Chapter 1 A Difficult Journey

The trek across the desolate wilderness was arduous, but fortunately, it didn't last too long. The physical fitness of the people of the Colo world far surpassed that of Earthlings, and the combat professionals among them were even more superhuman. The knights traveled light, marching on foot, at a rapid pace, with minimal rest stops. After a few days, Hao Ren learned from Veronica that the edge of the plains was not far away.

In fact, no one, including Hao Ren, could yet see the Shadow Jungle, but the Traveler's Amulet in Veronica's hand had already begun to emit a steady light. This was a reaction to approaching the magical beacon at the edge of the Shadow Jungle. If all went well, everyone would see the landmark landscape that marked the boundary between the two regions within half a day at most: the Hill of the Nameless Warrior.

The journey had been uneventful so far. Although the oppressive atmosphere of the Chaos Domain brought great psychological pressure, the "holy artifact" Hao Ren lent to the knights provided powerful protection to the team. Veronica had never seen any military holy artifact that could bring such lasting and effective order protection. The light emitted by that light white plate did not diminish at all, even in the most concentrated areas of Chaos aura. For days, the order light it released was almost constant, requiring no charging or cyclical purification. It was as if the thing was an incarnation of divine power, continuously protecting everyone in the midst of Chaos, without showing any signs of weakening.

This made the princess couldn't help but wonder, if the kingdom's army had a few such holy artifacts, how many brave soldiers' lives could be saved? The kingdom's Chaos Expeditionary Force would be incredibly safe operating outside the borders of Order, and if there were more of these holy artifacts to form a defense line along the kingdom's borders, then the power of Chaos would absolutely no longer be able to threaten the safety of the people.

But she only turned these thoughts over in her mind, ultimately not speaking them aloud. She knew that every such holy artifact from ancient times was extremely precious, and only sacred places like the Kasuun Temple would have a few left. The number of holy artifacts in the hands of Hao Ren, this "ancient guardian," was certainly limited, and one shouldn't be too greedy.

And in these few days, besides following the knights as a "guard," Hao Ren spent the rest of his time learning about the worldview of this world, partly through indirect conversations with Veronica or Morian, and partly by studying the various strange phenomena he discovered along the way.

He preferred to talk more with Princess Veronica, who had a more straightforward personality, than with the old knight. This wasn't because the princess was pleasing to the eye, but because the old knight was meticulous and carried the cunning and suspicion characteristic of old courtiers. Even when facing Hao Ren, this "ancient guardian," the old man's attitude wasn't one of blind trust. Morian often expressed suspicion or questioned Hao Ren's common-sense questions. In comparison, the princess seemed much more approachable. Although Veronica also suspected Hao Ren's lack of common knowledge, even if she suspected, she didn't say much. On the contrary, out of curiosity or for other reasons, the princess would even actively talk to Hao Ren about things.

Now they were discussing ancient mythology, stories that were quite helpful in relieving boredom on the journey.

"...The ancient books say that Colo in ancient times was actually a complete land, called the 'Ancient Colo Continent'. All the kingdoms of today were actually connected back then, and a large amount of water formed oceans and rivers, flowing endlessly between the kingdoms," Veronica vividly recounted the knowledge she had heard from her scholar mentor. "But an evil giant was imprisoned in the deepest part of Colo. This giant was called 'Lockmarton'. He was a prisoner of the Goddess of Creation and was therefore locked deep in the earth for eternal suppression. As time passed, Lockmarton's chains lost their effectiveness due to the reversal of the universe and the starry sky, so the evil giant escaped. He angrily struck the earth, causing the Ancient Colo Continent to split into five largest pieces, which are today's Ansu Continent, Radiant Continent, Eternal Winter Kingdom, Canaan Secret Realm, and the Holy Land where the Order Nation is located. Except for the Canaan Secret Realm, the other four continents are ruled by Order nations."

Hao Ren listened to Veronica recounting these ancient legends, silently connecting "Lockmarton" with the "Firstborn" in his mind. But as he did so, he had doubts: The Firstborn were huge tentacle-like creatures that grew inside planets, and their image was very different from that of humans. Why would the humans of this world call them "evil giants" in their myths?

He thought for a while and didn't delve into this question: Ancient myths often had omissions and distortions, and it was normal for such flaws to appear.

He casually picked up on Veronica's words: "What we know is about the same as you... Well, the world split apart and then floated in the Sea of Carnos (the Void), right?"

"That's right, the continent floats in the Void, and countless floating islands of all sizes float between the continents. Suspended Rivers and Mana Tides surge endlessly between the rifts after the world broke... But to be honest, I haven't seen a Suspended River. I heard they are spectacular things, but you can't see such rivers within the territory of the Taros Kingdom. There are only two Suspended Rivers on the entire Ansu Continent, one above the Beaconfire Nation, and the other in the void outside the northern border of Ansu Continent. Only the most daring wizards have built mage towers near that Suspended River."

The somewhat brash princess waved her hand as she spoke: "Actually, I would really like to go and see, but the Chaos War has already broken out, and now there is no chance for sightseeing."

Hao Ren casually agreed, and just then, a hazy hill appeared in his field of vision.

"Is that the Hill of the Nameless Warrior?" he asked, pointing into the distance.

Veronica immediately looked in the direction Hao Ren was pointing, but of course, she didn't see anything. Even after rubbing her eyes hard, she still couldn't see it. Mortal eyes couldn't see too far in this chaotic mist.

But after advancing a distance, the Hill of the Nameless Warrior appeared in everyone's sight.

This locally famous landmark appeared before Hao Ren's eyes. Compared to its reputation, the hill itself was actually unremarkable. It was just a small mound rising in the wilderness, with some scattered rocks around it. But on this unremarkable mound stood a statue:

It was a statue of a warrior, carved from dense gray-black rock. The warrior's face was already blurred, but it could still be seen that he was wearing heavy armor, with a magnificent bearing. He held a broadsword with both hands, looking up at the depths of the desolate wilderness, as if a general were overlooking the battlefield.

This was the famous "Hill of the Nameless Warrior" in the desolate wilderness, or the "Hill of the Nameless Knight" in Old Gudravian.

"There's actually a statue here..." Hao Ren couldn't help but mutter when he saw the statue standing alone in the wilderness. There was no village or shop in sight, and the hill itself didn't look like a historical relic, but there was such a lifelike statue standing here, which naturally made people curious.

However, Veronica gave him a strange look and asked softly: "Don't you know? Haven't the people of the last generation heard the story of the 'Last Elven Empire'?"

Hao Ren was stunned and immediately knew that he had revealed himself again, but making excuses at this time would only make it seem like he was trying to hide something. So he simply nodded in admission: "I really don't know, or even if I did, I wouldn't be able to match it up. Ten centuries have passed, and the names of many things have changed, and even many of our words have different meanings from yours now. What you call the 'Last Elven Empire' might have been called something else in our time."

This reason was reasonable, and Veronica slightly reduced the doubts in her heart, and explained: "That is truly an ancient legend. It is said that six thousand years ago, there was a very powerful elven empire in the desolate wilderness called 'Sukhomah'. This empire had a great and ambitious emperor. This emperor unified all the kingdoms on the plains and ruled almost the entire Ansu Continent. He wanted to build the greatest kingdom on land, and almost succeeded, but just as he was about to swear to become the King of Kings of Ansu Continent, the Chaos Tide broke out.

"It is said that it was the most intense Chaos Tide in that entire millennium. Darkness erupted from the heart of that elven empire and quickly spread along the magic veins in the desolate wilderness to the entire continent. The empire experienced thirty days and nights of hellish heat, and then ushered in thirty days and nights of doomsday winter that could turn steel into powder, followed by plagues, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Finally, eighty percent of the Order lands on Ansu Continent began to become desolate. Almost in the blink of an eye, the power of Chaos broke through all the defenses...

"The elven king's grand ambition was thus quickly shattered, but he still led his remaining soldiers to resist desperately. The last resistance army fought and retreated, and their final battlefield was in front of the throne of the elven royal city—right here, here was the capital of that glorious empire."

Hao Ren looked around and saw only a vast wilderness.

"So that's the elven king?" he asked, pointing to the "statue" on the hill.

"Many people think so. That elven king died standing in front of his throne. When all his guards had fallen, he supported his body with his sword, watched the burning capital, and said: I will stand here and watch my kingdom sink into darkness. It will rise one day, and only then will I fall. Thus, the elven king's oath was fulfilled: He stood in this place forever. Six thousand years of wind and rain have not destroyed this statue. It is said that he will stand here forever until the elves once again become the masters of this continent, or until the world of Colo comes to an end."

After hearing this story, Hao Ren didn't speak for a long time. Finally, he broke the silence: "Then this place should be called the Hill of the Nameless King."

Veronica shook her head: "That elven king died standing with a sword in his hand. He left this world as a warrior, so this place is called the Hill of the Nameless Warrior."