Village Head's Debauchery

Aegis of the Arctic Deity looked thoroughly around the Village Chief's compound, hoping to uncover any further clues. Despite several minutes of meticulous searching, combing through every corner of the compound, he came up empty-handed. Disappointed, he shook his head and returned to the sundial.

He dispelled the barrier and vanished from view, reappearing beneath the Divine Lake Essence.

Meanwhile, in the Village Chief's compound,

The Village Chief opened the door and stepped outside of his hut. An instinctual feeling had caused him to freeze momentarily, prompting him to come out for a closer look. However, after scanning the surroundings, he found nothing amiss. Everything appeared in order, with no sign of danger warranting his initial reaction.

The Village Chief raised his gaze to the Vylkr-infested clouds outside of Aegis of the Arctic Deity's barrier, which cast a dark shadow over the sky above them.

"It's probably because this is my first time experiencing such a phenomenon that my senses are flaring up," the Village Chief said, shaking his head wearily.

"I told you there was no danger outside. It's likely just your senses playing tricks on you due to accumulating stress," the Village Chieftess remarked as she emerged from the hut, her eyes shifting from her husband to the Vylkr veil phenomenon.

"If only I could still make use of my gift, then I might have been able to predict this strange occurrence and perhaps even guess when it would end," she added with a defeated shake of her head.

Since the construction of Orion's Cities, whether anyone had engaged with Orion or not, whenever she tried to read their future, all she perceived was an unyielding darkness, with each door to their future firmly locked.

At this moment, her gift seemed utterly futile, to the point where even someone with a seemingly useless gift appeared to have an advantage over her, as they could still activate and utilise it, no matter how limited its utility might be.

The Village Chief shook his head reassuringly and held her hand. "You don't need to blame yourself. Remember, in all the futures you have seen, none have been as promising as this one. Our village now flourishes in peace and comfort, shielded from the threat of the Vylkr vines. We can regrow the entire forest, expand the farm, and forge alliances with different races—all thanks to the protection of a literal god, ensuring our new territory ascends to greatness," he said, his gaze sweeping the surroundings before settling on his wife.

Come on, let's go inside and rest. You need to wake up early tomorrow so the final preparation for the festival can be completed without any issues."

The Village Chieftess nodded, followed her husband into their hut, and closed the door behind them.

….......…

Far east

In the vast, desolate plain where life struggled to exist, the relentless slithering Vylkr vines were the only sign of vitality. Amidst this barren landscape, an immense mechanical tortoise forged from an unknownalloy lumbered forward.It stretched tens of kilometres long and rose hundreds of meters tall, its back adorned with sprawling city structures and countless buildings, extending from its legs to its neck and head as it traversed the plains.

With each step, its colossal feet crushed the Vylkr vines to fragments, sending shockwaves rippling through the ground that momentarily repelled the encroaching swarms. But the Vylkrvines, undeterred, slithered forward once more, eager to ensnare the gargantuan behemoth. However, their efforts proved futile against such a formidable and tenacious machine.

This was the 'Wanderlust Traveling Tortoise' Runaway City —a Grade One Runaway City!

However, trailing behind them was a similargargantuan behemoth with a sleek, fox-like design that allowed it to move swiftly.It tore through the encroaching Vylkr vines with remarkable speed, its movements accompanied by thunderous crashes and the crackle of lightning.

A sandstorm churned behind it as it surged forward, leaving destruction in its path.

This was the 'Sleeping Fox' Runaway City, also a Grade One Runaway City, renowned for its speed and agility.

At the pinnacle of the 'The Sleeping Fox' runaway city, perched within its head, stood ten figures adorned in glistening metallic armour that stretched and enveloped their large wings. Peering outward through the lenses of their binoculars, they observed the advancing tortoise before them.

"What are your orders, Emperor? From the looks of it, they show no signs of stopping and are even accelerating towards the direction of the Vylkr Veil Phenomenon. It would be better for us to strike and seize their resources before they unveil their intentions," said a middle-aged man, glancing outside through his binoculars before redirecting his attention towards the Emperor of the 'Sleeping Fox' Runaway City.

"Do they know our plan, or are they here for an entirely different purpose?" The Emperor responded, his brows furrowing in confusion as he attempted to piece together any clues about their current predicament, but to no avail.

After discovering that the Divine artefact left behind by Patriarch Rylan, the former leader of the 'Four-eared Rabbit' Runaway City, was a counterfeit, they immediately pursued them, hoping to recover the original artefact from Patriarch Rylan. Fortunately, they encountered a sea of corpses—skeletal remains belonging to the four-eared elves and several men sent with Captain Seig and his lieutenant on a mission destined for death.

However, on their way, they discovered that they were being tailed by the 'Wanderlust Travelling Tortoise' Runaway City, a Grade One runaway city. At first, their first instinct was to attack, so they spent months mapping out the geography of their surroundings to lead them into a trap and plunder them for their bountiful resources.

However, just before they were about to strike, they all noticed the shocking emergence of a Vylkr veil phenomenon tens of thousands of kilometres away.

Surprisingly, it was at that moment that the 'Wanderlust Travelling Tortoise' Runaway City overtook them, no longer caring about trailing behind, and headed towards the direction of the Vylkr vine Phenomenon, which also seemed to be the direction the skeletal corpses were leading them towards.