Chapter 1 Though Angelina's words were vague, Hao Ren pieced together a rough picture of the Ancient Holy One through her brief explanations.

Firstly, it was beyond doubt that the Ancient Holy One was not human, and he was still alive—though in a terrible state.

The Ancient Holy One was indeed the highest authority in Twilight Capital, revered by its human inhabitants as a god on Earth. In the early days of the city's founding, when the Ancient Holy One was in good condition, he was indeed the city's supreme ruler, but this did not last long. The Ancient Holy One likely made some kind of sacrifice during the founding of Twilight Capital—a sacrifice that caused his life force to rapidly drain away, gradually making him unable to bear the responsibility of managing the city. According to Wendell's supplemental information, the Ancient Holy One ceased directly managing the city's affairs fifteen hundred years ago, and a thousand years ago, he completely ceased direct contact with the outside world. The Iron Throne was also closed during that era, no longer open to ordinary people.

Five hundred years ago, the Ancient Holy One gradually began to lose the ability to communicate with the outside world.

Today, he should be unable to speak, move, or express any of his intentions. Ordinary people cannot communicate with him at all. Only the special group of "Keepers," possessing some mysterious ancient bloodline, can still hear the Ancient Holy One's voice through some kind of telepathy, but this listening is also very chaotic and confused—in Angelina's words, like a delirium.

Such a king cannot rule a kingdom, so after the Iron Throne was closed, all administrative power in Twilight Capital fell entirely to the Steam Council, and the Steam Council did not disappoint: though conservative and stubborn, they were conscientious and responsible from top to bottom, keeping the city running to this day.

For many years, the Ancient Holy One had been in a state of suspended animation, relying on a fragile mental connection to communicate simply with his Keepers, but there had never been a single sign of him truly waking up. But just today, his mental activity suddenly became strong, and he used the mental connection to instruct the Keepers to bring the travelers from beyond the Twilight Barrier before him.

At this time, Hao Ren and his group were already fighting fiercely with the Twilight Guards—in fact, it was their commotion that had attracted the Ancient Holy One's attention.

The Ancient Holy One had not completely awakened; he could still only talk to the Keepers. The Keepers themselves, though respected, could not interfere in the city's administrative affairs, and in their haste, they did not have time to contact the Steam Council and explain the situation. So, after an emergency discussion, the Keepers split into two groups: one went to the upper city to convey the Ancient Holy One's decree to the Steam Council, and the other came directly to meet Hao Ren's group of three.

"You knew we were coming?" Hao Ren looked at Angelina in surprise. "Our side is a secret operation."

"This is the Ancient Holy One's instruction. He is watching you," Angelina smiled, nodding to Wendell. "Though I don't know why, this old gentleman also heard the Ancient Holy One's voice. The Ancient Holy One saw your arrival through his eyes."

Wendell expressed his agreement with a proud expression. Hao Ren became curious about this old man: he was just an ordinary person, so how did he get in touch with the Ancient Holy One, who was almost buried deep underground?

Unknowingly, the group had followed the secret route provided by Angelina through several blocks. Hao Ren noticed that the surrounding buildings were gradually becoming sparse, and the messy small and medium-sized houses were disappearing, replaced by larger and neatly arranged stone buildings. After turning the last street corner, the scenery suddenly opened up, and a solemn megalithic building appeared before the group.

This was a stone fortress in the shape of a pyramid, built up in layers with neat black and gray stone pillars. Although the fortress lacked decoration, it had its own solemn and dignified atmosphere. The fortress was surrounded by a large empty square, which may have been an important gathering place for Twilight Capital in the past, but now it seemed empty, quiet, and lifeless.

At the top of this pyramid fortress, a pale golden beam of light broke through the darkness, extending upwards into the depths of the layered city structure.

Hao Ren looked at the stone fortress and felt that it looked familiar. After racking his brains for a long time, he suddenly realized that the structure of this thing was surprisingly similar to Odin's Golden Palace in Asgard.

"This is the Iron Throne's sanctuary," Angelina pointed to a door at the base of the pyramid-shaped building. "The door is over there. Please follow me."

The interior of the stone fortress was not as magnificent as imagined. In fact, as the residence of the "Ancient Holy One," the interior decoration of this building was, in Hao Ren's opinion, simply shabby. The walls of the stone corridors were bare, and the floor was paved with ancient stone slabs. There were no decorations such as sculptures or murals along the way. The only embellishments were the gas lamps embedded in the walls: these gas lamps illuminated the sanctuary as bright as day.

Along the way, Hao Ren also saw other Keepers: they were of all ages, male and female, and their clothes were exactly the same as Angelina's, and even their temperament was similar: calm, reticent, gentle, with almost no emotional expression. This strange commonality may be due to living in the sanctuary for many years.

The Keepers already knew of the visitors' arrival. They simply nodded slightly when they saw Hao Ren and his group, or stood by the roadside and bowed. Everyone remained silent. During this time, only two young Keepers had a brief conversation with Angelina.

In this strange atmosphere of silence all the way, Hao Ren and his group were brought to a hexagonal hall.

They finally saw the mysterious Ancient Holy One and his current state.

The hall was full of winding pipes and cables. These glowing lines extended from the six stone platforms around the hall and converged on a metal platform in the center of the room. A huge transparent crystal was placed on the metal platform, and inside the crystal was the Iron Throne: a gaunt, twisted old man sat on the black metal chair.

If he hadn't known in advance, Hao Ren would not have believed that the person in front of him was still alive.

He was as shriveled as a skeleton, his skin all over his body was decaying and gray-black, that thin layer of skin was tightly attached to his bones, and it was covered with all kinds of pipes, and the old man's head was fixed by an iron frame, and many cables extended from his temples and the back of his head, all of which were connected to the Iron Throne under his body.

Hao Ren noticed that the Ancient Holy One was wearing an eye patch over one eye, and he guessed the other party's identity.

Vivian didn't show much surprise when she saw the Ancient Holy One. She had expected it: "Odin, it really is you."

"So that's what happened..." Hao Ren also had a feeling of enlightenment. The King of the Gods who disappeared in the Weiglytt Plain—who else but him could have done this?

Wendell, on the other hand, seemed very excited. He didn't even notice that Vivian was calling the Ancient Holy One's name very familiarly. The old man just prostrated himself on the ground excitedly, kissing the stone floor in front of him again and again: "Saint! The Light Seekers have found a paradise. There is still light shining on the land of Asgard!"

Odin on the Iron Throne did not respond, he just continued to sit there silently, seeming to have completely lost the ability to communicate with the outside world. Hao Ren turned to look at Angelina: "Has he always been like this?"

"He has been like this since the first time I saw him." Angelina nodded gently.

"What should we do next?"

"I don't know," Angelina said. "I was just ordered to bring you here. The Ancient Holy One's will is inscrutable."

Vivian suddenly spoke: "I know what to do. Hao Ren, let me use Gungnir."

Hao Ren took the divine spear out of his Dimensional Pocket, not knowing why, and handed it to Vivian. He then saw her whisper a few spells to the spear, and then, under everyone's curious gaze, Vivian placed the spear on the platform under the Iron Throne.

In an instant, the large crystal that sealed Odin released a faint light.

"Actually, I was just trying, but I didn't expect it to really work," Vivian explained. "The Asa Protoss are highly accomplished in mental power and are quite proficient in the way of the soul. The strong among them will infuse a part of their soul and life force into the items that accompany them throughout their lives, as a backup in case of emergency. Gungnir was broken into three sections before, but the mechanisms inside it have been running all the time, so I estimate that the power sealed inside is still there."

Hao Ren was very optimistic: "So, he can recover?"

A weak and old voice suddenly came from all around: "Unfortunately, he cannot."