Chapter 218: Corrupted ones
Ashley left her legacy somewhere in the land of water before she died, but it was meant for only the descendants of the divine battle king. Except for her husband, the person she trusted the most was Elder Zachary. Ashley knew the greed of her husband, as he was the emperor of water and a man with ambition. She knew that her husband will try to obtain the legacy meant for a Devansha for himself or the children of his other wives. Thus, Ashley handed the key to her inheritance to Elder Zachary for keepsake.
Now that the key has been handed over to Whittaker, Elder Zachary has completed one of his life's last two tasks. He gently gazed at Whittaker continuously. He was wondering when and how he is gonna hand over the "King Feng" title and the authority of his Palace to Whittaker.
Whittaker, on the other hand, curiously examined the pendant of Devansha held in his hands.
"Noah, why is this pendant eerily similar to the pendant of the night?" Whittaker asked.
‹Devansha, the great and Night – the one who encompasses all – were great friends… Ahem, I mean, deadly enemies and these types of pendants are usually created by the families in ancient times to hand over a powerful legacy to their descendants› Noah said.
Although his voice was monotone, Whittaker still feels a headache coming when he heard the word "Deadly Rivals".
The Divine Battle King and Night knew each other. And they were deadly enemies! His father was the descendant of night and his mother was the descendant of Devansha. Them falling in love might have created a complicated problem...
Whittaker thought back to the forbidden love story fairytale he read in his childhood. Two people fell in love.
There was nothing wrong with that.
However, both belonged to opposing families with great enemies between them.
They were forcefully split apart by their families. But even then they discarded their family's titles and ran away from home to spend the rest of their lives in each other's embrace.
'Perhaps something similar might have happened to my family' Whittaker thought. But he didn't ponder over this matter too much and focused his attention on his teacher.
"Where exactly in the land of water is her inheritance dungeon located?" Whittaker asked.
The Land of Water was too big. He found that out by seeing the "Globe of the World" in Headmaster Yeon's office and he went into details about it in the palace library. The Water Kingdom only takes 3/10 of the space of the land of water. Yet, it had five wide regions. It will take years to locate her treasures if he's to search around for it in the entire Land of Water.
"That… I do not know. You'll have to venture the land of Water yourself to find her inheritance ground. However, I advise you to first search inside the lands of the Water Kingdom before searching outside of its boundary. It's a dangerous world outside the Water kingdom. The land of Water may seem peaceful but it's only inside the boundary of the Water Kingdom. You'll be facing Bandits and also the Snow Clan Outsiders. But worst of them all are the savages and shamans that worship Abaddon. These human eaters can be found everywhere in the Wild Lands of the Land of Water." Elder Zachary said with a stern and disgusted look.
He was disgusted by the Abaddon savages. And he was sternly warning Whittaker to not go out of the safety of the kingdom unless absolutely necessary.
A year or two of continuous travels if he's to only search the lands inside the boundary of the water kingdom. And more than that if he is to search the entire land of water. It will be a pain in the ass to locate her inheritance dungeon.
"The land of Water is too big. Do you have any connections I can use to search for her dungeon?" Whittaker asked his teacher.
"Young friend, I am a social recluse who has been living here for more than 200 hundred years. Most of my old friends have passed on to the afterlife. Do you think I will have any connection?" Elder Zachary said.
"Sigh, you are a good teacher but useless when it comes to life and backdoor connections," Whittaker heaved a sigh. He was acting as if he was dissatisfied and even disappointed by the number 1 formation master of the entire awakened continent.
"Pfft," Nina laughed at his words but covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her laughter.
"Che, you better not turn out like me. Make sure to make lots of friends!" Elder Zachary wasn't angry at his words, he, in turn, told him to be socially active.
"I will do as Elder says," Whittaker replied with a wide smile on his young face. "Actually, I already have twelve friends!" He exclaimed, the friends he was talking about was Jin, Sem, Neko, Shadow, Ruth, Lily, Christopher, Jennifer, Patricia, Nina, and Hera. Since Whittaker was lacking in the social department just like Elder Zachary, he also counted his siblings, elders, and his eye-catching classmate Yato as his friend to push up the friend list to eleven peoples.
"Good! Make a lot of them," Nina said while pinching his bubbly cheeks.
Elder Zachary said: "Anyways if you have nothing else to ask then take anything from my personal treasures. But you can only take one!"
"Actually, I have. The Kingdom of Wind and Water is so powerful. They have all types of war weapons and are also in an alliance. Furthermore, Headmaster Yeon as an S-ranked space mage even stopped hundred of thousands of Abaddon people by himself. Why haven't we still killed them all?" Whittaker asked.
"It's because they're a group of cockroaches." Elder Zachary shook his head in anger and cursed the Abaddon Shamans and Savages. "Do you know that most people think that these creatures are the stuff of legends, right?"
'Yes, most awakened I met didn't even know of their existence. "It's as if information about them seems to have become extinct, and there are very few people that know of them," Whittaker replied.
Abaddon's people were not talked about in the Water Kingdom. Only that jolly driver has ever talked it. Even then it sounded more like a tale than the stuff of reality. It seems like information about them was purposely hidden. However, Whittaker confirmed their existence because he had access to a vast library.
"To the newer generation, things related to Abaddon is like the stuff of legends. It's because most of what happened occurred 500 years ago. Now a day, information about It is hidden from others. As you may have heard, When you gaze into the abyss the abyss gaze back at you. Similarly, when you think of Abaddon he might get a chance to look at you and corrupt you into becoming its mindless slave. A person with weak will have the highest chance of being corrupted. That's why information about it is hidden from commoners and awakened alike." Elder Zachary's tone turned hoarse as he said that.
A huge jolt went through Whittaker. He felt like he was hearing a horror story.
"What kind of devil is Abaddon?" Whittaker asked. He knew that the Outlanders worship Abaddon as their God, but he believed the word Devil was better suited for a devilish being like that.
"It's said that there's a whole devilish world under the rule of Abaddon. It is a king of the devils!" Elder Zachary said.
"There are worlds outside the awakened continent?!" This was the first time Whittaker was hearing about this. He has never heard about realms and other worlds before. This information was also not mentioned in the books inside the library or mana net.
Elder Zachary's eyes flickered as he looked at the stars above and calmly nodded, he said: "Indeed, there are. You have already reached the 31st floor of the Monster Tower. Hence, you are not too far off from experiencing an adventure in another world yourself. Back to our history. 500 years ago, humans that eat humans were a common sight in the land of water. However, they were hunted down by the newly established kingdoms. Abaddon promised the cannibals of the land of water unlimited power if they worship it as a God. Consumed by their greed, the desire to consume human flesh, and the desire to fight back, they began to worship this evil being as their God."
The Gods exist. Everyone knew about their existence. The humans undergo a Class weapon awakening ceremony in a hall that showcases seven Gods, after all. Furthermore, the Church of Light gas spread the name of the God of Light to everyone. The existence of the God of Light was known to everyone born in the Awakened continent.
"Then what happened?" Whittaker curiously asked.
"It corrupted their souls. They no longer looked like humans but spawns of the devil. Their bodies are thrice the size of humans. Some so ugly that life and tree withers wherever they go. They fought back. Their power was unbelievable so were the weapons Abaddon armed them with. Our kingdom's warriors were pushed back to the northern borders. The northern border was sure to have broken under the devil's spawn's relentless attacks. The Emperors have even recalled their soldiers and ordered those stationed at the northern region of the Water Kingdom to withdraw.
"However, the soldiers stationed at the northern border refused the order of the Ancient Water Emperor. They refused to retreat and vigilantly fought the corrupted beings that were once "Humans". As predicted, the battle was lost. The northern region was sure to be invaded by the corrupted being until Yeon bombarded them all by sacrificing a huge amount of his life force to cast his Spatial Shard Spell. However, his 1000 years of lifespan decreased by half, and witnessing the end of Its hundred thousand strong corrupted creatures, the devil's itself decided to descend.
"Abaddon attacked our world, wanting to rule over the skies and also the lands of the awakened continent. Dark clouds surrounded the skies, and a disaster broke out as it descended into our world with innumerable frenzied demons that killed and ate everything that had life. The demon was were simply too strong. They recovered faster than they were injured. Furthermore, they also possessed terrifying Death Magic and incredible physical strength. Under their madness, humans, Magical Beasts, Beast Kins everyone was treated equally, killed, and eaten! It wasn't only the Water and Wind Kingdom at danger but the entire world at risk of being destroyed and consumed by the demons!"
"Then what happened? Since Abaddon and its demonic army were so terrifying, how were we able to survive?" Whittaker asked.
"Hehe. It was only because the entire world was at risk that the Gods of humans race and Beast Kin from the spirit world finally decided to intervene in the matters of the mundane world!"