Chapter 1 The Most Prosperous of Planes

Kadeshyus isn't the largest plane occupied by humans, but it is the most prosperous. This continent naturally possesses over a dozen portals to various other spaces. In the spatial bubble diagram imagined by scholars, Kadeshyus is located in the center of all the spatial bubbles, surrounded by the most famous dozen or so vibrant worlds (the local term for "world," which of course cannot refer to the universe).

It is precisely because of this uniquely advantageous structure that this space has become a deservedly crucial hub for transportation. In addition to humans, who account for more than half of the total population, various other races have also established their own cities and outposts in Kadeshyus. Even during times of war between the various races in the mortal realm, Kadeshyus maintains a role of absolute neutrality and sanctuary under the restrictions of an ancient alliance.

Many scholars even believe that the reason why humans have become the most prosperous race in the world, in addition to their speed of reproduction and learning ability, is that they were the first to discover Kadeshyus thousands of years ago – allowing them to control the most important throat in the world.

Kadesa City, a large city located in the west-central part of the Kadeshyus continent, is surrounded by mountains on three sides and faces the vast red soil plains on the other. This city was established by the earliest human exploration team after discovering the Kadeshyus plane. It was initially just a camp, but has now developed into the most magnificent and prosperous city on the entire continent. The main population of the city is human, with a third of the population being residents of other races. Envoys from various planes have established embassies and offices in this most famous absolutely neutral city, maintaining a good life of eating, sleeping, and bickering.

Kadeshyus is a prosperous and significant place – so all races believe. It is not only the "center of the world," but also the first mortal city that the Mad King's invincible army failed to conquer. The most famous seven heroes of the Ten-Year War gathered in this city and launched that epic counterattack.

After spatial teleportation + ground travel, Hao Ren and his group arrived in this city with a long history and great renown.

Hao Ren was wearing the warlock robe he had secretly "borrowed" from the Allied camp, leading his other companions, who were disguised as wandering mercenaries. He stood in front of the majestic outer walls of Kadesa City, looking up at the magnificent city walls made of gray-white giant stones, hundreds of meters high, and the war scars that had not yet been fully repaired on the walls. He felt that Izhaks was truly optimistic: "So, after all this time, your first defeat was here? You have a broad mind… Why did you specifically choose such a place?"

Izhaks looked up at the mottled city walls with a hint of nostalgia. The patches of scorched marks and the collapsed tower on the east side of the gate were his masterpieces back then – or at least the masterpieces of his subordinates back then: "This city is the closest. Wenressa City is two hundred kilometers away and requires crossing mountains. It's not worth the trip."

Izhaks was wearing a rough, thick leather vest, his muscles bulging, and carrying a giant axe he had swiped from the military camp on his back, disguised as a Highland berserker from a human branch. This could slightly divert attention from his ferocious face.

"You don't have any psychological pressure coming here, right?" Nangong Wuyue asked cautiously. She reasoned with the mindset of a normal person and felt that anyone with a normal worldview would not be happy to revisit such a place, so she was worried that Izhaks might suddenly become depressed halfway.

"It doesn't matter," Izhaks just shrugged. "War, many things are unclear, so it's best not to talk about them. We should find a place to stay first today. The daytime duration in Kadeshyus is very short. A warlock like you with a succubus will attract a lot of attention walking on the streets at night."

The group walked towards the majestic city gate of Kadesa City. Lily suddenly remembered something halfway: "Oh, right! Do we have money?"

Hao Ren slapped his forehead, finally noticing the funding problem – it wasn't his fault for being careless every time, mainly because the protagonists in ordinary movies and novels never mentioned the details of running around to scrape together money for tolls. Izhaks, however, smiled as if he had expected this: "It's okay, I have plenty."

The great demon patted his waist, and a clear sound of coins clinking could be heard: "I reckon the common currency of this world won't change in a year."

"Where did you get the money?" Hao Ren was greatly surprised.

Izhaks smiled: "The savings I dug out of the cave just now. When I came to this place alone, I originally planned to go to the human city to see the situation, but something happened that delayed me, so I didn't go. The money has been buried until today."

It is said that life is always more dramatic than novels – Izhaks was a demon king in this world for hundreds of years, and now he finally has something useful left!

The group walked towards the gate of this ancient city with curious hearts. Two rows of powerful knights in bright armor were responsible for guarding the city gate. Even Hao Ren, a layman, could feel the surging power from those tin-can-like heavy armored knights. The holy light surrounding them even almost triggered Hao Ren's shield system.

When this overly conspicuous group approached, several paladins immediately came forward. One of them glanced at Izhaks, and finally his gaze fell on Lanina. A majestic voice came from behind the visor: "A demon? Controlled?"

Lanina looked at the paladin calmly. As a former flank of the demon king, she felt no psychological pressure in the face of such a scene: "I came with my master to the human city to broaden my horizons. My soul has undergone the binding ritual."

Although Lanina performed well, demons entering the city – even demons summoned by warlocks – must undergo a test of their controlled state. So the paladin who seemed to be the captain turned to look at his subordinates and suddenly pointed at one of them: "Jason, you test this succubus."

The knight named Jason walked over and took off his helmet. He was a heroic human young man who looked quite handsome. He looked at Lanina eye to eye for a while, then suddenly nodded: "Yeah, okay, completely controlled, go in."

Hao Ren hadn't even reacted yet, pointing at Lanina in confusion: "Uh… this… what… is that it?"

"As a succubus, being able to be so serious when seeing such a handsome man, the degree of control is close to paralysis," the knight captain even patted Hao Ren on the shoulder to kindly remind him, "This warlock, although it's a good thing to strictly control your demon, you can easily turn a succubus into an idiot…"

Hao Ren: "…"

Anyway, that's how the inspection of Lanina went. The group was allowed to pass very smoothly: Kadeshyus is the "throat of the world," and Kadesa City is the largest distribution center on this continent. There are especially many people coming and going every day, and the soldiers didn't have time to entangle themselves with Hao Ren and his group too much.

It was just that Hao Ren was still a bit confused when he led his companions into the deep gate hole: "Is this inspection measure… reliable?"

Izhaks glanced at Lanina: "Actually, this is really the most reliable inspection method, at least for succubi. Wild succubi who have not undergone a summoning contract will immediately launch a charm when they see a male of a different race. This is an instinct that is impossible to restrain, like breathing. Even if high-level succubi can barely control themselves, professional paladins can immediately feel the mental turbulence. Only succubi who have been summoned can abandon all demonic instincts because their spirit is completely controlled by their master, so this testing method is very effective."

Then he pointed to Lanina: "This is the only one in recorded history who is not interested in men… unprecedented, so invincible."

Hao Ren deeply suspected how Izhaks had educated such a bizarre adopted daughter.

Passing through the first outer wall was the bustling outer city of Kadesa City. In front of the group was a wide main road, with shops along the street, making it particularly lively. All the buildings in sight were built with stone as the main material, gray-white walls, square main bodies, with quadrangular blue spires on top, which should be the local characteristics of Kadeshyus. And at the end of this main road, you could see a very quiet square, with a tall statue standing in the center of the square.

Izhaks looked down at his feet, and suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly: "Back then, I sacrificed 100,000 soldiers and failed to step into this city."

Then he raised his leg and strode forward.

Hao Ren suddenly felt a little uneasy: "This big guy isn't planning to take revenge and burn the city down, is he?"

Lanina smiled brightly: "The king wouldn't do that – even if he takes revenge, he will transform into his original form and challenge the paladins of Kadesa on the plains in front of the city. He will have a fair duel, otherwise he would not be a generation of emperors."

Hao Ren thought for a while, touching his chin: "… Single-minded."