[Vol. 7] Chapter 80: The Myth of the Eternal Night Forest
The others couldn’t see through [Yin-Yang Eyes], so naturally, they had no idea what Miss Priestess was thinking at the moment. Seeing how confident Violet looked, [Tree Bow] Enrique didn’t question her further. He simply nodded and continued leading the way.
Their current team consisted of Enrique’s adventurer party, [Tree], along with Violet, Hongyan, and Le Qiaoqiao, making a total of nine people.
Among them, the [Priest], [Tree Bow], and [Tree Wall] were all legendary-ranked adventurers, while the other four [Tree] members, though not yet at that level, had each proven their skills and gained extensive experience.
Even Hongyan and Le Qiaoqiao, who were officially only at the Mythril rank, actually possessed combat strength comparable to the Earth-tier level. They also had hidden trump cards, meaning that even without taking in Miss Priestess, this was still an exceptionally elite team. One of the best in the entire Austre Empire.
It had already been several days since Xiao Guang went missing. Violet had intentionally taken her time to prepare, making sure not to rush the pursuit so they wouldn’t scare the enemy into moving too fast and ruining their chance to track them.
She knew Xiao Guang’s personality well. If the people who took her were nothing special, that little dragon girl would never have the patience to play along with them. Most likely, she would have already blown everything sky-high by now.
Since nothing major had happened yet, it confirmed Violet’s suspicion. These guys weren’t just ordinary human traffickers. There was a high chance that they were cultists directly linked to the missing persons cases.
As they followed Xiao Guang’s trail, Miss Violet, slightly bored from the monotonous journey, didn’t forget to ask about the place [Tree Bow] had mentioned earlier.
"By the way, Mr. Enrique, what kind of place is the [Eternal Night Forest]? Have you been there before?"
The Tree Spirit man leading the group glanced back at her and simply smiled.
"Miss Violet, you’re a world-famous traveler and a legendary adventurer, yet you’re asking me? That place is indeed dangerous and vast, acting as a natural barrier between the Austre Empire and the Azure Sky Kingdom, but if it’s just the outer edges, someone like you shouldn’t have much trouble, right?"
"Well~ the world is huge, and there are still so many places I haven’t had time to explore yet! Besides, I’m still young, you know~"
"Fair enough. After all, you guys only registered your adventurer party a few years ago... Alright, I’ll tell you."
[Tree Bow] sighed helplessly and nodded. It seemed he wasn’t planning to dig too much into Violet's secrets. After a moment of contemplation, his expression shifted, as if he were recalling an old memory.
"Actually, a long, long time ago, the [Eternal Night Forest] was once the homeland of the Tree Spirits. The place where our race first emerged and thrived."
"The Goddess of Earth granted us that land, rich and full of life. Under her protection, the Tree Spirits built a powerful and prosperous kingdom, which was the predecessor of the [Eternal Night Forest].
"But then, about a thousand years ago, for reasons unknown, we stopped receiving the Goddess of Earth' blessings and guidance. Not long after, disasters began to strike our kingdom, one after another. The earth collapsed, forming black abysses that swallowed countless of our people. Then, terrifying monsters appeared in waves, slaughtering everything in sight."
"Without divine protection, our people had no way to resist such a catastrophe. Under the leadership of our priests, we fled north to lands not yet consumed by the disaster, but no matter how fast we ran, the destruction spread even faster. We suffered devastating losses."
"It was at this moment, on the brink of extinction, that the children of the Goddess of Earth appeared. They used their power to lift the collapsing land into the sky, creating floating islands, and led the divine guardians in a fierce battle that lasted for months. In the end, they wiped out those horrifying creatures and stopped the disaster from spreading, saving the remaining survivors of our race."
"But in that brutal war, countless warriors of the gods perished. Even the children of the Goddess of Earth exhausted their strength and fell into an eternal slumber within that very forest."
"The overwhelming death and destruction turned the once-thriving forest into a land of eternal night, filled only with three moons in a dark sky and wandering spirits. The surviving Tree Spirits, with the help of the last remaining divine guardians, had no choice but to leave their homeland. They split into groups and journeyed to faraway lands, seeking a new place to call home."
"And so, the once glorious kingdom collapsed, and the remnants of our land that had not fallen into the abyss nor risen into the sky became what is now known as the [Eternal Night Forest]. A place where the sun never shines, only the night sky and lost souls remain."
Finishing the tale, Enrique paused for a moment. Then, noticing the curiosity on the three girls' faces, especially those hearing this story for the first time, he smiled.
"Haha, of course! This story has been passed down since my great-grandfather’s time. It's a myth and how much of it is actually true is anyone's guess."
"After that disaster, the Tree Spirit kingdom suffered a devastating blow. The survivors split into different groups and migrated to forests all over the world. Over time, many of our traditions and historical records were lost."
"Today, only our Lingmu Tribe, the most developed among the Tree Spirits, has managed to preserve a few fragments of those records. For example, this myth I just mentioned, the [Black Moon Catastrophe]."
"Hmm… that's quite an interesting piece of hidden history."
Violet was a little surprised.
She hadn’t expected to hear something like this from a Tree Spirit adventurer in such a casual setting.
Even though Enrique’s story lacked details and sounded more like an exaggerated legend rather than a completely factual account, it actually matched some of the intel she had gathered. By combining his words with what the priestess already knew, she could find some plausible connections between the myth and real events.
According to the world map that Sethlin had given her, the [Eternal Night Forest] lay directly south of the Austre Empire, covering nearly one-fifth of its entire territory. Its long, narrow shape acted as a natural barrier, completely separating the empire from the Azure Sky Kingdom further south.
Because of this vast and nearly impassable forest, the empire had no choice but to take a longer route westward through the relatively safer Criv Kingdom if they wanted to reach Azure Sky Kingdom in the far south. This made travel time-consuming and exhausting, which was one of the main reasons why the ambitious Austre Empire had never been able to expand its influence into the Azure Sky Kingdom.
The [Eternal Night Forest] was also closely connected to the floating islands that hovered over the abyss further south. If Enrique was right, then these two might have originally been part of the same massive forest over a thousand years ago.
As for the Goddess of Earth mentioned in the story, it was almost certain that she referred to Seth, the former Goddess of Earth. The warriors who fought to defend her were most likely angels. As for the Goddess of Earth’ children... there weren’t any solid clues yet, but Violet had heard of titles like [Child of God] before.
If given the chance, she figured she could ask Sethlin about it.
While the priestess was deep in thought, Enrique continued speaking as he walked.
"But no matter how the [Eternal Night Forest] came to be, one thing is certain. It’s extremely dangerous. Neither Sophie nor I have actually been there ourselves, but from what we’ve heard, even a legendary-ranked adventurer could step inside and never return."
"A group of suspected cultists heading toward such a place… that just doesn’t feel right..."