The Abelion Hills stretch across the vast lands east of the Roble Holy Kingdom, covering an area almost equal to the kingdom's entire northern region.
Rolling mountains rise one after another across the landscape, home to numerous races, most of them Demi-Humans.
Beneath the earth lies an immense network of interconnected caves.
The passages weave together into a vast, intricate maze, forming an enormous and mysterious subterranean labyrinth.
The terrain is treacherous, while the passages are narrow and winding, giving defenders an overwhelming advantage. It is a naturally formed stronghold that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Inside a deep and quiet natural sinkhole, Naraku and the other refugees were taking a brief rest.
The cave was dark and damp, with Luminous Moss growing along the stone walls and giving off a faint glow.
Various races, including the Caben and the Zern, inhabited this dark and expansive underground world.
Compared to brutal and warlike demihuman races such as the Orcs, the Caben and Zern were undoubtedly far more mild mannered, but they still held little goodwill toward humans.
However, after the White Dragon Lord appealed to both reason and propriety, employing arguments both spiritual and physical, and with the threat posed by the constantly emerging rifts, the two sides had little choice but to temporarily put aside their old grievances and work together against the invading enemy.
"Chaos Beasts, Chaos Stones, Contaminated Beasts... How did this world suddenly end up with so many bizarre, inexplicable things?"
Naraku muttered as he tossed the mysteriously glowing object in his hand.
Of all the strange new phenomena that had appeared, the most conspicuous were undoubtedly the monsters that suddenly emerged from the rifts.
Slimes, Cyclopses, horses, and creatures of every imaginable shape appeared, but they all shared the same distinctive features. Purple smoke and purple light surrounded their bodies.
After giving it considerable thought, Naraku eventually decided to call them Chaos Beasts.
Naturally, he named the rifts that produced them Chaos Rifts.
Chaos Stones, meanwhile, were precious items that had a chance of dropping after a Chaos Beast was killed.
They looked somewhat like powerful energy cores, but what extraordinary effects they might possess remained unknown.
As for the humans and various monsters corrupted by the miasma and driven into a frenzy, Naraku collectively referred to them as Contaminated Beasts.
From what they had learned so far, the Chaos Beasts did not appear particularly intelligent. They simply followed their instincts and caused destruction wherever they went.
Their average level was around 16 or 17.
Those in the Level 30 to 40 and even Level 40 to 50 ranges were also fairly common.
However, no one could say for certain whether even higher level Chaos Beasts had yet to appear, or whether there were individuals among them that possessed some degree of intelligence.
Another noteworthy point was the obvious hostility between Chaos Beasts and Contaminated Beasts.
Chaos Beasts would actively attack Contaminated Beasts, and Contaminated Beasts would attack Chaos Beasts in return.
Well, all that could really be said was that the situation was becoming more chaotic by the moment.
[Sigh, I finally get the chance to travel somewhere, and this has to happen.]
Naraku looked thoroughly annoyed.
He had never imagined that one day he would personally experience what it was like to flee for his life.
Heh. He had to admit, this was certainly a novel experience unlike anything he had ever gone through before.
Just then, a faint rustling sound reached his ears.
A bizarre creature slowly crawled toward him.
Its upper body resembled an eel covered with six wartlike limbs, while its lower half looked like a blue maggot. Its slick body gleamed with an oily sheen.
It was a member of the Zern tribe, one of the native races inhabiting these caves.
The Zern stopped beside Naraku and spoke.
"Human protected by a dragon, are you free right now? Would you care to chat with this prince?"
As it spoke, its body kept twitching and bouncing, apparently some unique method of expressing itself.
Naraku lowered his gaze toward it.
Judging from its voice, the other party was still quite young.
Although its appearance was hideous and rather disgusting, surprisingly, there was no unpleasant odor coming from its body.
Even after smelling carefully, Naraku could detect nothing more than the faintest trace of blood, so slight that it was almost imperceptible.
At the moment, the Zern was conveying its words and thoughts to Naraku through a combination of Psychic type Magic and body language.
"Are you interested in the Sorcerer Kingdom?"
Zern were roughly the size of human children and moved relatively slowly. Their perception of color differed from that of humans. They could probably distinguish only between black and white, or perhaps perceive colors only under sufficiently bright light.
They generally lived underground, digging tunnels and feeding primarily on the bodily fluids of various creatures, whether living or dead.
They reproduced by laying eggs, and their race consisted almost entirely of females. Males were born extremely rarely, and any male who was born would immediately be treated as royalty and placed under comprehensive protection that was effectively a form of house arrest.
If a tribe lost all of its males, a female could sometimes change sex and become a new male. Generally, however, the tribe would gradually decline until it eventually faced extinction.
Recalling what the books had said about the Zern, Naraku replied at an unhurried pace.
"A little. When the entire Magelos tribe sought refuge in the Sorcerer Kingdom, it caused quite a stir throughout the Abelion Hills. Even I heard about it."
"I am Beebeezee, Prince of the Zern tribe. You seem to hold a fairly respectable position yourself, and since both of us are being protected by others, I imagine we'll have plenty to talk about."
Beebeezee's strength was not to be underestimated.
He was a Yin Master Psychic type Magic Caster who had already reached the fourth rank.
Although he had yet to enter the Realm of Heroes, his talent and potential suggested that, given enough time, he would undoubtedly reach that level.
However, because he was male, he had no opportunity to fight.
His harem, meaning the female Zern, would fight to the death to protect this young prince of their race.
The arrangement inevitably brought to mind the relationship between the Dragon Princess and the Dragon Kingdom in the past.
One was a young boy, the other a young girl.
The similarities were rather striking.
As for why Naraku had been completely excluded from the fierce fighting, the reason was entirely the White Dragon Lord.
The White Dragon Lord looked after him with extraordinary care, to an almost astonishing degree, as though terrified that Naraku might suffer even the slightest injury.
Allowing him to participate in battle was completely out of the question.
And so the current situation had come about.
The White Dragon Lord led a motley assortment of others and took responsibility for eliminating the invading Chaos Beasts.
Naraku, meanwhile, only needed to remain safely in the rear alongside the Zern Prince and watch from the sidelines.
Naraku could still vividly remember the strange looks Neia and her parents had given him at the time.
After all, being protected so diligently by a Dragon Lord was extraordinary enough, especially when that Dragon Lord was the White Dragon Lord, a great dragon who had personally pulled a carriage during the Sorcerer Kingdom's grand coronation ceremony.
His exalted status went without saying.
Naturally, Naraku had become a highly conspicuous and unusual figure in everyone's eyes.
"Since you're interested, why not move to the Sorcerer Kingdom once this incident is over? With these rifts hanging over the area, this land is already doomed. It won't be possible for your people to continue living and multiplying here."
Naraku considered it for a moment before making the pointed suggestion.
Something unknown was changing in this world. He had no idea what the exact cause was, but compared with remaining here, the Sorcerer Kingdom would undoubtedly be safer.
"Ugh... I'll need to give that matter some careful thought."
As one of the very few males in his tribe, Beebeezee understood perfectly well the responsibility and duty resting on his shoulders.
He was not only vital to the tribe's future, but also an irreplaceable pillar of support in the hearts of his people.
Because of that, regardless of the circumstances, even when facing a crisis that threatened his life, Beebeezee could maintain an extraordinary degree of composure and quickly think matters through with great care.
Naraku's enticing proposal certainly appealed to him.
However, his strong sense of responsibility and caution toward the unknown risks prevented him from accepting immediately. Instead, he showed a degree of hesitation.
"There's no need to rush. I still have some influence in the Sorcerer Kingdom. If you're willing, I should be able to arrange a decent place for your race."
Naraku smiled faintly, then looked down at the Chaos Stone in his hand as his thoughts began to wander once more.
Main body, hurry up and come here.
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