Chapter 1 Facing the Sight

Facing the gazes around her, An's voice remained calm and indifferent: "We are currently near Luan, which is already a good result. I was originally waiting for a calm window period a few days later, when the energy fluctuations of the Carnos Sea would have a brief lull. I could open a precise portal to send you to the place closest to Asueman, but some accidents happened, and the transmission had to be advanced. I can only guarantee to bring you to the Sanctuary, but the landing point cannot be determined. You should feel lucky now – this place is not too far from Asueman."

From the other party's tone, Kalaxius heard a confidence that he knew the Sanctuary like the back of his hand: "How much do you know about the Sanctuary?"

An shook her head lightly: "I did know a lot about the Sanctuary, but since this chaotic storm began, my connection with the Sanctuary has become quite weak."

The high-ranking monk frowned, his eyes not leaving An, "Who exactly are you? How do you know so much about the Sanctuary?"

"It doesn't sound like an inquiry, but more like an interrogation," An said lightly, but as always, there was no emotional fluctuation in her tone. She pointed to her chest, "There are many things that I cannot explain to you clearly, as there are too many causes and consequences involved, and explaining them all will waste a lot of time. I can only tell you that I will do my best to protect this place, because the survival of the Sanctuary is closely related to me."

"Are you a Sanctuary person?" The high-ranking monk seemed to come to a conclusion himself. He looked at An suspiciously, "Some hermit who left the Sanctuary and hid in a secular country?"

"A Sanctuary person?" An repeated in a low voice, "I guess you could say that."

After saying this, she turned her head, obviously not intending to continue on this topic.

Kalaxius also gave up the idea of continuing to pursue the matter. The current situation was not optimistic, and even he, a high-ranking monk, was a little confused and uneasy. In this case, every partner was precious, and he could not waste his energy on these meaningless inquiries and arguments.

Hao Ren observed the surrounding environment and turned to look at Kalaxius: "What kind of place is Luan? How far is it from that Mount Asueman? Where should we go next?"

Kalaxius looked in a certain direction: "Luan is the closest big city to the City of God's Grace. There are some small towns between Luan and the City of God's Grace, and the roads are very convenient. As for Asueman… it's in that direction."

The high-ranking monk raised his finger, and following the direction of his finger, Hao Ren saw a hazy patch of light and shadow at the end of the horizon – the light was weak and ethereal, like seeing the distant city lights through a thin mist, and it was impossible to see it without careful distinction.

"The glory of Mount Asueman used to be bright and dazzling. Near Luan, you could see the magnificent pillar of light in the night sky by looking up," Kalaxius' tone was bitter, "But since a few months ago… alas."

Hao Ren looked in the direction of Asueman, silently calculating the approximate distance, and then his eyes fell on the city at the foot of the mountain.

The situation on the holy mountain was unknown, and according to Lily's retelling of the Nightmare Shadow, he always felt that the shadows entrenched within the Theocracy might exceed everyone's imagination. In this case, rushing headlong into the City of God's Grace might not be a good idea.

Although the Sanctuary investigation team came from this land, they had been away for more than a month, and in that month, the Sanctuary had undergone tremendous changes, and their intelligence in this regard was quite backward.

In any case, they should gather information first.

"Let's go into the city to inquire," Hao Ren pointed to the foot of the mountain, "In any case, the fact that the Sanctuary has been eroded like this in just one month is definitely not right."

The team prepared to set off, but a church knight suddenly stood up, pointing to the large cage guarded by the bear monsters: "What about this monster? Also, if the sub-races enter the city rashly… it may cause problems."

Lily frowned when she heard this, but she also knew that the dozens of magic wolf bear monsters and giants she brought with her would be a moving panic wherever they went, so she just bared her teeth to express her dissatisfaction and didn't say anything.

"That makes sense," Hao Ren nodded, "And if we want to enter the city to inquire, it's really not appropriate to bring everyone with us. How about this, Lily, you have your subordinates set up camp and hide in the small forest outside the city later, and bring this nightmare monster with you. Also, it's best to leave a few more church knights with them, so that even if they accidentally run into local patrolmen, someone can be responsible for negotiations, and the knights are locals and know the situation better."

Kalaxius had no objection to Hao Ren's "presumptuous" arrangement, and he nodded, "You've thought it through thoroughly, let's do as you said."

The group completed the assignment outside the city at the foot of the mountain. All the sub-race barbarian soldiers were on standby in the small forest outside the city, and the monster that Lily named "Smoked Big Meat" was also imprisoned in the temporary camp. Several church knights and an assistant bishop were left in the camp to support them, while the others went to the city with Hao Ren to check the situation. The two groups of people maintained contact through the transmission magic stone.

The city of Luan under the night, silent and eerie.

A chaotic wind was blowing randomly from all directions, carrying coolness in the chaos, and this coolness seemed to slowly seep into people's bones. Even wearing thick clothes, they always felt a trace of cold spreading on their skin. Almost no one could be seen on the streets and alleys of the city. All the buildings on both sides of the street were tightly closed, and dim yellow lights leaked out from behind the turbid windows. The swaying lights seemed to reflect uneasy phantoms. In Sanctuary folk customs, every household is accustomed to hanging a small lamp on each side of their door, whether rich or poor. At this moment, all the small lamps were lit, but these decorations that used to fill the city with vitality now seemed particularly strange: the light of the small lamps was dim, and the lamp wicks inside were curved as if interfered with by a strong magnetic field. The dim yellow light had strands of dark red in it, like dirty blood.

This abnormal phenomenon seemed to indicate that the dark magic power from the Carnos Sea had begun to invade the material world, and this sacred land was gradually being transformed into a breeding ground for dark forces.

The crowd walked on a deserted street, and they couldn't find any pedestrians to ask for information along the way. Hao Ren frowned. The strange atmosphere in this city didn't seem unfamiliar—he had felt a similar atmosphere in many secret realms filled with death and distorted power.

However, this atmosphere appeared on a holy land blessed by the Creator Goddess, a place that was still filled with divine power a few months ago.

Could it be that the evil giant Lockmarton was really about to break through the prison gate?

The cobblestone road of the street had a strange wet and greasy feeling, and disgusting sticky sounds kept coming from the soles of their shoes as they walked on it. Fine rain was also floating in the sky. Hao Ren reached out and saw some slightly black liquid falling on his fingertips, but these liquids began to evaporate the moment they touched his skin, and almost nothing was left in the blink of an eye.

The "raindrops" had a similar effect when they fell on Lily, but they did not dissipate so quickly when they fell on others.

Obviously, these raindrops were also projections of dark magic power in the material world.

Only An noticed this detail in the team. Her eyes seemed to linger on Hao Ren and Lily for a moment, but then turned away.

"Even if the light of Asueman is extinguished, it shouldn't be like this..." Kalaxius said in a low voice, "This land has been immersed in sacred energy for ten thousand years, and it has already been sanctified. Even if chaos strikes, it will not be polluted to this point in such a short time."

Hao Ren looked at the street ahead: "There are almost no pedestrians in the city."

They continued to walk forward, and occasionally one or two figures would flash by in the dark streets, but these figures only flashed by and were so fast and illusory that they were almost a hallucination. Knights shouted loudly, trying to stop the pedestrians running from a distance, but their shouts seemed to startle those pedestrians even more. The other party would often disappear into the intricate streets and alleys with a flash, never to be found again.

The city of Luan was an ancient city with intricate streets and alleys and countless dark alleys and corners that even the locals couldn't explain clearly. Now, every dark corner seemed to hide countless pairs of uneasy eyes, and even the brave church knights couldn't help but become suspicious.

Finally, Kalaxius gave up on the pedestrians on the street and came to a residential house facing the street, knocking on the door.

The lights were on in the house, but no sound of people could be heard. After the high-ranking monk knocked on the door for a long time, Hao Ren finally heard some sounds from inside.

Someone approached the door, and then a hoarse, low, and wary voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

"Monks and knights from the City of God's Grace," Kalaxius said loudly, "Please open the door, we have no malicious intent, we just want to find a place to rest."

"There is no place to rest here," the voice in the house became more and more hoarse and wary, "It's getting dark, find another place."

"This is not the Luan person I know," a monk next to Hao Ren shook his head, "I was born in a village near Luan. The people in this city are known for their hospitality. They would never refuse guests who ask for help – even if they can't provide help, they will at least open the door and offer a glass of hot water."

"Dark magic may have begun to affect the minds of the local residents," another monk muttered, "In this case, I don't know how many people can still help us."

While speaking, Kalaxius had already exchanged a few words with the person in the house through the door, but all the requests were coldly rejected by the person inside. The owner of the house was even unwilling to open the door and talk to the high-ranking monk outside face to face, as if there was a terrible plague wandering on the streets outside, and they would be infected as soon as they opened the door.