256 Underground Root System
William was taken aback when he heard his last name, but quickly dismissed it as a coincidence.
After all, Kane wasn’t a rare last name, and there was no tradition of changing last names in this world to avoid attention. More importantly, there was no marriage system in Doomsday Watchers back then, so it was impossible for him to have descendants.
He obviously couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone claiming to be his descendant and flattering themselves. However, if that was the case, it had nothing to do with him.
William asked, “Do you know anything else about her adoptive parents?”
William knew that living in Ravenwood meant embracing the unique customs of the Forest Elves. In his era, only the unfortunate souls pursued by enemies or a few eccentric individuals with peculiar interests were willing to do so.
According to his research, after Ravenwood was annexed by the Riel Empire, it became a dumping ground for those who lost power struggles within the empire. Even the current empress, Erin Riel, was sent here as a young woman for “recuperation” due to her supposed weakness and illness. But William couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the story—that the old emperor had sent his daughter away to keep her out of the dangerous power struggles at the empire’s center.
“We’ve investigated,” Ebony told him. “Her adoptive parents are internal members of the Platinum Ring. They were later deposed and sent here because they offended an Empire Senator in Platinum City. They were in charge of the empire ambassador’s security in Emerald Province.”
Ebony’s answer was similar to William’s guess.
But Platinum Ring?
William took note of the organization’s name that seemed everywhere.
The Platinum Ring was a royal guard organization that only answered to the emperor’s orders and was responsible for handling transcendent matters within the empire, as well as protecting the royal family. It was said to have been established by the empire’s founding emperor, Terra Riel, and had special privileges that exceeded the supervision of the Astral Laws.
But as an inner ring member of the Platinum Ring, it seemed impossible for them to be sent to Ravenwood for offending a senator.
And with their adopted daughter now the Holy Tree Duke of Emerald Province, promoting policies that aligned with the empire, William couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a deeper conspiracy at play.
Was there more to the last name Kane than met the eye?
William fell into deep thought.
“You see it the same way I do, don’t you? This whole thing was orchestrated by the empire’s royal family from the start. Floral is nothing more than a puppet, propped up by the empire’s machinations. But if we can expose the truth…”
Ebony exclaimed, his eyes alight with excitement when he saw William’s pensive expression.
But William was quick to rain on Ebony’s parade.
“Even if that’s true, it doesn’t matter. You said it yourself—Floral holds the throne through strength, not political manipulation. Unless you can defeat her in battle, the truth won’t change a thing.”
Would the other party still care about his reputation at this point?
Ebony’s enthusiasm deflated at William’s words.
But he wasn’t one to give up easily.
“But if you help us, we have a chance, right? Together, we can take her down.”
As the Chosen One, the one foretold by the Matriarch to liberate the Forest Elves, Ebony had spent a small fortune gathering information on this mysterious man.
He didn’t know William’s true identity, but he was convinced that he was connected to the ancient organization known as the Doomsday Watchers. It was even possible that he was a descendant, successor, or even a survivor of the long-dead Judges.
As for this, Ebony had basically confirmed it through the Frost Lich’s phylactery.
Member of Judgment…
It was difficult to describe how excited he was after confirming this.
Though most records of Judgment were lost in a book-burning campaign long ago, what remained showed just how powerful and influential they were.
Names like Ava State’s Shadow Queen Remides, Frost Lich Nehe who had once frozen Fairy Lake out of rage, the founder of the Blind Sisters, Astral Observer Sibylla, and even the incarnation of the empire’s Eighth Holy Spirit, William Kane, were once members of Judgment.
No wonder this man could accomplish so many incredible feats—calming the Undead Tide in Thorn City’s graveyard, toppling Nakuland’s Viper Tower, controlling the Blackwater Province, helping the Ava State governor kill the Demon Generals in Moonlaw City, and even the rumors of the Void Sea appearing in the Grief Mountains—it was all thanks to him.
With the Matriarch’s revelation and his role in resisting the Demon Army’s attacks in the Moon Realm, it was unclear if the other party was a Judge’s heir or a long-lived species hiding their identity.
Perhaps only such a legendary hero could help them pull down that inexplicably strong woman from the throne.
“As long as you’re willing to help us, I believe all of this isn’t a problem,” Ebony said, his emotions running high.
William, walking behind him, nodded humbly.
“I already said that as long as you can guarantee that those things are real, I can let you sit on the throne by next week.”
No matter how powerful the Forest Elf named Floral, who shared the same surname as him, was, since she was a magic chanter, the other party had no chance of defeating him.
He didn’t mention the fact that he could do it tonight because he didn’t want to scare Ebony.
Ebony responded guiltily to William’s overconfident claim, “There’s no need to say that… Even if you can defeat that woman, we have to spend some time obtaining the support of the various tribes and the forest druids.”
He knew that defeating Floral and overthrowing the current Emerald Province government were two different things.
What he said makes sense… William thought to himself.
After all, there were many factions scattered in Ravenwood. If he wanted to suppress them all at once, he needed to find a way to gather all the powerful people who supported the Holy Tree Duke before dealing with them all at once.
This way, he only needed to attack once and it would save him a lot of effort.
William nodded and said, “You can arrange these things when the time comes. By the way, where are we headed? Feels like we’ve been walking in circles underground.”
Ebony immediately replied, “Patience, my friend. You think we’re just gonna keep those precious items locked up in a cabinet? No way. We’re headed to a top-secret spot, hidden deep under the roots of the World Tree. And let me tell you, we’ve set up some serious defenses. We have to follow a specific route to activate the entrance.”
The two of them walked deeper into the underground cave, carved out by the sprawling roots of the World Tree. Rumor had it that the roots reached every corner of Ravenwood Forest, but that was just exaggeration. According to the forest druids, the entire root network covered less than a fifth of the forest, including the subtrees.
Still, that was more than enough to build an underground city beneath Ravenwood Forest. But because of the Forest Elves’ pact with the World Tree, such destruction was strictly forbidden.
“But these are extraordinary times. The Matriarch gave us permission to use these roots and build a stronghold to fight against Floral’s tyranny,” Ebony explained.
“You keep saying ‘we,’ but other than the Holy Tree Matriarch Temple in Emerald Province, it seems everyone else has submitted to her rule,” William asked.
After all, according to what the other party had said, other than the support of the empire, the Holy Tree Duke, the forest druids, and the tribes that worshiped wild beasts and great spirits had submitted because of the other party’s strength.
Ebony replied with a proud smirk, “Floral’s methods of ruling are extremely tyrannical. Anyone who dares to oppose her is executed on the spot. But, I have a trick up my sleeve. As tradition dictates, the Holy Tree Matriarch Temple handles all executions and corpse disposals.”
Looking at the smile on the other party’s face, William roughly guessed what he was doing.
“Therefore, you used this opportunity…”
Ebony chuckled and said, “That’s right. I swapped the Death Root sap used for execution with a paralyzing alchemy drug and had the Holy Eaters dispose of the bodies under my command. I have saved many people willing to resist Floral’s rule. Ah, we’re here…”
...
As they turned a corner, the two arrived at a door made of coiled roots, protected by a defensive barrier engraved with life runes.
Ebony reached out to remove the barrier, but William stopped him.
“Is this it?” William asked, his eyes glowing with emerald light.
“That’s right, this is it. A settlement formed by the rebels.”
Ebony, who was stopped by William, asked curiously, “How many rebels are there?”
William ignored the other party’s strange gaze and asked, “There are a total of 43, a small number, but they are brave and skilled fighters…”
The color in William’s eyes turned pitch-black.
“As expected…” he muttered.
“As expected, what?”Ebony asked uneasily.
“I heard someone moving inside, so I subconsciously used Life Detection, but I didn’t see anyone.
William turned to look at Ebony and said, “Then I tried Undead Detection… Can you guess how many undead outlines I saw in your settlement?”
...
Ebony’s face twisted in shock and horror as he struggled to speak. “Forty-three,” William said coldly, confirming his worst fears.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l