Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 203 The Hermitage and the Evil God
"The moon? How is that possible? With the technology of World War II, it was absolutely impossible to go to the moon!"

In Uberto Bruni, Roberts tried to suppress his emotions. Although he was already shocked by one shocking secret after another, he tried his best to remain calm and composed. However, when he heard Uberto Bruni's words, Roberts couldn't help but question them.

Then, he frowned and speculated to himself.

"Wait, you mean the Nazis used ancient magic... That's impossible. Ancient magic isn't omnipotent. Even in the era when ancient magic was at its peak, reaching the moon was still an impossible task for those ancient mages."

As he spoke, the demon hunter, who was extremely familiar with the knowledge of the underworld, decisively rejected his own guess.

"madness!"

But upon hearing Roberts' words, the young man snorted coldly, his face once again displaying the usual disdain and contempt.

"Ancient magic? That's as foolish as a monkey. The ancient army uses a mystery far older and more mysterious than ancient magic, a kind of magic originating from the civilization of Atlantis, which they call 'ethereal magic,' but... I prefer to call it 'angelic knowledge.'"

When he spoke of angelic knowledge, he paused inexplicably, then murmured.

Atlantis? Angelic knowledge?

Clearly, both words evoked many associations in Roberts, but Uberto had no intention of explaining further and simply continued speaking.

"The Book of Giants records an event where angels taught humanity knowledge, including many forbidden things. However, some angels were attracted to beautiful women on earth and had intercourse with them, thus giving birth to giants..."

"The Book of Giants is a forgery!"

Just then, Wendy, who had been silent behind Roberts, suddenly spoke up.

Throughout the entire conversation, it was always Roberts who spoke. Joan remained silent because she was unaware of the details, and Wendy also chose to remain silent for some reason. However, when Uberto mentioned the Book of Giants, Wendy suddenly retorted.

Apocryphal texts, also known as forged scriptures, are considered by Christianity to be apocryphal texts falsely attributed to saints and forged by human hands. Unlike the non-religious Roberts, Wendy is extremely devout in her faith, so much so that she couldn't help but speak when Uberto mentioned the Book of Gibbons.

But Uberto looked at her strangely, his cold gaze filled with mockery.

"Apocryphal scriptures? In this absurd and bizarre world, everything is false—history is false, time is false, memory is false, even the universe itself is false. Yet you're still talking to me about apocryphal scriptures? Who is real and who is fake? You pathetic headless fly, blind and ignorant guardian of the Secret Order. You don't even know the current state of the Secret Order; it's no longer the Secret Order you knew."

When Uberto uttered the words "Guardian of the Hermitage," Wendy's face paled instantly, as if some great secret had been revealed. Uberto, however, gave a cold laugh and turned to look at Roberts.

“Roberts, I warned you, this woman is not someone you can trust.”

"I……"

Wendy looked at Uberto in front of her, hesitated and took a step back, then looked helplessly at Roberts, her eyes filled with a plea for help, trying to explain something, but unable to say it.

“Roberts, you have to believe me, I never intended to harm you, I’ve always been trying to help you… I…”

Roberts didn't say much, but simply placed his hand between Wendy and Uberto to prevent Wendy from seeing Uberto again, and then looked at Uberto coldly.

"Enough! Little one, if you really want to cooperate with me, then stop trying to sow discord between me and Wendy. I don't know why you're so hostile towards Wendy, and I know she's hiding something from me, but I trust her. If you still want to cooperate, then don't bring this up again."

Roberts emphasized this point.

Indeed, Roberts could sense that Wendy had a secret, but he didn't doubt her because if Wendy really had any intention, they could be captured by the Secret Order at any time. But Wendy had been trying to help them all the way.

Compared to Uberto, whom she had just met and knew nothing about, Roberts was more willing to believe Wendy, whom she had watched grow up.

Uberto looked coldly at the three people in front of him, and finally chuckled inexplicably.

"Hehe, alright, I won't bring this up again. Let's continue talking about the Ancient Army Group."

“As I said, Nazi Germany has been dedicated to studying the civilization of Atlantis, the legendary continent that sank into the sea, and they have indeed made some discoveries. Do you remember me saying that I found a fragment of a stone tablet inscribed with runes? That was originally an Atlantean relic collected by Nazi Germany, and it is the oldest supernatural object I have ever found… in another historical sense.”

"For example, the UFO legends that were popular in the last century were aircraft that they developed using the technology of the Atlantis civilization. There were many such things, but in the end, they still could not save Germany's fate. So after Germany's defeat, the small ancient army went to Antarctica and then used their technology to go to the moon. Of course, this is just my speculation based on various clues. As for what happened after that, I don't know, because I have no way of knowing what happened on the moon."

"I have been searching for the World Key on Earth for a long time but have not found it. So for now, I can only assume that the World Key is on the moon. And that is all I know about the World Key's whereabouts."

Uberto didn't pursue Wendy's matter any further, but simply told her what he knew indifferently.

"So, the root of all this is because the Hermitage is trying to find information about the World Key from you? A bunch of lunatics."

Roberts raised an eyebrow slightly, then snorted coldly.

Roberts was extremely unhappy. He was living a good life, but suddenly he was forced to flee and be hunted down with his daughter. His own situation was a minor matter, but the fact that his daughter had to live a life of hardship with him was the root of his displeasure.

Uberto paid no attention to Roberts's comments, only muttering something inexplicably.

"A madman...maybe, this crazy world."

Then he looked up at Roberts and said calmly.

“Mr. Roberts, what we need to do next is to go to the moon to find the World Key in order to fight the Secret Order and defeat it, just like the ancient army did back then.” Roberts looked at him, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

What kind of compensation will I receive?

"remuneration?"

As he spoke, Uberto laughed, his dark-circled eyes looking at Roberts, though exhausted, they were unusually sharp.

"With my abilities, I can give you anything you want on Earth, and restoring your past life to your former life would be a piece of cake. The only thing I fear is the power of the Hermitage. I need the World Key to achieve this. After it's done, you, your daughter, and that Miss Wendy will all be able to return to peace."

Roberts looked at him with undisguised suspicion in his eyes, while Uberto met his gaze without fear. Finally, Roberts glanced in the direction of the stairs and said without turning his head.

"Since you said you're going to the moon, can't you at least let us rest here for a while? You can't expect us to rush off to Antarctica without even having a sip of water?"

"Of course, it's not big, but it's safe enough. There are also two empty bedrooms, so you can make do and rest here for a few days..."

Uberto's face broke into an undisguised smile of success.

The three began walking towards the stairs, with Roberts at the front, Wendy at the back, and Joan in the middle, protected by the other two. Clearly, both were on high alert to guard against Uberto, though the girl remained oblivious to this.

Just as Wendy was about to step onto the stairs.

"Ms. Wendy, do you think the Secret Order of today is still the Secret Order you know?"

Behind him, Uberto's calm voice rang out.

……

After watching the three people go up the stairs, the smile on Uberto's face was gradually replaced by indifference.

Undoubtedly, he concealed a lot from Roberts, but one thing is certain: he harbored no ill will towards Roberts; everything he did was merely for self-preservation…

Yes, it's just for self-preservation.

"The Secret Order..."

He murmured to himself, reaching behind his head to reveal soft skin beneath his thick hair, and... a layer of fine scales.

Although there weren't many, only about the size of a coin, they were barely visible on the surface unless you parted your hair. But the scales that pierced into the flesh were undeniably real. Uberto had tried to pluck one off, but the scales growing from under his skin were so painful that he could hardly bear it.

Ultimately, the test results proved that it was a type of scale similar to snake scales.

Uberto, who already knew quite a bit about the World Key, understood exactly what it was. He was certain the World Key was on the moon not just because of the information he had gathered—in fact, the entire ancient army had gone to the moon, leaving very few traces—but because he could clearly feel… the whispering calls from the moon.

The voice whispered in his ear, making him look up at the moon that was calling to him.

"Both I and the Secret Order have become too deeply involved... Leonardo da Vinci, is this why you refused to tell the Secret Order about the World Key, preferring to take that knowledge with you to your grave...?"

This genius, who could rival Leonardo da Vinci, murmured.

Without a doubt, Roberts did not trust him, or rather, he did not trust him at all. The reason he agreed was simply because he was powerless to fight against the Secret Order, so he had no choice but to rely on his own strength.

But it doesn't matter, since Roberts has arrived. The secret that the hermitage has kept for thousands of years has come to him. He can finally rest assured about the thing that has been troubling him. As long as he has that secret in his hands, it doesn't really matter if he doesn't have the World Key.

It's laughable that the Secret Order has lasted for thousands of years, yet in the end it has forgotten even the secret it was truly meant to keep. Or rather... is it still the Secret Order?

……

In the underground chapel of London, a group of grey-robed monks were murmuring prayers in front of a strange sculpture. The leader of them had his head bowed and his whole body was trembling unnaturally, as if he was enduring something.

"..."

It whispered something, and with its body trembling, it made a strange, inhuman sound from its throat—a bizarre, ultra-low-pitched sound that no human vocal cord could possibly produce.

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!"

Overwhelmed by inexplicable excitement and ecstasy, the gray-robed monk threw his head back and let out a strange roar. His robe fell away, revealing sharp teeth and a long snake tongue. His body was covered with snake-like scales, and his face resembled that of a lizard, completely unrecognizable as human.

“F'- GNAIIH'EE GOKA -AGL (God is about to awaken...)”

Accompanied by the strange, inhuman voice of the leading cultivator, the numerous gray-robed cultivators frantically bowed down before the sculpture...

The coiled snake statue, with its cold, vertical pupils, gazed down at everything before it, looking down at the tiny insects fighting and killing each other below.

(End of this chapter)