Chapter 1231 Shadow Jungle

In Kolo, there are countless ancient ruins with heavy stories like the "Hill of the Unknown Soldier". In the thousands of years when the tide of chaos continued to hit, heroic warriors, great emperors, wise scholars, and victorious generals One after another, figures who once shone brightly in history have sunk into the seemingly endless darkness. No matter how epic and glorious they once were, they were all destroyed in the ever-rotating wheel of war in the world of Koro. Crushed into pieces, like the cheapest consumables, they are continuously consumed in the grand time span of thousands of years.

Just like the great Elf Emperor six thousand years ago, he once unified almost an entire continent and fought bravely against Chaos. However, in the end, even his name was lost in the long river of history, and his empire was wiped out, not even a brick. Nothing was left of Wadu, and only the wisest and most knowledgeable scholars could find bits and pieces of descriptions in the books, and then told the stories about the ancient emperor in the most unreliable way.

In Kolo, all this is commonplace.

But Hao Ren, a bystander, could not be indifferent. As a prosecutor, he could not accept that a civilization had sunk into darkness in this way. For ten thousand years, the mortal race of Koro had been spinning in circles in the war. All the strength is consumed in the meaningless tug-of-war with the forces of chaos. There was something wrong with the world - and he felt he had to find a way to figure out the truth behind it.

After bidding farewell to the Hill of the Unknown Soldier, the team quickened their pace. Veronica hoped to reach the border of the Shadow Jungle before the end of the day. She had confirmed the location. If everything goes well, the knights would be able to see the border of the jungle in a few hours. A kingdom outpost was established.

Hao Ren noticed that the knight princess was a little impatient, which was especially obvious after leaving the Hill of the Unknown Warrior. It seemed that something urgent had happened, making the princess both powerless and anxious. He could vaguely guess what happened based on his previous exchanges with the knights: Veronica's army retreated into the desolate wilderness after a defeat. The Chaos army in the Shadow Jungle broke through the human blockade and launched an attack on the Kingdom of Order. After a surprise attack, Her Royal Highness the Princess is worried about the fate of her motherland and people, and if a miracle does not happen, this fate will obviously be very unoptimistic.

Morian and Hao Ren walked together. The old knight with gray beard and hair still maintained his seriousness as always. There were not many emotional fluctuations on his angular face. In fact, he also had something to do with Veronica in his heart. It's the same worry, but the veteran knows how to completely control it. He glanced at Hao Ren, who was silent, and suddenly broke the silence: "What was the Order State like a thousand years ago?"

Hao Ren was busy testing various communication channels in the mental connection. He was startled when he heard a sudden movement beside him. He looked at Morian unexpectedly. This was the first time in several days that the other party took the initiative to talk to him - - It's not that the old knight has any objections to him, but that the old man is taciturn by nature. Hao Ren blinked, not knowing what the other party's sudden mention of this question meant, but he still remembered that his identity in the other party's eyes was that of an ancient high-level temple guard, and he should have a lot to do with the "Order State" , so he answered in a very ambiguous way: "It's probably the same age as you today - the church rarely changes, and the priesthood determines everything."

Morian nodded noncommittally, and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking: "Half of the failure we encountered was due to the sudden retreat of the Order State. I have no intention of blaming or complaining, I just want to know more about the Order State's sudden retreat. Under what circumstances would Tuan Guo do such a thing?"

As the old knight spoke, he fixed his gaze on Hao Ren. His expression looked like he wanted to get a definite answer, but Hao Ren was instantly confused: Who the hell knows! Although he ran away from an ancient temple and took the title of "Ancient Guardian", this fake guy has nothing to do with the religious order country in this world! He, the Pope, is named after the Goddess of Twitch...

At this time, Veronica who was walking in front also heard the noise and came over. Her Royal Highness the Princess was equally concerned about this topic. She frowned: "For thousands of years, the Order Kingdom has been the apex of various kingdoms. They protect They control the entire world of order, and their authority is based on this responsibility. However, their retreat in the Shadow Jungle cannot be concealed at all. Sooner or later, this will spread, and the prestige of the church will suffer huge losses... Guardian, what do you think of the church? For what reason would the regiment forcefully withdraw its troops despite knowing such losses?"

Hao Ren opened his mouth, and after holding it for a long time, he finally got some inspiration from the employee handbook and some classic cases seen in the tutorial documents, and said vaguely: "I have an uneasy feeling, this must be a huge change within the church. Maybe there’s a problem within the Order’s country.”

"There will be problems in the sanctuary?" Morian raised his eyebrows, "How is that possible... The miracle of the Goddess of Creation is located on that continent, and no chaotic force has ever been able to approach the sanctuary."

Hao Ren said casually: "Maybe it's something other than the power of chaos?"

As soon as these words came out, the surroundings suddenly became strangely quiet.

"Uh... I just said it casually." Hao Ren saw the atmosphere and knew that he seemed to have said the wrong thing, so he quickly made up for it, but before he could say a few more words, he suddenly saw someone in front of him out of the corner of his eye. the shadow of the forest.

The Shadow Jungle is right in front of you.

The Shadow Jungle was once a vibrant and dense forest. Before the tide of chaos struck, this large forest that stretched between the plains and the kingdom was an important source of wood and alchemical materials in Talos. It was also the home of a few wild elves and goblins. home. This forest extends along the western and southern borders of the Talos Kingdom, forming a vast half-moon-shaped area. There are several elven settlements deep in the dense forest. In peaceful days, the elves rely on collecting herbs and herbs deep in the forest. Magic ores come to trade with humans outside the forest in exchange for daily necessities, while the goblins live with the elves and are responsible for maintaining the flow of magic in the forest.

But the tide of chaos changed the face of the forest. The originally vibrant green plants turned into dark and twisted demonic trees. The vines became highly poisonous. The shrubs began to devour the living creatures passing by the forest roads. The soil also lost its ability to support life. No herbs or food that could be used by humans grew in the jungle. Eventually, when the water in the jungle was poisoned, the elves and goblins evacuated their homes. According to Veronica, they evacuated from the forest. The goblins and elves who came out now live in several towns in the west and south of Talos, living as temporary citizens and assisting humans in protecting the borders of the Land of Order.

Hao Ren was a little surprised when he heard this situation, but he soon learned that this was actually a quite normal phenomenon in the world of Koro:

Chaos is always invading various kingdoms. The tide of the Sea of ​​Karnos will change the pattern of the continent every hundred years. Strong kingdoms can maintain relatively stable territories amidst such turmoil (larger empires even can last for ten centuries), but those small city-states and discrete ethnic groups living on the edge of the Land of Order are difficult to maintain - they are not weak from the beginning, but may be kingdoms that were defeated in the last tide of Chaos. After the new tidal cycle began, they were unable to protect their shattered homeland and could only seek refuge in the surrounding kingdoms.

Normally, kingdoms would not refuse such help.

Because everyone knows that one day they will too.

The elves in the Shadow Jungle also had a kingdom two centuries ago. This kingdom ruled the entire forest instead of just a few settlements. But in the end they declined and became a vassal of the Kingdom of Talos - for several years In the future, the Kingdom of Talos may also be like this. The once proud mountain people will become a few tribes wandering on the edge of the forest. When chaos and order conflict again, they will also have to seek refuge in a new country... …

Veronica bit her lip as she watched the dark forest trees pressing down on her head.

The kingdom may fall, but not today.

Hao Ren followed Veronica and walked step by step. The roads in the Shadow Jungle were extremely difficult to walk. In fact, there was basically nothing that could be called a "road" here. They were polluted by Chaos. The activated plants were moving all the time, and even the ground was not that stable. He saw with his own eyes two ancient trees slowly moving in the distance as if they had legs, while a piece of soil slowly moved under his nose. It solidified into stone and softened into a puddle of mud. In this case, even if there were once roads built by humans in the jungle, they have now been completely swallowed up and obliterated.

If the Desolate Wilderness is a dead place still in the mist, then the Shadow Jungle is a terrifying dream that is constantly surging like a nightmare, and everything that happens here is horrifying.

But even in this creepy magical dark forest, there is a sanctuary of order.

The Kingdom of Talos spent a huge amount of manpower and material resources to build Hearth Outposts in the forest. These outposts are important eyes and ears for the Kingdom of Order to monitor the border of Chaos. Each outpost requires an astonishing amount of materials to maintain stability in the Black Forest. , but this investment is worth it: if it were not for the existence of these outposts, it would be impossible for a small kingdom like Talos to persist until the seventh year in the tide of chaos in this century.

Soon the team, led by Veronica, approached the first fire outpost. Hao Ren saw a glimmer of light appearing in the darkness ahead, and the surrounding forest looked much more normal: swaying carnivorous shrubs and The walking magic trees have all returned to normal plants, which is a sign of order.

Seeing those shadowy buildings deep in the jungle, Veronica couldn't help but finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although she had prepared for the worst, at this moment she couldn't help but feel comforted, feeling that maybe the goddess of creation had not abandoned her yet. This troubled kingdom.

However, Hao Ren couldn't help but frown: the dim light in front did have an aura of order, but along with it... there was also a faint smell of blood.