Salonas Kingdom, Wisteria Town.

On the road outside the fields, knights belonging to the noble lord galloped past in clouds of dust.

Amir, working in the fields, didn't know what was happening. He only saw the afternoon sun blazing, so he chose to rest under a tree for a while.

Amir is forty years old this year, but his appearance doesn't differ much from someone in their fifties.

People doing this kind of work tend to age quickly.

He grabbed a bamboo tube, took a sip of the well water inside, and carefully took out a piece of hard bread made from coarse grain from his bag. It was very hard.

Each piece was a challenge to his teeth.

But there was no choice; only such hard bread could be stored for a long time.

And as for how it tasted after being stored?

Amir wasn't picky. Taste was something nobles could afford to be picky about; as long as he was full, it was a fine meal.

"I heard that something big happened in Catalivo. The country has been conquered."

"Really?" "Of course it's true. People from the neighboring village said a lot of refugees have escaped here."

Listening to their discussion, Amir silently chewed the hard bread.

He wasn't interested in such matters.

No matter how Catalivo claimed to be the strongest military nation on the Northern Continent, what did that have to do with him?

It didn't affect his little patch of land here.

To him, as long as he could take care of his field, pay the lord's taxes on time, and feed his wife and children at home.

If he worked hard, maybe he could even marry off his children.

Like his father, his life wouldn't have been wasted.

"People of Salonas Kingdom, listen to me."

A voice floated from the sky, "I am Naraku, the deity who will create a new world!

If you don't want to be burned like weeds of the old era, then pick up your weapons.

Whether it's a sword or a hoe, as long as you kill those around you, cut off their heads and find me at the border of Catalivo and Salonas.

I will grant you power, transforming you into monsters.

If you don't wish to die, you have no choice but to fight for survival with your weapons."

The voice from the sky vanished. Amir looked up, then exchanged glances with the people of the village.

They looked bewildered, not knowing where the voice came from or why the speaker said such things.

"Naraku, I seem to have heard that name from someone in the neighboring village."

"Don't think about it, how could the Salonas Kingdom be so weak?"

Amir shook his head, picked up the bamboo tube, and took another sip. He wasn't bothered and prepared to continue working in the fields after a rest.

But after a while, the castle belonging to the nobleman opened. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

From the tall castle gates, several riders rushed out.

They were the noble's knights, their armor not as splendid as usual, with a reddish tinge.

Human heads hung from the sides of their horses.

Among them was the familiar noble.

The noble's neatly combed silver hair was now a mess, with an expression of shock and anger on his face.

What was going on?

Amir was instantly confused, feeling that the world was changing beyond his understanding and, unlike before, this matter was closely linked to his fate.

It was as if an unseen undercurrent was about to drag people into a whirlpool.

It made him instinctively distance himself from those around him, seeing doubt and fear in their eyes as well.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one with such thoughts.

...

"Haha."

Under heavy clouds, not a ray of sunlight could be seen.

Naraku sat cross-legged, draped in a silver-white baboon coat, his original face concealed by an azure bone mask.

His eyes, through the Shikon Jewel, watched the happenings within the territory of Salonas.

Suspicion, jealousy, people slaughtering each other.

Witnessing the ugly nature of humanity, Naraku felt immense satisfaction.

He wanted to destroy the world, didn't need to transform too many monsters, yet he chose the slow path of transformation to witness these scenes.

"It's truly interesting."

Naraku's lips curled up slightly, then he suddenly sensed a strange movement in the air. Looking up, he saw a black dot within the clouds.

It was a tool used by people from the Different World for reconnaissance.

Naraku's eyes narrowed slightly.

The Dread Emperor stood still, but his long tentacles suddenly whipped out, and the massive Reaper Drone exploded in front of Naraku.

Then came the ear-splitting roar.

Rumble!

It sounded like the furious roar of thunder.

Naraku stood up, his brows furrowed, then relaxed as he laughed loudly, "Humans have their reactions too.

Feeling their chances slipping, they rush to a final showdown, and after losing, they fall into despair.

Very well, let me grant you despair."

Naraku wanted to create despair and fear before annihilating humanity.

Since those humans from the Different World still harbored hope, he would shatter that hope, watch them fall into despair, and struggle in the quagmire.

The unbearable ugliness of it excited him to no end.

Naraku sat quietly, overlooking the land from above, anticipating the approach of those ants.

Whether to crush them or catch them and play, it all depended on his whims.

...

Before the Reaper Drone was destroyed, it transmitted the final images back to the base.

From the images, everyone could see that the Dread Emperor hadn't left.

As for whether Naraku was present, it couldn't be confirmed with certainty.

The Reaper Drone was destroyed too fast, leaving no clear pictures, but judging from the fact that Naraku and the Dread Emperor were always inseparable, he probably wouldn't be far from the Dread Emperor.