Chapter 1085 — Reaching a Consensus

In the Shadow Court, shrouded in boundless chaos and darkness, the giant deer Amon faced off against the dormant magic-net terminal.

"I think the thing is broken," the former god of nature finally concluded after a long silence. "Look, it doesn't even light up when it's delivered."

"...I've told you several times, the magic-net terminal cannot be delivered with its power switched on. It must be placed in an energy field to function," said the giantess woven from mist and arcane symbols beside Amon, heaving a somewhat resigned sigh. Her sigh stirred up a modest arcane cyclone in the Shadow Realm, summoning countless dense lightning bolts along the edges of the courtyard district. "Didn't the person in charge of the installation tell you how to use it?"

"It was delivered by that mortal named 'Camille.' He didn't say, and I didn't ask," Amon said in a muffled voice. "He looked busy, and he seemed unwilling to stay by my side for long."

"...I can imagine. I've heard about him, and he must have very mixed feelings about you," the goddess of magic Milmina lowered her head, her eyes brimming with arcane radiance sweeping between Amon and the magic-net terminal. "And it would be much the same with anyone else—you were a deity after all. How would a mortal ever think that you of all beings would need someone to teach you how to use this thing..."

"That's not my fault. My domain is the power of nature, not the mysteries of magic. Besides, I've been away from the material world for three thousand years—three thousand years! Do you know how I've lived through those three thousand years? I've just been lying here..."

Milmina cut Amon off before he could finish: "So do you need my help or not?"

Amon answered without hesitation: "No, I can do it myself!"

Milmina looked rather dismissive. She shook her head and stood up: "Fine then. Since you don't need help, I'll go for a walk."

As soon as the words left her mouth, the lady who reigned over mysteries and magic transformed into a violently swirling cyclone of magical power, sweeping like a gale across the vast gravel plain and endless darkness, and quickly vanished from Amon's sight.

Amon still lay motionless among the boulders and metal structures, but his gaze seemed fixed on the direction in which Milmina had disappeared. Only when she was completely swallowed by the darkness did he let out a soft sigh: "Actually, if you were to help, I..."

In an instant, a gale swept in from afar, carrying powerful magical fluctuations and arcane lightning that followed like a shadow. Milmina returned before Amon just as she had left. The lady of elegant bearing bent down slightly, and her mist-covered face seemed to carry a hint of a smile: "See? I told you that you needed help."

Amon: "..."

"No need to be polite. It's a trifling matter for me," Milmina's smile grew more pronounced. Before Amon could raise any objection, she had already bent down and reached out a finger to lightly touch the magic-net terminal fixed atop a floating boulder—this terminal was already a large machine on the scale of a municipal public facility, yet before her it seemed as small as some portable device. "Look, you just need to do this..."

A small cluster of arcane sparks burst from the void. Milmina's fingers had not touched the device, but the resonance between magical forces had already activated the rune array within this precision equipment. Accompanied by a faint humming sound and rune groups lighting up one after another, the projection crystal on the magic-net terminal brightened, and a clear holographic image appeared above the crystal.

A lady with a sweet smile was introducing the newly opened neural network distribution stations in the city to everyone on screen. In the background, rows of neatly arranged immersion pods awaited citizens to try them out.

"...Ah, it's on," Amon suddenly said a few seconds later.

"Don't talk. Watch the program," Milmina cut him off directly.

"So you really just wanted to use my magic-net terminal," Amon said mildly, his tone betraying little emotional fluctuation. "Why don't you go get a set from that human yourself? He probably wouldn't mind..."

"I mind. I still need to act with caution—I must avoid contact with any mortal, because I'm not sure whether some inadvertent contact might reestablish my connection to the material world, and I'm not sure whether I've truly completed my self-isolation and purification. And there's one more thing, the most important of all... I'm still observing that 'human' you mentioned. Until I'm certain he is truly reliable, I will not take any risks."

"In my view, you're not actually as cautious as you claim to be, but since this is your choice, it's not my place to comment further," Amon said evenly. "I just want to remind you of one thing... our time is not abundant. This season of civilization has survived safely for a very long time, and in this world, days of peace and tranquility never last long."

Milmina silently glanced at the giant deer Amon beside her. Those eyes brimming with arcane radiance seemed to flicker for a moment. She appeared to be pondering something, but in the end said nothing.

Amon fell silent as well, as still as he had been for many years past—but unlike the past, a cheerful and lively voice now echoed through this dark, chaotic courtyard, and this lifeless world had gained a measure of vitality.

The two former gods sat or lay quietly in the courtyard of the Fortress of Defiance, together keeping watch over a magical machine tiny to them. The fruits of civilization created by the mortal races in this epoch accompanied them—a companionship that seemed insignificant, yet seemed capable of intoxicating them completely. Whether what intoxicated them was the "programs" created by mortals, or the peace and comfort of this moment, none could say.

"How do you change the channel?" Amon suddenly said.

"Don't change it yet. Wait until I finish this segment, then I'll teach you."

......

Gao Song finished his story—after omitting the glorious descriptions of dragon civilization and those histories with little relevance to the Loren Continent, the dragons' million-year forbearance and their final-moment escape did not actually take long to tell. Moreover, considering the worldview of his listeners and the technical details that would be difficult to lay groundwork for, he also omitted the final part about Omega's takeoff and long voyage. Even so, this breathtaking story still shook Luo Yan before him, and Matilda beside him. Fate

"This is the story of Thalund," Gao Yang said with a long exhale, summing up. "Now they have won their freedom. This civilization, which crossed spans of time we cannot imagine and once reached the pinnacle of glory, has been reborn from the ashes and returned to the mortal world—they are not some bard's legend, not monsters or strange beasts from another space. Dragons have flesh and blood too; they are a mortal species like us, they encounter difficulties too, and now they have decided to seek help from the mortal world."

"...I truly cannot imagine that such things are happening beyond the 'world' we know," Matilda could not help saying softly. "Fused gods... a devastating 'Breaking Free'... I once thought that everything we experienced on the Winterfort battlefield was the pinnacle of all historical legends, but now it seems... there are still very, very many things in this world beyond our imagination."

"You mentioned just now that in the final stage, the dragons broke free of the gods' shackles completely by bursting out of our planet?" Luo Yan had clearly latched onto a more crucial piece of information. "And the dragon ambassador described this act as 'the ultimate act of defiance'?"