Cthulhu Gonfalon

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Satan, the mage whose name held terrifying meaning on Earth, was one of Sui Xiong's earliest recruited members. He was a man of outstanding talent and one of the genius mages of the Mifata Federation 70 years ago. This wasn't just shown through his remarkable magic aptitude; more important than that was his prominent magical research abilities.

As far as magicians were concerned, having the former was already enough; the latter was entirely unnecessary. Studying in a normal routine manner could get you to very high places just as easily, after all. But in the point of view of the Organization of Magicians, whether or not you had the latter was like the difference between heaven and earth. Having your own scientific research skills wasn't required to set up a factory as long as you could properly use the results of other people's research. But running a research laboratory without having research skills yourself? Are you joking?

Ever since the Void Mask Land was established and the church stabilized, Satan had been living in seclusion. He'd mainly been working on experiments, continuously putting out no small number of achievements. He had given a huge push to the promotion of the Republic of Northwest's magic levels.

The most important achievement of his research was the Purification Array.

The Purification Array was an extremely complex type of magic array. It could dispel negative energy within the magic array's boundaries as well as draw positive energy directly from the Ring of the World; although it didn't have a particularly large effect on either one, putting them together wasn't so easy as one plus one equals two. Using a magic array like this could create clean earth, free of negative energy in the negative energy-filled Ashes Woods. This would allow people to safely live and work in what would normally be a forbidden zone to living creatures.

He'd completed the first Purification Array with the help of Felix and Jose back before the Republic of Northwest was established. Not long afterwards, he'd smoothly stepped into the Legendary Realm and became a Legendary Master.

But this information had been kept secret all this time and not just from the outside world, either. Even a majority of the upper levels of the Republic of Northwest had only known that Mage Satan was in seclusion studying to reach the Legendary Realm, not that he'd actually already entered it long ago.

These past few years, he'd carried out quite a few modifications and improvements on Purification Arrays and had built these arrays in the four greatest cities in the Republic of Northwest. Though there was still a large amount of negative energy in the Republic's countryside at present, at the very least, there was absolutely no need to worry about corrosion inside the cities.

If someone who had visited the northwest regions around 50 years ago came back to see it again now, they probably wouldn't believe their eyes because the past and present northwest regions were as different as black and white.

Back then, the northwest countryside was just wild field where, aside from the black wood caused by contamination from negative energy, you could rarely even find weeds. Birds and beasts were even less common than that; aside from a few particularly tenacious insects, the only creatures capable of surviving there were mostly Magic Beasts. Those Four Towns where people gathered weren't very well off either. Though walls, fences, and the strength of the townsfolk themselves were enough to fend off skeleton attacks, they were unable to defend themselves from formless negative energy. Due to the corrosion of the negative energy, the people here aged quickly, often doddering and senile by the age of 30 or 40. Even adventurers here were more haggard and aged than those from other regions, and they spent every day exhausted beyond belief.

And this was just in the spring or summer when the weather was relatively warm. In midwinter, the bitter cold combined with negative energy was more than enough to overwhelm those who weren't in the best of health. In many cases, a third or more of the population would be dead by spring.

But more than all this, the scariest thing about the northwest regions was the surging skeleton tide that erupted every year on the extreme new-moon night.

Many different energies on the earth had highs and lows, according to the revolution of the stars. Every extreme new-moon night, the world's negative energy levels would reach its peak. It was then that the Magic Beasts of necromancy would appear all over the place, and each good god's priests would go around luring them out to maintain humanity's safety.

But in the northwest, these circumstances would trigger the terrifying great catastrophe that was a surging skeleton tide.

Skeletons weren't a particularly scary Magic Beasts; as long as you stayed calm and collected as you faced it, even a common farmer could knock one over. But when the surging skeleton tide erupted, tens of thousands of skeletons would come rushing in like an endless storm of raging waves. Even a high-level master could lose his life in such an attack from all sides. As for the average person, they'd be dead in a split second without the chance to even defend themselves.

Scarier still, once a certain number of skeletons was amassed, it could induce a great wave of negative energy!

That was a scene ordinary people could never have the chance to see more than once in their lives: gray-black negative energy flowing towards them like a slow but unstoppable tide. All strategies were useless before it. Even temples that took years of painstaking effort to build were unable to stand the tide of negative energy for very long.

In a situation like this, aside from a god sending down a clone of themselves, there was no possible hope of rescue.

In past years, there were about three instances in which great negative energy tides had happened in the northwest regions; The first two destroyed two towns, and the last was repelled when the God of Law sent down a clone. But even then, the God of Law had suffered quite a few losses.

The northwest back then was just such a terrifying place. Aside from those who were unable to make a living in their homelands, no one else was crazy enough to come here.

But the current northwest was already a different thing entirely. Even on the outskirts, there was a wide road along which could be seen a wide expanse of open land. On this land was a solid perimeter wall, inside of which was a tall building—a relay station, safe enough for tired travelers to rest. As for the towns themselves, there was emerald-green vegetation wherever you looked; fresh flowers would even bloom from time to time, just like in the South.

Pedestrians on the roads still looked a little tired, but because they could get adequate rest at night without fear of danger, they no longer looked as haggard as before. The people within the towns, meanwhile, were all rosy-cheeked and full of energy. Even if they were relatively poor, you couldn't tell that they were particularly hungry or cold, and occasionally you might even see a couple of fat people walking around—that was entirely possible in the old northwest.

All the people here—regardless of whether they were young or old, male or female—were often smiling, their faces brimming with hope in their future and confidence that their lives would be even better. After some travelers visited a while ago, they'd sighed with great feeling, "This place was once hell for humanity, but now it's like a holy kingdom on earth!"

The main thing that had brought about all these changes was none other than the Purifying Arrays that Mage Satan had invented!

In regards to this point, the government of the Republic of Northwest never hid the truth; in fact, they had put in great efforts into publicizing Mage Satan's contributions. Because of this, he was popular among the people of the Republic of Northwest, and everyone respected this old magician who spent all his days in a magic tower and almost never came outside.

He was extremely well-known in other countries across the continent as well. A large number of people even called him the "Wise Man of Purification"—this basically regarded him as a Legendary Master, even though on the surface he had yet to enter the Legendary Realm.

Now, Satan had left his magic tower, and you could tell from the look in his eyes that he was ready to return to the people once more.