Just a few weeks after taking Ravenskeep, the Blacksteel family returned from their journey and with them came bad news.
Inside a dark hall in a particular part of the shelter, a meeting was being held with every single slayer on the ground who had come here.
In the middle of that hall, the three families and their heads sat at a round table, with Dorn and Logan at the head.
"What do you mean by wrong classification?" Logan asked, his brows squinted in confusion and dread.
Before they came here, the men of the Slayer Alliance had evaluated the gate, gathering as much information as they could without entering it themselves. This was normal practice, and they were never wrong.
It was just how things had always been.
"You heard me right: the first order of business is to let everyone know of this mistake so they can prepare for what is to come," Dorn spoke rather loudly, looking at the myriad slayers around the hall. Stay tuned for updates on Freewebnovel
"This Gate, whatever it is, is not a Yellow gate… far from it." Dorn felt his heart grow heavy as he spoke these words.
He had been part of the clearing of a yellow gate before; at that time, they only needed to send a slayer above level 10 to engage the hallowed beast within, and it would be easily cleared.
In fact, that was the original plan—they were going to kill the hallowed beast themselves, then take their time returning and lead the rest away. It sounded simple, although this was close to the Ravenskeep incident; he thought 200 years was enough to make the monster weak.
Unfortunately, this was not the case. What they faced in those mountains weren’t things someone capped at Red could handle; 200 years was not enough to quench the flames of savagery tied to this place.
"So what are you saying? It’s a Red gate? That would mean…?" Logan spoke calmly.
The three clans had already come to the same conclusion some time ago. There were just too many mythic beasts in this place for it to be considered a Yellow gate.
Worst comes to worst, it was supposed to be the hallowed beast at this stage, but logic flipped over its head in this godforsaken land.
"Red… maybe… but I’m more inclined to call it an Emerald Gate." Standing beside Dorn, a young lady with green hair and a pointed nose spoke, causing the whole hall to grow silent.
"Emerald? That has to be some sick joke, right? Most of the family heads were capped at Emerald, but not all of them. Are they saying the family heads are the only ones that could clear this gate? That sounds ridiculous."
Why would the Slayer Alliance send them to take care of something that required their full attention? It didn’t make sense.
Of course, they were merely coping. If not, how in the hell was the troop of 28 Blacksteel family members wiped out so thoroughly?
Yes, out of the twenty-eight Blacksteel troops that set out for the mountains, only seven remained. They had faced dangers that even they dared not speak about.
"I’m not joking; Brother Dorn lost his arm verifying that the Wayfarer hallowed beast was evolving into an abomination!!" Seeing the doubting gazes, the young lady with the pointed nose released a threatening red aura as her very being boiled with anger.
They had risked their lives for this information, and these men were doubtful? What gall!!
"Freda, calm down," Dorn’s voice suddenly sounded from below, causing her to pause and take a step back. Her eyes were still brimming with anger, but she had no choice but to remain silent.
The crowd, especially those in the three clans, looked glum at the scene. Of the seven Blacksteel clan men that remained, three were currently here, and each one of them was unfailingly capped at Red.
This was not the case when they left. There was only one person capped at Red, and that person had been crippled. Logan had previously seen it as a chance to finally subdue the Blacksteels, but this revelation proved otherwise.
It seemed like the landlords of the shelter were back.
.
.
.
The talks that night were glum and filled many slayers with hopelessness. They didn’t think they could kill a Wayfarer beast, especially if it was surrounded by a mountain of mythic beasts.
They weren’t cut out for this, especially with the beast evolving to abomination rank.
The only person who might successfully hunt this thing was the Blacksteel lord himself.
Fortunately, a solution reared its head at the end of the discussion in the place of borrowed power.
After conquering the shelter, a few individuals had been attacked by sentient bodies of armor, wounding them. But eventually, after killing one, a strange announcement and a key were given out by the system.
"Hm? What was the body of the announcement?"
Inside a small house along the streets of the shelter, Thane’s voice sounded, a look of intrigue painted all over his face.
"I don’t remember word for word, but it was something about conquering the challenge on the main keep and receiving control over the entire shelter," Guilliman explained.
He was actually the first person to kill one of those moving sets of armor; he had stolen the kill from Vincent immediately after conquering the shelter.
"Ahhh, I wonder what that entails?" Thane mused. Control over the shelter was a big announcement. Most shelters—even the Blacksteel shelter—had a magical formation around them that could be used for defending the city.
Gaining control was equivalent to becoming unbeatable in the shelter… however, how was that of any help? They were going to kill the hallowed beast, not escape it.
"Did you see the fog below?" All of a sudden, Victoria chimed in, looking at Thane.
These guys were able to waltz into the shelter like nothing had happened because of them. They had beaten back the fog and gained its recognition.
"Ohhh yeah, it’s very strange… there seem to be a lot of monsters inside of it, but they don’t attack—they simply go out of their way to avoid us," Thane said, though he didn’t see a reason to ask.
Maybe they were scared of a troop of seven level-10 slayers; maybe they didn’t have the time? Who knows? Their journey had been long—why would they bother about not being attacked? That was weird.
"Those monsters in the fog… the fog itself. That is the inheritance of the Raven’s Lord," Victoria’s voice resounded as she walked up and went into her room.
The fog was the tool which the Raven’s Lord used to defend this place from the three great abominations 200 years ago. It wasn’t just a defensive formation, though.
It was more like a living thing: it could regenerate, grow, and most of all, it could move.
If any one of them was able to receive the inheritance of the Raven’s Lord and assume control over the fog, they could lead it out of the forest and lay siege to the mountains east of here.
Forget the army of mythic beasts; they could even destroy the hallowed beast if it ascended to abomination rank.
The secret to supremacy over the shelter—which the three clans had been hoarding—came to light that fateful night and spread among the slayers, as they all went crazy.
Fame, money, power, and their eventual survival would be attributed to whomever passed the challenge of the Raven’s Lord. All they needed was a bit of luck and a little effort.
They would go the extra mile for this… they had to.
The next morning,
Guilliman, Thane, and Victoria walked out of the house and proceeded to climb up the shelter. The stairs felt heavy, and everywhere they passed, stares lingered on them.
They were walking toward the middle of the shelter, where the main keep was situated.
A member of the Blacksteel family walking towards the keep was monumental—it meant that the words of Logan were true.
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There really was an inheritance, and the Blacksteel family was interested in it.
"Hmm, what a crowd," Guilliman smiled bitterly.
He had conquered the shelter by entering first, yet no one here seemed to even know who he was. But Thane just appeared, and all of a sudden, he was the center of attention.
It was a bit frustrating.
"Hello, long time no see," Thane greeted the people he knew with a warm and welcoming smile, while Guilliman seemed to be moping.
He was generally a very nice guy; he couldn’t leave people hanging like that.
’Sigh… hate to admit it, but his aura is much more majestic than mine.’
Guilliman thought to himself, glancing at Victoria, who emitted something quite similar—but much more refined and ancient.
"We’re here. Focus."
A few minutes later, they arrived before a towering stone structure that spanned several blocks. It was intricately designed with corridors overlapping and intersecting all over the place.
It felt like a place where one could easily get lost.
"Welcome to the keep. The main keep."