Once upon a time, there was a mountain... No, there was a vast sea.

Stretching over hundreds of kilometers, the golden beaches and azure blue waters here became the most famous scenic spot on the West Coast, drawing crowds of tourists every spring and summer.

One day, a violently fierce storm suddenly descended without warning. The clear sky turned into dark clouds in an instant, and the raging waves under the strong winds relentlessly battered the coastline. Within just half an hour, a hurricane followed by a tsunami arrived, sweeping countless people who had been enjoying their vacation moments before into the surging waves.

But the dissipation of this raging storm was not the end, it was only the beginning of a war.

The storm lasted for three days, and the imperial officials, aware that something was amiss, finally decided to mobilize two Holy Rank powerhouses to disperse this storm that was destined to go down in history.

However, it happened that just as the two Holy Rank powerhouses arrived at the West Coast, the storm abruptly stopped as unexpectedly as it had appeared.

It was not the exhaustion of the wind that stopped it, but external interference.

It was only at this moment that the imperial officials realized the origin of that storm.

In front of the two Holy Rank powerhouses stood an ugly scar in the blue sky, a spatial rift called the "Mark of Heaven." Some powerful Holy Rank experts were able to create rifts in space using the rules of space, allowing them to traverse thousands of miles in a short period of time.

But never before had a Holy Rank witnessed a spatial rift several kilometers in length.

A deep abyssal dragon, wrapped in pitch-black flames, broke through from the Mark of Heaven. According to records, the ferocious roar of the dragon even reached several hundred miles away.

Although it was an unforeseen situation, the two Holy Rank powerhouses still displayed the reaction befitting legendary experts and joined forces to resist.

However, the outcome was something no one had expected.

There was no earth-shattering battle as imagined; the abyssal dragon directly crushed the two Holy Rank powerhouses in a nearly ferocious manner. The whole battle lasted less than a minute, and the mighty Holy Rank turned to ashes in the dragon's flames.

This news directly shook the Empyrean Emperor in the distant imperial capital. Even though the era of the empire had seen the emergence of numerous strong individuals, Holy Rank experts were still at the top. If even Holy Ranks could be crushed by a dragon, would it not mean that this city, acknowledged as impregnable, could also be easily conquered?

Upon realizing this, the Empyrean Emperor could no longer sit idly by. He immediately summoned all the strong individuals in the human world who could be contacted, while also seeking assistance from the demi-human races and dragons. Unprecedented military force was gathered to hunt down the dragon.

The decisive battle took place in the marshland where the dragon had taken root on the coastline. Fourteen imperial knights, six holy magitech masters, several Holy Ranks from the demi-human races, and even experts beyond the Holy Rank joined forces. They fought for three days and three nights, eventually slaying the raging dragon in mid-air.

The place where the dragon fell formed a perpetually lingering dark realm, shrouded in an aura of darkness. This directly changed the terrain and climate of the area, while also providing a clear spatial coordinate for future visitors.

Afterward, races from other realms broke through the barriers of space and arrived in this world, thus unveiling the prologue of the Age of Legendary War.

...

"Wait wait, the era of the empire? Isn't that even older than the Age of Legendary War? Damn it, that's like ten thousand years ago!"

At the mention of it, Aylas waved her hand forcefully and interrupted, "So you're saying that this dark swamp is the burial ground of the ancient dragon from ten thousand years ago, and The Realm of Darkness was left behind from that time... Are you sure you're not just playing a story with us?"

It's not unfounded to say so. After all, there are at least eight or ten legends about the origin of the Dark Swamp, and there are even more bizarre versions. Didn't they talk about a goddess battling the Demon Lord when they first entered the Adventurer's Town?

"Believe it or not." The girl named Angelica rolled her eyes without any politeness in her tone, completely devoid of the expected guilt that the three of them should have.

Wow, this girl really gets to the point.

But her dismissive attitude actually added some credibility to the story, and Aylas found herself half-believing and seriously contemplating its plausibility.

As for Ino...

"That power... is so strong, sigh... How can I achieve it..."

Well, this guy is already hopeless. He has been muttering to himself since they started their journey, to the point that Aya worried if he had gone mad. Aylas, on the other hand, as his older sister, was unusually calm, as if this little brother was just a free gift with purchase.

"It's okay, he always reacts like this when he encounters someone stronger than himself. Just get used to it."

-- That's probably what she meant.

Aya, on the contrary, listened to the story attentively, without showing any expressions of surprise on her face.

Oh, Abyssal Dragon, it was mentioned in a notebook.

Although it was only briefly mentioned, many of the clues in it happened to corroborate the story Angelica told, so Aya had already believed it about eighty percent.

"But what does this story have to do with tricking us and those Adventurers?"

Aya stared and said.

"Uh--- Well, that's... what I'm saying too..." Aylas originally wanted to slam the table, but Aya beat her to it and took the line, leaving her words unsaid, swallowing her breath, and finally weakly echoed.

Of course there is a connection, or do you think this girl has so much time to waste on talking nonsense? Do you really take me for that kind of person?

Angelica sneered and continued speaking.

...

The Abyssal Dragon is a Supreme Overlord of Devildom, which is not only reflected in its strength but also in its strong life force. Even if its physical body is destroyed, its dragon soul can still survive and eventually regain its strength through methods like possession and reincarnation.

The heroes who killed the dragon also knew about this, but they didn't have time to completely disperse the remaining dragon souls. After that, the Demons tore open the spatial channels and launched a massive invasion, followed by various races fighting each other after repelling the Demons. After the two mythical wars each lasting hundreds of years, both realms suffered heavy losses.

Many years later, in a certain year, when the contemporary Emperor learned about this from the records left by his ancestors and sent people to the Dark Swamp, it had already become a permanently dark place with no trace of the remaining dragon body or dragon soul, so they had to give up.

Times have changed, and colossal empires like this have disappeared into the river of history. With continuous wars, the history of the dragon has almost been lost and is no longer mentioned by anyone.

Until fifteen years ago...

"Fifteen years ago?"

Aya found this time point somewhat familiar.

"That's when the swamp expanded."

Aylas frowned and looked back at the ruins of the Adventurer's Town already behind the hill, "After the expansion of The Realm of Darkness, the Church immediately sent the Holy Knight Corps and Elder Council to designate the entire swamp as a sanctum, and even reached a secret agreement with Milanía and several neighboring countries, forbidding any investigation or interference in the affairs here."

"You knew about this?" Aya glanced at Atrus in surprise. "Wasn't it supposed to be a secret agreement?"

"Cough, cough, don't worry about those details." Atrus quickly coughed twice to cover it up and asked Anjelica, "Is the expansion of the swamp due to..."

"The influence of the Dragon Soul."

Anjelica nodded, affirming Atrus' guess.

...

It must be said that the human world of the Empire Era was indeed full of strong individuals. Even the mighty Abyssal Dragon, who was the ruler of a realm, was defeated by the formidable lineup of humans and even had its Dragon Soul severely damaged by a super powerhouse, narrowly escaping dissipating completely. But it didn't die. For the next ten thousand years, the Dragon slept deep within this vast swamp, emitting no energy, waiting silently for the end of the two-realm war, waiting for the depletion of the two realms' vitality, waiting through the mythical war, waiting for the era when it could dominate the world.

The demons retreated to their own realm, the Empire crumbled, and the demi-humans hid in the Frost Forest... It has to be said, the current world is much weaker compared to before.

If the Dragon were to appear in this era, except for the equally legendary gods, no one could possibly defeat it.

Unfortunately, a group of people much weaker than the ancient heroes stopped this possibility.

...

Aya started to understand. "So the Church came fifteen years ago to deal with this, huh? I didn't expect those guys to actually do something good."

"What kind of impression do you have of the Church..." Atrus was a little speechless.

Hey, considering that an Angel chased after me for thousands of miles, can you blame me for not having a good impression of an organization like the Church? It's already decent enough that I didn't call them con artists like Tiran did!

"So, you're saying that this legend is true after all? The Dragon's Dragon Soul exists right here beneath our feet?"

"Fifteen years ago, when the Dragon Soul erupted, the darkness of The Realm quickly expanded and extended the area of the swamp by more than one-third. Thousands of holy knights used their sacred Chi to dispel the darkness, with the assistance of the Elder Council and Theurges casting spells. They sacrificed more than a hundred people in order to forcefully suppress the resurrecting Dragon Soul with an ancient formation."

Anjelica nodded and suddenly stopped walking.

"We've arrived."

"Arrived... where?" Aya followed Anjelica's gaze and looked down, slightly startled.

"Home."