chapter1

  Since the sinking of primordial dragons into the land of origin, the universe had become still.  Afterwards, elements started flowing from the land to the furthest sides of the space; its power somehow vitalized the remnants of the primordial dragons, which brought the land back to life following ages of withering and death.

  The ample nature added vibrancy to the lonely world.  At the very far end, new species were born from elements.  After eliminations and evolutions, they broke away from the low-level instincts, to explore the origin of consciousness and souls.  They called themselves “Eldus”——Explorers of the origin.

  The Eldus stepped on the odyssey journey of seeking truth and their origin.  During the exploration, they also utilized their advanced civilization and technology to assist the evolution of other planets as responsibilities and obligations.

  Manungal the Eldus showed little care about the responsibilities and obligations, but she was very fond of history and origin, which explained why she had joined the expedition.

  Descending trippingly from the sky, Manungal revealed her rare reaction to astonish——limpid water covered the entire globe; iridescent coral interlaced with luxuriant seagrasses, connecting to rainbow stretched over the whole world, dyeing the ethereal beauty on this land.

  “This is the place where the luminfly was born...No wonder the grandmasters sent me to investigate once they found out about the regression of this place.” Manungal walked lightly on the lake, sending ripples over the water, as if she had a warm welcome with a waterway.  Gazing afar, Manungal was appreciating such a magnificent view.

  However, the great mood was soon disturbed by the corpses of butterflies in the water. The odor generated from lipid decomposition had lingered in the air, which caught her attention with a frown.

  “They...seem to be drained to death...What happened here?” Manungal looked into the corpses, found the cause of death and analyzed.

  “Not enough information...Em?  Something is flashing...” Manungal carefully bypassed the coral to the center of the lake.  A palm-size cocoon was clung to a rainbow, emitting faint but colorful lights as if it was calling for survival.

  “That's the cocoon of luminfly...It's fading...A grandmaster once taught me how to adjust one’s life sequence to alter its vital nature...” Closing the eyes, Manungal drew a spell beside the cocoon and condensed mana to change its life sequence.

  “I did it...” Manungal mumbled with exhaustion, looking at the glittering cocoon with a satisfied smile.  But she put it away as soon as she saw the rapid growth of the cocoon.

  The palm-size cocoon was now even bigger than Manungal with some weird noises sounded inside; that sharp noise was like chewing open a shell.

  Crack! The cocoon cracked.  3 pairs of transparent butterflies flew in the air. Their wings reflected the iridescence, but the ominous darkness contained in their compound eyes made them sinister.

  Manungal, who was not good at combat, could not react.  To be exact, her head was simply occupied by this magnificent creature, a craving for studying them. The curiosity drove Manungal to keep gazing instead of dodging their attacks——

  Slash! A piercing sound brought her back to reality.  Stepping backwards, Manungal saw someone's arm was stung by the mutated antenna of the luminfly. 

  “Saint!”

  “Stay back, Manungal.” Saint the Eldus was hurt in the left arm, bleeding. Despite his gentle tone, it also carried irresistible weight.

  Manungal stepped back at once.

  Saint closed his lucid eyes; then everything in the perimeter was dimmed and bleak. As he let out a divine chant, golden mana was covered all over his body.

  Shielded by mana, Saint pulled out the antenna and gave the luminfly a cross kick.  Such an attack sent it to hit the coral reef hard with a huge noise.

  “Saint!” A lady was calling nervously——Ishtar the Eldus who hurried over after sensing something off. She held his bleeding left arm anxiously and triggered a healing spell in no time.

  “Wait, Ishtar.” Saint looked over to the sky on full alert.  The luminfly was preparing to dive into him from the mid air.

  However, no attack was made. The luminfly let out a scream of pain, with its body shrinking to wither, as if it was drained by something.  As a result, it fell down.

  “What is it...Is it because of Saint's attack...No, something’s wrong. I'm gonna check it!”

  Manungal, ignored the injured Saint, ran towards the corpse of the luminfly to investigate by hands.  Finally, she found a wriggling creature in the luminfly's heart.

  “Is this...an embryo?”

  Spotted, the embryo tried to escape, but was trapped by an enchanted container tossed by Manungal. Despite its effort to ram the bottle, the creature was eventually suppressed by the spell.

  “Could it be...” Manungal went towards the other corpses to analyze their life sequences. The result was completely different from that luminfly. 

  “I have to tell Saint!” When she finished studying, Saint was long gone, already on the way back to the home planet of the Eldus.

  Manungal set off immediately to space. 

  As Saint was injured, Ishtar slowed down intentionally for him.  Soon, Manungal caught up, raising her container with much excitement.

  “The life sequence of this creature is totally different from those luminflies. Perhaps they all died because of it!” 

  “Enough!” Ishtar smacked Manungal's hand, causing the container to drift to the zero-gravity universe.  She did not care much, but glared at Manungal. “You can't even protect yourself. You left the team without authorization. You made Saint hurt. And now you're still talking about your study!  Manungal, what are you thinking exactly!”

  Questioned by Ishtar, Manungal did not say a word but was desperate to find the lost container instead, which made her even angrier. When she was going to blame her again, Saint held her fury.

  “Don’t blame her. She’s still fresh.” Saint said lightly; and Ishtar could not help but shut up. Turning to Manungal, Saint wore a smile, “Manungal, let’s go back.”

  “But...” Manungal bit her lips to show unwillingness.  However, as soon as she met Saint's sincere gaze, she obeyed and followed them back with a sigh.

  Such decision they made, somehow, had shaken the fate of the whole world...