Genshin Impact: Rise of the Desert

During the pause, Ivan emitted a pure white light, and he slowly disappeared.

Barbatos's expression changed, and at the same time, his body emitted a pure white light and disappeared.

When the two reappeared, they found themselves in a mysterious and eerie all-black space. It seemed like an endless abyss of darkness, inspiring fear and bewilderment. Yet, within this darkness, a narrow tunnel stretched out, faintly visible, leading into the unknown depths.

The tunnel wasn't smooth; it was covered with countless tiny fragments, each the size of a fingernail. These fragments emitted a faint glow, becoming the only source of light in this dark world.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover that each fragment shimmers with unique colors and light, like the dazzling stars in the night sky.

Even more surprisingly, the earth inside the tunnel was not composed of the common elements such as metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, but rather a pure black substance. This black substance gave people a heavy and oppressive feeling, as if it carried countless secrets and stories.

Those scattered fragments on the road, each one carrying someone's memory. They are like forgotten fragments of a soul, waiting for a destined person to uncover the hidden past within.

As Ivan stepped into this strange space, he suddenly felt a powerful force surge through him. Instantly, his previously out-of-control body returned to his command.

At that moment, he felt incredibly excited and thrilled, because he was finally able to move freely again.

"Where is this?" Ivan asked in confusion, blurting out, "What kind of place is this? Where have you brought me?"

Ivan asked "Ivan," but "Ivan" seemed to have already fallen silent within the sacred mech.

Ivan remained calm and composed, steadily lifting his foot and striding forward. His gaze, like two sharp arrows, carefully scanned the fragments scattered throughout the tunnel.

The tunnel was quite wide, large enough for five adults to walk side by side, and tall enough for the Hilichurl King to pass through smoothly. The mysterious fragments were embedded like stars in the tunnel's ceiling and on the walls on both sides.

Surrounded by such a peculiar environment, Ivan felt an inexplicable sense of relaxation. It was as if some unseen force was telling him that this place was not unfamiliar to him, and might even be his birthplace. This feeling was so strong that he almost believed this was his true home.

Just then, Ivan suddenly noticed an astonishing phenomenon—the figures in these fragments were all faces he was familiar with in real life!

In those fragmented images, he saw many close friends and family members with whom he had spent every day. Their smiles and expressions were frozen in that moment, lifelike.

Karaman of the Ottoman family, who has been promoted to commander of the shooting corps, is directing his men to abandon their guns, pick up the battle axes they are using as firing platforms, and swing them at the flying hounds.

Chagan Bakhsulu, the chieftain of the Suhe tribe, was the leader of the Kheshig Futu Wanhu. He led from the front, commanding his cavalry to attack the Beast Hounds, attempting to prevent them from breaching the makeshift lines of the Fools.

These events are a series of remarkable occurrences that have recently taken place on the Dark Portal front.

Ivan discovers that as he continues to move forward, the stories told by the fragments ahead are all things that have happened before, and the further he goes, the further back in time the stories go.

Ivan walked along, looking around.

Within it, he discovered himself and some acquaintances. For example, Sistan and Tarane's passionate affair, his own infidelity with Candice, Ningguang's encounter with Boyi in the private bedroom of the Jade Pavilion...

From the War of Independence, the declaration of the Khanate, the journey to the Red King's Tomb, all the way to the end of the Burning Crusade, when Ivan led his army to land in Novgorod, Ivan finally discovered a "person".

No! He couldn't possibly be just an ordinary person, Ivan thought to himself. The figure standing before him exuded an aura of awe and mystery, and the powerful pressure made Ivan have no doubt—he must be a god.

Ivan keenly sensed a familiar yet unique scent emanating from the other person—the aura unique to those with golden bloodlines. However, compared to his own and Candice's, this aura was far more concentrated, almost tangible.

Ivan involuntarily took a step forward, approaching the god whose entire body was concealed in a wide cloak. He was completely wrapped from head to toe in the jet-black cloak, even his head was completely covered by the heavy hood, making it impossible to see his true face.

Nevertheless, Ivan walked straight up to him and took a deep breath.

Yes, that's the feeling! There's no mistaking this incredibly rich golden bloodline aura...

This aura was strong and powerful, incredibly strong!

“Hello, Ahmar,” Ivan finally mustered his courage and spoke, his voice trembling slightly, “Hello, my…master…”

Ahmar chuckled: "I am not your master. We are collaborators... Oh, you must have forgotten how you and I reached this agreement."

Ivan shrugged. "That's not hard to guess. It's just that when I was about to be possessed, you used your divine power to transfer me here. And since I couldn't accept the death of my companions, I went upstream in the time tunnel to erase my memories and reincarnate."

Walking through this tunnel made up of fragments of time, Ivan could easily guess how he got here. This space made him feel safe; it was definitely not his first time here.

Add to that the fragments of time along the way, and the resonance between the golden bloodline within him and the god before him. Eliminating all the impossibilities, what remains, however improbable, is also the truth.

Ivan looked quietly at Ahmar and asked, "What are you doing here? Don't you know that the people of the desert live in dire straits?"

Ahmar pointed to himself: "I have been corrupted by forbidden knowledge to this extent. If I were to go out, every place I pass through would be a gate to darkness. So, I made a deal with you. If you want to roam the world, then you will clean up the trivial matters in the desert for me, and I will cover for you. But this time, you are still too slow, much slower than before."

Ivan remained silent, his mind racing: "So, when I first transmigrated, it was here. I wanted to go to Teyvat, and then you threw me down here as a baby to solve your desert problems."

Ahmar clapped his hands: "That's right. According to my prophecy, only by possessing the cursed holy mech in the Erinas Gold can you have power comparable to the gods. However, if you wear it for a long time, you will be possessed by the dormant soul within it and become an immortal warrior who will forever protect the desert people."

Ivan tilted his head: "So, this doesn't fit our deal, so you brought me back and started over."

“Descendant, we’ve repeated these conversations many times, but I still admire your keen senses.” Ahmar stretched out his hand and pointed at Ivan. “Now, take off these heavy shackles and go see the Descendants who have been imprisoned here by the gods of Sky Isles. They will help you reincarnate.”

Ivan suddenly felt a lightness in his body. The silver needles that had pierced his pores and penetrated deep into his bones were slowly pulled out. Pieces of the mecha's outer skin peeled off and flew towards Ahmar, who held them in his hand as easily as if he had caught a person.

"Go on, keep moving forward." Ahmar pointed ahead and then stopped moving.

Ivan no longer cared about the identity of the cursed soul within the mech; he only wanted to reach the promised land Ahmar had given him.

Having experienced too many partings in this life, he thought he had become accustomed to the death of his companions, but when Khorasan left him, he realized that he was not used to it at all.

Instead, it's the numbness of being hurt.

He became a Khan, but what did he gain?

Timur's family line died out, Esen remained a bachelor his entire life, and the pillar of the Ottoman family was assassinated in a sneak attack.

From the thirty-six young hunters recruited with bravery in his youth, to the twelve bandit leaders in his adulthood, to the ten trusted men who went to Fontaine, to the five capable men after the expedition to Liyue, and finally to one loyal subordinate after the War of Independence.

I have lost so much, and I am very dissatisfied with this life.

I am a time traveler, my Teyvat journey shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be...

As Ivan walked, he passed through his adulthood, youth, and childhood, witnessing his father Varisi caring for his pregnant mother, and then his mother using ruthless methods to drag his father into the yurt.

Finally, Ivan saw the two people Ahmar had pointed out.

The two people were hanging on a huge cross, their entire bodies bound by chains, with only their wrists able to move. One looked like a Mondstadt person, and the other looked like a Liyue person.

Ivan walked up to them, and the two men were taken aback when they saw him, then said in unison, "You failed again?"

Ivan nodded and asked, "Who are you?"

The Liyue native lowered his head: "We are the Invaders who declared war on the Sky Isles, we are... shameless bastards. We are here to power up your journey and ensure your safe birth."

“We lost two of our closest brothers; the years of killing have broken our spirits.” The Mondstadt man tilted his head, as if he wanted to be strangled by chains. “Our last brother died on Sky Isle, and we are left unable to live or die.”

The Mondstadt man looked at the silent Ivan and asked again, "Are you ready?"

Ivan nodded.

The Mondstadt man rotated his right wrist, and Ivan then noticed that the Mondstadt man's hand seal had disappeared, replaced by a wand about thirty centimeters long inserted into his wrist.

The Mondstadt man pointed his staff behind Ivan, and a colorful vortex immediately appeared behind him.

Ivan continued to look at the Mondstadt man, awaiting his next move.

Then, the Mondstadt man pointed his wand at Ivan.

"Everything is forgotten."

Seemingly struck on the forehead by an invisible, heavy punch, Ivan fell backward, plunging into a colorful vortex.

At this moment, Ivan had lost all his memories, except for those from before he traveled through time.

He fell into the tunnel and sank down, his body gradually becoming younger.

.........

"Warish chieftain! Hurry!" Mughal Timur rushed into Warish Rurik's yurt. "The elders of the tribe say this sandstorm is the biggest in nearly a hundred years, and there are definitely a lot of hunting dogs coming with it. We need you!"

Varisi held a baby in his arms, his son, and on the bed beside him lay his dead wife. His wife had died in childbirth, and it was thought that both she and her unborn child had perished, but his son had torn open his wife's belly and emerged.

Seeing the baby's hand clenched tightly, Varisi laughed and said, "Why are your little hands clenched so tightly? Let me see what it is?"

As he spoke, Varisi pried open the baby's finger; it was a clotted blood, already clenched thin by the baby.

“Ah, it’s the Rexton Spear. He’s a born warrior.” The Mughal man who entered said, touching the baby’s face and looking at the old man sitting on the stool, Varisi’s father. “What name will you give your child? Ivan III?”

Varisi handed the baby to his father, Ivan III, who took the baby. The old man immediately felt as if he had seen the child before after his death.

Ivan III shook his head. "What do you mean, 'seen after death'? You're really getting senile!"

Varisi laughed and said, "Father, if you ask me, let's just call him Ivan, Ivan IV, like your name."

Ivan III nodded: "Alright, let's call him Ivan IV. I think it's great! Go and help the warriors stop those remnants of the abyss. I'll take good care of little Ivan."

The Varisi Mughal stepped out of the yurt, where sand and dust hung in the air. Along with the sand and dust came the beast-like hounds from the Tuni Black Abyss, which had briefly shed their crystallized form.

Visibility was less than 100 meters, but you could still see many people standing in front of Varisi, either on horseback or on foot.

The sandstorm was so strong that you had to speak very loudly to be heard, even if you were right next to someone's ear.

Varisi put on a bright red silk blindfold to prevent the sand from getting into his eyes, mounted his warhorse, unleashed his gilded power, and shouted loudly.

"My wife died in childbirth! And my child, Ivan IV! Born in a sandstorm! He was born tearing open the belly of his dead mother, born with blood clots in his hands, he was born clutching the spear of Rexton, this is an auspicious sign!"

The Rurik family's gilded power was a high-decibel roar, and instantly, the entire tribe heard Varisi's shout.

These words brought some comfort to the women and children who were trembling at home.

"Descendants of the Red King! Forward! Drive the invaders out of the Moscow tribe!"

"go ahead!"

The soldiers braved the sandstorm and advanced to a date palm grove near the Moscow tribe, where they fought against tens of thousands of hunting dogs.

The wind and sand swept through the forest, making the leaves rustle violently, sounding as if the forest was shouting.

"Ivan—Ivan—"