Chapter 1235: The Dark Ages

During the darkest time of the Kingdom of Taros, two girls with great capabilities were born. The older princess, Veronica, was already the best sword wielder in the palace before she became an adult, and she possessed the talent of commanding an army in the battlefield. Even General Gloen could not help but give all praise to her. The younger princess, Ania, was known for her intelligence. Ania was not well-versed in swordsmanship and military strategy, but she had already read all the collections in the Royal Library before she was 14, and was highly talented in magic. But unlike the pair of princesses, who were the apple of Taros’ eye, the only prince of the kingdom, Andrew, appeared average in all aspects and had no sense of presence in public.

As much as Rudolph III was proud of his two daughters, he felt sad for them for having been born in that era. With their unparalleled talents, they would shine brightly in other ages. But they had to face the tide of Chaos in Collow at an early age. In face with this indiscriminate disaster, the time for them to shine would be short, and most often, the darkness would devour those talented young people before they could even grow up.

Veronica had become the first victim. When Rudolph III saw Ania, it kept reminding him of this reality.

“Tell me slowly, my daughter.” Rudolph III sank his forehead in his hand, his tone of voice sounded a little tired. “If something could make you take notice, even if it is a rumor, it must be something more than meets the eye.”

“Right, father.” Princess Ania bowed slightly and then said, “Firstly, it is about the observation of the border of the Chaos. The astrologers in the Arcane Tower, during a starless night, found a huge shadow vortex formed gradually at the border. Its radiation ranged from the Kingdom of Torch to the Shadowy Forest, almost halfway across the Ansu Continent. It is now the seventh year of the tide of Chaos. According to the previous pattern, the tide of the Sea of Carnos will begin to weaken in the last two months. But the appearance of the shadow vortex seems to go against this pattern.”

“The Sea of Carnos is turbulent, and it’s not easy to tell the boundaries between the Order and Chaos,” Grand Duke Loen suddenly spoke, and there was almost no emotional fluctuation in his voice. “What history books record are only the one-sided perspective of the mortals, you can’t treat it as the golden rule. And the shadow vortex is only the side product of the chaotic power, not the Chaos itself. Its rise and fall cannot be used to determine the strength of the tide of Chaos.”

Despite the interruption, Ania did not look displeased. Rudolph III nodded slightly and said, “What Loen said makes sense. Let the scholars study and then only make conclusions. Those people in the sanctum must be more concerned about the changes in the border of the Chaos than we do. They will do something.”

Ania nodded and continued. “There are also some reports on the defense outside the Shadowy Forest. After sister disappeared, the outposts in the forest went silent overnight, and then came the report of Fort West being attacked. So the investigation is difficult. One thing is certain though; we are facing a new kind of attack. It is likely that the Chaos has produced a new form of monsters, which are highly lethal to the furnace outposts.”

Rudolph III’s hand was still on his forehead, and he seemed to look a bit older. “Marcus is also old now.”

“The general of Fort West at least has stopped the monsters’ advances. The fort still stands between the mountains. The changes in the Shadowy Forest are a mystery to everyone; even our royal scholars couldn’t see what has happened in the shadows. So Marcus should not take the entire blame. If you want to hold anyone accountable, the Arcane Tower and the Royal Wizards Association should take the bulk of the responsibility as it is they have to monitor the changes of the Chaos, but they have not done so, and failed to send an early warning.”

General Gloen nodded lightly. He was a close acquaintance of the general of Fort West, Marcus, and knew that the defeat in the west front had put the legendary veteran into a dicey situation. But as a soldier, he could not stand the arrogant aristocratic analysts spewing their wanton comments of the soldiers in the western front.

Compared with the good-for-nothing aristocrats, Princess Ania had the respect of this general.

“I know the difficulties Marcus face and his contributions. Don’t worry; your father is not senile, I can make my judgment.” Rudolph III waved his hand, and his face looked little at ease now. “You have mentioned something about the floating islands in the south. What is it? Has the tide of Chaos affected the beasts too?”

In Collow, the beast was very different from the monsters. People collectively referred to the monsters born in the Chaos and the festered creatures eroded by the Chaos as a monster. But the beast was a natural creature in the world. Though the beast had some conflict with the human world, they were also part of the natural ecology of the world. The beast included those powerful primitive creatures that control the power of magic, the abhumans that mutated under the influence of the magic environment and obtain rudimentary intelligence and evolution. Most of the beasts on the floating islands were the second type.

The World of Order had never bothered to meet the abhumans outside the civilized world. Some scholars believed that abhumans also had their social structures and even cultural systems, but they also recognized that the abhumans’ intelligence was no way near that of the humans.

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Rudolph III was very curious what trouble the low-intellectual races on the floating islands had caused. Even the reclusive royal scholars had taken note.

“The wizards have found that the abhuman tribes that had been at war with each other suddenly stopped fighting. It seems that a strong leader is emerging among them to unite the races. The latest news from the Arcane Towers is that the tribes are cutting down trees to make some large installations, which could be a mean of transportation. A few days ago, the wizards observed that an old blue monster whale wandered from the direction of the Kingdom of Fimbulvinter, seemingly resting on the largest floating island. But it never got back to the air again. My teacher has suspected that this incident must be related to the strange activities of those abhumans.”

“Blue Monster Whale?” Unlike his indifference expression when talking about the abhumans, the blue monster whale seemed to catch Rudolph III’s attention. “The abhumans that have just evolved from the beast could catch a blue monster whale? How?”

“It was not necessarily them. As the floating islands float outside the continents, we could only use magic to observe the situation on the islands. But it is certain that a blue monster whale is missing on the island.”

The conversation caught Grand Duke Loen’s interest. The thin man stepped forward and gently stroke the mustache that he was proud of. “What else did the masters in the Arcane Tower discover Did anyone know who united those beasts?”

“Grand Duke Loen, the abhuman is not the same as the beast.” Ania glanced at Grand Duke Loen and then said. “The witches used black witchcraft and succeeded in capturing a soul on the floating island across the Sea of Carnos. The captured soul kept repeating a name: the Alpha. This alpha should be their new leader. The soul was shivering in fear and awe while mentioning this name.”

“The Alpha?” Gloen frowned, the scar on his face looked even more hideous than before. “It sounds like the name of a beast, maybe a gnoll? Or a wolf?”

“The gnolls have always been in the lower rung in the anhumans. With their low innate qualities, it is difficult for them to produce a decent leader.” Princess Ania shook her head. “Monster wolves, the powerful predators of the abhumans, are strong, but have an only moderate level of intelligence, and they are unlikely to be the heads of several tribes. The scholars are inclined to believe that the Alpha is just an honorary title, not related to race. It is a respected title of a strong person who has united all the abhumans.”

“Your Majesty, this is a matter of concern,” Grand Duke Loen said as he bowed slightly to Rudolph III. “The gathering of the beasts has never been a good thing. They may be a bunch of rabbles, but beasts are born stronger than humans. As the kingdom’s defense is weakening, we should take precautions.”

“They are merely abhumans. Are they dare to attack a country?” Rudolph III snorted. “But proper precautions are still necessary. They could still wreak havoc and cause us huge losses. Loen, you are to be in charge of this matter. Putting appropriate defense at the southern border will do. The war on the western front is critical; we should not divert too many troops away.”

When the two high-level officers left, the room was quiet again.

Rudolph III sat in his chair, and there seemed to be a cloud of worry in between his brows that would never dissipate. For a long time, he then sighed, “Ania, open the window.”

The young princess nodded and walked to the window.

Sunlight sprinkled into the room, the sun Ulo was right in the middle of the sky. This room, on the top floor of the Palace of Golden Roses, was the grand stance to have an entire view of White City, which stretched out on the plains, bright and white.

The sky was bright, cloudless. Only at the far end of the horizon, the sky seemed to begin to dim. A circle of dark aura was hanging in the atmosphere there, which was the reflection of the dark side of the Sea of Carnos.

“After the Chaos, comes the beasts,” Rudolph III mumbled as he looked at the clear sky outside, but his face was overcast. “What is happening to this world?”