Crossing the World

XIV - Underworld

Kingdom of Elucia, 1002 New Calendar after Week of Collapse.

It had been the past month that another world portal had suddenly appeared in different parts of the world and monstrous monsters came out from within. As a result of this senseless occurrence, all the kingdoms of the world signed a peace treaty and united to form an alliance to fight the invasion of otherworldly beings.

The whole kingdom mustered all their military power and technology. Even the latest weapons such as flintlocks, cannons, and dynamite are used massively. However, the monsters that were later known to have magical powers could not be dammed.

Two weeks after the invasion, bad news spread quickly, stating that the two kingdoms had been completely destroyed. At that moment, humanity fell into despair.

Knowing that humanity's current strength was not enough to resist the invasion, a special division was formed that was assigned to dive into one of the ancient ruins in the period before the Week of Collapse. The division is named as survivors.

It is said that in the period before the Week of Fall, humanity had very advanced technology because the gods lived side by side with humans and guided the humans towards prosperity. However, after the Week of Collapse, almost all humans went extinct and the gods were never seen again. The remains of archaeologists are only the ruins of ancient civilizations scattered around the world.

Among the ancient ruins was a basement full of deadly traps. All this time no one dared to go all the way to the bottom. However, as now the world was going through a crisis, the survivors were finally sent there to check on him.

Surprisingly, all the traps were inactive and various carvings on the walls seemed to lead them to get to the bottom quickly. All this as predicted by whoever made these ruins.

"Can you read it?" Sean, the leader of the survivors, asked the archaeologist walking behind him.

They looked at a large double door that was already covered in moss. Even so, the carvings from ancient writings found on the door leaf are not damaged at all.

"I'm trying to translate it." Aria kept writing the words in her book.

After spending a while, Aria let out a voice full of relief.

"I managed to translate everything!"

The survivors of the six people began to gather and read the words that Aria had translated.

*Press The collapse finally happened as predicted. The world is becoming hostile and the high human beings we worship are never seen again.

Did they leave us? Or did the Week of Fall also affect the world of the gods?

Even so, the Week of Collapse is just a cycle and part of a natural phenomenon. We don't think about calling him. In the distant future, when the distortions of space and time occur, this gem will be much more needed by mankind. For anyone who finds it, take it and use this gem as the inevitable enemy begins to destroy the world*.

The sentence ends there. Although very brief and seemingly inexhaustible, the six knew that the distortion in question must be today. So, they nodded and immediately opened the double door.

In the room there was only a simple wooden box that had started to decay. There is absolutely nothing else. At first they were worried whether the gem in question had been stolen before. However, when they looked around, it seemed that this place had indeed been very long untouched given the thick dust covering the stone floor in the room. In other words, it seemed like no one had ever come here and stolen anything.

"Then, does the wooden crate hold any hidden treasures?"

The six of them touched him almost simultaneously. Then, a blinding light suddenly blocked their view until everyone closed their eyes.

When they started to open their eyes, the place they saw was the entrance to the ruins. They seemed to be teleported far to the ground surface along with that weathered box.

"What the fuck?!"

"Miracle, this is a miracle belonging to the gods!"

The survivors expressed their opinions with great admiration.

Moving places instantly could only be done by the power of the gods. Ancestral relics could not possibly be able to summon such a miracle. So, the source that came to their minds over the phenomenon was only one, the power of the gods.

***

Two weeks after the discovery of strange crystals from ancient ruins. Today is exactly one month after mysterious portals started popping up everywhere.

Tobias, King of Elucia XII, was sitting on the throne. The people standing before him were ministers and government officials. They all looked glum as if the world had ended. Even so, his hopes for the survivors were not extinguished completely.

"Your Majesty the King, I'm facing you to deliver a news story!"

"Have the survivors returned?!" The King reacted immediately.

The voice of the soldier was instantly cut off by the words full of relief from the government officials.

"Ohh?!"

"How good is it."

"I think the gods are still on our side."

Then, just a few seconds after their gratitude, a huge earthquake shook the entire castle. Not only that, the loud thumping sound almost destroyed their eardrums.

"Your Majesty!" The soldiers began to pour into the throne room right after the great earthquake shook everything.

"Protect His Majesty and the officials!" The order came from the knight captain who was instantly responded by all the knights under his leadership.

The King ran amid a great shock that began to tear down the stone pillars. Some people were even stricken and screamed for help. However, in a time like this, it was impossible for one to have the free time to save others. So they had to ignore it.

As the King ran towards the castle grounds, something huge was seen floating in the air. Those who saw it could only look up in silence, dumbfounded and desperate over the terrifying scene.

A pair of reptilian wings flapped two kilometers wide, blowing winds onto the land that instantly ravaged everything. His mouth shot out fireballs in various directions and turned most of the land into a sea of fire.

"What the hell is that?!" The king asked in despair.

Something that was flapping its wings in the sky was the Ancient Dragon King, Ziz. It was said that when he stretched his wings, the width of his body reached five kilometers. Meanwhile, his body length was more than seven kilometers. The creature itself is a symbol of the destruction of a world. If no one could hold it, the world would

destroyed in less than 10 days.

"Your Majesty!"

The one who destroyed the King's daydream was Sean. He ran towards the King while carrying a weathered wooden crate in his hand.

"Oh, Sean!" Everyone looked at him with anxiety. "Did you get that relic?"

"Right, Your Majesty, the artifact is inside this chest!"

Sean knelt down while putting the crate in his hand to the ground. He opened the chest, revealing a red gem the size of a little finger that was stored on a cloth pad.

The King was silent, frowning. He picked up the jewel without hesitation and was ready to curse at Sean who was still kneeling before him. However, before he could cuss the man, his gem suddenly emitted an extremely dazzling red light.

"W-what happened?" The King reflexively threw the jewel forward while protecting his vision.

The gem began to explode, emitting a red glow that continued to spread out in all directions.

Slowly the light turned into a lump of metal that stuck together with each other. The metals were increasingly spreading and growing into the sky, forming an endless giant tower.

In just an instant, its height was already over five kilometers and its width was probably around two kilometers which instantly swept across the capital of Elucia with its incredible growth.

At that moment, no one realized that the giant tower was just a right leg of a humanoid robot standing still. His giant body made people unable to see him in full. So, most humans only see it as a skyscraper tower.

The robot's right hand swung, grabbing the Dragon King Ziz who was flying nearby. Then, like killing a dragonfly, he squeezes Ziz into a shapeless lump of flesh.

No one understood the strange and awe-inspiring scene that was happening above the sky. However, one thing they knew, the nightmare of the Ancient Dragon King had ended in an instant.

Now the question is whether or not the giant robot before them will bring destruction to this world. If the aim was to destroy the world, then no one would be able to withstand its rampage.

As everyone was still trying to make sense of the situation, a world-shaking heavy voice began to sound. This voice was even heard by someone who was on the other side of the world.

[I am an artificial god, ex-Machina, Deus. The god who represents knowledge. Blessed are you, inhabitants of this world. Together with you, I will lead you to eternal peace]

At that time, the world commemorated the birth of Deus as the Day of Resurrection.