Chapter 264: Dawn After the Dark Night

In the Western continent, Anthony stood amidst the chaotic camp, looking at twenty-eight thousand beastmen lying scattered on the ground, not knowing how to handle the situation. They had just had most of their life force sucked away by the demonic seeds, every single one shriveled leaving only skin and bones, but their chests were still heaving.

Draven ran back and forth between the rows of tents, shouting until his voice was hoarse: "You over there, stop eating. Do you want to die? Is anyone there, quickly stop him!"

Walter sat flat on a rock, opened his spiritual eyes to scan the area once, then closed his eyes again, finally managing to breathe out a sentence: "Clean. All of them are clean. There is not a single one left."

Jesse stood rooted in the middle of the yard, his two hands trembling violently. He had walked through all three rows of tents, turning to check each person’s face one by one, and finally found the person who for four months he still thought did not need him and Papa anymore.

The frail beastman looked at his son, two streams of tears falling down. The father and son hugged each other crying endlessly.

At the two extreme poles, Kaelen and Sane were exhausted and collapsed onto the ground. They had no strength left to crawl back anymore. The small flowers, as if possessing life, gently swayed their bodies rubbing against Kaelen. The animal pack also quietly shrank back, obediently sitting surrounding him.

The scene was so beautiful it was unreal.

Kaelen raised his hand, opening the communication bracelet to call Sane. Sane answered the call very quickly.

Kaelen looked at his current appearance, curving his lips into a smile: "It has been a very long time since I saw this form of yours. You are still as handsome as always."

Sane burst out laughing, his light purple eyes looking straight at Kaelen through the communication image. He said: "You too. If you lie in the middle of the grass field now, I might search all day and not find you."

Kaelen widened his eyes: "That is because your eyes are blind!"

Sane tilted his head back laughing loudly. The wild beasts carrying luggage fleeing heard this laughter, scrambling even harder to run for their lives. Boo hoo, it was too scary!

Right at this moment, both of their communication bracelets suddenly lit up. A message line appeared: [You received a group call invitation, accept the call or not? Yes - No]

The two were stunned for a moment, then simultaneously pressed the ’Yes’ button. The display screen immediately divided into several grids; the people possessing communication bracelets all appeared on the screen. Kaelen was surprised, asking: "What is going on?"

The Temple Master of the Martial God Shrine scratched his head: [I do not know either, I suddenly received this invitation.]

Old man Valmot narrowed his eyes: [Oh my, is that brat Kaelen? You look so different, I had to stare for a long time to recognize you.]

Clearly, the others were also amazed by this brand new appearance of Kaelen. Right at this moment, Finnick poked his head in, saying:

[This is a new function that Brother Edward improved, based on the principle of the Multi-Dimensional Space Connection technique. Originally I only intended to connect with my two fathers, but the bracelet does not have a specific designation function, therefore I had to call everyone. Papa and everyone, is there a way to help Orion stop crying? He has been crying continuously since a few days ago, crying endlessly without stopping.]

Ryder was also worried and said: [That is right. He does not cry loudly, but keeps sobbing softly, crying in a truly heartbreaking way. Whether awake or asleep, he cries exactly like that.]

Sane and Kaelen were silent. The two stayed silent for several minutes, then Sane suddenly said: "Where is Orion? You guys bring the boy here, Daddy has something to say to him."

The screen on Finnick’s side shook; the boy was seemingly running somewhere. A moment later, Larkspur appeared in the field of vision. Larkspur was hugging Orion in his arms, pressing the boy’s body against himself, patting and coaxing while anxiously walking back and forth.

[Uncle Larkspur, my two fathers want to see Orion.]

Larkspur immediately stopped, hugging Orion to sit down, facing the camera lens. Orion was still crying, the sobbing sounds transmitting through the communication bracelet, making Kaelen’s heart ache sharply. Sane sat leaning his back against the cliff, saying:

"Orion, you look at what this is?"

Having spoken, he raised his hand; a golden light beam appeared. The pale yellow crystal immediately appeared on the screen. Orion’s crying sound immediately lessened, turning into sniffling. The boy’s red eyes followed the crystal image on the screen, reaching out his tiny hands wanting to catch it. Unfortunately, this was only a projection; the baby’s tiny hand immediately passed right through the image.

Orion pouted, about to cry out loud. Sane immediately said:

"Wait for Daddy a few days, Daddy will bring it back to you, okay? We will raise it again from the beginning together, alright?"

Not knowing if Orion understood or not, the boy did not cry anymore, only letting out a tiny ’ya’ sound like a mosquito flapping its wings. Kaelen secretly breathed a sigh of relief, saying:

"Sylvain was a good child. Wait until you grow up later, Papa will tell you about him. Okay? Do not cry anymore. You see, everyone is worrying about you."

Orion sniffled once, nodded, then affectionately said ’ya ya’. Finnick took the bracelet back, breathing a sigh of relief: [He finally stopped crying. It truly breaks a person’s heart.]

Kaelen burst out laughing: "You are also just a nearly two-year-old child, where do you get so many heavy thoughts from. Alright, do not bother everyone working anymore, turn off the call. In a few days, your two fathers will return."

[Yes!]

Everyone simultaneously sent their goodbyes, then the screen extinguished. The magic stone on the bracelet crumbled into pieces; Kaelen took out another one and placed it in, continuing to talk with Sane.

"Can you still walk?"

Sane shook his head: "I surrender, I tried my best just to manage to sit up."

Kaelen smiled: "I am a bit better. You wait for me for half a day, after I recover my stamina I will come to your location."

"Mhm." Sane narrowed his eyes, smiling: "Remember to bring some food. I see over at your place there is food offered right up to your mouth."

Kaelen slightly tilted his head, looking at the surrounding plants and animals. Every single one of them, upon hearing Sane speak like that, showed extreme joy; on their faces clearly displaying the words: Quickly eat me.

Kaelen’s mouth corners twitched. He was the God of Nature; creatures eaten by him were equivalent to being enlightened, their path of cultivating to become a Deity would widen a bit more. That was why these little guys were so eager to be eaten like that.

Kaelen propped himself up to sit, asking Sane: "What dish do you want to eat?"

The animal pack immediately craned their necks looking forward in anticipation. Sane thought for a moment, then read out the menu: "I want to eat beef hotpot."

Kaelen massaged his forehead, extending his finger to point at a yellow cow in its prime age, along with some vegetable types suitable for dipping in hotpot. That cow and those vegetables were wildly joyous, immediately jumping forward waiting to be slaughtered.

Kaelen extended his finger, placing it onto their bodies. A pale green light beam enveloped their bodies; the life energy immediately extinguished, then gathered together again in the mid-air, flying towards the horizon.

The remaining animals looked at the direction they left, their eyes displaying admiration.

The souls had departed; the things remaining were only dead objects. Kaelen collected the cow’s corpse and the vegetables into his spatial bag.

Half a day later, Kaelen appeared at the location where Sane was sitting. Unlike his side, Sane’s location was a desolate wasteland; plants and grass were all scorched. Within a ten-mile radius around, there was not a single living creature.

He took an rapid recovery potion tube and handed it to Sane, then began busily building a stove to prepare to cook. The blood inside the cow had been enlightened, turning into Nature energy. Kaelen used a knife to carve the beef, slicing it into thin slices. As for the vegetables, he condensed water from the air to wash them clean.

Sane could not eat spicy food, therefore this hotpot broth only used cow bones and various spices like star anise, cinnamon, and cardamom to stew. Kaelen also added a few potatoes in to enhance the flavor.

The two sat in the middle of the wasteland, dipping the hotpot and eating with relish.

Sane needed exactly three days to recover all of his physical stamina. When the two returned to the Black Scale tribe, all the beastmen of the Western continent had been brought back home. Those who no longer had family members all stayed at Black Scale, becoming members of the tribe.

Just as the two appeared, the entire crowd of old, young, large, and small people simultaneously prostrated on the ground, reverently kowtowing. Kaelen and Sane immediately felt a stream of faith power flooding in.

Kaelen gently waved his hand. An invisible force appeared, lifting these people up. Sane said sternly:

"Worshipping Deities is a good thing, but you also cannot be blind. The Gods only give you a path; you yourselves must personally step onto it. Whether the end of the path is darkness or light, it entirely relies on your own selves."

Having spoken, the two disappeared; a second later they appeared at the place where Ignis and Sunlight were staying. Upon seeing his two fathers, Sunlight aggrievedly slithered over, showing off his body dotted with burns caused by the light energy. Kaelen looked at his youngest son who had already become a slender snake, somewhat wanting to laugh yet not daring to laugh.

He leaned down to pick the little kid up, giving him a loving kiss: "You are a very good baby. To reward our handsome baby snake, Papa will make you a dessert feast."

Sunlight joyfully wagged his tail, using his head to rub against Kaelen’s chin. The next second, the baby felt his body suddenly fly up. Heaven and earth suddenly turned upside down. When Sunlight stabilized his body again, he saw he had been thrown back into the nest already.

Sane pressed closely against Kaelen, lifting his chin up to kiss him deeply. Kaelen struggled embarrassedly but could not escape. The few people in the room awkwardly covered their eyes. Ignis also giggled secretly, mimicking them; however, the baby’s fingers spread wide apart, covering as if not covering at all.

Only when Kaelen was about to be kissed to the point of suffocation did Sane finally release him. Kaelen’s face was flushed red, punching forcefully onto Sane’s shoulder. Sane grabbed his hand, saying with deep affection: "Do not casually kiss other beastmen, I will be jealous."

Kaelen’s face was so red it was almost dripping blood. He gritted his teeth and said: "That is your son!"

Sane snorted coldly: "A son is also not allowed!"

Kaelen did not bother paying attention to him anymore, hugging the two little kids and running away. Sane curled his lips into a smile, immediately chasing after him.

The people in the room only dared to raise their heads to look at each other at this time; all of them broke into smiles full of goodwill.

The dark night passed; dawn broke again. This world seemingly lit up brightly once more.