Unedited*

The Cordelia Region, a vast area of the world home to numerous Temple Cities, is ruled by Cardinal Mortis, a very powerful Corrupted Sanguine who commands many troops throughout the region.

The Cordelia Region is divided by an extensive mountainous area called the "Cordelia Adornments Mountain Range," named in honor of the exquisite attire worn by the ancient queen of the Sanguines, who vanished alongside the Venerated Aleskra.

This mountain range cuts across the region after a certain point, and to travel between the two sections of the region, it takes many months of travel through the Adornos de Cordelia or special tools.

The forest where you currently find yourselves is, in fact, the beginning of the mountain range, though there is still a long way to go before reaching it.

The Great Euthafer River originates in the Cordelia Region. It is the world’s largest river by volume. It rises in the northeast and flows northward, passing through the northwest and west before emptying into the Great Ocean in the southwest.

The Cordelia Region is governed by the Holy Cordelia Cathedral, located in the City of Cordelia, which lies at the southernmost tip. Considering that they are currently in the northern section, almost in the center, they would have to travel a great distance to get there.

In Malakor’s words, the Euthafer Region, where most of the river flows, is closer than the Cordelia Region. But going to the Euthafer Region wouldn’t make sense.

First, because you’d have to cross the River, and that’s no easy task unless you have the necessary tools. And second, because there are too many Corrupted and evil beasts there.

Therefore, they must head south.

"And where is Tierra Alta?" Edward asked, looking at the map. "In which direction?"

"Tierra Alta isn’t easy to reach. But it’s located at the easternmost point. However, it’s impossible to get there from here. To go east, we’ll have to pass through the capital of Cordelia."

"Why can’t we? Is there a mountain range? I don’t see Cordelia’s getting in the way of the path to the east."

"Hehe, it’s not a mountain range. It’s the sea, actually."

"The sea?" Edward frowned.

"Although the sea begins in the southwest, it completely surrounds us. There are seas in every region. And the boundary between the South and the East is the Xal’zhal Ocean. If you ask my advice, never cross the seas. The seas are teeming with beasts so dangerous that before you even realize it, you’ll be in the belly of one."

Edward swallowed and smiled. "I’ll take your advice." He’d always thought the seas were dangerous. It was the same on land as it was here.

It was best to avoid going out into them.

"Then we should start heading south. Is the help you need from me in that direction?"

"Of course it’s to the south, but also to the west, north, and east. What I want is to break the curse no matter the cost. That’s what we all want. So, if you want to leave, help us and work with us. Once everything is resolved, it won’t be a problem for you to return to your place," Malakor replied.

Edward nodded, thoughtfully.

He understood that he couldn’t trust them, even though they seemed trustworthy and Malakor didn’t appear to have any bad intentions. He needed to be cautious in foreign lands in order to survive, and blindly trusting someone wasn’t a way to be cautious.

So he needed to take this with a grain of salt. However, he had already decided to help them simply because they were his only source of information and strength in a hostile environment. So he nodded.

"All right. Let’s do it then," Edward replied with a smile.

"Then I’ll tell you our current plan." Malakor looked at the map once more and marked out a route. "This route is called the Headless Dead’s Route. No one usually travels it, but for us right now, it’s the best route. The route passes near two important key points."

He ran his hand across the map and paused at the first point. "Leaflower City. It’s a city with a Temple. It’s important because the temple holds a variety of important tools, and it’s my hometown—all my allies, friends, and companions are there. It will be our first stop and possible base of operations."

"You want me to sneak into the temple there to steal something, don’t you?"

"Not exactly to steal... I’d rather call it reclaiming what belongs to me."

"It belongs to you? Did you run the temple there?" Edward raised his eyebrows.

Malakor smiled. "I was an archbishop thousands of years ago, before Leaflower succumbed to the Curse of Disobedience."

Edward’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. However, he didn’t ask any questions.

’Archbishop, huh. That was a high rank. No wonder he seems so dangerous to me.’

"Alright," Edward replied simply.

Malakor went on to explain the entire detailed plan. Edward asked questions here and there. He steered the conversation off course a couple of times, until he finally understood everything.

Malakor not only had blood debts to collect, he was also quite the vigilante. The current leaders have become so corrupt that they’ve been committing atrocities against ordinary Sanguines—robbing them or even torturing them for eternity—so he and his allies have been trying to overthrow them for several thousand years.

’The fact that he says "thousands of years" so casually makes me think this guy has lived longer than the ages.’ Edward shook his head and didn’t want to ask him, for fear of hearing some number impossible to comprehend.

But he had lived at least ten thousand years.

When Edward finished asking questions, Malakor rolled up the map and handed it to him.

"You’re going to need it more than I do."

Edward accepted it graciously. "Thanks," he said, and stowed it in his storage ring.

"Can I borrow one of those heads, by the way? The wizard’s, preferably," Malakor said suddenly.

"Head?" Edward didn’t understand what she meant.

"Yes, from the Sanguines. You kept two, didn’t you? I need one. Don’t worry, I’ll give it back to you later."

Edward frowned and pulled out the crystallized head of the wizard he’d fought first. "You mean this? What do you want it for?"

Malakor grabbed the head and then looked at it. "For us Sanguines, these things are very useful. They’re practically camouflage tools. So I’ll be using it on our journey."

’Camouflage tools?’ Edward didn’t need to think too hard to figure it out.

Malakor grabbed the head and put it on.

Yes.

He put it on him!

On top of his head was a new head, but this one was crystallized. It looked like a helmet.

’But as far as I remember, it didn’t have any openings underneath!’

Edward shook his head. ’If we humans had that many tricks up our sleeves, I wonder what we couldn’t master.’

Although that would be bad too... Even though there are good humans, somehow they don’t seem to be in the majority. If humans had as much power as the Sanguines, they might have destroyed the world.

’I’d better stop thinking such nonsense.’

After a long conversation, they both got up from their seats and began gathering the things Malakor had here.

He had lived in this cave for 40 years with the sole intention of not harming the city where he was born. But after 40 years here, he finally decided to leave.

’God only knows what motivated him to do it,’ Edward thought, but he took the opportunity to stash away more sacred stones.

More than an hour later, as night was already falling, they both finished gathering their things.

"We’ll spend the night here and leave before dawn," said Malakor.

Edward had no problem with that.

Malakor suddenly smiled. "When night falls, you’ll begin to understand certain things about the Curse of Disobedience. Watch him closely; if you don’t hurry, you might end up like me... or worse." He said nothing more and turned to enter his cave.

He walked to the center and sat down to wait. He knew the exact time he would be struck.

Edward watched him from behind, frowning.

’Curse of Disobedience... Temple of Aleskra. Do the gods really exist in this world? Or is this guy tricking me?’

’Wait a minute... I remember that my Lux Family once ruled the entire world. Could it be that Emperor Lux was a god?’ 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

That seemed quite possible. If Elder Owen was already that powerful, and there weren’t many people in the world above him, how powerful would one have to be to attain the status of Emperor of the World and have one’s story heard throughout the ages?

Only a god could do that!

Surprised by his own conclusions, Edward stared at Malakor and waited.

About 30 minutes later, Malakor stood up.

His skin began to twist into strange shapes, and his arms also assumed positions that would normally be impossible. His body trembled as pain struck him from all sides.

Not only did his skin and flesh seem to be being crushed, but even his bones—which had already been shattered—seemed to be breaking further.

Edward’s body trembled. But that was only the beginning of the pain.

Shortly after, Malakor began thrashing back and forth in every direction, as if trying to escape the terrifying pain he was feeling.

Blood flowed out of his body and back into it, but just as it returned, it flowed out again.

Only he understood what he was feeling. And only Edward understood how traumatic it could be to watch someone suffer.

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