E-Rantel, a sturdy military fortress, stood tall in the eastern part of the Re-Estize Kingdom, a region directly under the rule of the esteemed Vaiself royal family.
Every year, as the harvest season approached, the ambitious Baharuth Empire would declare war on the kingdom. At the king's call, many of the kingdom's nobles promptly led their own recruited troops to gather in E-Rantel, preparing to defend their homeland.
Unsurprisingly, this fortress city was built so magnificently and solidly, reflecting the importance of its strategic role.
Viewed from above, E-Rantel appeared as a perfectly regular circle, clearly divided into three distinct areas by three towering and robust city walls.
The circular area located between the outermost city wall and the second city wall largely, about three-quarters of it, served as the city's military garrison, where the kingdom's soldiers stood ready. Meanwhile, the remaining quarter on the west side was reserved for the city's vast cemetery.
In this strange and dangerous world, the accumulation of a large number of corpses without proper handling could cause these bodies to mutate and give birth to powerful and threatening undead.
The annual war between the Re-Estize Kingdom and the Baharuth Empire, although generally agreed to take place on the border between the two countries in the Katze Plains, still left behind many corpses that had to be quickly removed from there after the battle ended. Otherwise, an undead disaster would easily occur and threaten the surrounding areas.
This was the reason why the cemetery in E-Rantel was built so vast and grand, namely to accommodate and handle the remains of the brave warriors who fell in battle.
Then, between the second and third city walls lay a bustling urban residential area. This area was not only the residence of the city's inhabitants but was also filled with a large number of diverse commercial shops.
This area was the economic lifeblood of the entire city, a busy center of commercial activity. Its strategic location, just north of the resource-rich Great Forest of Tob, a haven for adventurers, further enhanced the city's prosperity.
Therefore, the adventure industry in E-Rantel flourished. A large number of adventurer guilds and commercial workshops selling various necessities for adventurers, ranging from weapons and combat equipment to magical items and healing potions, could be seen everywhere in the city, making the entire city appear very lively and full of life.
Finally, within the innermost third city wall lay the city's central administrative area. This was where the city's officials and management class carried out their daily duties.
Large warehouses for storing various military supplies were also established in this area and were heavily guarded by trained royal troops.
As the sun began to set on the western horizon, a wave of people could be seen moving towards the east gate of E-Rantel. However, most of them were entering the city, seeking warmth and security within the sturdy walls, while only a relatively small number were leaving, perhaps merchants returning to their villages or adventurers seeking supplies outside the city.
Magic lamps blessed with the [Eternal Light] spell had been lit along the main roads and above the city gate. The soft yet constant light would continue to shine until the next morning, ensuring that the city gate was always brightly lit to protect against sudden enemy attacks in the darkness of night.
The gates installed on the city walls looked extremely thick and solid, made of reinforced wood and metal, giving a strong sense of security but also a slightly oppressive feeling to anyone passing through them.
The strong sense of security at the city gate was in stark contrast to the atmosphere at the checkpoint set up right at the entrance. Although several fully uniformed city guards would stop every person and carriage entering the city one by one to conduct routine inspections, their attitude seemed rather lax and not very strict.
Their main task was to inspect travelers and their luggage to prevent the smuggling of illegal goods that could disrupt the city's order, as well as to prevent the infiltration of foreign spies who could threaten the kingdom's security.
The queue of teams entering the city moved forward little by little. Suddenly, a figure appeared before the guards, slightly startling them due to his extraordinary appearance.
This young man with jet-black hair and sharp black eyes had an almost perfect appearance, like a statue carved by a god. He was the type of person who made anyone who saw him unable to resist staring at him in admiration.
He wore a dark-colored silk robe that looked extremely expensive and luxurious, with intricate silver thread embroidery. In his hand, he leaned on a walking stick that was usually only used by high-ranking nobles. The top of the stick was adorned with a large, round gemstone, emitting a dim yet mysterious light in the twilight.
Not only that, but all ten of his fingers were adorned with exquisitely beautiful gemstone rings, each radiating a different brilliance and an aura of wealth that was impossible to ignore.
"Is there a question?" the young man asked in a low yet clear voice, perhaps because the guards seemed a little slow in letting him pass. His tone was polite but contained a hint of impatience.
The guards exchanged glances, hesitation visible in their eyes. Judging from the young man's luxurious and stunning appearance, it was easy to conclude that he was a wealthy businessman or a respected nobleman.
But it was precisely because of this that the young man seemed very suspicious to the experienced guards. They knew very well that the nobles in the Re-Estize Kingdom paid great attention to pomp and luxury in their travels.
They essentially always hired magnificent horse-drawn carriages when entering and leaving the city, accompanied by their servants and guards. It was very unusual for a noble to travel alone on foot like this.
According to their duties, they should have questioned the young man in detail about his identity and purpose, but due to his expensive clothing and aristocratic aura, they couldn't help but feel worried about overstepping.
The nobles in the Re-Estize Kingdom were known for their short tempers and irritability, and who knew if this young man was one of the young nobles known for their bad temper. If they were rude or openly suspicious of him, they could easily get into serious trouble.
So at this moment, they usually chose another safer and less risky method.
"Esteemed sir," said one of the guards in a polite yet slightly nervous tone, "please forgive us, the routine inspection may take a few minutes. We kindly ask for your willingness to go to the room over there and wait for a moment while we complete the necessary procedures." He pointed to a small checkpoint office on the side of the gate.
"Yes, okay," the young man replied, frowning slightly at the guard's request. However, he finally nodded in agreement, although there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes.
If only I knew it would be like this, I would have used fly magic to cross the city gate without any trouble. Forgive this inconvenience, the young man complained inwardly as he walked towards the checkpoint office indicated by the guard.
The luxuriously dressed young man was none other than Kael, who had set off from Carne Village in the morning and flown almost all day with magic before finally arriving at the gates of E-Rantel as dusk began to fall.
He had come to E-Rantel this time with two main and interconnected goals. The first and most fundamental was to establish a stronghold of power and influence in this important city, as well as to officially establish the "Church of Destiny" as the foundation of his organization.
Now that he had successfully taken the residents of Carne Village as his devout followers, the basic manpower of his power was complete. He felt that now was the right time to start developing a wider religious organization.
His early arrival in E-Rantel was to carry out some important preliminary preparations, such as finding and buying a suitable house or building to serve as the church's headquarters, purchasing various supplies and necessities, and building an information network, to facilitate his followers' move to the city later and start a new life under the banner of Destiny.
As for Kael's second goal, which was perhaps more strategic and long-term... According to the plot development in the original work that he remembered well, the Slane Theocracy's extremely powerful special forces, the Black Scripture, would pass through the city of E-Rantel in the next few days to carry out a secret mission.
Kael himself wasn't particularly interested in that fanatical team, but he was very interested in something extremely valuable that the team members carried. As mentioned earlier in his memory, the Slane Theocracy was a theocratic state founded by Yggdrasil players who had traveled to this world hundreds of years ago and inherited the powerful legacy of the six gods they worshipped.
Among these precious legacies was an extremely powerful and unique world item called Alluring Beauty. This world item possessed an extraordinarily powerful mental control effect and was even rumored to be able to penetrate the "full resistance to mental control" possessed by the Undead and forcibly control the target character according to the user's will.
Seizing such a rare and powerful world item, whether to use it as a strategic reserve asset in the face of future potential threats, or to use its control effects to control units with outstanding combat capabilities or people with high status in the new world, the outcome would definitely be very beneficial to Kael's plan to dominate this new world.
Of course, Kael couldn't miss such a golden opportunity to significantly enhance his power. According to his calculations based on the storyline, the Black Scripture should be passing through E-Rantel in the next few days.
Before entering the city, he had used the Mercenary Army Summoning Book to summon a large number of permanent mercenary NPCs with various abilities, whom he then strategically placed in the forests around the city to conduct surveillance and provide early warning if the Slane Theocracy's forces approached. With these preparations, he felt almost certain of successfully obtaining the world item he coveted.
"Please wait here for a moment, sir. The inspector from the Magic Guild will arrive soon to conduct a further inspection," the guard said politely, inviting Kael to sit down in the small, simple checkpoint office. Then, the guard turned and left the room to find the inspector from the Magic Guild who was authorized to conduct magical investigations on suspicious individuals.
But Kael wasn't the type of person who was patient and liked to wait. After the guard left and confirmed that there was no one else in the small checkpoint office, he directly activated a very powerful tenth-tier magic, [Perfect Unseen], which made him completely invisible to both ordinary eyes and low-level magical sensors. His body instantly entered a state of perfect concealment.
With light steps, he walked out of the checkpoint, passed the guards stationed at the bustling city gate, and easily slipped into the city without being detected.
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