Chapter 1 All Clues Point to Darkness

All the intelligence pointed to a dark and unsettling answer, and everyone who heard it fell into involuntary silence. Hao Ren knew even better that these clues would soon no longer be a secret—since Rudolph III had chosen to reveal them here, in front of both a newly emerged "Ancient Guardian" and an inexperienced young prince, it meant that these messages were probably already spreading.

"So many kingdoms' heirs have met with accidents in the past month, yet the news only came out recently," Duke Luen broke the silence. "Each kingdom wants to keep the turmoil within its upper echelons from spreading, so it's only when things become impossible to hide that the outside world learns of them. This has given the Annihilation cultists an opportunity."

Hao Ren pondered, feeling that there were still many things he didn't understand. He frowned. "Are those cultists simply trying to cause chaos and weaken the various orderly nations? They should be able to find easier ways. Targeting royal heirs and doing it without being detected is probably harder than burning down the royal capital. More importantly, their actions don't seem to have been very successful—most of the heirs who were attacked didn't die, like Anya and the others. A minor illness, a false alarm."

"They're not just trying to cause chaos," Alfred said. "Their target is the 'Custodian' bloodline of each kingdom's royal family. Their ultimate goal is probably to weaken the suppression of Loke Marton, to release the remaining power of that evil giant."

Hao Ren was taken aback. "Custodian bloodline?"

"Every kingdom's royal family is a family that has received the 'Custodian' inheritance," Veronica explained. She understood Hao Ren's "memory loss" better, so she simply explained the Custodian bloodline from start to finish. "This isn't a bloodline that's truly inherited, but rather an external inheritance. After each Chaos War, the continents are reshuffled. Some kingdoms fall, and royal families become extinct, while others are rebuilt and rise from the ruins. The first thing these new kingdoms do after they're established is to seek the approval of the Sacred Domain—after receiving approval, the Sacred Domain will perform an inheritance ceremony for these new royal families. The bloodline power from the ancient God Guards is injected into the veins of our founding monarchs, and then passed down through generations. This is the Custodian bloodline. Only those who receive this inheritance are qualified to become the rulers of orderly nations."

Hao Ren listened in a daze. This was something he had never imagined.

In the world of Collow, dynasties changed, and every hundred years, old royal families were overthrown, and new royal families rose from humble beginnings. Apart from the Sacred Domain, there were hardly any long-lasting noble families in this world, but they had their own way of maintaining a kind of transcendent bloodline inheritance: the Sacred Domain determined and performed a kind of "surgical" genetic modification on the secular royal families, forcibly implanting an ancient bloodline into the rulers of these orderly nations.

This ancient bloodline seemed to come from "ancient God Guards?"

Veronica's explanation continued: "The Custodian bloodline possesses the power to suppress chaos, and it's also a necessary condition for igniting the Sunburn Towers. Every year, in the last month, the Sunburn Towers need to be re-ignited. These orderly towers that guard the entire nation are the foundation for the kingdom's survival in the face of chaos. When the towers are ignited, the royal family members of each kingdom must inject their blood into the energy core. It's because these Custodian bloodlines are scattered throughout the continent that the secular kingdoms can maintain a minimum of orderly territory, so that chaos doesn't completely devour the world."

Hao Ren nodded, understanding the meaning of this "Custodian bloodline."

The light of order was like a lighthouse in the darkness, and the royal family members of each kingdom were actually the firewood to light it. What flowed in their veins was not just noble blood, but also the fuel to maintain their kingdom.

He remembered that in the desolate wilderness, it was Veronica who used her blood to ignite the broken furnace device—the secret was here.

Hao Ren blinked and looked at the old scholar. "The cultists' goal is to eliminate those with the Custodian bloodline? That doesn't make sense. The heirs they attacked are still alive."

Before the old scholar could speak, Anya took the initiative to answer, "But the bloodline power has been lost."

The princess reached out and gently pierced her fingertip with a silver needle, and a drop of crimson blood oozed out.

Just ordinary blood.

"Anya, you..." Veronica looked at the scene in shock, apparently just learning of this news. The knight-princess immediately used her personal dagger to prick her own finger. Her blood flowed out, carrying a faint glow.

Obviously, the two bloods were completely different. Anya's blood had lost some kind of magic.

"Diseases can be cured, curses can be removed, but the power in the bloodline can't be recovered," Rudolph III said softly. "Many of the royal heirs who were attacked are indeed still alive, but the Annihilation cultists have achieved their goal: removing the bloodline power of these heirs."

"The Custodian bloodline power is an important guarantee for maintaining the orderly borders, because only they can light the Sunburn Towers. Now, the day the Sunburn Towers burn out is very near, and the operating efficiency of the towers is decreasing every day. The impact on the whole country is now being felt—" Alfred's aged voice sounded even weaker than before. "The output power of all the hearths in the kingdom is decreasing simultaneously. Although this situation hasn't yet affected relics like the Bonfire Tower, it's only a matter of time. The power of chaos is infiltrating inland from the western and northern borders of the kingdom, which is also a sign of weakening order. Now, we must prepare for the Sunburn Tower lighting ceremony as soon as possible."

Hao Ren took a few deep breaths and looked at Rudolph III. "The heirs of various countries have indeed lost their bloodline power, but the situation shouldn't be so bad—what about you kings and queens who are still in power? Your bloodline power should still be there, right? You can light the towers."

"We're all pretty much running on fumes." Rudolph III smiled, saying these shocking words in a very calm manner.

After a pause, the old king continued, "It's not difficult to maintain the Sunburn Towers in the years of order, because we only need to ensure that they don't go out. But when the Chaos Tide comes, every Sunburn Tower must operate at full power—the Chaos Tide lasts for ten years each time, but hardly any mortals can keep themselves burning for ten years. This year is the seventh year of the Chaos Tide, and I've been continuously injecting energy into that tower for seven years. The rulers of other kingdoms are the same. With mortal bodies, we've reached our limit."

Speaking of this, Rudolph III even had the mood to make a joke: "The Ice Dragon Queen of Eternal Winter might be better off. She's a powerful dragon, more resistant to burning than us..."

Hao Ren didn't think this joke was funny at all. "So... the kings of all the countries on the continent have used up their bloodline power, and the next lighting ceremony must be performed by the heirs of each country?!"

"But the heirs of each country have already been 'crippled'," Rudolph III said quietly. "Perhaps Veronica is the only exception."

The king's expression was calm as he said this. Hao Ren observed the dignified man, who was not yet middle-aged, across from him. Sunlight shone on his side, making him look as if he were plated with a layer of light. Rudolph III didn't look like he was "running on fumes" as he said. On the contrary, he was an energetic, healthy middle-aged man. Years of martial arts practice also made the king stronger than many of his younger subjects. In terms of lifespan, he was far from saying goodbye to this world.

But Hao Ren knew that Rudolph III's "running on fumes" actually had another meaning. It referred to the power in his bloodline.

The ancient magic implanted by the Sacred Domain people through genetic technology, which did not belong to ordinary humans, these ancient powers came from a vanished transcendent race. Even if diluted, they were still beyond what mortal bodies could bear, so the power that an ordinary person could produce and contain in a lifetime was limited. In the years when the Chaos Tide came, a king had to draw out all his magic to maintain the operation of the Sunburn Tower, but it was still not enough to survive ten years.

The last three years had to be taken over by the royal descendants.

The Annihilation cultists unveiled the cards and methods they had accumulated for ten thousand years, accurately and fatally destroying the biggest weak link in this "order inheritance" process.

Talos was perhaps the only country whose situation was not so bad: this kingdom still had an heir with ancient blood, because of Hao Ren, the accidental interloper, Veronica had survived, and she was now the only person in the mortal world who could light the lighthouse.

And the other kingdoms were about to face a desperate situation—they might be able to ask the Sacred Domain for help, but to be honest, the Sacred Domain was probably having a hard time protecting itself.

Rudolph III and most of the people in the secret chamber knew this, so they didn't feel complacent that their kingdom had retained the last bloodline heir. The entire orderly world rose and fell together. If all the countries on the continent were extinguished in chaos, how long could Talos alone illuminate the darkness?

The atmosphere in the secret chamber was heavy, but at that moment, a gem seal ring on Rudolph III's hand suddenly flashed.

The king held the ring to his ear, and after a moment, he looked up and looked at Hao Ren.

"Guardian, there's bad news."

"What?"

"Lavinia Dusem Condes successfully escaped with the help of a large number of cultists. Before escaping, she turned back and attacked Veronica's standard-bearer, stealing the ancient artifact you brought."

Hao Ren: "..."