Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire-Chapter 707 - 401: Netherworld Engine, Demon King Terramus? (Part 2)
"Netherworld Divine Weapon?"
Noah’s gaze showed interest at the new contraption his second son had researched, unsurprised.
Where he currently resides in Mage City, interesting new gadgets are born from time to time, but these emerging technologies aren’t very useful to Noah personally; if they’re to impact the Holy Dragon Land, they would need enough time for validation and accumulation.
The Goblin Engineers and numerous researchers Terramus brought into the Underground are a force not to be underestimated, even if they don’t match the system and scale of Mage City.
It’s only normal to research and reproduce some intriguing gadgets but strange if there’s no outcome whatsoever.
"The naming is due to my design of the Netherworld Engine, combining the power source of the Giant God Weapon, allowing souls to be used as fuel..."
Terramus revealed his research results from the Dark Territory to his father without reservation, and hearing the outcome, Noah couldn’t help but be rendered silent.
One must admit, his offspring lived up to expectations—being able to research such forbidden technologies, using souls as fuel, was beyond anything even Noah could conceive, not due to technical feasibility but because it was too taboo.
Even Divine beings treasure the souls of every believer ascending to the Divine Country, even if during the Divine War. Though the Prayer Merged may seem like consumables, those who perish in the Divine War can be continuously resurrected unless the Divine beings themselves fall.
In some sense, it can be said that a group of essentially homogeneous souls uphold the immortality of the Divine. Thus, the Netherworld Engine burning souls as fuel seems abhorrently provocative.
Noah now questions whether his second son could pass the Paladin’s Evil Identification.
Enough doubt—since the Netherworld Engine is already researched, what is there to question? Even the Devils in Hell might marvel at it.
A bit daring; if this technology were researched in Hell, the Hell will would likely descend with blessings, elevating the life which developed this into a Hell Lord.
Though this might not be the case—this concept is simply too hellish. Devils though gain souls, trading quality ones as currency, have not been known to intentionally damage currency.
"Father?"
Seeing the Golden Dragon increasingly silent, Terramus who passionately introduced so much now looked to his father, eyeing with inquiry.
"Can your Netherworld Engine’s output power sustain the Giant God Weapons against the Divine manifestations?"
Noah asked directly.
"We’ve conducted relevant tests but haven’t verified through actual combat, so I can’t guarantee."
After pondering for a while, Terramus slowly answered.
"As a father, I can support you, assisting in testing the Netherworld Divine Weapon, but I need to know the source of the souls consumed by the engine and the technology you use to imprison and contain souls."
"Currently, the souls consumed by the Netherworld Engine come from the underground Dark Race. If allowed, I intend to capture souls of the Divine’s believers during war, using them as fuel for the engine’s operation."
Spoken frankly, Terramus’s words left Noah silent once more.
Cramming the souls of Divine believers into the engine as fuel—once this idea spreads, its destructive impact would far surpass any proclamations Noah could make.
"The technology for capturing souls comes from the bloodline talent you inherited to me."
"The bloodline talent I bestowed upon you?"
Faced with Noah’s puzzled look, familiar spiritual resonance promptly emanated from Terramus, and Noah immediately understood.
"Can you sense the Power of Faith?"
"Power of Faith? No."
Upon hearing his father’s question, Terramus showed a perplexed look, then shook his head. The majority of his elite forces are Mechanical Undead, and those few with independent wisdom follow him due to his identity.
"So, you used this Word Spirit to construct a soul prison?"
"Yes."
Word Spirit·Heroic Spirit Hall
This Word Spirit’s effect is to open a spiritual space capable of accommodating souls.
Noah merged the Heroic Spirit Hall with Word Spirit·Emperor, using the Power of Faith to guide deceased Dragon-man souls into the Heroic Spirit Hall, gradually expanding its reach.
However, when his offspring inherited this Word Spirit but only partially, the originally harmless Word Spirit was now twisted into something quite terrifying.
He transformed the Heroic Spirit Hall into a soul prison to capture the souls of enemy factions’ fallen warriors, a usage even Noah found hard to speak against.
In the Material Realm, when a creature’s life ends, souls often fall into the Nether River; though the river washes away all memories, they still exist, possibly offering a chance to reincarnate.
The Nether River’s memory erasure isn’t absolute; some lucky individuals, without Divine favor, might the reincarnate with partial memories.
Life’s end and circle are never absolute; even the Abyss and Hell, these terrifying places merely gather soul fragments to birth novel demons.
Using souls as fuel is an exceedingly daunting concept.
"I think your nephew has no right to be the Demon King; he should pass this title on to you."
"Father, do you think what I’m doing is wrong?"
"Exceedingly cruel!"
Noah shook his head.
"Burning souls means erasing all opportunities for that soul, leaving no chance even to fall into the lower Plane and be reborn as a demon..."
"Father, during testing the Netherworld Engine, we’ve already found souls are extraordinarily special. Even the weakest soul can’t be entirely burned, some residue remains."
The remaining residue seems to fit the True Spirit concept proposed in some soul theories. The core essence of the soul is the True Spirit, which is singular and indestructible."
Terramus spoke astonishingly, prompting Noah to inquire further about experimental results.
"How do you handle the residue after soul combustion?"
"We currently haven’t devised any methods to utilize this residue, to me it’s useless, so I’ve released the confinement, letting them fall into the Nether River."
"Don’t attempt to touch the True Spirit, you’re not yet qualified."
Noah warned his offspring; the core of soul, the True Spirit, indeed exists.
Spellcasters have a path that doesn’t pursue deification through faith, rooting in True Spirit to attain eternity and immortality, but precisely how is unclear to Noah; he’s only learned fragments at his current Realm.
"I understand, father, my Netherworld Engine isn’t as fearsome as you imagine. It indeed eradicates believers’ souls’ devotion to the Divine, leaving a single useless True Spirit."
"Let’s go, let’s first see your researched Netherworld Engine."
Noah rarely entered the Underground, but due to his offspring’s forbidden research, the Holy Dragon ventured into the Underground World.
That’s when Noah noticed the once dark and harsh but vibrant Dark Territory unknownly turned by his offspring into a cold, silent world.
Despite witnessing activity and no sign of dead air in the mechanical undead, all were silent, making any step into this zone fraught with trepidation. It’s like an alternate death kingdom.
The most intriguing part is this kingdom of the deceased lies beneath the so-called Earthly Divine Kingdom of the Holy Dragon Land. Its creation, existence, and expansion stem from the support of the Holy Dragon Land.
