Chapter 202: Investigation

The howling mountain wind blew across the high cliff, carrying with it a cold, suffocating silence that settled deep into the bones of the four intruders.

On the rocky ledge overlooking the basin, the three elite Elders of the Glorious Mythical Sect stood utterly paralyzed.

The massive broadsword in Heaven’s Honored Elder’s grip trembled violently, the tip tapping against the stones with a faint, frantic clack-clack-clack.

Peerless Supreme Elder’s face had drained of all color, his eyes wide, bloodshot, and bulging as he stared down at the colossal, glassified abyss where a thriving metropolis of tens of thousands had stood just days before.

Terror—raw, unadulterated, and primal—flooded their souls.

These were Middle-enlightened stage Martial Generals who had spent centuries slaughtering enemies, conquering regional sects, and braving deadly wildernesses.

Yet, as their senses expanded over the smoking crater, their internal meridian cores shuddered in absolute, instinctual dread.

They could feel it in the very air—the lingering residual energy in the valley belonged to an overwhelming, unfamiliar power that defied every principle of mortal cultivation.

"What... what in the gods’ names is this?" Heaven’s Honored Elder choked out, his voice cracking like dry wood. "Where is the city?! Where are the granite walls?! Where are the tens of thousands of citizens?!"

"This... this isn’t the work of a martial army..." Peerless Supreme Elder whispered, his hands shaking so violently he could no longer hold his battle stance.

"A core detonation of a Martial General couldn’t possibly melt an entire valley into glass! Who did this?! WHAT did this?!"

Divine Scarlet Elder gulped hard, his dry throat clicking as cold sweat drenched his heavy battle armor. "Silver Lotus... was Silver Lotus Elder killed by... by whatever unleashed this apocalypse? Is the monster who did this still nearby?!"

Their hearts raced like wild drums, their chests heaving as panic threatened to shatter their martial composure.

They had marched out of the Northern Hashian Mountains expecting to crush a rebellious city garrison or execute a rogue martial faction.

Instead, they had stumbled into the graveyard of a world-ending catastrophe.

Seeing the three seasoned generals on the verge of a total psychological breakdown, Priest Arnold took a slow, deliberate step forward.

Though his own handsome features were drawn into a tight, grim mask, the red-haired priest maintained a cold, rigid composure.

He unclasped his hands from his priestly robes, letting his aura flare slightly to steady the atmospheric pressure surrounding the cliff.

"Calm yourselves, Elders," Priest Arnold commanded, his melodic voice cutting through the rising tide of panic like a silver blade.

"Fear will not serve us in this abyss."

Divine Scarlet Elder whipped his head around, staring at the priest with desperate, bloodshot eyes.

"Priest Arnold! You... you are a Martial Lord of the Holy Church! Look at this wasteland! Tell us—what in the blazes happened here?!"

Priest Arnold stood at the edge of the precipice, his icy blue eyes sweeping over the miles of smooth, blackened slag glowing softly in the dim light.

"I do not know the identity of the perpetrator," Priest Arnold answered softly, his voice heavy with an unfamiliar weight. "However... I recognize the fundamental nature of this destruction."

"You recognize it?" Peerless Supreme Elder demanded, taking a frantic step toward the priest.

"Explain it to us! What power could turn granite and steel into a lake of liquid glass?!"

Priest Arnold inhaled deeply, the cool mountain air filling his lungs as he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"This is not the work of a human cultivator," Arnold stated calmly, opening his eyes to lock his gaze onto the terrified generals. "What you are looking at... is the true, absolute essence of divinity."

THUD.

The three Elders shuddered violently at the explanation, as if struck by an invisible hammer.

"D-Divinity...?" Heaven’s Honored Elder stammered, stepping backward until his boot hit a jagged boulder. "Isn’t that... isn’t that the sacred power of the Gods?!"

"A God?!" Peerless Supreme Elder shrieked, his voice laced with unhinged disbelief.

"A God came to this backwater border region?! Why?! What in the heavens could Silver Lotus Elder have possibly done to anger a divine entity?!"

Priest Arnold grimaced, his brow furrowing deeper as a cold realization settled in his chest. "This is far more troublesome than I had originally anticipated... far more dangerous than anything your Sect Leader envisioned when he sent us here.

The fact that a divine power of this staggering magnitude was unleashed upon a mortal city is not a mere skirmish. It is a sign."

"A sign?" Divine Scarlet Elder asked nervously, his voice barely a whisper in the wind.

"A sign of what, Priest Arnold?"

Priest Arnold turned his head slowly, his icy gaze pinning the Elder in place.

"A sign of Divine Judgement," Arnold answered coldly. "A celestial entity passed down sentence upon Kaelos City and completely erased it from the fabric of this continent.

We must investigate with extreme caution to understand what truly transpired within these streets... and why the absolute wrath of a God fell upon this land."

He smoothed down the front of his pristine white-and-gold robes, his tone dropping into a calculating, dangerous register.

"We must fully comprehend the exact nature of the entity we are dealing with before we make a single aggressive move. If we strike blindly, your entire sect—and my Church’s crusade—will be incinerated in the cradle."

Arnold turned back to face the three breathless generals. "Tell me, Elders... where should we begin our investigation? Are there surviving border posts nearby?"

Divine Scarlet Elder swallowed hard, his throat dry as bone as he forced his mind to recall the regional maps.

"T-The three closest human settlements to Kaelos City are Jayrel City, Heckman City, and Oscros City," Divine Scarlet Elder answered hastily, pointing his trembling finger across the eastern valleys.

"They lie within two days’ ride. We can travel there immediately, question the merchant guilds, and see if any refugees or scouts managed to escape before the city—"

STOP.

Priest Arnold suddenly cut him off, raising his right hand in mid-air.

His head snapped abruptly to the west, his icy blue eyes narrowing into sharp, deadly slits as his gaze locked onto the dense, dark silhouette of the Nosa Forest, sitting just a mile away from the crater’s edge.

A deep, unnatural frown carved its way onto Priest Arnold’s handsome face.

He slowly shook his red-haired head, his fingers twitching beneath his wide sleeves.

His Martial Lord senses, refined by decades of holy cultivation within the Church of the God of the Sky, picked up something faint.

An almost imperceptible, lingering residue of primordial divine aura clinging to the damp mist hovering above the tree canopy.

It was subtle, masked beneath the natural mana of the woods, but to a priest of the Church, it stood out like a drop of blood in a bowl of milk.

Something—or someone—possessing traces of divinity was hiding beneath those ancient trees.

"No..." Priest Arnold whispered, a dark, predatory smile creeping onto his lips as he lowered his hand. "...we will not be wasting time in those distant cities."

He pointed a single, slender finger directly toward the dark heart of the Nosa Forest.

"We start our investigation right there."