Chapter 1004: Awakening Of Madness (6)
Chapter 1004: Awakening Of Madness (6)
Chapter 1004: Awakening Of Madness (6)
?
Seventy heavy warships hovered above the remnants of the New Hope Continent, like silent birds of prey.
Most of them were made from the flesh and bones of Glorious Ranked Calamities making them appear like a floating mass of flesh and blood twisted by metals in certain parts to give the ship a standard structure, which was in the shape of massive avian beasts with two heads.
Each of these ships could hold at least thirty thousand Explorers, and they were all filled to the brim. Noah Rithmast had expected to return with maybe a thousand Explorers at the least, ten thousand at the most, it was going to be a large and tough expedition, and he would need numbers if he was going to be making any headway at all.
However, he was returning with more than two million Explorers, the weakest at the Glorious Rank.
Ranking the power levels in this world was simple, from Mortal, Enlightened, Heroic, Glorious, Legend, Deific, and finally Ascended. What comes after that level is unknown. A Deific Rank Explorer was already Immortal, and still, they could not understand the mysteries of what came after Ascended and beyond.
Among the warships was the most distinct one, it was the leading ship that resembled a gigantic open palm which was faced downwards, its six fingers spread wide, and the hand was so massive it covered all the ships below in its shadow and resembled a black umbrella.
This hand was hundreds of miles across, and it could hold an unknown amount of people and cargo, amazingly enough, it was an Ascended Class Warship, a level that was impossible for even a Deific Explorer to comprehend. It carried with it, a shroud of darkness that extended for tens of thousands of miles, covering the nearby continent and the sea in darkness, and only above it would sunlight be seen.
It was impossible for the trace of this warship to be hidden, but none would dare to challenge it. For unlike the bastard amalgamation of flesh and metal below it, this warship was aware and alive, and it was filled with a terrifying Will.
Noah was aboard this ship and was meditating in his cabin when he felt the movement of the ship ground to a halt. He shuddered and had an urge to peel his skin because It was a weird sensation anytime this ship was in motion, it was as if the ship was not moving, instead, it was the world that was moving, and anytime it stopped, Noah would feel as if the spinning world slowly grounded to a halt.
The ship was unshakable and unmovable, it was the world that moved. Knowing the unfathomable powers that the Ascended level held, this could most likely be the truth in some
ways.
Noah sighed and steadied himself against a stirring wall that still felt solid beneath his palm. He hated this ship, it reeked of old blood and power, and even while awake, it gave him terrifying visions, as if it luxuriated in his discomfort.
This palm eldritch warship was ancient, its roots dated back in history and had been mostly forgotten even by the Immortals, but it was said that this ship had been grown from the right hand of the First Explorer, Berrion The Undying, rumored to be the only Explorer that had grown strong enough to leave not just the lower Continent but ascended to a level that was beyond imagination and was directly challenging the peak calamities to control the fate of the world.
Said to be the Greatest Explorer to ever live, Berrion The Undying is rumored to be standing against the entire world and its end, holding back a great host of monsters that would tear the world apart a thousand times over. He had been doing it since time immemorial, and he had rightfully earned his place as the Ruler of this world, and his sacrifice safeguarded existence itself.
This ship was called The Left Hand Of God, and its presence in this expedition meant the greatest force in the world had become interested in this matter, and where this ship went, one of the most powerful beings in the world followed.
Noah Rithmast had spent so much time returning due to an unexpected party that had intervened, the singular greatest power in the entire world, The Council of Nine.
This was an ancient power that had led the Explorers since time immemorial. They had stood beside Berrion when he carved out the first continent from the chaos and had led to a new age, one of Explorers that found new continents in the endless ocean and pushed for the spread of civilization.
During the time Noah had been gathering the relevant Explorers to return to New Hope, the information about what he suspected had impacted the earth reached the Council, and this mission was essentially overtaken by them.
Looking back, it was a foolish thing to think he could have hidden such a thing from their gaze.
Although Noah was angered at the start, knowing whatever benefits he might have received had now been cut short, and he was not wrong, he would be given none of the Ocean of Purified Aura that he had found, because the Council wanted to run these Aura through certain rigorous testing, but he was surprised that he would be allocated a permanent location nearby the Piece of Heaven if it was confirmed that it worked and was able to purify Chaotic Aura.
Essentially he would be sacrificing short-term gain for long-term stable growth. Even if he became an Ascended Explorer, Noah thought it was impossible for him to ever hold the Piece of Heaven for long.
He would be a fool if he refused to take this deal, although his path to an Ascended Explorer would be delayed, it would still be viable, he could slowly accumulate Aura and ascend the Ranks.
Noah nearly laughed when he considered what he called a slow rise up the ranks would be nothing but an impossible speed for him to consider a few decades ago.
However, during the time they traveled back to New Hope, there had been a slight fear in his heart that perhaps what he had seen was a lie, that something that was so ridiculous as a piece of heaven falling from the sky was certainly not possible, he must have hit his head against the spine of an Ascended Rank Calamity, and everything was a hallucination.
This state of mind was not alleviated at all with his time inside this warship, as it preyed on his fears and Noah suspected that it even enhanced it.
This fear increased as they grew closer to New Hope and Noah sequestered himself inside his cabin, and when he heard the summon for him by the new leaders of this expedition, he broke into a cold sweat that stained his green skin, turning it towards a closer shade of purple, and pushed himself to his feet.
One way or another, he would be facing the music in the next few moments.
The journey to the top of the ship where he had been summoned passed by in a blur. Noah was unable to pierce through the permanent Aura that grounded the entire ship, and everything around him appeared to be surrounded by gray fog, even the room he had stayed inside for the last few months resembled a hole cut out of a wall of fog.