Chapter 58: The Prelude to the End of Days

Time rewinds to not long ago—
Venti leisurely walked onto the stage, the lyre at his waist trembling slightly. It longed for the touch of the young man’s fingertips, ready to produce heavenly melodies the moment his nimble fingers descended.
The bard gazed at the crowd, some filled with anticipation, others with curiosity or even resistance, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"The piece I’ll be performing today is slightly different from my usual ones."
He gently plucked the strings, the clear notes gradually shifting into oppressive low tones.
"I call it—The Prelude to the End of Days."

Meanwhile, beneath the Goethe Hotel, along the railway line.
Pela was here, having led a team of Silvermane Guards into this district to inspect the (underground station) for safety hazards and ensure the shelters were functioning properly.
Although this area was the administrative center, and if monsters ever reached here, it would essentially signal Belobog’s impending doom, these shelter facilities weren’t built recently. They were constructed by the Architects in the past.
The intention was simple. Back then, people were fighting against the onslaught of the Destruction Legion, and the situation had become so dire that street-to-street combat within the city was necessary.
If the elderly, children, and women were left to hide in their homes, it would have been tantamount to waiting for death. Thus, several shelters were built in the administrative center to accommodate people. These shelters even served as refuges during the initial cold wave.
Although Alisa later ignited the flame of preservation, allowing the will of Preservation to manifest and preventing Belobog from being buried under the snow, the impact of the sudden climate change was undeniable.
At that time, the (shelters) were renamed "Great Gathering Halls." Each housed many people who helped each other through the most difficult early days.
Thus, the existence of these shelters was not only a testament to the people’s unyielding will to survive but also carried a deep sense of gratitude—
Every Supreme Guardian since had paid attention to maintaining the shelters. Although everyone hoped they would never need to be used again, they were still regularly repaired to ensure they could function in times of crisis.

One of these was located near the underground railway line, within Pela’s patrol area.
While inspecting these shelter facilities, Pela noted down areas needing maintenance, planning to submit them to the logistics department later.
However, as Pela was still diligently writing, a loud roar seemed to come from outside, followed by a tremor that shook the entire shelter.
She instinctively looked up at the ceiling, a few specks of dust falling onto her round-brimmed felt hat.
"...Did something happen above?"
A Silvermane Guard beside her also murmured in confusion.
"I think I felt a tremor too?"
"You felt it too? I thought I was hallucinating from working too much overtime. After all, Belobog hasn’t had an earthquake in a long time..."
Another guard, who was inspecting equipment, paused, his tone utterly exhausted.
"If even the upper district felt it, could it be that the core hub in the lower district exploded?"
Yet another guard, with a particularly vivid imagination, chimed in.

Before Pela could stop their idle chatter, a young Silvermane Guard rushed down the stairs. His breathing was so rapid that Pela wondered if he might pass out from holding his breath.
"Calm down, Private Paul. Please tell me, did something happen above? Why did I feel an unusual tremor?"
Pela’s calm voice helped him regain some composure, but his panicked demeanor still cast a shadow of unease over everyone present.
Then, the young guard named Paul hurriedly reported.
"Y-yes! Intelligence Officer Sergeyevna, there’s a monster above us—no, above the city!"

The atmosphere in the underground railway line froze for a moment, and then the guards burst into laughter.
"What’s the big deal? I thought some powerful enemy had appeared. It’s just a flying rift monster. Can’t you just shoot it down with your gun?"
"Yeah, you’re not a rookie anymore. Why are you so scared of a little frost mosquito—a derogatory term for Frostspawn?"
"And did you just mispronounce Intelligence Officer Sergeyevna’s name?"
Perhaps to vent their earlier panic, the guards were acting a bit out of line.
Pela, however, ignored the two who had mispronounced her name. Her sharpness as an intelligence officer allowed her to pick up on the key words in his report.
"You said ‘above the city,’ right? That’s not a place ordinary rift monsters can reach."

She put away her notebook and seriously asked,
"Are you sure you didn’t misspeak or misidentify the target?"
"No, I swear!" the young guard said urgently. "There’s no way I could’ve mistaken that thing. Come out and see for yourself!"
Seeing how anxious he was, Pela didn’t bother with the remaining inspections. She immediately followed him up the stairs, emerging onto the surface.
The guards stationed here were standing in stunned silence, their weapons dropped to the ground without them realizing it.
And what they were staring at was—
A demon dragon.
That was the only description that came to Pela’s mind. Its massive size made everyone feel as insignificant as ants, and the fierce winds and dark clouds surrounding it practically spelled out the words "natural disaster" above its head.
More importantly, after an ear-piercing roar, the dragon reared back, its massive mouth wide open. As its wings flapped, Anemo crystals began to gather around it.

By now, people on the streets had started to notice something was wrong. When they looked up and saw the sky-obscuring demon dragon, they were frozen in place.
Pela, with her keen eyesight, observed the direction the dragon was aiming—
"...No way, is it trying to...?"
As the thought formed in her mind, her face turned pale. Then, as if confirming her fears, the dragon fired a beam of light directly at the city walls.
With a cracking sound like shattering glass, the shield of preservation that had protected the city from snowstorms for seven hundred years was breached, leaving a massive hole.

However, the dragon also let out a pained roar. The seemingly transparent thin light barrier, as it shattered, reflected a counterforce back at the dragon.
The shock damage caused its aura to weaken significantly, and dragon blood spilled onto the ground. After spinning once in the air, it regained its balance.
Under the gaze of everyone below, it roared once more, then tore through the clouds and disappeared.
All that remained was a hole in the sky and the blizzard gradually pouring into the city.

Although the worst-case scenario hadn’t occurred, the meaning behind what had just happened was clear.
The people who had been confined behind the great walls by the rift and snowstorms for seven hundred years were finally reminded of the most basic instinct engraved in their lives— fear.