"In the eyes of mortals, Shire is the eternal darkness that devours light, the secret whisper of temptation, the cold comfort of the desperate. Her followers weave conspiracies in the shadows, while her enemies awaken in nightmares..."

In the spacious, bright room, Roland flipped through the book in his hands, his brow furrowing slightly.

"...for she is not only the personification of night, but also the cruel proclamation that all things will inevitably return to the Void. Mortals either fear or are obsessed with her, but no one can truly escape her gaze..."

Breathing in the salty, damp air, Roland rubbed his aching brow.

"Death, calamity, oblivion, Void, mystery..."

His gaze finally settled on the last sentence on the page.

"Eternal Darkness and corruption..."

’Not a single complimentary word in the whole description...’

With a soft sigh, Roland slowly closed the copy of *Shadow of the Gods* in his hands.

It was an ancient tome chronicling the wild imaginings mortals had of the Gods before the Year of the End.

’So... how did I get tangled up with a deity like this?’

He stared at the eye-catching text, Shire’s Favor, in the Traits section of his Professional Panel, falling deep into thought.

His fingertips unconsciously caressed the raised, gilt patterns on the book’s spine, as if doing so would reveal the answer.

’According to Teresa, when we first met, I was already shrouded in some sort of inexplicable power...’

The crash of the waves outside punctuated his thoughts.

’Now that I think about it... that must have been the might of the Goddess of Death, Shire...’

Memories from since he’d crossed over surged through his mind like a tide, and he instinctively closed his eyes.

Then, a sea breeze gusted in through the window, and as it brushed his cheek, an idea suddenly struck him.

’Death... Void... Darkness...’

Roland unconsciously began to tap his fingers lightly on the desk.

’Before I gained Shire’s Favor, I suffered a mental collapse from the golden droplet the Giant Dragon bestowed upon me. That sensation of my consciousness sinking into oblivion... isn’t that just like death? And even earlier...’

The crisp tapping slowed and softened, but his thoughts grew increasingly sharp.

’When I crossed over into this world, I did, in a sense, die once...’

The thought flashed through his mind like a bolt of lightning.

Roland stood up and paced back and forth in the study, his boots making dull thuds on the oak floorboards.

’So, had this deity already taken notice of me back then?’

He shook his head with a resigned sigh and stopped before the window. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

’That must be the reason.’

’After all, the body’s original owner was just an ordinary mortal, yet he experienced a miracle like resurrection... No matter how I look at it, it’s simply inconceivable...’

Having pieced together a plausible reason for the deity’s interest, Roland didn’t dwell on the matter.

While the connection to a deity made him vaguely uneasy, it seemed that Shire’s Favor hadn’t caused any negative effects so far.

Compared to that...

Roland sat back down at the wooden desk and gently opened another ancient tome.

Unlike the heavy, mysterious *Shadow of the Gods*, this book, titled *Heroic Epic*, was remarkably thin. Its pages were yellowed, and the edges were even a little tattered.

Even more noticeable, the handwriting inside was scrawled and messy, like the careless jottings of some unknown minstrel.

"...Crystal Calendar 497: Rudolph, by his strength alone, repelled the Demons invading the mortal plane from the Eye of the Abyss. From then on, he was known as a hero..."

This was the only mention of "Rudolph" that Roland could find among all the ancient books in Bronson’s collection.

However...

’This is far too brief.’

Roland frowned and continued to flip through the pages.

’And...’

He discovered that most of the so-called "heroes" recorded in this *Heroic Epic* were individuals who had distinguished themselves in battle against Demons from the Abyss or Hell.

While such a history was respectable, it didn’t seem particularly outstanding in the grand sweep of the continent’s history.

’How could someone like that be connected to an ancient, nigh-demigod creature like a Giant Dragon? How could he even make a Giant Dragon honor some kind of pact?’

Roland’s brow furrowed as his gaze returned to his Professional Panel, specifically to the Race entry.

Things had been too urgent that day; he’d only caught a fleeting glimpse of a blurry "Dragon?" that had appeared in the Race entry.

But now, looking closely, he discovered that his various Attributes—Power, Agility, and Spirit—had all increased by a full three points.

’Did this increase in Attributes come from the golden droplet, or... from Shire’s Favor?’

Just as Roland was deep in thought, the sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the door, followed by a series of sharp knocks.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

"Roland, are you awake?"

"Mr. Bronson, please come in."

The door swung open, and the lean scholar hurried in, unable to conceal his excitement.

"Roland, the ship Mr. Colin arranged has reached the harbor! It’s moored at the docks, waiting for us."

"Understood."

Roland gave a slight nod, carefully placing the two ancient tomes he’d been consulting into his satchel. Then he scooped up a drowsy-eyed Qiao and tucked it into his belt pouch.

Seeing him ready, Bronson immediately turned to lead the way. The two of them left the inn, one walking after the other.

Two attendants at the door bowed deeply as they saw them leave, then began pushing a handcart piled high with books, silently following the pair toward the harbor.

Although over a month had passed since the Giant Dragon incident, the residents of Distant Harbor were still abuzz with strange news from Wuxi Town.

Bits and pieces of conversation from the street reached his ears.

A stubble-faced merchant was gesturing extravagantly to his companion.

"Did you hear? They say a massive flying Demon appeared over Wuxi Town! Lots of people are saying it was a Giant Dragon!"

His companion waved a dismissive hand and scoffed.

"You’ve been reading too many adventure stories, my friend. A Giant Dragon? Hah! I’ll bet it’s just an excuse the local Sheriff cooked up because he couldn’t stop a Demon attack!"

"But..."

Another merchant chimed in, wringing his hands anxiously.

"Lately, the Demons in the neighboring Golden Valley Kingdom seem to be growing more rampant. That won’t affect our business, will it?"

A merchant in a wide-brimmed hat immediately lowered his voice and joined in.

"You must not have been back to the River Domain in a while, sir. Forget the Golden Valley Kingdom—the Demons in the River Domain are getting more ferocious, too!"

"I’ve also heard... a strange mist is spreading through some of the lowlands and swamps. Anyone who goes in... never comes out!"

"Who says they don’t?"

A red-nosed drunkard slammed his fist on the table and bellowed, joining the conversation.

"There’s a fellow calling himself the Wolf King who’s taken over a patch of the Land of Mist, says he’s founding a new nation."

His companion cut him off with a roar of laughter, slamming his tankard on the table.

"A nation? Hah! Sounds more like a den of bandits to me!"

Roland took in every word of their conversations, his brow furrowing slightly as he walked on.

’The sudden spike in Demon activity must be due to the accelerating resurgence of Magic Elements... As for that strange mist... could it be an anomaly caused by an overly high concentration of Magic Elements?’

Lost in thought, he nonetheless didn’t slow his pace.

Just as he came within a hundred paces of the harbor, the sound of a heated argument suddenly erupted.

He looked toward the sound and saw several fully-armed port Guards stopping a group of travelers, the two parties locked in a dispute.

But Roland’s gaze shot past the noisy crowd, locking onto a young man dressed in dark green traveling clothes.