Chapter 1095: God of the Night

Lei En interrogated the priest Hazura for a lot of information, but the troll tribe is closed off; Hazura only knows about the area around Aweiken, and knows little about other cities or the broader Southern Continent.

Especially regarding Luo A, Hazura only feels awe and worship.

Seeing no point in further questioning, Lei En began having Hazura teach him the one hundred and fifty ancient holy runes he had mastered; the troll priest, under mind‑control, gave everything without reservation.

After a little over an hour, Lei En had mastered them all.

Additionally, he learned from Hazura several hundred ancient holy characters, which trolls call "Divine Script", meaning the script used by the divine race.

Divine Script is knowledge only the priestly class can master, and it is used solely among priests.

Yet few priests can speak it fluently.

The few hundred ancient holy characters Hazura knows are the most basic, including pronunciation, grammar and word meanings; when he speaks them himself they are halting, often incoherent, with obvious errors.

Lei En was already quite satisfied with this.

The ancient holy altar is covered with a great amount of text, likely explanations of the altar's principles, akin to the relationship between vernacular and classical Chinese, making it more accessible. Mastering the ancient holy script would greatly aid him, speeding up deciphering.

In the dim forest, Lei En stared at the priest Hazura, who, controlled by mind‑control, fully obeyed his Willpower; taking his life would be as easy as a palm‑sweep.

However, Lei En is not a blood‑thirsty murderer.

The two have no grudges; even if later the priest Hazura regains free will, he will never learn his origins or identity.

Moreover, Hazura does not know how he was seized and controlled.

Lei En made a decision.

Bang!

Hazura was knocked unconscious again; Lei En opened a portal and threw him in, the impact on the floor of the room producing a sound.

This time, the troll guards outside the portal heard the disturbance, rushed in, found the high priest lying on the ground, were instantly startled, yet found no danger, and carefully woke the high priest.

Hazura opened his eyes and saw the guards.

His gaze was dazed for a few seconds, a splitting headache, memories flashed, finally the image froze on the face of a young troll, then cut off. Recalling the experience, his eyes shifted from confusion to terror, then fell silent.

"High Priest Hazura, what happened?" a troll guard asked anxiously.

Hazura slowly shook his head, "It's nothing, I'm just a bit tired."

The troll guard showed doubt; he clearly saw a blow mark on the priest's head, indicating he had been struck unconscious, not merely fatigued.

Hazura stood up himself, waved his hand and said, "You may leave."

"Yes."

The troll guard exited the room.

When the door closed, Hazura's calm face turned panicked; he looked around, his hands trembled slightly, but he dared not make a sound. After a long while, when everything was safe, Hazura truly regained composure, sat back at the table, deep in thought.

"Today's events must not be spoken of; treat them as a dream," Hazura muttered low.

The room fell silent again.

What Hazura didn't know was that every move he made was being watched by a pair of eyes high above the tribe; if he were to launch a major attack, seeking revenge on enemies, today would be his death day.

In the night, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky above the tribe, vanishing at the horizon.

Lei En stood atop a giant tree, looked up at the night sky; the Southern Continent's night is no different from other continents, stars and moon visible. The forest at night is more dangerous than by day; many nocturnal beasts and monsters become active.

Yet no beast or monster dared approach Lei En's position; occasional intruders fled instantly, trembling with fear.

Lei En looked west.

That was the direction of Aweiken City, about three hundred li from the Dark Branch Tribe; the Night God Xilike dwells in the Aweiken Temple, ruling over a million trolls.

"Luo A deity…"

Lei En considered for a moment, deciding caution was best.

His primary purpose for entering the Southern Continent was the ancient holy runes; the Luo A priests who serve the deity hold the most knowledge, but he need not necessarily target the Luo A priests alone.

Other high priests also possess ancient holy runes; the Southern Continent hosts tens of thousands of tribes, and like today, a high priest who controls a tribe learning ancient holy runes—one is not enough, ten, a hundred, even a thousand—collecting runes and characters, feeding them into a translation lexicon, will surely master the full ancient holy knowledge!

Master the ancient holy runes, then consider the ancient holy altar and those Luo A deities.

"Relying on just me to gather the runes is too slow."

"I still need to send out duplicates."

Lei En's mind shifted, activating castling and swapping places with Reslin. Reslin had already arrived on the Southern Continent; on the bridge of Luo Sheng Du, Lei En appeared on the bridge and instantly mind‑leapt into the Star Destroyer's hangar.

Luo Sheng Du had assembled five thousand Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers, lined up in the hangar.

A squad of Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers approached Lei En.

He activated Pixel World, brushed a Thunder‑forged Divine Soldier, and instantly the soldier vanished before his eyes, appearing inside Pixel World. Pixel World can contain living beings, provided they consent and there is physical contact.

The Thunder‑forged Divine Soldier that entered Pixel World also turned into a blocky figure.

Next, Lei En sucked this whole squad of Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers into Pixel World; because it was only a test, he did not accommodate too many.

Castling!

Lei En swapped places with Reslin again, returning to the forest of the Southern Continent.

He opened Pixel World, released the contained Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers, and instantly a dozen of them appeared around him.

"It works indeed!"

Lei En was overjoyed; earlier, when he realized castling was unaffected by the ancient holy altar, he thought of this method, to send troops into the Southern Continent.

The test proved flawless.

Lei En recalled the Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers, returned to Luo Sheng Du's hangar, and then released them.

"Send out three thousand first," Lei En thought, the first mission of the Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers is to gather ancient holy knowledge, dispersing it among the troll tribes of the Southern Continent; it does not require many to complete, and more can be sent later if needed.

He made the decision; the Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers moved at once.

One by one, the soldiers shed their armor, transformed into various troll forms, then brought in a batch of metal, forging troll‑style weapons—curved blades, spears, spiked hammers, battle axes, etc., also needing leather armor and bows; the Star Destroyer lacks materials, so they must be crafted after entering the Southern Continent.

Soon, three thousand diverse trolls stood in the hangar.

Lei En sucked them into Pixel World, and via castling, sent the three thousand Thunder‑forged Divine Soldiers into the Southern Continent in three batches.

In the darkness, on a clearing in this forest, batches of trolls appeared out of thin air.

They came from the Pixel World and immediately used teleportation to leave.

In an instant, only Lei En remained.

He stood in place, sensing the positions of the Thunderforged Divine Soldiers, continuously casting teleportation to push deeper into the Southern Continent in various directions; some Thunderforged Divine Soldiers opened farther portals, preparing to cross the continent and explore other Luo A territories.

Three thousand Thunderforged Divine Soldiers, like raindrops merging into the sea, vanished in an instant without a trace.

The nearest Ancient Sacred Altar was Awei Ken, naturally the priority target.

A dozen or so Thunderforged Divine Soldiers quickly reached the destination.

Under the night sky, a vast glow appeared in the forest ahead; through the eyes of a Thunderforged Divine Soldier, Lei En saw from afar a troll city, more developed than expected, having cleared large swaths of forest, covering dozens of square kilometers, bustling with voices.

The most dazzling feature of the city was a pyramid at its center.

Its shape was almost identical to the Ancient Sacred Altar, but far larger, over three hundred meters tall, entirely built of stone; the massive tower had four faces, each divided into nine tiered platforms bearing various structures.

Suddenly spotting such a grand, magnificent temple amid primeval forest created a powerful visual impact, profoundly awe‑inspiring.

"That must be the Luo A Temple!"

Lei En exclaimed.

From afar, the Thunderforged Divine Soldier sensed a heart‑pounding aura emanating from the temple; the Luo A deity within barely concealed itself, and the night above the city grew denser, as if ruling the darkness.

God of Night Silik!

The Thunderforged Divine Soldier was extremely cautious, not rushing into Awei Ken, but dispersing to observe the city from the surrounding forest.

Awei Ken was built encircling the Luo A Temple; at the temple's base lay a central plaza, from whose edges stone structures spread outward, forming an extensive residential zone. The city's layout was highly rational yet strictly hierarchical, all centered on the Luo A Temple.

Black totems stood everywhere in the city, with burning bonfires, conducting sacrifice and prayer rites.

The trolls shouted loudly, kneeling before the temple.

"At least over one hundred thousand..."

Lei En roughly estimated Awei Ken's troll population, noting that, evidently due to the God of Night, the city's trolls were more active at night.

Trolls each went about their duties, their ranks obvious.

Trolls with great strength generally served as city guards, patrolling the streets; the stronger ones were temple guards, whose weapons and armor were finer and who usually had mounts; next were troll priests, who guided believers in offering sacrifices and prayers to Luo A.

The higher a troll's rank, the closer it stayed to the temple.

The most powerful trolls dwelled on the temple's successive platforms; the nearer they lived to the tower's summit, the more authority they embodied.

These ruling‑class trolls also looked different from common trolls.

Their bodies were taller, adult males exceeding two meters, combining strength and agility; their skin was bluish‑gray, eyes blue or violet, spines not hunched like forest or frost trolls, standing straight and lithe, confidence mingling with wildness, a unique bearing that reminded Lei En of elves.

"Gumanra Troll."

Lei En learned of this troll from Hazura Priest.

Gumanra Trolls are the oldest trolls, the earliest intelligent race to encounter the Ancient Sacred, receiving its teachings; they evolved for over ten thousand years since the prehistoric era and founded the first civilized epoch of Ai Lun E Si's world.

Among the many troll branches, Gumanra Trolls possess the strongest innate talents and the highest status, essentially the ancestors of all trolls.

All four unified Empires in Southern Continent's history were founded by Gumanra Trolls.

Even after the Southern Continent fragmented for more than five thousand years, the various Gumanra Troll clans still held absolute dominion over the land, despite comprising less than a tenth of the population.

Thinking this, Lei En snapped back.

The trolls that evolved into elves over ten thousand years ago must also be a branch of Gumanra Trolls, hence the similar bearing.

He realized he had reversed cause and effect; it is the elves who resemble Gumanra Trolls!

The "Black Blade Tribe" that rules Awei Ken are Gumanra Trolls; they mostly reside around the temple and possess greater strength than other trolls. The Black Blade Tribe serves Luo A, while trolls of other tribes are vassals of the Black Blade Tribe.

"Luo A..."

The Thunderforged Divine Soldier looked up at the temple's apex; this temple was clearly not the Ancient Sacred Altar, likely a replica. The true Ancient Sacred Altar must lie beneath the temple, linked in some way, like the relationship between the Storm Temple and the Ancient Sacred Altar, yet also differing.

Even at this distance, it could sense a tremendously powerful presence perched within the shrine atop the temple.

However, its nature could not yet be determined.

Deity?

Or another powerful being?

Lei En thought for a moment and decided to test once, to have a clear idea. If the Thunderforged Divine Soldier, while exploring and gathering on the Southern Continent, can largely avoid the Luo A Temple, it can later slowly chart it.

Outside Awei Ken, a Thunderforged Divine Soldier's body reshaped again, taking on the appearance of a Gumanra Troll.

Then it slipped silently into the city.

Upon entering, the Thunderforged Divine Soldier instantly sensed a strange force, like magical energy, permeating every inch of the city, ubiquitous; the powerful trolls also bore traces of this power, linking with Luo A in the temple.

He casually found a set of troll hide armor, donned it, entered stealth mode, refraining from teleportation, and silently bypassed patrols and guards, inching toward the Luo A Temple.

The pyramid grew nearer, looming in view like a mountain peak.

The Thunderforged Divine Soldier felt an inexplicable pressure.

Moments later, the Thunderforged Divine Soldier halted in darkness a kilometer from the temple; ahead lay the plaza at the temple's base, unobstructed.

The Truth Will generated a warning: entering the plaza might expose its presence.

The Thunderforged Divine Soldier looked up at the temple's apex, its gaze piercing the thick stone walls, revealing the interior. It was a vast palace hall, with floor, walls, and dome forged of gold, yet shrouded in a black, ink‑like mist.

The All-Seeing Eye pierced the black mist and finally saw the truth!

The Thunderforged Divine Soldier's pupils dilated, its expression frozen.

Within the mist hung a gigantic bat, hanging upside down in the palace, its claws gripping a ceiling beam; its wings folded beside its body, resembling a terrifying flesh sphere dozens of meters in diameter. The black mist in the palace emanated from it, the vapor swirling like ink around, then being drawn back into its body in a cycle.

"Is this the God of Night Silik?"

Lei En was greatly surprised; the so‑called Luo A deity did not seem as terrifying as imagined, and the Soul Eye observed it without backlash.

Those black mists felt familiar, seeming divine.

Just as he was about to look longer, two clusters of crimson light suddenly flared within the black mist, instantly piercing space toward him.

We've been discovered!

(End of chapter)