"I am from Atlantis."

When the envoy spoke those words, Alan, who was still puzzled, was one hundred percent certain that he had never heard the term before, let alone understood the meaning behind it.

But in the next instant, a flood of information burst forth from the depths of his soul, like a spring gushing from the earth.

The continent of Atlantis...

The Zhuzhou people (Candle Sun)...

The War of the Ancient Gods...

Out of Ylothar, parting the Cloud Sea...

Returning after a long time, the Battle of the Eastern Coast...

In a short period, Alan's mind was filled with all sorts of information about Atlantis, information that seemed like 'common sense' that he should have known all along, and that everyone else should also know.

The Battle of the Eastern Coast had been raging for more than a decade, and the five full legions of the Light Alliance transferred from the Western War Zone had failed to conquer the lost territories. This was also why there were so few tax officials from the Light Alliance coming to collect taxes in the border region where Grey Hill Village was located, because due to the lack of troops, this area had been almost abandoned.

A series of settings and related information gradually rationalized everything he knew. Alan couldn't help but take a few steps back, holding his head, looking at the envoy in front of him with suspicion: "You...you are Atlantis..."

The envoy did not speak, he smiled.

Alan swallowed, a series of information about Atlantis flashing through his mind... Now, the joint fleet from the Seventy-Five Nations of the Divine Tree had captured large strongholds on the eastern coast of the continent of Ylothar, and the deep-water port of the Fenris Sea had been completely occupied. They were fighting fiercely with the Light Alliance, but the Dark Nations had no intention of joining forces with Atlantis to fight against the Light Alliance.

Currently, the situation on the entire continent was very delicate. The Dark Nations repeatedly demanded to take advantage of the situation to attack the western region of the Light Alliance, but they were suppressed by the divine decrees of the gods. The Light Alliance, in fact, did not want to waste too much power on Atlantis, this newly emerged enemy, and wanted to turn around and suppress the Dark Nations, its enemy since ancient times.

But inexplicably, the gods of Light and Darkness maintained an astonishing silence on this matter. They seemed to have forgotten all the hatred of the past, forgotten the countless bloody battles and debts between the two major camps for thousands of years, and instead turned around and issued divine decrees, declaring that the Atlantis side was the true evil, the great enemy of the entire continent.

This obviously failed to convince many people... Seeds of doubt took root and sprouted on the continent of Ylothar, but for the time being, no one believed those most bizarre speculations.

And the internal collaborators of the Atlantis nations came to the vicinity of Grey Hill Village under such a background.

"The newborn Zhuzhou (Candle Sun), and the Second Prophet, we should now gather our strength."

The envoy, a seemingly unremarkable young merchant, bowed to the confused Alan and said: "The First Prophet, Divine Tree Buyi, needs to stabilize the foundation of the Atlantis continent and anchor the direction of the world... He cannot act as Zhuzhou (Candle Sun)."

"Many new powerhouses in the nations can also serve as seeds of Zhuzhou (Candle Sun), but they are not yet perfect and need time to grow... During this time, if a Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) raises a banner, I think our Atlantis soldiers will definitely have higher morale."

"Uh, but theoretically speaking, I am actually a member of the Light Alliance..."

Alan certainly didn't have any hometown feelings for the Light Alliance, but Atlantis was the same to him—it was unlikely that he would have any goodwill or inclination towards a force that suddenly appeared and then inexplicably invited him.

"Grey Hill Village will definitely be purged by the Light Alliance."

The envoy stated the facts, he stretched out his hand, pointed to a group of surviving Grey Hill villagers led by Eve, and then turned his direction, pointing to the bound, ashen-faced Light Flame soldiers and others: "Your village is a secret pawn of the Dark Nations, and they are here to completely purify it."

"If you don't join Atlantis, how will you protect these people?"

The young man turned his head, looking at the ordinary people with worried expressions... Aunt Jaina holding her child, little Tom with a runny nose, being led by his parents, Uncle Mosang from the blacksmith shop, and Aunt Kasla who raised sheep.

These ordinary people, if no one sheltered them, would indeed be wiped out by the Light Alliance.

And although he was already strong enough, he could already rescue Eve... But rescuing people and protecting people were completely different concepts.

This was a fact.

It was indeed a good reason.

Alan hadn't intended to refute it in the first place. Since the other party had given a reason, he would just agree.

"Is everyone willing to come with me? To seek refuge in Atlantis?"

Alan gathered all the villagers together and asked collectively.

The villagers looked at each other. Their sense of belonging to the Light Alliance was also very weak. What's more, the Light Flame soldiers had also confessed their intention to slaughter the village before, and the fact that the village chief was a secret pawn of the Dark Nations who almost killed everyone made everyone unable to trust the Dark camp.

In this case, there was no other choice but to follow Alan.

At this moment, the Shadow Envoy had been killed by Alan, and the remaining Light Flame soldiers were all dejected—their mission had failed, they had been defeated, and now their lives were no longer up to them to decide.

After hearing that Alan seemed to be planning to seek refuge in Atlantis, the female captain in the lead knew that they were likely to be killed... Not to mention anything else, they had indeed killed several villagers when they were fighting with the Shadow Envoy.

What's more, how could Alan possibly let them live and provide information about his whereabouts to the Light Alliance?

Sure enough, Alan carried his blade and came before the Light Flame soldiers.

"Before I kill you, I still want to ask one last question."

The long blade glowed with a fiery light, Alan's expression solemn: "Why do you follow the divine decree without hesitation when you receive it?"

"You could obviously see that I didn't intend to be your enemy at that time, I just wanted to protect the villagers... Why did you have to follow the divine decree?"

"Didn't think that much."

The female captain frankly confessed: "You ask why listen, then I want to ask why not listen? The divine decrees of the gods have never been wrong, especially since you have been proven to be a servant of the great evil god Zhuzhou (Candle Sun)."

"Kill us."

Alan killed them, and gathered the people to pack up their belongings, migrating in the direction given by the Atlantis envoy.

But the young man was still puzzled.

He still couldn't understand why some people blindly followed divine decrees, to the point of not having any of their own thoughts...

No, it wasn't that they didn't have their own thoughts.

But when their own thoughts conflicted with the divine decree, they would definitely follow the divine decree.

【It's very simple, Alan】

At this moment, Elias responded softly to the doubts of his apostle: 【There are two kinds of relationships between gods and believers】

【One is a contract—gods respond to people's wishes, and people respond to the expectations of gods】

【One is hegemony—gods control all beings with their power, and all beings act in accordance with the will of the gods】

【Is it that beings do not have their own thoughts? Perhaps, but more likely, the right of beings to choose is suppressed by a more immense force】

Alan didn't even need to think about which of the gods of the Symphony World belonged to.

He couldn't help but sigh.

【Don't sigh】In response, Elias still just stated calmly: 【Gods of covenant, after completing the covenant, will lose their jobs if there is no new covenant—They have never wanted to change everything in the human world, unless everything in the human world violates their covenant】

【As for the latter, the gods of hegemony are destined to be challenged by other 'hegemonies' for all eternity】

【For example, other stronger gods, for example, rebels among the gods, for example...us】

【We Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) are the eternal challengers of hegemony】

【Are you afraid, Alan?】

"...No."

After a long silence, Alan, who already understood the current situation, instead smiled: "I am honored."

"I am honored... to be able to stand with you."

Elias admired Alan very much—he always had the courage to change.

In the Overture Era, he dared to reject the blessings of the gods and choose the afterlife. In the Resounding Era, he dared to confront the village and save the girl he liked.

In the Vivace Era, for his daughter, he could fight against fate, and even, by chance, release a mission to change fate to the entire multiverse, the Pioneer Space.

And even in the Finale Era, which no one knows about yet, he would definitely be the kind of person who dared to replace everything.

Compared with Alan's awareness and essence, the gods of this great universe... are really a bit too normally rotten.

Not as crazy as the Solar Emperor, not as pure as the Nihilism Leader, and not even as reliable as the Demon Emperor, who has a reliable subordinate to support him.

But Elias wasn't surprised.

Not every enemy in this multiverse has a belief they firmly believe in, a persistence they would never deny.

Nor does every enemy have a self-consistent philosophy, or a moral logic that can be justified and leaves few points of attack.

Some beings can be evil without shame, they can harm others for their own benefit... These kinds of people are the majority among the villains in the multiverse.

His teacher, and the enemies he had encountered in the past, were actually quite rare.

【Let's go】

Thinking of this, the young god couldn't help but shake his head slightly. He guided: 【Our battle will not only affect the present... but also the past and the future】

【Let's go, Alan, let us change the face of history!】

The power to change history was setting sail.

Above the heavens.

——Future——

——Vivace Era·Pantheon——

The Sky God King Deus stood at the top of his era's celestial dome, the cloud giant gazing at the trajectory of the past.

The history that had already happened, the melody that had already resounded, had now been replaced... The God King of Time and the Twin God Kings of Light and Darkness were now fighting fiercely with the Zhuzhou (Candle Sun). The two sides had indeed not been able to determine the victory, but to be honest, the situation was not optimistic.

Deus may not be kind, nor does he have any virtues, but the only thing, the only virtue that he has always adhered to, is 'being honest with himself'.

Losing is losing. His three 'predecessors' could not defeat that evil god from another world. By then, carried by the rolling tide of the era, even his era would probably be crushed.

——This cannot continue.

Deus thought so. The heroic spirits summoned by the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) all possessed great divine power. They were also protagonists in their respective worlds. The timing of their choices, the actions and changes they made, were enough to hammer a wedge into history, causing greater and greater changes, and even triggering chain reactions.

But they, the gods, could not do that.

They could not lead the development of the times, nor could they cause great changes... Because if in an era, mortals were allowed to sound too loud a melody, then in the next era, the gods of that era would very likely be replaced by those who led the era.

The gods pursued eternity.

Destiny required stability.

How could the gods of the Symphony World of Destiny, who pursued stability and eternity, allow the development of the times to exceed their control?

Therefore, the Light Alliance and the Dark Nations were so restrained when facing the Atlantis nations, which could freely innovate, freely reform, and freely sound their own melodies.

【Damn it, if it weren't for the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) blocking us, a civilization like Atlantis could have been destroyed long ago...】

Deus felt quite annoyed when he thought of this—no matter how enthusiastically the reforms of a civilization were carried out, as long as the gods denied it, then it would be impossible for the reforms to be realized in the Symphony Great Universe.

However, this time was different from the self-initiated reforms of the native civilizations of the past Symphony Great Universe. This time, the reforms were not fragile flames, but a vast tsunami supported by the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun).

And this tsunami swept from the first era of ancient times, and turned into a monstrous wave in the second era.

And in the third era, the Vivace Era where he was located, it would probably evolve into an endless tsunami that would swallow even the sky.

【We cannot allow the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) to continue to accumulate momentum like this!】

During the exchange of the Four Pillar God Kings, Deus shouted loudly: 【Light, darkness, deviate the trajectory of Zhuzhou (Candle Sun), we cannot allow him to extend the power to change the times to the third era!】

【What?】

The God King of Light and Shadow, who was wrestling with the Cosmic Divine Dragon Zhuzhou (Candle Sun), and the Twins of Light and Darkness, who were fighting magical powers against the long Chaos Divine Dragon, were stunned. Deus's words were like 'you lose when you lose, don't blame it on me'... But the God Kings were originally one, how could he take the benefits and shirk responsibility?

But soon, they were persuaded by Deus: 【According to the current trend, it is impossible for me to defeat the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun)—but in contrast, as long as the momentum of the Primordial Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) is no longer extended, then we can once again pull him back to an equal position to fight!】

Saying so, Deus proposed a plan: 【Let us manifest the future in advance】

【Let the 'not yet happened' 'completely unknown' future era, the 'Finale Era', appear in advance—in this way, no matter how earth-shattering the previous historical turmoil is, just like a tsunami on the surface of the ocean that is extremely difficult to affect the deep seabed, it will not accumulate into a giant wave enough to sweep the sky!】

This was a good plan.

As of now, the Overture and Resounding Eras have been completely connected. Zhou Buyi has brought the base of the Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) people, and Elias will later bring new laws and covenants, better order and souls, to the Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) people.

At that time, the Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) army with souls will know why they are fighting, what they are pursuing innovation for, and what kind of new world they are choosing to go to war with the old world for.

At that time, the military power of Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) would be enough to sweep the entire continent of Ylothar... At least Deus could not think of how the native civilizations of the continent of Ylothar should respond to this army that was armed to the teeth in terms of both thinking and material under the circumstances that the gods could not take action.

In that case, let's skip an era.

Directly break the link of cause and effect, ignore the continuity of time, let the future come early, and let the present be delayed.

Let the finale ring in advance... Let the present have enough preparation to welcome the changes brought about by Zhuzhou (Candle Sun)!

【Let me do it】

The God King of the Starry Sky without a face, the god of the future, nodded and agreed after thinking for a while: 【This is also the only way】

Rather than letting the power of Zhuzhou (Candle Sun) grow stronger and stronger, and then crush himself like crushing garbage after crushing three eras, it was better to listen to Deus and reverse the causal order of time.

——That's right.

【This is the only way to defeat Zhuzhou (Candle Sun)】