The world-devouring dragon

“And I heard, saying, Blessing and honor and glory and power, to him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all creation in heaven and earth forever and ever."

——"Bible Revelation"

…

AD 64, Greece, Patmos Island.

On a meadow, a young shepherd was lying on the soft grass and taking a nap. The sun was warming his body. Not far away, a group of sheep were grazing leisurely.

Half asleep and half awake, the young shepherd opened his eyes and blinked in confusion.

"here it is……"

A sleepy voice sounded, full of confusion.

"Lazy John, stop sleeping. If you don't care about your sheep anymore, they will all run away."

Beside the grass, the companions passing by laughed loudly and shouted to the young shepherd.

Hearing this, John felt as if he had woken up from a dream and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Why, haven't you woken up yet? Could it be that you dreamed about Jenny in your dream?"

A young man with whom he was acquainted approached and shouted to the shepherd. The people traveling with him all laughed and laughed jokingly.

Jenny is a beautiful girl in the village. She has some freckles, is kind-hearted, young and cute, and is the dream lover of many young men.

And it's no secret that John likes Jenny. It's just that it might not be that easy for a lazy sheepherder to marry Jenny.

"No, no, no...it's not about dreaming about Jenny."

John defended hurriedly, and the young man's cheeks turned red with embarrassment. For this shy boy, this kind of joke still makes him feel embarrassed.

"It's not that I dreamed about Jenny, but... I dreamed about something very strange."

John tried to explain to his compatriots, but he didn't know where to start. He hesitated and could only say "strange things."

"Strange thing? What's going on?"

Several companions came to John, standing or sitting, and asked with interest.

There is nothing new in the isolated village, so even a dream is enough to attract the interest of these big boys.

"I dreamed that I was in the sky, no, it was a place further away than the sky..."

…

It’s hard to describe the incredibleness of that dream. In the dream, John, who was unconscious, felt that he was in heaven.

I don’t know how I should describe it, because he flew across the sky and crossed the clouds, but still did not stop, but continued to fly higher.

Then suddenly, he came to a very strange place, with a crystal clear floor, strange seats, and some powerful and majestic creatures on the seats. They have human-like bodies but long and grotesque shapes. They are hurriedly operating gem-like things and saying something from time to time.

And when John showed up, a few people looked surprised. They communicated in an unknown language, and after a moment, they transformed into a majestic and loving old man.

The old man told John a lot of things, most of which he didn't understand. He only vaguely understood. It seemed that due to an accident caused by some war, his soul came to a place where it did not belong? era?

Those words were too weird for John to understand, but he just knew that the old man promised to let him go back to his home.

However, following the loud vibration, these powerful and majestic creatures also became anxious, and no one paid attention to John in the panic.

It was precisely because of this that John finally saw the external influence projected by this strange, crystal-clear world.

A war.

A war that shocked mortals into speechlessness.

Although John only knew about the war from the troubadours' singing, he had no idea what those strange things were.

But against the dark background, those strange lights, countless times larger than the largest bullpen, huge suspended things in the air, and countless aerial beasts all over the field of vision, all made John instinctively realize This is a war.

Both sides looked very strange. John couldn't recognize what it was at all. He just knew that the crystal clear world he was in seemed to be a part of it.

Those huge houses? Suspended in the air, fighting with monsters also flying in the air.

The battlefield was very tragic. Although there was no bloodshed, as far as the eye could see, the houses that were suddenly exploded and destroyed made John so scared that he lay on the ground, crossing himself and praying shiveringly for God's protection.

There was so much, so much, John had never seen so much.

There are more weeds than there are on the ground, and there are more stars than there are in the sky. There are so many that you can't even see them. From near to far, and from far to near, there are all kinds of strange things everywhere.

And finally, there was a sudden loud roar that made John tremble all over.

Something huge, incredible, indescribable appeared, greater than anything John had seen above. In this world with a dark background, it almost occupies the entire field of vision.

It was so huge that the closer body occupied half of the field of vision, and at the end of the field of vision, one could only vaguely see the strange pile of huge horns and a pile of heads.

As for its tail that didn't know where it was in the distance, it was impossible to see the whole picture clearly. Its tail seemed to drag the stars in the dark starry sky, extending to a very far away place.

Huge, extremely huge, so big that it made John speechless with fear.

John had difficulty remembering everything that happened after that, except that more strange creatures and things appeared.

For example, a woman spit out from the mouth of the huge "snake", if she hadn't happened to fly past the "big house" where John was (John vaguely felt that he should be in a house like those big houses), John wouldn't even be there. You will know that the blurry spot of light is actually a woman.

And roughly four strange things, which were released by some unknown thing, and fought with the monsters. But it seems they are not so happy?

Although he couldn't see clearly, John felt like they were forced?

The last memory he had was that the old man suddenly pushed him, and he unconsciously felt himself falling, and finally he suddenly opened his eyes.

So, I woke up from the dream.

After dreaming about all the thrilling things, looking at the world illuminated by the warmth of the sun, everything seemed like a world away.

The companions were dumbfounded and exclaimed from time to time as John described all this loudly and wanted to draw it on the grass.

These things are completely beyond their understanding and imagination, and they are beyond their dreams.

Some young people said that this must be a revelation from the world of gods.

Soon, "John who was inspired by God" spread, and the local churches in Achaia were very interested. Seven churches invited John to talk about the "divine revelation" he had received.

It’s not that some people have not questioned whether John is a liar, but everything John described is too real, and the details described are all correct. It didn't match his timid posture at all.

In the end, the church believed that this was the final battle between God and angels and the ancient snake Satan, the ultimate battle between good and evil.

The old man was considered to be God; the many strange beings with eagle heads, cow heads, and lion heads were regarded as angels; the giant creature with ten horns and seven heads was naturally an ancient snake; and the woman who passed by John was also regarded as angels. She is the great whore of Babylon; the four unknown beings are the messengers of God - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse...

The excited church spent a long time putting together everything John had described. Much later, this description was solemnly included in the Bible and became the great achievement of the apostle John.

And the name of this description is: "Revelation"

…

"Then who won in the end?"

Listening to the bedtime Bible story told by his mother, the well-behaved child blinked and asked curiously.

The mother laughed, touched the child's head, and said gently: "In the end, of course the good angels won, and the evil Satan lost."