The Dead Land

After resting there for a while, Vir continued his journey. It was not so difficult to go down to the dead river because at some point, there was a sloping ground that people or perhaps certain large animals used to walk on.

Indeed, the Southeast Country had long been dead and a hotbed of beasts and dragons, although it was quite scary for ordinary people to cross the country for one reason or another, but that did not discourage others. Like Vir himself.

Vir continued to pull his cart until he reached the other side of the dead river.

Although he was only on the edge of the dead region, he could already feel the horrors that could threaten his life from every corner of the region.

He drew the shiny black dagger from his thigh, gripped the hilt tightly in his right hand, and resumed his steps with a gaze that watched every move along the dusty road.

The remnants of the Central Empire's cruelty to the people who once lived in the area were still visible here and there.

Buildings with only rubble left, or human bones mixed in with animal bones, were all scattered about, and had been separated by the region's sometimes extreme weather conditions.

The Southeast was the first country to be destroyed by the Central Empire for refusing to submit to the absolute monarchy promoted by the previous emperor.

Previously, the nine lands in nine different vast lands had their own system of governance. However, as time progressed, the al-Banix people who were the main inhabitants of the central region became more greedy—a vast landmass in the middle of the other eight landmasses.

The al-Banix have an appearance where all the hair on their bodies is white, even down to their eyeballs, and have the ability to subdue wild animals, including dragons.

The only people who match the abilities of the al-Banix are the Asurry who live in the Southeast. This was also the main reason for the previous emperor to destroy the land first compared to other lands.

In the beginning, the al-Banix were just a poor people living in the middle country, separated from the other eight more prosperous countries, and it could be said that they were not as advanced as the other eight countries.

However, their ability to tame various types of dragons and beasts became increasingly famous, so their lives changed after the other peoples in the eight lands learned about this.

Unlike the Asurry who hid their abilities, al-Banix did the opposite.

One by one, the rulers and nobles of the eight lands asked the al-Banix for help to do something good for their country. Expelling nuisance dragons that harm the people of one country, or hiring al-Banix warriors to protect their respective territories from certain dragon invasions, even asking them to become teachers to learn these unique abilities.

With all these things, gradually, the al-Banix became bigger and more developed. They then built their own kingdom in the middle lands. Considering that the people of the other eight lands needed them the most, they set a high price for every favor.

Dispute after dispute began to surface. The violent and greedy nature of the al-Banix people triggered a prolonged war which, in the end, was won by the al-Banix people.

This was the beginning of the destruction of the four lands.

The al-Banix who had become very rich and increasingly intelligent, turned their previously miserable country into a land of paradise, replacing the royal system with an empire with the intention of controlling even more territory.

Of course, the eight great nations in the eight lands were their target. Controlling the eight great nations meant controlling the other smaller nations.

With the al-Banix having grown, supported by the dragons they could control, every war was won by them.

In the end, four of the eight lands were willing to submit under the absolute rule of the al-Banix, their power becoming even wider as the Central Empire. These were the Eastern Land, the Southern Land, the Western Land, and the Northern Land.

But four other great peoples in four different lands remained unwilling to submit to the greed of the al-Banix empire. And what followed was the destruction of the four peoples in the four different lands.

The Southeast was the first to eliminate al-Banix's closest competitors, the Asurry. Then followed the destruction and death of the Northeast Land, then the Southwest Land, and finally the Northwest Land.

The people who inhabited the Southwest and Northwest Lands were either made slave laborers by the al-Banix people in the Central Empire, or sold to the nobles living in the four lands that were subject and obedient to the Central Empire.

This was after they had destroyed and killed all the people in the Southeast and Northeast—two great nations and a dozen small nations living in those two lands had been rendered extinct.

Of course, if the other two great nations were wiped out by the Central Empire as well, then they would lose the opportunity to build and trade slaves. And those last two great nations along with a dozen other small nations were the right choice in the emperor's mind to be used as slave laborers, more than 20 years ago.

Vir was the only survivor of the genocide in the Northeast Country. He witnessed the massacre of his country and people with his own eyes. At that time, he was only six years old, only because he fainted and was buried by the ground and ruins of a house did he survive.

It was because of his secret that Vir was still a virgin. Well, he did not want to sink into the pleasure of making love with a girl, even if it was just to try, he was afraid that someone would notice the triangular star-shaped tattoo on his right waist.

That was also the reason why he mostly slept in unusual places, in nature, and away from other people.

Vir continued to walk while pulling his cart, in the middle of a barren and arid region with the sun shining brightly. Despite the dust blowing in the hot wind, he did not flinch in the slightest.

He shielded his face by wrapping a cloth around it, leaving only his eyes visible. Always vigilant with the unique black dagger in his right hand.

The dirt road he was walking on was a road commonly traveled by people, as well as a road he often walked on. But that didn't mean he would be safe from the prying fangs of the beasts that now inhabited the Southeastern Dead Country.

He stopped his steps instantly when he heard the sound of something big coming from the left.

Columns of sand were thrown into the air, Vir squinted his eyes to get a better look in that direction.

The surface of the sand in the region filled with deserts and dunes on the left seemed to be moving, as if something large was slithering beneath.

Vir took a deep breath, and resumed his steps. After a few tens of steps, he stopped again, startled by a swarm of bad crows that flew away after noticing his appearance.

At the end of his line of sight, Vir saw the carcass of a large camel with only bones left.

Well, the crows must have been feasting on the carcass.

Vir widened his gaze, there was no one he could see. After all, it was rare for anyone to pass through this dead area, he thought.

The sun was at its highest point, which meant there were about five to six hours left for Vir to find a place to rest before night took over.

Walking at night in the middle of dead country like this was neither nice nor easy.

He continued on his way, pulling his cart which was not so heavy as it was empty, containing only his hunting gear covered with straw and thick cloth.

The wind blew harder and harder, but Vir didn't care at all, he continued to move forward step by step.