HLnovel Chapter 438 - 439: Create Hope with Your Own Hands!
Chapter 438 - 439: Create Hope with Your Own Hands!
Aster Grant’s calm voice echoed clearly in the deathly silent cavern.
Into the ears and hearts of every miner:
"The Demon Clan is gone and you... are free."
This sentence, like a drop of ice water into a boiling oil pot, instantly shattered the silence.
At the same time, it ignited the last spark of hope buried deep in everyone’s hearts, almost drowned by despair!
After a brief stupor...
"Free... freed?"
A gaunt middle-aged miner standing in the front row subconsciously repeated the word.
His eyes were vacant, as if he couldn’t comprehend the meaning of those two words.
Freedom?
To them, this word was too distant, so distant it seemed like an unrealistic dream.
He looked around blankly.
On the high platform, the two nightmare-like demons that had oppressed them had vanished without a trace.
Wherever his eyes could see, those demon overseers and guards who used to whip and murder them at will...
Now lay across the ground like harvested straw, lifeless, dead beyond dead!
Throughout the entire mine, besides these ragged members of the Human Race, there wasn’t a single demon standing!
This is not a dream!
"Truly... truly... freed?!"
The middle-aged miner’s voice suddenly rose, eventually turning into a heart-wrenching cry:
"Wha... hoo... freed! We are freed!!"
This cry spread like a plague throughout the area!
"Freed! The demons are all dead!"
"We... we survived! No more being treated like cattle and horses!"
"Heaven’s eyes have opened!!"
Emotions suppressed for far too long exploded like a flood breaking its banks!
Crying, laughter, shouting, roaring...
Various sounds intertwined, converging into a deafening wave of sound.
They yelled with all their might.
As if to unleash the fear, humiliation accumulated in their hearts over countless years...
All out at once!
The elderly miner was already in tears.
He huddled, his hands scarred and calloused, tightly covering his face.
Scalding tears continuously flowed through the gaps between his fingers, slithering down his arms.
In all his years, he had witnessed too many fellow humans die tragically.
His numbed heart believed it would never stir again.
But now, listening to the earth-shattering cries and cheers around him.
Feeling that long-lost hope, he could no longer contain his heart.
"Thud—"
Someone first bowed heavily towards the figure quietly floating on the high platform, radiating a gentle glow.
Pressed their forehead firmly against the cold ground, crying out with all their might:
"Divine Envoy! Thank you, Divine Envoy, for saving us!!"
This kneeling, like knocking over the first domino piece!
"Thud! Thud! Thud!..."
Like a tide, from near to far.
Within the cave, tens of thousands of miners, regardless of gender or age, all faced the high platform, kneeling en masse!
A sea of dark heads, like waves blown by the wind!
They expressed their inner gratitude in the most devout, humble, and excited way!
"Long live the Divine Envoy!"
"Thank you, Divine Envoy, for saving us!"
"Divine Envoy, your grace is like rebirth!"
Deafening shouts converged into a belief!
In their eyes, the one who could wipe out all demons and return their freedom...
If not a god, what could it be?
This must be the envoy sent by Heaven to save them!
On the high platform, Isabelle looked at the sight of kneeling tens of thousands below, and a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.
Born into nobility, she was revered on Dragon Island too.
But such pure, deep collective worship was something she was seeing for the first time.
She couldn’t help but gaze beside her at Aster Grant, whose Soul Body remained as calm as ever.
As if the shocking scene before him hadn’t stirred much in his heart.
Aster Grant’s gaze slowly swept over the kneeling crowd below, seeing the rekindled vitality in their eyes, he sighed lightly in his heart.
He understood their excitement and their actions of revering him as a god.
In absolute despair, people need a spiritual anchor.
He raised his hand, gently gesturing.
A soft Power, like a spring breeze, slowly helped the kneeling masses to their feet.
"Please rise."
Aster Grant’s voice was calm, yet it carried a power that settled hearts.
"I am neither a god, nor a divine envoy! I am simply a Human Race skilled in Power, just like you."
His words slightly calmed the excited crowd, but their fervor and gratitude remained undiminished.
In their view, possessing such great strength, if not a divine envoy, then what?
But Aster Grant continued:
"The threat of the Demon Clan isn’t completely eliminated, as I’m sure you all know..."
"This mine pit is just the tip of the iceberg of Demon Abyss! There are several such pits in this world!"
"There are several Grakkars too! And moreover..."
"Right this moment, there are thousands, millions of our fellow humans sharing the same blood being enslaved and slaughtered!"
"And I am just one person."
His voice remained calm, yet carried a strength that gripped hearts.
"My Power, no matter how strong, is ultimately limited."
"I can save you, perhaps the next mine as well."
"But I cannot, with my own might alone, take down the entire Demon Abyss, kill all demons, and rescue millions of scattered compatriots from endless darkness!"
He paused, then raised his voice:
"But—you are different!"
"You have thousands of compatriots! In the future, more rescued compatriots will join you!"
"You possess something the Demon Clan can never grasp—Numbers! Wisdom! And... the desire for freedom and an unyielding will!"
"The true hope of letting the Human Race stand tall in this land of despair, the true hope of saving millions of our fellow humans, does not lie with me, but with you..."
"In your own hands! In your resolve to resist and fight!"
These words roared like thunder, exploding in everyone’s minds!
Shock!
Indescribable shock!
Their instinct was to place all hope with the Divine Envoy.
They firmly believed that by following him, they would attain redemption.
They never imagined...
Nor dared to conceive, relying on their own strength to oppose the terrifying Demon Clan, to save more compatriots!
Rely on ourselves?
How could that be possible?
We are merely unarmed miners at the mercy of demons!
Countless thoughts churned in their hearts, fear, bewilderment, disbelief...
And at that moment, a small figure struggled through the crowd, running to the foot of the high platform.
It was Clara.
She looked up, her little face, with her black eyes still tinged with fear.
But more so with an exceptionally bright glow ignited by Aster Grant’s words.
...
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