Above The Sky
Chapter 643 - 643 601 The Prison that Blocks the Starry Sky 23

643: Chapter 601: The Prison that Blocks the Starry Sky (2/3) 643: Chapter 601: The Prison that Blocks the Starry Sky (2/3) ——Star Prison Tianyu.

Upon hearing this phrase, Ian’s heart suddenly tightened.

He lowered his head.

In an instant, Ian thought of many things…

He thought of the star chart in his private laboratory on the second floor of the White Chamber Grocery at Harrison Port, from which he had crossed off one star after another, and of the South Sea Great Labyrinth, where the endlessly brilliant expanse of the vast star sea once shone.

Ian thought of the stars that had begun to disappear even before the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, and now the night sky of the Terra Dome that had already dimmed to darkness…

Whether it was the Second Prince’s phrase ‘standing on the mountaintop,’ or the reality that no one looked up to gaze upon the sky, it all made his heart tremble with emotion.

He felt an inexplicable sense of desolation.

[Yes, indeed, you know very well…

So, the inheritor of the Hiliard, the sole heir of The Unyielding Fortress—how could you not understand me, not comprehend my anxiety and urgency?]

The Duke of Sorin sensed Ian’s momentary lapse, and although the young man controlled it well afterwards, he still keenly felt the emotional fluctuation.

He didn’t laugh at this, but rather, with a voice imbued with complex emotions, he expounded to Ian, and to himself as well: [We all know that time is running out, there are almost no stars left above the sky…

The final moment is about to come.]

[If Tianyu is completed, our last chance—the final opportunity obtained at the cost of the previous era’s civilization’s destruction and the shattering of the moon we once gazed upon—will vanish completely!]

[Yet, now only I remain…

Faced with the Star Prison Tianyu that will shroud everything in darkness, my power is no longer enough to resist, I can only try to perfect the work of the Deceased Monarch…

To perfect the ‘Spirit Seed of Fire,’ and vie for the last sliver of chance for survival.]

[Duke!]

At that moment, Adalbert mustered the courage, and he asked loudly, confused and urgently: [What exactly are you talking about?!

What is Star Prison Tianyu, and how is it related to the Calamity of Heavenly Fall?!]

[Why, in the face of this catastrophe, must we commit such inhumane, cruel, and horrific atrocities?!]

After becoming the Deceased Monarch, even Adalbert, who once regarded the Duke as the sole hope in his life, found the courage to question on behalf of his ‘subjects.’

The Duke of Sorin was not angry; he simply looked at Adalbert with a gaze that bore a trace of indiscernible sorrow: [If you want to know, then I will tell you.]

[But Adalbert, you must promise me this—you will seriously consider every word I am about to say.]

[Every single word.]

[I will, Duke,] the Deceased Monarch inhaled deeply, his expression growing resolute: [Please do tell me.]

——Well done, Adalbert.

And in his heart, Ian thought: “You’ve asked all the questions I shouldn’t!”

From Ian’s current standpoint, asking these rather basic things that theoretically everyone from the time of Inega II should know was not quite normal, and Adalbert had perfectly assisted Ian by asking a good lead-in question.

Duke Sorin did not know Ian’s internal thoughts; he simply raised his hand, and the many orbs of light floating around him rose into the sky of the diorama, then arranged themselves into a star chart that might be a bit confusing for the Terra People, but for Ian, it was as familiar as home, albeit the details were slightly unfamiliar.

The star chart of the Terra Solar System.

A gigantic silver sun shone at the center of the sky, around which pinball-sized spheres rotated at a staggeringly immense distance.

These silver balls were practically invisible against the sky unless one paid close attention.

[This is the world we live in—we all dwell in this vast yet narrow starry sky…

From the perspective of the void, all of us, we are but living on this small sphere that is barely larger than two of my fingers.]

Duke Sorin floated in midair, his will dominating such that the Dead River Armament became mere ordinary armored clothing, incapable of affecting his will and serving only as a physical manifestation of his projected arrival.

The Dead River Armament itself, by continuously battling and dying, blends the pilot and all reserved souls into one, creating an artificial catalytic armor of a super-complete individual.

It inevitably impacts the wearer’s thought and soul.

If all of humanity were merged into the Dead River Armament, it might be possible to manifest a ‘Void Entity’ representing the collective will of mankind in the real world.

But facing the Fourth Energy Level, the wailing of a million lost souls is as gentle as a breeze.

He raised his hand, and the ferocious claw gently lifted a sphere representing the ‘Terra’ of the Fourth Planet.

The Duke’s voice was tender and unbelievably soft: [This is our homeland…

A minute speck in the void, the vast cradle of life, our homeland, our cradle.]

He tossed the sphere representing the planet, and instantly, the orb began to rapidly expand—almost in a blink, an immense planet’s phantom appeared before Adalbert and Ian.

It was a blue planet, its surface almost entirely a sea of azure.

The Terra Continent they knew was situated above the equator in the northern region—a single, contiguous landmass with a Mediterranean-like sea, mountain ranges, grasslands, forests, and snow plains, all vividly alive with realistic elevations and depressions.

Beyond that, to the west of the Terra Continent and almost directly opposite it along the equator, lay another continent, which was the ‘New Continent’ recently ‘discovered’ or rather, opened for development in recent years.

However, this continent was very peculiar, with little greenery except around its edges—sporadic at best, and not forming large expanses.

The entire continent was like a charred yet reviving stake, already starting to recover, sprouting some green shoots, but overall, it was still scorched and black.

Two moons orbited this planet, one intact, but the other was shattered and broken.

[Even the land we live on is insignificant in relation to the planet as a whole—those who have studied the history of the pre-era civilization should know that during that time, there were as many as five continents, and if you count the polar ice continents, there were seven in total]

[But after the Calamity of Heavenly Fall, the world drastically changed, and we who were born later have no way of knowing the reasons.

However, one indisputable truth is that now there are only two continents and the Southern frozen soil left on this planet]

The Duke of Solin said as he gazed at the planet before him: [So, you understand now, don’t you?

Adalbert, we humans are so insignificant.]

Adalbert was stunned for a moment, obviously still pondering the revelation presented to him by the duke.

For someone who had never left The Grand Duchy in his entire life, except once to obtain his degree in Alchemy in the Imperial Capital, comprehending the vastness of the planet and the relative smallness of his homeland was certainly a daunting task.

The proverb that summer insects can’t discuss ice is precisely this principle.

But he did understand—given his past experience of having seen the map of The Empire, knowing where The Empire and The Grand Duchy of Solin were located, Adalbert looked towards a corner of the Terra Continent.

That was the location of Avak Viscounty, and he could hardly find such a small viscounty—it was just like…

[Just…

like dust.]

He murmured softly, his gaze dimming slightly, as if he was struck by how trivial humanity was compared to such a celestial body—but quickly, Adalbert grew angry, raised his head, and glared at the Duke of Solin: [No matter how insignificant we are, we should not be treated as expendable tools!

Your Grace, you are not that kind of person, are you?!]

[I want to know…

the real reason you’re advancing the Avak laboratory and its plans!]

[Don’t rush] the Duke of Solin smiled, a smile devoid of warmth.

[This is only the preliminary condition I needed to tell you.]

[Now] he enunciated: [Adalbert, start imagining.]

[Imagine that outside of Terra Planet, there’s an invisible and intangible cage that blocks everything from the outside, even light is not an exception.]

The Duke of Solin asked: [Can you do it?]

Adalbert was rooted to the spot.

If it were before, he couldn’t have done it.

But now, with the giant planetary phantasm by the side of the Duke of Solin as a basis, he could certainly imagine it.

He looked up at the planet.

The Duke of Solin clapped his hands, and a layer of lightless dust shrouded the entire planet…

Suddenly, the whole Terra Planet dimmed, plunging into a lightless, deadly silence.

Forget the stars; even the sun and other planets, as well as the moon’s light vanished.

The whole world fell into ultimate destruction and decay, vegetation rotted, oceans froze, and all things sank into oblivion.

[What is this thing…]

This scene terrified Adalbert: [Is this the Star Prison Tianyu?

A cage that can cover the entire planet?

But how is that possible…

we still have the sun now…

how could there be such a huge cage…]

Even Ian frowned tightly.

Something came to his mind, but he wasn’t yet sure.

And the voice of the Duke of Solin helped him confirm it.

[Are you starting to be afraid?

Adalbert, don’t stop now, this is just the beginning—now, continue to imagine]

The Duke of Solin said, his tone imbued with a strange chill: [Imagine this cage enlarged tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, a millionfold—until you can’t imagine any further!]

[Imagine this cage big enough to cover the entire starfield, along with the sun and all the planets in this solar system, even the outermost stellar nebulas.]

[Imagine that all the territory ruled by the gravity of this star, all the lands under the proud sun, are imprisoned until no more!]

[Imagine it!

Adalbert!

If such a cage covered us, could it not explain the fact that all the stars disappeared almost simultaneously!?]

He shouted, nearly roaring: [If such a Star Prison Tianyu enveloped us, and not just us, but all the stars in the sky, every single star—]

[Then wouldn’t it make sense of the anomalies observed by pre-era civilization!?]