Chapter 65: Reunion with an Old Acquaintance

  It was no wonder Alex was so surprised; just as he was about to subdue the oppo, he got a clear look at the person’s face—this was the very knight with a particurly dangerous name who had once fought alongside him. Alex hadn’t expected to run into him here again.

  "Who are you?"

  Hearing Alex’s question, Knight was also taken aback, his struggling hands dropping to his sides. He had initially thought the other person was a cultist, but was surprised when this man rushed in and immediately called out his name. And this person’s appearance… seemed somewhat familiar?

  Thinking this, Knight furrowed his brows, looking at Alex while he racked his memory for the man’s name. But soon enough, Alex provided the answer.

  "I’m Alex."

  "You’re Mr. Alex?"

  Upon hearing this, Knight suddenly realized who he was dealing with. He widened his eyes, looking Alex up and down, finally reizing the familiar traces on this young man.

  "So you’re still alive, Mr. Alex! Where have you been these past few months? There hasn’t been any news of you, and you’ve ged so much…"

  Alex uood ’s fusion. In his inal body, he had been around 18 or 19 years old. When restrug his body, Alex chose to appear as he did at 20, so the difference wasn’t too noticeable. Fortunately, he had been away for several months. If it had only been a few days or weeks, the ge would have been much harder to expin.

  "It’s a long story. In fact, I’ve only been back for a few days… I didn’t realize I’d been gone so long."

  As he sheathed his sword, Alex answered. He wasn’t worried about his expnation arousing Knight ’s suspi. This was a world where magic was highly advanced, and many mages possessed spells that could ect to different dimensions. There were also many stories of people actally wandering into other worlds. In fact, Alex had returned with a new, bold pn in mind.

  "I see… So that’s what happened. Sir Stone and Sir Malt will be very pleased to hear this."

  "Let’s catch up ter."

  Sihe other party was someone he knew, Alex rexed his guard. He looked around curiously before asking.

  "What exactly happened here? It looks like you were attacked?"

  "That’s right! Those damn cultists…"

  At the mention of this, Knight ’s anger fred up as he reted the euation to Alex. Finally, Alex learned what had happened in the main world after his departure.

  After Alex had defeated the Child of Chaos, the underground cavern colpsed (which expined how he ended up being transported to this strange pce). Fortunately, Sir Stone, Sir Malt, and the remaining Padins had mao escape. The Lich Lord had also vanished, and the spatial barrier that had been sealing the area was lifted, allowing everyoo return to the temple.

  Upourning to the temple, Knight was relieved of his squad duties. It wasn’t because the cil of Bishops was displeased with them, but rather because the squad had been assembled for a temporary mission, whided wheask was pleted. Everyohen disbanded aheir separate ways.

  It’s worth noting that acc to Knight , the cil of Bishops had cluded that the Padins who had been killed while pursuing the cultists had fallen victim to the Lich Lord. Additionally, the Lich Lord was bmed for the deaths of over a dozen Padins during the ritual to uhe Child of Chaos. The Lich Lord was essentially ned for all of it.

  After pleting his mission, Knight returo the Northern Alliance, where he was born and had joihe Padins. He was supposed to head to the Fortress of Order to fight, but due to the severe injuries he had sustained during the battle with the Lich Lord, and the anti-magic debuff the Child of Chaos had inflicted on him, his body had bee quite weak. As a result, Knight was assigo stay behind, monit the supply lines and rec.

  After all, everyone khat the rear was retively safer than the front lines, and with Knight ’s abilities, he was well-suited for the job. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have beeed to join that squad aure into Shadow yon.

  At first, things were quiet, but as time went on, Knight grew increasingly tense. As a member of the Fortress of Order, he was well aware of the impendi Camity. Although he was stationed in the rear, he ordered everyoo stay vigint and prepare for the Beast Camity. He eve out two cavalry units to patrol between the rear and the front lines.

  Then, three days ago, something strange happened.

  It was during the first snowfall. Knight noticed that he hadn’t received any unication from the Fortress of Order, which puzzled him. Acc to protocol, the fortress should tact the rear outposts during the first snowfall to ensure everyone repared for the Beast Camity. This procedure hadn’t ged sinight joihe Padins.

  However, even by te night, he hadn’t received any word, which made him anxious. He immediately dispatched a cavalry unit to the Fortress of Order to iigate, while he tried again to use the Padins’ unication crystal to tact the front lines.

  But there was still no response.

  This made Knight realize something was seriously wrong. He immediately reported the situation to the temple headquarters in the rear, but soon discovered that he couldablish tact with them either.

  At this point, Knight was truly armed. He had never entered such a situation before, but being a seasoned knight who had even faced the Lich Lord in Shadow yon, his reas were sharp. He swiftly ordered the epost to go into full lockdown, initiating Level Otle readiness.

  However, the enemy acted faster than Knight had anticipated. Before his orders could even be fully executed, those damn cultists uheir attack. They assaulted the epost. Initially, the temple soldiers fought back against these cultists, but the enemy was overwhelmingly powerful. Among them were Destruages capable of wielding hellfire!

  Destruages are the bae of the Church of Doom, equivalent in rank to Grand Knights, with simir strength. If Sir Stone or Sir Malt had been there, they might have been able to hold off the enemy’s advance. But Knight was merely a Padily recovered from a serious illness, and stood no ce.

  Before he could even make a move, the enemy unleashed a hellfire explosion that destroyed the tower he was in, burying Knight uhe rubble. It was a miracle he wasn’t killed. When he finally regained sciousness, the epost was deserted. Knight barely mao crawl out from uhe debris.

  After tending to his wounds and preparing to track down the cultists, Alex appeared. At the time, Knight didn’t know it was Alex. He assumed the cultists had returned, so he hid by the wall, ready to capture one as a hostage. But to his surprise, it was Alex.

  "So that’s what happened..." After listening to Knight ’s at, Alex didn’t say much, just sighed and patted on the shoulder. "Alright, take it easy. At least you’re still alive, and that’s something, isn’t it?" Especially with a name like yours... I’ll just leave it at that.

  "Sigh..." But Knight ’s expression remained grim. "I’m just worried about what might be happening at the fortress. If they’re fag the Beast Camity, there’s no way they hold out. Without supplies from the rear, the fortress won’t st a month! And now, our unication with the rear has been pletely cut off... Those cultists also captured my men. I’m really worried about what they might do..."

  "Won’t the rear respond to the outpost’s loss of tact?" Alex asked, but Knight just shook his head, his face dark. "Officially, the Northern Alliance should send someoo iigate, but iy, it’s all handled by our temple, and..." At this point, Knight didn’t say anything more, just let out a long sigh.

  Alex uood what he meant. On this ti, the retionships between tries are very delicate, even more so than oh. While this ti is dominated by the Holy Churation and a few other powerful states, and other tries ’t pare to them, these rge nations still ’t oppress smaller ones as freely as might be expected.

  He had initially thought that the major powers in this world could do as they pleased, but after reading the temple’s records, Alex realized this world wasn’t as straightforward as he had imagihe reason is simple: this is a world of magic!

  A small, weak try might be bullied aroyed by a rger power, but its prince, after esg and experieng various adventures, could bee a powerful legendary figure aurn for revehis kind of plot isn’t just a story here; it has happened multiple times on this ti!

  There was even a case where a weak try, driven to despair after being oppressed, sacrificed its entire popution to open a Hell Gate, plunging the entire ti into 150 years of darkness and chaos. This isn’t just a tale; it’s written in the history books!

  This is a world where anything is possible with magic! Though these individuals eventually fell for various reasons, and the insane try was ultimately destroyed, these are all bloody lessons. Who’s to say another dragon-sying hero won’t rise from some small, oppressed nation?

  Even if they don’t destroy your entire try, they might kill a few royal members, or unch a fireball barrage on your capital. Would your try’s dignity, built over turies, still be intact? Even without magic, people oh have used po crash into buildings. Human bombers are still a thing.

  In this world, they wouldn’t just be bombers; they’d be human nuclear bombs! The kind that could cause trouble for turies. This is why those small tries haven’t been pletely annexed by the rger ohere have been ambitious rulers who tried to wipe out these small nations, but they failed for simir reasons.

  After the ti was embroiled iuries of chaos, the major powers reached a sensus: why push people to the brink? We have vast nds, abundant resources, and stable societies. Why foreoo sacrifice themselves, open a Hell Gate, and drag us all down with them? That would be sheer madness.

  Finally, after the st sacrificial i, all the nations on the ti gathered in and sighe world-famous Violet ant. They agreed that no try should decre war on another without a critical reason. The treaty also set limits on alliances between tries.

  As a result, the current state of the ti is one of interlog alliances, with nations ected through eiilitary means. The retionship between the Northern Alliand the Holy Churation is simir. The Northern Alliance was inally formed by small northern tribes that sent representatives to ally with the Holy Churation.

  The Holy Churation helps defend their borders, maintain order, and eradicate chaos. Iurn, the Northern Alliance is responsible for supplying the Fortress of Order with logistid provisions. The two sides have cooperated well, but Knight knows it’s not that simple. The Northern Alliance has its own internal troubles…

  But now isn’t the time to discuss such matters, so he quickly ged the subject. "Mr. Alex, what do you think?"

  "Me?" Alex pondered for a moment after hearing Knight ’s question. "All in all, we should py it by ear."

  (End of this chapter)

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