Chapter 1 Even From Afar

Even when gazing at the Western Stronghold from afar, this white, gigantic stone fortress nestled in the gateway between the mountains was magnificent. But when you truly stepped inside, the stronghold's grandeur and majesty were amplified many times over.

Hao Ren wasn't one to be easily impressed. In Holletta, in Tanagus, in the Demon King's City and Irim, he had seen countless magnificent structures of all kinds. Therefore, he had his own aesthetic standards for grand architecture. Yet, no matter which standard he applied, the Western Stronghold was a spectacle that could inspire awe: ten-thousand-foot-high walls towered, the pristine white stone gleaming under the light of Order, as if the entire stronghold were forged from light. Enormous magical runes stretched from the Hearthfire Tower at the fortress's center all the way to the top of the city walls, forming a semi-transparent energy barrier inlaid with countless blue characters. Everything seemed to embody one fact:

This was a barrier, a testament to the confidence and courage of mortals, standing radiant and glorious, guarding the frontiers of the world of Order.

Princess Veronica's knightly order received a grand welcome. However, amid the welcome, most of the stronghold's garrison hadn't quite figured out the origin of this heaven-sent reinforcement that had suddenly appeared from the desolate lands: The rout of Veronica and her Royal Knights at the Twilight Forest line had occurred more than half a month ago. Everyone assumed that the brave princess and her soldiers had perished at the edge of Chaos. No one imagined that she would lead the remnants of her army on an epic feat that nearly traversed the Chaos Realm. So, few could connect today's reinforcements with the princess.

And more importantly, there was Hao Ren's presence: When a small force of only twenty or thirty people charged into the monster horde, the stronghold's garrison first noticed the incredibly powerful cannon fire and bomb explosions. Hao Ren's personal fighting style completely skewed the tone of the entire team. Who knew what this reckless, explosion-happy group was doing…

But after the small knightly order entered the city, news of Princess Veronica's survival quickly spread throughout the stronghold.

Subsequently, they received an invitation from the stronghold's commander, General Magus of the Kingdom's Western Territory.

The ordinary knights were assigned to the hall on the first floor of the fortress to receive refreshments, while Hao Ren, Princess Veronica, and Sir Morian were taken to a special room on the second floor of the fortress. This was a sparsely decorated reception room. The large stone room contained only an oval table and a circle of wooden-backed chairs. A map of the Western Mountains and Shadow Jungle hung on one side of the room, while various swords and armor were displayed on the other. Aside from that, the room contained no other furnishings.

A robust old general was already waiting in the room. Upon seeing him, Hao Ren couldn't help but be somewhat stunned: This was an old general who could almost be called a giant. His height was probably around two and a half meters, even a little taller than Izhaks in his human form. Although his hair was completely white, he was still imposing. His facial features were rugged, and his muscles, even wrapped in his war robes, were still sharply defined. The whole person was like a statue carved with knives and axes, full of power.

The snow-white hair and eyebrows, as well as the weather-beaten face, showed the old general's age, but his straight back and muscular physique made Hao Ren unsure of his true age: Was this really an old man?

"Your Highness," the old general strode forward to greet Veronica when he saw her, then knelt on one knee without hesitation, "To see you survive is truly the only good news recently—the Goddess blesses Taros!"

"General Magus," Veronica hastily reached out to help the old general in front of her—the scene was a bit comical. Even kneeling on the ground, the old general wasn't much shorter than Veronica. When the princess went to help him, it was as if she were holding Magus's arm and trying to lift him up, "You are the Western Territory General, you don't need to perform the full ceremony for me..."

The old general stood up and, while gesturing for the princess and her party to sit down, asked curiously, "Your Highness, how did you survive the Shadow Jungle? I heard that your forces had been swallowed by Chaos, and that was more than twenty days ago..."

"We traversed the entire Shadow Jungle and most of the Desolate Wilderness," Veronica said frankly, "and finally arrived at Mount Caswan. Thanks to the blessing of the Creation Goddess, the guardians of Mount Caswan saved our lives."

As she spoke, she looked at Hao Ren and nodded solemnly.

General Magus had actually noticed the strangely dressed stranger beside the princess earlier. And even earlier, he had seen the stranger's battle on the walls of the Western Stronghold—the instantaneous magic filled with fire and explosions was impressive, and he had personally witnessed that this explosion-maker also had considerable fighting skills: He fought with a blue-glowing spear, able to deal with more than a dozen monsters simultaneously. His fighting style could be described as彪悍 (biāohàn, valiant and fierce): This wasn't a style that could be manifested through ordinary training or a surge of courage.

This was the temperament that could only be forged by facing unimaginable challenges.

On Earth, this temperament was called reckless.

If he had seen Hao Ren's fight with the demon god Vivian mk-ii, then he would understand how this desperate-man style came about.

In most cases, the enemies Hao Ren had to face couldn't be defeated by caution and tactics. As Raven 12345 had once said: An inspector's life relies on luck for 30%, hard work for 70%, and the remaining 90% is basically just charging ahead recklessly...

"Hello," Hao Ren said, seeing that Magus was silent, and took the initiative to greet him, "General Magus—I often hear Veronica mention you. My name is Hao Ren, it's a rather unique name, you should remember it easily."

He was currently going by the title of an ancient guardian, and he felt that this title would be very helpful for him to move around in the human kingdom, so he decided to try his best to align his words and demeanor with this role.

Magus regained his composure and looked at Hao Ren with a puzzled expression: "So you are..."

"I am the 'Guardian of Mount Caswan' that Veronica mentioned," Hao Ren nodded, "According to your terms, I seem to be a person from the previous era… well, that's how Veronica explained it to me."

Magus's eyes narrowed slightly.

Clearly, he harbored some doubts about this suddenly appearing "ancient guardian." Unlike the young and somewhat rash princess, this veteran general was not only skilled in combat but also possessed the caution and skepticism befitting his age.

In the old general's worldview, many things were already deeply rooted. He was long past the age of casually believing in legends and prophecies—in Coro, such mystical things were as numerous as the sands of the sea. If every story in every bard's tale and adventure novel could come true, this world would have been destroyed thousands of times already, and of course, saved thousands of times as well.

An ancient guardian who had stood guard in the depths of the Chaos Realm for thousands of years, an ancient sacred mountain that existed only in legends—this kind of thing that sounded like an incredible story was quite suspicious. Moreover, the old general's suspicion was well-founded: Although the current Desolate Wilderness was a no-man's-land ruled by the power of Chaos, in the past ten centuries, that wasteland had not always been desolate and uninhabited.

In the era when the Desolate Wilderness had not yet been swallowed by Chaos, had no one ever discovered Mount Caswan?

To put it another way, Magus also knew that there were indeed some areas in the Desolate Wilderness that were permanently shrouded in Chaos (in Coro, they were called "tear points"). Assuming that Mount Caswan was located in one of those tear points, then what wind had people from the previous era caught that they wanted to build a sanctuary in such an evil place? It couldn't possibly provide any protection to the surrounding territory!

The origin of this "ancient guardian" was very questionable.

But the old general didn't ask much. He just stared at Hao Ren for a while, then took the initiative to shift his gaze: "Your Highness, you have crossed the heart of Chaos, have you brought any news?"

"Of course," Veronica nodded, "We discovered some changes taking place in the depths of Chaos. Corrupted monsters… and the Hearthfire devices left in the Chaos Realm show traces of being modified by unknown energy, and there is some other information. But before that, I would like to ask about the previous monster siege? If I remember correctly, it hasn't been a month since their last attack, which doesn't match the general pattern of Chaos power."

Magus nodded: "That is indeed the case. This attack by the Chaos monsters was very sudden, and in fact, there has been more than one wave—the battle you saw today has occurred seven times in the past twenty days."

Veronica's expression suddenly became extremely astonished.

The old general waved his hand: "Your Highness, there is too much to say. I have ordered people to prepare a meal. Why don't we eat and talk here?"