In Collow, there were many ancient ruins with heavy stories like the Mound of the Unknown Soldier. In the tens of thousands of years of the tide of Chaos, heroic warriors, great emperors, wise scholars, ever-victorious generals, and many other shining figures in history had fallen into the seemingly endless darkness. No matter how epic they were, no matter how brilliant the great men were, they were all crushed into pieces by the constantly spinning wheel of war in Collow. Like the cheapest consumables, they were consumed over thousands of years.
Just like the great elven emperor of 6,000 years ago, he had almost unified the entire continent and fought bravely against the Chaos. But in the end, even his name was drowned in the river of history. His empire was reduced to ashes, and not even a brick was left. Only the wisest and most knowledgeable scholars could find bits and pieces of description in the scrolls, and then tell the story of the ancient emperor in the most unreliable way.
In Collow, all of this was common.
But as a bystander, Hao Ren could not remain indifferent. As an inspector, he could not accept a civilization falling into darkness in this way. For a whole 10,000 years, the mortal races of Collow had been spinning in circles in the war, and all their power was consumed in the meaningless tug-of-war with the forces of Chaos. There was something wrong with the world. He felt that he had to find a way to figure out the truth behind it.
After saying goodbye to the Mound of the Unknown Soldier, the team quickened their pace. Veronica hoped to reach the border of the Shadowy Forest before the end of the day. She had confirmed the location, and if everything went well, the knights would see an outpost of the kingdom at the border of the forest in a few hours.
Hao Ren noticed that the knight princess was a little impatient, and this was especially obvious after they left the Mound of the Unknown Soldier. It seemed that something urgent had happened, and the princess was both helpless and anxious. He could vaguely guess what had happened based on his previous communication with the knights: Veronica's army had retreated into the wilderness after a defeat, and the Army of Chaos in the Shadowy Forest had broken through the blockade of the humans and launched a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Order. The princess was worried about the fate of her motherland and people, and if there was no miracle, the fate was obviously not optimistic.
Morian walked with Hao Ren. The gray-haired old knight was still as serious as ever. His angular face did not show much emotion. He actually had the same worries as Veronica, but the old general knew how to completely control his emotions. He looked 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 connection. He was startled when he heard the sudden movement beside him. He looked at Morian in surprise. This was the first time the old knight had taken the initiative to talk to him. It was not that the old knight had anything against him, but the old man was taciturn by nature. Hao Ren blinked. He did not know why Morian suddenly asked this question. But he still remembered that in the eyes of the old man, he was an ancient high-ranking temple guard, and should have a lot to do with the Theocracy. So he answered in a very ambiguous way. "Probably similar to your era. The church rarely changes, and the priesthood determines everything."
Morian nodded noncommittally. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Half of the reason for our failure was the sudden retreat of the Theocracy. I don't mean to blame or complain. I just want to know under what circumstances the Theocracy would do such a thing. "
The old knight fixed his eyes on Hao Ren as he spoke. His expression was as if he wanted to get a definite answer. But Hao Ren was instantly confused. Who the hell knew? Hao Ren might have come from an ancient temple, and he also had the title of 'Ancient Guardian', but he was a fake and had nothing to do with the Theocracy of this world. He was the pope under the name of the Brainless Goddess.
At this time, Veronica, who was walking in front, also heard the noise and came over. The princess was also concerned about this topic. She frowned. "For thousands of years, the Theocracy has always been the top of the various kingdoms. They protect the entire world of Order, and their authority is based on this responsibility. But their retreat from the Shadowy Forest could not be concealed at all. Sooner or later, this news will spread, and the prestige of the church will suffer a huge loss. Guardian, why do you think the Theocracy would withdraw despite knowing this loss?"
Hao Ren opened his mouth. After a long while, he finally got some inspiration from the staff handbook and some classic cases he saw in the tutorial documents. He said vaguely, "I have a bad feeling. This must be a huge change in the church. Maybe there is a problem in the Theocracy."
"There is a problem in Sanctum?" Morian raised his eyebrows. "How is that possible? The miracle of the Goddess of Creation is located on that continent, and no force of Chaos can get close to Sanctum."
Hao Ren casually said, "Maybe it is something other than the force of Chaos?"
As soon as he said that, there was a sudden strange silence.
"Err … I just said it casually." Hao Ren looked at the atmosphere and knew that he seemed to have said something wrong, so he quickly tried to remedy it. But before he could say more, he suddenly saw the shadow of the forest in front of him.
The Shadowy Forest was right in front of him.
The Shadowy Forest used to be a vibrant forest. Before the tide of Chaos hit, this forest between the plains and the kingdom was an important source of wood and alchemy materials for Taros. It was also the home of a small number of wild elves and sprites. The forest extended along the western and southern borders of the Kingdom of Taros, forming a vast half-moon-shaped area. There were several elven settlements in the depths of the forest. During peaceful days, the elves relied on collecting herbs and magic ores in the depths of the forest to trade and exchange for necessities with humans outside the forest. The sprites lived with the elves and were responsible for maintaining the flow of magic in the forest.
But the tide of Chaos had changed the face of the forest. The once vibrant green plants had turned into dark and twisted enchanted trees. The vines had become highly toxic, the shrubs began to devour the living things that passed through the forest, and the soil had lost its ability to support life. No herbs and food that could be used by humans grew in the forest. Finally, when the water in the forest was poisoned, the elves and elves evacuated their homes. According to Veronica, the elves and sprites who had evacuated from the forest were now living in several towns in the west and south of Taros as temporary citizens, helping humans to protect the borders of the land of Order.
Hao Ren was a little surprised when he heard this, but he soon realized that this was actually a fairly normal phenomenon in Collow.
The Chaos was always invading the kingdoms. The tide of the Sea of Carnos would change the structure of the continent every hundred years. The powerful kingdoms could maintain a relatively stable territory in this turmoil, and the larger empires could even maintain it for ten centuries. But the small city-states and scattered tribes living on the edge of the land of Order were having a hard time. They were not weak at the beginning. They were probably the descendants of the kingdoms that had been defeated in the last tide of Chaos. After the start of the new tide cycle, they could not protect their shattered homes and could only seek refuge in the surrounding kingdoms.
Usually, the kingdoms would not refuse this kind of request for help.
Because everyone knew that such a day would come for them.
The elves in the Shadowy Forest had a kingdom two centuries ago. This kingdom ruled the entire forest, not just a few settlements. But in the end, they declined and became a vassal of the Kingdom of Taros. A few years later, the Kingdom of Taros would probably be the same. The once proud mountain people would become a few tribes wandering on the edge of the forest. When the Chaos and Order clashed again, they would have to seek refuge in 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. The path in the Shadowy Forest was extremely difficult to walk. In fact, there was basically nothing that could be called a 'path'. The plants that had been contaminated by the Chaos were active all the time, and even the ground was not so stable. He saw two ancient trees moving slowly in the distance as if they had legs, and a piece of soil slowly solidified into stone and then softened into a pool of mud under his eyes. In this case, even if there had been a road built by humans in the forest, it had now been completely devoured and erased.
If the Barren Wilderness was a deathly still land shrouded in fog, then the Shadowy Forest was like a nightmare that constantly surged with horror. Everything that happened here was hair-raising.
But even in this creepy Magic Black Forest, there was still a shelter of Order.
The Kingdom of Taros had spent a lot of manpower and resources to build furnace outposts in the forest. These outposts were the important eyes and ears of the Kingdom of Order to monitor the border of the Chaos. Each outpost required an astonishing amount of resources to maintain stability in the Dark Forest, but the investment was worth it. If it were not for the existence of these outposts, a small kingdom like Taros would not have lasted to the seventh year of the tide of Chaos in this century.
Soon, the team, led by Veronica, approached the first furnace outpost. Hao Ren saw a glimmer in the darkness ahead, and the surrounding forest looked much more normal. The swaying carnivorous shrubs and walking magic trees had returned to normal plants, which was a sign of Order.
Seeing the shadowy buildings in the depths of the forest, Veronica could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although she had prepared for the worst, she could not help but feel comforted at the moment, thinking that perhaps the goddess of creation had not abandoned this troubled kingdom.
But Hao Ren could not help but frown. The glimmer ahead did have the breath of Order, but with it came a faint smell of blood.
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