Chapter 894 — Both Ends of the Chain
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
What exactly did this "god" want?
This was the question Gao Yang cared about most—and feared most—after confirming that the Giant Deer Amon truly was feigning death.
Clearly, the Giant Deer Amon was well aware of what Gao Yang was anxious about.
"If I were to return to the sight of mortals, I imagine it would cause quite a stir..." There was a trace of amusement in His words, and His enormous eyes rested calmly on Gao Yang. "What do you make of that?"
"Frankly, I would rather you did not leave this place," Gao Yang said candidly, "nor that you return to the sight of mortals. Three thousand years may have passed, but the druidic lineage still endures, and there are plenty of people with heads full of religious restoration who would take an interest in something like the 'return of a god.' Some might revive their faith in the God of Nature; others might use the name of an ancient god's return as cover for destruction. None of that is what I wish to see."
"Rest assured, that is not what I wish to see either. I paid a tremendous price to break free of the cycle—not so that one day I might return to a divine throne," Amon said with a light laugh. "So you may set your mind at ease."
"I will try," Gao Yang said with a sigh.
After all, what he faced was an unfathomable and immensely powerful god; whether he could set his mind at ease was, in many cases, not his alone to decide.
After those words fell, he could not help but look the God of Nature up and down a few more times.
That vast and holy figure was locked in place by a great many restraining devices from the ancient Gondor era; thick chains and rune pillars layered upon one another to form a barrier that still operated to this day, and countless faintly glowing fragments of warships and space stations from the cosmos bound the Giant Deer's entire body—some drifting around the latter, others driven deep into the god's flesh.
It looked savage and terrifying, yet Gao Yang could hardly tell from Amon's tone or gaze whether He felt any pain because of it.
"What? Do you wish to help me remove these restraints?" Amon's voice rose in his mind. "Ah... they do cause me enormous trouble, especially these fragments—they leave me unable to move at all... If you were so inclined, you could help me remove the ones that are not so important yet particularly unbearable."
Gao Yang raised his eyes to the god. "Do you think I would do that?"
"I think not—no one with any sense, standing where you stand, would do such a thing," Amon said casually, with not the slightest displeasure in His tone. "And I would advise you not to. Your will and body may be sturdy enough to withstand the impact of a god's power, but those standing behind you may not be. These old, worn barriers here cannot hold back my full strength."
Gao Yang glanced back toward the isolation barrier, where Amber, Hedy, and the others stood watching with expressions of concern and worry. He waved to them, then turned back. "I am happy to take your advice."
"That is for the best," Amon said mildly. "If one day you truly wish, or need, to release my power, you had best be fully prepared in your defenses... Do not be as reckless as the first humans who came here in those years. They paid no small price."
The first humans He spoke of must have been the builders of this Fortress of Defiance—the magisters who came here in the Spark era of Gondor.
"It seems... you are prepared to keep 'lying dormant' here," Gao Yang exhaled and said to Amon. "I am curious—are you waiting for something? Because this state of yours, unable even to move, able only to feign death in place, strikes me as very... meaningless."