I nodded as I listened to the old priest recounting the preparations and changes they had made. The church itself was apparently further upgraded, It was now able to accommodate guests coming from afar. As for what guests, it was obvious he meant the heads of the empires and kingdoms.

It was after all, not appropriate to have them set up tents when they come. Another thing to take note of was the fact that the church had apparently taken the liberty of sending out invitations to a large number of people to come to watch the 'show'.

Needless to say, those people were not ordinary, most were wealthy merchants, nobles, and the like. I didn't care much for such dealings and so I simply waved it off. The tournament was set to begin in less than a week, but the royals have already arrived.

"Speaking of which, how come I don't see that kid, Lana?" I asked. The silence left in the absence of the bubbly redhead was rather strange.

"That child left for the Lumia empire, my lord."

"Hmm, she did? Out of her own free will?" I inquired, somewhat in disbelief. I found it hard to believe that she would choose to miss the ascension ceremony.

The old priest scratched his bald head awkwardly before replying; "She received a letter from some of her research colleagues back in the empire, they have apparently come across something 'unknown'."

I frowned, his words only served to further confuse me. The old priest quickly sensed my mood and added, "I do not know much of the details, my lord. These were the words she left before she set off for the empire."

"What colleagues does she have?" I asked.

"Their group does not have a name, it's simply a gathering of scholars that seek to find the truth of the world..." He hesitated for a bit, and raised his head to glance at me nervously before continuing, "And of the esteemed dragons."

I raised my brow and inquired, "And how do you know of all of this?"

"That foolish child was raised by me, my lord. She does not have any parents, and albeit rude and straightforward at times, her heart is in the right place." The priest bowed his head deeply and continued, "I beg of you not to take offense, my lord."

I shook my head and waved him off.

"No matter."

The priest's eyes lit up as he bowed again.

"Thank you, my lord!"

My mind, however, was preoccupied with a different matter. There was a reason why I asked for Lana. I still remembered the vision the fairy mother showed me. That entire meeting was weird. The son of chaos, she called me, and then there was something else, something I couldn't quite hear.

And the vision, the vision that showed Lana. The fairy mother didn't explain much, she simply said that she showed me what I needed to see. Now with Lana gone to find something 'unknown', the entire situation seemed suspicious to say the least.

'Does that mean, that unknown 'thing', whatever it is, is something I need to know? See? Meet?' I resisted the urge to sigh as I glanced at the bright eyes priest before me.

"You may leave. I wish to rest," I said, and dismissed him. The old priest bowed deeply and replied, "Understood, please get some rest, my lord," Saying that he hastily turned and took his leave.

The servants that hustled about near the platform disappeared shortly after, and the area quickly turned silent. With me left to my thoughts, my mind couldn't help but wander as I tried to recall my meeting with the great mother, and the identity of the 'unknown.' A part of me contemplated leaving everything behind and simply flying to Lumia to figure it all out, but I didn't. I would wait for the ceremony to end first before making any moves.

*****

On the other side of the continent, a young redhead girl trudged through a deep snow field, her thick clothing providing some protection against the biting cold. The wind whistled through the trees, and in the distance, the dark silhouette of the forest loomed. She pushed on, determination flashing through her eyes, until she reached the top of a small hill, and her eyes fell upon the ghastly sight that lay before her.

In the center of a circular area where the snow had melted away, lay a mound of countless corpses. The sight was gruesome, the ground stained red with blood, and the stench of death hanging heavy in the air.

"Found it," Lana whispered under her breath, she took a second to survey her surroundings before clicking her tongue.

"Those bastards never listen. I told them we should head north, but no, they just had to go east. Stupid, I don't know why I even bother," Lana grumbled as she descended from the small hill and approached the corpses.

As she drew closer, she leaned in to inspect one of the bodies. The skin that should have been pale and lifeless, had turned into a dark, obsidian black. Countless deformations marred their once-human form. Their limbs were twisted, some at impossible angles, while others appeared to be bloated, almost as if they had been filled with some dark liquid.

Lana's brows frowned at the ghastly sight. She was no stranger to blood, but this, this was something else. She took a few seconds to calm herself before she attempted to study the corpses once more.

She couldn't fathom how such a horrific transformation occurred. Was it truly some dark magic, or was it something else? The reports her colleagues gathered hinted at the involvement of a knight turned mercenary.

Lana's brows knitted as she tried to recall his name:

"What was it that they called him again? Something strange... Ah, right!" She turned to glance at the deformed corpses and muttered, "The dead man."

Shaking her head, Lana took out a mana stone from her bag and channeled mana into it. The stone started to glow before she quickly spoke; "I found it, you idiots. I told you it's north. Hurry up and come, I'm freezing my tits over here," saying that, a gust of wind suddenly picked up and rushed east.

Lana waited for a few minutes before her stone lit up once more as a wave of wind surged toward her.

An embarrassed voice replied, "Ahem, got it, we are on our way."