At first, Hao Ren thought that the knights in front of him were ordinary humans. But when he saw that these people were wearing full-body armor that weighed dozens of kilograms, including longswords, throwing axes, and crossbows, and climbing to the top of the mountain without panting, he realized that these guys in front of him were probably superhumans in another sense.
The ancient gate of the temple had collapsed, and the open door and the hollow above the main hall made it impossible to shelter the place from the wind and rain. Over thousands of years of abandonment, many parts of the sanctuary were covered with dust and debris. The empty hall could not provide any comfortable environment for people to rest. But even in such a bad situation, it was precious to the exhausted knights.
Just as Hao Ren said, there was no Chaos mist on the sacred mountain. Perhaps this abandoned temple was still providing a weak protection that prevented the Chaos from invading. The moment Veronica stepped into the temple, she felt a reassuring aura flowing into her heart. She glanced at Hao Ren gratefully, then let out a long sigh and sat on the ground without a care for her image. The other knights were not much better than her.
"Your Highness …" The old knight Morian could not help but speak, but Veronica waved her hand. "Sir, don't be so calculative. It's more important to recover your strength. I can feel the power of Order here. Weak as it is, it's enough to dispel the Chaos. It's safe here."
Morian blinked. There was no doubt about the talent of Chaos Detection in the royal blood of Taros. So he let out a sigh of relief, took off his gauntlets and waist armor, and put his sword within reach. But he still stood straight next to his princess.
"Unbelievable …" The old knight looked around the abandoned temple. His gaze swept past the exquisite ancient murals and reliefs, and then the statues of ancient heroes for a long time. Finally, he saw the large empty space above the temple, and the thing that floated in the empty space without gravity. "… This is the legacy of the previous generation. I never thought that there would be such a holy land in this barren wilderness … I've learned a lot in this life."
"I told you that there must be something good in those ancient books." Veronica smiled weakly. Although she was the leader of the younger generation in the kingdom, she was still too young. The exhaustion that had accumulated over the past few days was released at once. She felt that she could barely stand up. She looked at her current sorry state and shook her head in a self-deprecating manner. "Those old fogeys in the House of Nobles will definitely lash out at me when they see me in such a disgraceful state. They haven't found a reason to lash out at me for a long time since last year's ceremonial festival."
"Disgraceful, disgraceful." Morian shook his head, his voice full of disdain. "Those guys, even if you throw them to the border of Chaos, they will only talk about propriety and etiquette to the servants of Chaos."
Veronica smiled and then turned to look at Hao Ren. "Powerful hermit, thank you for your help. Please forgive my rude behavior. My knights and I are too tired. I am the eldest daughter of the king of the Kingdom of Taros, Veronica Taros. Saint? Taros. "
The knight princess spoke matter-of-factly, but her body was still leaning lazily against the stone wall behind her. She looked neither fish nor fowl, but she was a sentimental person. Hao Ren was a little surprised after hearing her self-introduction.
He did not expect that the bloody, disheveled, and inelegant girl in front of him was a princess. Was it so easy to trigger plot missions these days? How come the family members of the princess that he saved were all relatives of the royal family?
However, after the slight surprise, he was more indifferent, because creatures like princesses were really not rare to him. He still had a demon princess at home, who was always holding a screwdriver and demolishing things. She was scolded by the adults at home until she cried out in pain.
But this indifference had another meaning in Veronica's eyes.
Hao Ren did not know what was going on in the princess's mind. He just quickly remembered his omnipotent self-introduction. "Oh, Your Highness, nice to meet you. I'm just a traveler passing by …"
Before he could finish his sentence, he swallowed it back as he suddenly remembered the godforsaken environment around him: a barren rocky mountain, a barren wilderness, and an army of monsters emerging from the fog. Although he did not know what was going on with the monsters and the fog, it was obvious that the place where these things were entrenched was definitely not suitable for a road trip. Looking at the tragic scene of the royal army being almost wiped out in the wilderness, Hao Ren guessed that even the most suicidal traveler in the world would probably not go to such a godforsaken place.
These thoughts turned quickly in his mind, and his mouth reacted quickly. "… Ah, I don't seem to remember where I came from."
Veronica looked puzzled. "You … Have you lost your memory?"
"Not really, just a little confused." Hao Ren scratched his head. "I found myself in this place as soon as I woke up. I still vaguely remember some things here, but I am confused about the situation in the outside world. Where do you think I am from? "
"Amnesia … Awakening?" Veronica's brows knit together as she quickly sorted out the knowledge she had collected from the royal library and her master. "That makes sense … Could it be that you have been sleeping in this temple since the holy war many years ago?"
"Holy war?" Hao Ren was stunned. "Oh, yes, the holy war. I remember there was a war here before I fell asleep."
Veronica had a look of realization on her face. She looked at Hao Ren with more and more solemn and awe-inspiring eyes.
And in this short conversation, Hao Ren had roughly guessed the princess's thoughts.
She probably thought of him as an ancient person who had been sleeping in this temple for many years. Since there was a temple on this stone mountain, it meant that this place had not always been so barren. Perhaps many years ago, this place was also a prosperous religious holy land, but with the passage of time, this place had been swallowed up by the wilderness. As a guy who ran out of the temple, people could not help but think of the legend of the ancient person who had been sleeping.
In a world with the existence of magic, such things did not seem so unimaginable.
Anyway, after working as an inspector for a few years, Hao Ren had long developed the habit of facing any situation with the greatest degree of tolerance. No matter what happened, he would remain calm and accept it calmly. This was the major premise for a smooth integration into any role as an observer.
So he tried not to speak and just listened to the conversation between Her Royal Highness and the old knight beside her. Occasionally, he would interject a word or two, but he hardly revealed any valuable information. It perfectly matched the identity of an 'ancient guardian' who had been sleeping in the temple for many years and did not care about the world.
"When did you wake up?" Veronica looked at Hao Ren curiously. The man in front of her was dressed very novel to her. His clothes were clean and tidy, and there was no sign that he had been sleeping for many years. This made her very puzzled. "Did the ancient people of the previous generation wear this kind of clothes?"
"I just woke up a few days ago." Hao Ren shook his head. "I'm not very clear about the things of the previous generation. What's the situation in the outside world now? Is there still a war? "
Blindly being cautious would also put him in a passive position. He had to take the initiative before the other party asked more difficult questions. This was also Hao Ren's work experience.
"Peace has never really come to the land of Collow," said the old knight beside Veronica. "The servants of Chaos attack every century, and each time they come more aggressive than the last. This year is the seventh year of the War of Chaos, and they are fiercer than any recorded in history. Many lands of Order have fallen."
Veronica also had a look of shame on her face. "We have let down our ancestors who fought bravely. In the seventh year of the Chaos attack, we have lost more land than in the past century. The border of Order has retreated to near the Wall of Dusk. The Theocracy has stabilized the defense line of the Wall of Dusk, but the land outside is now half-polluted."
Hao Ren slightly turned his face away. The princess was apologizing to her ancestors, and he felt that he, a fake 'ancient guardian', could not bear it.
But the words of the old knight and Veronica also gave him some important information, which made him think:
This place seemed to be deeply troubled by a long and discontinuous war. Every century, there would be an enemy called "Chaos" to invade the civilized world. The people of this world seemed to have their own way to resist the invasion, but their resistance was still very difficult.
He had seen the disaster of the lifeblood of the First Born, the evil cult of the brain monsters, and the army of the treacherous children in the Plane of Dreams. But what was this' Chaos'?
Perhaps it had something to do with the Mad Lord in the Plane of Dreams? But he had encountered the shadowy monsters summoned by the cosmic debris, and he had just greeted the monsters condensed from the fog. The two seemed to be different.
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