Chapter 206: Von Everblack House [2]

Chapter 205

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Episode 51 - Von Everblack House [2]

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"Ah..."

I couldn’t stop sighing every few minutes as I traveled inside a carriage.

My destination was a place known as the Pandora Jungle, located about three hours away from the Imperial Capital.

From there, I would search for ruins that had once belonged to the Everblack House, where I could use a Teleportation Circle.

After that, I would be able to enter the ancient Imperial Capital, which was buried beneath the ground where the current Imperial Capital now stood.

But that wasn’t the reason I was so troubled.

I was thinking about what Astrid had asked.

"Ah, damn it."

I shook my head as I leaned back against my seat.

The scenery outside the carriage changed constantly as we moved forward.

’Looks like I’ll arrive soon.’

Time flew by, and the carriage continued without encountering any obstacles. Normally, carriages leaving the Imperial Capital were often attacked.

Anything could appear, from bandits to monsters. Fortunately, nothing like that happened, and I didn’t lose any time.

Before long, the carriage came to a stop.

Outside stretched an immense jungle that seemed endless.

Birds and flying creatures soared through the sky, and with my senses, I could perceive the countless beasts and monsters that inhabited the area.

"Sir, I can’t go any farther than this. It could be dangerous for me."

I stepped out of the carriage and walked over to the man who had spoken.

A pair of gold coins appeared in my hand, and I handed them to him.

"Thank you for bringing me here."

No carriage driver had been willing to accept my request to come to this place.

They had all refused, but then this old man appeared and accepted without asking any questions or showing the slightest hesitation.

’Maybe he needs the money as soon as possible.’

I had promised him twenty gold coins, an enormous sum for any commoner.

"You’re welcome, sir. And please be careful. The Pandora Jungle is known for the large number of monsters and beasts that live here."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

I said goodbye to the old man and then ventured into the Pandora Jungle.

***

The place I was heading to was one of the residences that had belonged to one of the three illegitimate branches of the Everblack House.

Besides the main house, there were three residences known as the "Illegitimate Houses," where the patriarch’s wives lived after he granted each of them a place to settle.

As the years passed, the matriarchs of those three houses married and naturally had descendants.

Those descendants were the ones who expanded the Everblack family’s three branches.

Back then, there was a very clear hierarchy.

If one of the Illegitimates possessed enough talent and proved their potential, that person could earn the opportunity to move to the main house.

All Illegitimates carried Everblack blood and, naturally, possessed above-average talent.

Once an Illegitimate was accepted into the main house, they earned the right to add the surname Von to their full Everblack name.

"And since the three houses were located in different parts of the continent, each of them had a Teleportation Circle that connected to the Imperial Capital."

I asked as I swung my sword to clear the path ahead.

〖Yes. I don’t know why the third-generation patriarch separated the three houses so far from the main house, but each one has a Teleportation Circle.〗

"So I assume you’re from the main house, or you were born in one of those three houses."

〖Of course I was born in the main house. I’m an Everblack with one hundred percent pure blood.〗

"Uh, yeah... I probably shouldn’t have asked that."

In any case, my original plan had been to create a Teleportation Circle using the coordinates of the Everblack House’s location.

But then my master told me that wouldn’t be necessary and that I simply had to find one of the three houses.

The problem was finding the ruins of the house located in this area.

The Pandora Jungle was a massive forest that covered more than half of the continent’s Inner Region.

The Inner Region lay at the center of the continent. It was called that because the surrounding mountain ranges formed a circle, with the Imperial Capital located directly at its center.

"But where exactly are the ruins?"

I had been walking for hours, yet all I could see were trees, undergrowth, and, of course, monsters and wild beasts.

Other than that, there wasn’t even a single open area suggesting that a training ground had once existed there.

〖As for that, this family branch didn’t build its residence out in the open. First, you need to find a canyon somewhere, then climb down into it. There, you should find an enormous cave that will lead you to a Teleportation Circle, which will finally take you to the mansion where this family branch once lived.〗

"...."

I didn’t ask why they had gone through such a complicated process just to establish a family branch.

In any case, I continued my search, and before I realized it, two whole days had passed.

***

"Ah... It’s the second day already, and I still haven’t found anything."

As I climbed down from a tree branch, I stretched while taking a couple of sandwiches out of my Inventory.

The concept of time didn’t exist inside my Inventory, so I could store food without it ever spoiling.

After finishing breakfast, I resumed my search for the damned canyon.

I had used my senses several times to examine the surrounding terrain, but yesterday I had found something strange.

After arriving at the place where I had sensed that anomaly yesterday, I used my senses once again.

"Mhm, so the canyon was buried."

It wasn’t much of a surprise. The ancient Imperial Capital was literally buried beneath thirty meters of earth.

After the war against the Abyss Lords, it was recorded that, in some places, the landscape had changed so drastically that entire cities disappeared beneath the ground.

Back then, the natural disasters were so devastating that it was as if the land itself had been shifting and terraforming the entire Continent.

"Gravity."

I muttered as I extended my hand.

I lifted enormous boulders and then used Mana to destroy the ground.

About three hours later, I finally caught sight of a vertical drop through a small opening.

The surrounding area was literally a massive crater, as though a meteorite had struck the ground.

"Ah, that was difficult."

Shortly afterward, I entered through the small opening and began a free fall. According to my master, the canyon was approximately thirty kilometers deep.

So I simply jumped.

Seconds passed, then a full minute. The next instant, I used Mana, and a pair of wings appeared on my back.

I flapped my wings and came to a stop halfway through the fall. Then, using my senses, it didn’t take long to locate the enormous cave.

I flew for less than a minute and soon entered the cave, continuing until I reached the end.

After stopping to examine my surroundings, I noticed an area that seemed to contain some kind of altar.

Once I landed, I walked over and finally found the Teleportation Circle.

It was covered in dirt and dust. There were several swords, suits of armor, and numerous skeletons that probably belonged to the guards.

There were also a few areas that looked as though knights had once lived there.

"Even after a thousand years, this place simply feels... abandoned, rather than a place where people came to kill themselves."

I noticed because every skeleton had a dagger or a sword driven through the bones of its throat.

I wondered why they had committed suicide, but I didn’t want to waste time, so I cleaned the Teleportation Circle.

Then I noticed that it had sustained some damage, so with the help of Mana Sense and Mana, I repaired the deteriorated sections of the circle.

Shortly afterward, I poured Mana into the circle. The Teleportation Circle activated, and I vanished from the cave.

In the blink of an eye, I appeared somewhere else.

"...."

Then I felt powerful gusts of wind, and I couldn’t help but think,

’Is this a joke?’

I stepped off the altar and walked to the edge. Then I lowered my head and "looked" down.

"....."

I took a step back and rubbed my temples.

"Master, if this place was literally a floating island, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve just flown here instead of wasting two days."

At my words, my master responded immediately.

〖Tsk, tsk. Who said you could reach the island simply by flying? It’s obviously concealed with Ten-Star Magic. The third-generation patriarch asked the Archmage of Illusions for a favor to hide the three houses with illusion magic.〗

〖Besides, this island is surrounded by a high-ranking barrier. Unless a Nine-Star Awakened unleashes their full power, breaking it will be impossible.〗

I simply sighed in response. Then I turned around and finally "looked" at an enormous mansion standing about a dozen meters away.

There were training grounds and a garden that, at that moment, was nothing more than a stretch of barren earth without flowers or plants.

It looked like the typical residence of a noble from the Imperial Capital.

However, there were dozens of skeletons. Part of the mansion had collapsed, and the surrounding area looked as though it had once been the site of a battlefield.

"What exactly happened here?"

〖Who knows? Maybe the Holy Church came and killed everyone.〗

"Ah..."

Now that I think about it, after the war ended, the Holy Church appeared.

From the moment it emerged, it exterminated the few surviving members of many noble houses that possessed Dark Attribute users.

And since people like my master and the rest of the Everblack family had died during the war, it was very easy for the Holy Church to exterminate them and erase every trace of the Everblack family.