Night Journey

Chapter 12 Rebellion and Division

As the last rays of the setting sun disappeared below the horizon, the Lighthouse in White Cliff Town ignited, its brilliant light illuminating the earth and keeping out the surging gray fog and chaotic creatures.

Nunn and Cillian followed the narrow path beside the Lighthouse of Light up the high walls that surrounded the entire town of White Cliff.

"The Wanji Tonglu Academy is bound together by different casting courts, the Modian Society has three major societies, and we, the Torchbearers, are united by numerous clans."

"United by the same bloodline."

Cillian listened quietly, vaguely sensing what was about to happen.

"Now you have become an extraordinary being and embarked on the path of the torchbearer, but you are not yet a true torchbearer."

Nunn reached out and gently pressed his hand against Cillian's chest.

"Your body is now filled with power from the Sea of ​​Origin, which we collectively call Source Energy. However, the Source Energy within you is like a headless fly, wandering around aimlessly and cannot yet be systematically mobilized by you."

You need an external force to guide and unify the power within your body, like a seed crystal that triggers a change in matter.

Cillian had an idea, "The other seed crystal is..."

"The blood of a torchbearer."

Nuen took out a simply decorated box from his pocket. The metal exterior was covered with rust and scratches. It was unknown how far Nuen had carried it and how many seasons it had gone through.

He gently stroked the surface of the box, feeling the roughness of the texture.

"When the conquerors established their legion, they distributed their holy blood to ten people. These ten people then distributed their blood to others, thus establishing the first ten clans. We, the Soflova, are one of the ten founding clans."

In the Old Language, Sofrova means sunflower, therefore we are also known as the Sunflower Clan.

The two arrived at the gate of the high wall, where the gray fog was the thickest and the number of demons was the greatest. They emitted hoarse low cries and hovered between the boundaries of light and darkness.

"Before becoming torchbearers, we all had our own surnames, but after receiving the blood of the crystal seed, everyone will unanimously adopt the clan's surname, as if bidding farewell to their previous lives."

Nunn further explained, "But this is not a mandatory tradition, and many of the Torchbearers' traditions and regulations have been distorted beyond recognition due to rebellion and division."

Upon hearing this, Cillian's heart skipped a beat.

"Rebellion and division... what happened?"

Nunn fell silent.

He always does this: he suddenly falls silent for a while, musters the courage to face the past, then elaborates at length, before falling into an eerie silence again.

Cillian waited patiently.

After a long silence, Nunn asked emotionlessly, "How much do you know about the history of this world?"

“It’s just what’s in the books,” Cillian repeated. “We once had a glorious civilization, with countless giants standing tall and magnificent wonders creating one after another, almost filling the Sea of ​​Origin, until the outbreak of the Dayless Cataclysm smashed it all to pieces.”

Nunn responded, "According to the historical reconstruction by scholars, the Dayless Catastrophe broke out in the fifth era of the world, which is the Dark Age. After lasting for countless millennia, the rise of the Three Sages ushered the world into the sixth era, the Age of Revival."

He then offered a reminder.

"But the Age of Restoration is over, and we are now in the Seventh Age: The City-State Era."

Ciri silently gazed down at the base of the high wall, where thick gray fog had piled up, and countless menacing shadows swayed restlessly.

"The story I'm about to tell takes place at the end of the revival era and the beginning of the city-state era."

Nunn drew his cross-shaped longsword from his waist, his eyes blazing.

"The conquerors are the ones who lead the way, and the torches guide the path of destiny."

He once gathered various clans, formed legions, and launched one expedition after another into the dark world.

Throughout the long campaigns, the legions reclaimed lost territory piece by piece from the chaos, creating vast space for the development of civilization.

Nunn recalled, "Those were glorious years, when everyone was full of hope, feeling that they could completely banish chaos and rebuild civilization."

"But an accident happened, didn't it?"

Cillian guessed it; many stories had such tragic twists. "I learned about the expedition from a book. On a certain page, suddenly all the text about the expedition disappeared, as if something ominous had happened, causing everyone to fall silent about it."

A historical vacuum.

Yes, it was an accident.

Nunn turned around to face Cillian, his expression obscured by the shadows of the night, with only the cold, sharp edge of his cross-shaped longsword still visible.

"That was the twelfth Great Expedition. The Expeditionary Pioneers planned to lead their legions deep into the Dark World in an attempt to uncover the truth behind the Dayless Catastrophe."

The tip of the sword tapped nervously on the ground.

"At first, everything went smoothly, but when the expeditionary force reached the depths of the dark world, they mysteriously lost contact."

Nuen felt the temperature of the night—cold and deep.

"Just as no one knows the truth about the Dayless Catastrophe, no one understands what exactly happened to the Legion."

All people knew was that the expeditionary force had been out of contact for several years, and when they finally re-established contact with the outside world, they brought back only terrible news.

Cillian had a premonition that the story Nunn was about to tell would be the beginning of a turning point, marking the rise and fall of two eras.

A surge of anger rose in Nunn's eyes, and he spoke in a nearly hoarse voice.

"The legion has rebelled."

Cillian stood there, stunned.

"The conquerors have mysteriously disappeared, their legions have rebelled, and nearly a third of the torchbearers have joined the chaos, turning their swords against their own clansmen."

It was a hatred etched into his blood, and even though Nunn wasn't a direct witness, he found it difficult to remain calm when he talked about it.

"The rebels' war spread from the dark world to the outer borders, then to the inner and outer rings, until they reached the Holy City of the Day."

In the midst of successive wars, the reclaimed territories once again fell into the dark world. City-states were reduced to scorched earth, and countless mortals were transformed into demons in the gray fog. The territories carved out by the torchbearers with their swords collapsed and shrank.

In an instant, everything returned to the dark years before the era of revival.

Nunn took a deep breath and began to tell the story's ending.

"The war lasted for thirteen years and was later known as the Year of Rebellion."

After the rebellion, the surviving rebels retreated into the dark world, eyeing the civilized world with covetous intent. The conquerors remained missing, their fate unknown.

The surviving legion also split due to the year of rebellion.

One group of torchbearers believed the expedition should continue to find the missing explorers and reclaim the frontiers, while the other group rejected the proposal, arguing that the era of expeditions was over and they should defend the existing territory.

As Nunn spoke, Cillian's heart inexplicably tightened until Nunn's next sentence, which relieved much of the pressure in his heart.

"Fortunately, a civil war did not break out."

"The Torchbearers who were determined to go on the expedition established an organization called the Remnant Army of the Ashes. They are still active in the dark world, constantly hunting down the rebels and searching for the whereabouts of the expeditionary pioneers."

Another group of torchbearers founded the now-known Fire Keeper's Cult, uniting this broken world through faith.

Scholars consider the failure of the twelfth expedition as the end of the revival era, while the outbreak of the year of rebellion marks the beginning of the city-state era.

Nunn, like an observer, provided the final summary of this insane history.

"The failure of the twelfth expedition dealt a blow to the civilized world no less severe than the outbreak of the Dayless Catastrophe. It plunged the united civilized world into division and isolation once again, with each city-state fighting its own battles, a situation that continues to this day."

Ciri took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "Then our clan..."

Nunn said emotionlessly.

“Cillian, our clan has fallen…”

(End of this chapter)