Year 8775 of the Age of Radiance, July 5th. Loran City, Griffin Kingdom, Norr Prime Plane. "Lord Chancellor, last evening the town of Knard was overrun by a horde of Blood Naga. Every single one of the town's 1,300 inhabitants had their hearts ripped out—not a soul survived!" "Falcon Knights detected their trail twenty miles out near a passage to the Netherworld. The Guard Legion is mobilizing now, with three squadrons of the Griffin Legion joining the purge."The Chief Administrator of Loran City—hook-nosed, blue-eyed, half-bald, with a belly a full circle larger than an eight-month pregnant woman—sat behind a desk piled high with documents. Peering through the gaps in the papers at the subordinate reporting before him, his tone was sharp. "Those damned subterranean vermin! Sooner or later, we'll wipe them clean!"Dispatch twenty clerks to Knard Township to handle the aftermath. Simultaneously, select a new town mayor to be sent there. Recruit residents from the city's displaced population to repopulate the town." "As you command, sir."Has the village destroyed by ogres last month been rebuilt?" "Not yet. Estimated completion by month's end, but recruitment is slow. That village has been destroyed three times this year—refugees from the city refuse to go." The Chief Administrator rubbed his temples in frustration. "Figure this out yourself. Anything else?" "Your Excellency, here is the newly submitted list of pioneer lord applicants." "Wasn't the list submitted five days ago?" "Sir, another application was submitted the evening before last." His tone carried a hint of hesitation. "You might find this one interesting." Intrigued by his words, the administrator took the list, flipped through it a few times, and spotted the added name. "Ler Els? The Els family?!!" His plump face showed a flicker of emotion before he let out a long sigh. "That Els fellow has been dead for ten years. Has his family fallen so low they must become a pioneer lord?" "Who is this Lier Els? Where does he reside?" "Sir, he is the sole bloodline descendant of the Els family. Three years ago, he relocated to Ninth District." "Ninth District?!" "Yes." After a long silence, he closed the file with a complex expression. "Send it to the Duke." Once his subordinate left, his gaze drifted out the window, lost in thought. Ninth District—this street, regarded by Loran City's nobles as a sewer and garbage dump—witnessed robberies, thefts, murders, and other vile acts erupting nightly.The air was foul, thick with the pungent stench of urine and sewage, swarming with flies. This filthy place, shunned by outsiders, was rarely visited even by missionaries eager to convert the lost to our God. Yet over a hundred thousand destitute souls lived within this cesspool of corruption.Li'er navigated the winding alleys, carefully dodging filth on the ground and stepping over pools of dark, foul-smelling sewage. The stench stung his eyes until they turned red. The destitute who brushed past him had vacant, bloodless expressions, most clad in ragged hemp garments—some with more patches than original fabric.Older residents waded directly through the foul pools, letting the black water soak their trouser legs, their expressions numb, like walking corpses. Even after three days in this world, Lear still found it unbearable. He quickened his pace, turned a few corners, and arrived before a low house covered in black moss. Staring at the rusty lock, he exhaled a long breath.He twisted it gently—no key needed—and it swung open. Pushing inside, he found a room of about ten square meters, utterly bare. In one corner sat a rickety bed barely knee-high, covered only by two blackened blankets. The phrase "bare walls" took on its most literal meaning. Li Er didn't hesitate, sitting down on the bed. But the moment his buttocks touched it, he felt the sharp, uncomfortable pang of its hardness.He reached under the bed and pulled out two fist-sized loaves of bread, black and hard as stone, with deep teeth marks around the edges. Black bread! He gave a bitter smile. Even a dog would turn its nose up at this stuff, yet it was his food! Setting the bread aside, he stared blankly through the window, barely half an arm's width wide, at the wall next door.Time travel. It sounded so light and airy, but when it actually happened to him, he realized how heavy it truly was. He had sacrificed himself saving someone in the water, yet why had he ended up in such a shitty world? This world's civilization level was roughly medieval Europe, yet it possessed extraordinary powers! There were even... gods! These deities wielding divine authority sat high above, doling out divine punishment at the slightest provocation, destroying cities and annihilating entire clans.Cults spread the gods' light everywhere, preaching divine love for humanity. Evil dragons lurked in high mountains and deep valleys, frequently plundering treasures and destroying towns. Demons, undead, devils, and all manner of evil creatures performed bloody sacrifices daily to appease dark gods. Evil beings from the underworld frequently emerged to the surface, slaughtering humans.Mighty races rampage across the wilderness, poised to storm cities, overrun towns, and slaughter civilians at any moment. Wars rage incessantly, racial conflicts flare like wildfire. Resources are scarce, production methods primitive, civilization stagnates. The extraordinary enslave the masses, class divisions are rigid, knowledge monopolized by noble sects. All the ingredients are nearly in place!The body he inhabited belonged to the descendant of a fallen noble family—one without awakened powers, family wealth, or social standing. He was an ordinary person, utterly insignificant. In this fantasy world dominated by extraordinary beings, ordinary people were as worthless as swine, easily overlooked and slaughtered at will.Even aspiring to a peaceful existence felt like a luxury. With the family fortune long squandered, the original owner could only scrape by in slum districts like Ninth Quarter. Worse still... three days prior, the original owner had applied to inherit the family's stripped noble title. According to Griffin Kingdom law, descendants of nobles stripped of their titles could only reclaim them by becoming Frontier Lords!"Young Els, you're back? Heard you applied to inherit the title?" A deep voice at the doorway interrupted his thoughts. Lier turned to see a man in his early fifties leaning halfway inside, his expression tinged with concern. Gray hair, hands thick with calluses, his frame slightly frail from years of malnutrition. Lier, possessing the original host's memories, recognized him instantly.His current neighbor, Jem, worked at the docks. In his youth, he had been a formidable knight and knew much of the outside world. Cheerful and generous, even living in the slums, he had looked after the original body. On several occasions when he fainted from hunger, it was Jem who had saved him with food."Uncle Jem." The middle-aged man looked at Lear's pale face, opened his mouth to speak, then sighed. "Why go through all this trouble?" "Do you know what lurks beyond the wilderness?" "Beastmen, savages, ghouls, vampires, drow elves, half-serpents, cultists, undead." "Passages connect to dark, treacherous underworlds. Spatial rifts link to mysterious, terrifying otherworlds. Ancient, lingering malevolent spirits and demons seeking to overturn the order." "In the wilderness, there is no such thing as safety." "The Empire has never conquered this region in a thousand years!" "Life in the city may be tough, but at least you stay alive." "Go into the wilderness, become some so-called pioneer lord... and you'll lose control of everything!" "I know you want to inherit the title, but this time... sigh." Jem's tone was deeply conflicted.The boy's youthful face when he moved into the slums three years ago was still vivid in his mind. He had watched this lad grow into a man and couldn't bear to see him throw his life away. Baron Els had passed away from old injuries a decade ago, and within a few years, the family had fallen into ruin. Gryphon Kingdom law stipulated that if no heir claimed a noble title within seven years of the lord's death, the title would be forfeited.The primary condition for inheriting a title was reaching the age of 16. Though riddled with unreasonable details upon scrutiny, this rule persisted without opposition from the nobility, hinting at some deeply hidden secret. As the sole descendant of House Els, Lier had only turned 15 three years prior.With no heir to inherit the title, the Els family was directly expelled from the noble ranks. For a noble descendant to reclaim their title, they must become a Pioneer Lord, conquering new lands for the kingdom! But is being a Pioneer Lord so easy? In its 2,200-year history, the Griffin Kingdom has only managed to carve out a thousand miles of wilderness!But at what cost? Over these millennia, the corpses of pioneers could have piled high enough to form a majestic mountain! Enough to build a mighty fortress upon the sea! How many living pioneers remained?! Jem drew a deep breath. "Each pioneer must be personally approved by Grand Duke Loran." "I only hope the Duke refuses..." His words trailed off abruptly as he swallowed the rest, his alert gaze darting toward the alley entrance.Lier sensed the disturbance and peered through the door crack. Thud-thud-thud-thud. A soldier clad in black armor strode forward, his face expressionless. A soaring falcon emblem was etched upon his breastplate. His hawkish nose and piercing blue eyes bore a cold, unyielding gaze.Approaching the house, he verified the door number before striding past Jem and into the room. He handed Lier a yellowed sheet of paper. A blood-red seal stood out starkly—Griffon Empire · Duke of Loran. The soldier's tone was stiff. "Lier Els, your application for Pioneer Lord has been approved by the Duke."Report to the Grand Duke's residence tomorrow at ten o'clock to receive your settlement provisions and select your domain." "This is your settlement decree and the document confirming your inheritance of the Els family's baronial title." "Congratulations. You have reclaimed your family's title, Baron Lier Els." Having delivered the routine formalities, the soldier turned and strode out of the house without waiting for Lier's response, his impatience evident in his cold expression.The stench along the way nearly made him explode. If not for military orders, he'd never set foot in this godforsaken place in his life! Damn it! Issuing orders to these delusional paupers—nothing to gain from it. There's always some ignorant fool dreaming of instant success! What kind of place is the wilderness? Even he, a high-ranking knight at level 10, wouldn't dare venture there lightly.And now he was supposed to carve out territory and build a town there? Wasn't that courting death? After the messenger left, Jem stared at the documents in Lier's hands and fell silent. Lier, too, looked at the papers in his grasp, speechless.
His original self had been crushed by a life of hardship and hopelessness. Thinking that lingering here meant certain death anyway, he'd gambled on inheriting the title, hoping to carve out wealth and glory beyond the city walls.
But before he could go, he'd fallen and broken his neck, weakened as he was.Now, he was here to fulfill the other man's dream of becoming a lord. According to the laws of the Griffin Empire, anyone who voluntarily applied to become a frontier lord but refused to go to the wilderness, or used other excuses to evade the order, would be treated as a deserter and sentenced to death by hanging. In this world of extraordinary powers, even escape was impossible. Lier took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a complex mix of emotions.Was survival itself this difficult in this world? Just then, a flash of blue light suddenly appeared in his mind. The light gradually coalesced, transforming into an interface panel. It displayed dense text: "Detected you have become a lord. Intelligence system automatically activated. Current intelligence can be refreshed." Intelligence system?!! Li'er leapt to his feet!
Joy exploded within him.