The map of the Bolt Kingdom is located just south of the Criv Kingdom, forming an irregular spherical shape with little difference in north-south and east-west distances.
Epunia continued to move his finger, heading towards the southern part, near a large forest located at the central position of the entire map. Numerous red arrows all eventually pointed to this place.
“This is the Forest of Calamity, the largest and one of the most primitive forests within the Bolt Kingdom, even ranking among the top in the forbidden zone in terms of development. The reason it has this name is due to the exceptionally high number of ‘Calamity Beasts’ in this forest. Many sightings of the ‘Southern Calamity’ have occurred in this vicinity.”
“At the same time, this is a large convergence point of earth veins. Every spring, there is a geyser-like surge of magical energy tides here, and this point is crucial.”
“The Forest of Calamity...”
Violet had read about this place in the book “The World’s Top 100 Unsolved Mysteries,” and it was listed as a dangerous area alongside the [Forgotten Lands]. However, the book did not mention its potential connection to the ‘Southern Calamity.’
Violet noticed that the cities and towns around this forest on the map were unusually scarce, even the capital of the Bolt Kingdom was located particularly far north, relatively close to their current position.
Most likely, as Epunia mentioned, the population distribution is shaped to avoid the frequent activities of the ‘Southern Calamity’ in this area.
The president continued to explain his plan.
“In the past, I and some friends gathered information from various sources. After repeated deductions, we believed that there might be secrets related to the ‘Southern Calamity’ hidden in this Forest of Calamity. That’s why we led a large army to crusade against it.”
The man paused for a moment, looking up at the few girls who were listening intently in a circle, his expression grave.
“Do you know, when we, the strong ones, arrived at the Forest of Calamity, the most recent sighting of the ‘Southern Calamity’ was clearly somewhere in the east, thousands of miles away from here. However, the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ suddenly appeared shortly after we entered the forest, surrounding and annihilating us. The tens of thousands of armies that were originally prepared to deal with the Calamity Beasts were also completely slaughtered while waiting on the periphery.”
“What do you think this means?”
The girls looked at each other.
“Um, could it be that there is more than one ‘Southern Calamity’? It left defensive forces here? After all, it was mentioned before that the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ can split.”
Edwina was the first to suggest.
“Does the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ have some long-distance fast movement means? Something like... spatial teleportation?”
The younger sister among the winged siblings, Rene, speculated, while the more composed Leila looked even deeper.
“Regardless of how the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ returned to the Forest of Calamity, there should indeed be something very important to it here. Is that what you mean, Mr. Epunia?”
Epunia remained noncommittal, turning his gaze to the priest and the dragon lady who had been silent.
“How do you two see it?”
“Law.”
The dragon lady uttered the word impassively and then lowered her head to continue playing with the roasted meat, no longer speaking.
Violet pondered and added her viewpoint.
“Since the name contains the word ‘Illusionary,’ I don’t think it’s random. Considering your previous descriptions and the fact that few have witnessed the movement of the ‘Illusionary Cloud,’ only seeing its rampant destruction and disaster... ”
“Is it possible that the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ is actually different from what we imagine or see, and instead exists in a more unique spatial dimension, something like a law that cannot be described by common sense?”
“To put it in simpler terms, it wasn’t that the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ instantly moved here, but rather you were sent to some other place?”
This was just a very superficial and far from perfect speculation. Violet believed that it might deviate from the actual situation, but it served as a starting point for thinking.
The reason for such a whimsical conjecture was primarily due to Violet associating various characteristics of the ‘Southern Calamity’ with the rampaging Resentful Spirit they encountered at the Iris Flower Orphanage in the Courage City.
Back then, Lilya and the others couldn’t locate the entity and could only passively endure attacks until Crimson Flame Flora wounded it with a special technique, revealing its trace.
That was because the core of the Resentful Spirit at that time was actually in a special space where the soul resided—a world similar to a parallel plane, existing independently of the material space.
The ‘Illusionary Cloud’ was definitely not exactly the same, but it could be considered a reference.
“This...?”
As if suddenly inspired, Epunia widened his eyes and took a while to recover. Looking at the black-haired girl, there was a clear increase in admiration in his gaze.
“...Indeed, Miss Violet, you’re truly remarkable to come up with such imaginative ideas. I only thought there might be some incomprehensible laws involved. What you said makes sense, no, it’s like revealing the truth with a single phrase!”
The tall half-beast man stood up in excitement.
“Yes! That’s right! Maybe it’s really like that! We all thought that those mists were the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ itself. Perhaps, it’s still just a special means it extends! So, even if that existence annihilates all ‘Calamities,’ it still can’t eradicate the ‘Southern Calamity’!”
“Well...”
Violet waved her hand, signaling him to sit down.
“Don’t get too excited. This is just a speculation that occurred to me in a flash, without any evidence to support it. So, our target is still the Forest of Calamity, right?”
Having finally calmed down his excited mood, the president returned to turning the roasting meat over the fire, nodding.
“Well, regardless, the behavior of the ‘Illusionary Cloud’ appearing across thousands of miles in the Forest of Calamity was too abnormal. Even if the truth is indeed as Miss Violet said, there must be something here that it particularly cares about or must protect.”
“In addition, the direction of the earth veins also proves the point. My idea is, if it’s because the earth vein eruption in the Forest of Calamity happened ahead of schedule this year, causing the ‘Southern Calamity’ to appear in late winter, it indicates that its base must be here.”
“In that case, we don’t need to specifically look for the ‘Illusionary Cloud.’ As long as we touch upon the secrets in that forest, the ‘Southern Calamity’ will surely appear in front of us on its own.”
“Well... if things go smoothly, it would be the best, of course.”
Violet echoed verbally, but in her heart, she felt like there might still be some overlooked details.
For example, why does the ‘Southern Calamity’ insist on causing chaos everywhere every year, just to satisfy its instinct for slaughter?
Could it have some hidden purpose? Such as looting, absorbing energy, creating minions through parasitism, or reproducing more of its kind... etc.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
There was also one thing that Violet had been particularly concerned about throughout.
Why don’t the ‘Four Calamities’ enter the Human United Kingdom? Is it really because of the so-called agreement made by their creators? And who created these disaster-like creatures?
Unknowing, incomprehensible.
Understanding this was one of the reasons why Violet was willing to spend time and effort slowly tracking and searching for the ‘Southern Calamity.’
After all, the priestess had no resistance to interesting rumors and exploration.
Violet wasn’t a fan of greasy meat, so after eating a few bites, she gave the remaining roasted meat to her own pet.
Since she, as a deity, didn’t particularly need the essential elements of ordinary survival such as eating and sleeping, maintaining this routine was just to satisfy her appetite and retain the feeling of living in the mortal world.
The wilderness nights in the Forbidden Zone were not safe, with bandits and magical beasts lurking around at night. However, for Violet and her group, this was not a problem.
Although Epunia offered to keep watch outside, Violet simply used an invisible barrier that covered the entire temporary campsite, dissuading him from the idea and sending him back to his tent to sleep.