Chapter 670

Chapter Fifty-Five The Journey to the Eastern Continent Part I

The flickering candlelight cast an ambiguous glow on the walls, dimming the small space of the earthen house.

After Carlos said those words, the atmosphere between us suddenly became somewhat unusual, growing increasingly quiet and solemn.

And that peculiar stillness seemed to signify that we could finally sit down and talk properly.

For the time being, I no longer had the desire to leave. Although it was still difficult to regain that trust from the depths of my heart, I decided that at least for now, I would be patient, suppress my inner emotions, and listen to him finish what he had to say.

Carlos, after a brief silence, completely calmed the sorrow that had inadvertently surfaced, and with a hint of drunkenness, began recounting the details of his journey to the Eastern Continent.

“At first, it was a letter from my teacher.”

The man’s eyes regained some luster, his voice slow and deep. The lamp on the table illuminated the clear contours of his stubbled face.

“In recent years, he has been staying in this land of the Eastern Continent, together with Lea… Little Shir, you know, more than twenty years ago, the Church once launched an extermination campaign against the Gate of Truth.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That campaign was led by Mr. Ryan, who, along with Cardinal Nero, led several Papal Knights, a group of elite members from the Faith Corps, and two divisions from the First Order of the Church, known for their invincibility, ‘The Grace Scales’ and ‘The Fist of Judgment.’ They successfully breached the secret stronghold of the Gate of Truth in Epulista, Mossander Great Basin…”

“The leader of the Gate of Truth, that self-proclaimed demon lord, engaged in a spectacular battle with my teacher during that siege, but ultimately, he was not his match. He was struck down by the sword, along with his faithful followers. After that, the Gate of Truth was almost completely destroyed. The few heretics who managed to escape have since gone into hiding, never daring to commit evil again, vanishing for nearly twenty years…”

“The Church liberated the Eastern Continent from the wicked, a result accumulated over centuries of continuous struggle with the Gate of Truth. This was their final battle, and the Church achieved an unprecedented victory. However, in reality, this could not be considered a complete triumph.”

Carlos paused: “They still had a spark.”

“During the eight hundredth year of the Common Era, due to someone within the Church being incited by demons, the spark of sin was stolen and lost. Those incited by demons became the precursor to the Gate of Truth… You understand this too. Regardless of the truth or falsehood in this matter, the stolen spark is undoubtedly the source of the sin-fire power of the Gate of Truth.”

“And if this source is not thoroughly severed, then after some time—perhaps a very long time—the Gate of Truth will inevitably rise again, as few can resist such temptation.”

“But during that siege, although they killed the leading heretics, they ultimately failed to find it. The spark of sin had long disappeared. Perhaps the Gate of Truth had noticed something amiss and someone had moved it in advance, or perhaps the spark was never there in the first place…”

“After the main force withdrew, my teacher, Mr. Ryan, has been frequently active in the Eastern Continent over the years, searching for traces of the spark in the vast desert… I met him under a chance encounter, many years ago… Later, he also returned to the Western Continent, staying in the capital city for some time. In the first few years, I would often follow the old

By his side, listening to his teachings… After coming of age, I was to stay in West Continent and slay the Abyss.

“But Leah still followed the teacher closely. In recent years, the teacher no longer returned to West Continent. I hadn’t seen him for a long time then, and suddenly, I received that message.”

Wailing sounds—

The round window of the earthen building wasn’t fully closed. At this moment, the wind outside seemed stronger, sounding like wails of ghosts, banging against the windows with a “rustling” noise. The little girl at the door continued rustling. I could hear her breathing nervously and hurriedly as she leaned on the edge of the door frame.

The flame on the table flickered. The man’s voice continued.

“The teacher mentioned in the letter that he already had clues about the fire source, but currently, the clues were not clear. We needed to assist in the investigation while staying in West Continent… I, along with Aprifel, were going to East Continent. The teacher asked me to inform her at the Royal Academy and make some preparations there. This was also my purpose for returning to the royal city back then.”

“So later… we boarded a rhinoceros carriage, departed from the royal city, and arrived at East Holy Coast. There, we boarded a ship to cross the sea and reached Nogavi by the end of July. Before that, I had inquired about the situation at Siljaya Mosley Coast. What I heard… were all good news.”

“I didn’t think he would let you go there.”

His voice immediately became low again: “And during this trip to East Continent, after I landed and met the teacher, I vaguely understood something. The Church… no, the Pope. He had actually foreseen many things, realizing that the Truth Gate would likely emerge en masse. They couldn’t have more people, so here in East Continent, we would have more opportunities to completely retrieve the fire source…”

“Everything was part of a well-planned operation.”

“But initially, the biggest problem was that we still didn’t know the exact location of the fire source, only its general area. The teacher happened to catch one of the Jester’s subordinates and clarified that in the outskirts near Apolista, close to the Amikil Mountains, there was an isolated small town. And this town… seemed to have started gathering a large number of remnants of the Truth Gate in recent years…”

“The villains’ power has revived, with new members constantly joining. The fire source must be nearby, but we couldn’t thoroughly determine the specific location of the town. So, we first headed south of the desert to investigate the exact location of the town… And at this time, I happened to receive a message from West Continent…”

“The first message did not mention the阶段性 results of the Siljaya war. It was a report about Mosley Coast. The Third Knight Order was defeated; the heretics advanced fiercely, pushing towards the southern region. The First Knight Order in the Holy City was mobilized; those were the guys from the Judgment Fist. The Pope might personally lead the battle…”

“Huh, I didn’t realize the true severity of the situation at that time.”

“Although I felt slightly worried about the coastal battles, since the Judgment Fist was involved, I thought the outcome wouldn’t be too bad even if it was the worst. Even if it was that jester, there were people in the First Knight Order who could counter him…”

“But regardless, we needed to hurry with matters in East Continent.”

“At the end of last year, we came here and secretly investigated the underground forces of many towns. We had contact with existences like the Nordin Gang. We tried to find the rats hiding in the dark sewers, the scattered followers of the Truth Gate…”

At this point, Carlos tapped the table with his finger: “But the final result was not satisfactory.”