Chapter 544: Return to the Main World
Donald felt a sudden lightness as he and Loki left the space of the Sacred Tomb ruins, still riding on the east wind brought by Tiamat’s roar. Looking back, they saw Tiamat’s massive body trying to burst through, but it was blocked by an invisible barrier. No matter how fiercely the ancient dragon charged, it couldn’t cause even the slightest disturbance to that seemingly non-existent thin barrier! “Thank you, Prince Loki, for your timely intervention!”
Weak and severely exhausted, Donald was deeply grateful. Their ability to escape was entirely thanks to the seamless cooperation between him and Loki. If Loki had hesitated even for a second, it would have been him, not the barrier of the Sacred Tomb, who would have been crushed by the ancient dragon!
Donald had not yet mastered the full power of the high-tier artifact, and since he was currently just a semi-divine avatar with limited strength, he could only deprive Tiamat of its power for a brief moment. This was also because Tiamat’s true name was already recorded in the Book of Fate; even if it perished, it would still be affected by this high-tier artifact. Otherwise, it might recover instantly, forcing Donald to pay a much higher price—possibly causing his avatar to collapse inside the Sacred Tomb.
“There’s no need for thanks. Let’s leave this place.”
Donald nodded without saying more and let Loki carry him through the air.
In his current weak state, he didn’t even have the strength to release Sphinx and the others from the projection space. He needed to regain his mobility as soon as possible, as they still had one last challenge ahead. If anyone discovered he was unable to fight while leaving the Ruins of Forgetfulness, many would see no problem in killing him.
Donald also didn’t want to rely entirely on Loki’s protection. After all, Loki’s own strength was also depleted. It might be manageable against one or two enemies, but if faced with multiple foes at once, it would be difficult to keep him safe.
Although Loki had a peculiar and somewhat gloomy temperament, Donald realized that if they could become friends, he would be one of the most worthy companions—far better than those who seemed generous and loyal on the surface but turned cruel in critical moments.
The likely reason for Loki’s isolation is that his innovative ideas are constrained by outdated thinking. After all, in an ancient pantheon adhering to old traditions, a rebellious figure is bound to be unwelcome among the gods—just like a woman who travels to ancient society and tries to promote feminism, only to face suppression from that era, with even other women not siding with her!
But who is Donald? Born and raised in Earth’s new era, has he not seen all sorts of novel and strange things? His tolerance for Loki’s situation is naturally high, without causing him any discomfort. Moreover, Donald isn’t the kind of rigid person; as long as others don’t interfere with his life, he doesn’t see why he should impose his own ideas on them, risking various tragedies.
After flying half a day in Loki’s direction away from the ruins of the Water Abyss Tomb, Donald finally exhaled softly, regaining some mobility—though only about 10% of his strength. He would be exposed as soon as he acted.
Once he regained some strength, Donald immediately took out a handful of faith crystals and handed them to Loki beside him. For a supreme god like Loki, these advanced gem-like faith crystals could be transformed into abundant divine power, granting him extra strength.
However, Loki chose not to accept them, as such unearned gifts seemed like charity to him. Knowing it was Loki’s pride at work, Donald pleaded earnestly, “I can’t fight right now, so your safety on this journey depends on you. You know I have many enemies who are waiting to see me in this sorry state and pounce on me! So the responsibility of protecting me falls on you, Lord Loki!”
With that, he handed the faith crystals to Loki. This made Loki have no choice but to accept them, feeling much better. Besides, he had just recovered from the Twilight and was in severe need of divine power. His strength had been nearly depleted after fighting the ancient dragon Tiamat, and another battle would surely leave him defenseless and helpless.
So Loki stopped being pretentious and instantly absorbed the faith crystals into his body. The intense faith energy was transformed into divine power, replenishing his body. This gave Loki a sense of relief, as if after a long drought he had finally found water, and his strength changed instantly.
Although these divine powers still couldn’t restore him to the strength of a supreme god, ordinary mid-tier gods were basically no match for him! Most importantly, Loki here was in his true form, while those other true gods, aside from the local totem gods, were mostly in their avatars, so naturally they couldn’t compare to Loki. Seeing Loki absorb their faith gems, Donald couldn’t help but smile slightly and took the opportunity to release Sphinx and the others. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that both Donald and Loki were unharmed, and immediately asked about what had happened in the Divine Tomb. None of them were fools; since Donald had placed them in the projection space with no further activity, they knew something must have happened and it wasn’t safe to release them yet. After Donald’s brief account, everyone felt a sense of awe. Though they hadn’t experienced the battle themselves, they could tell from his words how perilous it had been. If they were in such a dangerous situation, they probably wouldn’t be able to handle it as calmly as Donald and the others. Setting aside everyone’s exclamations, after gathering together, Donald climbed back onto Sphinx’s back, letting this local ruler, unbound by the rules of the Forgotten Ruins, lead the way toward the outer regions of this abandoned divine kingdom. Although they could also be expelled by the rules and leave this world here, compared to the outer areas, they were deep within the Forgotten Ruins, making them vulnerable to strange creatures. Returning in such an environment would undoubtedly add many risks to the journey! For example, the God-Eating Insects were remnants from the ancient wars among divine kingdoms. Many true gods liked to keep creatures with magical powers, and unique species often emerged in these kingdoms. There were also numerous other strange and dangerous creatures, but they were scattered across the vast core of the Forgotten Ruins, so few people saw them. Most adventurers who encountered those dangerous creatures no longer existed! With Sphinx, who knew the terrain well and wasn’t affected by the mists, leading the way, it took them just over half a day to leave the depths of the Forgotten Ruins and reach the outer areas where meteorites floated. Once in the outer areas, they encountered more adventurers. Earlier, they hadn’t met a single outsider, but now, within just a few minutes, they had run into three groups of outsiders.
Among these outsiders, there were indeed some with other intentions, but after seeing Donald and his group’s overwhelming numbers, they mostly backed down and stayed at a distance, with no conflicts arising between the two sides. Donald was also happy with this, as his strength had not yet recovered, and fighting would surely reveal his weaknesses to outsiders, giving them an opportunity to take advantage! Having progressed this far, Donald asked Sphinx and learned that this area was no longer dangerous, so he stopped moving forward to avoid encountering more entities and potential troubles. Thus, the group of over a dozen people found a “meteorite” over several hundred feet in diameter to rest on and waited for the expiration of the rules governing the Forgotten Ruins. “This rule of exclusion every six months was established by the original gods. Apart from members of the divine pantheon and outsiders with proper credentials, no being below the rank of a true god can stay in the Heavenly Kingdom for more than half a year. This rule was mainly designed for mortals under the rule of the gods. Every sixty years, a group of mortals gets the chance to enter the Divine Kingdom—a gift from the gods. There, they can find the opportunity to ascend to immortality and become demigods. However, only the luckiest and most talented candidates can seize this chance and become part of the Babylonian pantheon!” While waiting and having nothing much to do, aside from organizing their loot, Donald asked about things to be cautious about during the departure from the Forgotten Ruins to avoid unexpected incidents. Hearing this, the King of the North guessed, “Perhaps the changes in rules in this Heavenly Kingdom world due to wars, leading to it becoming closed off and allowing only beings below demigod rank to enter from the outside, are also influenced by such rules?” Everyone nodded in agreement with this guess. Waiting always seems extremely long, yet it often ends suddenly. Just as Chaliang was about to say more, sudden fluctuations in the rules appeared around them. Aside from Loki and Sphinx—one being a demigod puppet born within the divine pantheon and a member of the Babylonian pantheon, and the other having brought some outsiders from the Divine Kingdom into this Heavenly Kingdom world before the rules changed, falling into Dusk and forming the Dusk God Tomb—these two were, in a way, also part of the Forgotten Ruins world. Therefore, this rule excluding outsiders had no effect on them at all!
Seeing this, Donald, who was prepared, immediately waved his sleeve and released a divine light that trapped both Loki and the others in the projection space. Soon after, a burst of white light surrounded them, and the group of ten who had first entered the Ruins of Oblivion disappeared from this world almost instantly, leaving only the empty “meteorite” floating there quietly.