“I’ll leave the minimal amounts of food and hand out the rest. These supplies actually belong to the military expedition but I’ll pay them when I return.”
Ark smiled as he looked at them and said. Then Shambala frowned like he was swallowing phosphoric acid.
“You still want to engage in business when these people are in such a situation?”
“Business? What are you saying?”
“It’s not business? Then what is the reason you’re giving them food?”
“What? You’re so strange. What do you see me as?”
“Stingy, conman, thief….. Do you want me to say anymore?”
Well, those words actually suited him. That’s right. Ark wasn’t the type to help people for free. Yet he just paid for food that would feed 70 refugees out of his own pocket. The reason why Ark acted like these was because they were residents from Nuran village and a beast clan. The beast clans were associated with Hero Maban so he didn’t know what type of help he could get from them. And the Nuran villagers had information about the quest. So it was necessary to increase his intimacy with them.
‘If they’re suffering from hunger then the easiest way to raise intimacy is to give them food.’
It was why his behaviour was different from usual. Of course, Ark’s current most important goal was the quest. But he couldn’t be too impatient. There were still two days left so he should watch the movements of Alan and the monsters. If he watched carefully then a chance would certainly come. As expected, the looks on the refugees’ faces instantly turned favourable when he gave them food. Ark waited until they finished eating before speaking to an old man who looked like the village mayor.
“I want to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“Does the prophet clan live nearby?”
“Prophet clan?”
The village mayor flinched and sent him a wary look. There was something there. And the wary look said that he didn’t intend to tell Ark. But Ark was already qualified as he received the quest. If they knew the circumstances then they would definitely give him information about the prophet clan.
‘The question is how to explain the stars to the NPCs……’
While Ark was thinking, he suddenly noticed something strange. The village mayor was looking at the beast clan after Ark’s question.
‘What’s with this reaction? Is the prophet clan somehow related to the beasts?’
When Ark had asked the question, the village mayor had become surprised and looked at the beasts. The beast clan nodded which seemed to indicate that it was okay to talk to Ark.
“What is the reason that you’re looking of the prophet clan?”
“I received the revelation of the stars.”
Ark answered after briefly thinking. The beasts and Nuran residents looked at Ark with shocked eyes. The beast clan seemed to carry on a conversation with their eyes before one of them asked Ark.
“The revelation of the stars? What is your name?”
“I am Ark.”
Then the beast clan member jumped up and shouted.
“Ark! You are Hero Maban’s chosen descendant, Ark?”
“You know about me?”
This time Ark was the one surprised. Ark’s eyes widened as a beast grabbed his hand and said.
“We know! We’ve learnt all about the things you’ve done through the Hero Stars.”
“Hero Stars?”
“You mentioned the revelation of the stars. We call it the Hero Stars.”
A beast clan member replied. Before Ark received the quest, 10 stars had emerged from his body and disappeared somewhere. It must be the Hero Stars that the beast clan mentioned. They said that they were aware of Ark’s existence through the stars. Then information about Ark must be in the stars. If the beast clan knew that information then they were……?
“Do you belong to the prophet clan?”
Ark asked with an expectant voice but the beasts shook their heads.
“No, we’re the White Tiger clan and we are the guardians of the prophet clan.”
“Why are the guardians of the prophet clan in a place like this?”
“That……”
A white tiger sighed and the Nuran residents lowered their heads. The white tiger looked at them before continuing.
“In the past some residents of Nuran have been born with the power of prophecy. The prophet clan gathers those children.”
In other words, the Nuran residents had a kindred relationship with the prophet clan. But then the prophet clan discovered that the Sinius Principality was going to be attacked by the dark forces. So the White Tiger clan was dispatched to rescue the Nuran clan and bring them back to the land of the prophets, Shangri La before the darkness attacked. However, the darkness attacked quicker than expected and Nuran was already in ruins by the time the White Tiger clan arrived. The White Tiger clan was also attacked by monsters and rescued by Wormer.
“Shangri-La!”
They had been listening to the circumstances of the White Tiger clan. Then Lariette shouted with a surprised expression after hearing that the Prophet’s clan lived in Shangri-La.
“What’s wrong? Do you know that place?”
“No, that is…… Become coming here, I received……”
Lariette was able to say something when she noticed everybody’s eyes on her and she immediately shook her head.
“It’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”
Ark was interested in Lariette’s reaction but he had no time to think about it now. Ark thought for a moment before saying.
“You wanted to evacuate the Nuran residents there so Shangri-La is still safe. So they must have a way to stop the attacks of the demonic monsters. Then it is imperative that the Nuran residents are moved to Shangri-La. But how can we do that when the canyon is sealed off by monsters?”
“It is already too late.”
“Too late?”
“The land of the prophets has a defense system.”
“Defense system?”
“Shangri-La is always prepared for the dark forces so they have several protection devices. Once the defense system is activated, it is completely blocked off from the outside world.”
“Blocked? But you haven’t returned yet.”
“We’ve been outside of Shangri-La for more than 10 days already. And this whole area is occupied by demons. The prophet clan would’ve judged that we failed in our mission.”
“Isn’t it called the prophet clan? Shouldn’t they know that you’re still alive?”
“The prophets can’t see everything in the future. They can only predict events that have an impact on the history of the continent. In fact, even the prophet clan couldn’t foresee the emergence of this darkness. This means the history of the continent has already become twisted. They can’t predict anything anymore. And it will be the same even if they find out that we’re alive. If the entire Sinius Principality is engulfed in darkness then the first place they will attack is the prophet clan. That is why they can’t possible slow down or turn off their defense system.”
‘Eh? Isn’t something strange?’
Ark noticed something strange in the white tiger’s words. Just like the name, the prophet clan was one that predicted the future. Well, they could probably only predict when a new episode would be activated……Anyway, it was natural for a clan with such power to be attacked by dark forces. But the prophet clan couldn’t predict his dark event. It meant they could no longer foresee what would happen in the future. It was natural. This incident happened because of a bug so of course the NPCs couldn’t predict it. Despite that, why would the prophet clan still be the dark forces’ highest priority? When he asked that question, the white tiger sighed and replied.
“The reason they’re targeting Shangri-La is due to the Ark of the Covenant.”
“Ark of the Covenant?”
“Yes, a long time ago an artifact was found and placed in the ark. The person who gets their hands on this ark will receive a strong power. It is the biggest threat to the dark forces so they want to attack Shangri-La to obtain it themselves. But their purpose isn’t to simply destroy the ark.”
“What does that mean?”
“Despite being filled with light, the Ark of the Covenant can also be filled with darkness. If an evil person obtains it then the attribute will change to darkness. The darkness will become even more powerful.”
The white tiger closed his eyes and talked about a past event.
“In fact, a long time ago the 7 heroes entrusted the Ark of the Covenant to the prophet clan and gathered their power to install strong protection wards. And Hero Maban asked our clan to protect Shangri-La.”
Ark now understood the situation. There was another reason other than the terrain as to why the Bristania expedition had an easier time crossing the border. It was because there were more demonic monsters gathered at Pabiun Fortress. Ark had been thinking that the strategic movements of the monsters was incomprehensible.
‘What if there is a reason the demonic monsters are here?’
And that reason was the prophet clan. If the Schudenberg expedition continued crossing into Sinius Principality then they would encounter the prophet clan. If the Schudenberg expedition got their hands on the power of the ark then they would be a big threat to the demonic monsters.
‘Then the reason Alan is here……’
It was obvious that Alan was somehow linked to this. Alan’s purpose for coming to this place was to seize the Ark of Covenant.
‘Then the list of things I have to do has increased by one. I have to succeed in the task to ensure that the Schudenberg expedition captures Pabiun Fortress. Then there is visiting the prophet’s clan to complete the quest. And finally I have to prevent Alan getting the Ark of Covenant.’