Mist Empire’s Rise: Fake Noble to Fog Queen

"My Lord..." the woman asked anxiously, "Demon Lord, please tell me who is your Lord?"

"The great God of Death and Time."

The demon lowered her crimson eyes ominously: "Koevikros, the God of Death and Time who holds dominion over human souls and the cycle of time, the Dark God of absolute justice and order."

"God of Death and Time, God of Death and Time..." The woman's eyes blazed with fervent light.

If her faith was devout enough, surely the God of Death and Time would grant her wish!

"Demon Lord, I, your faithful Norma, beg for your guidance. Which direction should I take to find my Lord's temple? I am willing to serve my Lord for life!"

"Pitiful human, you cannot enter my Lord's temple."

Soul-shaking words emerged from the demon's blood-red lips: "Your soul is dim and lightless, your thoughts rigid and blind, your flesh but an empty shell."

"Human, what do you live for?"

What did she live for?

Confusion spread across Norma's face. What did she live for?

For her children? But they were dead now.

And before she had children?

She couldn't remember. She had never thought about this question. She just lived day after day - eating, sleeping, herding - never questioning why she lived.

"I... I don't know," Norma shook her head frantically.

Did one need a reason just to live?

A trace of pity flickered in the demon's crimson eyes.

"Human, you have no self, no freedom."

"Only free souls may gaze upon my Lord's divine image."

No self, no freedom...

Norma felt lost.

She had lived for thirty years, never a day without hunger, always worrying about her next meal. She didn't understand what 'self' meant, much less why she needed freedom.

Commoners were born to be ruled by nobles and disciplined by the church. Their bodies belonged to the lords, their souls to the divine. No one had ever told her she had no freedom.

Indeed, she had no freedom.

Her life, her marriage, her very existence - all were in others' hands.

A lord could take away her lambs with a wave of his hand, her parents could marry her to an unwanted man with a nod, bandits could freely snatch away her children.

Her life was like a candle flame in the wind, liable to be extinguished by any gust or rain.

Freedom - she yearned for freedom.

Norma knelt on the ground, pleading humbly: "Demon Lord, please guide this ignorant follower. What must I do to gain freedom?"

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The thick mist churned in mid-air, the demon's red eyes flickering in and out of the black fog: "Poor mortal, go east. There lies a land of freedom."

Norma hesitated: "East... you mean the East Coast?"

The demon gave no clear answer, merely casting an indifferent gaze upon Norma.

"After dawn, walk ten miles east. You will meet a noble one who will give you answers."

The black mist thickened, and the demon gradually faded into the night.

Seeing this, Norma panicked like someone losing their last lifeline: "Demon Lord, Lord, where are you going!"

"Demon Lord, will you appear again?"

"Lord, how shall I call your name?"

"Demon Lord!"

Norma stood up and called anxiously to the sky.

The demon's figure had vanished; those striking red eyes no longer visible in the heavens.

Norma collapsed to the ground in despair when suddenly, a cold wind blew down from the snowy mountains.

The demon's deep voice was carried by the wind, distant and ethereal.

"My name is Guide."

The voice dissipated in the wind.

"Guide..." Starlight rekindled in Norma's eyes.

Guide - was this a divine messenger sent by the Lord to guide them?

Norma knelt on the ground, praying devoutly to the divine.

Grateful for the new life bestowed upon her.

The northern winter nights were long and torturous. The fire pit lit by the Seko people had not yet died out.

More than a dozen rescued commoners dragged their stiff bodies to the fire, reaching out to feel the long-missed warmth.

It had been two days since they were captured by the Seko people.

For two whole days, the Seko people had given them neither water nor food.

They lay on the frozen ground, only able to lick ice and snow from stones, chewing on grass roots when hungry.

They had thought death was certain, yet unexpectedly, a demon appeared here.

The demon killed the Seko people and untied their bonds.

These commoners couldn't understand why a legendary fearsome demon would save them, while the human Seko people wanted to eat their flesh and drink their blood.

Unlike Norma, they weren't brave enough to look directly at the demon, but they had heard the entire conversation between Norma and the demon.

The demon said there was a land of freedom in the east.

Could there really be a land of freedom in this world?

These people secretly looked toward Norma, wondering if they could follow her at dawn to find the noble one the demon spoke of?

Norma noticed their glances but remained silent, head bowed as she searched among the fire pit for her child's remains.

Scattered bones lay everywhere, fragments from different people mixed together, impossible to distinguish.

She found only her child's clothes - a small sheepskin jacket with crude stitching, sewn by her own hands with a bone needle.

"My child..." Norma clutched the sheepskin jacket and collapsed to the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

Those around her also reddened with tears.

They were herders from the same tribe, all related by blood or marriage. The Seko people had burned their tents, killed their cattle and sheep, and brought them all here - their homes were destroyed.

Damn the Seko people!

They gnashed their teeth in hatred, seeing the Seko people's charred corpses in the fire pit, wanting to drag them out and whip them again!

One person grabbed a burned leg of a Seko person, wanting to eat it in revenge, but was stopped by another: "Didn't you hear what the demon said? Those who eat human flesh will be cursed by heaven and go to hell!"

That person laughed through tears: "Haha, hell, they deserve it! These beasts deserve to go to hell!"

Norma clutched her child's clothes tightly, whispering hoarsely: "Did you hear that, my child? They will go to hell, they'll find no peace even in death."

"My children, you can rest in peace now."

The fire died out.

The herders found other Seko corpses on the glacial beach. They stripped the bodies of clothes, took weapons found nearby, and recovered several bags of wheat and dried meat.

"Damn Seko people, they had food all along!"

They had food, yet still ate human flesh.

"They are the real demons!"

Dawn broke, and the exhausted herders, wrapped in thick animal furs, advanced toward the rising sun.

Prairie people had their own wisdom. They knew the sun rose at different angles in winter and summer, and with knowledge passed down from their ancestors, they could find their way across the vast wilderness.

In the slanting sunlight, fourteen long shadows moved across the desolate glacier, pursuing their yearned-for east.

Before long, they spotted an approaching carriage, its elegance seeming surreal in this barren land.

The ground trembled, and they stopped to watch.

Beside the carriage rode a gallant knight on horseback.

Behind the carriage, two chestnut horses followed, carrying a man and woman who appeared to be the carriage owner's attendants.

Norma's breathing quickened - could her noble one be among them?

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