In a clearing beneath the pine forest, a patch of snow was cleared away. Pine branches and straw were piled together to form a bonfire, with a dark iron pot hanging above it. The pot, suspended by simple wooden sticks, bubbled as it simmered, the surface of the broth shimmering with a yer of oil.

  Dried beef was thoroughly cooked in the boiling soup, softening into tender slices. The frozen berries melted, releasing their sweet juices into the broth, turning it a deep red. White, misty steam rose from the pot, swirling in the cold winter air, adding to the warmth of the moment.

  A few plump fish were skewered on sharpened sticks and roasted by the fire, occasionally sprinkled with a pinch of fine salt. The fish scales gleamed in the firelight, turning a brilliant golden color, and soon the fish were crisp and golden, filling the air with the mouthwatering aroma of roasted fish.

  EeDeChi picked up a roasted fish with her left hand, taking a bite of the tender meat and chewing it together with the white, brittle bones. In her right hand, she held a green ceramic bowl, sipping the delicious broth from time to time.

  Barrett admired her strong teeth; he, for one, would never eat the fish bones. He took out a soft wheat bread and dipped it into the meat broth, savoring it as he forked up pieces of beef and brought them to his mouth. The rich, berry-den soup warmed him from the inside, spreading heat through his body and chasing away the chill of the deep winter.

  The two of them were camping in a sunken area halfway up the mountain, pnning to cross the range and reach the wilderness on the other side.

  After finishing the meal, EeDeChi cleaned the bowl and pot with snow, then reached into the fire to stir the embers and burning pine branches, creating a hollow space to let the fmes burn brighter. Barrett checked the equipment in his spatial ring, counting the ropes and pitons.

  "We've got a serious problem," Barrett said, furrowing his brow. "Our food supplies won't st for the long journey ahead."

  This was an issue he had anticipated. When they set off, they hadn't expected to cross over the mountain range, and had made no preparations for such a journey. But now, there was no way they could go to the town at the foot of the mountain to buy more food. In a winter like this, with snow falling heavily, travelers from out of town would stand out too much.

  "What should we do?" EeDeChi had no idea either. She crushed a piece of red charcoal between her fingers, and sparks flew out like a shower of stars across the sky.

  "ROAR!" A deep, thunderous beast's roar shook the snow from the trees, and heavy breaths blew the pine needles around.

  Barrett and EeDeChi turned to look. Through the dense pine forest, a massive creature was charging toward them. Its fur was dark brown, speckled with white patches of snow.

  The beast bared its enormous teeth, rows of sharp fangs like steel spikes lining its jaws.

  "Owlbear!" Barrett swallowed hard. "I picked this campsite to avoid monsters, and owlbears should be hibernating in their dens during winter!"

  The owlbear crashed through several pine trees, its eyes burning with rage. Its heavy steps quickened as it charged directly at their camp.

  The giant bear clearly ignored the plump, meaty Barrett, its cws tearing through the rocky ground as it accelerated, its target clearly EeDeChi.

  "Don't tell me," Barrett gnced at EeDeChi, "Your 'Favorability Level' dropping by 66% affects even beasts?"

  "Looks like it." EeDeChi scratched her head, a bit embarrassed.

  In the few seconds they had been talking, the enraged owlbear had already lunged at them. Its terrifying jaws gaped wide, sharp fangs and cws closing in, and EeDeChi could even smell the stench of its breath.

  Barrett looked at the fierce beast charging at EeDeChi and said:

  "Actually, this isn't such a bad thing..."

  "BANG!" EeDeChi punched the owlbear, sending it flying like a kid knocking an elephant out of the air.

  "...At least our food supply is sorted for now."

  ...

  A month ter, in Re-Estize, on a pin near the capital, a location once marked as "Lentwei Town" on the map.

  The sun was shining brightly, with not a cloud in the sky. The vast blue expanse above seemed endless, making it a perfect day. But if such clear weather sted for an entire month in the midst of a cold, snowy, and rainy winter, it would be undeniably strange.

  Beneath the azure sky was a massive pit, nearly three kilometers in diameter. The soil inside the pit was a deep, charred bck, as though it had been poured from a furnace by a god, then evenly spread across the ground. The earth was harder than frozen soil from the coldest of nds—one swing of an axe would only leave a faint bck scratch.

  "I've heard that there used to be a small town here, called Lentwei. A few hundred families lived there, and under the colossal beam of light that stretched across the sky, they vanished in an instant," said an old man wearing a deep blue hood. He was riding a bck horse, slowly pacing around the edge of the pit.

  Behind him, a convoy of horse-drawn carts was stopped at the edge of the pit. The cargo was completely covered by old white tarps. Several men, cloaked in hoods and robes, were busy setting up the carts. A few merchant-looking individuals rode various horses, galloping through the pit. On the other side of the pit, a few dark figures squatted by the edge, gesturing animatedly as they spoke.

  They looked like a normal traveling merchant caravan, passing through this pce out of curiosity and entering the pit to explore.

  However, if any knights from Re-Estize had overheard their conversations, they would have been filled with dread, cursing their border troops for being useless—how could they have allowed such dangerous individuals into the kingdom?

  "Your Eminence, Cardinal," a young man riding a brown horse caught up with the old man on the bck horse. He spoke quietly:

  "The Bck Scripture has checked all around. Apart from a few curious wanderers, there are no suspicious followers. The mages from the Windflower Scripture are currently mapping out the magical energy remnants in the air."

  The old man nodded lightly. Under his hooded robe was a weathered face, his silver hair combed neatly. The sunlight reflected off his face, revealing deep lines and the signs of age.

  He spoke softly, "Everything is proceeding according to pn. The Clearwater Scripture must remain vigint. Has the intelligence gathering from the witnesses around the town been completed?"

  "They've gathered and organized everything. According to the witnesses, on that day, the towering beam of light could be seen from thousands of miles away. The sound of magic rumbled like the earth itself weeping. Gods fought in the sky, and if a mortal dared to steal a gnce, they would be doomed for eternity."

  The Bck Scripture, Windflower Scripture, and Clearwater Scripture—three of the highest military powers of the Sne Theocracy—had come for the pit, lingering on the outskirts of the capital of Re-Estize.

  After reporting, the young man pulled on his reins and rode off. The old man continued his stroll through the pit, only to encounter an elderly woman riding a gray-maned horse.

  A strange light flickered in the woman's eyes as she halted her horse, gazing at the bck crack in the center of the pit. She sighed, "It's exactly like the 'Battle of the Gods' described in the ancient texts from five hundred years ago."

  "Yeah, who would've thought we'd live to see a miracle with our own eyes," the old man said, halting his horse as well. His horsemanship was so skilled that it was hard to believe he was an elderly man.

  "Could that girl, 'EeDeChi,' be the 'Messenger of Gods' foretold by the Ashendust Scripture?" the woman murmured. "The messenger sent by the Divine Realm to guide us with supreme power and bring light to us in this eternal night."

  "The old fossils from Ashendust Scripture rarely get their prophecies right," the old man replied.

  "Prophecies aren't like the coins hidden in pies at a feast," the woman ughed. "Alphonse, don't forget, you're 160 now."

  "To be exact, I'm 158. I'm still young," the old man said with a grin.

  Suddenly, his tone grew serious and low. "At this perfect moment, the Messenger of Gods has appeared. Most of the watchers from the Sorcerer Kingdom have left our country to search for her. Our 'pn' can finally begin."

  The old woman nodded and spurred her horse, riding off. The man called "Alphonse" gently kicked his bck horse's belly, and the horse trotted into the central area of the pit.

  Dozens of long, bck fissures floated in mid-air, as if dark ink had been spshed into lines, suspended in the air. The cracks were dark and deep, and even under the clear sunlight, they remained unfathomably profound, as if they could swallow everything.

  One of the fissures was especially wide, just enough for a person to fall into. A month ago, EeDeChi had jumped into this spatial rift, vanishing from the eyes of the group from the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

  If someone didn't willingly jump into one of these cracks, who would ever know they were spatial rifts?

  Few people dared to venture into this area. Ordinary people, standing near the bck cracks, would feel an indescribable terror. The bck horse the old man rode also stopped, nervously neighing.

  A young boy with light golden hair rode up to the old man. The boy appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. He spoke in a low voice: "Your Eminence, I've completed the task you entrusted to me."

  The old man nodded in acknowledgment. The boy gently pulled on the reins, leading his horse a step away from the bck rift. Curious, he asked, "What are these bck cracks in the sky?"

  "They are the wounds of the world," the old man said, offering a rather philosophical, yet pointless answer.

  "They completely match the description of the Battle of the Gods relics in the ancient texts," the boy said, awe in his eyes. "Will these bck cracks keep expanding, or will they gradually disappear?"

  The boy was worried that the long, twisting bck rifts, which distorted space, would keep growing, eventually consuming the entire world.

  "If you studied the Heavenly Scripture seriously, and didn't sck off," the old man said leisurely, "you should remember that after the God of Death's battle with the Eight Greed Kings, the bck markings in the sky gradually shrank and disappeared over the course of a month and a half."

  "But, Master..." The boy said, he handed over a transparent crystal ball. Reflected in the crystal was the blue sky and the eerie bck cracks.

  "This is a magical recording captured by our spies pnted in the Re-Estize, right after the Battle of the Gods one month ago. Now, a month has passed, and there's no sign of the bck cracks shrinking!"