The Land of Chaos, Tanson, Cullen Mountain Range.
A man with dark brown hair kicked away a dead man hanging from his sword and swung his sword to get rid of the remaining blood on the blade. Steam rose from his body and his entire body was red like a boiled crab. But only those who were familiar with him would know that this was the price he had to pay for using the curse.
The man's name was Lodney. He was a Level 3 source-rank supernatural being and was rather famous in the Fringe. However, unlike his status as a high-ranking supernatural being, he did not have a prominent position or a huge fortune. He was a heretic.
Heretics were not welcomed in most of the stable human kingdoms. The Austin Empire was an enemy of the Theocracy and would accept a few heretics. Other than that, most of the heretics would live in war-torn lands or small kingdoms that lacked supernatural powers. The rest would move to the ungoverned lands at the edge of the human world to fend for themselves.
Of course, as a high-ranking supernatural being, Lodney did not have to worry about social connections. When he was young, he did travel to various kingdoms with his passion. But after he was injured in an adventure and suffered from the aftereffects, Lodney stopped. He returned to his hometown and became the village chief of a heretic village in the Fringe.
The Fringe was a very special place. The nobles of every kingdom knew that the Fringe often produced precious mutated lifeforms, or in other words, magical creature materials. But if they were to visit the Fringe in person, they would immediately be regarded as a lunatic.
The reason Tanson was called the Fringe was because it was a place where nobles could enter but never leave. Be it the nobles of other kingdoms or the kings of small kingdoms, they were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. This was because the strength of the residents here was far beyond what the outside world could imagine.
Pagans, evil cultists, these people who couldn't live anywhere else had to hide in the mountains for various reasons. Tanson was like a vacuum cleaner, constantly attracting these powerful people who had nowhere to go.
This was a dangerous place where only the strong or those who had the protection of the strong could survive. Due to some unknown reasons, the land of Tanson was filled with powerful magical creatures. Every few years, there would be a disastrous Beast Tide. It could be said that this place was completely unsuitable for human habitation. After a long period of survival of the fittest, nearly half of the people living in this place were supernatural beings.
They were powerful, but they were not rich. Therefore, whenever an outsider entered Tansen, unless they were a powerful dragon, they would be ruthlessly slaughtered by them.
Usually, the residents of Tanson would build their own villages according to their own sects and there would be alliances and wars between them. Even though the cultists had many beliefs, it didn't mean that they were brainless. They were equally disgusted with the vicious cultists.
Rodney was one of those people who hated the Cultists.
After killing a member of the Evil Cult, the brown-haired man was already panting heavily. The Evil Cult member that had just died under his blade was not just any small fry, but a level 4 source-grade expert.
The difference between Source Rank-3 and Source Rank-4 was obvious. Originally, the difference should have been huge, but Rodney's injuries in his early years made it difficult for him to continue fighting. Furthermore, he wasn't facing a Source Rank-4. The man looked at the mountain forest that looked like a typhoon had passed through. There were already over ten people lying there, and none of them had a complete corpse.
Without a doubt, this was a fierce battle. But unlike the usual vendettas or fights over territory, the reason for this battle made Rodney very uneasy.
These damned cultists were here to rob him.
Snake God's Scale, this was an ancient curse item preserved in Rodney's village. As for why it was ancient … it started from Rodney who brought it back to his hometown.
Yes, this "Snake God's Scale" was brought back by Rodney from the outside many years ago. Rodney did not fight alone in the world back then, but he joined an adventurer group.
The Shiya World was too big. Currently, there was a large amount of undeveloped land outside of the known areas, but the scope of human activities had been constantly changing since ancient times. The so-called undeveloped land was actually very likely to have a civilization in the distant past. It could have belonged to ancient humans, or it could have belonged to an intelligent race in myths and legends.
Not to mention the distant past, even the ancient Austin Empire, which was destroyed after the Turin Rebellion a thousand years ago, had piles of human relics and good things. Many of them were even priceless now.
Such a huge temptation naturally attracted countless people to embark on a journey of searching. Adventurer groups were spontaneous organizations that searched for treasures in ancient ruins. Some were big, some were small, and some were strong. There were all kinds of people in them, and it was common for them to have different countries and religions. As long as they had enough gold coins, everything could be accommodated.
Adventurer groups were one of the few industries that the cultists could engage in stably. When Rodney was young, he was upright and powerful. He led his team and made a name for himself. But like many adventurer groups, even they could not escape bad luck.
If you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not be wet? It was common for adventurer groups, who were accompanied by danger every day and even took the initiative to step into dangerous places. Rodney, who was once young and impetuous, thought that his team was the exception, but the final result was cruel.
All of his companions were dead. Rodney was the only one who managed to escape with serious injuries. Along with him, the 'Scale of the Serpent God' was brought out of the ruins and reappeared in the world.
According to the dead scholars, the ruins they entered were at least two thousand years ago, before the establishment of the ancient Austin Empire in the Second Era. The 'Scale of the Serpent God' was a collection enshrined in the ruins. It was estimated that it was at least a thousand years old.
After his team was wiped out, Rodney was disheartened. He was unwilling to sell his team's last loot to a merchant. So, he brought the inconspicuous treasure back to his hometown. But to his surprise, the black scale played a huge role in the Fringe.
Ever since the 'Scale of the Serpent God' was brought back, the monsters in the Fringe seemed to be afraid of something and were unwilling to approach Rodney's village. The number of snake monsters in the vicinity also increased significantly. But miraculously, the snakes did not attack the villagers. On the contrary, they seemed to be protecting the villagers.
Such a miraculous situation naturally attracted the attention of the people, and Rodney was elected as the village chief. From then on, the village went smoothly for more than ten years, and the originally small village began to develop into a medium-sized village.
Rodney's village had made a fortune with the 'Scale of the Serpent God'. In a few decades, Rodney's village would have become one of the largest settlements in the Fringe. But he did not expect that, for some reason, Tanson's Marta Merchant Guild had set their sights on his village.
Marta Merchant Guild was one of the few local merchant guilds in the vicinity of Tanson. On the surface, they appeared to be an ordinary merchant guild that supplied raw materials to various countries. But Rodney and a few others knew that they were actually a whitewashing organization organized by the cultists.
Since half a month ago, during the new year, the Marta Chamber of Commerce had gotten wind of the "Scale of the Serpent Deity" and came to "negotiate" with Rodney. At first, they wanted to buy it at a low price, but after being rejected by Rodney, they revealed their true nature and planned to kill and rob without any capital.
However, while dreams were plentiful, reality was harsh. How could a village that could produce a genius like Rodney be an ordinary place?
Rodney's village was made up of the descendants of the cultists who possessed the 'Power' element. According to legend, the 'Power' element was passed down from the ancient giants. They were powerful fighters, but they had to pay a heavy price. Historically, their ancestors had relied on their extraordinary abilities to roam the Theocracy. But they were forced to flee due to a great calamity. Ever since then, they had taken root in the Fringe, Tanson.
Therefore, although Rodney's village did not have many supernatural individuals, they were all very good fighters. The cultists had kicked an iron plate and were killed on the spot.
At first, Rodney didn't pay much attention to the incident. There were too many cultists in the Fringe, and they were as plentiful as wheat. Their leader probably wouldn't even notice that they were missing. But what he didn't expect was that the cultists and Marta Merchant Guild weren't the cultists who had set their sights on them. It was a larger organization.
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