The Story of a City and the Disappearance of One City

Nighttime in Death Valley, where every day feels eerie.

Even though Legia knew she was safe in Lord Millard's territory, her body still shivered every time she heard the roars of monsters in the dark woods.

Occasionally, when she was telling a story, Legia would pause and heighten her alertness upon hearing the sound or slight tremor of the monsters from afar.

This amused Cien, who would always smile.

Whenever someone visited, whether it was the Princess or Jamie, seeing their reactions as if they were ready to risk their lives whenever they heard those chilling sounds greatly entertained him.

In the past few days, he no longer found the same reaction from Jamie. Perhaps the man had become accustomed to it. So, observing Legia's behavior was quite captivating for him.

While Legia was busy calming herself, Cien, who had already had a satisfying chuckle inside, started pondering over the story he had just heard.

From that story, he immediately deduced the person who had successfully killed the Demon General named A'wan was likely Jeanne.

'Dead by her spear…'

Although not certain, Cien knew that Jeanne's strength would most likely not exceed Rank 6.

Such strength was not enough to contend against the Demon General A'wan, who could even fight against the General Grid from Huntara and a woman named Huntress.

So, the crucial factor was not Jeanne herself, but rather her spear, which was highly likely to be Cien's creation. Bluminous.

The spear possessed only one deadly skill. Each strike of its tip could be infused with poison.

How strong was that poison? Just like Rupture. The strength of Bluminous poison depended on how much mana was used.

In Cien's mind, even if Jeanne used all of her mana to poison the demon, he believed that the poison wouldn't be lethal enough to kill the demon.

'That means either Grid or the Huntress also contributed their mana to Bluminous. Or maybe both, or even all three,' Cien pondered.

Thinking about how Bluminous could have a significant role in the course of the war brought a smile to Cien's face.

For some reason, Cien felt proud of Bluminous, as if he were proud of his own child.

Oh, truly... At this moment, Cien didn't know that his own daughter had a significant role in the war.

He didn't know if he would feel proud or anxious upon hearing it. For this matter, Cien would learn about it another time.

Legia continued to talk about Blackwinter.

This time it was about the rumors after the war. It was said that after the war ended, all the remaining Blackwinter forces were captured, especially the human soldiers. Because when Grid and Sravati searched, not a single surviving Abyss soldier was found.

Could it be that none survived? Whether it was Princess Sravati or Grid, they could only frowned in confusion.

The Huntara forces then approached the city of Blackwinter. At the northern gate of the city, they were welcomed by Reiss and other adventurers from Marina.

The leaders of the Huntara forces were very grateful for Reiss and his companions' assistance.

But then they saw the face of the man from Marina was deathly pale.

What happened?

The question was answered when Reiss and his friends led the Huntara forces into the city. Within the city, it resembled a place struck by a massive storm.

The streets were in disarray as if they had been hit by a tornado.

The walls of the buildings were adorned with bloodstains, both dry and wet, creating a nauseating smell. Hanging around the city walls were dozens of decomposing corpses.

"By the Moon Goddess, what happened here?"

Princess Sravati couldn't hide her shock and horror. This question echoed in the minds of all the Huntara soldiers who witnessed the scene within the city.

Reiss could only shake his head.

"When the Huntress managed to take over the southern gate, we followed the main road to reach the battlefield in the morning. And this is the sight we encountered. But, honestly, what you see is not everything."

Reiss then led them to the central park of the city. Along the way, they saw more scattered body parts and internal organs.

Rats and stray dogs scurried around, stealing every rotting piece of flesh on the ground. They growled menacingly at the Huntara soldiers who intended to take away their meal.

The streets were dirty, and the stench was overpowering, causing nausea. However, all of that paled in comparison when they arrived at the city park.

There, the park was covered in hundreds, even thousands, of human corpses, adorned with millions of maggots.

Princess Sravati, who witnessed it, felt the things in her stomach want to punch their way out.

However, as a royal princess, she couldn't display such a sight like vomiting in front of her people. So she held, and gulped it back while her face turned pale blue.

Unfortunately, the Princess's determination to hold back the thing in her stomach was not shared by the troops behind her, where the sound of people releasing the contents of their stomachs grew louder.

Meanwhile, General Grid felt no nausea at all. Instead, a surge of anger welled up inside him.

"Damned wretched DEVILS!"

Instantly, he thought about the human Blackwinter soldiers who had been captured earlier.

"Did they do the same thing too?"

Grid couldn't fathom it.

However, it turned out that what they had seen was still not the entirety. Reiss continued leading them to a place where the farm was located.

There, they did not see livestock, but rather young people with their legs chained and naked women with their heads and hands bound.

At this moment, Princess Sravati and Grid realized that their worst nightmare had just begun.

Restoring Blackwinter to its former state, along with the mental well-being of its surviving inhabitants.

They both felt it would be hard to quell the grudge that resided in the heart of every person who was still alive there.

"This is hell..."

Those were the only words present in the minds of the people witnessing Blackwinter's current condition.

At this point, Legia stopped talking. Sadness was evident on her face, which then turned into anger, but a moment later, a sense of sympathy enveloped her once again.

Cien understood what Legia was feeling. Anyone would feel angry upon hearing such news.

Especially Legia, who might regret not joining the battle. She had only stayed at the inn, waiting for news of the war's outcome.

There was a small, even if illogical, part of Legia's mind that thought even if Huntara lost, although she deeply regretted the loss of many lives, Westya would benefit from the result.

But after hearing about the situation in Blackwinter, Legia felt ashamed of herself.

She cursed herself for thinking such a thought.

She may have helped the war by sending messages through Cien, but her role was nothing more than a messenger. This did not make her feel any better at all.

Especially when she remembered that she had decided to send those messages because she wanted to help those in eastern Huntara, not Blackwinter.

"Don't belittle your role, Legia. Sending those messages, I believe, changed the course of the war. I'm sure Jeanne's presence before A'wan was not a coincidence. I think it was an instruction from Signa to Amary's camp.

"But weren't you the one who sent those messages? Just imagine what would have happened if the messages didn't reach them. The outcome of the war could have been different. Jeanne might not have been in front of A'wan. I'm confident she wouldn't dare to confront A'wan unless it was because of an order from someone with absolute authority."

Legia gazed at Cien with clear eyes.

"Is that really true?"

"Yup, I believe so."

Answer Cien, although he himself was not so sure, because it was only his own opinion. What Cien didn't know was that his opinion turned out to be correct.

Before going to the eastern part of Huntara, what made Signa hesitate to go was the possibility of a dangerous figure in the enemy's camp.

That's why he sent a message to Amary, knowing that there were Fire Gloves and Bluminous there. He suggested the owner of these two weapons, to use them when the dangerous figure appeared.

"Sigh…"

Cien leaned back in his chair. He felt that the situation was actually worse than he had imagined.

Cien didn't expect the demons from the Abyss to be so cruel. Although he knew some demon races that were good. But from Legia's story, those demons were far from the demon race he knew.

'The increase in activity in the Abyss, and also this... it seems there is a major change inside the Abyss, and this change is worse than expected.'

Cien thought about this change. He even thought about meeting some of his demon acquaintances. Of course, he immediately dismissed the plan, considering his condition being trapped in Death Valley.

At this moment, Cien remembered Legia's words mentioning that Huntara had lost a city.

"Ah, is the lost city you mentioned earlier Blackwinter?"

"Hm?"

Legia paused for a moment before shaking her head, "No. Not the Blackwinter, no matter how bad the situation in that city is now. Princess Sravati insists on revitalizing the city and its residents. Although, there are rumors that the majority of the surviving residents are currently suffering from mental disorders."

"So it's not Blackwinter. That means, the city in eastern Huntara?

This time, Legia nodded, then she smiled bitterly.

"The eastern gate of the Kingdom of Huntara, Moontear City has fallen. That was the last news I heard before finally coming here. So, as for the details of how the war went there... I don't know much. Only the important things that happened there, which spread along with the news of Moontear's fall."

Legia then proceeded to recount the important events that took place during the incident in eastern Huntara.

The first thing that happened was Signa Wayde arriving in Moontear just before the city fell into the hands of the enemy.

For the next few days, it was reported that Signa led the war, but the situation between the two sides reached a stalemate.

Due to the high number of casualties on Moontear's side, Signa believed that they would be the losing side.

Therefore, in the following two days, while Signa kept the Abyss forces occupied, he ordered a total evacuation of Moontear.

After all the city's inhabitants left, Signa and the Moontear forces gradually retreated and surrendered the city to the Abyss side.

However, unexpectedly, on the night when the Abyss forces celebrated their victory inside Moontear, Signa Wayde gave one last gift.

He unleashed a Rank Jack-class water magic from the sky, leveling the city of Moontear and the demons within who were caught off guard, turning them into dust.

At that moment, Moontear vanished from Huntara, erasing the homes of thousands of residents who now had nowhere to go.

Huntara survived the invasion of the Abyss, but at a great price.