Meanwhile, Acnologia also announced that none of his countrymen were permitted to enter that boundless desert.
Instead, the order piqued the interest of some adventurers. They entered the desert one after another, but just as Acnologia had said, the place had been cursed. Not only had no one inside ever come back out, but none of those who went in returned with any information either.
Later, that desert came to be known as the Death Desert.
Of course, the secret unknown to others was known within the Church. At the time, Behemoth was not Acnologia's match, but the Church had already begun to realize that Acnologia was not someone to be trifled with. Their earlier cooperation with him had indeed brought the Church considerable growth, but it would gradually become like seeking a tiger's hide. Thus, a consensus arose within the Church at that time: Acnologia's development had to be restrained.
So during this expedition, the Church betrayed Acnologia. They colluded with Behemoth and dealt Acnologia's army a heavy blow, but what they had not expected was that Acnologia still emerged victorious in the end.
As for Behemoth... to the Church, a defeated ally had no value whatsoever, so they had no further contact after that.
As for the desert's later closure, even the Church did not know the details until a piece of parchment was discovered several months ago.
Upon hearing this, Li looked at the tattered-looking parchment. In truth, Li could not make out what the thing was at all; he had never seen the writing on it in the temple.
Saga and Mu then translated the writing for him. In short, it was an account written in poetic form: When the setting sun left behind its fading red glow, the maidens lit bonfires. They sang cheerful songs