Chapter 73: The Fallen City

  Resg the Padin warriors wasn’t difficult. After finding the keys on those cultists, Fina and Alex quickly unlocked the chaotic shackles binding the Padins. Without the shackles, these Padin warriors seemed much better off.

  "Thank you both for your assistance."

  The leader of the Padins nodded respectfully to Alex. Earlier, Alex had expined his identity to them, and to his surprise, many of these Padin warriors had heard of his "heroic deeds." It seemed that after returning to the base, Knight had eagerly reted the events that took p Shadow yon, leading these Padins to treat him with siderable respect.

  Of course, this was good news for Alex, as it meant he didn’t have to expend much effort to earrust.

  "No need for formalities. In fact, the reason I chased after you, besides saving you, was mainly to figure out what these cultists are pnning. Do you have any clues?"

  "Well…"

  Hearing Alex’s question, the leader, a Padin named John, looked somewhat unfortable.

  "I’m sorry, Lord Alex, but we don’t know the true purpose of these cultists. They’ve beeight-lipped along the way, and we couldn’t gather any information. The only thing we know is that they io take us to the Dark S…"

  "Dark S?!"

  Fina suddenly excimed upon hearing this, her eyes widening as she stared at the Padin in front of her.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes, they mentioaking us to the Dark S…"

  "What’s the matter? Is there a problem?"

  Notig Fina’s pale expression, Alex frowned and asked. Upon hearing his question, Fiated for a moment, then shook her head.

  "No, Mr. Alex, maybe I’m just overthinking it…"

  "In any case, go ahead and tell us. Even if it’s just a small clue, it’s better than nothing. I doubt these cultists are taking their captives to the Dark S for a vacation."

  "Well… I’ll say it then…"

  After hearing Alex's words, Fiated for a moment but eventually gritted her teeth and spoke softly.

  "If I remember correctly, deep within the Dark S… lies the ruins of the Fotten Kingdom… Samel…"

  "Samel?!"

  Upon hearing this, Alex hadn’t yet reacted, but John, the Padin, turned pale.

  "You mean to say these cultists io take us to that cursed Fallen City?!"

  So that’s the pce…

  At this moment, Alex finally uood what Fina was talking about.

  It had beeioned earlier that long ago, this ti gued by wars. Because a certain try, uhreat, sacrificed all its citizens to opee to hell, the ti endured over 150 years of darkness. It was only after that period that the nations of the ti sighe Violet ant, ending the flict.

  And the instigator of all this was Samel.

  Acc to historical records Alex had seen iemple, Samel was once a very prosperous small nation. However, as the fires of read, Samel, due to its wealth and advantageous geographical position, became a target for a neighb nation called Kadra.

  At that time, Kadra was one of the most powerful tries on the ti. They coveted Samel’s location and riches and unched an invasion to pletely a.

  But the people of Samel were strong-willed and fiercely determined. Although there was a signifit disparity in power, they fought bravely without fear. However, despite their efforts, the nation was ultimately destroyed by Kadra, and their capital, the City of Light, was surrounded by Kadra's army.

  The Emperor of Kadra sent a final ultimatum to the people of Samel, demanding they opey gates and surrender within three days, or the capital would be bathed in blood.

  Under immense pressure, the people of Samel eventually agreed to the Kadra Emperor’s demands and promised to surrender after three days.

  But ohird day, the gates of the City of Light still did not open. Ehe Kadra Emperor personally led his army to breach the gates, and what they saw was a horrifying se.

  The city was filled with corpses.

  Bodies of men, women, children, and even infants were strewn everywhere, f an unbroken that created a massive, malevolent magic circle. Just as the Kadra Emperor ehe city, the magic circle was activated.

  It tore through the fabric of space, using the ey and the souls of all the wronged citizens of Samel as a sacrifimon one of the most powerful demon lords from Hell—Gretis Drek Bab.

  In an instant, the dark legion obliterated the entire Kadra army. Immediately afterward, they began to spread outward. The ruler of Samel had made a pact with the demon lord, the souls of all his citizens in exge for the annihition of every nation that had either invaded Samel or remained indifferent during its time of war. Bab gdly carried out this agreement. The demonic army destroyed Kadra and the surrounding nations, then frenziedly invaded every er of the ti.

  For the 150 years, the entire ti was engulfed in darkness, death, bloodshed, and chaos. The Twilight Legion of the Order’s Bordernds unched massive terattacks, but darkness and demons tie the nd with fire and evil. tless nations were destroyed, disappearing into the fmes.

  Finally, uhe leadership of the Holy Nation and the Magiation, the remaining forces of the ti united for a desperate terattack. A group of warriors, blessed by the true gods, formed a suicide squad. Following a plot straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster, they disguised themselves as evil fallen ones, infiltrated the City of Light—now a dark demoniest—and sacrificed their own souls to summon the power of the true gods. They sealed the spatial rift, banishing the demon lord Bab from the mortal world. Deprived of their reinforts, the demonic army was eventually wiped out by the allied forces.

  This dark war sted 150 years, and tless lives were lost iruggle against the darkness. But even more signifit was Chaos's invasion of the orderly world. Before this war, Chaos had been distant from this ti. But now, why is the Order’s Fortress built so close to the Dark S?

  Because what was ohe vast territory of Kadra has now bee a pyground for the minions of Chaos!

  And all of this started simply because one great nation tried to annex a small one.

  It was only after this that people finally uood: Never push a nation to the brink of destru, or else... who knows if it will drag others down with it?

  "But wasn't that ppletely sealed off? I remember the records saying that the Goddess of Order personally pced the seal."

  "That's what I thought too, but I still have some s... Sorry, maybe I'm just overthinking it..."

  Seeing Fina's hesitant expression, Alex could uand her s. It was like a police officer going out to arrest a criminal. If you capture a murderer who’s involved in drugs or ons, it’s uandable, something you handle. But if you arrest a criminal and discover they’re pnning to unch a nuclear bomb to destroy the world, you’d question your entire reality.

  This storyline just doesn’t seem realistic.

  "Whatever the case, we just o capture these cultists and interrogate them to find out what they're really up to."

  Alex waved his hand, about to say something else, when suddenly, Nymph's voice rang in his ear.

  "Master! I’ve detected the energy signature of that mage; he’s returo the camp!"

  "Oh?"

  Hearing Nymph's report, Alex's eyes lit up.

  "Looks like we're about to find out what's really going on."

  (End of Chapter)

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