Chapter 337

337 The Temple of Dawn

RUMBLEEEEE

RUMBLEEEE

The sky was rumbling, the earth was shaking, the animals were running around, water was surging up, and lightning was flashing over the land.

The world was trembling.

“W-what is going on?”

“That... That is...”

The generals, the emperor, as well as the soldiers who were stationed all around the place, looked up at the sky. Some shiny lights were slowly appearing in the dark night sky.

Rummmbleeeeee

A flash of red-purple lightning rumbled in the sky. It was bright and beautiful, but at the same time ominous and scary. The bolt of lightning looked as if a crack had broken the sky in two.

.....

Rumbleee

Just then, another thunderbolt flashed in the sky. Then, another one.

One after another, red-purple bolts of lightning filled the sky. But the strange thing was that the bolts of lightning were not normal. They all shared some things in common. One was that all of them had two ends, one on the far horizon, and the other near the moon, which was lighting the sky on top of the people on the ground.

Another thing was that the thunderbolts didn’t change their position at all. They all flashed on the same spot as the previous one, with the difference that there were 7 different positions in which the lights flashed.

To the people looking up from the ground, it looked like the night sky was broken to pieces by seven lines with the moon at its center.

“The seven temples...”

Someone among the crowd mumbled, in a daze. They didn’t know when, but the shakings of the ground had stopped at some point and the only strange thing was the thunderbolts in the sky. The group stood there and stared at the sky, not knowing what they were supposed to do.

It was only a few seconds later that they realized that there was something else. Something else in the sky beside the red-purple thunderbolts.

SHHHH

SHHHH

They were three small but bright... stars.

Three red stars were gently shining in the dark night sky. The light they were emanating had died the sky crimson, making the moon seem a little red to the sides. They were giving the spectators a sense of peace and calmness, completely opposite to the seven fierce thunderbolts that were still roaring in the sky.

Was such a thing even possible? What was going on?

ONGGGGGGG

ONGGGGGGG

Just when they were about to feel a little less tense, they heard some loud noises and... saw another thing. This time, it was not the sky but the ground, the place right before their eyes, the exact area under the moon, a place where the sliver moonlight, tinted crimson a little bit, was shining on it brightly.

“Its... It’s...” Emil pointed at the location. “The space... The space is twisting...”

“...Time as well...”

Alan commented at the same time while staring at the location where he was getting a strange feeling from. He could see the time a large empty area before them slowly contrasting and twitching. Actually, there was no need for him to use his power as everyone could see how the air, light, and space in that area were contrasting. It was as if there was a transparent layer in the air that was slowly melting down.

“Move back... Tell the forces to retreat!”

Stefan ordered as soon as he snapped out of his daze. They were far away from the melting transparent layer, but that didn’t mean they were safe. He was feeling in danger. Something was screaming in his mind, telling him to run away.

“Retreat!”

“Fall back! Tell all soldiers to fall back!”

The soldiers and the army was even further away compared to the emperor and the generals, however, they were mostly ordinary soldiers with no unique skills. They had to get away from this place.

But there was a problem. The soldiers were still in a daze, and they couldn’t hear the orders given to them due to the distance.

“Alan!”

Stefan shouted, snapping his head to the man who was jumping down the tree he was sitting on top of. There was no need for Stefan to explain anything. Alan knew what he was supposed to do. In an instant, his figure vanished and he disappeared from sight. The only thing left from him was a golden glow and some speck of dust. He had used his power to rush to the soldiers and order them to retreat.

ONGGGGGGGGGG

ONGGGGGGGGGGG

The voice got louder and the ground shook more frequently. By now, they could barely see some shapes on the other side of the half-melted transparent barrier. They could see white walls, white pillars, and a tall and huge building slowly appearing in the place where it seemed as if nothing existed.

“A... A temple...”

Matilda mumbled as she grasped her sword with both hands. The others were in a similar situation, all ready to fight.

Just as the barrier went down a little bit more, they could see some words engraved on top of the temple with large letters.

The Temple of Dawn

Stefan muttered those words under his lips, then raised his head to glance at the sky. Red-purple thunderbolts, three red stars, and the moon that was colored crimson.

‘Dawn?’

He asked himself, not understanding anything about the meaning of those words.

The pale moonlight and the crimson light of the stars were shining down on the temple, giving it a holy and serene appearance. There were a large number of stairs leading up to the entrance of the temple, and on top of those stairs stood a white-haired man, looking at the lost generals with a smile on his lips.

There was a gate separating the temple from the outside and a vast yard was spread in between the yard and the first step to the temple’s entrance.

Right at the center of the yard were an altar, a platform, and different shapes drawn on the ground. On top of the altar stood a strange machine. Something that didn’t look to belong to their world, or to the time they were living at. The device was making small noises as it rotated.

All of a sudden, the strange marks on the ground lit up. There were seven symbols engraved on the ground, and there was a pillar behind each symbol, all of them connecting to a ceiling on top of the yard that had a small circular hole on it, right below the moon.

A purple light shined up from the symbol and caused the white pillars to look purple as well. At the same time, three-star marks on the ground lit red, and the device that was at the center of the symbols shone white.

The scene looked so holy and scary at the same time that it made the onlookers’ minds go blank.

Watching the scene from on top of the stairs, the holy saint, had a satisfied smile on his lips.

“Stop...”

Shhhhh

“S-stop that!”

Stefan took a step forward and pulled out his sword.

“Stop that thing right now!”

He yelled at his generals, moved up his sword, and slashed it horizontally. A golden aura slash left the tip of this sword and moved towards the altar.

BANNGG

But the aura slash hit a transparent barrier before reaching the altar and completely vanished.

The loud noise helped the generals snap out of their daze and grab their weapons once again. They stared at their emperor’s back who was moving towards the temple with steady and hast steps.

‘Stop it!’

‘Stop that!’

‘You’ll all die.’

‘Everyone will die if you don’t stop him!’

‘Break that thing! Shatter the altar!’

‘Do it, at any costs!’

At any costs.

Those words were echoing in Stefan’s mind. It was the voice of someone he had never heard, and he didn’t know where it was coming from, but those words were making him feel anxious and calm at the same time. They made him finally realize what he was supposed to do. Where was the voice coming from? Was it God? Stefan didn’t know. Stefan didn’t see how the crown on his head was glowing. Stefan didn’t care.

And it was the same for the others. The artifacts were glowing more than usual, and the voice of a man was telling them to stop whatever the white-haired holy saint was doing at any cost.

The three generals and one emperor rushed to the temple. They launched attacks at the device, but they couldn’t pass through the transparent barrier no matter what they did.

“You bastard!”

Yelled Matilda as she hit the barrier with her most powerful attack, only for her sword to shatter as a result. Gritting her teeth, the woman pulled out another sword that was tied to her waist and prepared another attack.

“I can’t link a portal to that place...”

“My mana can’t break it either!”

Mixing mana and aura, Stefan launched another attack at the barrier, but nothing happened again.

“Do you really wish to come inside?”

Just then, they heard the voice of the holy saint. A soft and gentle voice.

“Then, I’ll allow your entry!”

Ha raised his hand, moved his fingers, and snapped.

.....

CRACK

CRACK

Right at that moment, the barrier separating them cracked in several spots and started to crumble. It started to crumble as it glowed an ominous purple at the same time.

“No...”

‘No!’

“Run... Run away!”

‘Run away!’

Stefan repeated the same words of the man, the words of the voice echoing in his mind, as he turned around.

But it was too late for them to run or hide.