allendalepharm Page 614
Page 614
Chapter 644 Seeking (4k)
The moment that Command Seal vanished!
In Iskandar's wildly fluctuating golden and silver eyes, filled with shock, rage, and divine majesty, all resistance, all struggle, all the violence born from the erosion of his Reality Marble...
The commotion subsided instantly!
What replaced it was an indescribable... peace? No, more accurately, a sense of liberation, a sense of belonging, a... sweet sacrifice!
"Ah……"
A soft, yet incredibly clear laugh, carrying a sense of satisfaction as if a long-cherished wish had finally been fulfilled, seemed to emanate from the depths of time, piercing through the divine radiance.
That was not the voice of Iskandar—the conqueror king or the god-king Zeus.
That is... the imposter! The one that runs through history, weaves conspiracies, lurks in the shadows, and supports the record of the three realms of this newborn god—the most core and most secret "foundation"!
Then, under Hartres's icy gaze, and in the awe-inspiring look of Matou Ike's burning Garan Mystic Eyes—
The vast divine power surrounding Iskandar, which was originally used to resist erosion and stabilize his divine body, not only failed to resist the command seal's instructions, but instead, like a torrent that had found its final destination, instantly abandoned all defensive postures!
His glorious divine body, proactively, even with an eagerness, embraced the cold, ancient bronze veins and the pulsating blue light that were encroaching from all directions!
laugh--! ! !
The divine radiance, like mercury hitting a sponge, surged wildly into the pulsating bronze veins! It was no longer resistance, but fusion! It was assimilation!
The Albion Otherworldly Laws, which were originally only passively eroding the divine kingdom, now seemed to have obtained the most perfect "conductor" and "fuel," and the speed of erosion instantly increased by a hundred times or a thousand times!
Iskandar's radiant divine body became thinner and more transparent at a visible speed! The vast divine power, divine essence, and the "reason" carried by the three enormous realm records that constituted his existence.
It is being forcibly extracted, decomposed, and then, like the purest nutrients, injected into the living bronze "blood vessel" network and pulsating core of the Albion Great Tomb!
He is not resisting the Command Spell!
He willingly... offered himself as a sacrifice to carry out Hatteres's orders!
“Engraving… lodging…”
The imposter's whispers seemed to echo simultaneously through countless bronze veins, carrying a satisfied sigh.
"Tsk."
A suppressed spit, filled with immense shock and resentment, escaped from Matou Ike's tightly clenched teeth. The scalding, crimson mud, thick with the stench of sulfur and blood, washed over his calves, the burning sensation piercing his nerves. But at this moment, the pain paled in comparison to the shock of the scene before him!
The ferocious fighting spirit that had appeared on his blood-stained face due to the burning of the Garan Demon Eye instantly froze, replaced by a cold astonishment that his plans had been completely disrupted.
he made it!
The spatial turbulence triggered by the triple spiral storm is like billions of invisible auger blades, frantically tearing at Iskandar's crumbling divine radiance!
The Demon Eye of Garan locked onto its target, the destructive power emanating from its left eye socket poised to be unleashed!
He sensed with absolute clarity that deep within the violently fluctuating core of divinity, the unpredictable power belonging to the "Impersonator" had been pushed to its limit, like an onion being peeled back to reveal a more intense, domineering, and overwhelming will beneath—a will symbolizing iron hooves and conquest.
Iskandar the Conqueror's Spirit Origin Realm is churning violently amidst divine upheaval, like a suppressed volcano about to erupt!
Just apply a little more pressure!
All it takes is a trigger!
That power of "conquest," enough to unite ten thousand troops and sweep across the eight wastelands, and that ultimate spear that he longed to see and clash against, will be fully revealed to the world!
This was a strategic goal he was determined to achieve, even at the cost of his own life and the destruction of one eye!
however--
Hartres's indifferent raising of his hand, the calm yet cold declaration of the Command Seal, the Absolute Command that vanished as a crimson dot of light... and what followed, Iskandar's incomprehensible and willing self-sacrifice!
Everything happened in the blink of an eye!
quick! too fast!
Before Matouike could react effectively, his thoughts, as precise as a combat machine, were even close enough to process them!
He could only watch helplessly as the domineering Spirit Origin radiance belonging to the King of Conquerors, which should have been forced to emerge under the storm and pressure, was extinguished in an instant, just before it was about to burst forth, like a branding iron thrown into ice water!
Instead, there was the satisfied sigh of the imposter, and the bizarre sight of divine radiance giving up resistance and returning to the embrace of the bronze veins like weary birds returning to their nests!
Iskandar's dazzling divine body is becoming thinner and more transparent at a visible speed! The vast divine power that constitutes his existence and the immense "reason" carried by the records of the three realms.
It was being greedily absorbed, decomposed, and devoured by the cold bronze veins of Albion! The divine light was rapidly dimming and dissolving within the texture of the ancient temple!
He brought out the "Magician" level, but forever lost the chance to bring out the "Conqueror" level!
"Damn..."
Matouchi's demonic eyes, blazing with raging flames, were fixed on the dissolving divine radiance, a burning anger of being fooled and a deep sense of apprehension deep within them.
A sharp pain shot through his eyes, and blood trickled down his cheeks again, dripping into the boiling blood and making a soft hissing sound.
He underestimated Hartres.
He underestimated...or rather, completely failed to comprehend...Iskandar, or rather, the Imposter's, willing obedience to Hartres's orders!
A deity, in fact, executed a commandment that was theoretically beyond His control, so thoroughly, so... willingly, to die?!
This defies all common sense! This overturns his understanding of the relationship between "god" and "master"!
"only……"
Matou Ike forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart. The light of the Garan Demon Eye was as sharp as a knife, piercing through the dissolving divine radiance and locking onto the Albion Bronze Vein that was greedily devouring the divine nourishment.
Hartres's command was clear in his ears:
"Let your name be etched into this temple!"
"Let your power reside on this planet!"
Iskandar is dying out.
But His divinity, His power, and the three realms He embodies—especially the power of "conquest" that has yet to be revealed but contains infinite possibilities—have not disappeared!
They are being forcibly injected, inscribed, and housed in this living temple called Albion, which is awakening!
what does this mean?
The upheaval caused by Albion's awakening was boiling beneath his feet, and the chaotic currents of law caused by Iskandar's willing sacrifice were roaring before his eyes.
But at this moment, Matou Ike's mind, as precise as a combat machine, forcibly stripped away these world-shaking clamors, like the most precise probe piercing into a colder, more perplexing mystery—
Hartres's behavioral logic.
The intricate conspiracy surrounding the Clock Tower, the Clock Tower's transformation of Albion, and the subsequent activation of the "super-standard concept costume" exuding an aura of impending doom...
With his keen insight and experience in the magic world, Matou Ike's level of understanding may even surpass that of some clock tower monarchs who are obsessed with the game of power!
He saw through the layers of complexity, like an engineer deconstructing a complex instrument, clearly grasping the operating logic and potential conflicts of each component.
Although the chessboard of the clock tower was not completely transparent to him, its structure was clear and its motives were traceable.
However, Hartres's actions at this moment—
This Command Seal that defied all logic, and Iskandar's (the Imposter's) inexplicable and willing self-sacrifice—
But it was like an undecipherable jumble of code, which ruthlessly pierced into his meticulously functioning cognitive model!
"I don't understand..."
This chilling thought, like a maggot clinging to a bone, lingered in Matouchi's mind.
No, to be more precise, it's not that his "behavior" is completely incomprehensible, but rather that Hartres's behavior is fundamentally and thoroughly at odds with the almost fixed character profile he had previously constructed!
Hartres... the man who just used a Command Seal to "sacrifice" the newborn god he had spent thirty years nurturing...
"A paradoxical combination of reason and emotion..."
This cold conclusion, like a brand forcibly forged into the foundation of his thinking, took shape in Matouchi's mind.
His previous image—that of Hartres, detached from time, a pure explorer, like a cold scholar outside a cosmic rift—collapsed abruptly under that shocking command.
Instead, there is a more complex, more contradictory, and more... dangerous Hartres!
Extremely rational!
This rationality is reflected in the long-term planning that spanned thirty years!
From choosing the enigmatic "Impersonator"—a figure who has been a constant presence throughout history—as the foundation, to incorporating the domineering spirit origin of Iskandar, the King of Conquerors, into it, and then plotting to seize the thunderous power of Zeus, the King of the Gods...
Every step is like the meshing of the most precise clock gears, requiring unparalleled patience, insight, and mastery of the limits of occult rules!
He evaded the Clock Tower's watchful eyes and took advantage of the unique environment of the Albion Great Tomb, like a hunter who laid a net across the river of time, all to capture and nurture the ultimate miracle of "God"!
He spent thirty years and poured in immeasurable resources and wisdom to finally bring this fruit, known as the "God of Magic," to fruition.
However, just as the fruit was about to reveal its sweetest and most essential power of conquering the king, he personally... threw it into the furnace!
Command it to destroy itself, and inscribe and reside within the body of another awakening, destructive behemoth!
This is by no means the optimal rational solution! This is not even a stop-loss! This is a complete and utter waste and sacrifice without regard for the consequences!
What drives this "squandering" is not the researcher's curiosity, but something deeper, more fervent, and more obsessive—a desire!
“Break...the established magical order…”
The Garan Demon Eye in Matou Pond reflected Hartles's indifferent profile, and beneath that timeless silence, he seemed to see boiling magma.
Hartres's goal was never simply to "create gods" or "explore the truth."
He created gods because he needed a powerful enough "weapon," an ultimate weapon capable of shaking the indestructible inherent order built by the clock tower, the roots, and the magical foundation accumulated over thousands of years!
This order binds the boundaries of magic, defines the hierarchy of mystery, divides the realm of human reason, and welds "possibility" and "impossibility" together with cold rules. It is the sky above all magicians, and also the cage that binds all explorers.
Hartres, this observer who walks outside of time, sees not the brilliance of truth, but the shackles of order! He feels not the joy of exploration, but the suffocation of being bound by rules!
That's why he chose to spend nearly thirty years planning to create a god!
Only the divine magic it brings is qualified to challenge the order rooted in the foundation of the world!
Only a divine being could possibly alter the laws that are fixed at their source!
However, when this "weapon," forged with half a lifetime of effort, finally took shape, and was about to reveal its sharpest spearhead (the power of the Conqueror King), Hartles made the most "emotional" decision—not to use it to cleave through the order, but to offer it as a "sacrifice" to another force that could also overturn the order—the awakened planetary dragon Albion!
This seemingly contradictory behavior, in Matouike's reconstructed cognitive model, points to an even more insane logic:
Perhaps, in Hartres's eyes, the power of a single "god" is still not enough to completely shatter the heavy shackles of order.
Perhaps Albion, the child of this planet, is part of the order itself, or... the key to breaking the order?