Chapter 6 : The Encounter

In the study of the Count’s mansion, Count Verald scanned the reports delivered by his subordinates, his face etched with worry.

Ever since receiving the report of the missing villager from Millstone Village, new disappearances had occurred almost daily, and all the missing villagers had three things in common.

They all lived near the Verdant Woods, and they all disappeared while heading into the woods to gather herbs or hunt.

The first villager to disappear was a hunter named Landu.

The Transcendent-rank mage from the nearby knight garrison who was dispatched to investigate found his magic repelled by the earth itself.

After receiving that report, Count Verald had realized the situation was not simple.

A sense of unease prompted the Count to dispatch a Master-rank Magus to investigate.

When Count Verald first gave this order to the Knight Commander, Aleksei Herth, the man thought he was overreacting.

The Knight Commander believed it was just a missing commoner; why was there a need to send a Magus to search?

But the unfolding events validated the Count’s concerns.

When news came back that even the dispatched Magus was unable to successfully cast Earth Memory, the Knight Commander had nothing more to say about the Count’s decision.

Growing increasingly uneasy, the Count formed an investigation team led by the Legendary Archmage, Lucia Dis, to look into the matter.

The Count calculated the time; today should be the day the investigation team arrived at Millstone Village.

Lucia Dis was not only a longtime friend of Count Verald but also served as the commander of the Verald Mage Corps.

Archmage Lucia Dis, the Shield of Verald Aleksei Herth, and the Count himself, Theodore Verald, were the three Legendary-rank powers of this county.

Apart from Count Verald, no other noble in the entire Radiant Empire would likely dispatch a Legendary-rank power to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of a commoner.

However, it was this very decision by the Count that not only saved himself but also the domain his family had painstakingly managed for many years.

At dawn, just as the people of the Verald region were preparing to start a new day, a cataclysmic event occurred.

A massive meteor fell from the sky in the southeast, leveling several towns and villages, including Millstone Village.

Count Verald stood before the floor-to-ceiling window on the top floor of his mansion, his face grim.

Starfall was Archmage Lucia’s ultimate spell.

The moment Count Verald saw the meteor fall, he knew the investigation team had run into trouble.

Sure enough, not long after the meteor fell, a blue teleportation circle appeared in Count Verald’s room.

A weary Archmage Lucia emerged from the circle.

Of the twenty escort knights who had accompanied her, only three emerged from the teleportation circle now.

The three surviving knights were all wounded, their battered armor stained with blood of various colors.

They had clearly endured a fierce battle.

Even so, the knights had upheld their chivalric code and their oath of allegiance to Count Verald to the very last moment of their lives.

They had successfully protected Archmage Lucia as she completed her spell amidst the tide of beasts.

After comforting the three surviving knights and promising them rewards, Count Verald summoned the Knight Commander, Aleksei.

Meanwhile, Archmage Lucia, after downing a potent recovery potion, looked much better.

The three greatest Legendary powers of the Verald region were now gathered together.

The Count looked at Archmage Lucia and said, “Tell me, Lucia, what did the investigation team encounter?”

“Demonic beasts. An endless tide of demonic beasts.

When we arrived, everyone in Millstone Village, Mapleleaf Village, the Lumberyard, and Verdant Town had already been killed by the beast tide.”

“So that’s why you used Starfall?”

Lucia nodded.

Knight Commander Aleksei asked, “What about the knight garrisons stationed nearby? Didn’t they notice anything?”

“Annihilated.

The garrisons stationed nearby were all wiped out by the beast tide.

Moreover, a powerful perception-distorting illusion was cast wherever the beast tide passed.

If I hadn’t reached the Legendary rank, I might not have been able to break it.”

After hearing Lucia’s words, Count Verald finally understood why the previously dispatched mages had been unable to uncover the truth.

At the same time, the Count was relieved that he had sent Lucia to investigate before the situation spiraled out of control.

Otherwise, by the time the beast tide had consumed his entire domain, it would have been too late.

Count Verald searched the map for a suitable location.

He needed to find a place to hold back the beast tide for a while to prepare for a decisive battle.

Due to the long period of peace in the Radiant Empire, the Count’s standing army was not sufficient to resolve this crisis.

He needed to recruit soldiers, hire adventurers with experience fighting demonic beasts, and build fortifications.

To accomplish all this, Count Verald needed at least half a month.

But where in this vast plain could he hold off a raging beast tide for half a month?

Just as the Count was at a loss, Knight Commander Aleksei stepped forward.

He pointed at the map and said, “My Lord Count, I am confident that I can hold back the beast tide at the ruins of Fort Nancy for half a month.”

Fort Nancy was a fortress built by the Radiant Empire during its war with the Beast Spirit Empire.

After the two sides signed a truce, it was gradually abandoned.

But ever since Aleksei became the Knight Commander of the Verald region, he had been renovating the abandoned fortress.

Originally, Aleksei had intended to turn the renovated fortress into a tourist attraction to raise funds for the knight order.

He never expected that this move would prove so useful during a beast tide invasion.

Aleksei said, “My Lord Count, when the knight order was renovating Fort Nancy, we discovered that the fortress’s core was not damaged.

As long as we re-infuse it with magic, we can reactivate the fortress.”

Count Verald looked at Lucia and said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you to make another trip.

Reactivating the fortress won’t be easy.

I will send five Master-rank Magi to accompany you.

You’ll have a tough time for a while.”

“It’s no trouble, my Lord Count.

It is my duty.”

After taking her leave, Archmage Lucia left with the five Magi to infuse the fortress core with magic.

Knight Commander Aleksei also set out for Fort Nancy with five hundred knights, five thousand infantry, and various defensive armaments.

After seeing the two of them off, Count Verald opened his communication crystal.

The image that appeared was of a middle-aged man wearing a crown.

The moment the communication crystal connected, Count Verald saw a flash of exhaustion in the man’s eyes, but it quickly vanished, replaced by an overwhelming sense of authority.

“Lord Verald, what do you have to report?”