Chapter 0009: Incineration

The beautiful noblewoman left the dark, cramped, and perilous underground tunnel, and at this moment, she slightly regained a bit of her former grace. She slightly bowed to Gavin and said, "Ancestor, you were just lost in thought, but we must leave here first."

Gao Wen quickly made numerous interpretations based on his knowledge. Perhaps it is because the physical rules of this world are completely different from those of his homeland's universe, resulting in the low efficiency of light and heat from the stars. The planet he stands on is very close to its star, allowing him to see such a massive sun, while the earth remains unscorched. It is also possible that it is not a sun at all, but rather a hole emitting light and heat radiation, or something else entirely unscientific yet magical.

How long will it last? Hedy still seemed somewhat unconvinced

"Ao" is the star of this galaxy, distant to the point of incredibility, its brilliance casting a cold light upon the land beneath Gao Wen's feet, almost as frigid as the light of other stars

However, that giant dragon indeed did not notice the people on the ground—perhaps it simply could not be bothered to pay them any mind. It slowly flapped its wings, soaring gracefully and majestically through the sky, with its enormous eyes reflecting the land of the Cecil territory devastated by the tide of magic

Although they did not understand the situation, Rebecca and Hedy immediately followed Sir Byron and hid under a nearby boulder, while Amber had already slipped into the shadows the moment Gawain spoke, disappearing into an unknown corner. Gawain, hiding closely behind Rebecca, suddenly noticed that the seemingly dazed little maid Betty was still standing there, holding a frying pan with a bewildered expression. He quickly dashed out to pull her back—almost at the same moment, a sense of oppressive dread that made everyone's hearts tremble descended from above.

Gao Wen was taken aback, immediately realizing that he had still not fully immersed himself in the role, which exposed a flaw. He quickly composed his expression and summoned all his acting skills: "Indulging in these matters is of no use. Gao Wen Cecil is a pioneer; every inch of land and wealth belonging to this family has been built from scratch by me. If the territory is lost, it is lost; at worst, I can find another place to pioneer—why fuss over trivialities?"

A giant-like aberration monster wanders through the wasteland

A land, ravaged by the flames of war, presents a bizarre and decayed state in the distance

Gao Wen shrugged: "It seems that the corruption in Cecil's territory has lasted for at least seven hundred years."

That broad and magnificent arc continued to rise, and during the initial phase, it ascended much faster than the sun. Before long, Gaowen caught sight of a small portion of its arc. This arc indeed emitted light, with its edges displaying hazy colors and indistinct structures resembling clouds and mist. The light and heat of this world must be provided by this entity, yet its brilliance was not blinding like that of the sun—on the contrary, Gaowen could not only gaze directly at the arc but could even discern some subtle patterns upon its surface.

Amber broke out in a cold sweat: "Oh, Shadow God above... have we really been surrounded by these things all along?"

Ah... Ah? Gao Wen suddenly came to his senses, looking somewhat puzzled at his great-granddaughter N beside him

Gao Wen once again searched the memories of the original owner of this body. After several attempts with keywords and vague information, he finally felt a sense of awareness and raised his head, gazing at the still somewhat dim sky on the other side

"There is no hope," Gao Wen shook his head, "You have not blocked the attack of the aberrations; they have already formed a collective resonance. The elemental corruption caused by the ensuing magical tide is irreversible. Even if all the monsters are eliminated, the pollution that has taken root in this land will persist for a considerable amount of time."

It was as if strong acid had been poured onto flesh, the earth was in a state of decay, large swathes of rock and soil had turned a grimy black, and cracks were spreading everywhere. The vegetation on the land had long been completely rotted away, and the remaining tree trunks twisted into a state resembling the claws of a devil. Further afield, one could see collapsed walls, charred houses, and the Cecil family castle shrouded in smoke and dust.

Amber casually remarked, "Your ancestors have been asleep for seven hundred years without seeing the light of day; now that they finally see the sun, they must want to gaze at it a little longer."

The people of this world refer to that special star as "Ao" and attribute to it many symbolic meanings in religious and magical rituals

Rebecca and Hetty looked at this ancestor with some astonishment, unable to comprehend how this great figure who founded the Cecil family could remain so calm in the face of the destruction of the family's last territory by monsters—exhibiting neither anger nor sorrow, as if witnessing something unrelated to herself. This attitude even instilled a sense of fear in them

Gao Wen ignored Amber and glanced at the great-granddaughter on the N + 1 level, slightly shaking his head, while in his heart he confirmed the local people's name for that thing in the sky—indeed, it is also called the sun

In the sky that had not yet fully brightened and still retained numerous stars, he found a "star" that was about the size of a grain of rice, brighter than all the other stars.

It is the home planet of this satellite

Then what about the explanation

Thus, a group of people advanced towards the hillside not far away under the guidance of Gaowen, and along the way, Gaowen could not help but glance at the enormous "sun" several times.

Hedy pondered the possibility of her family's revival: "Is there still hope?"

The land corrupted by the tide of magic looks like this," Gawain sighed, "Back in the day, the Kingdom of Gondor had decayed from the inside out to this extent. I suspect that even today, that corruption still lingers on the ruins of the old empire—yet now, new corruption has emerged within the realm of civilization.

The sense of oppression brought about by a gigantic celestial body rising before one's eyes is difficult to articulate

There remains a zone of life prohibition, and the land on the other side of the magnificent barrier is one that no one dares to tread upon

Hedy instinctively cast a third-level spell, "Curved Light Field," in her panic, concealing everyone's figures. However, she was completely uncertain whether this rudimentary spell could deceive the eyes of a legendary creature.

At this distance, if it were to rise, it might obscure about one-fifth of the sky ... Of course, this is merely a rough sensory impression from Gao Wen, as he is indeed greatly affected, and the intuitive judgments made are inevitably subject to significant deviation

Quickly retrieving the memories of Gao Wen and Cecil, indeed, in those memories, I found countless spectacular "sunrises"; that thing in the sky is not an abnormal celestial phenomenon, but rather the most ordinary landscape of this world

However, Gao Wen quickly noticed the expressions of the two and proactively asked, "Is there a problem?"

The fields and crops have long been obliterated in the magical tide stirred up by the monsters, rendering them completely indistinguishable

Gao Wen hesitated and responded perfunctorily, only then noticing that the exit of the tunnel was an unprotected hillside. Standing here in the midst of uncertain circumstances was indeed not a wise decision. Thus, he nodded and said, "Let us first go to a higher place to take a look and confirm the situation nearby. What I know is the terrain from seven hundred years ago, which may not be applicable today."

Hedy and Rebecca quickly nodded in agreement, admiring their ancestor with utmost respect in their hearts, thinking to themselves that their legendary ancestor truly lived up to the title. The vision and breadth of mind were indeed different—yet it was uncertain where their esteemed ancestor intended to cultivate new land in this era, where all territories had already been divided among the existing noble system, and unclaimed lands were mostly considered forbidden zones.

Has human civilization now returned to the lands of the Gondor Empire?" Gawain asked a seemingly unrelated question

After roughly assessing the curvature of that object, Gao Wen realized that it was something with a visual diameter dozens or even hundreds of times larger than that of the sun—of course, its actual size should be smaller than that of a normal star, but it was simply too close to the Earth

After a moment of stunned silence, he and Sir Byron beside him shouted almost simultaneously: "Get down! Hide!"

Then it took a sip of the salty soda ... Oh, the breath burned this place

But it is more likely that the planet beneath our feet does not orbit the sun, but rather revolves around a gas giant, which is not a planet at all, but a satellite of the latter, rising in the sky...

Gao Wen nodded slightly, just about to leave, when a strange feeling suddenly made him stop in his tracks

Or rather, regardless of how that word is pronounced, in the minds of people in this world, the thing that the word refers to is the sun, nothing else.

At this moment, the sense of "otherworldly foreignness" that Gao Wen felt was stronger than ever before

Gao Wen gazed at the horizon for a long time. In the initial few minutes, the immense cognitive dissonance left him utterly unable to discern what he was seeing—whatever it was, it was far removed from the sun he knew.

Ancestor? Honorable Ancestor? Hettie's voice came from the side, finally rousing Gavin, who had fallen into a daze and deep thought.

It was a giant dragon measuring several dozen meters in length

In the cool morning breeze, Gao Wen reached the summit of the hillside

The previous two guesses may be overturned, and only the third guess is reliable

There is nothing much to see here, we need to plan our itinerary next. The first step is to find the town, and then find a way to reunite with the group that broke out back then. Taking advantage of his remaining pretense of authority, Gao Wen quickly changed the subject. "I remember it was a knight named Philip who led the breakout, right? Did you discuss the meeting point back then?"

In the gradually rising brilliance of the "Giant Sun," an elegant and massive creature slowly glides across the sky

The territory of the family ... ... "Rebecca lay on the hillside, clenching her teeth tightly, her eyes slightly reddened, with tears of either anger or sadness swirling in her eyes. This young girl, who had just inherited the family business and had not yet adapted to her role as the lord, seemed to have lost everything at this moment

"Esteemed Ancestor, are you not... angry?" Rebecca asked cautiously, "This is the last piece of territory belonging to the Cecil family..."

Rebecca quickly replied: "It was agreed that we would head to the northern town of Tansan. If Tansan is also attacked by monsters, we will continue north along Kingdom Avenue"

"Ancestor, have you been watching the sun all this time?" Rebecca, walking behind Gavin, couldn't help but ask with a hint of concern, "Is there something wrong?"