Compared to the rest of the continent, the eastern lands were the most free from demons. The reason for this was dungeons. When mana was introduced into the earth’s atmosphere, the very landscape began to be altered.

It led to the formation of what is known as dungeons. Dungeons were special landmasses where rifts opened up. These rifts allowed people to enter special places that were clearly not on Earth.

Entering these rifts, people have been known to return with significant boosts in strength. However, it came at a cost. These dungeons had a 95% mortality rate. Yet, with the world the way it is today, power was all that mattered, so many cared not for the danger.

Most rifts appeared on the eastern lands, which is why they were mostly free from demons. A group of awakeners who called themselves adventurers had taken over the eastern lands. They took over the eastern lands so they could gain access to the dungeons.

These adventurers even built a free city that wasn’t ruled by any one person. They were free and could come and go as they pleased. And as the name ‘Free’ suggests, there weren’t any rules except one: only awakeners were allowed to enter the free city.

Standing outside the gate of the free city were two young women. One of the women had white hair, a pair of antennae standing upright on top of her head and a pair of moth-like wings.

The girl standing beside her, however, had dark hair and was dressed in a kimono.

“Are you sure he’ll be here?” Kumo asked, as she stared at the massive gate opening in front of her.

Khalissi nodded confidently.

“In the letter he sent to Isabella, he said he wanted to get stronger. If that is the case, then it would only make sense to come to the free city. He might try to enter a dungeon, following the path of these foolish humans.”

Kumo looked at Khalissi with a slight frown.

She was about to say something but just then the gate opened. Khalissi used her magic to hide her wings and her antennae as she approached the guards. After proving they had some level of awakened power, they were allowed inside.

“The security here could use some work,” Khalissi chuckled and shook her head.

“I don’t think humans are as foolish as you make them out to be,” Kumo finally said, continuing their previous conversation. “I mean, look at this city for instance.”

The free city wasn’t the marvel of engineering that was present before the apocalypse, but still it was well built. Most of the buildings were made from wood and the ground was paved in cobblestone. It almost looked like a medieval city.

There were crowds of awakeners walking the streets. It almost seemed like a merchant city with the amount of people there selling enchanted items.

Looking around at the city, Khalissi nodded.

“This city looked like it was built by someone who reached their first awakening and gained a class that allows them to build things. There are several of those, so it’s hard to know for sure which one. But the reason I said the humans were foolish before is because they are worshipping the dungeons without knowing what they really are and the consequences of them.”

Kumo raised an eyebrow; she didn’t know what Khalissi was referring to. This prompted Khalissi to explain.

“Rifts are only formed when two worlds are merging,” Khalissi explained.

This caused Kumo’s mouth to open as she finally came to a realization.

“Wait, does that mean another world is merging with ours? You never told us any of that.”

“I told you that Conquest was coming here, didn’t I? How did you think he would get here, and why did you think it would take a year?”

Kumo contemplated what Khalissi was saying and came to another realization.

“Does that mean that rifts transport you to the same world Conquest is from? And if that’s the case, then why haven’t any of them crossed over yet?”

“That’s because Death is here. There is a strict rule about the Four Horsemen not being on the same planet, so as long as Death is here, Conquest would not come. The reason for this is because of an incident in the past.”

Kumo nodded in understanding.

“So in some strange way, it is Death who is protecting us from him.”

Khalissi smiled as she answered.

“Yes. And you should also note that Conquest’s homeworld is mostly left abandoned. Conquest is from a race of conquerors. As soon as they are old enough, they travel the stars to conquer more land in hopes of spreading their empire.

The only time they return home is when a new dragon is born. They return home since the atmosphere is extremely dense with mana, making it perfect for their kind since their bloodline made them masters of adaptation. A new dragon can only develop their full strength if they have spent time in this environment soaking in the mana.

The dense mana is the reason why the beasts there were so powerful. Fighting against these beasts and killing them would make an awakener’s level increase more quickly; that was why they were quick to enter rifts.

Also, Conquest’s world was filled with items of power and herbs that could advance one’s power. There was even a special practice that had come about recently where regular humans would consume these herbs and cultivate mana inside their bodies, giving them superhuman abilities that could rival awakeners and even demons.

But so far this method was only practiced among a select few humans. They called this technique cultivation.”

Kumo listened attentively to everything Khalissi had to say and after a few minutes of walking, the two women eventually arrived at a bar. Before they did anything hasty, they wanted to gather information.

Stepping into the bar, their beauty naturally attracted a few lustful stares of the adventurers who were drunk out of their minds.

Soon, more than a few adventurers had gathered around them as they drank and laughed. Khalissi used her charm to extract information from them without them realizing it.

Once they got all they wanted, they were ready to leave, but just then, another group entered the bar.

It was a group of five led by a tall, sharp-eyed young man, holding a black sword over his shoulders. He briefly drew Khalissi’s attention because of the presence he exuded, but Khalissi was ready to brush him off as just another powerful adventurer until…

The young man’s sharp eyes landed on her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep