Chapter 1216: Veronica

After he checked his physical condition and Dimensional Pocket, Hao Ren decided to explore the temple.

Of course, he was worried about where Lily had gone to, but before that, he had to figure out what place he was in. From what he could see, he was sure that he was no longer in space, so where was he now?

He first examined the statues between the pillars. They had been badly damaged. The temple built by mortals could not compare with the real temple of the gods on the Star of Creation. After thousands of years of weathering, the once solid statues were now unrecognizable. All the patterns on the pillars had been chipped away, and most of the statues of heroes or great men had been destroyed. Only pedestals were left. Hao Ren stopped in front of a statue, which was barely recognizable. It was of a warrior in armor. Facing the center of the temple, the warrior was holding his sword and looking up slightly. His eyes were focused on the empty space above. That should be where the pulpit was.

If the pulpit represents the voice of the gods, then the statues represent the greatest warriors in history or something like that , Hao Ren reasoned with his logic.

Apart from the statues and pillars, there was nothing remarkable there. Hao Ren looked around and found nothing else. Then, he came to the gate of the temple.

After he stepped over the debris of a collapsed wooden door, the view outside the temple greeted Hao Ren’s eyes. Although Hao Ren had made a lot of speculations and assumptions before his departure, he was still surprised to see the situation outside. The world was enveloped in chaos.

The temple was located on a mountain, occupying almost the entire summit. Jagged rocks stretched at his feet, growing darker as they went. The foot of the mountain was almost entirely covered in darkness. There was no life on the mountain, only withered and twisted shrubs as well as dark boulders scattered all over the hillside.

Hao Ren tried hard to concentrate, and he was finally able to see through the darkness in the distance. He saw a barren wilderness spread out at the foot of the mountain. Twisted plants and strange shadows stretched across the area. Thick fog hovered over the wilderness, making it harder for him to see the distant landscape. Meanwhile, the sky was engulfed in endless darkness and chaos. There was no sun, no moon, no stars, and no clouds; only large, shapeless black patches rolling in the grayish-black background as if doomsday was coming.

In any case, it did not look like normal “weather” or even any kind of atmospheric landscape, which any planet would see.

“What the hell is this place…” Hao Ren grunted as he looked at the absolutely unnatural landscape. Nonetheless, he was still relieved. It was much better than wandering in space.

If Lily had also landed there, then she should be safe.

While Hao Ren thought about how he would look for Lily, a little light suddenly appeared on the plain and caught his attention.

The light emerged from the chaotic desert in the distance and gradually drifted towards the bare rocky mountain. The light was weak, but where the light shone, the darkness and fog receded. Hao Ren stared at it carefully and finally saw some dim figures in the light… There was something else amid those figures.

…

A dozen weary soldiers were carrying broken armor, notched swords, and a tattered golden flag. That was all the squadron of the once-glorious Taros Royal Guard had left. Under the faint light of the golden battle flag, the shield of light only covered a distance of 100 m. Walking numbly in the hopelessly narrow light shield, Veronica’s heart was sinking bit by bit.

The brutal battlefield in the Darkshadow Thicket still lingered in their minds like a nightmare. More than 2,000 brave veterans died in the bloody meat grinder. Servants of Chaos poured out from all directions and devoured precious lives, leaving noble knights to howl and die without dignity. The entire battlefield was smeared in foul blood. And Princess Veronica, the most treasured pearl in the kingdom, who led the battle for the first time, had been defeated. They were about to be engulfed by the forgotten dark wilderness.

However, Veronica’s greatest fear was not the assailment of her defeat by the kingdom’s inept aristocrats, or the carving up of her land and wealth by others after she left. She was not even very worried about her fate. All she could think of was this: the largest den of the Chaos in Darkshadow Thicket had finally broken through the blockade. The Servants of Chaos could reach the kingdom’s borders in half a month. Who could send them an early warning?

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If only one messenger could break through the siege and enable the border to receive the bad news in time. Earlier preparations could save tens of thousands of lives.

But she was doomed to fail. Although she had tried to break through the siege and retreat towards the kingdom’s border, the fog blockade in Darkshadow Thicket had led her soldiers astray. They could only move on in the deserted wilderness, looking for a glimmer of hope, which was recorded in an unreliable ancient book.

“The Theocracy, those bastards! We would never have ended up like this if their monks hadn’t left the battlefield early.”

A grizzled old knight was furious. He shook violently and almost fell off his horse’s back.

The old knight’s warhorse hung its head low, wobbling as it walked. It looked like it had been infected with an epidemic in the wilderness. In fact, almost all the remaining horses in the team were on the verge of exhaustion. Most ordinary animals would not survive more than three days after losing the light shield.

The light of the golden flag was like a candle glimmering in the wind. The shield it provided was not enough for humans, let alone the horses. Perhaps tomorrow, or perhaps today, half the team would lose their mounts.

If they could not find the holy mountain before then, imagine what would happen to a group of mortals trekking through the chaos.

“Sir Morian, the monks of the Theocracy also fought bravely. Their bravery and spirit of sacrifice were palpable to all,” Veronica shook her head and said. Her long lilac hair was stained with blood, and it had lost its luster. “There must be some reason for their sudden withdrawal. Darkshadow Thicket is not the only battlefield on the frontier of chaos.”

The old knight bowed his head and stopped talking. The young knights at the back did not make a sound.

These were the most loyal soldiers in the kingdom. They had sworn fealty to the country with their lives, and their loyalty was a trait known throughout Collow. Even when they fell under the command of the princess, the respect and obedience that the knights showed to Veronica did not diminish at all.

In fact, they knew there was nothing wrong with Veronica’s command. Even if a veteran had been there instead, it would not have changed the results. There were three times more enemies than expected, and then there was the early withdrawal of the monks. The best commander could not have turned such a situation around.

Veronica looked at her surroundings and saw billows of shadowy black smoke appearing around the golden flag. The black smoke emerged from the fog and gathered on all sides like a pack of hungry wolves. She could clearly see that their bodies had gradually formed, but they were not about to attack yet.

At least, not for the time being.

The knights had fended off an attack one hour ago and burned the remaining magic reserves of the golden flag. Now, the surrounding fog was not powerful enough to form the Servants of Chaos. Nevertheless, as time went on, the power of the golden flag would decline, and the monsters in the dark would launch a new attack. It was hard to say how many of them would survive after the next attack.

Veronica looked up again into the distance.

All she could see was a thick cloud of fog and the unfathomable darkness behind it. Walking in the wilderness was a hundred times more dangerous than walking in the mountains because there was nothing around to guide them. Plus, the fog and darkness could quickly get them lost. Although she was carrying the most advanced amulet made by the Royal Alchemist, it could only provide general direction and distance.

Such little guidance in the endless darkness did not make them feel any safer.

The princess shook her head, trying not to think if she had missed the holy mountain.