Pa pa pa pa! Pa pa pa pa!
Ark comforted the gasping Radunma while pushing him onwards. His short legs began to move even faster. Ark glanced around while using Nursing on Radunma.
‘That’s it, if I pass that gorge then I’ll reach Shangri-La.’
The defense war had turned off and Shangri-La had floated back to its position on the ground. This was because the demonic monsters had retreated after Ark arrived in Shangri-La. The demons probably already realized that the Ark of Creation was in his hands and retreated. And not long afterwards, Ark had joined the expedition and helped capture Pabiun Fortress. At the same time, the demonic monsters withdrew from the Albana Mountains so there was no reason for the defense ward to be activated. As soon as he crossed the gorge, the site of Shangri-La reached his eyes.
‘What the?’
But confusion spread over Ark’s face as he looked at Shangri-La. It looked different from the Shangri-La that he saw before. The forest was burnt and the defensive tower from before had disappeared without a trace. Even the white tower in the middle was smashed in parts.
“Radun, stop. Summon Demon, Racard and Purital!”
Ark stopped in front of Shangri-La and summoned his pets.
“Racard, enter Shangri-La and find out what happened. Purital, be on the lookout for any monsters!”
“Yes!”
Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!
Racard flapped his wings and flew away. Ark carefully entered Shangri-La with Purital escorting him. The situation became clearer once he entered. The trees surrounding the white tower were cut with claw marks while blood spots were scattered over the snow covered ground. It was unmistakable signs of a battle!
‘The only culprits that would attack Shangri-La are the demons. But why?’
The demons had targeted the Ark of Creation. However, the expedition force had already obtained the Ark of Creation. Then it wasn’t the reason the demons had attacked Shangri-La?
“Master, there are no demons around. There are some White Tigers and prophets around the tower. But they are dead.”
Then he heard Racard’s voice who had been scouting. Ark ran straight towards the white tower on Radunma. Like Racard said, the dead bodies of the White Tigers and prophets were scattered around the tower.
“20 White Tigers and 10 prophets…… They were all wiped out?”
Ark muttered as he counted the bodies. Originally there were 150 White Tigers and 20 prophets living in Shangri-La. But they couldn’t hand the Ark of Creation over to an unknown person. That was why Lariette had been accompanied by 10 prophets carrying the Ark of Creation. 130 White Tigers had come along to protect them on the battlefield. Therefore that he only been 20 White Tigers and 10 prophets left in Shangri-La.
Ssak ssak ssak? Ssak ssak ssak ssak!
Radunma who had been licking the air suddenly turned his head. At the same time, one of the prophets lying on the ground flinched and moaned.
“Eung…… Eung……”
‘A survivor!’
Ark hurriedly jumped down from Radunma. He forcibly opened the mouth and poured 3~4 potions into the prophet’s mouth. The prophet narrowed his eyes and asked.
“W-who…..”
“It’s me. Ark. What happened?”
“Ark…… Hero Maban’s descendant…… Cough!”
When the prophet coughed, his health instantly drained away.
……It was already too late to him. In this situation, the NPC was sure to die unless a priest used magic to heal the soul. Feeding them potions was the same. Their health would just decrease over time.
“Have strength. You can beat this.”
But after Ark grabbed his hands and used Nursing, the prophet regained some vigour.
“After you left with the Ark of Creation, a black knight…… Leading the demons….. Shangri-La was attacked.”
“A black knight?”
Alan instantly popped into Ark’s head. In fact, Ark had thought there was one strange part while attacking Pabiun Fortress. The demons in Pabiun Canyon had been coordinated by Alan. But he never saw Alan while capturing Pabiun Fortress. It was the same even when marching through Pabiun Canyon towards Silrinad.
‘Then he ended up attacking Shangri-La?’
“But wasn’t their purpose to obtain the Ark of Creation? Shouldn’t they know that you don’t have the Ark of Creation anymore?”
“Their purpose…… From the beginning it wasn’t the Ark of Creation…… It seems.”
“It wasn’t the Ark of Creation?”
“Yes. The knight in black armour…… Took the Hell Stone stored underneath Shangri-La……”
“Hell Stone? Why?”
“That is….. Why the knight took it….. I don’t know exactly. Along with some powerful demons…… Stepped into the History Crystal……. And left in a hurry.”
‘History Crystal!’
Ark’s eyes flashed. Hundreds of crystals were lined up in the tower. Each one had 10 years of history recorded in it. And this network of crystals was connected to the History Crystal.
‘Alan entered the History Crystal before leaving in a hurry?’
Alan had immediately attacked Shangri-La after Ark left so that was three days ago. And the demonic monsters had invaded Nagaran yesterday. This couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Yes, it is simple once I think about it. They must’ve just discovered that they thing they seek is in Silvana. That means they didn’t originally know it was in Silvana. Their purpose in attacking Shangri-La wasn’t to obtain the Ark of Creation but to get information!’
And it was likely that the strike against Silvana was organized by Alan. In fact, the coalition who defended the castle had testified that there were users mixed in with the monsters.
‘There’s no doubt about it. Alan occupied Silvana after getting the information here! Then I can also figure out what he is after!’
“Rest for a while. Purital, Racard, protect him.”
Ark who reached a conclusion moved the prophet to a suitable place and ran inside the tower. Despite the shattered tower, the crystals inside were all fine. According to the prophets, the crystals were protected with divine power so it couldn’t be broken. After searching the tower for a bit, Ark was able to discover an enormous lump of crystal. It was the History Crystal that all the other ones connected to! Ark belatedly realized something after discovering the crystal.
“How do I use this? Damn, I should’ve asked the prophet…… Ah. Didn’t the prophet say that Alan went into the History Crystal? Then is there a door to enter the crystal?”
Ark had that thought and touched the crystal. At the same time, a message window appeared in front of Ark.
-You have connected to the History Crystal.
Do you want to view the information on the History Crystal?
“What? I can enter just be touching it?”
Ark who read the message instantly nodded and replied.
“Yes!”
Hwaaaaack!
It was at that moment. His body was suddenly sucked into the crystal. He felt like he had been swept into a hurricane as he flew somewhere before the space in front of him brightened.
“Heok! T-this is……”
Ark’s mouth opened as he looked at the intense light. Before he was standing in front of the crystal and now Ark was in an endless space. Both the floor and sky was covered in space. And in this space were thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands…… No, an incalculable number of crystal slabs were floating around him.
“No way, all of this……”
-It is the information contained in the History Crystal.
Suddenly a woman’s voice was heard in his head.
“Heok! W-who?”
-I am a navigation system to help users comfortably search for the information on the History Crystal. You can call me Miss Navi as a nickname in order to feel more comfortable.
A navigation system? It was hidden in a secret sanctuary so wasn’t it too excessive to have a user friendly crystal? Furthermore, she wanted to be called by Miss Navi? Was this a joke? Didn’t she know this was a serious situation? Ark pushed down the desire to say those words.
“Okay, then I will call you Miss Navi. How do I search for the information I want?”
-Just cry out the keyword for the information you are searching for.
“Keyword? Isn’t this similar to searching on the internet? Then……” Silvana!”
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
At the same time, a huge amount of slabs started gathering. And with a roar they piled up in front of Ark. The pile was dozens of metres high! Ark opened his mouth and murmured absent-mindedly.
“T-this is all the information related to Silvana?”
-That’s right. You can read from the top.
Each slab contained one chapter holding different information.
The [Demons] in the [Dark Century] waged a war against humans in [Nagaran] and after the Dark Century ended, a war between the three kingdoms [Schudenberg], [Bristania] and [Sinius] began. Then came the [Foreigners] as they waged battle over the right to the territory. And the current Lord of [Silvana] is [Ark].
The Silvana territory is 126,785 square metres, the amount of rainfall……
As expected, the most basic information was recorded in the beginning. But some words written on the slabs caught his attention. They were words marked with [].
“What the? These indications are?”
-They are words that allow you to search for more detailed information. Just press your hand to it and the relevant information will be displayed.
Ark was curious and pressed his hand to the word [Ark]. Then 1 slab flew from the pile.
Character Name Ark Race Human
Alignment Good +500 Nobility Title Baron
Fame 23,535 (+500) Level 439
Profession Dark Soul
Title Cat Knight, Caretaker of the People, Jackson’s Hero, Great Adventurer, Magic Institute Member, Seutandal’s Hero
Health 8,175 (+475) Mana 8,365(+325)
Spiritual Power 956 Strength 844 (+34)
Agility 1,159 (+170) Stamina 1,389 (+65)
Wisdom 185 (+10) Intelligence 1,527 (+25)
Luck 209 (+60) Flexibility 268
Art of Communication 79 Affection 129 (+10)
Resilience 483 Dark Fog 74
Special stat: Knowledge of Ancient Relics 233
* Equipment item effects
Guardian Armour of t