Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1429: Dark Moon Palace

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The Surface World and Dark Moon have completely different social structures.

According to the progress of civilization, the Surface World, or Haisenwood, resembles a "normal" planetary civilization more. Its various races have some degree of interaction and integration, but overall they are distinctly divided into different countries, each dominated by one race. Dozens of large and small kingdoms divide and occupy the vast continent on the planet. These countries maintain a general state of peace; although disputes occasionally arise, an international union has begun to form—they have a council composed of racial and kingdom leaders. This council, guided by the Goddess Sect’s teachings of "equality, mutual aid, unity," is responsible for organizing all races worldwide to counterattack when the Dark Moon War arrives, and promotes the recuperation and well-being of all races during times of peace. Thus, the entire planet is basically in a state of peace: this is the situation of the Surface World.

In contrast, Dark Moon has a completely different social environment. Although the number of races on it is not fewer than those on the Surface World, this planet has no countries, no racial territories, not even any division of land. All the races on Dark Moon live together, and the planet has only one ruler, the Dark Moon Lord. They identify as Dark Moon People, rarely mentioning their race, and even fewer remember what a "country" is. This is a planet that has been under absolute authoritarian rule for thousands of years, with its social classes, organizational forms, and occupational divisions highly simplified. In some aspects, this planet might fit the definition of "peace and unity" more than the Surface World—it hasn’t experienced internal war for two thousand years.

The unique social environment of Dark Moon has its reasons: it is a giant prison. The entire purpose of the planet’s existence is to suppress and seal the demon power trapped deep beneath the planet, suppressing not only the mindless monsters but also the ominous shadows roaming around. Since the heroes of thousands of years ago managed to temporarily confine the Secondary Abyss in a small cage at great cost, all races on Dark Moon have only had one identity: prison guards.

As a prison, there is naturally no need for countries; it only requires a system of prison officers. The Dark Moon Lord is the Prison Director here.

Which of these two completely different social environments is better or worse is hard to say. On the surface, it appears that Dark Moon has achieved complete integration of all races and the total elimination of internal war first, while the races of the Surface World are still stumbling as they seek the optimal way to coexist. However, from Bingdisi’s perspective, the Surface World is a more vibrant and normal civilization; though it hasn’t eliminated internal friction, it has the momentum to continue advancing. In contrast, Dark Moon is a lifeless place; although its races have long since achieved unity, thousands of years ago, they lost the goal and reason to continue developing: as a prison, every person born on Dark Moon has their life planned from birth to death, avoiding internal war, but also stifling the power of change.

The Dark Moon Lord and his assistant, the Blood Princess, reside in the palace, a place known as the Dark Moon Palace, which is almost never open to the public. The various instructions signed by the Blood Princess are regularly delivered by the palace wardens to all parts of the planet, and the Dark Moon People never get to see their leaders. The only large-scale opening of the Dark Moon Palace is at the time of the Dark Moon War—on that day, the Dark Moon Lord will don splendid war armor and personally lead troops to the Surface World to face a knife, and the time for that is almost here.

The transmission tower to the Dark Moon Palace requires some very troublesome authentication methods to open. Additionally, since that palace is also not far from here, Soya decided to take everyone directly on foot. After leaving the Surface City, we kept moving in the direction of desolation, quickly leaving the main road, and finally arriving at a bare little hill. Soya looked around the surroundings, seemed satisfied with the place, and asked everyone to step back a little.

Though I guessed what she wanted to do, I still instinctively asked, "What are you doing?"

"I want to transform into my Giant Dragon form; it would be faster this way," Soya said while taking a deep breath, but ended up coughing from the terrible air of Dark Moon, "This damn fog... The air here was better two thousand years ago. It seems that over time, the demon power is subtly affecting this planet."

I silently shrugged and looked around: the thick fog everywhere on Dark Moon kept the entire planet in a gray state, and this place was no exception. In fact, based solely on my eyes, I had no idea which direction I had been heading in just now. Without special means, living here means getting lost as soon as you leave the house. Thus, a peculiar phenomenon exists among the Dark Moon People: children don’t leave home for the first time until after the age of seven. Until then, they must learn from their parents how to use various navigation and rescue spells—the visibility on this planet is quite deceptive.

It’s said that some vampires have been pushed to super-evolution by this ghostly weather, resulting in newborns capable of using ultrasound to locate themselves at birth, while among the demon beasts, New-types frequently appear that can directly read the geomagnetic field... It’s both laughable and lamentable.

"Roar—"

A low growl interrupted my chaotic thoughts; it turned out Soya had completed her transformation. Following the sound, I saw a gigantic dark silhouette slowly emerging from the thick fog, and when it approached, I finally saw that it was a slender giant silver dragon, more than ten meters tall and thirty to forty meters long: by Dragon Clan standards, is this a beauty?

"Transforming and running so far, not nearly as decisive as the sufferer at home, Lin transforms right in front of us," Bingdisi couldn’t help but whisper in my ear, commenting, "But this little Silver Dragon is slimmer than Lin. The girl at home has transformed into dragon form to the point where she can hardly see her own feet, and she still has two heads."

Bingdisi sure can find something to comment on about anything.

"Are you taking us over?" Qianqian happily bounced to Soya’s feet, holding onto one of the Silver Dragon’s nails, exclaiming, "Thanks, by the way, your scales are beautiful!"

Soya slightly lowered her head, her voice rumbling, yet still retaining a feminine tone: "The Dragon Clan never lets other creatures stand on their backs, unless they are mates or close relatives, but if it’s to serve the God, I consider it an honor."

Her words were neither humble nor arrogant, and you could sense a bit of pride. Clearly, the sense of glory in this lone Dragon King’s body hasn’t vanished despite her years of decay. If others were here, they’d be ecstatic at the opportunity to ride a dragon for the first time, but our family is the exception—Lin has been our household’s transportation for a long time, we’re all seasoned with this. Soya lowered her wings for everyone to climb on her back, and while climbing up, people were murmuring—

Qianqian: "The back doesn’t seem as wide as I imagined."

Bingdisi: "Hmm, this little Silver Dragon is a bit skinny, should eat more meat."

Lin Xue: "A railing here would be great, of course, preferably a fully enclosed box."

Bingdisi immediately agreed: "Yes, like the one installed on Lin’s back. But it’s too narrow here for us to spread out a mahjong table."

Visca regretfully summarized: "Can’t just carve anything here, right? I was hoping to play Gomoku with my brother."

Only Dingdang said something to console Soya: "Actually, Dingdang feels it’s quite spacious here!" As long as she’s in a radius larger than a meter, Dingdang loses the concept of size; most places in this world seem boundless to her...

Soya listened as the group of nitpickers continued to chatter while riding on her back, her neck hanging lower and lower. Luckily, Bingdisi noticed this situation in time and quickly explained: "Hey, little miss, don’t mind us, we’re not complaining about you, it’s just that there’s a bigger dragon at home. We instinctively compare you to her."

"Another dragon?!" Soya’s body shook, suddenly causing everyone on her back to wobble about.

"Ah, yes, another dragon," Bingdisi chuckled, patting Soya’s back, "so we say everything will turn out fine, even if we can’t resurrect your companions who died thousands of years ago, we are confident we can introduce you to a whole bunch of new friends..."

Soya was instantly invigorated, then took two steps and flew with everyone skyward, causing the ground to shake. We hurriedly opened barriers to shield against the strong wind, and Bingdisi angrily stomped her foot: "You scared me! You and Lin must get along great; your takeoff and her landing are a perfect match!"

Though I felt it was inappropriate to complain once we were riding on her back, after takeoff I truly found Lin’s air service more comfortable: on her back, we even dared to have an airborne bonfire party. Bingdisi even installed heating under the thickest scales on Lin’s back to improve the experience (since the Dragon God’s sister is tough-skinned and wouldn’t feel it), but everyone was much more restrained on Soya’s back, and I had to constantly watch for Qianqian and Visca to prevent them from carving "I was here" or drawing little turtles on it...

Dark Moon’s terrible atmospheric conditions showed their strength once we were airborne, almost immediately surrounding us in white mist a hundred meters from the ground, making everyone feel like they were flying through a chaotic space. We had barriers for protection and could still chat, but Soya could only keep her mouth shut, cautiously planning each breath. I understood her actions: with such severe smog and flying at subsonic speed, opening her mouth would likely fill her up before landing... 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Staring at the swirling dense fog around us, I wondered if Soya regretted choosing the aerial route...

Fortunately, our destination wasn’t far; after flying for only half an hour, I sensed Soya lowering altitude, then gradually through the dense fog ahead emerged a tall shadow that seemed to be a mountain peak or a protruding part of a mountain range. Observing the thick mist, Bingdisi perceptively asked, "Even with general navigation, do you think blind landing in such dense fog is reliable?"

Everyone’s expression shifted drastically; the reflexes honed by frequently traveling with Lin erupted at this moment. We quickly packed up our playing cards, stools, and tables, rushing to the edge of the dragon’s back to jump down, and within two seconds, the whole family had jumped off.

In the dense fog, everyone decelerated, using spirit perception to find a landing spot, then safely touched down, while in the sky, a giant black shadow resolutely flew into the distance. Moments later, the rumbling sound came from roughly two or three kilometers away.

I suddenly thought she and Lin might truly be a perfect match...

It took a while for Soya to wobbly walk out from the dense fog, having reverted to her human form, looking exceptionally disheveled. Once a cool, beautiful white-haired goddess-like figure, she now appeared as if she’d been mining coal in Shanxi for fifteen years. Coughing and gasping intensely, occasionally dry retching, I couldn’t bear watching and went over to pat her back, suggesting: "Before Dark Moon’s atmosphere improves, perhaps avoid flying; it’s too damaging to the engines..."

Soya, eyes red from irritation, looked at me: "...Achoo?!"

It was challenging for her to fly for thirty minutes amidst the pervasive fog, but you can see now that her expression has become much richer.

"Is that the Dark Moon Palace?" Qianqian squinted, making an effort to gaze around and finally discovered a faintly discernible tall silhouette in the distant fog, initially resembling a mountain, but upon closer inspection, that outline had clear traces of artificial construction.

"That’s the direction," Soya nodded while coughing, "Let’s walk over..."

The paralyzed Dragon Sister would never dare fly again.

Everyone opened barriers, isolating the annoying dust and fog around, then swiftly headed toward the massive building in the distance. Soya looked curiously at the transparent shield that could block dust and fog without hindering air circulation (apparently no magic or technology like this exists in this world), running along the group, musing: "It would’ve been great if you’d placed one of these on my head earlier; that fog nearly choked me."

Bingdisi: "...Why didn’t anyone think of that earlier?"

I staggered, awkwardly playing it off: "Next time, next time–talking about flying while covered with a dust shield, Soya you intending to dive?"

We moved swiftly; Dark Moon Palace’s hazy shadow quickly transformed into a clear image in the fog. Approaching closely, I realized it was a castle-like stone structure, situated at the top of a high rocky plateau... No, not built on the plateau’s top—this castle was carved directly into a giant rock! It seamlessly integrated with the rocky plateau below, its grayish-white body exhibited natural colossal stone textures and unadorned rock window holes. Although there were natural cracks inside the rock, the castle sculpted from the mountain rock looked like a split, cracked sculpture; however, these cracks didn’t affect the building’s sturdiness: The entire Dark Moon Palace was enveloped by a layer of iron-gray light mist, presumably some magic effect enhancing protection or strengthening the building’s durability.

Dark Moon Palace’s surroundings were barren; besides the castle, there were no auxiliary buildings in sight. I was stunned to find Dark Moon’s highest ruler lived on a Gravel Wilderness—probably the most desolate and remote leader’s residence globally.

"Once infected by Demon Power, Foolish Barbarians rarely interact with outsiders; only the strong can withstand his maddening aura. So, when we came to Red Moon, the four of us together constructed this castle, declaring the area several hundred kilometers around as forbidden land," Soya led us to the castle gate, "The people at Dark Moon Palace are chosen from among the strongest, with unwavering will and great power, rotating every three years. Back when Dragon Clan was still flourishing, I also had my clan create a Sealing marked on Foolish Barbarian’s chest and back, meant to suppress his demon components. So this castle can truly be considered part of the prison. Red Moon is a large prison, and its ruler resides in its most solid cell."

"No wonder, this place looks so desolate," murmured Qianqian as she examined the stone castle’s exterior walls, "Marks of thousands of years, it’s been like this since construction... Living here must be uncomfortable."

"Compared to demon corruption, it’s nothing," Soya pressed her hand on the castle’s heavy red door, waiting a long time before frowning, "Odd... How can it be so quiet here?"

I glanced at her, puzzled: "Didn’t you say, ordinary people can’t get close to this place."

Soya shook her head vigorously: "No, I don’t mean that... By now, someone should have come out to greet us. And with only a few days left until the Heaven and Earth Bridge opens, preparations should be underway at Dark Moon Palace, it should be bustling, those large beacons should be lit... Where are the people here?"

I suddenly realized a change might be afoot, hurriedly pulled out Dingdang as if holding a handheld scanner, scanning the castle’s exterior, Dingdang dazed for a moment then reacted, loudly reporting: "There are only twenty or so living people inside the castle..."

"Bingdisi exclaimed suddenly: "Could something have happened!" Before charging to smash open the castle’s door, however, the seemingly heavy red door creaked open at that moment.

In the darkness of the doorway appeared a figure, a short-haired girl in a maid uniform, with a pair of pointed cat ears on her head: a Demon Beast Maid.

Upon hearing Dingdang say there were only twenty living people in the castle, I prepared for the place to be littered with corpses, but the first to welcome us was a seemingly weak maid girl, showing no signs of any incident, taking me by surprise. Nevertheless, the maid girl appeared calm as if everything inside the castle was normal, approached us, curtseyed appropriately, then turned to Soya: "Are you the Dragon King? The Blood Princess is expecting you." She then turned to us, smiling slightly: "And several special guests." (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit qidian.com to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)