Chapter 1 Chaos

Chaos isn't just monsters emerging from the mist, and monsters aren't only born from the mist.

The lightly armored knightly order trudged across the desolate wilderness. Without the interference of magical creatures, this flat plain wasn't too difficult to traverse. During their journey, Hao Ren gradually learned many common-sense facts about this "Kolo World" from Veronica.

Including knowledge about Chaos, monsters, the mist, Order, and Darkness.

At first, Hao Ren thought the mist shrouding the plains and the monsters coalescing from it were Chaos itself, but he now knew that the mist was merely a unique phenomenon of the desolate wilderness. Different Chaos domains had different mutated environments, and monsters were born from these environments in various forms. In the desolate wilderness, there was unyielding mist, in the shadow jungle, there were shadowlands, and in the dark swamps, there were ever-changing bottomless quagmires. Besides these, there were countless Chaos territories, large and small, like the annihilation desert, the storm corner coastline, the gray-white sea, and the river of deep space. Almost every place had its unique characteristics, their commonality being the rejection of life and the destruction of Order.

Kolo was a vast world composed of many independent continents. According to Veronica, these continents floated in the void called "Karnos," revolving according to some profound rules established by the gods. The power of Chaos and Order ebbed and flowed in the void of Karnos, and the waves they stirred crashed against the continents, giving rise to the children of Order and the servants of Chaos. The repeated struggle for the world between the believers of Order and the followers of Chaos was the substantial embodiment of the conflict between the forces of Karnos.

This was an endless war that had continued since recorded history. The power of Chaos would spread from the void, corroding and destroying the world of Order, disrupting time, losing control of energy, and turning mountains and rivers into ashes in an instant. Under their influence, fertile land became life-forbidden zones like the desolate wilderness and shadow jungle, and monsters constantly emerged in these areas out of thin air, charging the defenses of Order as the vanguard of the Chaos forces.

The light of Order was the grace and protection bestowed upon intelligent beings by the creator goddess. It was the source of all light in the world, existing in the form of hearth fires, torch fires, and divine light. They formed walls of Order, behind which the kingdoms of humans and other races thrived and prospered, preventing the world from falling completely into darkness.

According to the most intelligent scholars of Kolo, this constant struggle had lasted for ten thousand years.

Ten thousand years, yet again this crucial time.

The team's speed across the wilderness wasn't too slow—much faster than Hao Ren expected. Mount Csuan had already disappeared into the vast darkness behind them, leaving only the endless, desolate plain ahead. In fact, Veronica had lost sight of Mount Csuan several minutes ago, but Hao Ren's extraordinary vision allowed him to see further.

However, in this desolate land, even the best eyesight couldn't see much.

The divine radiance produced by the "holy artifact" enveloped the area within a hundred meters, dispersing the mist and seemingly fading the ashen luster of the earth. The knights had never seen such powerful protection, and the purifying effect and reassuring aura of this "light of Order" were completely different from the golden banners and Order amulets they were familiar with. They didn't know that Hao Ren had lent them a true "divine artifact" and could only attribute the power to the lost technologies of a previous age. Under the radiance of the holy light, the mist outside the Order zone swirled and shifted like a thin broth, seemingly wanting to attack the humans within the light's range but hesitating due to fear of the artifact's power.

Seeing this, Morian couldn't help but sigh softly, "Alas… if every army had such a holy artifact to protect them, our battles in the Chaos domain would be much easier."

Hao Ren didn't respond. He already knew the extent of the sacrifices made by the humans of this "Kolo World" in the face of Chaos, but he couldn't do anything about it at the moment.

Humans couldn't survive in the Chaos domain. Even breathing the air here would quickly deplete their life force and gradually assimilate them into Chaos. In the long war of Order, countless warriors had fallen into this endless darkness.

Veronica took out a circular amulet from her bosom, similar to a pocket watch. Various magical lights slowly moved on the amulet. She used it to calibrate their position and distance, then took a deep breath. "We're on the route we came on. As long as we follow this direction, we'll soon see a ruin. We'll rest there briefly, then head straight for the Hill of Nameless Warriors. If we're fast enough, we might even catch up with the battle on the Western Border of the kingdom."

The knight princess gently pursed her thin lips, her expression unwavering and fearless. When acting as a military commander, the aura she exuded was truly remarkable.

Hao Ren couldn't help but take a few more glances at her. "You're going back to fight? In this state?"

Almost every knight behind Veronica was wounded. The simple treatment they received in the temple wasn't enough to heal everyone. However, upon hearing Hao Ren's question, each of the warriors simply smiled indifferently. A young knight waved his hand. "This state isn't great—I can probably only take down twenty monsters."

Veronica looked back at the warriors who had lived and died with her. Her usually taut expression couldn't help but soften. She shook her head. "The Taros royal family doesn't retreat in the face of battle—but you've completed your mission. After returning, I will meet with the Western Border general, and after that…"

"Princess," the old knight Morian gave Veronica a stern look, "that's not something a commander should say!"

The young men in the team looked at this scene and burst into good-natured laughter. In the eyes of these warriors, who were only a few years older than the princess, the respected knight princess was commendable in commanding battles, but still very immature in other aspects.

Impulsive and reckless, and always with some naive ideas popping up.

The optimism and fearlessness of these people made Hao Ren take notice. He had seen many races trapped in the apocalypse, but this one... he felt it was different.

He turned his head and looked at the wilderness ahead. Just then, faint outlines of buildings appeared at the far end of the horizon.

Hao Ren pointed in that direction. "Is that the ruin you mentioned?"

Veronica was stunned and immediately turned her head to look, but all she could see was endless darkness and chaos. Beyond a certain range, large, twisted black masses obstructed her vision.

"You can see it?" The knight princess looked at Hao Ren in surprise. "Doesn't the Chaos Mist obscure your eyes?"

Hao Ren scratched his head. "The mist does affect my vision, but it just makes things look a little closer."

"The Chaos Mist doesn't just affect vision. It devours the truth in the distance. Beyond a certain distance, no matter how good your eyesight is, you can't see anything," Veronica looked at Hao Ren with an expression that suggested she was looking at an incomprehensible lifeform. "So, regardless of strength, everyone has the same range of vision in the Chaos lands. Only specialized detection magic can detect things beyond the 'vision limit.'"

As she spoke, she murmured softly, "Could it be that the eyes of the ancients all came with a 'Chaos-piercing' effect?"

Hao Ren was stunned after hearing Veronica's words. Only then did he realize why the other party had looked bewildered and lost when he rushed down the mountain to support the knights. It turned out it wasn't due to their lack of training, but because they were practically half-blind in the Chaos domain!

Hao Ren touched his eyes, vaguely guessing why he was different from others.

In the dark, he seemed to hear a voice, a casual voice saying to him: "I've got your back."

He grinned, shaking his head with a strange smile. "I'm truly thankful to the goddess sister. I've got golden eyes here."

Soon, Hao Ren's extraordinary "eyesight" was confirmed.

After the knightly order continued for another hour, a pile of collapsed and abandoned building ruins abruptly appeared in Veronica and Morian's field of vision.

Just like Mount Csuan suddenly springing into view, those buildings also suddenly jumped out of the darkness.

Morian looked at Hao Ren up and down for a long time, making the latter feel goosebumps all over his body. Then, the old knight took the lead and walked towards the ruins. "Everyone, keep up, don't fall behind, and be vigilant—we've already lit the hearth fire here, so corrupted monsters might be attracted to this place."