The guards on Free City's walls rotated through three shifts every day. Situated at the junction of the Three Kingdoms and the Land of Chaos, and governed by Wisdom Academy, Free City should have been somewhere no faction dared cause trouble. Yet its security was exceptionally strict, chiefly to guard against demon beast attacks. Ever since Beast Tides first appeared, humanity had been investigating their cause. Even after all these years, however, no one had solved the mystery. All they knew was that the Beast Tides began deep within the Land of Chaos.
Everything originated in the central region of the Demon Beast Forest, but no one knew why such things happened there. Some had ventured into its depths to investigate what triggered the Beast Tides, yet every mage or warrior who went, regardless of rank, remained in the forest forever. Those at divine rank or above seemed bound by certain restrictions and would not enter the forest's depths. Even if they did go and returned, they would reveal nothing, whether they had deliberately gone exploring or wandered in by accident.
After returning, they never breathed a word of it, not even to those closest to them. They only said, "This isn't something anyone below divine rank should know. If you want to find out, focus on your training. Once you reach divine rank, you'll naturally understand." Over time, the Demon Beast Forest Central Region became a forbidden zone.
But that was a digression. Back at the walls, it was time for another change of shifts. A squad of guards approached, and one said to the captain on duty, "Thank you for your hard work, senior. We'll take over protecting Free City now."
The captain nodded. "All right. I'll leave it to you, then. The demon beasts have been