Chapter 574

In the cracked and desolate land, a lone girl stood beside the deceased Deacon Geoffrey, her black hair fluttering gently in the wind. Above her, the sky thundered with purple lightning. Through the withered forest, one could faintly see in the far distance, beyond the girl, what appeared to be a wild expanse where an intense and bizarre storm raged, accompanied by flickering golden light.

The roar of a giant beast and the sound of iron hooves treading on broken earth approached from that direction.

I turned my head.

Several Beast-Tamer cultivators rushed through the forest, stopping not too far away. The man leading them looked haggard, his robe somewhat dirty. After a brief glance at the corpses, his eyes fixed on my face.

“Are you…”

Beside him, someone spoke, “Wait, black-haired, black-eyed… an underage girl…”

“You… No, are you…” The man suddenly widened his eyes, “Are you Lady Silvija?”

“Yes, there’s no mistake…”

“Silvija大人!”

In the exchange, they had already confirmed my identity. They hurriedly dismounted and walked towards me, their expressions filled with excitement. The man at the front reached me first and bowed together with the five other cultivators behind him.

“Silvija大人!” His tone was very enthusiastic, “You’ve finally arrived! You’ve finally come! This is truly a blessing from the gods… On behalf of all the faithful members who fought to the death against the heretics, I offer you our deepest respect!”

“Who are you…”

I looked at their unfamiliar, flushed faces and suddenly remembered Deacon Geoffrey’s last actions, understanding immediately.

“You are… from the Land of the Great Dragon, this side…”

“We are the priests guarding the ruins! Silvija大人, please, you must come with me to the battlefield!”

After the bow, there was no unnecessary small talk, nor the usual decorum of the priests. The man, who seemed to be nearing forty, became as excited as a child upon seeing me. He shouted loudly, his eyes revealing a hint of fanaticism. Overwhelmed with emotion, he was nearly in tears, his voice trembling.

“The Land of the Great Dragon is about to open, and the demons trapped inside will soon emerge! All the remaining cultivators and warriors of the Church are there, all of them… This is the final battle! Those two damned heretics, we’ve fought tooth and nail… Even if we fought to the death, we couldn’t stop them, we were too powerless, we couldn’t stop them—”

His eyes reddened, and his choked words ended with him tightly gripping my hand: “Silvija大人, we don’t have time, this is our last chance… Otherwise, otherwise… If the heretics succeed…”

He seemed at a loss for words, his entire face filled with urgency and pleading.

The Land of the Great Dragon is about to open…

My heart sank sharply, and I no longer had time to worry about anything else. Quickly telling the cultivators to lead the way, I stepped toward the eland beast. The cultivators hurried to follow. A few steps later, I paused and couldn’t help but turn back.

Behind me lay Deacon Geoffrey in the black mud, along with the three young cultivators.

They were all lifeless.

“Silvija大人…”

The man saw me stop and thought I was hesitant or had reservations, so he urgently called out my name, likely wanting to say something.

I waved at him and pointed to the corpses behind, muttering, “It was them. They fought to the end to bring me here.”

The cultivators looked over and fell silent.

This was the teleportation node they had just set up.

As I arrived, a single glance was enough to see the state of the corpse. These people had already understood, for the most part, how their companion had sent me over.

“That’s Father Geoffrey…”

“Little Oxy, the one I knew…”

Among these monks, some recognized who had died, and some may have been friends with him. Their faces were filled with sadness, but more than that, there was an understanding from the depths of their hearts, and an unmasked respect.

They were all the same kind of people, born for the same faith.

“Father Geoffrey and the others… used themselves as conduits…”

“But the ancient and great divine power far exceeded what mortal bodies could bear… They were all remarkable heroes.”

The monks spoke, turned collectively, and pounded their right fists on their chests, offering the highest tribute of warriors to the one who had already passed away.

“Hail to the hero!”

Hail to the hero…

I silently repeated in my heart, imitating them and making the same gesture.

From Silgaya onwards, there were countless people, countless warriors, who fought for glory, for belief, to protect the millions of citizens of West Continent…

In the end, they all became such heroes.

Heroes who had fallen.

Such heroes, even if they lied to me or intended to hide something from me, those things became insignificant in the face of their actions.

I just hope that in the future, there will be fewer such heroes.

The silent mourning did not last long. Apart from paying respects, there was no time for anything else. We didn’t even have time to collect the body. After the monks mounted their beasts again, I grabbed the arm of the leading priest, stepped onto the stirrup behind him, and gripped the blood-stained hem of his robe, taking a deep breath to calm my turbulent emotions.

Unwavering determination shone in my dark eyes.

“Ha—”

The monks urged the horned horses forward. The iron hooves thundered as they galloped, trampling the cracked red earth, speeding through the dead giant trees.

The wind whistled by my ears. Thick branches crisscrossed high above, and ancient, dilapidated wooden houses sat among the tree branches. Some were suspended from the trees, and most of the houses had collapsed, with black decay clinging to them, looking incredibly old, so old that their origins were lost to time.

But even so, seeing these withered yet still standing millennium-old giant trees, and the strange ancient houses on them, I could still imagine the magnificent scene this place must have been in its heyday.

They say this was once the home of the fairies.

This world was originally meant to be more wondrous, like many fantasy novels describe, with fairies, dragons, and various alien races of diverse forms and appearances. If they could coexist peacefully, how wonderful it would be.

But war tears apart everything beautiful, and those alien races were eventually buried by history. After thousands of years, only “humans,” the victors, remained alive in this world.

Even so, the war continues.

When will it end?

Perhaps it never will.

But…

If I put all my effort into it, perhaps I can change something.

Even if it’s just a little bit.

Change something…

Let me see things gradually getting better.

That would be enough.

Trot, trot, trot…

The galloping horned horses crossed the vast expanse of dead forest, stepping with agile strides into the marshland covered with shallow grass. They raced over puddles, splashing dirty mud. The marshland wasn’t extensive. Soon, after we bypassed a muddy pit, a lush green field suddenly appeared before us.