a fit of anger, along with its people and the ecosystem. According to historical records, there was no power to resist.

Therefore, from the beginning, Hao Ren had considered the backup plan after the meteor failed. However, this backup plan was the ultimate means after there was no other way. Even if he wanted to use it, he had to think carefully.

This time, the data terminal was unusually silent for a long time, and finally asked in an emotionless electronic synthesized voice: "You have to think clearly. The instruction manual for that thing says it—strictly forbidden to launch on the surface of the planet!"

"I know, I've read the safety regulations. I know that the reason it's forbidden to launch on the ground is actually because it will cause regional ecological extinction, and it will burn half a country into glass at once," Hao Ren pointed at the First Born, which was constantly releasing the Tide of Blood (suspected), and shouted, jumping up and down, "But this place is already about to become ecologically extinct, okay! One more shot won't make a difference!"

The data terminal pondered for a few seconds before floating up and down slightly. "The data has been submitted to the data network and approved, but if there are any casualties beyond the calculation, we will be responsible—this is a big responsibility! Regional ecological extinction is enough to be shot. You must not hit the werewolf's hometown! And this is an action that goes beyond the safety agreement and must be manually controlled. Do you understand, manually controlled!"

Hao Ren took a deep breath. "I've finished reading the introduction to the art of space battleship gunnery."

"... Are you sure?"

"... At least I've read the first half."

"Damn it… concentrate. This unit will use you as a springboard to pull the Juggernaut into this world. But it can only fire one shot. The psionic interference is very strong, and we're still using an emergency connection. After one shot, you'll probably all be ejected from this world, and the next connection will be at least a month later."

Becky watched Hao Ren arguing and discussing with his data terminal for a long time, and didn't understand a single word. She finally couldn't help but ask, "What… what are you talking about?"

Hao Ren took a deep breath and looked at the sky:

"The cannon is set up, blast away, orbital support, defend all sides… Inspector Hao Ren, requesting interstellar orbital bombardment!"

Becky's face was blank. "... What?!"