The Strange Adventures of Hearn the Believer

“Friends, I swear by my sword that if I harbored any ill intentions, I could smash your heads with my bare hands. But I have more important things to do now, so please step aside!” Joshua stood with his sword in hand, confronting the coastal defense forces. He knew perfectly well that if he put down his sword, he would completely miss the mission he was entrusted with.

That bastard vanished the moment he noticed the port coast guard's presence!

"I order you to lay down your weapons! Disband your forces! Immediately! Otherwise, we will punish you for damaging public property in the Silver City port area and illegally trespassing on a military port!"

However, the leader of the coastal defense force was a hot-tempered and stubborn man who did not believe Joshua's nonsense at all.

"General! Look at the sky! What's that?!"

Suddenly, someone in the surrounding group cried out in surprise, and everyone's gaze, including Joshua's, turned to the night sky.

Immediately, they saw a "chasm" that almost covered the entire port area. If the broken, ominous crack was real, then it was indeed a wound torn in the sky above Silver City, a wound in the sky.

The next moment, countless individuals, enveloped in the soft, holy light of the eggshell, along with small boats used for escape, poured out of the crack like raindrops with the seawater.

"Holy Light is a bitch."

"Mr. Hearn, excuse me, what did you just say?"

"I said Holy Light is a bitch."

As the believer's right hand slowly clenched, another rift stretching across the distant sea closed completely. After finishing this meticulous task, he turned around and reiterated with an unhappy expression.

"and then?"

"Besides that, Element is a shepherdess living in a small rural town. She is innocent, simple, kind-hearted, and willing to sincerely respond to those who treat her well. Everything about her is so ideal except that she will make them green with envy."

"Uh……"

"And Arcane is a bookish library girl who wears loose, warm pajamas with sleeves that are just long enough to cover her palms, and a monocle. The only thing she gives you in return is the effort you put into her. It's a lifelong, equal exchange, and I like it very much."

"Um……"

"As for the Shadow, she is an 'angel' on the street, just like the real 'angels' standing under the streetlights on Christmas Eve. She doesn't care whether you are handsome, tall, young or old. She always maintains a fair scale. As long as you are willing to go all in and give everything, the Void will always reward you with grace that is equal to the price you pay. This is also a kind of equivalent exchange."

"That... holy light..."

Pandora tried to steer the conversation back to the beginning.

"Holy Light is a bitch."

"I believer Hearn repeated again with a look of disgust," he said, gazing into the eye of the storm at the torches that illuminated the endless night, their dazzling light shining brightly.

Moments earlier, the opponent unleashed a devastating attack that evaporated the seawater within a radius of hundreds of nautical miles, triggering a massive tsunami. The believer, however, had sensed this beforehand and, before the attack could strike, grabbed Pandora and escaped through the subspace corridor.

After escaping unscathed, they saw many Far Eastern sailors still struggling in the sea nearby.

With a kind heart, Mr. Hern, a warm-hearted citizen, didn't mind lending them a hand, which led to the scene just now.

"Mr. Hern once tried to convert to the Holy Light, but failed?" Pandora guessed.

“Not even once, not even a try. I can’t be bothered with that kind of Mary Sue.” The believer rolled her eyes, quite impatiently. “That’s a heartless thing where the effort and reward are completely disproportionate. It’s moral blackmail, it’s personality fraud. The light that the unchosen person condenses in their entire life is not even as big as the little bird of the newborn child born to the lady next door. On the other hand, the chosen one can blind the gynecologist’s eyes as soon as they are born, and their light shoots straight into the sky. I’ve seen so many comparative samples that I’m too lazy to count the exact number. And that leopard in the port area and that big light bulb in the center of the storm are just the drizzle that came later, not even worth mentioning.”

“Mr. Hearn, as you share your thoughts, I feel it’s necessary to remind you that the big light bulb you mentioned seems to be pointing a gun at us.”

"Are you kidding me? Did it hear you?"

"perhaps."

The believer squinted once again, gazing at the center of the storm hundreds of nautical miles away. She saw the light bulb flash by and disappear without a trace, only to reappear a moment later. This time, the distance between them had been reduced to less than twenty nautical miles.

Then, the colossus forged of light, the four-winged angel, slowly raised the radiant greatsword in his hand, which illuminated the eternal night and dispelled all darkness.

"Something's wrong..."

Realizing what the other party was about to do, the believer decided that leaving was the best option, and he once again grasped the left hand of the mechanical companion beside him.

However, before that, a sudden change occurred.

A distant dragon's roar could be heard, growing louder as it approached, accompanied by a howl that tore through the sky.

He looked up and saw a five-headed dragon falling straight down from the other side of the sky like a crimson star, arriving in an instant, against the pitch-black night sky.

Finally, it hovered briefly above the distant sea, its sky-covering dragon wings fully unfurled, burning with endless blue light, and roared towards the angel forged in light.

Thus, the flames of war reignited.

……

Merry Christmas.

Chapter 90 Elegy

It came, just like in a child's nightmare.

They are covered in ugly scales and claws, have snake-like necks, lizard-like heads, and bat-like fleshy wings.

They descended from the sky, spewing lava-like dragon breath, attacking the settlements and cities of the Sons of Earth, and plundering the wealth accumulated over generations.

They would abduct the most beautiful women in the settlement and imprison them in their secluded nests for their amusement.

Until the fearless hero braves all obstacles, breaks through the dragon's lair, slays the evil dragon, and finally returns in triumph, carrying both beauty and wealth.

This is mostly what the stories about dragons, passed down orally among most bards, are like.

However, reality and legend often differ greatly.

"Why……"

She was a dragon of extreme evil that should only exist in legends, the most outstanding among the dark creatures who were denied the chance to board Noah's Ark. She was an evil deity worshipped by the five evil dragons and the conquerors, the spokesperson for trickery and destruction, the mother of evil dragons who roamed the astral plane and fed on the stars. Her name was Tiamat.

"It shouldn't be like this..."

Unlike the songs of bards, even by the standards of the Sons of Earth, it would be difficult to apply the word "ugly" to the Mother of Dragons, whose black wings spread wide and blot out the sky. She should be the most evil and wicked being, but at this moment she is shrouded in a mercury-like glow.

That was a light that even the holy radiance of angels paled in comparison, hidden beneath the shattered shell of that dragon.

"elder sister."

At the eye of the storm, the princess on the giant's shoulder spoke softly.

"I'm here, Your Highness."

The ancient angel had already connected with the thoughts of the princess of the Son of Earth, and His voice emerged afterward.

"Why does such a dragon, which should be extremely evil, have such a deep sorrow hidden in its eyes?"

The guardian of the Kingdom Ring paused for a moment before answering.

"Because there are unfulfilled wishes, because there is unvented anger, because there is unresolved obsession... because she is not Tiamat, she is our compatriot, or at least, she once was."

"really……"

"Your Highness, this is as far as I can accompany you."

"Why? Did you sense something, my sister?"

“I felt a great power, a power from the crown, that had completely devoured our poor brethren, and now I am witnessing the death of Elijah.”

"No, within the Kingdom, your power is invincible. We will face it together, just as before. I command you to live, even if it is only for me, my sister."

"Salome, don't go north, I beg you, live on, I beg you, live on, I plead with you..."

"Do not!!!"

“Something’s coming, Mr. Hearn,” Pandora whispered a warning.

"Spotted her, intercept her, then get back to shore."

The believer stepped aside and brushed past the girl enveloped in holy light.

Pandora swiftly intercepted the princess from the Far East in mid-air. She was in an irresistible slumber, carried by the wind towards the coastline from that conflict-ridden sea.

They were the last bystanders in this sea, and the only ones who could interfere with the angel's final decision.

"Mr. Hearn, where are you going?"

"There are some things I need to confirm."

The believer, Hern, pointed to the eye of the storm. Just seconds before, the giant dragon that had descended from the sky had swooped down into that sea, and what followed was completely unexpected.

There was no expected life-or-death struggle, nor the usual long standoff. After the long dragon roar faded away, only a chilling silence remained.

The moment the dragon made contact with its enemy, all information belonging to that sea area vanished.

It wasn't just a visual disappearance; it also affected hearing, smell, touch—all the sensory means available to the observer were losing their perception of that sea area, like a piece being scooped out of a birthday cake.

Something, temporarily or permanently, has vanished from the surface of this planet called Thranheim.

"Mr. Hearn..."

“Go back and find a place you think is safe. Make sure the life of that Earth Child Princess is secure. I have some questions for her to answer—if I return empty-handed.”

"...I understand, as you wish."

The believer walked under the starless night sky, with an endless abyss beneath her feet. She walked step by step across the abyss until she reached the center of the battle and stopped.

There is nothing, nothing exists.

There was no seawater, no earth's crust, no lava, not even air. He lowered his head and stared at the abyss, the scar that stretched across the planet.

This is not merely a physical void, but something much deeper, where even the many laws that permeate the planet's surface have vanished.

He traveled along the border that divides the ocean and the abyss, and the seawater that should have flowed back into this abyss to form the most spectacular circular waterfall on the earth's surface, but stopped its turbulent journey at the boundary line.

This is no longer just destruction at the elemental level, but involves the fundamental realm of the world's structure and foundation. If the surface of a planet were depicted as a magnificent oil painting, then natural disasters caused by the four elements of earth, fire, wind, and water would at most be a bold stroke on this painting, and would never be like this, like this precise cutting, cutting off a corner of the painting and leaving an irreparable circle.

No living being can remain in this void. Even the slightest transgression will result in being completely swallowed up by this void, becoming a part of it, a part of the scar on this planet.

Except him.

The believer instinctively knew the nature of this void, just as he instinctively knew what the anomaly brought by the dragon that had just erupted at the center of the storm was.

After a long pause, as if sensing something in the darkness, the believer Hern raised her head. Above the lightless sky, a silver-line-like crack suddenly bloomed.

The next moment, the "Milky Way" poured down from the subspace rift in the sky, filling this absurd void from nothing to something, starting with the lava deep in the star's core, then the missing crust, and finally the ocean.

It's raining.

The believer stretched out her hand forward, and silvery droplets of water fell from the sky, landing on his palm. A moment later, as if they had never encountered any obstruction, they passed straight through his palm and continued to fall, eventually merging into the sea of ​​mercury that replaced the void.

An endless sea of ​​mercury, the azure Milky Way falling from the crack in the sky to the ground, and then returning from the ground to the sky.

"The Abyss of Time..."

This pale, mercury-like sea, which should have been his own power, a part of his vast, long-vanished childhood, has now descended upon this foreign ocean, and has nothing to do with his will.

What happened?

In a corner he hadn't noticed, things related to him were subtly changing, and he was completely unaware of it.

"……call."

After a long silence, Xin Nu let out a long sigh of relief. He decided to put his doubts aside for the time being. Rather than continuing to speculate unfoundedly, he would rather go back and ask the only survivor.

The next moment, the "mercury" that had spread across the sea began to flow backward toward the center of the Abyss of Time. Whether it was the mercury that floated into the sky or that had already fallen to the ground, the sea of ​​mercury that the living should not enter soon disappeared without a trace. The ripples on the sea surface were very light, and the ocean breeze of the December Frost Moon returned to this sea area, carrying a chill and a faint fishy smell.

"..."

The believer looked up, reached out to the sky, and caught the blank sheet of paper that was about to fall into the sea. The texture was slightly rough. He turned it over and saw a sketch of a human figure, only its outline visible. The outline gave him a faint sense of familiarity, as if he had seen it before, yet it couldn't withstand scrutiny, shrouded in mist. The sketch was not of this world; it had long since become part of the Abyss of Time. Soon, it transformed into specks of pale starlight, completely disappearing into his palm.

After a moment, the believer shook his head. He sighed inexplicably, a deep and inexplicable sorrow lingering in his chest. He tore open a rift in subspace, anchored towards the Silver Harbor, and stepped inside.

Throughout it all, a faint, almost imperceptible illusion, like being embraced from behind, accompanied by an indescribable deep longing, lingered around him and never dissipated.

……

Chapter 91 Barbecue

Today, the weather is fine and the sky is clear, and you...

"?"

Eirin Yagokoro stopped her search and stood in front of a ruin.

Amidst the ruins, on a cleared area, nearly ten still intact tables and chairs were sparsely placed. Several young women from the Dragon People, dressed neatly and meticulously like waitresses, were moving among the half-ruins of the shop. The air, nearing noon, was filled with the alluring aroma of Far Eastern spices, making one's mouth water.

"So dedicated..." Yonglin sighed softly, marveling at the shop owner's high level of professional ethics.

Yonglin looked up at the Far Eastern warship that had fallen from the sky and, rather than being stranded, had practically destroyed half of the restaurant. The two, in a delicate balance, together created a rich Caribbean pirate atmosphere...

It looks like a dilapidated building on the verge of collapse, and both the owner and the diners here are a group of heroes who put the desire for food before their own lives.

Everything was a continuation of the chaos of last night. Yonglin, who had lost track of Joshua, went to the coast to look for him. When he arrived at Silver Harbor, a huge crowd descended from the sky with the tide. Fortunately, the visitors were not foreign enemies, but guests from the Far East who had been in communication with him. With the coordination of the local dragon people, the resettlement of the wounded was carried out in an orderly manner.