Source of Chaos

"Mo... monster!"

In the Square of Forty Heroes, worshippers scattered in panic. The enormous Spider Demon sprayed webs from its tail, going to great lengths to defile the holy water distributed by Otons Church.

"Quick! Quick! Everyone, run!" Aislanna directed the choir children and elderly nuns to flee deeper into the safer interior of Mira Cathedral.

"Your Eminence the bishop—" Aislanna shouted. "Your Eminence, come back! It's too dangerous outside! The cathedral is safe!"

"May the gods protect us—" Cardinal Labrador sang the praises of the gods as he walked alone toward the center of the square. The entire Hero Square was empty, as though it had deliberately made room for Latmimi's battle.

The statues of the forty heroes were majestic and lifelike, their exquisite craftsmanship unmatched. Yet sadly, these structures would be reduced to ashes in the next moment.

"Your Eminence—Your Eminence—" the choir children cried in unison. "It's dangerous over there—"

"The gods protect me—I fear nothing—" Labrador shouted.

Boom— With a deafening explosion, the statues of the forty heroes in Hero Square collapsed. Even the serpent head in the hands of the hero Okasht fell to the ground and shattered.

"Evil monster, in the name of the gods, we shall surely slay you!" Pure white divine light radiated from Sister Latmimi's body. It was a miracle that only the gods' most devout followers could invoke.

"Insignificant humans... h-how dare you plot against me!"

The hideous Spider Demon trembled atop the ruins of the forty hero statues. As Latmimi advanced step by step, its mental defenses had already collapsed without a fight. As a monster, she had never imagined that a mere church nun could beat her into such a miserable state.

The monster let out a roar and made one final desperate attempt, spewing blackish-yellow venom from its mouth. The statues on the ground dissolved into gelatinous sludge shortly after being tainted by the poison.

Latmimi smiled faintly and flicked the venom aside with one hand. Driven by the power of her immense faith, the battle nun split the Spider Demon in two with her bare hands.

"I... I refuse to accept this—" The not-yet-dead Spider Demon drove its severed body toward Cardinal Labrador and the choir hiding inside the cathedral.

"May the gods protect us..." Cardinal Labrador fell to his knees as divine light enveloped him. The Spider Demon's remains turned to ash the instant they touched the light, but Mira Cathedral, where Aislanna and the other high-ranking clergy had taken shelter, was not so fortunate.

The Spider Demon's remains smashed through the cathedral's doorway. Priests and nuns praying deep inside were crushed beneath the collapsing dome, while the choir hiding beneath the entrance portico were disfigured by venom splashed out after the Spider Demon's death.

Aislanna was the luckiest among them. Other than minor injuries, she remained completely intact.

"Gods..." The crowd that had fled earlier gradually returned. Seeing the collapsed Mira Cathedral and the disfigured children, they wept, cursed, and raged.

"That damned monster! Why would it do something so utterly inhuman? They were still children..."

"May the gods protect us..."

"May the gods protect us..."

"May the gods protect us..."

Sister Latmimi, who had fought the Spider Demon, slowly approached while supporting Cardinal Labrador. The crowd consciously made way for them.

"May the gods protect us—" Cardinal Labrador shouted. "Those evil fiends cannot destroy our faith. What does not kill us will only make us stronger. Let everyone here pray for these innocent dead. May there be no more monsters in the gods' kingdom, and may the merciful gods treat our brothers and sisters kindly—"

"May the merciful gods treat our brothers and sisters kindly..." The crowd knelt, with Cardinal Labrador at its center.

"May our devout faith guide Canfor's souls onto the righteous path shown by the gods..." Bishop Labrador cried out once again.

Voices rose and fell as the crowd joined the bishop's cry.

"What am I now... a human or a monster... Why did I submit to the evil god... If I submit to the evil god, will you appear again... Father... Mother... Sister Fanafuna..."

The screams of undead monsters echoed through the slum streets. Civilians and merchants fled this black market as though avoiding a plague. Decayed evil power corroded the earthen-tile roofs, and vast sections of buildings began to collapse.

"What's going on over there—"

Tiadam stood atop his fortress and looked toward the source of the disturbance. Yellow-green sludge surged out from nowhere, covering nearly half the street in moments, while countless lesser undead crawled out from within it.

Zombies, skeletons, and ghouls chased the slum residents.

"Are those... zombies?" Abelato watched from above. In the middle of the sludge, a fourteen-year-old boy knelt on one knee. It was from this boy that Abelato saw an endless stream of decayed evil power contaminating the southern lands of Canfor.

"That boy should be the source of this unrest..." Abelato shouted to the martyrs accompanying him. "Everyone! Hold tight to your holy artifacts, and bring your holy water and gospels! What we are about to face may very well be an ancient evil fiend, but do not be afraid! Remember, the gods will protect us!"

"The gods protect us—" the martyrs shouted in unison.

"Strange things, running onto my turf—" Tiadam swung his greatsword and cut down the evil creatures rushing toward him. These rotting things scurried around like headless flies, attacking every living creature they could see.

"Brothers, these dead things are trying to take our turf—" Tiadam shouted from above. "How should we welcome them?"

"Cut them down—" the lackeys shouted in response. The bandits, once nothing more than a disorganized rabble, became exceptionally brave under Tiadam's encouragement. These men who normally preyed on the weak did not think of fleeing. Instead, they raised their swords and charged at the monsters.

"Sleeping hero... what an interesting fellow..." Eliyi hovered in the air, looking down upon everything. "But don't get too full of yourself... this is only the beginning, my dear friend..."

Leichina's long-dead body made a nauseating sound. His utterly rotten form slowly rose from the ground as wails and terror rang endlessly in his ears.

"Monster—"

"Monster—"

"Monster—"

Leichina fell to his knees as yellow-green fluid flowed from his eyes. Helplessly, he looked at his own hands. His already festering limbs could no longer feel pain. When he raised his head again, the ruined streets, the skeletons continuously crawling from the sludge, and the innocent passersby whose bellies had been ripped open... all of it proclaimed his atrocities.

"This... this wasn't done by me..." Leichina tried to flee the nightmare like a child. "I really didn't... want to hurt anyone... I didn't do this!"

Leichina's wail turned into a scream. The passersby killed earlier by the undead monsters also began to rise. Their bodies transformed into new monsters, and a plague-like disaster began.

"What a pain—" Tiadam swung his greatsword. "Why are these bastards getting back up again?!"

A lackey stood back-to-back with Tiadam. "Boss, there are more and more of them! The brothers can barely hold on!"

"Then take the valuables and get the brothers out of here!"

"What about you, Boss?" the lackey asked.

"I'll cover your retreat. These things are hard to deal with..." Before Tiadam could finish, he heard a drip... drip... sound coming from his own body.

"You..." Tiadam turned around and saw a traitor grinning savagely.

"Boss, you can't blame me for this..." the lackey said quietly. "Who told you your head was worth so much..."

"You bastard—" Tiadam was about to strike back, but the undead drawn by the blood seized him tightly. "You... damned bastard!"

The traitor ran toward the crowd and shouted, "The boss has been caught by the monsters! Run—everyone, run—"

"B-bastard..." The last thing Tiadam saw was the brothers who had relied on one another with him for years scattering in every direction, while the greatsword that fell from his hand was picked up by someone else.

The sun gradually sank like Chi, a hero in his twilight years, and the decline of Canfor, this city of old, seemed fated as well...

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