Chapter 1 Heavy History

In Corolo, there are countless ancient ruins with heavy stories like the "Hill of the Unknown Soldier." In the tens of thousands of years of constant Chaos Tide attacks, brave warriors, great emperors, wise scholars, and victorious generals, one after another, figures who once shone in history have fallen into the seemingly endless darkness. No matter how moving the epic was, or how radiant the great man was, they were all crushed into powder by the constantly turning war machine of the world of Corolo, like the cheapest consumables, constantly being consumed in the grand span of millennia.

Just like that great elven emperor six millennia ago, he once nearly unified an entire continent and fought bravely against Chaos, but in the end, even his name was submerged in the river of history. His empire vanished into thin air, and not even a brick remained. Only the wisest and most erudite scholars can find a few scattered descriptions in books and then tell stories about that ancient emperor in the most unreliable way.

In Corolo, all this is commonplace.

But Hao Ren, as an observer, couldn't remain indifferent. As an inspector, he found it difficult to accept a civilization collapsing into darkness in this way. For ten thousand years, the mortal races of Corolo had been spinning in place in war, with all their strength consumed in a meaningless tug-of-war with the forces of Chaos. Something was wrong with this world—he felt he had to find a way to figure out the truth behind it.

After saying goodbye to the Hill of the Unknown Soldier, the team quickened their pace. Veronica hoped to reach the edge of the Shadow Jungle before the end of the day. She had already confirmed her position, and if everything went smoothly, the knights would be able to see a kingdom outpost on the jungle's edge in a few hours.

Hao Ren noticed that the knight princess was somewhat impatient, especially after leaving the Hill of the Unknown Soldier. It seemed that something urgent had happened, leaving the princess powerless and anxious. Based on previous exchanges with the knights, he could vaguely guess what had happened: Veronica's army had retreated into the Barren Wilderness after a defeat. The Chaos army in the Shadow Jungle had broken through the human blockade and launched a surprise attack on the Order Kingdom. The princess was worried about the fate of her country and people, and unless a miracle happened, this fate was clearly not optimistic.

Morian walked with Hao Ren. The old knight with graying hair still maintained his usual seriousness. There wasn't much emotional fluctuation on that angular face. He actually had the same worries as Veronica in his heart, but the old general knew how to completely control this emotion. He glanced at the silent Hao Ren and suddenly broke the silence: "What was the Theocracy like a thousand years ago?"

Hao Ren was busy testing various communication channels in the mental link, and he was startled by the sudden sound beside him. He looked at Morian in surprise. This was the first time the other party had taken the initiative to talk to him in days—not that the old knight had any opinions about him, but the old man was naturally taciturn. Hao Ren blinked, wondering what the other party meant by suddenly raising this question, but he still remembered that in the other party's eyes, he was an ancient high-ranking temple guard and should have a great connection with that "Theocracy," so he answered in a very ambiguous way: "Probably about the same as your current era—the church rarely changes, and the priesthood determines everything."

Morian nodded noncommittally, and after a few seconds of silence, he said, "Half of the reason for our failure was the sudden withdrawal of the Theocracy. I have no intention of blaming or complaining about anything, I just want to know under what circumstances the Theocracy would do such a thing."

As the old knight spoke, he fixed his gaze on Hao Ren, his expression as if he wanted to get a definite answer. However, Hao Ren was instantly dumbfounded: Who the hell knew! Although he ran out of an ancient temple and also wore the title of "Ancient Guardian," what did his fake have to do with the Theocracy of this world! His pope was under the name of the goddess of brain cramps...

At this time, Veronica, who was walking in front, also heard the movement and came over. The princess was equally concerned about this topic, and she frowned: "For several millennia, the Theocracy has been the pinnacle of various kingdoms. They protect the entire Order world, and their authority is precisely built on this responsibility. However, their retreat from the Shadow Jungle cannot be concealed at all. This will spread sooner or later, and the church's prestige will suffer huge losses... Guardian, for what reason do you think the Theocracy would forcibly withdraw its troops even knowing this loss?"

Hao Ren opened his mouth, and after holding back for a long time, he finally got some inspiration from the employee manual and some classic cases seen in the tutorial documents, and said vaguely: "I have an uneasy premonition, there must have been a huge change within the church, maybe something went wrong within the Theocracy."

"Something went wrong in the Holy Land?" Morian raised his eyebrows, "How is that possible... The miracle of the Goddess of Creation is located on that continent, and no Chaos force has ever been able to get close to the Holy Land."

Hao Ren casually said, "Maybe it's something other than the Chaos forces?"

As soon as he said this, there was a strange silence around him.

"Uh... I was just saying it casually." Hao Ren knew that he seemed to have said the wrong thing when he saw this atmosphere, so he quickly tried to remedy it, but before he could say a few more words, the corner of his eye suddenly saw the shadow of the forest ahead.

The Shadow Jungle was right in front of him.

The Shadow Jungle used to be a vibrant and lush forest. Before the Chaos Tide arrived, this large forest spanning between the plains and the kingdom was an important timber and alchemical material production area for Taros, and it was also the home of a few wild elves and fairies. This forest extended along the western and southern borders of the Kingdom of Taros, forming a vast crescent-shaped area. In the depths of the dense forest, there were several elven settlements—in peaceful days, the elves relied on collecting herbs and magic ores from the depths of the forest to trade with humans outside the forest and exchange them for necessities of life, while the fairies lived with the elves and were responsible for maintaining the magic flow in the forest.

But the Chaos Tide changed the face of the forest. The original vibrant green plants turned into dark and twisted enchanted trees, the vines produced highly poisonous substances, the bushes began to devour the living things passing through the forest roads, and the soil also lost its ability to support life. No herbs or food that could be used by humans grew in the jungle, and finally, when the water sources in the jungle were also poisoned, the elves and fairies withdrew from their homes. According to Veronica, the fairies and elves who withdrew from the forest now live in several towns in western and southern Taros, living as temporary citizens and assisting humans in protecting the borders of the Order Land.

Hao Ren was a little surprised after hearing this, but he soon knew that this was actually a fairly normal phenomenon in the world of Corolo:

Chaos is always invading various kingdoms. The tides of the Sea of ​​Karnos change the pattern on the continent every hundred years. Powerful kingdoms can maintain relatively stable territories in this turmoil (larger empires can even maintain ten centuries), but those small city-states and scattered groups living on the edge of the Order Land are difficult to maintain—they were not weak from the beginning, but may be the descendants of kingdoms defeated in the last Chaos Tide. After the new tide cycle begins, they cannot protect their already fragmented homes and can only seek shelter from the surrounding kingdoms.

Under normal circumstances, various kingdoms will not refuse such assistance.

Because everyone knows that they will always have such a day.

The elves in the Shadow Jungle also had a kingdom two centuries ago. This kingdom ruled the entire forest, not just a few settlements, but eventually they declined and became vassals of the Kingdom of Taros—perhaps the Kingdom of Taros will be the same in a few years. The once proud mountain people will become a few tribes wandering on the edge of the forest. When Chaos and Order conflict again, they will also have to seek shelter from a new kingdom…

Veronica looked at the dark forest trees pressing down on her head and bit her lip.

The kingdom may fall, but not today.

Hao Ren followed behind Veronica, walking deep and shallow. The road in the Shadow Jungle was extremely difficult to walk—in fact, there was basically nothing that could be called a "road" here. The plants that had been activated by Chaos pollution were constantly moving, and even the land was not so stable. He personally saw two ancient trees slowly moving in the distance as if they had legs, and a piece of soil slowly solidified into stone under his eyes, and then softened into a pool of mud. In this case, even if there had been avenues built by humans in the jungle, they have now been completely swallowed and erased.

If the Barren Wilderness is a silent and dead place frozen in the mist, then the Shadow Jungle is a terrifying nightmare that is constantly surging like a nightmare. Everything that happens here is creepy.

But even in this creepy magic dark forest, there are shelters of order.

The Kingdom of Taros has spent huge amounts of manpower and resources to build Hearthstone Outposts in the forest. These outposts are important ears and eyes for the Order Kingdom to monitor the Chaos boundary. Each outpost requires amazing resources to maintain stability in the Black Forest, but this investment is worth it: if it were not for the existence of these outposts, it would be impossible for a small kingdom like Taros to persist in the seventh year of this century's Chaos Tide.

Soon the team approached the first Hearthstone Outpost under Veronica's leadership. Hao Ren saw a glimmer of light appearing in the darkness ahead, and the surrounding forest also appeared much more normal: the swaying carnivorous shrubs and walking magic trees had been restored to normal plants. This was a manifestation of order.

Seeing the shadowy buildings in the depths of the dense forest, Veronica couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although she had made the worst plans before, she still couldn't help but feel comforted at this moment, thinking that perhaps the Goddess of Creation had not abandoned this disaster-stricken kingdom.

However, Hao Ren couldn't help but frown: the glimmer of light ahead did have the aura of order, but along with it came… a faint smell of blood.