The Envoy of Abundance from Onphalus

An invisible hand gripped everyone's heart, preventing it from beating and making it impossible to breathe.

"The Dawn Machine...isn't it eternal?" a scholar murmured in a dreamlike voice, his voice filled with the fragments of a collapsing faith.

"The prophecy...was a lie?" The young guard dropped his weapon with a clatter, covered his face, and tears streamed down his face. "Then where are the people we sent away?! Where are they?!"

That desperate question, like a poisoned dagger, pierced Russell's heart.

The faces of those who had left flashed before his eyes: a baby sleeping peacefully in its mother's arms, an elderly woman with white hair holding his hand and saying, "Come back..."

He personally signed the order, sending them into that eternally burning sanctuary!

He selectively ignored the warnings raised by the Tree Court scholars based on cold, hard data—"There is a theoretical limit to the combustion efficiency of the Dawn Machine"... He bet everything on that unattainable prophecy!

"The executioner..."

The word exploded in his mind, drowning out the lingering sound of the protective shield shattering. He seemed to see the cold verdict in the history books: "The muddle-headed Russell has caused the deaths of countless women and children."

A doctor dedicated to saving lives became the one who pushed hope into the abyss...

The moment Ohmar loses the protection of dawn, how terrifyingly fast will the black tide devour the holy city? He could even "hear" the final wails before it was swallowed by darkness…

"puff--!"

The pent-up pressure of the past six months, the deep-seated regret, the hope that crumbled in an instant… all transformed into a burning, metallic taste that burst through his throat. Blood splattered onto the control panel, a horrifying sight.

The last glimmer of light in Russell's eyes went out completely, and his body, as if stripped of all support, fell straight backward, crashing heavily onto the cold ground.

"Chief (Teacher)!!" The scholars and soldiers' exclamations shattered the deathly silence.

The last glimmer of light that the Divine Tree Garden had hoped for in the darkness was extinguished.

In the distance, cracks in the fifth protective barrier greedily absorbed the pervasive despair, spreading silently and rapidly. The roar of the black tide, carrying an even deeper malice, surged forth.

Amber Seed Medicine Scroll: Chapter Forty - The Broken Tree Garden

Russell is lost in a long dream: Onphalus is bathed in the light of rebirth, and famine, death, plague, and war are completely banished.

In that world, happiness was within reach, flowing freely in a flawless realm, where laughter replaced all burdens.

But a dream is just a dream.

His eyelids drooped heavily, and the ceiling, with its intricate network of the Tree of Serhis, came into view. A profound sense of loss gripped his throat. How he wished he could open his eyes to a new world.

"How long have I been asleep?" The thought pierced his mind like an ice pick. Where has the Black Tide advanced to? A sluggish, aching pain swept through his body, and he struggled to sit up.

"Teacher! You're awake!" Hillline, who was keeping watch by the bedside, woke up instantly, her voice filled with surprise and worry.

"Just soreness." Russell moved his stiff joints. "For a few days?"

“It’s been a week. Everyone is very worried…” Hillline’s words were interrupted by Russell’s sudden movement of getting up.

"A week?!" Russell's eyes were sharp as knives. "How's it going outside?"

Hillline's face darkened. "It's bad. After the light in Ohmma went out... morale is low." She took a deep breath. "But the resistance continues! The fifth layer of the shield... won't hold for much longer. The fact that you're awake is the best news for everyone."

Russell silently straightened his robes, his azure eyes reflecting the frustration of three thousand years of struggle. In the end, did that Black Tide still win?

Impossible. Kuroshio wants to win, but he's determined not to let it win.

“Summon all the sages,” he said in a deep, clear voice, “to the usual place for a meeting. Instruct them that not a single one should be absent. You will be in charge of taking notes.”

Hillline nodded and ran off.

Russell went to the wardrobe, took out the crown of thorns symbolizing a great sage and a set of long-forgotten, magnificent robes, and put them on again in front of the mirror.

The last time I wore them was at the oath-taking ceremony of the Golden War, to announce the end of the war and the approach of dawn.

This time, however, it was the final meeting of the Divine Enlightenment Tree Garden, declaring that the path to survival was over, leaving only self-annihilation. A chilling irony pierced to the bone.

He was the first to step into the conference room, which was filled with a heavy atmosphere. The wise men on both sides—old or young—had fear, bewilderment, and unfathomable weariness etched on their faces.

The fifth protective barrier was teetering on the brink of collapse, and the Heart of the Divine Tree had nearly half its fuel consumed. Doomsday was imminent.

Russell's gaze swept across every face.

Despair, resignation, but no resentment. This trust is exactly the same as that of the followers three thousand years ago.

"Initiate the final plan." His voice pierced the deathly silence. A faint glimmer of light flickered in the sages' numb eyes. "But before that, we need time. To complete the final deployment of the high-explosive fuel and annihilation charge. Leave not a single brick or tile for the Black Tide."

The sages nodded silently, resolutely agreeing to their teacher's final madness. To turn to dust was better than to become minions of the Black Tide.

This was the consensus reached by all scholars a century ago regarding the failure to resist the Kuroshio Current.

“Ohmama… is likely doomed.” Russell’s voice was unusually calm. “Whatever their fate, it’s none of our business. Our mission is to buy the Fire Chaser’s last bit of time. Even a second… will do.”

Hillline clutched the heavy recording tablet tightly, her knuckles turning white.

“Syllyne,” Russell said, looking at her, “this is the final meeting minutes of Tree Court. After it’s over, seal it… along with the Onpharos Chronicle, in the deepest archives.”

"Teacher?" Hillline asked, puzzled.

“There’s no need to record the struggle that followed,” Russell said, his gaze drifting into the void. “An epic of failure… is meaningless.”

"If the fire-seeking succeeds, we will meet again in the new world. If we fail... these stone tablets will be proof that Onpharos ever existed." He abandoned the lie of continued existence, and all he could offer was that faint illusion of re-creation.

The sages passed this illusion down. A glimmer of hope in despair unexpectedly ignited the remaining embers.

The resolve to die became pure. Dejected soldiers gripped their weapons, and weary scholars calibrated their instruments. When this world had become purgatory, the promise of the afterlife became the final pillar supporting their spines.

Under Russell's cold commands, wave after wave of Black Tide creations were annihilated outside the protective barrier. The fifth layer of the barrier shattered on the seventh day after his awakening.

The roar of the Black Tide seemed to carry the fury of being obstructed, and the pressure grew daily. The so-called century of survival was like sand scattered by a raging storm.

Three months later, the crack in the seventh layer of the protective shield tolled the death knell for Tree Garden.

Now, only seventy or eighty thousand remnants of the Tree Court remain, making a final stand amidst the twisted branches. Everything resembles the futile struggle of a dying man.

At this moment, the sacred tree presents a bizarre and tragic spectacle: high-explosive fuel canisters and annihilation explosives, like deadly fruits, are densely distributed on every branch and every platform.

The energy core of the Divine Tree Heart has been filled to a critical point, and any slight disturbance could trigger an overload explosion.

The core of the final plan is to detonate this heart, triggering a chain reaction of annihilation storms that briefly tear through the darkness.

Bringing the last ray of light to Onphalus.

Whether Onphalus could usher in a new dawn after that was beyond Russell's consideration.

However, Russell delayed issuing the detonation order.

The news of rebirth vanished without a trace. Every day of perseverance felt like walking on a knife's edge. What if... just one second less?

He had to hold on until the very last moment for those who were to die because of the prophecy.

He knew perfectly well that he was using this illusory promise to push the last loyal warriors and scholars into the abyss. He was no longer sure if the prophecy would come true.

Even in such dire straits, Shuting did not break down. The soldiers heading towards destruction, the scholars still calibrating instruments on the eve of the explosion—their eyes looked at him without resentment, only with deep trust and farewell.

"Teacher, in my next life... I really want to see that world," a young scholar said softly after installing the last detonation node.

“Yes,” Russell could only answer, his voice hoarse. “I promise there will be no calamity in the New World.” He couldn’t betray that trust.

A week later, the eighth protective barrier shattered after only seven days of being torn apart by the raging black tide.

Now, the monster, like a boiling sea of ​​ink, is frantically crashing against the last barrier—the ninth layer of alchemical shield.

Spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly across the energy barrier, emitting a piercing, shrill sound. Once shattered, the Divine Enlightenment Tree Garden would be utterly destroyed.

Russell gripped the self-destruct remote control of the Heart of the Divine Tree tightly. With a single press, the core energy would be released instantly, igniting the explosives and fuel scattered throughout the Divine Tree, turning everything to dust.

The remaining three thousand people stood solemnly on the highest platform of the divine tree, following Russell. They looked up at the crumbling ninth protective barrier above them, as if gazing at a coffin lid about to close.

Russell's eyes burned with a deep-seated rage against the Black Tide, reflecting the ever-widening cracks in his eyes.

An elderly sage with gray hair, his trembling hand stroking the rough bark of the sacred tree, spoke in an unusually calm voice: "Teacher... Sersis has accompanied us for three thousand years. Today, let it accompany us on our final journey."

Russell pursed his lips and nodded.

Hillline clutched the recording tablet tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force: "Teacher... this tablet... will it really be discovered by the people of the New World?"

“People will remember,” Russell said in a deep, resolute voice, cutting through the noise of the shattering shield. “Even when we’re gone.”

A captain of the guards, with only one arm, leaned on his nicked greatsword and laughed hoarsely: "Ha! To stand with the chief until the end of the conflict. It was worth it!"

"Chief! In my next life... I'll still work for you!"

"Count me in!"

"We'll crush the Black Tide again in our next life!" several wounded soldiers roared, their last burst of energy erupting from their despair.

at this time--

"Click——!!!"

A massive crack pierced through the entire ninth layer of the protective shield, and the deafening sound of shattering was deafening.

A deathly silence descended for a moment.

The last light in the treehouse has been extinguished.

The boundless, ominous crimson darkness, like a destructive torrent bursting its banks, roared and surged into the divine tree.

Russell glanced one last time at the three thousand tired yet resolute faces behind him, then pressed his thumb heavily on the remote control button.

"May we... meet again in the next world."

……

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Amber Medicine Scroll: Chapter 41 Even Deception Can Persist

The core of the divine tree executed the final command, ruthlessly tearing apart all protection protocols and beginning to frantically extract the abundant energy within.

The energy torrents collided and compressed violently within the core, unleashing devastatingly high temperatures.

At this moment, the light emanating from the Heart of the Divine Tree even surpassed that of Ohmma's proud Dawn Machine.

The alarm buzzer only had time to blare for three seconds before the unimaginable internal pressure burst the outer shell.

The energy, accumulated to its limit, burst forth in an instant, sweeping across the entire tree garden. The pre-placed high-energy fuel and explosives were instantly ignited, joining this self-destructive frenzy.

The three thousand guardians didn't even have time to feel the pain before they were swallowed up by pure light of destruction.

Their figures were frozen in the instant the explosion struck, becoming the final silhouette of this temple of wisdom.

The final detonation point was triggered, and a yellow-orange mushroom cloud rose up with a roar, instantly annihilating the Black Tide's million-strong army of creations.

The light was scorching and blinding, carrying an indomitable resolve. The once towering Tree of Heaven was now nothing but charred fragments and a deep crater; Russell's final plan uprooted it and leveled it to the ground.

The eternal darkness of Onphalus was briefly torn apart by this sudden light. The people resisting in the remaining stronghold witnessed this fleeting glimmer of hope.

The light was quickly swallowed by deeper darkness.

Lai Gushi stood at a safe distance, gazing at the giant tree, now reduced to a twisted skeleton by the violent explosion, a rare smile of appreciation appearing on his face.

"Perfect... This is the purest explanation of the path to destruction, the perfect simulation of the end of all things."

He murmured, his voice filled with satisfaction, "The data collected in this cycle is enough to surpass the sum of all previous ones. The time has come; it's time to welcome the birth of that Annihilation Lord."

His gaze shifted to the scattered flames of resistance in the distant city-state of Ohma, and he let out a cold laugh: "Russell... an unexpected variable. His alliance actually allowed this simulated world to withstand extreme pressure for another six months? Truly valuable resilience data."

He clapped lightly, both as an admiration for Russell's aesthetics of destruction and as a sign of his delight at the imminent success of the plan.

"Unfortunately, you only appeared in the last simulation. If you had appeared a few cycles earlier, the birth of the Iron Tomb might have saved thousands of simulations."

Lai Gushi's regret flashed by, quickly replaced by anticipation. "I really want to see where your limits truly lie..."

……

Meanwhile, the Dawn Machines of Ohma had been shut down. The campaign against the Sky Titan Aegler had come at a heavy price.

The embodiment of the god of trickery, the lightning-fast Saifeier, was precisely targeted, pierced, and fell by Aigle's Sky Finale.

Her demise was completely unexpected, so fast that even her comrades-in-arms Bai E, Xi Lian, and Feng Jin were unable to react.

As Saifei's aura dissipated, the dawn that had sustained Ohma for a thousand years was extinguished.

Although the spark of the Sky Titan was ultimately forcibly returned to Feng Jin through immense pain, panic had already spread like wildfire when Bai E and Xi Lian returned to the Holy City with the devastating news of Sai Fei'er's fall and the news of another Goldenborn's self-fusion. The malice of the Black Tide was relentlessly encroaching on Ohma's already crumbling safety line.

"Quiet!" Lady Aglaia's voice vibrated through the ubiquitous golden threads, forcefully suppressing the commotion.

She mobilized the resources left by Russell and her remaining prestige, and a golden network of threads tightly bound the entire city-state, temporarily quelling the turmoil.

However, when she saw the countless tired, numb, and lifeless eyes transmitted through the network of silk threads, the almost completely lost humanity still stung her.