Alien world

Chapter 1685, Section 318: The story begins in the early years of the Saint Laurent calendar...

Annan recounts how the Hellfire Legion was drawn into a complex and treacherous conspiracy. Now, the problems of the demons and the Skaven point to the Snow Mountain Fortress.

Given the underground ruins and the beautiful frozen woman previously discovered by Brino Janna, there must be some connection between them.

“The demons have nothing to do with this,” the old patriarch said, immediately ruling out the demons. “However, they may have discovered something.”

The eldest woman in the wheelchair sat up slightly. The old patriarch spoke with certainty; it seemed he did indeed know something.

"Do you know the identity of the beautiful woman who was frozen in ice?"

"You bastard, is it only women you care about?!" The old patriarch angrily banged his cane.

“That’s not what I meant. Don’t you think it’s too weird? The fortress’s underground, icebergs, beautiful women…”

It can keep a bard's appetite whetted for a whole week.

“You don’t know the truth, so of course you find it strange,” the old patriarch said irritably. “Let me think where to begin… It was the beginning of the Saint Laurent calendar.”

"Isn't this too early?"

Ignoring Annan's interruption, the old patriarch recalled the stories his grandfather told him when he was young.

The timeline goes back a few years from the beginning of the year.

Regarding the Great Human Expedition in the early Saint Laurent Calendar, the mainstream view on the continent of Allen is that "Wilheim could no longer accommodate the exploding population, so humanity chose to explore the outside world."

But humans aren't rat-people, so how could such a large world island not be able to accommodate them all? And I've never heard of a family having to leave because they can't accommodate more people.

It's not that the beings of the wizarding and even arcane era were completely ignorant of anything outside Wilhelm; it's impossible that powerful wizards who went out to conquer other planes wouldn't even explore their own backyard.

After just a quick look around, I lost interest—compared to Wilhelm, a land of outstanding people and abundant magic, the North, the South, and even Middle-earth were like backwaters, places frequented by undervalued and struggling tribes, such as orcs, grey dwarves, and minor lords.

For example, Wilhelm's mithril mines account for eight-tenths of Allen's world.

The real reason humans left was their unknown ambitions. Thus, led by the Golden Family, humans left Wilhelm in large numbers to explore the North and the South.

For humanity, it was a golden age second only to the wizarding era. The unknown rose to fame, the famous died, gold and opportunity abounded, along with intrigue and death…

Oh right, and there are also the gods who are pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The Twelve Kings of the North constitute a significant force—twelve legendary figures, along with their respective allies and vassals, even surpassing the strength of a typical Golden Family.

And they did indeed achieve that; the vast North came under their rule, and at its peak, the Holy Council and even the Twelve Kings sat in the front row.

While there is no eternal monarchy, the decline of the Kings in the North was a later development. At least in the early years of the Saint Laurent calendar, the Twelve Kings of the North were at their zenith, with the Laurence family being the leader of all the Kings in the North.

The old patriarch seemed to be immersed in the family's past honors, and talked for a long time about the Lawrence family's history of conquest.

Annan had to interrupt, "Old Patriarch, it seems you've gone off-topic?"

Although this period of history is quite interesting, it can be found in any history book.

"How can you have no patience at all!" The old patriarch, his mood dampened, frowned.

"I'm fine, but my older sister isn't in good health..."

"Ah? Oh..."

Italia paused for a moment, then made a tired face, rubbing her forehead.

Despite the old patriarch's constant scolding of Annan, he was unusually indulgent towards Italia, likely because she had managed to support the family for so many years despite her frail health. He could only snort coldly, skipping over the glorious history of the Lawrence family that he had prepared for the previous night.

After the situation in the North stabilized, the Twelve Kings turned their attention to the far north.

As mentioned earlier, people in the wizarding era knew everything about the lands outside Wilhelm. The far north of the North corresponds to the far south of the South, both being places where humans could not survive.

Because of Gram in the far south, the gods built the Wall of Sighs there, so that all living beings could protect the continent of Allen, while the far north was forgotten.

Annan felt a sense of foreboding upon hearing this. Surely an omnipotent god, a wizard who conquers planes, wouldn't be unaware that the world is round?

That Gram... that's the Zerg, they were blocked in the south, but they can circle around from the north!

Or is there something wrong with Allen's world, that it's flat? Or are there insurmountable laws limiting its boundaries?

Forget it, this isn't something I should worry about. After listening, I'll just send all the information to the Empire. I'm just a weak and helpless lord...

The Twelve Kings of the North initially intended to simply eliminate the enemies who had fled to the icy wilderness, but they encountered new enemies there.

"They encountered Gram?"

"Idiot, what have you been learning? Gram is in the south!"

"But it can come around from the north..."

I meant south, not north!

The old patriarch was furious with Annan, while Annan glanced at his eldest sister, who showed no reaction.

What's going on? The Eren world really is flat...?
Wait a minute, how do you explain the sunrise and sunset, and the changing of the seasons?

Annan realized his problem—he lacked knowledge, and everything remained a mystery.

But he's past the age where he can study properly.

Forget it, if it's flat, it's flat. Even if the Allen Continent is shaped like Martin, it won't affect me.

The old patriarch paused for a while before continuing his story.

The new enemy is the demon, and deep within the snow-capped mountains lies a rift leading to the abyss.

At that time, the King of the North, who possessed more than a dozen legendary warriors, dared to even attack ancient dragons. What was so scary about the mere Abyss?

Then a king remained there forever.

What happened has not been recorded, causing unrest in the once stable North, with people believing that the Kings of the North were fighting amongst themselves.

After all, given the strength of the King of the North at that time, let alone the Demon Lord, even the gods wouldn't have the confidence to kill a king in front of them and escape unscathed.

However, the remaining eleven kings rejected this, and elected a new king from the family of the deceased king. Coupled with decades of peace, the king was gradually forgotten.

Seventy years of peace passed in the North. In the year 177 of the Saint Laurent calendar, the Twelve Kings, whose condition was beginning to decline, suddenly announced that they would explore the far north again, and then ventured alone into the Abyss Rift.

Just like before, no one knows what happened in the abyss. The old patriarch's ancestors only knew the process and the result—another king has disappeared.

The eleventh king, upon his return, did not say that she was dead, so the world could only assume that the first king had disappeared.

However, they haven't appeared for hundreds of years. What's the difference between disappearing and dying?
(End of this chapter)