Chapter 1: Killing Country Eater

The largest taboo territory on the continent was located far to the northwest of the fortified city of Garlaige, which was itself on the western border of the Kingdom of Emelia. This taboo territory practically took up the entire western part of the continent, including its coastline. Roughly two centuries ago, one of the countries there at the time had tried to instigate a taboo territory boss into attacking a rival country, with the tragic result being equal annihilation for all. No one had entered since. It was now a giant blank spot on maps, a land that no country dared lay claim to. The name given to the boss of this taboo territory was Country Eater.

Having earned the ire of all humanity, the country responsible had been thoroughly erased, such that no one even knew its name anymore. All that remained was the knowledge that its actions had led to a catastrophe of unbelievable scale. The nations swallowed up by Country Eater, including the culprit, had numbered seven in total. The one that had been targeted was the Holy Kingdom of Crystania, which had ranked among the top five nations in the world alongside the Emelia Kingdom, the Istekario Empire, the Amnesphia Sovereignty, and the Poseinia Eastern Seaboard Federation. The common populace had called it the Kingdom of Magic, as its military and economic strength had been buttressed by such superior magic that it had been seen by all asthe greatest power on the continent.

And yet, it had been obliterated with its six closest neighbors within a month. The upheaval this incident caused across the continent was said to have been on par with the events of a millennium ago as alleged by the Kuzuifabra. Country Eater had been such a major calamity that if it hadn’t stopped expanding its territory after the seventh country, the entire continent—and human civilization—would have been snuffed out entirely. The armies sent by the seven countries had been squashed like ants, and the Divine Punishment fired by the Holy Church had been absorbed and reflected all around as a spread-out barrage. The humans of the time had been truly powerless, and if the situation had worsened any further, chances were high that the Church’s last resort, the man-made angels, would have been deployed.

Anyone who got to watch the footage of the catastrophe would undoubtedly find themselves at a loss for words. The way that cities as large as Garlaige were swallowed, walls and all, to then gradually lose their silhouette until fading away to nothingness evoked not so much fear as it did instinctual disgust. It was like a nightmare dreamed by a madman.

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