Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 235 Demon among Demons
"What can we do?"

Three days after the solar anomaly, the effects of the solar flare were gradually receding, and the turbulent world was struggling to recover. At a meeting somewhere, a hesitant voice asked a question.

Looking at the disaster report in their hands, some people remained silent, some were worried, and others tried to ask the Freemason's headmaster. But when asked, Roman, who was sitting at the head of the table, just remained silent for a moment and slowly and helplessly shook his head.

"There's nothing we can do."

Yes, humans can't do anything.

……

Meanwhile, on a calm beach, a gentle sea breeze was blowing as a shirtless man walked slowly on the soft sand.

His eyebrows were stiff, like two drawn swords, but his eyes were cold. When he left, his face was as silent as marble, and he wore only an unknown animal skin around his waist. His well-defined, full muscles exuded a wild charm.

Judging solely from his appearance, he wouldn't be considered exceptionally handsome; one could only say he was a man whose looks grew on you. Yet, he possessed an inexplicable, overwhelming aura. This aura was like that of a lion or tiger, a ferocious beast, or the sun in the sky—brilliant, dazzling, and powerful, inspiring awe and making one dare not look directly at him.

Behind him was a bulging bundle on his back, its contents unknown. Before him lay the sea, calm and still, awaiting the arrival of its master.

The man's eyes were cold as he gazed at the sea.

For the past few days, he had not returned to the ocean, because he was deliberately avoiding "it." He had been deliberately avoiding "it" all along, but now he was going to see this "person" that he had been intentionally avoiding for so long.

Just as he was about to step into the sea, a voice called out to him from behind.

"Hey, passerby, why are you in such a hurry?"

The man glanced behind him and saw a bearded middle-aged man smiling and reaching out his hand to him. The man's thin face looked a little old, but his eyes were very deep.

"A ghost."

Looking at the middle-aged man, a deep voice came from the man's mouth.

There are very few things in this world that can be hidden from a man, including this ghost that has appeared inexplicably before him.

The middle-aged man, however, was quite carefree, smiling broadly.

"What difference is there between the living and the dead?"

As he spoke, he bowed slightly to the man in front of him.

"Is that so, Mr. Cain?"

The words, spoken softly, struck like thunder; the middle-aged man knew who was standing before him.

However, the man, or rather Cain, showed no surprise whatsoever. His face remained calm and indifferent, as if the other party were calling a name that had nothing to do with him.

"You know me."

He said this in a calm tone.

The middle-aged man shook his head.

“Not only do I know who you are, but the monsters that came out of that hellish world also know who you are. They have never forgotten you, ‘Cain the Traitor’.”

“Those monsters are furious. They are furious that you did not rescue them. They have hated for many years, hating the angel and hating the traitor. Now they have been awakened by their master and will unleash their rage on you.”

The man remained noncommittal, his expression calm and indifferent, seemingly unconcerned by the middle-aged man's warning. Without further ado, he turned to leave.

The middle-aged man looked at his retreating figure and suddenly spoke.

Do you really think your plan will work?

The man stopped, then turned his head slightly and glanced at him with a terrifyingly calm look. That single glance made the middle-aged man feel heavy-hearted, yet the man's face remained smiling, showing no sign of unease.

How much do you know?

"I just guessed what you were thinking."

The middle-aged man bowed slightly and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Your thoughts and purpose are not hard to guess. Not only do I know them, but many monsters should have guessed them as well. Inside that temple, they are waiting for your arrival."

"Cain, or rather, the ancestor of mankind, do you really think this is the only way to go?"

The man didn't answer, but continued to look at him coldly.

The middle-aged man didn't expect Cain to answer him; he just laughed and then said something that seemed unrelated.

“When I was very young, I was spoiled by the women in my family. My sisters, mother, and grandmother all pampered me. Because I was the only male in the family, I was rather weak-willed and didn't get along with boys my age. I loved reading the most. Sometimes, when I was reading religious books, I would feel very confused. If there really is a God, why is the world like this? But I never expected that I would only find out what the world was like after I died—a world that has been repeatedly distorted and modified.”

"After my death, it seems my soul went to that world filled with lava. I didn't like it there; there was only fighting and endless slaughter, and countless souls were forced into it. Most of those souls were torn apart and twisted, but I was lucky enough to survive. Cain, according to those demons, that's the old world, is that true?"

Suddenly, the middle-aged man asked a question out of the blue, and the man paused for a moment before answering.

"It was like this a long time ago."

In the beginning of the Old World, the entire world was carried on the body of a colossal serpent. Soil was scattered across its body, with high mountains rising from the protrusions and lakes and oceans in the depressions. It was an extremely unstable and chaotic place, prone to earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods. Only after the man obtained the seed from the lungs of the earth dragon did he begin to gradually transform this world.

The middle-aged man nodded.

"Yes, long ago... we lived on this land for countless years. Sometimes there were earthquakes, sometimes floods, sometimes volcanoes, but we still survived, didn't we? We have lived peacefully together for so long, is violence the only path? We have lived for countless years in the past, and we can continue to live for countless years to come, can't we?"

The middle-aged man's words seemed to have a hidden meaning, and the man responded coldly in response.

"Humans sometimes share a room with rats..."

"But have humans ever eradicated rats?"

Before the man could finish speaking, the middle-aged man asked a question in return.

The man frowned slightly, seemingly at a loss for words.

The middle-aged man looked at the man in front of him and spoke slowly.

"Lions have their own survival strategies, antelopes have their own survival strategies, and even the insignificant ants at the feet of lions and antelopes have their own survival strategies."

"Your purpose is not just this, is it?"

The man said calmly.

The middle-aged man nodded, speaking inexplicably. "What are apes to humans? A laughable lineage, a disgrace. And what about humans to superhumans? We've traversed the long path from insect to human, but in many ways, we're still insects. We used to be apes, but now, humans are more like apes than apes themselves. We are humans, beings with animalistic instincts, capable of rational thought, but can we be content with that? Only by eradicating that primal animalistic nature can humanity become a superhuman, transcending humanity itself."

As he spoke, he laughed.

“A hundred years ago, a young Austrian misunderstood me. He thought that ‘superman’ referred to superior genes and a more outstanding race. But superman is not such a superficial thing.”

The middle-aged man shook his head and continued.

"The earth can bear all things, noble and lowly, wise and foolish, strong and weak... It is so profound and vast, so good at embracing, that is the will of the earth. In that powerful thing, I see an opportunity, an opportunity for mankind to become superhuman."

That's only because of its disdain.

The man replied indifferently.

"But we have indeed lived on its back for countless years, and multiplied generation after generation of humans, haven't we?"

The middle-aged man countered with a question.

The man fell silent again.

Looking at the silent man before him, the middle-aged man bowed slightly and spoke earnestly.

"Since we have continued on its back for many years, we can certainly continue for many more years... I hope you will carefully consider your decision and not let blindness cloud your judgment. Please decide the fate of your descendants with caution."

The man watched him silently for a long time, then turned around and stepped into the cold seawater, while the middle-aged man watched the figure in front of him disappear into the sea little by little.

“I will remember your words… Nietzsche.”

A cold voice reached the middle-aged man's ears, and Nietzsche laughed upon hearing this name he had almost forgotten.

Its figure gradually dissipated into a thin mist.

……

The deep sea, which should have been dark, was filled with various light sources. The ever-burning lights and celebratory festivities had not yet faded away, and slogans and leaflets praising the father of snakes could be seen everywhere. But the festivities eventually cooled down.

The man strolled through the ruins of the underwater city, looking at the many mutilated sea creature corpses before him, the blood on the ground, and the few remaining weak monsters still gnawing on the corpses, his face remained unmoved.

He hadn't been to the aquarium these past few days, but he knew what had happened there; he'd known from the very beginning.

"...The king will return, the king will be destroyed, under the watchful eye of the serpent father, the end is near."

Before King Unogaya returned to the underwater world, the prophets made a unanimous prophecy that the day of the king's return would be the day of doom.

Finally, King Unogaya returned.

However, King Unogaya, who was regarded as the "Mad King," did not destroy the underwater world. Instead, he brought back many ancient techniques. All of this was brought to a climax after the return of the Father of the Serpent. All the Serpents were celebrating, as if a golden age was about to return.

but……

The beautiful mermaid corpse on the ground, dressed in gorgeous clothes, was already stiff. Her eyes were wide open, as if she still couldn't believe what she was seeing.

In those crystal-clear eyes, the faint light of death still lingered: a magnificent celebration, the air filled with dazzling lights, the people dressed in beautiful attire, yet their faces bore the marks of shock and fear. Some tried to flee, others remained bewildered and lost, while beside them, numerous bizarre and enormous monsters feasted on the grand spectacle before them…

Those deformed monsters, some with numerous hands, feet, and tentacles, others with multiple heads, and still others covered in eyeballs, varied in size, some taller than skyscrapers, and some even casting shadows over the entire city. When these monsters suddenly appeared and devoured the people at the celebration, the people, unable to react in time, could only be devoured by these bizarre and deformed creatures.

The underwater civilization was almost completely destroyed.

With the awakening of the Father of the Serpent, the deformed monsters that were once considered his pets also returned from the other dimension. These violent and greedy monsters were countless. They had been hungry for too long, and when they descended into the underwater world, they devoured countless living beings as food.

They were so powerful that even the bronze giants and floating warships could not withstand their strength, and thus, the prophesied end times arrived.

Those prophets were always wrong about one thing: they thought the end of the world was because of "the return of the king," but in fact it was not because of "the return of the king," but because of "the watchful gaze of the serpent father."

The snake father has awakened, and the end of the underwater world is nigh...

The man remained silent, gazing at the beautiful mermaid on the ground, the last snake-woman princess, the child who had desperately tried to revive the snake-woman civilization. What was she thinking at the end of her life? No one knows anymore.

The man felt neither joy nor anger, and said nothing. He simply stood silently before the corpse for a moment, then gently walked around it and moved forward.

Before him stood a towering temple, majestic and solemn, like a mountain piled high, with tens of thousands of winding staircases, standing in the heart of this once bustling city. The city had become a paradise for monsters, but the temple remained intact. Numerous enormous monsters, hundreds or thousands of meters tall, like floating mountains, surrounded the towering temple, guarding this temple of special status.

One step, one step, one step...

The man did not use any special power; he simply walked step by step down the winding stone steps toward the temple in front of him, just like an ordinary human being. The enormous monsters guarding the temple stared at him, their complex gazes seemingly filled with malice and mockery, but they still made way for him.

Finally, after walking for nearly two hours, the man who had climbed the more than seven thousand stone steps stood in front of the temple gate.

A massive stone gate, hundreds of meters high, stood before him. In the face of this magnificent gate, the tiny man seemed like a small ant that had accidentally wandered into a land of giants. Then, he reached out his hand.

"Crack..."

The deep sound, like muffled thunder, shook the dust on the ground. The stone door was slowly pushed open, and light shone through the cracks, illuminating the interior of the temple behind the door...

Inside the magnificent temple was a straight walkway, with numerous discs of varying sizes arranged on both sides. The largest was a hundred meters long, like a stadium, while the smaller ones resembled lotus flowers. On these discs were coiled demons and deformed monsters of different sizes, seemingly deities enshrined on stone altars, but instead, they were terrifying and ferocious demons.

Whether they were asleep or awake, they all exuded a powerful aura, an aura that seemed almost tangible. When the man pushed open the stone door, all sorts of strange monsters cast cold glances in his direction.

Mockery, sarcasm, anger, indifference, hatred, greed...

The implications are varied, but there is not a trace of goodwill in them.

The man's face remained expressionless as he slowly walked towards the throne in the center of the temple.

There, there exists a powerful force that even the gathering of countless demons and monsters could not conceal. Among the many enormous demons, the black figure sitting high on the throne appears very small, yet no one can ignore it, and all attention is drawn to its profound darkness.

Beside the throne, the closer one gets, the more the light is distorted until it can no longer escape and is swallowed by the shadow.

Profound, terrifying, beautiful.

No demon god or any power can compare to that profound darkness. That invisible force enveloped the entire temple, and in the face of this overwhelming power, any living being except for iron and stone would feel an instinctive fear.

Finally, before the throne, gazing at the dark figure before him, King Unogaya lowered his head, bent his knees, and knelt before the figure, speaking calmly in a low voice.

“My father.”

(End of this chapter)