Chapter 1 The War Between Order and Chaos

The war between Order and Chaos had raged for ten millennia. The clash of these two forces left countless remnants scattered across the shattered "Kolo World." Most of these remnants were ultimately annihilated by the tides of time and the collision of powers, but those possessing immense strength, or those of more recent origin, could still be found. These remnants included the demonic lairs within the various kingdoms of Order, as well as the ruins of human towns in the lands of Chaos.

Apart from the sanctuaries protected by holy power, which could stand for thousands of years in Chaos (such as the Kasu An Temple), the human ruins one could find in the wilderness were mostly products of the last three centuries. Anything older had already been reduced to dust by the tides of Chaos.

The town ruins before them were such a "young" ruin. According to Veronica, the town had been built three centuries ago. It didn't belong to any kingdom, but was built by the great merchants of the Taros Kingdom and the Beaconfire Nation. That century was the "dawn period" when the power of Order overwhelmed the power of Chaos. The Chaos in the Dark Swamp-Barren Wilderness-Shadow Jungle area was once pushed back to the extreme southern border of the continent, and the great merchants of the two kingdoms opened up a great trade route along this line. The gathering markets they built were like pearls strung together, traversing plains and hills. One-fifth of the continent's wealth flowed through this major artery.

In the magnificent chapters left by the bards, large sections of text tirelessly described the gorgeously dressed merchants, the glamorous dancing girls, the adventurers, the mercenaries, and the centaur warriors who wandered from the grasslands to seek opportunities in these markets at that time.

Until the arrival of Chaos, the power surge turned the plains and hills into a paradise for monsters, and this string of "pearls" was scattered in the darkness. Now, less than one-tenth of them remain. The scattered ruins have either been half-submerged in the mud of the Dark Swamp or have become the nests of ancient trees in the Shadow Jungle. This ruin in the Barren Wilderness is perhaps the only place that is still relatively intact—and can provide some shelter for passing wanderers.

If there really were wanderers brave enough to cross this wasteland.

This time, there really was such a group of "guests" who entered the ruins: Veronica's Taros Royal Knights.

The old knight Morian led the way, with the standard-bearer holding the "holy artifact" closely behind, providing the protection of the Light of Order for the entire team. Hao Ren and Veronica cautiously entered the dilapidated town while guarding their surroundings. The other knights, though traveling on foot, still held their weapons and formed a defensive formation, with no slackening in their advance or retreat.

Hao Ren couldn't help but feel a little curious about the others' cautious appearance (in fact, some of his doubts had arisen long ago, but he couldn't find a suitable opportunity to ask them): "Isn't there the protection of the 'artifact' I gave you? Could there still be monsters popping up here?"

Veronica couldn't help but glance at Hao Ren with a strange expression. This question really didn't sound like something a battle-hardened ancient guardian would ask, but when she thought that this "ancient person" had been asleep for a thousand years, she suppressed her doubts and patiently explained: "Places shrouded in light aren't necessarily safe. Although the Chaos servants in the mist will be dispelled by the power of Order, there are still 'corrupted demons' that have been partially polluted here. Corrupted demons are the product of Order world creatures being polluted by Chaos and are also an intermediate state between Order creatures and complete Chaos creatures—these monsters still retain half of their physical bodies, so they have a certain resistance to the Light of Order. What's more, the Order part of their bodies will have an instinctive desire for the light. Although this light can cause them great pain, these demons will still rush over like moths to a flame."

Morian also added from the side: "The last time we passed through here, we ignited the embers in the town's furnace. The power of the embers may attract the monsters lurking in the wilderness here. But there's no need to worry too much—although corrupted demons have a certain resistance to the Light of Order, they are still Chaos creatures. They will be weakened a lot in front of the holy artifact, and coupled with the fact that their numbers are difficult to scale, there won't be any problems as long as we are careful."

Hao Ren said "oh" and frowned slightly.

Without the protection of holy artifacts like the Golden Radiance Banner, one would be swallowed by Chaos servants, but with the holy artifact, one would attract corrupted demons like fire attracts moths. The warriors fighting in the Chaos realm were essentially choosing the lesser of two evils. This damn place… was really not a place for humans to stay.

At this moment, the team had already entered the central area of the town ruins.

The town ruins were severely eroded, and it was almost impossible to find any buildings with intact frames, but between the remaining ruins, one could still vaguely see some shadows of the past glory. The buildings here mostly had thick and sloping outer walls, and the roofs had rounded curves. Most of the houses were built of stone, with a hint of the shadow of a desert country: it is said that the architects who designed these towns were mainly from the Beaconfire Kingdom, and the Beaconfire Kingdom was a famous desert country in those years.

Halfway there, a sense of alertness suddenly surged in his heart, and Hao Ren immediately lowered his voice: "Wait, there seems to be something ahead."

The words of the "Ancient Guardian" were of course very weighty. Even the rigid old knight Morian immediately stopped and lowered his body after hearing the warning. Veronica drew her knight's longsword and used magical power to cover the reflection on the blade. Then she ordered the standard-bearer holding the holy artifact to stop where he was, and she herself went forward step by step.

The power released by the holy artifact in the hands of the standard-bearer was like a lighthouse in the Chaos realm. If there were corrupted demons gathered ahead, then the standard-bearer continuing forward would most likely attract a group of monsters.

Hao Ren saw the princess walking alone with her longsword towards the edge of the protected area and couldn't help but worry: this behavior was of course brave and respectable, but it didn't seem like something a qualified princess should do. Being too hands-on was sometimes a disadvantage for a leader. But he saw that none of the surrounding knights showed any unusual expressions, apparently having become accustomed to the princess's actions.

What he didn't know was that Veronica was not being too reckless in doing this, but simply because the scouts and spellcasters in the team had all died, and she was now the only half-mage and warrior who knew reconnaissance techniques in the team.

On the battlefield, practicality was the top priority.

Hao Ren thought for a moment and then followed Veronica, and the two of them came to a broken wall in front and squatted down.

This collapsed stone wall was just the limit of the protection of the holy artifact in the hands of the standard-bearer. Within the protection range was the land of Order shrouded in faint light, and outside the protection range was dark Chaos. The boundaries between the two realms were clear, which Hao Ren found very magical.

Veronica took out a light golden triangular amulet from her arms. She placed the amulet on her forehead and whispered a spell. The power of the amulet immediately enveloped her whole body, a layer of shimmer appeared on her body surface, and then was absorbed into her body.

Then she took a breath and stepped into the dark Chaos outside the protected area.

What she had just used was the "Order Amulet," a magical item that allowed individuals to move in the Chaos realm. The Golden Radiance Banner or other holy artifacts were too dazzling in Chaos, so the amulet for individual use came in handy at this time. However, the effect time of the Order Amulet was quite limited. Once the effect ended, the user would be almost instantly swallowed by Chaos—in Kolo, scouts were definitely the most dangerous profession.

Hao Ren also guessed the function of the amulet after seeing this scene, but he didn't have this thing—Veronica had preconceivedly regarded Hao Ren as an experienced ancient guardian with all kinds of ancient holy artifacts on his body, so she didn't think of giving him an amulet at all.

But Hao Ren didn't actually need this kind of prop. He just pretended to reach out and gesticulate a few times on his chest, muttered "May the neurosis goddess bless," and then swaggered into the darkness.

Veronica looked back and was immediately stunned.

But soon she attributed everything to the omnipotent excuse of "powerful ancient person."

The two cautiously moved forward in the darkness and fog. Finally, they arrived at the circular plaza in the center of the town ruins.

"What the heck…" Hao Ren murmured in a low voice, "These are the corrupted demons you mentioned?"

The plaza was filled with all kinds of twisted and deformed demons!

Those demons were varied and diverse in form. Most of them were polluted beasts, including black wolves the size of calves and rhinoceroses with bone spurs and armor plates all over their bodies. Among these beasts, one could also see some humanoid creatures wearing tattered armor from their previous lives. They even held broken weapons in their hands. These were the warriors and adventurers who had fallen when Chaos arrived—but now their limbs were twisted, their flesh was festering, and their eyes were burning with turbid gray-white flames. They had become members of the Chaos monsters.

And among these monsters, Hao Ren also saw some "species" whose forms were completely different from the other demons. Those monsters had been corrupted and twisted to the point where it was almost impossible to see their original prototypes. They were emitting black smoke all over their bodies, and half of their bodies were showing a blurry, ethereal state—this was a sign of being highly assimilated by the Chaos Land, the last stage of the corrupted demons. Soon, they would be swallowed by the surrounding mist and eventually become part of the power of Chaos.

"...They are indeed corrupted demons, but how can there be so many?" Veronica was also stunned when she saw the scene on the plaza. "The furnace has been extinguished, it shouldn't have such a great attraction..."

Hao Ren narrowed his eyes. It sounded like something was wrong.