Chapter 1 The Dawning

As the nightmares clinging to the old world dissipated and dawn arrived, the real world was also welcoming the first rays of sunlight after the retreat of chaos. The chaotic storms that had once sealed off the five continents rapidly retreated back into the depths of Carnos, and even Canaan, an ancient continent that had been lost for thousands of years, revealed itself – exposing the completely twisted and mutated ancient ruins and all sorts of bizarre and deathly landscapes. The whole world was like a snowy field under the sun, revealing its true face only after the snow melted.

On the continent of Ansu, in the White City, the capital of the Kingdom of Taros, King Rudolph III was listening to the reports of his ministers in a side hall of the Golden Rose Palace. His two daughters sat beside him, while Duke Lorn sat in another chair not far away.

The "light erosion" phenomenon that had plagued a third of the city had not gradually subsided over time. It seemed that, as the scholars said, the powerful burst of divine power had permanently altered the spatiotemporal structure around the Sunscorched Tower. Therefore, most of the Golden Rose Palace was still not suitable for habitation. The royal family had chosen another location for the new Golden Rose Palace, but until that major project was completed, the king had to continue performing his duties in this side hall.

The atmosphere in the palace was serious, clearly indicating that extremely important matters were being discussed.

General Groen was speaking: "Your Majesty, news from the borders confirms that the power of chaos has completely retreated into the Sea of Carnos. It seems that the intelligence of 'early termination of the Chaos Tide' is accurate."

"According to historical patterns, the Chaos Tide lasts for ten years each time, and if there are any changes, it is only for a longer duration. This is the basic law of the Sea of Carnos," said Grand Scholar Alfred, holding ancient scrolls in his hands. His voice was not loud, but with the aid of magic, it still resonated throughout the palace. "The early termination is truly incredible, and we have also observed many strange changes..."

Rudolph III gestured with his eyes for the Grand Scholar to continue.

"We observed that the power of chaos did not stop after retreating into the Sea of Carnos, but continued to dissipate in a state of constant decline. Now, it is completely unobservable – whereas in the past, even after the end of the Chaos Tide, the power of chaos could still be detected in the depths of Carnos through observation facilities such as the Mystical Towers. In addition, we observed several powerful energy oscillations in the Holy Domain. The barrier of order in the Holy Domain completely disappeared for a time, but in the last energy oscillation, its barrier was re-lit, and the light of Asueman reappeared in sight. Finally, there is a report from the astrologers, who reported that they briefly observed a huge, unidentified rift in the starry sky. Starlight flickered in the rift, and unknown constellations could be observed."

The three major pieces of intelligence announced by the old scholar immediately caused a low discussion in the hall. The information revealed by the first two pieces of intelligence made it easy for the ministers present to associate them with certain things. However, the fact that they had struggled in the nightmare cycle for countless generations made them dare not hope in this regard. So, they could only discuss it, hoping that others could give them some optimistic confidence.

Rudolph III cleared his throat twice, interrupting these discussions: "Ahem, quiet. Grand Scholar, how do you view these phenomena?"

"Your Majesty, chaos is receding, that is obvious, and it is receding completely in an unprecedented way," the Grand Scholar's cloudy eyes also lit up at this moment. "We have reason to view this matter with the greatest optimism—it has completely retreated."

"Father, I also have something to report," Veronica stood up as well. "Since half a month ago, the Annihilation Cultists have been active everywhere on the borders and within the kingdom, carrying out acts of sabotage. But yesterday, all the acts of sabotage suddenly stopped, and those cultists disappeared without a trace, as if they had vanished from the world. The scouts I sent found traces of human self-combustion at some of the cultists' secret ritual sites. Considering that no one witnessed the cultists escaping, I boldly speculate that due to the disappearance of the power of chaos, these cultists have been completely erased from this world."

There was another burst of discussion in the hall, while Rudolph III solemnly surveyed the ministers.

Several nobles who should have been present were not there, and among those who were not present, at least two had close ties to the Annihilation Cult.

Recalling the situation mentioned by Veronica, the old king's face became grim.

Duke Lorn supported his forehead with his hand: "Just half a month ago, we were still facing the darkest and most desperate situation in the world of order. Every kingdom seemed to have reached the end of its survival. I really can't imagine what suddenly ended the chaos... What exactly happened in the Holy Domain?"

As soon as the Duke finished speaking, a herald suddenly ran in, and the whispering in the hall instantly quieted down.

It was the king's personal herald, who would only break into the palace directly without reporting in the event of an emergency!

The herald came before the throne and handed a piece of intelligence to Rudolph III, who took the intelligence and looked at it for a moment, his expression somewhat stiff.

The ministers were slightly agitated, curious about what kind of intelligence had caused the king's expression to change.

"A 'mass combustion' occurred in Chongshan Territory. All the direct members of the Condor family who were imprisoned in various estates awaiting interrogation were swallowed by flames of unknown origin. The process of being swallowed was extremely similar to the result of a chaos monster being illuminated by the light of order. In addition, some members of the Tyrion family, Earl Haisong and all his direct descendants, Viscount Tutani and some of his direct descendants, Viscount Ketument, Earl Rockson...etc., all spontaneously combusted."

Each time the old king said a name, it was as if a heavy hammer struck the hall, causing all the ministers to faintly guess the truth while also breaking out in cold sweat. Those who had interacted with these nobles felt dizzy. The "cultist self-combustion" phenomenon mentioned by Princess Veronica was completely connected with the situation before their eyes!

"...Regarding the above personnel, the royal family will launch an investigation to confirm their connection with the Annihilation Cult as soon as possible."

Rudolph III said so, but in reality, everyone present understood: some things probably didn't need to be investigated at all.

Some people were shocked that the Annihilation Cultists had infiltrated to such an extent and had been lurking in the kingdom for so many years. However, other nobles with long traditions or who were themselves knowledgeable were not too surprised by this situation. They knew that ever since there had been human civilization records, these Annihilation Cultists had always entangled and infiltrated every orderly kingdom like the shadows of civilization. The upper echelons of the kingdom had long known of the existence of these people and maintained a difficult and delicate balance of confrontation. However, even those who knew the inside story had not expected that these "ghosts" that had been entangled with the orderly world for ten thousand years would disappear like this? Just be exposed to the sun and then vanish into thin air?!

Could it really be as Grand Scholar Alfred said, that chaos had completely retreated?

Beside Rudolph III, Veronica and Anya subconsciously exchanged glances.

All these things happened after Hao Ren and An Xi left the capital. Could all these changes be related to them?

Just as these thoughts were spreading in the hall, another royal herald appeared at the door!

When that gold and red double-colored uniform appeared before the ministers' eyes, the entire council hall suddenly became eerily quiet.

Because this herald was holding a crystal that was emitting a white light. The crystal was surrounded by runes, emitting a strong divine aura.

The Holy Stone – a special crystal created by the high-ranking bishops of the Holy Domain's Divine Grace City using powerful divine magic. It came from the shattered fragments at the foot of Mount Asueman and can be said to be the most solid and holy substance in this world. Its function is to maintain contact between the Holy Domain and various secular countries in emergency situations. The powerful divine power allows it to penetrate the interference of the chaos storm in any situation, even if the entire continent is swallowed by the storm.

In the dark ages, it could be said to be an emergency distress insurance.

However, with the mysterious changes within the Holy Church, the church army withdrew early, and the Holy Domain unilaterally cut off communications for unknown reasons (actually, it was because the Asueman energy was insufficient, causing signal transmission to be interrupted). This Holy Stone lost its function and had been lying quietly in the headquarters of the Royal Mystical Masters for nearly two months. Everyone was powerless to do anything about it.

But at this time, it lit up again - the Holy Domain sent a message!

Rudolph III whispered a few words to the herald, his face becoming serious, and ordered the herald to place the Holy Stone on top of a silver cylinder in front of the throne.

The light of the Holy Stone became more and more stable and quickly expanded, forming a clear and huge holographic image above the cylinder.

Wearing a papal robe, Karasush stood in the image, along with Hao Ren and several faces Veronica did not recognize.

"Is that the Pope?" Rudolph III asked in confusion after seeing the sacred robe on Karasush. "Isn't it Augustus VII..."

Veronica exclaimed in a low voice: "Hao Ren? It really is him?"

At the same time, the Holy Stones of every orderly kingdom were sent to their local rulers.

Holographic projections appeared in the palaces of monarchs in various countries, and the voices of Karasush and Hao Ren reached the entire Coro world:

"Rulers of Coro, monarchs and protectors of secular kingdoms, leaders of various intelligent races, I am Karasush, the successor Pope of the Holy Domain. I stand on the summit of Mount Asueman and declare to you—

"Lockmarton, the nightmare and threat that has been entrenched in the sky above the world, has been completely destroyed. Its soul, thoughts, body, and all the evil products related to it have been completely and permanently eliminated by the Holy Domain Expeditionary Force...

"The Holy Domain Expeditionary Force and the messengers of the goddess jointly attacked Lockmarton's lair. The Forgotten Abyss has been purified...

"Our guiding leader of faith, the protector of hearts, the shepherd selected by the goddess, Father Augustus VII, sacrificed himself in the purification war and fell on the front line...

"The Chaos War is permanently over from today. There will be no more chaos cycles, no more nightmare invasions. The Sea of Carnos will gain eternal peace. All secular kingdoms should work together to complete the recovery and reconstruction of this world...

"At the same time, due to the holy covenant between the Creator Goddess and the Outer God, I declare Hao Ren, the Observer, Protector, and Inspector of the Worlds, as the Second Pope of Coro. He is the messenger of the Outer God and has come to help our world due to the agreement between the gods. From today onwards, he has all the authority and status equal to that of the Pope of the Holy Domain and is responsible for guidance in the process of rebuilding Coro.

"Now, he will speak."