After a period of recovery, the first fiend ancestor became much stronger than he was when he had just escaped from the forbidden areas. Even the four greatest holy warriors found him to be unstoppable. Their array had also all been compromised at the time, motivating them to avoid his presence. It was a blessing that Darren's avatar had finally defeated him last time.
Now, the first fiend ancestor was sharpening his tools, ready to take action. The four greatest holy warriors relaxed at the idea that Darren's avatar could come and assist them again, but as Darren mentioned, his avatar was unable to come. They began to worry.
"Alas," sighed Francis. "It seems we must enter the Eternal Forbidden Domain as originally planned."
Pin drop silence fell over the entire conference room as Francis said these words. They were all speechless with fear and worry.
"Sir, what is Eternal Forbidden Domain?" Darren was confused.
"The Eternal Forbidden Domain is a space created by Hiram the Great and the witcher ancestor based on the methods they gained from outer space. There is an absolute power restriction there. Once anyone enters, they are immediately locked inside. No outsiders can enter as well.
We came to the decision of not to battle the first fiend ancestor. For the sake of survival, we will have all the people from the eighteen cities hide inside the Eternal Forbidden Domain," someone explained.
"Retreat without a fight? Just like that?" Darren disapproved this method. It seemed defeatist to just give up before they had even tried.
"Darren, you don't understand how powerful the first fiend ancestor is. If you don't enter the Eternal Forbidden Domain with us, you'll perish," said one of the Governors.
"Alas," another Governor sighed and stood up. "If we all retreat to the Eternal Forbidden Domain, then we will have nothing to do but wait for death. What difference does that make?"
The Governor was adamantly against retreat. He looked around at the rest of the people at the conference with a strong look on his face. This was the look of a man who was ready to fight before facing death.
"He speaks with reason. Once we enter that place, we will all be isolated from one another. We won't even be able to speak to each other. That, I believe, is a fate worse than death," said another Governor, who stood up in support to his previous colleague.
"We must fight," said Darren. There was a fire in his eyes that screamed of hope.
Once a person entered the Eternal Forbidden Domain, he or she couldn't communicate with anyone. How could anyone bear such loneliness, as they awaited their eventual doom? The experience itself was indeed worse than death.
"How will we fight?" Another Governor stood up and stared at Darren, looking resigned. "If your avatar and the four greatest holy warriors worked together, we'd have a chance of defending against the first fiend ancestor. Now, given the cruel situation, that is not possible. Our survival is not assured. If we enter the Eternal Forbidden Domain, one of us may become a holy emperor and break the restriction, freeing us all out of the domain."
"That's impossible! Even a holy emperor can't break the Eternal Forbidden Domain once he or she is inside. That domain is connected to a world in the outer space. It's strongly suppressed by a law force. None of us will be able to make it out," argued yet another Governor.
"Well, it must be better than death. There's still a chance to live, isn't there?"
"Do you seriously think so? That's nonsense. I'd assumed you'd be sensible from all your years alive in this world. How can you still be so naive?"
"You! Fuck off! If you want to die so badly, then be my guest, and go fight the fiend!"
"Old bastard, what are you angry at me for?"
A fight was brewing between the two Governors as tensions rose, urging interference from the other Governors.
"Okay! There is no need to argue amongst ourselves. We four have decided to lead the human race into the Eternal Forbidden Domain," said Francis.
The four greatest holy warriors prioritized survival first. After all, they couldn't use the Heavenly Exterminating Array, and thus, unable to defeat the first fiend ancestor.
Darren could not understand what was going on. He knew the four greatest holy warriors wouldn't just surrender like that. "Sir, you were able to beat the fiend until he was seriously injured, but now you are saying you are not his match. Is he becoming stronger?"
The four of them shook their heads simultaneously, with bitter expressions on their faces.
"Darren, something went wrong the last time the four greatest holy warriors used the Heavenly Exterminating Array. They can't use it anymore, and that is why retreat is our only option," explained Garth.
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