Chapter 40: The Legion of Nightmares

The Imperial Legion, carefully selected from among loyal imperial citizens, is a formidable military force spanning the four borders and seven provinces of the Empire.

More precisely, it is a military force tasked with defending the four borders of the Empire and deterring the seven frontier provinces, as well as being a crucial piece in the Empire's policy of "strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches."

The Eighth "Nightmare" Legion is the legion responsible for garrisoning the Riverbend Province, stationed year-round near the edge of Highrock City. Should any Riverbend noble attempt to rebel and declare independence, the Nightmare Legion would be dispatched to suppress them.

If the Nightmare Legion proved unable to defeat them, then the Seventh "Warrior" Legion and the Nineteenth "Raven" Legion of the Southern Border, along with the Tenth "Forge" Legion and the Thirteenth "Champion" Legion of the Eastern Border, could cross into the territory at any moment to provide support.

Any ambitious frontier noble, before truly raising the banner of rebellion, had to weigh whether they could withstand the joint offensive of five Imperial Legions.

Although the Nightmare Legion's mission was to garrison the Riverbend Province, its primary focus was on keeping a wary eye on the Malone family, while its relations with the other frontier marquises were not bad—not "good," nor "bad," but simply "not bad."

The reason for this involved the subtle relationship of "suzerainty and vassalage" among the imperial nobility. Legally speaking, vassals were supposed to share a common hatred with their suzerain and stand together through honor and disgrace. Yet if that could truly be achieved, Marquis Faher would not have desperately dispatched Ryan to bypass the Malone family and directly curry favor with the royal family.

Calm and unhurried, Ryan ate his bean soup while watching the distant Nightmare cavalry gallop swiftly toward them. From far to near, even upon seeing the Faher family knights stationed in the woods, their speed did not decrease in the slightest.

"Fall back!" Messer signaled the family knights to raise their shields. "This is the territory of the Faher family!"

The Nightmare cavalry rushed to the front of the family knight formation. Ryan noticed that the leading cavalryman had bloodshot eyes and a haggard expression, appearing to have undergone considerable mental torture and prolonged torment.

"You!" the cavalryman shouted at the top of his lungs. "Is there any mage in your group?"

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

"Is there any mage?!" the Nightmare cavalryman shouted again. "We need a mage!"

His tone sounded rather wretched.

Unlike elves, humans possessed no innate proficiency in spellcasting, making mages quite rare. Furthermore, for the sake of facilitating academic exchange, the majority of human mages were concentrated within the four borders of the Empire—specifically, within the Spellcasters' Guild.

Inquiring everywhere of passing travel parties to confirm the presence of a mage was an act of grasping at straws, and it also indicated that the Nightmare Legion had likely encountered some tricky, occult problem that required a powerful mage to solve.

Ryan's heart stirred slightly, and he spoke up to ask:

"What is the matter?"

"Are you a mage?" the Nightmare cavalryman shouted across the distance.

Ryan did not answer, instead gesturing toward Ellyrina and Bethalyah beside him.

As was well-known, elves were all skilled in spellcasting. Much like the Earth-plane stereotype where everyone assumed "Germans are rigorous and Frenchmen are romantic," it was a deeply ingrained, ideological stereotype.

Upon seeing the pointed ears of the two elven women, the Nightmare cavalryman immediately revealed an expression of profound relief and shouted:

"Please condescend to move to our legion encampment! There is a heavy bounty as reward!"

He inverted the cloth bag at his waist, causing the gold crown coins inside to roll out into the mud.

The family knights all frowned, because the Nightmare cavalryman's direct act of using money to buy them off might have been useful for greedy caravans, but it bordered on an insult to nobility.

Ryan did not bicker over such details; he was merely searching his mind for any legion quests that might correspond to this.

None. He didn't remember any.

All quests in the original game world were automatically generated by server AI. If many high-level players completed quests solo without going to the forums to boast about them, no one else would ever know about those quests.

Go and take a look; if it doesn't work out, leave.

"Lead the way," Ryan said indifferently.

Knight Commander Messer signaled the knights to put away their weapons, and then asked Ryan for instructions:

"Shall we accompany you, or shall we station ourselves nearby and wait for your return?"

"You wouldn't be of any use even if you went," Ryan said calmly. "The other party has clearly encountered... an occult problem."

"Understood, but I suggest splitting the knights into two groups," Messer said. "Have half of the knight personnel accompany you. Even if they cannot resolve the occult problem they face, it can at least ensure the personal safety of you and the ladies to the greatest extent possible."

"Very well."

Having obtained Ryan's nod, Messer directed the knights to divide into two teams. One team would escort the maids and attendants to station themselves and rest in a nearby village, while the other team and Messer himself would follow Ryan and the Nightmare cavalry to the legion encampment.

The Nightmare Legion encampment was located east of Highrock City, established on the south bank of the Longwater River. Centered around Nightmare Castle, many public facilities specifically serving the legion had developed around it, differing very little from an ordinary town.

However, as soon as they entered the legion encampment, everyone quickly realized something was amiss.

No one was there.

The entire legion encampment was plunged into an eerie, dead silence. Streets, shops, markets... all were vacant, without a single soul in sight.

Yet it was broad daylight!

The group rode on horseback to Nightmare Castle, just in time to see several mages hurrying out from the great hall, their expressions appearing thoroughly panicked.

Inside the castle hall, dozens of imperial legion soldiers surrounded two generals, speaking fiercely and at a rapid pace, before turning their gazes toward Ryan and his party as they stepped into the castle.

Their eyes were likewise bloodshot, as if they had gone without sleep for three days and three nights.

"Report!" shouted the leading Nightmare cavalryman. "I have brought the new mages here!"

While being scrutinized by the two generals, Ryan was also observing these two high-ranking legion figures.

Standing on the left was the Legion Commander, and on the right was the Legion Tribune. The Imperial Legion adopted a dual-consul system: the Legion Commander was responsible for all military affairs related to warfare, including training, preparation, deployment, and combat; the Tribune was responsible for monitoring the morale and loyalty of the soldiers, as well as the financial operations and logistical management of the legion.

If the Legion Commander was the Emperor's sword, then the Tribune was the hand wielding the Emperor's sword; which was higher and which was lower went without saying.

Ryan looked directly at the Legion Tribune and asked:

"Where is the problem that needs solving?"

"Look over here," the Tribune said, raising an eyebrow and gesturing for Ryan to look at the ground nearby, where a man was lying. "Our judge-advocate suddenly fell into a coma in the early hours of yesterday morning, and all kinds of awakening methods have failed to wake him."

"The physician says his body shows no signs of illness or poisoning, so it can only be that something has gone wrong with his soul."

His voice suddenly turned grave:

"It could be a magical curse."

"Magic is magic, and curses are curses," Ryan sneered. "The two cannot be lumped together."

"Young man, if we understood magic, we wouldn't have come looking for you," the Legion Commander said coldly, his voice even hoarser and deeper than the Tribune's. "Solve our problem, and we will pay you."

The rewards for legion quests were nothing more than money and prestige.

Ryan was completely uninterested in money, but establishing a connection with the Nightmare Legion was an extremely precious opportunity. One had to know that within the Empire's power hierarchy, the Legion Commander and Legion Tribune were on the same level as Grand Duke Malone.

Even if Marquis Faher came, he would have to carefully accompany and flatter these major leaders!

"Very well, let's take a look first." Ryan led the two elves to examine the judge-advocate lying on the ground.

Just as the physician had said, the judge-advocate's body was extremely healthy, with even breathing and a rosy complexion. The only problem was that he could not wake up, his brow was slightly furrowed, and his eyeballs beneath his eyelids kept twitching, as if he were being tormented by some unknown terror.

No wonder the Tribune suspected this was a curse. In Ryan's impression, there were indeed three or four relatively obscure and uncommon witchcraft curses that could achieve a similar effect.

Yet this judge-advocate was not afflicted by a curse.

He was trapped in a dream woven by dark arts, and by the traces left behind, it looked somewhat like...

The style of the Hell lineage.