NOVEL WEB Chapter 38: Chapter 38: If There Is No Torch After This
"..."
Hearing the silver-haired youth's smiling reply, the tall old man just gave a bitter smile.
He raised his hand and gently ruffled his son's silver hair.
"Come with me. Since you insist, then let your father tell you the truth of this cage called Britain..."
"Holding Morgan's hand, you followed Vortigern to the basement where you were once born."
"It was covered in dust and cobwebs, the candlesticks thick with dust, as if it hadn't been visited for a long time."
"The old man waved his hand, and a hidden door leading to a deeper level appeared in the basement."
"Following the spiral staircase down for an unknown depth, you finally arrived at a vast, labyrinthine underground cavern."
"The rock formations here were filled with thick conduits like the roots of a giant tree, in which flowed a green glow like fireflies."
"This is... the underground ley lines?"
Su Shu knew at a glance what this place was.
The Clock Tower also had the Great Underground Tomb of Albion, filled with ley lines, and even had the grand excavation city of Magisphere built within it.
"That's right. This is beneath Londinium, where some of the thickest main trunks of the ley lines that run through the island of Britain are distributed."
Vortigern's voice echoed in layers in the underground cavern.
"However, compared to twenty years ago, their True Aether flow has now been reduced by more than half. Perhaps in a few more decades, these ley lines will completely wither away."
"...If they wither, what will happen?"
When Su Shu asked this, he had in fact already foreseen the cruel answer.
"Everything prosperous in Britain today is bathed in True Aether, a true gift from the Age of Gods.
"The decline of the Age of Gods is like the coming of an eternal night, and that True Aether is like sunlight to us Celts.
"If the Aether recedes, then what will follow will be the barrenness of the land, the withering of crops, the extinction of Demonic Beasts... the vast majority of people will starve to death, the land will be filled with famine-stricken corpses, people will be forced to eat each other...
The old man said softly.
"—This island will become a living hell, in the most literal sense."
Su Shu frowned.
In his former reality, there had also been unforgettable years of famine. He knew very well how cruel that was.
"So, that's why you want to bring back the Age of Gods, Father?"
"That's right. It's the only way to save Britain."
"...If that's the case,"
Su Shu asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time.
"Why didn't you announce this matter to the public, but instead bore it all on your own?
"If they knew the truth, no one would want to die. The whole of Britain would work together for this. Why would you have to suffer the condemnation of thousands?"
"It's not that I don't want to say it, but that I can't, Alvin."
The old man said, word by word, as calmly as still water.
"The Celts are the remnants of the Age of Gods. If they learn the truth of its decline, the resulting mass panic would further accelerate the decline."
"There's such a thing..."
The witch clicked her tongue.
She only knew that the decline of the Age of Gods was the general trend, a law of the planet's operation, but she didn't know that there were such secrets involved.
A dead end.
This was a complete... dead end.
Su Shu, who also realized this, fell into an indescribable silence.
At this moment, he finally understood why his father, Vortigern, had to bear all of this alone, risking universal condemnation, even willing to bring in the Anglo-Saxon barbarians to usurp the throne.
That's right, this was a dead end that couldn't be spoken of.
At that time, Vortigern could only, and had to, bear this cruel truth alone. Because if he spoke of it, it might spread, and all his efforts would be in vain.
Bury the secret, die a slow death, and perhaps find a turning point.
Speak the truth, and everyone dies together.
It was a desperate situation, like the trolley problem.
Vortigern Pendragon.
This man bore the weight of an entire era, had to keep this secret in his heart, brewing that cruelty, that bitterness, that loneliness alone, crawling in the shadows, growing claws and sharp teeth.
Misunderstanding. Resentment. Hatred. Prejudice.
Even if he was condemned by thousands, cursed by tens of thousands.
Even if he was denounced as a vile king, a light-devouring demonic dragon.
His tyrannical reputation spread throughout the island, and his name in the history books would surely stink for ten thousand years, his crimes too numerous to record.
Vortigern, when had he ever cared?
This was the unshakable will of the White Dragon of Britain.
"You drove away all the Celts," Su Shu said in a low voice, "for this reason as well?"
"...This is the very center of the island, where the tide of the Age of Gods' decline is most severe.
"If I fail..."
Vortigern closed his eyes heavily.
"—If they run far enough, they can live a little longer."
"..."
No words, no music.
Even breathing became difficult.
The atmosphere in the underground cavern was silent, almost stagnant.
Morgan stared blankly at her uncle.
They were usually bickering rivals, but at this moment, she felt that this person was so unfamiliar.
A sorrowful figure.
She opened her mouth, wanting to call out... Uncle.
But nothing came out.
Su Shu walked up and gently patted his father's shoulder.
"You should have told us earlier, Father.
"Even if the Celts cannot know, we might have been able to gather a more elite force to work on this together."
Su Shu had already realized the turning point in this.
If the majority must be kept in the dark, then what about the minority?
"With this standpoint, perhaps the Red Dragon and the White Dragon could also put aside their differences and save Britain from its peril together."
"It's not that simple, Alvin...
"—If that were all, why would I have fought with Uther? My little brother may be indifferent, but he is not unreasonable."
The old man opened his cloudy eyes, his tone weary.
"The birth of the child of the Red Dragon, this is the 'Will of the World'."
The Will of the World.
Once again, Su Shu heard this phrase that made him frown.
But he did not speak, only listening quietly.
Listening to the old man's tired voice.
"The world's 'Quantum Time-lock' has recorded the collection of all 'events' on the timeline.
"That is to say, those key nodes that are destined to happen have already been engraved in time.
"Because of human development, the rules on this planet will gradually evolve into rules more suitable for human survival.
"The decline of the Age of Gods is a fated event.
"The birth of the child of the Red Dragon is also such an event."
"So what if you change the heart of the child of the Red Dragon? Under the interference of the Will of the World, not to mention whether she will waver, even if she does, a new child of the Red Dragon will be born in response.
"If the torrent of history deviates, our world will be pruned, abandoned, and stopped, at the end of an eternal night, without a single ray of hopeful sunlight.
"In other words...
"—The whole of Britain is trapped in this pathetic cage called 'history'."
The old man's voice was like a flickering dying flame, burning in the depths of Britannia's earth.
"Alvin, this world wants us to offer our necks to be slaughtered. It wants us to die."
Who wants to die?
However, if the world wants you to die, you have to die.
If you are not willing to be dignified, then the Will of the World will help you be dignified.
It will build a tombstone for you, build a grave for you.
And so, the old and dying White Dragon shook off the grave soil from his body, grew sharp wings and sharp claws and fangs, and let out the roar of a dying demonic dragon from within the grave.
The will of the entire resurgent Britannia was focused on Vortigern alone, the lonely sorrow of an old man on the verge of death.
The Age of Gods was like a scorching sun.
Its decline was the coming of an eternal, lightless night.
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death.
I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children.
I shall wear no crowns and win no glory.
I shall live and die at my post.
I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn.
I am the dying embers of the Age of Gods, the last line of defense for this island.
I pledge my life and honor to Britannia,
for this night and all the nights to come.
In this desperate situation of approaching eternal night, an old man engraved the oath of a watchman in his heart.
And then, in the end, he failed to strictly abide by it.
"If I ultimately fail, I want to pass on some part of myself, a proof that I, as a person, once resisted...
"—And then, you were born, Alvin."
The old man raised his cloudy eyes. Though his figure was still tall and straight, this Vile King had never seemed so stooped, so old.
Whenever he saw him, he always seemed as solid as the earth.
But now, the earth was trembling.
"I have never asked anything of you, Alvin. I have always let you choose for yourself. I have never wanted to interfere with your choices."
"But, even if it's just your father's last advice...
"Not as the Vile King, not as Vortigern, not as the light-devouring demonic dragon, but just as your father...
"—Do not walk the same path as me."
A tremor in his voice.
The old man's voice, like a flickering dying flame, gradually extinguished.
The witch stood there stunned, lost in a daze.
The silver-haired youth seemed about to take a step forward.
Morgan suddenly grabbed Su Shu's hand.
A dazed expression was on her face.
She shook her head distractedly.
"Listen to your father, Alvin..."
Su Shu stepped forward and gently kissed the witch's lips.
"Trust me."
That temperature that always made one sink.
It made her stiff knuckles slowly loosen.
"The eternal night is coming... is it?
"Eternal night, so what.
"I'm sorry, Dad. you can't discipline me.
"Because I am the infamous son of the White Dragon."
Slowly.
Su Shu slowly raised his hand. He raised his hand and ruffled his old father's frosty silver hair.
You've worked hard.
"If there is no torch after this..."
Alvin Pendragon said with a smile.
"Then, I shall be your only light."
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