Chapter 001: Blood Red

The setting sun painted the hills, forests, and fields in red.
Ordas stood atop a high hill, with corpses scattered behind him.
Blood had stained the land entirely; occasionally, crows flew over, landing among the corpses and cawing noisily.
The dying emitted incomprehensible cries, only to fall silent in an instant.
Watching this scene, Ordas felt his heart turn completely cold.
Since yesterday, after leaving his family’s fifty knights, he had encountered traps after traps.
These traps were simple, effective, yet extremely cruel—imperial defenders were lurking everywhere along his path home.
These men were at most at the level of first or second-class warriors, practically useless against him. But it was hard to fight against many; although he managed to wipe out those ambushers each time, why did he still feel such fear?
Were those ambushers really human? Why could they still raise their swords despite the terror in their eyes? They knew there was no hope, yet even when reduced to one, they still raised spears against him.
He had experienced adventures, fought in wars, and even gone through intrigues for his family’s sake. But why did he feel that the number of people he had killed in his life was still less than those he had killed in just a few days?
Du Fan… Is this what you call a plan? Don’t you realize that these ambushers can’t hurt me at all except by sacrificing themselves? This is just a feud between you and me—why drag so many people into it? Doesn’t anyone of them have a family, parents, or children? Do you really have no remorse in sending them to death?
Five hundred people—just a fraction in a war, easily erased at any moment.
But only after killing five hundred lives with his own hands did he understand the heavy weight of blood and cruelty behind those numbers!
Was all of this just to buy time?
A thought flashed through Ordas’s mind, and his breathing grew heavy…
If that’s the case, then Kris…
He dared not think any further. He simply screamed into the sky, scaring away all the crows pecking around.
Ordas drew his blood-stained sword and slowly sheathed it. He chose his direction and moved like a ghost.
The destination was not far away!

It was a night destined never to end in peace…
It was unknown how long later, the silence in the ancient castle deep within the mountains was once again broken by noise. A figure radiating light appeared above the castle—it was Ordas.
He gazed down at the castle beneath his feet; everything inside remained just as ruined as it had been before he left. A sense of relief washed over him, but as his gaze shifted to the bell tower, his breathing suddenly became heavy without him even realizing it!
The bell tower was gone! Simply vanished!
Ordas felt a sharp pain in his heart and nearly fell from the air—he had indeed arrived too late!
He slowly descended to the ground and walked toward the bell tower, arriving at the edge of the platform. The crystal coffin on the platform had turned to dust, and the elf magic circle was also in tatters. Could all this still not show what had happened?
Ordas’s palms trembled slightly, and a wisp of combat energy shot out from his fingertips, landing precisely on the pile of crystal coffin dust.
The dust slowly rose and eventually formed a white light sphere.
Ordas’s face gradually turned pale. He could barely control his heartache, so intense it made it hard to breathe… A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, but he seemed unaware of it!
Everything within the light sphere slowly recounted what had happened before the crystal coffin was destroyed. Those figures facing Teacher Bruce moved occasionally, and Ordas felt darkness engulfing his vision!
It was Nicholas! None other than Saint Nicholas of the Holy Church!
What had happened afterward no longer mattered! What was happening now proved the consequences—not only had Teacher Bruce failed, but Chris had also fallen into the enemy’s hands!
Why! Why the Holy Church!
Was it because of Du Fan?
Or did Nicholas merely represent Du Fan?
Ordas hardly dared to think any further. Though the conspiracy behind this was simple, it was utterly effective!
Finally, everything in the vision gradually dimmed. As Chris was pulled out of the crystal coffin, the light sphere became pitch black. After a moment, the floating light sphere emitted a crisp sound and turned into dust.
Ordas collapsed to the ground. He spat out blood but could barely speak a word!
Why!

Had my departure already been predicted! How on earth did Du Fan manage to do that? My plans should have been foolproof!
Oldas forced himself to stand up. He felt a chill spreading through his body, so intense it seemed to penetrate his very bones.
“Young Master Oldas! What’s wrong?” A figure rushed to his side in panic—it was Xue Lan.
At that moment, Xue Lan was covered in dirt, as if she had been in muddy water for days. Yet despite that, her beauty remained striking, though she looked pitiful.
“It’s you… I’m fine… Why are you here?” Oldas took a deep breath and shook off Xue Lan’s grasp on him.
Although pushed away, Xue Lan didn’t back off. After hesitating for a moment, she said, “Young Master Oldas… really… really…”
Oldas glanced at her. A hint of understanding flashed in his eyes as he laughed. “I get it! It’s you! You’re the one who betrayed me! Great! Xue Lan, you actually came out to see me! Hahahahaha…”
Fear appeared on Xue Lan’s face as she whispered, “O… Young Master Oldas… What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, Oldas reached out and grabbed Xue Lan by the throat. He lifted her frail body slightly, her face turning red from straining.
With a cold laugh, Oldas said, “Enough, Xue Lan. You shouldn’t have stayed here, but since you have, tell me—what exactly does Du Fan want? What promises did he make to you to make you betray me?”
Xue Lan’s face was red as she struggled to utter a few words from deep in her throat: “Oldas… Young Master… What are you talking about? I… don’t understand!”
“Don’t understand?” Oldas sneered. “But never mind. I probably already understand what Du Fan wants. He took Kris away instead of killing her on the spot just to force me to rescue her. What a simple trap! He knew I’d fall for it, right? Xue Lan!”
Xue Lan coughed a few times and struggled, saying, “O… Young Master Oldas… I really don’t know… I really don’t understand what you’re talking about!”
Oldas snorted and applied more force, throwing Xue Lan against a huge tree. She slid down slowly after a moment.

Oldas looked at her and whispered, “You don’t need to say you know nothing. Since you betrayed me, you must know what the consequences are. But don’t worry—right now I don’t have the time to deal with you. I still need to find Du Fan… If you don’t want to die, pray that Du Fan’s pathetic scheme will take my life… Otherwise, I’ll strip you alive!”
With that, Oldas let out a loud scream into the sky. By the time his laughter faded, he had already disappeared from that spot. Even if someone happened to pass by at that moment, who could know what had just happened there?
After a while, Xuelan slowly got up from the ground. She opened her mouth, and a mouthful of blood gushed out from deep within her throat, but she seemed unaware of it. She just stared blankly in the direction of Mordo City before finally letting out a low sigh and saying, “Young Master Oldas… All of this… it’s all for you!”
Night fell little by little. Oldas, with his sword in hand, rushed toward Mordo City along the mountain paths.
It would take at least another day and night to reach Mordo City from here. And given Du Fan’s nature, he would definitely prepare in key places, waiting for Oldas to walk right into his trap. So the only option was to take the mountain route—no matter what lay ahead, he had to get through. Only in this way could he reach Mordo City in the shortest time!
Du Fan!
Mordo!
Kriss!
All of this was like a devil tearing at Oldas’s soul. He hardly dared to think any further, rushing forward instinctively. Only by reaching Kriss’s side could he find peace!
But… why…?
Why did things have to turn out this way? Could it be that Du Fan had planned this all along?
Oldas closed his eyes. He realized he could no longer think any further.