In Kolo, there are countless ancient ruins with heavy stories like "Hill of the Unknown Soldier". One after another, the people who used to shine in history are sunk in the seemingly endless darkness. No matter how epic or brilliant they were, they are all captured by the ever-rotating war wheel of the Colo World. Grinding it into pieces, like the cheapest consumables, has been continuously consumed in the huge time span of thousands of years.
Just like the great elf emperor six thousand years ago, he once almost unified the entire continent and fought bravely against chaos. However, in the end, even his name was lost in the long river of history, his empire was wiped out, and even a single brick was wiped out. Nothing remained of Wa, and only the wisest and most learned scholars could find bits and pieces of descriptions in the scrolls, and tell the story of the ancient emperor in the most unreliable way.
In Colo, all this is commonplace.
But Hao Ren, a bystander, couldn't be indifferent. As a censor, he couldn't accept that a civilization had sunk into darkness in this way. For ten thousand years, Ke Luo's mortal race had been spinning around in war. All the power is consumed in the meaningless tug-of-war with the forces of chaos. Something was wrong with the world—he felt he had to find a way to understand the truth behind it.
After bidding farewell to the Hill of the Unknown Soldier, the team quickened their pace. Veronica hoped to arrive at the border of the shadow forest before the end of the day. She had already confirmed her position. If all went well, the knights would be able to see the border of the jungle in a few hours. A kingdom outpost has been established.
Hao Ren noticed that the knight-princess was a little impatient, especially after leaving the Hill of the Unknown Soldier. It seemed that something urgent had happened, making Her Royal Highness powerless and anxious. He could vaguely guess what happened based on the previous communication with the knights: Veronica's army retreated into the barren wilderness after a defeat. After a surprise attack, Her Royal Highness is worried about the fate of her motherland and people, and if there is no miracle, this fate is obviously not optimistic.
Morian walked with Hao Ren. The grey-haired old knight remained as serious as ever. There were not many emotional fluctuations on his sharp-edged face. Same apprehension, but the veteran knows how to keep it in check. He glanced at the silent Hao Ren, and suddenly broke the silence: "What was the Ecclesiastical State like a thousand years ago?"
Hao Ren was busy testing various communication channels in the mental connection, and was taken aback when he heard the sudden sound beside him. He looked at Morian unexpectedly. This was the first time the other party had spoken to him on his own initiative in a few days— It wasn't that the old knight had any opinion on him, but that the old man was naturally taciturn. Hao Ren blinked, not knowing why the other party suddenly raised this question, but he still remembered that in the other party's eyes, his identity was an ancient high-level temple guard, and he should have a lot to do with that "Ecclesiastical State" Yes, so he answered in a very ambiguous way: "Probably similar to your current age-the church rarely changes, and the priesthood predestined everything."
Morian nodded noncommittally, and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking out: "Half of the failures we encountered were due to the sudden retreat of the Order. I have no intention of accusing or complaining, I just want to know Under what circumstances would the Tuanguo do such a thing?"
While talking, the old knight fixed his gaze on Hao Ren, with an expression on his face as if he wanted to get a definite answer, but Hao Ren was instantly confused: Who the hell knows! Although he ran out of an ancient temple, and also took the title of "ancient guardian", but this fake guy has nothing to do with the world's sect state! He, the Pope, is under the name of the Goddess of Brain Twitch...
At this time, Veronica, who was walking in front, also heard the movement and leaned over. Her Royal Highness was also concerned about this topic, and she frowned: "For thousands of years, the Order State has been the apex of all kingdoms. They protect They control the entire world of order, and their authority is based on this duty. However, their retreat in the Shadow Forest cannot be concealed at all. Sooner or later, it will spread, and the prestige of the church will suffer a huge loss... Guardian, do you think the church What is the reason for the country to forcibly withdraw its troops knowing such a loss?"
Hao Ren opened his mouth, held back for a long time and finally got some inspiration from the employee handbook and some classic cases he saw in the tutorial documents, and said vaguely: "I have a feeling of uneasiness, this must be a huge change within the church, Maybe there is a problem within the territory of the Church."
"There will be problems in the sanctuary?" Morian raised his eyebrows. "How is that possible... The miracle of the goddess of creation is located on that continent, and no chaotic power has ever been able to approach the sanctuary."
Hao Ren said casually, "Maybe it's something other than the power of chaos?"
As soon as this remark came out, there was a strange silence all around.
"Um... I just said it casually." Hao Ren knew that he seemed to have said something wrong when he saw the atmosphere, so he hurried to make up for it, but before he could say a few more words, he suddenly saw someone appearing in front of him out of the corner of his eye. The shadow of the forest.
The shadow forest is right in front of you.
The Shadow Forest used to be a vibrant and dense forest. Before the tide of chaos hit, this large forest between the plain and the kingdom was an important source of wood and alchemy materials for Talos, and it was also the source of a few wild elves and goblins. home. This forest stretches along the western and southern borders of the Talos Kingdom, forming a vast area in the shape of a half moon. There are several elf settlements in the depths of the dense forest-on peaceful days, the elves rely on gathering herbs and magic from the depths of the forest. The ore comes to trade with humans outside the forest for the necessities of life, while the goblins live with the elves and are responsible for maintaining the flow of magic in the forest.
But the tide of chaos changed the appearance of the forest. The originally vibrant green plants turned into dark and twisted demonized trees. The vines became highly poisonous, and the shrubs began to devour the living things passing by the forest road. The soil also lost the function of supporting life. The jungle no longer grows any herbs or food that can be used by humans, and eventually when the water in the jungle is also poisoned, the elves and goblins evacuated their homes—from the forest, according to Veronica. The goblins and elves now live in several towns in the west and south of Talos, living as temporary citizens and assisting humans in protecting the borders of the Land of Order.
Hao Ren was a little surprised when he heard this situation, but soon he knew that this is actually a quite normal phenomenon in the world of Keluo:
Chaos is always invading kingdoms, and the tides of the Sea of Karnos will change the pattern on the continent every hundred years. Powerful kingdoms can maintain a relatively stable territory in this turmoil (bigger empires even can last for ten centuries), but those small city-states and scattered ethnic groups living on the edge of the land of order are difficult to maintain-they are not weak at the beginning, but may be the kingdoms that were defeated in the last tide of chaos. The Descendants, unable to protect their shattered homeland after the start of a new tidal cycle, sought refuge in the surrounding kingdoms.
Under normal circumstances, the various kingdoms will not refuse this kind of help.
Because everyone knows that one day they will too.
The elves in the Shadow Forest also had a kingdom two centuries ago, this kingdom ruled the entire forest instead of just a few settlements, but in the end they declined and became vassals of the Talos Kingdom - a few years later , Talos Kingdom may also be the same. 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 refuge in a new country...
Veronica bit her lip as she watched the dark ancient forest trees pressing down on her head.
Kingdoms may fall, but not today.
Hao Ren walked behind Veronica. The roads in the shadow forest were extremely difficult to walk—in fact, there were basically no "roads" here, which were polluted by chaos and activated. The plants are moving all the time, even the ground is not so stable, he saw with his own eyes two ancient trees moving slowly in the distance as if they had grown feet, and a piece of soil was slowly congealing under his nose Turned into stone, softened into a puddle of mud. In this case, even if there were avenues built by humans in the jungle, they have been completely swallowed up and erased now.
If the desolate wilderness is a dead place that is still in the mist, then the shadow forest is a terrifying dream that is constantly surging like a nightmare, and everything that happens here is creepy.
But even in such a creepy magical black forest, there is a sanctuary of order.
The Kingdom of Talos spent a lot of manpower and material resources to build furnace fire outposts in the forest. These outposts are important eyes and ears for the kingdom of order to monitor the borders of chaos. Each outpost needs to consume astonishing materials to maintain stability in the Black Forest. , but this investment is worthwhile: if it weren't for the existence of these outposts, it would be impossible for a small kingdom like Talos to persist until the seventh year in the chaotic tide of this century.
Soon the team approached the first hearthfire post under the leadership of Veronica. Hao Ren saw a glimmer of light appearing in the darkness ahead, and the surrounding forest looked much more normal: swaying carnivorous bushes and The walking magic trees have all returned to normal plants, which is a manifestation of order.
Seeing the shadowy buildings deep in the dense forest, Veronica finally couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although she had prepared for the worst before, she couldn't help but feel comforted at this moment, thinking that maybe the goddess of creation hadn't abandoned her yet. This troubled kingdom.
However, Hao Ren couldn't help frowning: the dim light in front did have an aura of order, but it came with it... There was also a faint smell of blood. (to be continued~^~)