I am the old, fiery-faced man from the senior department.

The men, like a pack of enraged wolves, roared and raised their scythes to hack at the strange clown.

The clown fell down easily.

The men killed the clown.

But the clown's laughter did not stop.

The Joker isn't dead yet. Where is he hiding?

They looked around.

The clown is behind you!

They went to chop, they went to cut.

The clown killed someone!

Avenge them!

"Living is about satisfying desires."

The clown chuckled as he stepped over one corpse after another, then gently pushed open the warehouse door.

Behind it, a frenzied monster covered in blood kept surging in.

Hearing the screams coming from inside, it laughed even louder.

The rising sun illuminated the bright red sky.

###

"Should we continue westward?"

While Tian Sha drove the pack animals pulling the cart, Bai Zhou, who was slacking off nearby, asked Kal'tsit about the rest of the journey.

"Yes, Your Majesty, we must first pass through Casimir, and then cross Minos to reach Sargon in the south."

“Sargun. I’ve heard of it.”

“The Great Yan Dynasty once had a trade route to Sargon. They traded silk, ceramics, and tea for spices and plant seeds.”

"Unfortunately, due to war and natural disasters, that trade route could no longer be used."

After reminiscing about the past, what else came to mind during the day?

"I know from history books that there are demons in the far north of the world. So, what is in the far south of the world?"

"The same kind of evil."

Kal'tsit's words piqued Daylight's interest.

“Then, could you tell me the story of that place, Mr. Kal'tsit?”

"If you want to hear it, of course you can."

Kal'tsit has witnessed countless stories, some magnificent, some grand and majestic, some ordinary and simple, and some tragic and unspeakable.

Among these stories, the "Eternal Army" established by the Sargon kings to resist the southern demons is a particularly interesting one.

"An undead legion built from the dead..."

It seems like a very familiar setting.

Oh, right, many countries have had legends about immortals.

The Demon King of the East.

The zombies and ghosts of the Great Flame.

The monsters of Kazdel.

"If I have the chance, I would really like to see the difference between the demons of the South and the demons of the North."

Do they have accents due to regional differences?

Baiyue is very curious.

"Well... there probably is."

Kal'tsit looked at the curious boy in front of her, unsure of what to say.

"Hmm, Mr. Kal'tsit, do you have any stories about the Great Yan?"

"I still remember some."

Do you want to hear a story you're more familiar with?

Kal'tsit searched her memory for stories about the Great Yan.

"That's great."

"Then, let me tell you the story of 'Jingwei'."

“Long, long ago, in the wild years before the establishment of the Great Yan capital, people relied on many tribes for survival.”

"On the eastern edge of the continent, there exists a sea. Because of its location in the east, the people who live there call it the East Sea."

"People live along the coast and feed on fish and other marine life. But the ocean is unpredictable; one second it may be calm and the next it may be stormy and flood the coast."

"So people began to worship a sea god in order to survive. The god was moved by the people's worship and gave them fish and other marine life to live on. He would also send people back to shore when they fell into the ocean."

"Under the 'protection' of the gods, the village gradually prospered. The number of people gradually increased."

"One day, a magical girl was born into the tribe. When she was born, a light rain fell from the sky to help her give birth. On that day, the sea was calm all day, and the shore was covered with fish. People believed that she was a treasure bestowed by the gods. People loved her and cherished her."

Only the girl's parents treated her the same way and named her Nüwa (meaning "girl").

The girl is lively and adorable by nature. Because she is born with the ability to control water, she watches people go out to sea and protects them. Sometimes she even uses her water control skills to help people who are drowning.

But her father always had something on his mind and often told her not to use her abilities recklessly.

The girl agreed, but her kindness prevented her from ignoring those who were being dragged into the sea.

Until one day, a fisherman found a blood-stained scale while fishing at sea.

After obtaining the scale, the fisherman suddenly discovered that he possessed the same peculiar power as the girl. He was overjoyed, because this meant he could freely enter and leave the ocean and catch even more scales.

And he did just that. Because he captured more and more scales and frequently displayed his strength in front of others, people admired him, respected him, and considered him a very powerful person.

The fisherman was overjoyed, increasingly so. Gradually, with the help of the scales, he became the most powerful man in the village. He could get whatever he wanted.

Until he revealed the matter of the scales while drunk.

Humans are ambitious.

Humans have desires.

People are prone to comparison.

People frantically rushed into the ocean, hoping to catch the scales the fishermen spoke of and to gain the same status as them.

But not everyone is as lucky as the fisherman.

The number of people who rushed into the sea drowned far exceeded the number who came back alive.

Many corpses floated in the sea.

The people's crazy behavior attracted the attention of the sea god.

The gods gathered rain clouds, stirred up strong winds and waves, and stopped those people from continuing their pointless suicides.

But the gods' "goodwill" has been misunderstood.

They don't care whether other people live or die.

They only care about whether they can become superior to others.

The gods prevented them from going to sea, thus cutting off their path to upward mobility.

The greater the kindness shown in the past, the deeper the hatred it can ignite.

The madmen rebelled against the god who protected them.

But how can man defy God?

Only beings as powerful as God can stand against Him.

Even if all the lucky people who found the scales combined, their combined power would be far less than one ten-thousandth of the divine power.

If they can't even ward off the waves, how can they possibly rebel against the gods?

But they can't do it; someone else can.

The people found the girl and, with the most pitiful words and the most sincere pleas, they told her about the evil of the gods. They wanted her to use her powers to fight against the sea gods.

The girl was puzzled.

She couldn't understand why such a kind deity would do such a thing.

But that was all she could do. Because the villagers, who had lived with her for many years and treated her kindly, were more important than the gods she had never met.

She drove away the storms for them, found the place where their nerves lay, and fought against the gods for them.

The gods were puzzled.

Humans are such fickle creatures.

He doesn't like people like that.

He retreated.

The god did not harm the girl who fought with Him, but left that sea alone and went to a more distant ocean.

People believed they had defeated the gods.

They sang and danced, celebrating with great joy.

But before that, they have one more enemy to deal with.

That is the girl who can defeat the gods.

How could they have just driven away one terrifying being only to have another powerful being rise above them?

They sent half of their men to kill all of the girl's parents and relatives.

The other half praised the girl's bravery, tricked her into eating poisonous scales, and then, while she was unconscious, cut her wrists and placed her in a small boat to be thrown into the ocean. Only after the ocean swallowed her did they feel relieved and continue to enjoy the joy of their victory.

Thus, only they were the true, powerful heroes who defeated the gods.