The world-devouring dragon

Time flies, and hundreds of years have passed in a blink of an eye, somewhere in the human world.

Under the glowing sunset, soft footsteps could be heard on the country road. The young woodcutter was carrying a load of dry firewood as heavy as a mountain on his back. Even if there was some sweat on his forehead, he didn't bother to wipe it. After all, he Now I am in a hurry to go home.

He raised his head, and on his mature and somewhat weathered face, one could vaguely see the face of the curious child hundreds of years ago. However, in this era when human lifespan is thousands of years long, he had just celebrated his 500th birthday. Noah was still very young and had only been married for a hundred years. Just a few months ago, Noah's third son Japheth had just been born.

Although he was poor, Noah was still very optimistic. For him, as long as his life was peaceful and his family was happy, that would be fine.

He looked at the sky above his head. Under the reflection of the setting sun, the red sunset glow in the sky looked particularly beautiful. However, he did not care about this. Instead, he looked at the color of the sunset and murmured in his heart.

"Is it going to rain during this time?"

Thanks to the astrology and other knowledge imparted by the guardian angels, humans on the continent of Atlantis have some experience in observing celestial phenomena. All kinds of magic and mysterious knowledge are widely spread, even for civilians like Noah. Can understand some.

And looking at the sky carefully, suddenly, as if he saw something, Noah's expression suddenly changed, he became extremely nervous, and he hurriedly hid in the grass beside the path.

Not long after, a strange, vulture-like bird flew past in the darkening sky. Its wingspan was as long as ten people, and it was as big as a farmer's hut. As the strange bird flew, it let out a sharp and shrill cry. voice, while waving his broad wings and flew away.

After a long time, Noah emerged from the grass beside the trail and stared at the direction in which the big bird flew away. His heart, which was originally hanging, slowly dropped.

…

"Crackling..."

In the simple and rough log cabin, there are little fires burning. In front of the flickering firelight, the young woman is mending the damaged clothes with needle and thread. She has brown hair and soft eyebrows. She is focused and serious. She occasionally touches her ears.

Nia, a gentle and considerate typical Atlantean, has quietly contributed everything to the family, and now she is concentrating on sewing for her husband's clothes that were damaged during the day while cutting trees in the woods.

"Are the children asleep?"

Looking at his wife in front of him, Noah's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something. After all, Japheth, who was just born, was particularly noisy. If the voice was louder, he might start crying again.

"Um."

Nia just responded to him, and then Noah was silent for a moment and spoke.

"When I came back today, I met another strange rotting bird."

The hands that were mending clothes stopped...

"Did you encounter those things again?"

There was a bit of surprise and uneasiness in the wife's voice.

In this world, there are too many strange creatures. Some are centaurs and half-horses, some are eagles with lion-like heads, and some are huge monsters. Along with that scene The war between snake people and humans that has lasted for thousands of years has really changed too much.

But for ordinary civilians, that thousand-year war brought countless monsters that sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and the strange rotting birds that often appeared at that time were one of the biggest threats to civilians.

“These things have been showing up more and more over the years.”

Noah could only say helplessly.

Nia lowered her head, was silent for a while, and then said hesitantly.

"Otherwise...you shouldn't go far away from the village to log wood."

"How can this work? The children still need my efforts."

Noah shook his head and said.

The young woman lowered her head and remained silent, her hands clenching the clothes that had not yet been mended. And Noah looked at his wife in front of him, helpless.

…

The dark night without light was silent and nothing could be seen.

Noah was lying on the bed, and Nia beside him had her back turned to him. Noah knew from his childhood experiences that Nia was angry with him.

After a long silence, a deep voice sounded.

"I've been thinking about whether I can cut trees on the southern mountain in the past few days. Although there are fewer trees on the southern mountain, there are many people and we can take care of each other... Are you satisfied?"

At the end of the voice, there was a bit of doting helplessness.

The vague figure in front of him did not speak.

Suddenly, a cold hand came over and gently held Noah's rough hand.

Although he didn't speak, Noah seemed to be able to hear his wife's expectations and murmuring prayers. She just wanted Noah and the child to be safe, and didn't care about anything else.

With a feeling of warmth in his heart, Noah gently hugged his wife in his arms, and then did nothing. Finally, he fell into sleep amid the gradually approaching fatigue.

…

Dreamland, illusory white mist.

"..."

In a state of confusion, Noah moved forward blankly in the white mist, feeling as if someone was calling him in front of him.

"Noah."

In the whispers, Noah's consciousness gradually woke up, and when he saw everything in front of him clearly, the scene in front of him made him almost unable to believe his eyes.

Endless brilliance, the blazing and dazzling huge sun above his head was closer to him than ever before, completely bathing him in light.

There is a vast sea of ​​clouds floating next to you, and you can see the end at a glance. It is not like looking up at the sky from the earth. When you are really in this vast sea of ​​clouds, its vastness and vastness are enough to make you speechless. .

However, these infinitely vast things also seem small in the face of greater things.

The huge figure, even if it fills the entire field of vision, cannot be seen in its entirety. It is vaster than the sea of ​​clouds, and brighter than the sun above its head. The sun overlooking everything seems to be a halo of light behind its head. generally.

It held something in one hand, its pure white pupils were indifferent and cold, and the pure wings behind it covered all the light and darkness.

In front of this infinitely huge thing, the tiny Noah was as insignificant as an ant under the giant's feet or a piece of grass under the mountain.

"Descendants of Adam, in the name of the Archangel Gabriel, Lord of the Moon and Heaven, I, as the messenger of Almighty God the Father, announce to you the revelation from God."

Gabriel's loud voice shook the vast sea of ​​clouds and stirred up strong winds.

Noah opened his mouth in shock and blinked blankly.

"God? Apocalypse?"

"O descendants of Adam, the people on the earth formed kingdoms, started wars, killed God's creations, did not believe in God's will, and slandered God's glory. Countless monsters mingled among the crowd, dormant in the dark, and there were endless monsters. It is the result of the depravity of the human heart.”

"Humanity has fallen. There is not an inch of clean soil in the world, and there is no room for a pure soul. Evil people are running rampant, and there is no way to save it. God is about to destroy this old world."

However, Gabriel ignored Noah's words and just announced to the descendants of Adam in front of him.

"I...I don't understand, then why are you looking for me?"

Noah said in shock.

The angel lowered his head, his pure white pupils looked down at the humans at his feet, and spoke word by word.

"Noah, this is exactly why I declare to you."

"God is indeed most benevolent, God is indeed most merciful. Even though mankind is beyond redemption, God still leaves a glimmer of hope."

"Noah, God is about to set off a great flood. The flood will cover the mountains and the earth. No one will be spared. But you can build a big ship and take a pair of males and females of each of the animals and plants in the world, together with you. The whole family hid in this boat together."

"The flood will flood for forty days, and your boat will float on the water for forty days. When the water recedes and your boat lands safely on the ground, a new world will be born, and your descendants will also will multiply on this earth.”

Following the angel's words, a silk scroll fell from the angel's hand. The huge scroll fell towards Noah, and then gradually became smaller. Finally, when it fell into the palm of Noah's hand, it could no longer change the length of his arm.

"This is the blueprint for building the ship. You can build the big ship according to this blueprint."

Along with the indifferent voice, everything in front of me began to shake...

…

morning.

"ah!!!"

Suddenly woke up, Noah sat up with a startle. His face was sweating profusely and he looked frightened. Nia beside him rubbed her sleepy eyes and muttered in a low voice.

"What's wrong……"

Noah stroked his forehead, trying his best to calm down his rapid breathing, and then looked at his wife beside him. He was about to force a smile and say it was okay, but when he accidentally looked at his bedside, I was stunned for a moment...

I saw a silk scroll lying quietly at the head of his bed, shining like gold in the sun.