Forsaken Land of the Gods, a night with very low lightning frequency.
Several human-like creatures cautiously approached a fleshy mass with six legs and a dozen eyes.
Wrapped in animal hides or simple clothing of unrecognizable original materials, they traversed the deep, boundless darkness by the light of a few lanterns, their expressions extremely solemn.
Some of them had a dozen or twenty fleshy growths on their faces, some had eyes that were almost squeezed together, and some didn't even have noses; the place was just a black hole.
After a fierce battle, they managed to defeat the Monster, then split into two groups: one group kept watch over the surroundings, while the other group collected the spoils.
During this process, the man with multiple fleshy growths on his face suddenly stopped dissecting the Monster's corpse and collecting edible parts.
" Adal, what's wrong?" the noseless woman asked, puzzled.
The man known as Adal slowly withdrew his right hand, revealing an item he had found on the Monster.
It was a talisman carved from a stone, showing signs of Corrosion.
"This is..." The man, whose eyes were almost squinted together, seemed to understand the reason, but hesitated and didn't finish his sentence.
Adal looked around and said:
"Shin, Ruth, this is what I gave to my father when I was a child."
"On the day I came of age, feeling he could no longer control himself, he chose to leave the city-state and enter the depths of darkness..."
Upon hearing this, both Xin and Ruth fell silent, understanding Adal's feelings.
This happens frequently in Moon City.
Lacking sufficient safe food, they could only gather mutated plant fruits and collect Monster flesh to survive.
This leads to the accumulation of toxins and madness, resulting in either rapid death or gradual loss of control as their physical condition declines.
In order not to affect the surrounding area or cause damage to the city-state, the latter, upon sensing that something was wrong, would often make arrangements, take a torch and a small amount of food, leave the defensive perimeter, and disappear alone into the never-ending darkness, never to return.
The residents of Moon City could imagine what their fate would be: either they would be killed by Monster, or they would become Monster themselves; there was no other possibility.
After seven or eight seconds of silence, the noseless woman, Sin, hesitated before speaking to Adal:
"Perhaps this is the Monster that killed your father."
"It had a belt made of animal hide wrapped around its body..." Adal's voice gradually lowered as he raised the bone dagger in his hand and forcefully plunged it down, cutting out a piece of relatively normal flesh.
The hunting party members worked silently and skillfully to collect the materials, until Ruth, whose eyes were almost squinted together, suddenly spoke in a low voice:
"The number of newborns with birth defects is increasing..."
The cost of accumulating toxins and madness generation after generation is far more than just a decrease in average age. Even those whose physical condition remains normal will gradually develop certain abnormalities, like Adal, who developed many tumors on his face.
Similarly, the accumulated toxins and madness can also be passed on to offspring, leading to deformities; Ruth and Sin in the hunting team belong to this category.
Their lives will be shorter, and they will be more prone to getting out of control and mutating.
The hunting team present all understood what the increasing number of deformed children meant: it meant that in just two or three generations, before the residents of Moon City had fully developed their bodies and conceived new generations, the situation might spiral out of control.
In that case, even without external attacks, Moon City would be quickly destroyed, leaving only stone buildings and murals as proof that they once existed.
"Hopefully, the High Priests and the others can find a new direction..." Adal stood up, carrying a lantern, his reply unusually weak.
For the past two or three thousand years, Moon City has not been without attempts to escape its current predicament. They have sent out one exploration team after another into the depths of darkness. Some returned after encountering serious setbacks, having gained nothing, while others disappeared without a trace, vanishing into the boundless darkness.
In addition, some distance east of Moon City, there is a gray-white mist that covers the sky and the earth.
They act like invisible barriers, not only blocking the view but also preventing any living creature from passing through.
The inhabitants of Moon City once believed that this was where hope lay, that the place shrouded in gray mist was a normal land, and that on the other side of the gray mist lay an uncursed land.
They tried again and again to enter the grayish-white mist, but each time they failed.
They dug long tunnels, trying to cross the earth where there were no invisible barriers, but the corresponding area deep within the earth was also shrouded in gray-white mist;
They managed to gain the ability to fly, attempting to soar through the sky, but they could never see the top of the grayish-white mist until they were struck by lightning;
They mobilized the power of all Demigod and Sealed Artifact, attacking the target time and time again. Over two or three thousand years, day after day, they accumulated their power, yet they failed to diminish the invisible barrier in the slightest...
Hearing Captain Adal's words, the hunting party members felt both desperate and sorrowful, as if they were slowly sliding down the edge of an " Abyss " and unable to save themselves.
Those with deformities are the type who have difficulty controlling their emotions, and at this moment they all feel more or less that something is being suppressed in their hearts, and they want to explode.
In Moon City, two or three hundred years ago, deformed individuals could not become Beyonder or join hunting teams; they could only do gathering work. However, as manpower became increasingly scarce, the High Priest and other high-ranking officials relaxed the restrictions.
"Let's go, this food isn't enough." Adal looked around, picked up his lantern, and headed deeper into the darkness.
They did not risk extinguishing the fire and letting Monster emerge from the darkness, because those were likely beyond their ability to handle.
In the suffocating silence, the members of Moon City's hunting team couldn't help but feel a sense of endless darkness.
This is much like Moon City's current predicament: there is no hope in sight, and the lantern in her hand has less and less time to burn.
When that last glimmer of light fades, they will be silently and completely swallowed by darkness.
As he walked, a dim yellow light suddenly appeared in Adal's eyes.
It was a tiny spark, not the spark of a hunting party!
The flickering light immediately illuminated the eyes of all members of the hunting party, filling their pupils.
Adal, Sin, Ruth, and the others stared wide-eyed, overwhelmed with surprise.
Throughout their lives, and in the historical records of Moon City after the Cataclysm, there was never a firelight originating from elsewhere!
Admittedly, many Monster possess abilities related to fire or the Sun, but before launching an attack, they lurk in the darkness, revealing no light whatsoever.
And now, a glimmer of light appears in the depths of darkness!
Adal, Sin, Ruth, and the others trembled slightly, their minds racing with thoughts, yet they couldn't find the answer.
They quickly reviewed the hunting arrangements and confirmed that it was impossible for any more Moon City residents to be nearby.
If the firelight doesn't belong to Moon City, where did it come from?
The entire hunting party slowed their pace, their reaction a mixture of shock, bewilderment, curiosity, fear, worry, and panic.
They had also discovered some destroyed city-states and knew that anything unusual in the darkness could be deadly.
"... Be on alert!" Adal finally snapped out of his daze and gave the order.
The hunting party immediately deployed into battle formation, waiting for the dim yellow light to approach.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment, each second moving so slowly. Finally, the flame grew larger, illuminating a human figure.
A figure... only one person... The members of the Moon City Hunting Team held their breath simultaneously.
They seemed, perhaps, possibly about to meet an outsider!
Two or three thousand years later, finally other people set foot on this land.
This abandoned world is no longer just for them.
As for who could possibly traverse the endless darkness and reach this place, Adal and the others had no idea, having no experience whatsoever.
As the flames grew larger and clearer, the members of the hunting team gradually made out the figure:
He was a tall, slender young man with black hair and brown eyes. He had a cold and stern expression and was neither deformed nor showing any unusual changes.
He wore a strange hat and strange clothes, and carried a lantern made of a special material, walking step by step from the depths of darkness.
The light from his lantern was brighter than the entire hunting party combined, causing the surrounding darkness to recede rapidly.
Before long, the light shone on Adal, Sin, Ruth, and the others.
The figure stopped, looked at the hunting team from Moon City, and spoke in a low voice:
"Where are you from?"
They were speaking the Jotun... their eyes were clear, and they could communicate... Adal opened his mouth, but stopped himself from instinctively answering.
He countered with a question:
"Who are you?"
The figure carrying the glass lantern responded calmly:
" Gehrman Sparrow."
After more than half a year of arduous journey and overcoming one difficulty after another, Klein's Spirituality intuition finally told him that he was about to reach his destination.
He also encountered the first living people on this " Travel " to the Forsaken Land of the Gods.
"Where are you from?" Adal asked warily.
Klein's gaze swept across their faces as he spoke in a unchanged tone:
I come from City of Silver.
"Also from beyond the Forsaken Land of the Gods."
Upon hearing this answer, all members of the hunting team were momentarily stunned, wondering if they had been too hopeful and were hallucinating.
In the autumn of 1351, Backlund was engulfed in the smoke of war.
Since Feynapotter also declared war on Loen, the war, which had been tug-of-war for some time, finally lost its balance. Loen and its allies, Lenburg, Masin, and Segar, lost a lot of territory, leaving only a few lines of defense putting up a difficult resistance, teetering on the brink of collapse.
After seeing the long queue at the food distribution point through the carriage window, Audrey slowly withdrew her gaze and said to her personal maid, Annie:
"To Saint Samuel Cathedral..."
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