Chapter 32: On the Journey
The aurora hung like a curtain in the high night sky of the Northern Lands, its soft, gauzy light drifting among the stars and clouds, as dreamlike and magnificent as a fantasy.
Whenever the night sky was shrouded by the aurora, many beings with excellent magical talent would be born on the earth. According to research by the masters of the Sky-Piercing White Tower, this was the result of massive magical power colliding and radiating in the high atmosphere. Newborns bathed in high-concentration magical light would naturally possess strong elemental affinity.
Because of this, the aurora was regarded by the Northerners as a sign of good fortune. They would hold celebrations, invite their brothers and friends to gather, and enjoy the beautiful scenery outdoors. Then, just like the first human who saw the aurora thousands of years ago, they would utter satisfied and awestruck praises.
Thousands of years later, the aurora and the sky remained unchanged. Whenever magical power stirred and swirled in the high sky, it would arrive as promised. But the humans living on the earth were vastly different from before.
Year 883 of the Falling Stars Era, November 17th, Northern Lands, Moldova, Northwest Black Forest Border.
The long wind was like a blade, carrying icy snowflakes that lashed against the mountain ridges. The snow-pine forest on Mount Modess let out a pained whimper in the wind, as if it would be frozen to pieces and knocked down at any moment.
At this time, it was the coldest moment in Moldova in two hundred years. Due to an inexplicable fluctuation of magical power erupting around the Sea of Bewilderment, the weather across the entire Northern Lands had fallen into complete chaos. Even the most experienced meteorologists could not predict the weather trend three days later. The freezing wind, approaching minus fifty degrees Celsius, was too much even for the cold-resistant armored deer and giant wild boars. They obediently retreated to their dens, waiting for the cold snap to end.
Mount Modess was located in the Black Forest on the southeastern side of the Great Aias Mountains, a terminal branch of that massive mountain range. It was named after the explorer who discovered it back in the day. This small mountain, less than eight hundred meters high, had no fame in the past, but now it had become a renowned location throughout the entire Northern Lands, and even half the continent.
Because here, people had discovered an ancient relic from a bygone era.
A few months ago, a team of adventurers who had accepted a mission to explore the Black Forest entered Mount Modess and never came out. But just when the Lord's Manor of Moldova, which had issued the mission, assumed the team had been wiped out by a hidden Gold-rank magical beast, they reappeared.
Having lost most of their members, the adventurer team, covered in wounds, struggled to escape the Black Forest and brought back a piece of news that was not particularly eye-catching at the time: there was an unusually hidden underground cave in Mount Modess, and the end of the cave seemed to lead to a metal door that should be man-made.
Everyone initially thought the poor souls had gone mad and seen hallucinations, but the Lord's Manor took the matter very seriously. Lady Verdani even personally appointed several Silver Peak knights to lead a team to explore the cave. The truth shocked everyone—the adventurers were telling the truth! At the end of the cave was indeed an ancient metal building buried within the mountain. Behind the door were still-functioning ancient magical traps. If not for the caution of the leading knights, they too would have suffered heavy casualties and fled in panic like those adventurers.
This was an ancient relic from the previous era!
This news was second only to the ancient city relic discovered by the mages of the Sky-Piercing White Tower in the Central Black Forest. But how dangerous was the Central Black Forest? Exploring the city relic there required far too many resources. So, within just a few days, many mages from other factions brought their teams to Moldova, preparing to attempt an exploration of the relic within Mount Modess.
Unfortunately, a few days later, a rare cold snap in two hundred years swept across the entire Northern Lands. Although Moldova was not the worst hit, the blizzard and freezing wind completely blocked the road to the Black Forest. Many exploration teams had to stay in the main city of Moldova, waiting for the snowstorm to stop.
"Nonsense!"
Inside a cave on a small mountain in the southeastern branch of the Great Aias Mountains, a brown-haired man in an ancient gray robe threw a book to the ground in fury. His anger not yet subsided, he pointed a finger, and a gray light flashed. The poor book instantly turned into a pile of dust, scattered by the wind.
"I should have been the first to discover the relic! I was the one who cleared and dug the cave leading to it! These hateful Northerners actually found the relic while I was away and spread the news!"
Randall took a few deep breaths before suppressing the anger in his heart. Several black-clad figures emerged from the depths of the cave. They cautiously glanced at Randall in his gray robe and whispered, "Priest, is there something wrong?"
"It's nothing." The gray-robed priest, his tone now calmer, shook his head and asked in a deep voice, "Are there still people around the relic?"
The figures in black hooded robes bowed respectfully and replied, "Yes, sir. Almost every exploration team has left a few scouts near Mount Modess. The Lord's Manor has even sent half a knight regiment to build a temporary camp at the foot of the mountain."
"As expected." Having already guessed this outcome, Randall was not angry. He calmly asked, "So, what is their strength?"
The black-clad figures exchanged glances, then spoke in very low voices, "Priest, those gathered around the relic are mages, elite adventurers, and renowned mercenary groups. The ones sent to guard near Mount Modess are the cream of the crop..."
"Just give me the answer." The gray-robed priest said impatiently, "I'm mentally prepared."
"Yes!" Responding immediately, one of the black-clad figures stepped forward slightly and said bluntly, "There are at least over twelve Gold-rank experts, Priest. Most of them are personally guarding the area. The Lord of Moldova, Verdani Scarlett, and her fiancé, Brandon Kaos, both Gold Peak experts, are also in the camp... I think there's no chance anymore."
At the end, the black-clad figure probably accidentally let slip his true thoughts, and Randall sighed helplessly, because he thought the same.
Yes, there really was no chance for a low-key exploration of the relic.
Randall was one of the seven priests of the Plague Evil God's cult. The reason he came to the Northern Lands was to excavate the ancient relic hidden in Mount Modess.
The Plague Evil God's cult was founded about seven hundred years ago. Initially, this simple cult, composed of refugees, the poor, and the terminally ill, was just a group of dying people huddling together to spend their final days, fabricating some doctrines and salvation for psychological comfort. But after a mysterious mage of unknown origin joined, the nature of the entire cult quickly changed.
This mysterious mage, who later became the cult's High Priest, used incredible magic to cure many cult members suffering from incurable diseases. Naturally, he became the leader of the entire cult. Under his leadership, the cult, like thousands of small organizations on the Mycroft Continent at the time, was renamed and began to recruit members aggressively, spreading its doctrines. With the ability to heal injuries and plagues, in just a few years, the cult's membership swelled to 150,000. On the war-torn Mycroft Continent of that era, this was already an extremely powerful force.
If things had continued like this, the world's future would certainly not be as it is now. But at that time, the Church of the Seven Gods, whose influence was limited to the Far South, saw that the Healing Cult in the western mountainous regions indeed had the ability to easily cure diseases and plagues. They intended to communicate and cooperate with it, bringing salvation to more humans. However, in the middle of this, a Paladin discovered the Healing Cult's conspiracy.
This cult, under the banner of healing, was actually the spreader of many plagues in the Western Mountains. It would spread various plagues, incite panic, and then cure the patients itself, harvesting faith. What was terrifying was that the cured patients were also strange. Their minds would become increasingly unclear, eventually turning into living corpses that only knew how to eat. Only by joining the cult and obtaining special internal medicines could they maintain their sanity.
The Healing Cult instantly became the Plague Evil God's cult. Upon discovering the truth, the many kingdoms of the Western Mountains immediately dispatched large armies to suppress it, and the royal experts cooperated with the Paladins of the Church of the Seven Gods to raid the cult's headquarters.
There is no need to detail the battle process. In summary, in the end, the Church of the Seven Gods established itself in the western mountainous regions, while the Plague Evil God's cult was annihilated. The surviving remnants lost most of their inheritance. They could only use the divine spells and magic unique to the old Plague Evil God's cult, but they did not know where their power came from. Only fragments of information from ancient texts indicated that their power might come from some great existence outside the world.
To this day, the older generation of leaders of the Plague Evil God's cult mostly hide behind the scenes, plotting various schemes, while the ambitious new generation steps onto the stage. These people, eager to restore the cult's former glory, set their sights on the many relics mentioned in ancient texts. Randall was one of them.
But now, the relic was found, yet they couldn't enter.
The force the Plague Evil God's cult had sent to the Northern Lands this time was the elite of the entire northwestern branch. Among the seven priests, aside from four who were still in the Far South spreading the Mad Dragon Plague and cooperating with the Five-Colored Dragon Clan, the remaining three had all come here. But even so, facing over twelve Gold-rank experts, they were helpless. There was absolutely no way they could defeat so many people.
"Actually... Priest, there's another piece of bad news."
The leading black-clad figure swallowed his saliva. Seeing Randall nod, he stammered, "The elite squad led by Priestess Xina has lost contact for half a week..."
"Xina? Didn't she take people to the Extreme North Icefield?" Hearing this, Randall couldn't help but frown. He pressed anxiously, "How did she lose contact? Any detailed news?"
Within the entire Plague Evil God's cult, there was a clear divide between two generations. The older generation's strength had hit a bottleneck, and they were either in seclusion or secretly plotting schemes. The seven new-generation Gold-rank priests were all disciples or descendants of the old cult leaders. Randall and Xina were disciples under the same old priest, and they usually had a good relationship. A while ago, Xina, in order to stir up chaos in Moldova and sneak into the relic amidst the confusion, had led a team to the dragon nest on the Extreme North Icefield to see if there were any residual plague toxins they could use.
Hearing about his friend's disappearance, the gray-robed priest began to feel something was off.
The black-clad figure reporting the news was silent for a moment, then spoke in an exceptionally cautious tone, word by word, "According to our spies in Moldavia... on the day Priestess Xina last contacted us, the Count of the North was exactly at the Extreme North Icefield... taking... taking his dragon for a walk..."
At this moment, Joshua was sitting in a dragon-drawn carriage, watching the snowflakes fly and the scenery rush by outside the window.
The warrior, concealing his identity and traveling alone, had casually found a merchant caravan heading to Moldova and joined as a passenger.
The caravan leader, unaware of what a great figure he was transporting, had taken the money and didn't mind carrying a mysterious person with a covered face to Moldova. This was, of course, not because facing that man he simply dared not refuse, but because any caravan did this often. If they could transport goods for sale, they didn't mind carrying an extra person. As long as safety was ensured, why not make some extra money?
Joshua didn't mind the simple seat in the rear compartment of the dragon-drawn carriage. He enjoyed it. Back in the Far South, he had ridden all kinds of transportation—strange insects, long-horned dragons, harpy-lion-headed monsters were all common. Among those oddities, the ground dragon-drawn carriage was considered comfortable.
More importantly, he originally wanted to relive the feeling of being an adventurer back then. If it were too comfortable, it wouldn't be as good.
Joshua's trip to Moldova this time was half to see if the Gold-rank female priest's so-called expert was an old acquaintance he knew, and half to relax. Since the warrior's transmigration in the year 831 of the Falling Stars Era, these two years had been more legendary than legend itself—he had been fighting head-on with all kinds of Chaos monsters and Five-Colored Dragons, visited two different worlds, and personally witnessed an Evil God once.
If it were an ordinary person, their sanity would have long since hit zero and their spirit collapsed. Although Joshua had a tough mind and didn't care, he wouldn't refuse a trip to soothe his mood if he could.
"Brandon and Verdani are near Mount Modess now, waiting for the heavy snow to pass before formally exploring the relic."
The warrior looked at the small booklet in his hand, which was enchanted with magic and could directly contact the Lord's Manor, and nodded thoughtfully: "I'll go take a spin in the main city of Moldova first, then visit them."
This small booklet was specially made by Number Three so that Joshua could promptly know some information. As long as the Artificial Intelligence Girl willed it and magical power was transmitted, various data and messages would appear on the booklet. Of course, it could also be used to chat with the warrior, but the two rarely used this function.
The dragon-drawn carriage was fast. The pace of the ground dragon could not be stopped even by the snowstorm. Just as Joshua was comfortably traveling with the caravan, reliving his adventurer days, he had already crossed the territorial boundary of Moldavia and arrived in Moldavia.
The warrior was currently adjusting the circulation route of his battle qi within his body, optimizing the transmission structure. Even while traveling, Joshua would not forget to train. In fact, his battle qi had recently made another small breakthrough.
But suddenly, a series of chaotic sounds came from outside the dragon-drawn carriage. A dull crashing sound echoed in the rear compartment, disrupting Joshua's contemplation.
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