Two days later, in the afternoon, Bai Xiaowen summoned Cecilia at the agreed time.
"I led a group of elite mounted archers to the Central Province, where the Gorseflower Empire's capital is. But I haven't seen Nicholas IV."
A trace of fatigue from the long march still lingered on Cecilia's face. She said softly, "Given who I am, I was received well. From a junior official who greeted me, I learned a little about the current state of the Gorseflower Empire... or rather, the Kane Plane."
"Dio, you were right. An outside force really has upset the balance in the Gorseflower Empire!"
Bai Xiaowen asked, "Who? The Remnants?"
"I don't know exactly what force it is... Those monsters came from underground!"
Cecilia continued, "There's a place called the Bersuvi Grand Gold Mine in the West Desert Province. The greedy Duke Bersuvi dug through to the Underworld! Drow Elves, spider demons, and all sorts of other creatures of darkness have been pouring up from below..."
"The Underworld?" Bai Xiaowen was stunned. "There's another world beneath the Kane Continent... It's hard to imagine."
"One thing in particular worries me," Cecilia said. "The conservative nobles of the West Desert Province seem to have reached an agreement with those monsters! Monster armies in the province have been targeting the Imperial Army loyal to the royal family. Many officers who returned to the capital to recover from their wounds swore they'd seen the monsters encounter noble rebels without either side attacking."
"So these monsters are what stopped Nicholas IV from wiping out the rebels?" Bai Xiaowen had his doubts. Compared with the Imperial Legions, the nobles' private armies had the fighting strength of half a goose. Even with monsters harassing them, the Imperial Regular Army should have been able to push through and destroy the